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The Lightning Network Rookie Guide

This article is part 1 of the new “Catching the BlockChain train” series: “The Lightning Network Rookie Guide”. Oh my, a new series! Tell me more! After five episodes about IPFS, it’s time for another exciting technology in blockchain world: Lightning Networks. From here on just Lightning Network (singular, I'll explain why later) or LN for short. A quick test to see if you paid attention: LN . Did you expand this in your mind to Lightning Network ? Well done, you passed! BTW if you missed the episodes on IPFS, start here or on hackernoon. I like the idea to mix hands-on (playing with SW tools) with reading about and understanding the technology. This is reflected in the outline of this Rookie Guide*: Play with the LN as an end user: this episode. Understanding the basics of the LN. Preparation: set up a Bitcoin full-node and a local block explorer. LN hands-on: installing LN nodes, more wallets, apps, buying a t-shirt on mainnet, etc. Understanding the LN better: diving into the white paper and the spec. *) If the term rookie offends you: I’m talking about myself of course. I’m figuring this all out while I write these posts turning myself from a rookie into a beginner. Satoshi’s Vision! Before we start, here’s a glimpse of the genius of Satoshi Nakamoto: Satoshi’s Vision! (Payment Channels / LN). That was in 2010! We have a long way to go before we understand his specific statement: nTimeLock does the reverse. It’s an open transaction that can be replaced with new versions until the deadline. It can’t be recorded until it locks. The highest version when the deadline hits gets recorded. It could be used, for example, to write an escrow transaction that will automatically permanently lock and go through unless it is revoked before the deadline. The feature isn’t enabled or used yet, but the support is there so it could be implemented later. but we’ll get there, one step at the time. Apparently, he was at it again in 2013: This email, composed in April of 2013 by Mike Hearn, quotes Satoshi talking about what is now known as the #LightningNetwork. What’s up with all the hype about the Lightning Network? If you have been following Bitcoin tech, you are most likely aware of the Lightning Network. If not: it is a proposed solution to increase the scalability of the Bitcoin network by allowing “off-chain” transactions in a trustless way. There has been a lot of talk about the LN lately, probably because there are a couple of implementations and it seems to work. People are already using it on top of the main Bitcoin network. And three days ago the first LN node for mainnet was announced. Here is a cool visualization of the current mainnet LN. When we are halfway this rookie guide I hope you and I to have our own node in there! Now, why is the Lightning Network so exciting? I’m a fanboy for quite a while now, but this podcast with Elizabeth Stark and Andreas Antonopoulos got me really hooked: Let’s Talk Bitcoin! #357 Real Lightning with Elizabeth Stark. I encourage you to listen to the whole podcast, but if you don’t, no worries, here are the points that stand out (IMHO at least): Scalability improvements for Bitcoin: speedy and low-fee transactions as Bitcoin was intended/advertised are now possible. Micropayments: for the first time in history there will be technology that makes small, cross-border, almost fee-free, payments possible. Interoperability: one LN for all blockchains. Just as the internet is a network of networks, we can see the LN as the blockchain of blockchains. Standardization is underway so that the different blockchains can work against a common interface. These specs are named BOLTs (like BIPs for Bitcoin). Cross chain swaps: this interoperability facilitates atomic swaps from, e.g., Bitcoin to Ethereum or any blockchain that interfaces with this overlaying LN. Genuinely decentralized exchanges will then be possible. Application layer: on top of the LN (layer two above Bitcoin e.a. which represent layer one) there is layer three which will be the application layer. Here is where the zapps or lapps live. Developer platform: the LN opens up a whole world of possibilities for developers. The LND implementation offers a gRPC interface that makes writing (z|l)apps easier. We will dive into that later for sure! Developer community: there are 100s of developers active in this space, so let’s hurry up and become one of them. They hang out in the Lightning Labs slack and get their documentation here. Now if that doesn’t get you excited… (it probably means you have a fun and meaningful life). OK then, let’s see how it looks like from the end-user perspective… Lightning Network wallets Before diving into the workings of the LN protocol and before setting up our own LN node let’s try out some wallets that are available right now: Lighting Wallet HTLC.me Eclair Wallet Zap Desktop Wallet Lightning Desktop App First get some testnet bitcoin We use the wallets on the bitcoin testnet, so to play along you’ll need some testnet bitcoin (tBTC). As in the old days for mainnet bitcoin, you can get them at a faucet. This faucet and this one also worked for me. If you have trouble getting testnet coins, please tweet to me, and I’ll send you some. Note that testnet addresses have m , n , or 2 as a prefix. Testnet bitcoins haven’t (and never will have) any value, but it still feels exciting to see a free 200.000.000 satoshis coming in :) Lightning Wallet This Lightning Wallet is for Android only; you can download it here: Bitcoin + Lightning Wallet. I love this wallet as it is a one-guy project in the person of Anton Kumaigorodskiy and it has some innovative features. This wallet has an excellent online user manual, let’s walk through it: Setting up a Bitcoin wallet: this app is very convenient as it is an SPV Bitcoin node with a Lightning node built on top of it. Follow the instructions in the manual and send some testnet coins to your wallet. Note that you need a wait for the transaction to be confirmed a couple of times to proceed. Next: Using the Lightning wallet. Select the Lightning tab and click Open new channel . Now select a channel or search for one of the recommended channels by Anton. I picked oh hi mark as it made me feel very welcome. Then fund the channel (hey, you can fund the channel with a sub-satoshi resolution!) and wait for two confirmations. These confirmations can take a while as it is an actual bitcoin transaction. The amount you funded determines the maximum of the sum of the payments done through this channel. We’ll dive into all this in the next episode of this guide. As soon as we have an active payment channel, we can buy something. My first purchase was an article at yalls.org for 100 test-satoshi, then left a comment for 21 test-satoshi. Micropayments are a reality! I also bought a Blockaccino at starblocks. A few more places where you can spend tBTC here. What happens here is that the payment is routed over a series of payment channels through a number of nodes. And all in a trustless way, with super low fees and very very fast. Pretty amazing no? Watch the whole process in this Mobile Lightning wallet demo. Anton also created another useful video: When Lightning goes wrong. It describes the various scenarios when channels are closed or when payments get stuck. These are the scenarios he describes: A mutual (cooperative) closing transaction: both peers of the channel agree to close the channel, and the remaining balance is settled on the blockchain without any delays. Both peers need to be online for this to work. Forced channel closing if a peer does not respond or becomes uncooperative. The peer that forces the channel to close is “punished” by a very long waiting time for their bitcoin to become spendable. Your peer wants to steal from you by sending a previous commitment transaction to the blockchain. We see that the peer is punished for that and gets less than he would have had he played by the rules. We’ll find out in the next episode how all this is accomplished. A last cool feature of this wallet consists of two parts: the app on your phone and a server that offloads some of the work from the mobile app. It’s named Olympus, and there’s a video about it here. To receive a Lightning Network payment, we need another peer so let’s move on to the next LN wallet… HTLC.me HTLC.me is the easiest way to get started, as you don’t need to install anything and it gives you a bit tBTC to play with. From the user’s perspective this is not a wallet, but a centralized front-end to a Lightning Network node. It keeps track of your balance, and you can access it by applying the recovery secret they provide the first time you activate your “wallet”. Anyway, now that I created a wallet on HTLC.me and funded it with some tBTC, I can use it to test the receiving function on Anton’s Lightning Wallet: From Anton’s Lightning Wallet user guide: Receiving Lightning funds In order to receive Lightning payments, some conditions must be met: Nothing can be received immediately after creating a new payment channel, as ‘room’ for incoming funds has to be made by spending some funds first. A payment channel can be thought of as a full bottle of water: in order to pour something in one first has to pour something out. Each channel implicitly contains a reserve which is unspendable and typically takes about 1% of the channel’s capacity. You must spend that reserve before receiving is allowed. Unspendable channel reserve is the reason you see a negative receive limit when a new channel is full. It indicates how much you need to spend before anything can be received through the channel. Every payment request is disposable, they can’t be fulfilled multiple times. So you will need to issue a new individual payment request for every incoming payment you wish to receive. Your Lightning wallet needs to be online in order to receive funds. Next to that, there is also a risk receiving payments on a mobile app that is not always online. The peer can attempt to steal from you by sending a previous commitment transaction. Your LN client can only correct this if it is online at least once per day. After making some space in the channel from my mobile app, I gave it a shot. Although the steps are very smooth, the actual payment failed as HTLC.me couldn’t establish a connection to my mobile wallet. Let’s try again with another wallet! Eclair Wallet The Eclair wallet is also for Android only. It was announced in this blog post. It works more or less the same as Anton’s Lightning Wallet. One difference is that it doesn’t allow receiving tBTC as explained in the announcement above. The Eclair Wallet exposes some of the technical details like the Node id (Lightning Network’s public identifier) of the wallet and the connected peers. Node addresses have the form of some-public-key@ip-address:port , e.g., 03dc39d7f43720c2c0f86778dfd2a77049fa4a44b4f0a8afb62f3921567de41375@213.133.99.89:9735 . Speaking of peers, the Eclair wallet allows connecting to multiple peers (aka more than one payment channel). If you know the Node id you can look it up in this brilliant explorer: https://explorer.acinq.co/#/n/03dc39d7f43720c2c0f86778dfd2a77049fa4a44b4f0a8afb62f3921567de41375. From the wallet, you can scan that Node id and add it as another peer. Let me sit down a bit to let this sink in… It is a cliche, but we are living in the future. Visa et al. should be scared. Now, let’s try again if we can receive with Anton’s Lightning Wallet. I have both wallets connected to the same node to make it a bit easier (is it?). Unfortunately, we have no influence which channel the Eclair wallet uses. A little while later I wake up in the now: one forever pending payment and another one failed. Visa can breath normal again. Let’s try with another wallet, maybe we have more luck there. Zap Desktop Wallet The Zap wallet is a different beast; it uses a full lnd node. This wallet was first announced in this article: Announcing Zap: A Lightning Network Wallet. It has an embedded video with a walk-through that gives a good idea how it all works. But the better option is to download the wallet and play along! (BTW be warned this app is not ready for real use, it uses all CPU now and then, so only proceed if you like the sound of your computer’s fans). Download the latest release for your platform here: releases. When running it the first time it takes a long time before you can use it. While it syncs, you can watch a couple of video’s: Zap Lightning Network Wallet Tutorial. I find this wallet not as intuitive as the other ones I played with, but it compensates this with the fact it is powered by a full lightning node. That hopefully means we can finally see how receiving tBTC works. Another try to pay from Zap to Anton’s app failed again, and payments to the Zap wallet from either mobile app also resulted in a RouteNotFound . Not sure what is going on here, but receiving money is harder than spending it, just like in real life. Let’s move on to our last wallet… Lightning Desktop App The latest release of this wallet (still massively in development) can be downloaded here. It was announced here: Announcing Our Lightning Desktop App, Now Available for Testing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to work on my Mac. I created an issue, so when things get fixed (or they point me out what is wrong on my side) I’ll update this article. First Conclusions Making payments is unreal, fast and cheap! Adding a peer node by reading a QR-code on the Lightning Network Explorer is like magic! Receiving payments works very smooth if it worked… All my attempts failed, but OTOH, wallets that are not always online shouldn’t receive payments in the first place. We have full nodes running on a server for that. Soon to be seen on this blog! Of all the wallets both mobile wallets are my favorite, as it is more natural to pay with a QR scan from your phone than copy-pasting payment requests. The next episode will be a bit less hands-on. I will dive deeper into the LN protocol, and hopefully, I can share that with you in an easy to understand way.

https://medium.com/hackernoon/the-lightning-network-rookie-guide-9fd04468316f

['Mark Pors']

2018-03-19 11:28:46.032000+00:00

['Development', 'Lightning', 'Lightning Network', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin']

Best Wireless Headphones Under 1000 in India

1. Leaf bass wireless Bluetooth headphones with mic.. PRODUCT REVIEW : — Best Wireless Headphones Under 1000 in India… . Leaf bass Bluetooth headphones comes with 10 hours of battery life for unstopped wireless music experience.. . Leaf bass wireless Bluetooth headphones boasts of powerful 40mm drives for hd sound and our deep bass technology let’s you enjoy your favorite song with better clarity. . Leaf bass can be connected via Bluetooth or an AUX cable. With the latest Bluetooth technology, it’s also has the ever green Aux port which works even when there is no charge, left in the headphones . My ratings 3.9 it’s really good and soo, comfortable . Ultra soft cuhsion Earcubs and headband for superior comfort during prolonged wear. 2. Zebronics Zeb-thunder wireless Bluetooth headphone with mic PRODUCT REVIEW : — Best Wireless Headphones under 1000 in India… . Soft and comfortable Earcubs listen to music and more for long hours with soft Earcubs making it super comfortable for daily wear . Comfortable design : beat the workday blue with music on Zeb-thunder wireless headphone that comes in an ergonomic design a perfect fit and design for long hours use . Adjustable handband : adjust your headband to your comfortable best while you work listen to music . My ratings 4.2 it’s really good . Multi-conectivy option like Bluetooth 3.5mm Aux input, Fm and micro sd card 3. Zinq technologys Erupt super bass Bluetooth On-Ear headphone PRODUCT REVIEW : — Best Wireless Headphones under 1000 in India.. . Super bass, Hd clearity, 40mm drives, Battery type- Rechargeable 300mah li polymer battery . Compatible with all mobile, laptop and tablets . My ratings 4.1 it’s really nice . Bluetooth connectivity , playing time up to 8 hours, standby time about 100 hours

https://medium.com/@studykaro24/best-wireless-headphones-under-1000-in-india-4938f9545586

['Vicky Singh']

2020-11-05 06:31:15.736000+00:00

['Headphone Reviews', 'Headphones', 'Wireless Headphone', 'Earbuds', 'Earphones']

Embrace The Kingdom

Embrace The Kingdom The Kingdom Is Now. In 2016 I started reading through a passage of scripture that has since become near and dear to my heart. And that passage is from Romans 12 where it says I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:1–2 As I started thinking through this word transformed I wondered what it meant to really live a transformed life in the year 2016. What does it look like for our minds to actually be renewed? That's when I stumbled upon a concept thanks to the help of some processing with mentors. And that is the concept of Embrace. You see in the Gospel of Mark it says; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” -Mark 1:15 ESV What Jesus is communicating here is that the very Kingdom of God is right here, right now. The word for time in the greek here is Kairos. And Kairos doesn’t refer to time as we would think. Jesus is saying that at 12:15 the Kingdom of God is at hand, but rather he is saying at this moment the Kingdom of God is at hand. Another way to put the concept of Kairos is; The time at which God invades your life. This concept paired with the thoughts of Romans 12 is indeed life-changing. I believe and believe that scripture argues for the case that God is invading our lives each and every day. That he is here with us. For believers, he lives in us and most importantly his story is all around us. So the point of Romans 12 is all about embracing the concept of the Kingdom of God around us. To experience transformation it means interacting with the story of God that is in this very moment with me and you. What Does It Mean To Embrace The Kingdom When it comes to this concept of embracing the Kingdom of God around us I love to get real tangible. I want for us to be able to experience Gods kingdom in a real way. And for this, I usually go back to the words of Jesus each and every time. For us, we are going to look at a parable that Jesus tells about the final days and judgment found in Matthew 25. In Matthew 25 Jesus takes everyone and divides them into two different groups. The first group is called his sheep. Jesus tells the sheep; ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ -Matthew 25:34–36 ESV The sheep then wonder when they did these things for Jesus. And Jesus simply responds; And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ -Matthew 25:40 ESV Can you guess what the goats did wrong? Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ -Matthew 25:45 The goats didn’t embrace the story of God around them. They were more concerned with what was going on in there own little world. They were most likely worried about building their own kingdom rather than living out and embracing the story that God is calling us all into. The sheep, however, embraced the story and did it naturally. They feed the poor, helped the widow, visited those in prison, thus interacting with the story of God around them. Embracing the kingdom of God means following the will of God. And the will of God hasn’t changed since the beginning of time. And the will of God is justice and restoration. Embracing the Kingdom means becoming an agent of change in the world around us each and every week. It means serving the poor, the oppressed, and those hurting. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.-James 1:27 ESV. When we embrace the Kingdom of God we find out what it means for us to experience true religion in our lives. A religion that is alive and active. That serves those around us and not ourselves. Embracing the Kingdom of God is simple. Be a participant in the Kingdom of God around you.

https://medium.com/@thestoryofcraft/embrace-the-kingdom-7c5243af760b

[]

2019-03-12 14:53:09.798000+00:00

['Religion', 'Bible', 'Jesus', 'Christianity', 'Christian Living']

Exclusive: Washington Post editors on their new travel initiative, By The Way

We spoke with Amanda Finnegan and Emilio Garcia-Ruiz from The Washington Post about By The Way, a new travel product the Post is launching on June 18. Finnegan is By The Way’s editor, and Garcia-Ruiz is the Post’s managing editor of digital. Finnegan and Garcia-Ruiz told us how the Post developed By The Way with users in mind to support its subscription-based business model. The Post hopes By The Way will help attract new, younger audiences and retain current subscribers by diversifying its content offerings. Courtesy of The Washington Post The Idea: Can you tell us about the new travel initiative? Amanda Finnegan: It’s called By the Way, and it’s a digital destination that will live within Washingtonpost.com. We created it as a place for travelers who really want an immersive experience and to feel like a local in some of the most popular destinations. So we tapped journalists in 50 cities around the world to write guides on their cities that will include their favorite neighborhoods for people to stay in, places to eat, and things to do. We also have two full time staff writers who will be writing on travel news and trends, and then also a reporter who will be writing general travel advice, including how-tos and tips that we think readers could use on any journey. The Idea: Can you tell us about the business opportunity that the Post saw with this new travel initiative? Emilio Garcia-Ruiz: We have an emerging news product team whose job it is to scout out opportunities, and they look for areas of coverage where we see a combination of audience opportunity and monetization. About this time last year, they began looking at potential products. We looked at about a dozen things, including Amanda’s idea that travel was changing and that some of the things that she was hearing from her friends were different from what they were getting from traditional travel content — this notion that most of the popular tourist places were really, really crowded, and they really wanted more of an authentic experience. It was one of a bunch of things we studied, and it tested off the charts — it was the strongest, most successful test we’ve ever run for a new content idea. Our business model now has shifted a bit. We are very lucky that we have a strong subscriber base to serve, and as you’re looking at serving a subscriber base, your goal shifts to both serving those subscribers, but also continuing to get scale, and we test everything on that principle. When we tested this, it did well in both categories. So what we thought was a coverage area that would do really well with younger people actually tested really well with older folks, many of whom were subscribers. We realized we have to diversify our offerings to our readers, the news cycle right now has been very dependent on one or two subjects, but that is not always going to be the case, and we have to prepare for the time when either the audience loses interest in those really popular coverage areas or the moment changes, and those areas are no longer in the news. Travel is a really crowded space, and we have to be really careful that we’re distinct and bring value to it, and we think that comes through the Post’s journalism. When you search on a travel destination, there are literally dozens and dozens of different publishers you can go to get different information. We want people to come to us because we offer something really unique and special. The Idea: Where is this initiative going to live? Finnegan: It’ll live within WashingtonPost.com, but we also will have ByTheWay.com, which will feature all of this. It will be a destination similar to Voraciously [the Post’s food brand that launched last year]; it’ll have a different look and feel than our traditional news stories. It will be highly visual, heavily designed, we will have a weekly newsletter that will come out on Thursday afternoons, and then we will also have Instagram [@ByTheWay] because travel is just a natural fit on Instagram. Garcia-Ruiz: Since Jeff [Bezos] purchased us, we have been a multi-platform news operation — that wasn’t the case before he bought us, by the way — but after he bought us, we really were putting our journalism in front of readers, where the reader is looking for information. Because of that philosophy, we look at all the different platforms that are out there, and we try to figure out what of our content fits best where. So in the case of travel, it was kind of a no-brainer that Instagram would be the place to go, because you want something that is very visual and appealing to the eye. But we want to do [Instagram] differently — we don’t want it to be about all the different ways you could take a picture around the Eiffel Tower, we wanted to give people an opportunity to take pictures of places that are different from what others are putting on their feeds. So if you follow By the Way, you should go to places where you might not find, you know, 10,000 other people taking selfies. Courtesy of The Washington Post // Photo by @peterhersey, card by @keegansanford The Idea: Can you tell us a bit more about the development process behind the initiative? For example, how you decided on certain approaches? Finnegan: This is an idea that I started pitching to the Post in March 2018, and the concept developed from there. We really looked at how people are traveling today — especially younger travelers, like millennial travelers — but we think this concept really resonates with all sorts of travelers. We knew that people are really looking to feel connected to a place and its people and want to feel like they’re immersed in a city or a culture. That’s why we really wanted to tap locals to create guides on their cities, because we think locals are the people who know their hometowns best. We wanted to feel connected to these people personally, so that’s why we decided to give some details and information about who this person is that’s showing you around their city. We also really wanted to focus on off-the-beaten-path places in these guides. We think that people know how to find the major sites, like the Louvre or the Washington Monument, and we really wanted to focus on places that locals would bring their friends to, places that they really love. The Idea: Why travel? What did your team see as the editorial opportunity? Finnegan: Travel feels like something we all do, and is a connection between us all, so it felt like a good fit for the Post, and also what our readers are looking for. We really see this as an expansion of our existing travel coverage, but when we started to develop this concept and do some research and some polling with our readers, it was a concept that polled incredibly high with our readers. It polled the highest of any new concept they’ve ever polled readers on before. So it just really felt like a no brainer for us to do. I think By The Way is really going to fill a hole in the travel space right now. Travel content in a lot of places has gotten really aspirational — we definitely see that on Instagram with influencers and photos of over-water bungalows — and we really wanted to give people something that felt accessible. In these guides, there’s a range of options in every category, as we really wanted to do something that people will actually use. The Idea: Did it ever concern your team that readers would only view the Post as covering politics and Washington, rather than more lifestyle-type coverage? Garcia-Ruiz: Yeah of course, that’s why broadening our offerings is so important. We did a really smart expansion of our food section last year, with Voraciously. A year before that we did The Lily, which is a platform aimed at millennial women, so yes it’s very important that we continue to let people see us, for everything we do, not just our great coverage of Washington. The Idea: What’s the most interesting thing in media you’ve seen from an organization other than your own? Finnegan: This is a general trend in media. People are looking for advice in their life and are really looking for news they can use and apply in their life, more than just reading stories. I think that we are seeing this trend in a lot of news organizations, people really want to know how the news affects them personally and want tangible things. I think that we’ve seen that with the steps that we’ve done, the Times with their new parenting product, and you know at Vox with explainers. I feel like people are wanting to know what’s going on that’s actually impacting them and what they can do with that, and I feel like they’re turning to the media more than ever to do that. Garcia-Ruiz: Well it isn’t really from another news organization, but for someone who has been completely wrong about virtual reality for the last half dozen years, the arrival of the Oculus Quest is really exciting. This might be the device that actually gets a little bit more mainstream attention, and allows us to put our stories on it in a way that will overcome some of the obstacles of the previous virtual reality devices. But that’s what I’m most excited about. It’s no wires, you’re not tethered to a giant computer anymore, it’s really different.

https://medium.com/the-idea/washington-post-editors-on-their-new-travel-initiative-by-the-way-6934cce0dcac

['Mollie Leavitt']

2019-06-10 21:12:11.205000+00:00

['Journalism', 'Washington Post', 'Travel', 'News', 'Media']

Cold Call To Generate Appointment

Hello Guys Are you in need of a well experience customer care which is well experience and good, fluent in English. He has been in this for good 8 years of sales experience in customer service, marketing, and sales. Currently, He own his own real estate business, Get in touch NOW!!!

https://medium.com/@enochpreciousadeboye/cold-call-to-generate-appointment-93ceb8eb014d

['Enoch Precious Adeboye']

2020-12-25 20:48:59.943000+00:00

['Calling', 'Customer Experience', 'Code', 'Customer Service']

The Best Proxies for Building Price Scraper Tools

With so many businesses depending on accurate data for decision making and growth, web scraping is becoming a more familiar term as the day goes by. It has gone through different stages of development to become one of the best methods of data extraction to get a large amount of information from target sites in a fast and automated way. One such data that is needed by corporations especially eCommerce companies is price data and for more efficiency, price scraper tools are used. Interesting Read : Most Common User Agents For Price Scraping **Limeproxies is one of the premium proxies **that are available and used by companies to perform their web scraping tasks. Different companies constantly explore web scraping techniques including new and growing businesses as they all stand to benefit from what data extraction has to offer. Some of the right questions to ask before you begin your web scraping task are: what is the most efficient way to begin your web scraping operation? Or how can growing businesses optimize the existing processes to increase their return on investment with minimal costs? In this article, we would focus on an in-depth understanding of how to use proxies for pricing intelligence. You would understand what the term ‘pricing intelligence’ means, and you would also know why pricing intelligence is important for online businesses. There has been an ongoing debate on which is better; building a price scraper tool or buying an existing one and we would have the pros and cons of each here. Finally, we would briefly go over essential price scraping ingredients and give insights every business should take into consideration if they want to use proxies for pricing intelligence. Post Quick Links Jump straight to the section of the post you want to read: Mobile Proxies Mobile proxies are IPs gotten from mobile devices. These IPs are not so easy to get making them expensive and not so ideal for use during web scraping. They are the best options however when you aim to get results from a page as it would be displayed to mobile users. Datacenter Proxies Datacenter proxies are private proxies that are not gotten from any ISP but secondary corporations like Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, etc. They provide you with a high level of anonymity and private IP authentication. They work the same way regular proxies do by first processing every request you send and then sends it on your behalf via their servers. So the sending IP changes and what the site sees is a different IP from yours. The result also goes to the proxy first before it comes to you so your internet privacy is protected. Uses of Datacenter Proxies Datacenter proxies are great at protecting your identity by keeping you anonymous online. It sends requests on your behalf using a different IP address from your original one so that websites don’t know it’s you. They also grant you access to geo-blocked content as you can connect to any server around the world. So if a site or web content is blocked to you because of your location, try connecting to a different location where such content is available. Datacenter proxies are great for use with web scraping bots for data extraction. Using your real IP increases your chances of getting false information as the site may recognize you as a rival. Also, chances are that your IP would get blocked when bot activity is noticed and without a proxy, this block would mean the end of the process. Proxies also help with successful sneaker copping. It helps you send multiple requests so that your chances are higher. You can also cop multiple pairs of sneakers if you want and this is only possible with the use of a proxy. Datacenter proxies are also used to filter incoming and outgoing requests on a network. A reverse proxy server would be used to cache content, limit the internet access to your website, and ensure internet use on the network is moderate. With datacenter proxies, you can have multiple social media accounts. This will be of great benefit to your business as you can reach a wider audience for more effective brand promotion. Types of Datacenter Proxies 1 . Public Public proxies are also known as free proxies as you don’t have to pay for their IPs. They are only beneficial if you wish to change the location and are not recommended for any other serious task. 2. Shared Shared proxies are unlike public proxies, but the IPs are also shared between more than a user at a time. They are not free and offer better performance than public proxies. 3. Private Private proxies are only used by a user at a time and so you get maximum performance all to yourself. Residential Proxies Residential proxies provide IP addresses from real locations to the user. These types are provided by the ISP, unlike datacenter proxies. Benefits of Using Residential Proxies Residential proxies allow you to operate online anonymously as it replaces your IP address with that of a chosen server. Since residential proxies are tied to real locations, they are not seen as proxies and have lesser chances of being blocked. Connection loss or a timeout is not as frequent with residential proxies and so you get better connection speed. With a fast internet connection, web scraping is more efficient. You can have access to your favorite sites and content even if they are blocked by geo-restrictions. This is possible because you can connect to IPs in the server location of your choice. Guide to Manage Your Proxy Pool 1 . Control proxies Some scraping tasks may require that you use the same proxy for the entire session. So near this in mind as you configure your proxy pool to avoid any red flags. 2. Retry Errors Use a different proxy to retry any errors or bans you may have experienced with another proxy. This way you can detect what went wrong and avoid it in the future. 3. Include Random Delays Since bots have a repeated pattern of operation, adding some delays for varying intervals would help humanize your activity. 4. Location Targeting Configure your proxy pool so that when scraping, only proxies in the same location as the target website would be used for the best results. 5. User Agents Manage your user agents and ensure that everything is as it should be. User agents are one of the ways your bot use is detected and blocked, so by managing it adequately, you are less likely to be blocked. Price Scraper Tool A price scraper is a bot that is used to extract price data from a website together with other information that may be relevant from the target site. Real-Time Crawler Real-Time Crawler is a data collection tool to extract data from search engines and eCommerce websites. You can say it’s a tool meant for heavy-duty data extraction. It’s a great SERP scraper and price tracking tool that’s designed to meet every business requirement. A real-time crawler has the advantage of providing you with specific pricing data and in the right format for prompt actions to be taken. It may be a tricky process to track prices online and it gets even more complex when more marketplaces are tracked. You’ll most likely need a unique process to extract data, thus adjusting the proxies too. To Build or to Buy Price Scraper Tools? This is a key question that should be asked in the beginning by businesses that depend on pricing data to thrive. A business needs to make careful considerations whether they are just getting into web scraping or they have already chosen one path over the other. Assuming a business has decided to build its price scraper tool to retrieve data, the following scenario covers what should be done. 1 . Making A Choice Building a price scraping tool can be straightforward, or a bit difficult depending on how familiar you are with the processes that are involved. Just as with everything, you become more competent as you continue to do something so it becomes easier to achieve your goal. Businesses can’t afford to make mistakes however and so they need to ensure that every investment is maintained. From time to time, the web scraping tools would have to be updated, renovated, and adjusted to give the expected performance. so it can be more expensive than was originally anticipated once everything has been set in place. Expenses could also differ based on the target and magnitude of data to be extracted. Older online stores know how important accurate data is and will therefore set up obstacles to prevent successful scraping. Examples of such obstacles is a bot detecting algorithms on the site, IP blocks, or other tools that would prevent web scraping. The bot detection algorithm is occasionally updated and this is one of the reasons why a price scraping tool is more expensive as the tool would need to be made to bypass the blocks. The scraping tools also require maintenance and this has to be carried out by a professional. It will cost the company some money to do this from time to time and so it should be taken into consideration. Going further, in creating a process for price extraction from websites a business may need to monitor multiple pricing intelligence data points. Sone would not be easy to target while others may be a walk in the park. But no matter the scenario, it’s important to collect all the necessary data under one roof in structured datasets. This can be done effectively if businesses get professional developers to man their pricing scraper tools. All of the above have focused more on the cost of purchasing a scraper, but what about the promptness that is required when real-time data is required for dynamic pricing changes? Or the time-consuming tasks a scraper may be needed for? It could cost a loss of revenue. On the other hand, an in house price scraper tool would be built as businesses desire it to be. It may be time-consuming to build from scratch and according to your business requirements, and it may also be expensive at first but is the best option in the long run. It doesn’t just end with building or if you choose to, buying pricing scraper tools. Proxies are a very important part of the entire process and what’s more important is choosing the right one. There are different types of proxies you can choose from; datacenter proxies, residential proxies, and also location-based proxies (location-based proxies are used specifically when location-based data is needed). 2. The Reality of the E-commerce Industry vs Customers Ecommerce businesses have evolved from what they used to be. These days, real-time data is used and guides policies and decision making. One of the most extracted data for eCommerce sites is pricing data as it helps the company strategize on the best approach to gain more customers. Due to its importance, it has become a necessary skill to know how to successfully scrape pricing data from websites and this is where the use of price scraper tools comes in. Strategies are ever-changing and not as they used to be due to the numerous choices consumers have online. There is good competition in the eCommerce industries, and consumers are more sensitive to pricing. According to the report from Eurostat, a greater percentage of e-shopping comes from young internet users. Customers also stated that the availability of different choices online which makes it possible to easily compare prices is what makes them make purchases online. Talking about consumer purchasing, BigCommerce researched the top factors that influence the choice of online shops for Americans. 87% cited price as their determining factor, 80% agreed that shipping cost and speed was their determining factor, while 70% chose discount offers. Of the online shoppers, over 86% compare prices before settling to buy from a particular store, and about 78% of shoppers buy from a store that offers the product for a cheaper price. By this, it is clear what consumers need, but how should eCommerce businesses go about it? It all lies in the pricing and to compete and adjust your pricing when necessary, businesses need to extract data quickly from their rivals. This data includes product catalog, promos, pricing strategy. Discounts, and special offers amongst others. The good thing is that these data are available on the internet for you to utilize and all you need to make it possible is to use a scraper tool. Buying The Right Price Scraper Tools To carry out successful price scraping, you would need real-time data to adjust your pricing strategies and tactics as needed. If a business prefers to buy a price scraper, then the management of the infrastructure wouldn’t be done in-house. It will permit instant data extraction so you can focus on the insights promptly. The first downside to this decision is that the price of these scraper tools is high. But the convenience of extracting data after such purchases justifies the high cost. it isn’t always the case as businesses would still have to choose a product that is specific to their data extraction needs. In some cases, it’s impossible to adjust the tools to suit the company’s specific needs and wants and so companies should look out for the most flexible products. It’s also important to think of the format the data would be gotten and how the data in such format can be analyzed. Choosing the Best Proxy Solution for Your Web Scraping Task 1 . Available technical skill and Resources To be able to manage your own pool of proxies, you will need to have a team with fair knowledge of software development. You also need resources like bandwidth to maintain your proxies. If you lack the knowledge and infrastructure, then you would need to outsource your proxy service to experts. 2. Budget If you are working with a tight budget, then it would be cheaper for you to maintain your own proxy pool. It’s stressful and requires a lot of time from you but it saves you some money. 3. Priority If you want hands on knowledge about web scraping and proxies, you would benefit more from buying and managing your own proxies yourself. If your priority however is accurate data and top performance, it would be better if you outsourced the task to professionals.

https://medium.com/@limeproxies/the-best-proxies-for-building-price-scraper-tools-8a40a1fdccae

[]

2020-12-21 14:07:23.624000+00:00

['Scrapingtools', 'Price Scraper', 'Software Development', 'Software', 'Web Scraping']

How to Help Your Teething Infant Sleep Better

Is your usually sweet and happy baby suddenly cranky, drooling everywhere and having trouble sleeping? If so, teething may be to blame. Teething is one milestone that is no fun for baby or mom and dad. Unfortunately, it is also one that can repeatedly cause problems since babies typically begin teething around 6 months and don’t usually have a full set of 20 teeth until around 3 years of age. If you’re in the throes of teething or think you may be soon, read on to learn the common signs of teething, as well as tips for soothing your baby and helping her rest more comfortably. Teething can sometimes be tricky to identify since many of the signs and symptoms overlap with other common childhood issues such as ear infections and the common cold. Key signs of teething to be on the lookout for include: • Drooling • Irritability • Difficulty sleeping • Refusing to eat • Chewing/biting on things • Rubbing face and ears Once you’ve determined that your baby is indeed teething, follow these four steps for making her more comfortable at naptime and bedtime (and hopefully helping you catch more zzzs too!). Buy Drooling Bibs: https://putska.com/products/baby-bandana-drools-bib Give baby cold foods before bedtime. If baby is old enough to have solid foods, you may consider giving her age-appropriate cold foods prior to sleep times. This might include yogurt or cold fruits or vegetables. The temperature of the food will help to slightly numb the baby’s gums and provide some relief from the pain of teething. This will (hopefully) translate to a more restful night of sleep. Use frozen teethers prior to bedtime. Similar to giving baby cold foods prior to rest times, frozen teethers are another great option for calming babies. The teether will satisfy her need for biting and chewing on something, and the temperature will numb the gums so that she can rest more peacefully. Create a calm environment for sleep. This one may seem obvious, but sometimes parenting a teething baby (or any baby, for that matter!) can be difficult and frustrating, and we let it show. Try to stay calm and soothing, especially as you are putting the baby down to sleep. This will give her the comfort and reassurance she needs. Be sure that baby has any age-appropriate comfort objects, as this can also make the process of putting her down to sleep a bit easier. Keep the nursery dark and comfortable temperature and consider using white noise or other sound machines, if you don’t already. Stay consistent with feeding and sleep routines. Most importantly, it is critical to stay consistent with any routines baby is used for eating and sleeping. Don’t let this phase of teething convince you to change up your routine or do things you normally wouldn’t (for example, bringing the baby into sleep in your bedroom). While it isn’t a fun one, teething is just a phase and it will pass. Once it does, you don’t want to be stuck with a new bedtime habit you’re not comfortable with. When all else fails, just remember that teething doesn’t last forever, and your baby WILL sleep through the night again soon enough. So, find a binge-worthy show, stock up on books from the library or pour yourself a glass of wine. You will make it through too. Buy other Baby Products and Baby Essentials: Putska Baby Essentials | Must Have Baby Products

https://medium.com/@putska/how-to-help-your-teething-infant-sleep-better-df0c236ab57

['Lily Nathan']

2020-12-22 06:48:04.943000+00:00

['Baby Products', 'Parenting', 'Baby', 'Bandana Bibs', 'Motherhood']

A photo journal of a plague month (-and-a-half)

All photos: Rashmee Roshan Lall Britain went into lockdown, reluctantly and rather later than much of the world, on March 23. In the past six weeks, here’s a snapshot of the small but significant changes to the way we live now. I see masks everywhere. Not as many as are being worn in other countries because the British are apparently more resistant to face coverings than other markets. Market analysts Mintel report that only 17 per cent of Britons wore a mask in public by April 16, compared to 65 per cent in the US and 86 per cent in China. But there are still lots more masks than ever before. Often, they are to be found on pavements — having probably fallen and been abandoned by the wearer. Gloves are very much in evidence too. People who work in shops are wearing them; so are receptionists, delivery people and others in customer-facing jobs. In the past few weeks, abandoned gloves often litter the streets. Pop-up businesses are very much a feature of a pandemic, or any crisis really. So too the one in my neighbourhood, which set up shop for just one day at the height of the panic in March. It boasted a supply of toilet paper, cleaning wipes and other stuff that was increasingly in demand. And finally, there is the strange sight of London buses available to ride for free. Customers no longer have to tap-in to pay for rides as part of measures to protect drivers during the coronavirus crisis.

https://medium.com/@rashmee/a-photo-journal-of-a-plague-month-and-a-half-8b4521e73b73

['Rashmee Roshan Lall']

2020-05-07 19:19:13.221000+00:00

['Pandemic', 'Masks', 'Britain', 'London Transport', 'Gloves']

Universal Home Visits for Washington

Rep. Laurie Jinkins, Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck, and Councilmember Derek Young kicking off the Help Me Grow community planning process. In 2017, Superior Court Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck approached Rep. Laurie Jinkins and me with concerns over rapidly increasing dependency and removal rates in Pierce County. While the neglect and abuse of children has many causes, we’ve seen a substantial increase in the number of cases involving substance use disorders and newborns. Twenty-six percent of all Pierce County dependency cases are filed before the child reaches a year old. Working with First 5 FUNdamentals, and the Attorney General’s Office, we determined that ensuring parents have the supports and resources they need before a crisis hits — and improving coordination among existing services — was a vital step in keeping families together, thriving, and strong. Thanks to the $250,000 investment from the Legislature during the 2018 session, a community planning process launched last summer, beginning a 5-year Help Me Grow (HMG) pilot project to design a system that would be accessible to all parents. HMG is a national model designed to connect families to community resources to support healthy child development. The goals are to: Reduce dependency filings for children ages birth to 3 in target zip codes. Gain population information on services offered and needed. Improve child health outcomes by reducing low and very low birth weight babies. To date, over 120 partners have been involved — including parents and those with previous child welfare experience. We now are asking the legislature for funds to start implementing HMG. The Governor submitted request legislation to expand this idea statewide. The Pierce County project is included in his Universal Home Visiting proposal called the Welcome to Washington Baby Act (SB 5683) and (HB 1771). The bills were heard in their respective committees last week. We are in support of the bill with the following clarifications: While the bills already calls for a voluntary program, it may help to clarify further that it calls for universal access, rather than mandatory home visits. We believe the intent is to operate the program through local partners rather than the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families, though further clarification would be helpful. The intent behind the bill is to create new “light touch universal home visiting,” identify the family’s needs, and connect to existing resources, not to replace the more “intensive home visiting programs.” However, we do think the latter should expand in anticipation of increased demand generated by the former. We believe that adequate time must be given for community planning, to ensure cultural responsiveness and address nurse staffing issues. We are working with policy staff to suggest language changes listed above. We also support additional communities undergoing a similar planning process to what we have done, and are eager to share our findings.

https://medium.com/@derekmyoung/universal-home-visits-for-washington-185dd69d0be0

['Derek Young']

2019-02-07 23:00:09.805000+00:00

['Pierce County', 'Children', 'Babies']

Hi, Cristian

Hi, Cristian We’ve added you as a writer. Please follow the guidelines while submitting your best unpublished-drafts. Thank You and Welcome to The Masterpiece.

https://medium.com/@meetmamun/hi-cristian-1b53c2fbd605

['S M Mamunur Rahman']

2020-12-04 07:12:21.960000+00:00

['Writing', 'Publication']

Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers Market Size Worth $1.4 Billion By 2025

The global brazed plate heat exchangers market size is anticipated to be valued at USD 1.4 billion by 2025, accelerating at a CAGR of 7.5% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising urbanization and infrastructure developments have resulted in an increased demand for heat management systems. As a result, the demand for this market is likely to boost over the forecast period. The small footprint of brazed plate heat exchangers has resulted in their high adoption rate in industries including HVAC, chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas, power generation, and pharmaceuticals. These exchangers offer low maintenance cost and are energy efficient. Increasing demand for energy-saving products is expected to further boost the market growth over the forecast period. Single circuit segment was valued at USD 298.3 million in 2018 and it is expected to reach USD 470.8 million by 2025. Single circuit brazed plate heat exchangers are used for water heating applications and are highly utilized for the construction of heat pumps. Multi-circuit was the dominant segment in 2018, valued at USD 560.8 million, and it is expected to reach USD 950.0 million over the forecast period. Multi-circuit brazed plate heat exchangers are majorly used in industries with high production levels. HVAC application segment was valued at USD 209.1 million in 2018 and is expected to be valued at USD 377.1 million over the forecast period. Brazed plate heat exchangers are highly adopted by the HVAC industry owing to their small footprint and energy efficiency. Increasing construction of residential and commercial buildings has resulted in an increased demand for HVAC systems, which, in turn, has triggered the product demand. The U.S. is expected to be the largest market by 2025 owing to an increase in the construction of residential and commercial buildings and increasing establishment of industries. Germany is expected to be the second-largest market over the forecast period owing to high rate of infrastructural development. Increasing investments in infrastructure development in Asia Pacific region are expected to boost market growth in the region over the forecast period. Click the link below: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/brazed-plate-heat-exchangers-market Further key findings from the report suggest:

https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/brazed-plate-heat-exchangers-market-eeae66277dc7

['Gaurav Shah']

2020-10-27 12:37:49.714000+00:00

['Hvac', 'Germany', 'Industrial', 'Circuit', 'Italy']

Religious Gatherings Are Not Exempt from COVID-19

They Should Not Be Exempt From Government Restrictions Either In my article, No, You Don’t Have the “Freedom” to Impose Your Religion on Me, I criticized Justice Alito’s comments of “unimaginable restrictions” on so-called “religious freedom.” His comments were especially disturbing in light of the numerous cases which were coming up to the Court. Sure enough, one of these cases was just decided, on precisely the issue he had just spoken of. In Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, Alito, joined by four other Justices, granted an emergency injunction against the City of New York’s COVID-19 rules as applied to “religious” gatherings. To be fair, New York set itself up for this decision by making restrictions on religious gatherings different than those applied to other types of gatherings. While religious gatherings were limited to a specific number (10 in “red” zones and 25 in “orange” zones), other businesses and gatherings either had no limitations or could decide for themselves the limit of capacity. Because these restrictions did not meet the “the minimum requirement of neutrality” they were subject to the “strict scrutiny” test. But New York could not explain what purpose was served by stricter regulations of religious activity, much less the required showing that they be “narrowly tailored” to serve a “compelling” state interest. The lesson from this case is that religious gatherings should be treated just like any other, subject to the same restrictions. Neither harsher nor more lenient rules for religious gatherings can be justified. Yet some jurisdictions are now issuing orders which discriminate the other way, exempting religious and protest activities entirely from any restrictions. In response to a new surge of COVID-19 cases, Los Angeles County prohibited “All public and private gatherings and events with people from more than one household” except “faith-based services and outdoor protests” This was later modified to allow only outdoor religious services and protests, on the same basis as other activities. The December 3, 2020 Order from the Governor of California similarly banned all indoor services. COVID-19 does not care what you are doing when it gets inside you. Attending religious services will not save you from dying from COVID-19. In fact, the Catholic Church, Orthodox Jewish congregations, and mega-churches who are pressing these legal cases are actually violating their own religious injunctions. The Bible is full of commands from God to quarantine for various illnesses. For example, in Numbers 5, the Israelites are commanded to “remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge or anyone defiled by a corpse.” In Numbers 9, the commandment of the Passover meal is delayed for those who are “unclean” by reason of contact with a corpse, until they can become clean again. Again and again, the Bible instructs us to maintain cleanliness, even before other religious duties. Religious activities should be treated like any other activity when it comes to pandemic-related restrictions, no more and no less. The holiest religious activity we can engage in is to take care of each other. Stay Safe!

https://medium.com/@qcp/religious-gatherings-are-not-exempt-from-covid-19-a9335ad0a939

['David Sackman']

2020-12-04 23:26:18.664000+00:00

['Covid 19', 'Supreme Court', 'Lockdown', 'Religion', 'Stay At Home']

How a drunken evening of drawing helped me become a published illustrator.

How a drunken evening of drawing helped me become a published illustrator. Christina Connelly Feb 14·6 min read March 2020, and the UK goes into lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The whole of Scotland tuned in daily to watch First Minister Nicola Sturgeon give her updates, and then as lockdown continued we waited patiently for the hilarious comedy encore voice-over from Glasgow Comedienne, Janey Godley. It was a Friday night, my wife and I were having a wee drink and watching some of Janey’s Nicola Sturgeon voice-over videos. "Stay in the hoose or am gonnae take a run and put ma toe up the crack ae yer arse" This was the quote from the most recent video - it was hilarious, but straight to a very truthful point. Instantly, I thought, that would be brilliant for a campaign - a World War 1 style poster. Just like the iconic Lord Kitchener ‘Wants You’ 1914 advertisement, by Alfred Leete, which had been developed into a recruitment poster, calling for the viewer to enlist in the British Army to help our country. Like Lord Kitchener, our First Minister reached out to the viewers, asking for our help to “Stay At Home”, and Janey was right behind her, translating it into typical, sweary Scottish slang. 1914 Lord Kitchener Recruitment Poster So I began to draw. My love of drawing began when I was little and continued with me all through school and high school. I started drawing Disney characters, progressed into still life, to graffiti art, Japanese Manga, and then digital art. Once the illustration was finished, I posted it to social media. Janey saw it, shared it, and overnight it blew up over Scotland. People wanted to buy it to display in their windows. So that’s what I did. I set up a website and listed the poster for 1p plus £3 p+p to help cover my print, postage and packaging costs. I kept it as cheap as possible as I didn’t want to make any profit from something that was for a good cause. Then I could donate any leftover cash to a COVID-19 fund, although I thought there wouldn’t be much. Turns out the posters sold out in minutes, and I already had over £100 leftover. I used some of the money to do another print run. Again, they sold out instantly, and I made a profit of over £500, which I donated to various care homes, and people in the community who had been affected by COVID-19. Posters were going up in windows all over Scotland and what a feeling that was. Seeing my artwork and Janey’s comedy writing being used in such a positive way in order to help spread an important public health message across the nation was overwhelming.

https://medium.com/@digitalorange/how-a-drunken-evening-of-drawing-helped-me-become-a-published-illustrator-a139d79b6928

['Christina Connelly']

2021-02-18 15:41:07.956000+00:00

['Janey Godley', 'Book Design', 'Illustrator', 'Illustration', 'Covid Diaries']

Art is rubbish

Title：Art is rubbish Artist: Albeswood Project: Art is rubbish Creating Date: 2020 Medium: Installation Materials: Light box、Plastic material Size: 59×59×30in Quantity: Unique（One of a kind piece, created by the artist.） Signature: Hand-signed by artist, Signed on verso. Photographer: Albeswood Independent artist Albeswood , By using minimalist visual forms in this series of art works , To express the zen wisdoms that people show in daily life . He is good at expressing oriental minimalist aesthetics，And there are various forms of artistic works . The theme of most works of art is related to the inner state of the Orientals，Whether it is the “ gradual gray “ that the audience sees from the work , or his unique perspective on daily life . The audience can feel the author’s artistic creation process by observing the details of the works , Or reflect on yourself in your daily life . He uses a minimalist art form to create a zen atmosphere , Let the audience feel the emotion when the author creates . Although this series of vivid artworks looks very concise , it is full of deep emotions . Minimalism is not the purpose of artistic creation , but to filter out redundant interference in works through minimalism , so that the “ gradual gray “ between subject and object emerges . Let people feel the existence of “ air “ in the works . The “ air “ here can be understood as : artistic conception , atmosphere , etc . This is also one of the ways in which Orientals feels things through artistic conception and conduct vipassana . You can keep track of the artist’s work on instagram , And check out all the other works on his website . Artist Website: https://albeswood.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albeswoodart Email: Albeswood@gmail.com All images © Albeswood

https://medium.com/@albeswood/art-is-rubbish-2f4b1e1c856c

[]

2020-12-24 14:43:15.548000+00:00

['Zen', 'Creative', 'Abstract', 'Installation', 'Contemporaryart']

No Lounging in Christ (Part 3)

© 2020 Olia Gozha. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission. This is week three of our look at walking with Christ, or walking in the Spirit, and how such a walk contrasts with the temptation to “lie around in the Spirit,” lounging and relaxing in Christ — floating with the currents, wherever they may take us. Such is not the way of the Christ-follower. Rather, we walk! We take deliberate, purposeful steps in the execution of those works God prepared in advance for us that we should walk in them. This is going to be a “scripture-heavy” blog posting, so you may want to grab your Bible and keep it handy to verify what I’m presenting. As always, don’t just take my word for it. A People in Motion For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10, ESV But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16, ESV Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. — Galatians 5:25, NIV-1978 Clearly, the disciples of Jesus Christ are a people in motion. We are active, giving, serving, accomplishing those tasks that God has placed before us. That is where we walk. …so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; — Colossians 1:10, ESV The Purposeful Artistry of God When the apostle Paul says we are “God’s workmanship,” he uses the word ποιημα (poiema), from which we derive our word “poem.” Each of us is an artistic endeavor of the creator of the universe. We are that “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), but that creation or conversion experience is not the end of the story. We are re-created with a purpose. Not only did God re-create us, and ordain works in which we should walk, but he continues to work within us, empowering us to be fruitful in the work he has prepared for us. …for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. — Philippians 2:13, ESV And consider this from the writer of Hebrews: Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. — Hebrews 13:20–21, ESV The Working of Grace If I am coasting with the currents in Christ, I am not fulfilling the calling of God on my life — the God who created me in Christ Jesus FOR good works. We know that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works so that no one is able to boast (Ephesians 2:8–9), so we are not saved by grace plus works, but rather by grace that works. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. — 1 Corinthians 15:10, ESV Clearly, Paul worked, and grace worked with him. Later, Paul said… And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. — 2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV Grace abounds to us for the very purpose of enabling us to perform good works that glorify the Father. James says we demonstrate our faith by our works (James 2:18). Even the Heavenly Father is not kicking back and coasting. In response to some who criticized him for healing (working) on the Sabbath, Jesus said… …My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working. — 1 John 5:17b, NASB Works With an Objective And just as we are saved with the purpose of doing these good works that God prepared for us, the works themselves have a purpose. This isn’t just busywork. This is work with an objective, a goal. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. — Matthew 5:14–16, ESV We cannot boast in our works as though they saved us, and neither can we boast in our works we do because we are saved. In both cases, our works shine like conspicuous lights giving glory to our Father in heaven. I believe the point has been sufficiently made, so let me just close with a flurry of reinforcing references. We are to be “fruitful in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). We are thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). We are “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Our works are “spiritual sacrifices” offered to God (Hebrews 13:16). I know this was a long blog posting. Thank you for sticking with me to the end. Resist the urge to coast, brothers and sisters. Grab your bat, step up to the plate, and take your swings! Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Victoriously in Christ! - damon DamonJGray.org Medium.com Facebook Author Page Twitter — @DamonJGray Bible Gateway Blogger Grid YouTube Channel

https://medium.com/@damonjgray/no-lounging-in-christ-part-3-ea7f66a4e758

['Damon J. Gray']

2020-02-20 00:05:30.907000+00:00

['Bible', 'Christianity', 'Christian Living', 'Jesus', 'Walking']

Sennheiser debuts two new headphones for the U.S. market: The IE 300 IEH in-ear and the HD 250BT over-ear

Sennheiser debuts two new headphones for the U.S. market: The IE 300 IEH in-ear and the HD 250BT over-ear Jason Jan 16·2 min read World-renowned headphone maker Sennheiser has announced two new models for CES 2021. First, let’s take a look at the IE 300, a new in-ear headphone (IEH), featuring a refined version of the company’s 7mm Extra Wide Band (XWB) transducer, with an optimized membrane foil that minimizes natural resonances and total harmonic distortion, which is specified to be less than 0.08% at 1 kHz/94 dB. [ Further reading: The best headphones you can buy ]In addition, the space behind the transducer is designed to minimize reflections within the housing, and a resonator chamber in front of the transducer removes masking resonances in the ear canal. The end result is a promised frequency response from 6Hz to 20kHz (no tolerance given). According to Sennheiser, the IE 300 “delivers clear high frequencies with a subtle and warm musicality that brings greater intimacy to vocals.” Of course, durability and comfort have not been overlooked. The IE 300 comes with several sizes of silicone and memory-foam eartips, because using the right size for your ears is crucial for getting the best sound out of any IEH as well as maximizing noise isolation. Each earpiece features an individually adjustable ear hook for stability, and the included cable is reinforced with para-aramid that can withstand thousands of bend cycles. The cable is detachable from each earpiece thanks to its gold-plated Fidelity+ MMCX connector that’s seated in a recessed socket for additional strain relief. In addition, you can use an alternate cable, including balanced cables with 2.5- or 4.4mm connectors that are available as optional accessories. The IE 300 will be available by the end of January for an MSRP of $299.95. Sennheiser’s latest addition to its wireless-headphone stable is the entry-level HD 250BT, which has been available in Europe since last year but is now coming to the U.S. market. Touted as offering “club sound for everyday life,” the HD 250BT offers 25-hour battery life and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity with support for high-quality codecs such as AAC and aptX. In addition, you can tailor the sound to your individual tastes with an intuitive equalizer offered by Sennheiser’s Smart Control app. Sennheiser says this This over-the ear, closed-back headphone offers rugged construction, soft earpads that provide surprisingly effective noise isolation, and intuitive onboard controls. Even better, it’s highly affordable with an MSRP of only $69.95. Like the IE 300, it will be available in the US at the end of January. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.

https://medium.com/@jason54071196/sennheiser-debuts-two-new-headphones-for-the-u-s-15e6236617ca

[]

2021-01-16 01:32:46.990000+00:00

['Consumer Electronics', 'Deals', 'Consumer', 'Mobile']

Lasting Prevention Of Suicide Lies In Knowing The True Meaning Of Life

When such questions of where we are going after death occupy our thoughts with sufficient strength, we may be led to the true meaning of life. Photo by Fuu J on Unsplash Often we read in the newspapers, reports of suicide on daily basis, even from those whom we consider successful enough to want to desire life. The experts are not exempt, the poor and the rich are not immune, the religious people are not immune, as well as the very young. There has been a report of an eleven years old committing suicide. This scourge affects all in the human spectrum. Major Risk Factor For Suicide Is Mental Health The major cause of suicide is mental health. When the news reported the death of Gregory Eells, Head of Counselling and Psychological Disorder in Resilience, Executive Director, by suicide in Philadelphia in 2019. Stacey Cahn, clinical Associate of psychology at Rowan University has this to say, concerning the above, ‘’It shows that it is not something that happens to weak people. It can happen to anyone, including renowned experts in the field. Oncologists still get cancer. Psychologists are not immune to suicide.’’ Gregory Eells has earlier complained to his mum about the stress of the job. He was disappointed about not having time for his wife and children, who live in New York. He complained that the job was too demanding. Other Contributory Risk Factors To Suicide Other factors in people taking their lives, which could also be linked to mental health are: 1. Depression — feeling fed up with your circumstances or life generally that affects your mood and general outlook in life. This can cause a major shift in your health, including not been able to eat, sleep, or pleasure in anything. 2. Harmful use of alcohol or drugs — Uncontrolled use of hard drugs and alcohol can so affect mood and brain that the user becomes suicidal. 3. Job or Financial Loss — is a major risk factor. During the financial crash, including banks and the stock market crash, there were reports of lots of suicide or people having suicidal ideation. This is because people have lost the wealth they have built up over the years, including their pension pots. I remember a sixty-five years old man came on the television and describing having lost thirty years of savings then. I realized that nothing is guaranteed in this world. 4. Illness — Some people lose hope when they are confronted with a major illness like cancer, or some other critical illnesses. They soon give up hope, especially if it is incurable or it has lots of pain or discomfort that goes with it. 5. Loss of a significant other — Some people find it difficult to cope with the loss of significant others in their life. The fashion, giant, Alexander McQueen committed suicide in February 2010 when his mum died at 73, his reason, ‘’I can’t live without my mum.’’ 6. Stress — is a major cause of mental health that could lead to being suicidal. There are many issues in life to contend with, job (like Gregory Eells above), catching up the Joneses, so to speak, not being satisfied, greedy, and so on. 7. Not Knowing The True Meaning Of Life This is definitely an unfamiliar one as a major risk factor in suicide ideation. However, when those with suicidal ideation, start to ask questions like, Who am I, where do I come from, where do I go after death, and what is the purpose of my coming to this world? When such questions are occupying our thoughts with sufficient strength, we may be led to the true meaning of life. When people do not understand the meaning and purpose of life, it is easy to snap, get depressed, and downcast when things go wrong. But when they understand that challenges are part of life, indeed percusory to any success, then they are willing to learn the lesson that challenges bring. Also, anyone with suicidal ideation will probably think that death ends everything. Therefore his willingness to terminating his life will only lead to more suffering in the beyond. Life On Earth — A Gift From The Creator To Man Life on earth is a gift from the Creator to man for a number of years for the purpose of experiencing on earth so that he is able to develop his spirit, before the transition to the other side (beyond). While there is a natural death, there is also wilful termination of life on earth, known as suicide, Mankind is a spirit, the real inner core that animates the body. It is when that part leaves the body that we term death. He who commits suicide appears to have thought that life ends with death. Not knowing that death on earth leads to the continuation of life on the other side where he came from. The world here is interlocked with the other side (the beyond), so there is no separation. The imaginary separation is just the invention of man. Life does not end with death, just like it does not start with the birth on earth. What’s Next After Suicide? Is everything over? No. Is the problem solved for the victim? No. Rather, it is the beginning of bigger problems. The last agonizing moments of one that commits suicide will come to life, vividly, in bold relief before him upon awakening on the other side. This may not disappear for decades. Consider day consciousness and falling asleep. Someone has taken a narcotic because of a disturbing problem, which he does not want to face. He falls asleep and later wakes up to find out that the problem is still there. We are not to judge, but to remind ourselves of the meaning of life. Helping exhortation can be found in the Bible, 1Corinthians 3, 16–17, ‘’ ‘’Don’t you know that you yourself are God’s temple, and God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him, for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.’’ ‘’And in Quaran 6:61, ‘’Do not kill the soul, which Allah has forbidden (to be killed)……’’ Conclusion — The Spiritual Secret What we are saying is that suicide is never an option. And what awaits a suicide death at the other side is indescribable frightful and oppressive that nobody will ever want to consider it, IF ONLY THEY KNOW.

https://medium.com/an-idea/lasting-prevention-of-suicide-lies-in-knowing-the-true-meaning-of-life-c360f8f2da35

['Lanu Pitan']

2020-09-17 23:14:27.938000+00:00

['Spirituality', 'Mental Health', 'Life Lessons', 'Suicide Prevention', 'Spiritual Secrets']

My Favorite NBA Future Bets and some Preseason Hot Takes

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge NBA fan/nerd. I love everything about the league. The flow of the game, the stars, the pettiness, the off season drama, the awesome highlights, and of course my beloved Sixers. It is the holiday season, so in the spirit of giving I will be handing out some futures I recommend you all take. Portland Trail Blazers 39.5 OVER I am so in on the Blazers this year. They’ve always had the scoring power with Dame and CJ, but this offseason they finally made an effort to get better on defense bringing in Covington and Derrick Jones Jr (gonna ignore that they also signed Kanter). They also get a healthy Nurkic, Collins and Rodney Hood back for the year, plus have some young developing talent in Gary Trent Jr, Anfernee Simons, and newly signed Harry Giles who I’m still high on. This is by far the best team Dame has played on, and it feels like he’s in the height of his prime right now. I like the Blazers to smash this over and finish as a top 4 seed in the tough West Sacramento Kings 27.5 UNDER There’s really not a whole lot to like about this King’s roster besides Fox and their rookie Haliburton. They have a lot of college studs who never really met their high expectations in the NBA (i.e. Harrison Barnes, Buddy, and Jabari Parker) oh and they gave a lot of money to Hassan Whiteside. I don’t think Luke Walton is a particularly great coach, and this team straight up doesn’t play defense. An uninspiring roster, bad coach, and horrid defense isn’t a good formula for navigating the gauntlet that is the West this year. Under please. Minnesota Timberwolves 29.5 UNDER Don’t let Kat and DLo fool you this team stinks. Outside of those 2 offensive studs (notice how I didn’t say defensive) this roster is very meh. Number 1 pick Anthony Edwards is a work in progress, however Malik Beasley is dating Scotty Pipen’s ex wife which is kinda cool I guess. In a ultra competitive Western conference, somebody has to be bad, and it will be the Wolves. After Harden gets traded, it will be Kat’s turn to be the NBA’s unhappiest star. MVP Futures: Giannis and Luka have the best odds rn, but I really don’t see a 3 peat MVP and I think Luka is a year or two away Kevin Durant: +1000 I love this pick at this value. The MVP is just one big narrative award. Well there’s no better narrative right now then KD coming back from a devastating injury and destroying everyone. Get used to every ESPN/TNT NBA personality saying how they forgot how good KD was during the first month of the season. Damian Lillard: +1900 More awesome value here. Dame is another player the media and world fell in love with in the bubble. If he can stay healthy and get the Blazers to a top 3 seed, I think he’s a shoe in to get his first MVP Rookie of the Year: Deni Avdija +1400 Wiseman is gonna be the trendy pick playing big minutes with Steph, but gimme the Hebrew Hammer! The Israeli has 3 years of experience playing in Europe’s best league and can really do everything on the floor. Reminds me of a better Dario Saric and I think he’s going to get some big minutes on a competitive Wizards squad. Most Improved Player: This award is really a crap shoot but I have 2 longshots I like a lot OG Anunoby +4900 I’ve been an OG stan for a while now and he’s only gotten better every year he’s in the league. I think this is the year he really starts turning heads and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he made his first all star game. Making an all star game would put him as the odds on favorite to win this award in my opinion so why not throw a few dollars on this. Plus OG is British and cool af. Shake Milton +6500 I looooooove this bet. Shake is a certified stud and I am expecting a huge breakout year from him. Doc is in love with him too and it looks like he’s gonna be getting big minutes off the bench all year. +6500 is too good of value to pass up here. Defensive Player of the Year Ben Simmons +1600 I think this reward is Anthony Davis’s to lose this year, but if you’re going for the value play it’s Simmons. He already started gaining media traction on this last year and for good reason. Ben can guard any position on the floor and is just an absolute pest on the defensive end. Finals Prediction: Lakers in 5 over Bucks: Think this is the year Giannis finally makes it to the finals, and Lebron will give him a nice welcome with a gentleman’s sweep. This Laker’s team is just too good, and they only got better this offseason. Barring any major season ending injury, I think they go back to back with ease. And finally some spicy hot takes/predictions I will not provide any rationale behind

https://medium.com/@dlevey123/my-favorite-nba-future-bets-and-some-preseason-hot-takes-a9313f0b925a

['Dave Levey']

2020-12-21 23:36:04.950000+00:00

['NBA', 'Sports Betting', 'Sixers']

The Beginner’s Guide to the Neo4j Graph Platform

1. Setup Java Before you continue with the installation, you need to make sure that either OpenJDK 11 or Oracle Java 11 is installed in your machine. You can easily check it by running the following command in the terminal. java --version You should see the following output Image by Author I am using the OpenJDK 11 build made by AdoptOpenJDK, which is open-sourced and available for free. Neo4j At the time of this writing, the latest community version is 4.1.1. Head over to the official download page and download the neo4j main file based on your operating system. Once you click on the download link, the download will start and you will be redirected to a new page with the installation steps. In this tutorial, the steps provided are based on the Windows platform. Kindly refer to the official installation steps if you are using other operating systems. Extract the files at the directory of your choice. You should see the following files and folders. Image by Author There are two ways to run Neo4j: As console application As service Console application The simplest method is to run it as a console application via the following command. NEO4J_HOME refers to the base directory where you extracted the file. <NEO4J_HOME>\bin eo4j console The following output will be displayed at your terminal: Image by Author In console mode, the process is tied to the terminal. It needs to stay open in the foreground. Service On the other hand, service runs the process in the background. It will continue to run even if the terminal is closed. To install it as a service, run the following command: <NEO4J_HOME>\bin eo4j install-service After that, you can start it normally via the following command: neo4j start The following list contains some of the useful commands based on Windows PowerShell module: stop — Stop the process — Stop the process restart — Restart the process — Restart the process status — Check the status of the process — Check the status of the process uninstall-service — Remove neo4j as service Neo4j console The next step is to access it in your browser. Open up a browser and go to the following URL. It will redirect you to: with the following user interface: Image by Author If you are accessing it for the first time, simply connect to the database via the following username and password: username — neo4j — neo4j password — neo4j It will prompt you to change the password. Make sure you remember the new password, as subsequent logins will use the new password. Once you have logged in, you should see the following interface: Image by Author The part highlighted in red represents the input area where you can type in the query language to be executed. You can find three buttons on the right side as follows: star — Update the query as your favourite — Update the query as your favourite eraser — Clear the input area — Clear the input area play — Execute the query. You can use the shortcut key Ctrl+Enter to trigger the execution. Each time you ran a command, results will be shown and recorded down. The part highlighted in blue represent the built-in command that will be run each time you refreshed the browser. Sample datasets Neo4j comes with two sample datasets for you. Run the following command if you intend to follow the built-in tutorial. The first dataset demonstrates the common query patterns on actors and movies in cross-referenced pop culture. Run the following in the input area to start the tutorial. :play movie graph In addition, the second dataset covers on loading data from external csv files. You will learn to transition from RDBMS schema to graph structure using some classical datasets. You can start the tutorial via the following command:

https://medium.com/better-programming/the-beginners-guide-to-the-neo4j-graph-platform-a39858ccdeaa

['Ng Wai Foong']

2020-11-09 01:55:46.915000+00:00

['Neo4j', 'Data Science', 'Database', 'Programming', 'Big Data']

Cloud Mining is the process of coin mining utilizing a remote datacenter with shared processing…

Cloud Mining is the process of coin mining utilizing a remote datacenter with shared processing power. Cloud (or remote) mining — is the process of using hardware power to mine cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin or Litecoin) remotely. This mining model came to existence due to the fact that the increasing difficulty of mining has made it unprofitable for mining enthusiasts to mine Bitcoins at home. Cloud mining gives people a unique opportunity to begin mining cryptocurrency without the need for a large initial investment in hardware or technical knowledge. Despite the simplicity of the cloud mining model, it is worth elaborating on a few details, specifically it’s important to highlight that remote mining comes in two forms: hosted or cloud based mining In connection with the launch of Mygbit a bounty campaign was created this program allows you to make additional profits by performing simple tasks to earn money on this campaign you simply need to fulfill some basic requirements. Facebook BONUS: 1 MH/s Goal Share our materials on Facebook Conditions — Tag in feed the official account of the company @mygbit — Your account and posts must be set to public — Your Facebook account must be at least 3 months old — You must have at least 50 friends in your FB profile — There shoulld be at least 3 pesonal photos in your account — Add the stories to your Highlights and tag #Mygbit Telegram BONUS: 1 MH/s Goal Connect to our Telegram channel Conditions One time bonus offer. Connect to our telegram channel, get your 1 hashpower and start mining. Blog BONUS: 5 MH/s Goal Share your blog post Conditions — The minimum monthly traffic of your website should be 500. — It is necessary to give detailed information about the company in the blog post. — Your blog website must be at least 1 year old. — You must have at least one picture from mygbit website with your username. — You must have at least 5 post in different categories. Youtube BONUS: 10 MH/s Goal Make a promotion video on Youtube Conditions — Tag in video the official account of the company @mygbit — Your video must be set to public — Your Youtube channel must be at least 3 months old — You must have at least 500 subscriber in your Youtube channel — There shoulld be at least 3 videos in your channel — Add the comment to your Highlights and tag #Mygbi mygbit.com/u/Dimcoin

https://medium.com/@dimcoin3/cloud-mining-is-the-process-of-coin-mining-utilizing-a-remote-datacenter-with-shared-processing-a9c26c6a404a

[]

2021-05-03 19:59:50.572000+00:00

['Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Btc', 'Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Mining']

Top IT Infrastructure Monitoring Trends to Look Out For

IT Infrastructure Monitoring has evolved beyond imagination over the last decade and continues to, courtesy of new technology. It’s not focused on IT elements anymore, as Infrastructure & Operations (I&O) is becoming more business-centric. That also gives rise to challenges for IT leaders who need to adapt at a quick pace. It’s not news that infrastructure monitoring is extremely important for the health of any enterprise. But the changing trends point out that adaptability may just be even more important. Of course, cloud computing is playing a huge role in this, as it is in virtually every industry. Top IT Infrastructure Monitoring Trends 2020 For those responsible for infrastructure monitoring, it’s vital to stay on top of the latest trends and to adopt the new technology. Part of that transition is adopting IT monitoring tools that are up-to-date with the changing scenario in the industry. VirtualMetric’s Windows Monitoring and Linux Monitoring tools are designed to be adaptable by nature. In fact, they are helping enterprises implement and catch up with the latest trends. Here are the top 5 trends to look out for: 1. Serverless Computing Serverless computing is, no doubt, the number one trend in IT infrastructure monitoring. Some are even touting it as the next big thing in IT after the cloud. But what is serverless computing? It’s technically called a function platform as a service (FPaaS). FPaaS or serverless computing is a pay-as-used basis backend services system. It involves servers but does not require provisioning and management. The outcome, and perhaps also the highlight of the technology, is reduced costs. You’re charged based on the computing, nothing more and nothing less. Another important benefit is easy scaling. This technology can quickly adapt to the growing needs, and at times dwindling needs of the enterprise. While cost-effectiveness is the biggest driving force behind this trend, convenience is also at its core. This is why even big corporations like Netflix and Coca Cola are going serverless. 2. Edge Computing Edge computing is one of the hottest IT industry trends, thanks to the rise of 5G now. What is edge computing, you ask? It basically involves moving infrastructure closer to the consumers in proximity. This may involve edge data centers, microservers, data management platforms, and IoT gateways. The benefits of edge computing are based on simple physics. Moving some of the infrastructures can effectively increase reliability. 5G technology, of course, has a big role to play in this trend as it’s also focused on proximity and faster speeds. This technology can have implications in infrastructure monitoring as well, given it would expand the infrastructure, adding a new direction to it. 3. Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a trend; it’s a multi-billion dollar industry, projected to cross $700 billion by 2027. AI has touched every industry, so there’s no reason to doubt it won’t take center stage in monitoring as well. Think in terms of machine learning, how crucial it can be for a monitoring tool to learn from events and mistakes. It can effectively improve itself with all the data it collects. AI will be vital in expanding IT monitoring without necessarily using human resources. Whether that’s good or bad is a whole another debate. But it’s certain that AI is going to be the big thing in infrastructure monitoring and management too. In 2019, enterprise spending on AI grew by 67 percent. Data analysis is at the heart of both AI and monitoring. Monitoring as a service relies on data to find issues and resolve them in time. AI uses data to learn and solve problems. The two use cases overlap, which is why it’s only natural for monitoring to utilize AI as much as possible. 4. Digital Diversity Management Diversity has been a big issue in the sociopolitical sense, but it’s also a hot topic in the digital industry. Digital diversity refers to the different kinds of technologies and digital assets that today’s organizations rely upon. Monitoring and managing these diverse technologies can be a big challenge. Inventory management is at the core of diversity management. Those behind the monitoring teams need to have a handle on all ends of the operations for big-picture monitoring and analysis. It’s the classic no stone left unturned situation, where you need to be on top of all the technologies within the infrastructure for effective management and optimization. It’s expected that this would become a major trend, especially for monitoring software. It would need to take into account the growing diversity and take a centralized approach to track it. 5. Data Center Farewell The good old data center may not even exist at the end of this decade. At least that’s what it looks like based on the analysis and predictions of analysts. Gartner, one of the leading research firms in the world, predicted in 2019 that data centers would no longer be ubiquitous by 2025. This is not to say that data centers will completely disappear, but they will not be as common as they were a decade ago. Cloud computing has caused this shift, so it’s upon enterprises to start thinning what lies ahead in the future in terms of where the workloads will be based. This shift may be due to cloud computing, but it’s also a result of changing business needs. So IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders will have to think in terms of business needs rather than technological requirements. Conclusion IT infrastructure monitoring can only be efficient if it uses the latest offerings. I&O leaders will also need to think of infrastructure monitoring from a global perspective. The idea of modern infrastructure is one of global infrastructure, regardless of the size of the enterprise. That global approach would need to reflect within monitoring tools as well. While there are many other trends like SaaS denial and talent management, the above five trends are leading the way and creating even more prolific roles for the people behind this crucial part of the IT industry.

https://medium.com/@virtualmetric/top-it-infrastructure-monitoring-trends-to-look-out-for-cebd2f0e933d

[]

2020-12-15 12:10:43.481000+00:00

['Monitoring Trends', 'Trends', 'It Monitoring', 'Infrastructure Monitoring', 'Infrastructure']

The massacre that made Japan the enemy of the International Community

The massacre that made Japan the enemy of the International Community The Rape of Nanjing and the International Response The Japanese atrocities in the Second Sino-Japanese War It’s 1937. The Empire of Japan is trying to fulfil its aspirations of further expansions and the Chinese government is trying to resist. The first Sino-Japanese War had ended in 1895, with the win of the Japanese forces and the loss for the Qing Dynasty of China. At the most recent war, the stakes were higher and the need to win the war was more urgent than ever. Japan was pursuing the imperialist policy that had started with the beginning of the century and after the Great Depression of 1930, had committed the Invasion of Manchuria in China, one year later, establishing a puppet government by the name of Manchukuo; according to many historians the second war between the two powers started in 1931. China, on the other hand, was concerned since it was a smaller military power but simultaneously, had started being offered help by the United States of America; since the expansion of Japan was threatening US interests in the Pacific waters. In 1931, the Mukden Incident, in which the Japanese military had accused Chinese troops for blowing up a railway train, although there was plenty of evidence that depicted the Japanese accountable in purpose; in this way they could declare war and justify their attack. This time, in 1937, the beginning of the war had been located at the Marco Polo Bridge in July, when a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops in Peking led to a full-scale invasion; by many it was regarded as the beginning of WWII in Asia. The foreign aid that the Chinese government would receive wasn't enough for the early period of the war and that led the Japanese forces to capture the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and the Chinese Capital of Nanjing in 1937. The text focuses on the last victory which was also been named as the Rape of Nanjing, due to the brutality and inhumane acts that the Japanese military forces showed. This wasn’t a typical victory for the Japanese forces and it has been justifiably alternatively named the Nanjing Massacre, since for 6 weeks the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army were constantly murdering disarmed combatants and civilians, with an estimated number of over 300,000 people. Widespread rape and looting were also some acts that not only violated the civilians’ human rights but for many, showed the real ‘face’ of the Japanese to the international powers. The debate with the accurate number of people killed had been an important issue until the end of the 20th century, due to the fact that the Japanese had kept secret or destroyed all evidence and there are many estimations for the death toll by both sides. The question one might ask is why the United States didn’t intervene and prevented this massacre. To provide an answer, one has to understand the context of the events and the significance of the reaction by the other global powers. As stated before, the United States were concerned about Japan’s expansion and violation of Chinese borders, but couldn’t react with a strong intervention mainly due to the Great Depression of 1930, the inefficient naval force and the trade relations with Japan. Firstly, the impact of the depression was still disturbing and Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt were obliged by the American population to focus on the domestic affairs of the economy. Secondly, the severe impact of the Depression was also clear in the military sector, where the US lacked a credible naval force. In this particular case, provoking a conflict in the Pacific by supporting China and directly opposing Japan would be a move that would find the US unprotected for any attack. Additionally, the American interests and security weren’t directly affected by the attacks of Japan and their close economic and trading ties with the US, urged the latter to not jeopardise their trading well-being. For these reasons, the United States chose to issue a non-recognition doctrine on the 7th of January, 1932, declaring that there wasn’t any American recognition to an agreement that violated Chinese borders. It was an indirect moral condemnation for Japan’s actions, introduced by the Secretary of State Henry Stimpson. He clearly stated that “It would seem that the responsibility for determining the course of events with regard to the ending of the situation rests largely upon Japan…”. Historians such as Richard Story, stating that “…it exacerbated nationalist feeling in Japan, was of no practical help to China, and advanced America’s own interests in no way at all”, support that the Stimson Doctrine wasn’t necessary and didn’t clearly show that the US was completely neutral. This neutral stance would ultimately end with the Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor, on the 7th of December in 1941 and the article cited below can show how the United States recovered and joined the war. Therefore, when Chiang Kai-Shek supported a policy of ‘selling territory to buy time’, he waited for an international response in the Japanese bombings but it wouldn’t be answered by the United States and moreover, it wouldn't definitely be answered by the British and the French. In July, he appeared to the Western Powers and a Nine-Power Treaty Conference was organised in October 1937, two months after the bombing in Shanghai and before the massacre. Despite the fact that the great powers of Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and China joined the conference, Japan refused to attend, since the leaders were aware of the issue that would be discussed. The Treaty was signed under the auspices of the Washington Conference in 1921–1922, which promoted stability and peace-making. However, there’s nothing wrong with stating that the treaty failed overall, since Japan went on to devastating and brutal attacks with the appalling atrocities at the massacre. This was an event that immediately put Japan in the ‘column’ with the most notorious countries at the time and ‘opened the eyes’ of the global powers for the future of peace-making. Even Japanese historian Akira Iriye states that “The rape of Nanjing would make it all but possible for Japan to still be accepted as a respectable member of the international community”.

https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/the-massacre-that-made-japan-the-enemy-of-the-international-community-12027bf847b4

['Ioannis Dedes']

2020-12-27 16:02:53.750000+00:00

['History', 'Government', 'Life', 'Politics', 'Economics']

Green Technology Gifts

Give and receive the gift of green this holiday season. Green — by its 21st-century definition- is good. We Americans are going green. Some say we’ve reached the point of no return. Like the “ecology” movement of the 70’s and the technology boom of the 90’s, the “green” movement is forging ahead. There is no longer a typical demographic to define the green consumer. Everyone gets in the game. Women primarily purchase green products for themselves and for their men. Children influence their parent’s purchasing decisions. Adults buy from businesses that stock their shelves with renewable consumer products. According to a 2005 UK report, three in 10 Americans are classified as green consumers, bringing $225 billion to the marketplace. That’s good news for you and me. Finding and selecting a green technology gift is easier than ever. Renewable Energy Consider solar power, wind and water, and give gifts that take advantage of the renewable resources of the earth. Solar-powered gifts are available for all budgets. No, I’m not suggesting you give a windmill to your husband for Christmas, or dig a well. But consider battery chargers and bike lamps; spa heaters and solar trailers. Solar-powered gifts now meet consumer demand for price and availability. Portable water purifiers that make dirty water drinkable are great gifts for the outdoorsman or -woman. Now, there are many high-quality gifts made from renewable materials. Wood and cotton are renewable because they are continuously harvested and replanted. Find a gift that incorporates both of these renewable materials and environmentally-friendly packaging, and you have hit the trifecta of green technology gift-giving. Consider Timber Sound LLC. They make Thinksound headphones using real wood from renewable forests, a cotton carrying pouch and PVC-free cables. The company uses bleach-free packaging and has eliminated unnecessary plastic bubble inserts. Don’t think that a green gift has to be a cheap trinket or toy made from inferior products. Computers, cell phones and other high-tech electronics can make great green gifts. Some stereo speakers, boom boxes and even computers are now encased in recycled cardboard instead of plastic and incorporate a high amount of other recycled material in their design. Samsung’s Reclaim cell phone is manufactured from 80 percent recycled materials and Sony’s GreenHeart Elm received top honors in 2010 with a ranking of 4.3 out of 5 on green standard credentials. Kids learn while they play with toys. Start early with your kids, teaching them about green technology by giving them a gift that simulates life in an environmentally-friendly community. PlanToys has Eco Town, an interactive play mat for kids age 3 years and older. They build streets for electric cars, bicycle trails and walking paths, and an eco-train station. It introduces children to clean energy sources by giving them a choice about where they place charging stations, parks and ponds. So there is some food for thought. Don’t be afraid to be a bit discerning this holiday season and shop stores that are incorporating this burgeoning industry into their product mix.

https://medium.com/chuck-douros/green-technology-gifts-2dcbba99323e

['Chuck J Douros']

2018-01-02 16:32:06.429000+00:00

['Web Content', 'Solar Energy', 'Ehow', 'Recycling', 'Renewable Energy']

Enjoyment is defined as, “the state or process of taking pleasure in something.”

Enjoyment is defined as, “the state or process of taking pleasure in something.” Everyone in the world receives pleasure from various commodities and activities. Specifically, I enjoy entertaining people. My name is Austin Widmer and I am majoring in Filmmaking at Montclair State University. I truly love to bring a sense of a desired emotion to one. For instance, I enjoy making people laugh, while I also enjoy helping them out. However they wish to feel, I hope to portray through the use of entertainment. In addition, I enjoy traveling to new places and seeing how other people live. I really like picking up on people’s mannerisms and little motifs they carry out throughout their everyday lives. I attempt to replicate these mannerisms and use them in my own way throughout life. I am good at coming up with unique stories and some voice over narrations. I have written a couple short films and other projects in the past. In those films, I like adding voice overs when appropriate and believe some of my voices are decent. I am also good at memorization; therefore, I like being placed in acting positions. I was always capable of memorizing all my notes the night before an exam, as well as lines in a script. I am not amazing at these listed attributes, but I hope to perfect them. There are a plentiful amount of jobs I could get paid to do, yet obtaining those professions are sometimes difficult to do. I can get paid to become a script writer. If I was hired by a company or organization, I could possibly write for them. Also, writing my own movies would be ideal, but it’s a stretch. I can get paid as an actor, yet many actors do not make what they’re looking to receive. If I really worked on voice overs, I could get paid as a narrator or some profession with voices. I could audition for SNL and start there working on projects. Honestly right now, any of these options would be ideal. The world is always needing more talent, entertainment, and storytellers. I could and wish to participate in all of these. I can give stories and write them for the world throughout a means of entertainment. I would want to be part of some of the films I write or help develop. I can give myself an empty role that needs to be filled. The world needs to open back up again once a vaccine is released. I hope that I can be a large part of this entertainment for the world. I will use my skills from the second paragraph to perform what I enjoy. Thus, getting paid to do what you love is all I am looking for. I believe the world needs all of us, we just have to give it our all. This image is the title of a film I am currently working on:

https://medium.com/@widmera1/enjoyment-is-defined-as-the-state-or-process-of-taking-pleasure-in-something-cdef9b9fcdc5

['Austin Widmer']

2020-12-13 01:09:01.601000+00:00

['Goals', 'Filmmaking', 'Future']

Building custom DataSource for ExoPlayer

Photo by Kushagra Kevat on Unsplash ExoPlayer is a very powerful library, developed and maintained by Google, for playing various video and audio content on Android. It also provides a large set of extension for using custom data source or supporting new formats. Let see how we can build our own extension by developing a custom DataSource for playing content from a SMB server. What is an ExoPlayer DataSource? With ExoPlayer, a DataSource is an interface that reads data from URI-identified resources, it allows to open a connection to read the specified data on your server by example. The library provides a default implementation for reading HTTP sources with HttpDataSource and you can find several extension that uses OkHttp or another for supporting RMTP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol). ExoPlayer provides a factory interface for building your instance of your custom DataSource with DataSource.Factory. Let’s have a look at the structure of these two interfaces: For building custom DataSource, the main focus will be on implementing the open() and read() functions. They are the keys methods for opening the connection and read the data from your source. In the section below, let see how we can build a custom DataSource for reading data on a server that implements SMB (Server Message Block) network protocol. Building SMB DataSource for ExoPlayer What is Server Message Block (SMB) protocol? SMB is a communication protocol for accessing shared files, printers or even serial ports on a given network. This protocol relies on lower-level protocols for transport. SMB is mostly used on Microsoft Windows computers. So this protocol can be quite nice when you want to stream your own video from your SMB server on your device. Let’s have a look at the scheme syntax of a SMB URL: smb://[[[domain;]username[:password]@]server[:port]/[[share/[dir/]file]]][?param=value[param2=value2[...]]] By example a SMB URL might be looking as following: smb://user:pwd@192.168.0.1/share/dir/path/awesomeVideo.mkv Implementing the SMB DataSource with SMBJ library For opening the communication between our Android application and our server, we are going to use SMBJ Java library. It will allow us to open the connection, browse files and stream the content from the server. But first, let’s implement the SmbDataSourceFactory that will allow us to create the instance of the SmbDataSource that will be injected in our player’s MediaSource. Now, let’s focus on the implementation of the SmbDataSource itself. It may extend DataSource directly, or BaseDataSource if you want that some logic remains handled by ExoPlayer. In the constructor, we are going to get all we need for reading the remote file on the SMB server by extracting the data and credentials from the URL. Extract SMB information Once the data is extracted, the connection can be opened in order to read the input stream and get the data buffer that will be consumed by the video, audio or text renderers. Thanks to the SMBJ library we can easily access the file we want to stream and then we can get the input stream from that file to get the number of bytes that can be read. After opening the connection and getting the byte buffer we want to read, we are going to implement the read() function for dispatching the number of bytes read. In the end, we want to close the client and the input stream when it has reached the end of the file or when the user is stopping the playback of the video by example. To do so, we just need to override the close() method and actually close all the connections we opened before. Now that we have our new custom DataSource for reading media content on a SMB server, we can use it and inject it while setting up the player. When a new URL is detected with the SMB format, we can create the MediaSource to be used by the player with the instance of our SmbDataSource.

https://medium.com/@juliensalvi/building-custom-datasource-for-exoplayer-87fd16c71950

['Julien Salvi']

2020-11-25 15:31:09.488000+00:00

['Media Player', 'Android', 'AndroidDev', 'Exoplayer', 'Android Development']

Reformism Isn’t Liberation, It’s Counterinsurgency

Reformism Isn’t Liberation, It’s Counterinsurgency This article is part of Abolition for the People, a series brought to you by a partnership between Kaepernick Publishing and LEVEL, a Medium publication for and about the lives of Black and Brown men. The series, which comprises 30 essays and conversations over four weeks, points to the crucial conclusion that policing and prisons are not solutions for the issues and people the state deems social problems — and calls for a future that puts justice and the needs of the community first. The logic of ‘reform’ Reform is best understood as a logic rather than an outcome: an approach to institutional change that sustains existing social, economic, political, and/or legal systems, including but not limited to policing, two-party electoral politics, heteronormativity, criminal justice, and corporate destruction of the natural world. To reform a system is to adjust isolated aspects of its operation in order to protect that system from total collapse, whether by internal or external forces. Such adjustments usually rest on the fundamental assumption that these systems must remain intact — even as they consistently produce asymmetrical misery, suffering, premature death, and violent life conditions for certain people and places. While modern policing has emerged through the institutionalized violence of anti-Black apartheid and the long genocidal legacies of chattel slavery and frontier warfare, contemporary efforts at “police reform” nonetheless suggest that policing can be magically transformed into a non-anti-Black, non-racial-colonial (“racist”) system. As the story goes, this white magic is to be performed by way of piecemeal changes in police administration, protocols, “officer accountability,” training, and personnel recruitment. The #8CantWait campaign, widely publicized on social media by the nonprofit organization We the Protestors and its Campaign Zero effort during the early days of the June 2020 global rebellion against anti-Black police violence, exemplifies the foundational fraudulence of this magical ambition. Premised on the untenable, poorly researched, and dangerous notion that adoption of its eight improved “use of force” policies will result in police killing “72% fewer people,” the 8 Can’t Wait agenda attracted immediate and widespread support from celebrities and elected officials, including Oprah Winfrey, Julián Castro, and Ariana Grande. Such endorsements are inseparable from the political logic of the nonprofit industrial complex: The infrastructure of liberal philanthropy commodifies simplistic narratives of reform into tidy sound/text bites that are easily repeated, retweeted, and reposted by public-facing people and organizations. This dynamic not only insults the intelligence of those engaged in serious, collectively accountable forms of struggle against state violence; it also glorifies clout-seeking laziness as a substitute for actual (abolitionist) activism. One of many glaring problems with #8CantWait — which advocates de-escalation, “warning before shooting,” banning chokeholds, and installation of a “use of force continuum” — is that many of its proposed policy reforms were incorporated by the most homicidally anti-Black police departments in the United States (including the notorious Chicago PD) well prior to the state-sanctioned killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and so many others. Against all historical evidence, #8CantWait attempts to convince those questioning and rebelling against a violent, misery-making system that policing is reformable — that it can be modified and refurbished to protect and serve the very same places, communities, and bodies it has historically surveilled, patrolled, intimidated, and eviscerated. As Project NIA director and abolitionist organizer Mariame Kaba wrote in a June New York Times editorial, “There is not a single era in United States history in which the police were not a force of violence against Black people.” A recent amicus brief in Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review echoes Black radical feminist and abolitionist analyses like those of Kaba, Rachel Herzing, Alisa Bierria, Sarah Haley, Beth Richie, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore by considering how #8CantWait amounts to a liberal reaction to and attempted appropriation of an emerging global mass movement that radically confronts the foundational gendered anti-Black logics of modern policing. The brief suggests that “Campaign Zero’s decision to move forward with a middle-of-the-road proposal, just as abolitionist organizers have begun to garner increased public support in their demands to defund and abolish the police, is questionable.” It is vital to ask why such reform campaigns consistently emerge with special intensity in historical moments of widespread anti-systemic uprising. The 2020 global rebellions against anti-Black policing, acceleration of abolitionist and proto-abolitionist organizing, and spread of Black feminist and queer radicalisms in our midst are, as the late Cedric Robinson might say, a brilliant, messy, beautiful totality that seeks to overthrow conditions of terror. These conditions are both deeply historical and acutely present, encompassing the deadly forces of criminalization, housing and food insecurity, incarceration, targeted environmental toxification, sexual violence, and cultural demonization. Yet, reform movements tend to simultaneously obscure and reproduce normalized conditions of terror by deferring and/or repressing militant collective confrontation with the historical foundations of gendered anti-Black and racial-colonial state violence. Put another way, if the foundation of such violence is policing itself rather than isolated acts of “police brutality,” or criminal justice rather than the scandal of “mass incarceration,” then reform is merely another way of telling the targets of such asymmetrical domestic warfare that they must continue to tolerate the intolerable. What might it mean, in moments of widespread rebellion against normalized conditions of terror, to conceptualize reform campaigns like #8CantWait as a liberal-progressive counterinsurgency? How do such reformist counterinsurgencies serve to undermine, discredit, or otherwise disrupt oppressed, freedom-seeking (Black, Indigenous, incarcerated, colonized) peoples’ growing struggles for abolitionist, anti-colonial, decolonizing, and/or revolutionary transformations of existing social, political, and economic systems? ‘Reformism’ Reformism — the ideological and political position that fixates on reform as the primary if not exclusive engine of social change/justice — is another name for this soft form of counterinsurgency. Reformism defers, avoids, and even criminalizes peoples’ efforts to catalyze fundamental change to an existing order, often through dogmatic and simplistic mandates of “nonviolence,” incrementalism, and compliance. Moreover, reformism sees the law as the only legitimate form of protest, collective cultural/political expression, and/or direct intervention on systemically violent conditions. (It is worth noting that the interpretation of violent vs. nonviolent acts requires discussion and debate, particularly in response to oxymoronic notions of “property violence” that rarely account for gendered anti-Black and racial-colonial state violence.) Reformism limits the horizon of political possibility to what is seen as achievable within the limits of existing institutional structures (electoral politics, racial capitalism, heteronormativity, the nation-state, etc.). The reformist counterinsurgency pivots on a fervent belief that the spirit of progress, national improvement, and patriotic belief will prevail over a fundamentally violent order. In practice, this belief approximates a kind of pseudo-religion. While abolitionist, revolutionary, and radical forms of collective analysis and movement frequently create irreconcilable confrontation with oppressive institutions and systems, reformism seeks to preserve social, political, and economic orders by modifying isolated aspects of their operation. A peculiar assertion animates contemporary forms of this liberal-progressive counterinsurgency: that the long historical, systemic, institutionally reproduced asymmetries of violence produced by existing systems are the unfortunate consequences of fixable “inequities,” “disparities,” “(unconscious or implicit) biases,” corruptions, and/or inefficiencies. In this sense, reformism presumes that equality/equity/parity are achievable — and desirable — within existing systems. The reformist counterinsurgency pivots on a fervent belief that the spirit of progress, national improvement, and patriotic belief will prevail over a fundamentally violent order. In practice, this belief approximates a form of dogmatic liberal faith — a kind of pseudo-religion. Thus, increased “diversity” in personnel and bureaucratic infrastructure, shifts in the legal and policy apparatus, and individualized “anti-bias trainings” ascend as some of the principal methods for alleviating state violence. There is yet another layer of fatal assumption that structures the reformist position: that those targeted for misery, displacement, and premature death under the existing social order must tolerate continued suffering while waiting for the reformist “fix” to take hold. Abolition An abolitionist analysis and collective praxis, on the other hand, offers an urgent rebuttal to the bad-faith incrementalism of the reformist position. Two parts of the spreading abolitionist response are worth emphasizing: First, that the internal logic of the existing social, political, and economic order (following Sylvia Wynter, let us call this “Civilization”) amounts to a long historical war on specific peoples and places. Second, that the transformation of such an order not only requires its upheaval, but also must be guided by the liberation, collective health, and self-determination of African-descended peoples, Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples, and other peoples and places targeted by the long history of Civilizational war. Considering the anti-Black, genocidal, and proto-genocidal logic of racial capitalism, the (U.S.) nation-state, white supremacy, and settler-colonial domination, reformism is not merely inadequate to the task of abolishing anti-Black, racial-colonial warfare; it is central to Civilization’s expansion, sophistication, and deadliness. To be fair, some rare reform campaigns seek immediate institutional adjustments that directly address the asymmetrical casualties of anti-Blackness and racial-colonial violence. Abolitionist approaches to reform, for example, endorse short-term measures that defend the existence of vulnerable and oppressed people while allowing organizers, teachers, scholars, and other activists to build greater capacity to completely overturn and transform existing systemic arrangements. #8toAbolition, the abolitionist response to #8CantWait, exemplifies such a program of immediate local reforms, which include defunding/redistributing police budgets, decriminalizing survival-focused economies and communities, decarceration of jails and prisons, and universal access to safe housing. Yet, the campaign nonetheless asserts that “the end goal of these reforms is not to create better, friendlier, or more community-oriented police or prisons. Instead, we hope to build toward a society without police or prisons, where communities are equipped to provide for their safety and wellbeing.” Reform is, at best, a stopgap emergency tactic that abolitionists undertake with principled suspicion. This historical moment is marked by multiple obliterations of the reformist script: Growing numbers of people, communities, and organizations are unapologetically, militantly rejecting the contemporary sociopolitical and economic order. This is a time animated by widespread Black and Indigenous revolt, audacious visions of a future against/after Civilization, and a disciplined mass refusal to surrender to the intimidation of right-wing reactionaries and the open repression of the state. Proliferating grassroots activity, language, thought, and collective learning expose the brittle ideological claims of reformism, which wilt in the face of the surging art, movement, and poetry of abolition, revolution, reparation, and radical community that define periods like the summer of 2020. Readers of this and other contributions to Abolition for the People may already be engaged with such communities, but if they are not, they can likely search and find ways to link with such collectives with minimal effort. (Otherwise, they can feel free to reach out to me at dylanrodriguez73@gmail.com, and I’ll do my best to facilitate a connection.) Finally, at a time when the United States is reacting to this insurgent, self-liberating swell of humanity by openly moving toward a 21st-century version of white nationalist fascism, it is helpful to revisit the words of Black revolutionary writer, teacher, and organizer George Jackson, from his book Blood in My Eye: We will never have a complete definition of fascism, because it is in constant motion, showing a new face to fit any particular set of problems that arise to threaten the predominance of the traditionalist, capitalist ruling class. But if one were forced for the sake of clarity to define it in a word simple enough for all to understand, that word would be “reform.” Fatal and terrorizing state violence is not containable to isolated incidents. It draws from and actively expands a long Civilizational history that is based on the evisceration and negation of Black life; the occupation and destruction of Indigenous peoples and places; the criminalization of queer, trans, and disabled people; the flourishing damage of state-sanctioned sexual violence; and the stubborn omnipresence of violent misogyny—which are the everyday order of things under the conditions of normalized (domestic) war. Reform is at best a form of casualty management, while reformism is counterinsurgency against those who dare to envision, enact, and experiment with abolitionist forms of community, collective power, and futurity. Abolition, in this sense, is the righteous nemesis of reformism, as well as the militant, principled, historically grounded response to liberal counterinsurgency. Abolition is not an outcome. Rather, it is an everyday practice, a method of teaching, creating, thinking, and an insurgent (“fugitive”) community-building project that exposes the pitfalls of the reformist adventure. It demystifies reformism’s cheap magic and summons an embrace of the dynamic Black radical and revolutionary tradition that informs collective labors of freedom, structures notions of justice and collective self-defense, and induces a political and ethical obligation to fight unapologetically, in whatever ways are available, effective, and historically accountable. Anything less is a concession to the logics of anti-Black and racial-colonial genocide.

https://level.medium.com/reformism-isnt-liberation-it-s-counterinsurgency-7ea0a1ce11eb

['Dylan Rodriguez']

2020-10-21 18:47:00.890000+00:00

['Race', 'Equality', 'Abolition For The People', 'Criminal Justice Reform', 'Society']

How History is Made: The Hird Family Migrates to Australia, 1872

Why did they immigrate to Victoria? The family soon decided to immigrate to Victoria, Australia. In those times, each of the different Australian colonies employed agents who would travel through rural communities in the British Isles trying to entice people to immigrate — it’s possible that the Hirds had met one of these agents. Potential immigrants also had access to a wealth of information about destinations that were competing for migrants (including the USA and Canada), such as widely disseminated pamphlets and books; they’d almost certainly have seen of some of this material. The trip to North America was much shorter and cheaper than the trip to Australia, and other Australian colonies such as New South Wales had assisted migration schemes that offered migrants free tickets. Yet still, the Hird family, despite having endured economic hardship in Luddington, chose instead to pay their own way and immigrate to Victoria. Why? Example of a poster in Britain advertising assisted migration, in this case to New South Wales and Tasmania in the 1850s. / Image: Public Domain Well, Australia in general was advertised abroad as something of an agricultural dreamland, where any family could easily obtain their fair share of land and make an independent living for themselves. This was clearly a persuasive narrative: while only 27% of emigrants from the British Isles chose Australia as their destination, it received a whopping 82% of emigrating agricultural workers. Additionally, Victoria specifically had recently instituted a scheme called ‘land selection’, whereby settlers could rent-to-buy land from the government for relatively affordable prices. The Hirds themselves took advantage of this scheme soon after arriving. Thus, it’s fair to assume that the Hird family, disillusioned with their fortunes in Luddington, made a conscious decision to make the move to Australia, in the hope of transitioning to a more independent, agricultural lifestyle. This is greatly supported by later evidence, as they quickly settled into their own farmland once in Victoria. Additionally, in letters sent back home in the late 1870s, they write about how much they enjoy their new lives, suggesting to their friends & family back home, who seem to have been in dire economic straits, that they make the move as well. Immigration & early years William migrated first, by himself. He died in 1912, and his death certificate states he had been in Australia for 49 years, so he likely arrived in 1863. He definitely didn’t return afterwards, as the 1871 census shows his family still in Luddington without him. Thus, he almost certainly went on ahead of his family to make money to send back and pay for their passage. To earn this money, he worked in the famous goldfields of Victoria, something that he mentions in the aforementioned letters. In June 1872, the rest of the family, which included two new daughters, Mary J (10) and Annie (8, probably conceived right before William left), finally joined him. They left Plymouth — some 320 miles from Luddington — for Melbourne on the clipper ship, Queen of Nations, eventually arriving after what would have been about a nine-week long voyage. They subsequently linked back up with William for the first time in nine years. The family, minus William, listed in the Queen of Nations’ shipping manifest. Thomas (‘Thos’) and William Jonathan (‘W. M’) are listed separately from the rest of the family. / Image: PROV, Creative Commons 4.0 Five years later, in 1877, both William and Thomas Hird wrote letters to family in England. These letters give us a great idea of how’d they’d gotten along since arriving. At this point, William was already an established farmer with 320 acres (the maximum allowed to be selected per person) of land in Gannawarra, Northern Victoria, having taken advantage of the liberal land selection policies of the Victorian government. He had no plans to return to England, evidenced by his inclusion of an apology to his father for not coming back to care for him in his old age. Thomas, the eldest son, had worked the previous two years with a local cheesemaking family. Now 20, he moved back home and selected some farmland of his own. The family ingeniously took advantage of land selection legislation: Thomas selected the land immediately adjacent to his father’s, effectively ensuring them a family farm that would eventually cover 640 acres (1 square mile). When the letters were written, Thomas’ own farm was fledgling, only being nine months old and covering 50 acres. To help him get established, both of his younger brothers were sent to work on his land. There is, as you might expect from the times, less information about the women of the family. William writes that Mary J (now 15) was earning £8 per week working in Castlemaine, about 110 miles to the south. He makes no mention of exactly what she was doing, but given her age, she was probably a domestic worker living with a host family. The younger Annie was a student, while little mention is made of Hannah, aside from her sending her love to family back home and a note that she apparently still feels like a young woman at 46. Additionally, the letters offer little insight into how they’d been assimilating into their new community, aside from a mention about Thomas’ former employers having taken a liking to him. Their lack of complaints indicate that they were doing just fine fitting in. There’s two clear reasons why they probably had few issues integrating: firstly, they were English, which meant they were already a part of the social and political majority, in contrast to immigrants from other places, especially Ireland and Germany. Secondly, they lived in a rural, sparsely populated area on vast tracts of their own fenced-in land, meaning there was a lot of separation between them and other residents. They likely could have easily gone weeks at a time without so much as seeing someone from another family. Life goes on Three years later, in 1881, Thomas penned a letter to someone whom he owed money. It appears that times had become tough, as he writes of his difficulties paying his rents, stating that “times are rather hard up here, and it takes a man all he knows to make ends meet.” However, his previously 50 acre holding had already reached its limit of 320 acres, bringing the family farm up to 640 acres in total. Thus, his progress had clearly been rapid up until this point. Letter from Thomas Hird, 1881. / Excerpt from Charles Fahey, ‘The Wealth of Farmers: A Victorian Regional Study 1879–1901’, Historical Studies, 21/82 (1984), page 35. Thomas was not alone: other land selectors in northern Victoria also suffered from poor harvests and other hardships in the late 1870s/early 1880s, and the Hirds clearly weren’t spared these difficulties. However, while others abandoned their selections as a result, later records show that both William H. and Thomas persevered through these rough years. It’s likely that optimism stemming from their highly successful initial years, combined with their preference for an agricultural lifestyle, gave them a determination that others may not have had. From 1881 to 1895, there’s a gap in primary source material concerning the Hirds. However, by the second half of the 1880s, records indicate that the farmers who still remained in the region were prospering, and even those with more modest farms were still, at the very least, far richer than the average wage-earning, working-class family. We can surmise that the Hirds also did well during this period, and later evidence certainly supports that notion. Marriage certificate of Thomas Hird and Rosannah Jane Hall, 16th October, 1895. / Image: © State of Victoria, Creative Commons 4.0 In 1895, the 38-year old Thomas married Rosannah Jane Hall from Adelaide, a woman 15 years his junior. Thomas had married unusually late, especially since he had been a successful farmer for at least the better part of a decade. This can be explained by gender imbalances prevalent at the time, especially in rural areas. For example, in 1891 in Castlemaine — a nearby urban area — there were 15% more men than women, and the ratio was surely worse in rural Gannawarra. That Rosannah was from Adelaide might even imply that she had travelled to marry Thomas. Whatever the reason, Thomas marrying shows that he was socially successful, as the dating game was clearly very competitive for men in northern Victoria. A picture of Thomas Hird, taken in Melbourne near Newmarket Railway Station. Date unknown, but likely from the 1890s when he was known to frequent the Melbourne area. / Image: PROV, Creative Commons 4.0 Indeed, in 1896 Thomas gave a statement regarding the proposed construction of a new railway extension in the Gannawarra region that provides strong evidence of his wealth and social status. In it, Thomas notes that he had 640 acres (260 hectares or 1 square mile). This lines up perfectly with the two lots of 320 acres that we know the family held. William — who was still alive, now aged 63 — had evidently retired by this point, giving his own 320 acres to Thomas and uniting the family farm under a single official owner for the first time. Today, their land, based off area alone, would be worth about $741,000; quite a respectable sum considering their humble beginnings only 23 years earlier. Excerpt of Thomas Hird’s testimony before the Commission on the Walhalla Narrow-Gauge extension, 1896. / Image: PROV, Creative Commons 4.0 Thomas additionally states that he had sold 1,200 sheep in Melbourne the year before, and that there were another 1,240 on his farm that he raised himself, along with 500 that he’d recently bought. The Hirds thus followed the same path that many other similar farmers did during this period: they started out cultivating, then gradually swapped over to farming livestock as their wealth grew. He’d also become an important member of his community, enough that he was, as he states, chosen as the chairman of a local Trust. Thomas died an abrupt death in 1899, aged 42, leaving everything to Rosannah in his will. He was survived by his two children, Henry and Eva, as well as his wife, his mother & father, and, it seems, all or most of his siblings. His children are first mentioned in his will, and couldn’t have been older than three or four at the time, given the date of his marriage to Rosannah and their marriage certificate not mentioning any children.

https://medium.com/discourse/how-history-is-made-the-hird-family-migrates-to-australia-1872-91f5663fde1a

['George G']

2018-12-09 07:17:17.424000+00:00

['Essay', 'History', 'World', 'Immigration', 'Australia']

Musing on Tokenization Pt. 1

There has been a lot of interest in the “tokenization” area of cryptocurrency and blockchain lately. Everything from SingularDTV, aiming to become a decentralized version of Netflix (or at least partially decentralized), to Golem, seeking to redistribute computing power across the globe has the potential to have a token. These tokenized entities are doing what are called ICOs (initial crowdfund/coin offering) or “token launches” (if you want to be official about it like the folks at ConsenSys). So what exactly is this emerging “tokenization” concept? To-ken-i-what? When a company is starting off they need these things (and probably some others too, but these are the focus for this piece): Concept or Product — What you are doing Money — How you get it built Users — Who is using it Solid roadmap, ability to execute, experience are helpful Ethics, morals, and just in general being good people might help with building a solid community The traditional route to get to a live version one of the idea/store/application/whatever is to have the idea, create the business plan, marketing materials, etc and pitch it to VCs or other wealthy individuals, hoping that they see your vision, and are willing to take a chunk of your company in return for a seed investment. The unfortunate thing about this model is that the owner of the business could end up getting screwed over by the VCs (who now have and ownership stake and voting rights). On the VC side, they are holding equity, which is essentially a dead asset until the company sells or IPOs. This model isn’t really practical, and considering how banks don’t really do loans for new businesses anymore (but instead invest in building unnecessary oil pipelines and harming peaceful individuals trying to protect their indigenous lands), it’s clear that we should really be looking elsewhere for money (and also be seeking to replace fiat based currencies in general due to the potential abuse from the powers that be at the top of the pyramid). Okay… So what does a token have to do with this? Well a token, otherwise known as a “digital asset”, is a blockchain based representation of a part of something. What is that something? Literally anything. You can dream up anything you want and create a token out out of it. A token can also be created to be used as what we will call “fuel”. As a real world relatable example, when you go to an arcade like Dave and Buster’s, you trade your US dollars in for credits or tokens, which allows you to play the games in the arcade. Each game, depending on its awesomeness, costs a certain number of tokens. Some of the games, aside from the fun factor, also give you the ability to win tickets, which can be redeemed for prizes. This is so close to the makings of a completed tokenized ecosystem. However it is missing some key components that don’t allow for it to be completely self-sustaining. D&B vs. What I’m really talking about here Okay, so now imagine if instead of tokens that can only be inserted into video game machines providing a minute or two of enjoyment, you could have a portfolio full of digital tokens, that serve a wide range of purposes. Maybe one allows you to watch your favorite shows, access information, rent storage space (digital or physical), eat ice cream, get an Uber (without Uber), and who knows what else. Let’s even take this to the next step here. Imagine if these tokens had an inherent value (relative to a stable base), and the tokens could be traded on a bunch of different exchanges. This is really important. It means that your need for fiat currencies (currencies backed by countries) goes down significantly. Your stored up energy is constantly powering and supporting the things that you care about and use on a regular basis. Wait, what about the raising money part? Well, this might be the best part. Let’s say we have a grand idea to totally revolutionize some really big thing. We can create our digital asset and offer the tokens to interested parties at a discounted rate. Now if the idea is a good one, it should get funded because people think it’s a good idea and would use it. We currently aren’t there yet because people are still in the initial hype stage funding everything based on essentially nothing. This will pass, and people will learn to be more conscious of what they are getting involved in after getting burned a few times (this is life). You are validating your user base before you spend your time building the thing. So we sell our tokens (kind of like a pre-order) and then we have the capital to revolutionize the really big thing! In part 2, we’ll dive a bit deeper into what a solid token model could potentially look like and what the benefits of holding/using them can be.

https://medium.com/cryptodex/musing-on-tokenization-pt-1-df35c296cce4

['Jake Vartanian']

2016-11-25 16:47:08.519000+00:00

['Cryptocurrenc', 'Blockchain', 'Digital Asset', 'Bitcoin', 'Venture Capital']

What frequency range will be used for 5G and how Moscow is preparing for switching to this technology

What frequency range will be used for 5G and how Moscow is preparing for switching to this technology ICT.Moscow Follow Aug 19, 2019 · 3 min read ICT.Moscow’s weekly roundup Last week we witnessed the change in the position of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media on the question about the preferential frequency range for 5G development in the country. Initially, the range had been claimed as 4.4–4.99 GHz, but a few days later the concept changed, and the conventional frequency range 3.4–3.8 GHz was chosen. Most countries use this range, and so the required equipment will be more easily available. In Russia these frequencies are also used by the military, who strongly oppose the conversion. There still was hope that the optimum frequency range will become available with the involvement of the president. Nevertheless, according to Vedomosti, Vladimir Putin agreed with the Security Council of the Russian Federation that it was inadmissible to transfer the 3.4–3.8 GHz range to civilians. This statement appears strange as in February the president in his message to the Federal Assembly remarked on the importance of rapid implementation of 5G in Russia. Despite the fact that the question about the frequency range is yet to be settled, Moscow is actively preparing to implement the new technology. To test how 5G interacts with previous generation net-works, explore the potential of its utilizing and its functionality the capital authorities concluded agreements with telecom operators. The first pilot area is already opened in Tverskaya Street, three more are still to be opened by the end of autumn (in Skolkovo, VDNKh and Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills). The technology will be tested using n257 range (26.5 GHz — 29.5 GHz). The project will not be funded from the budget of Moscow, but the Moscow Department of Information Technology will coordinate it, providing assistance and access to infrastructure. Photo by Tele2 Smart cities 5G technology plays key role in the building of smart cities. The technology is being tested not only in Moscow — businesses can test in pilot areas in Barcelona, for instance. There are many approaches different cities use for implementing Smart City elements. ICT.Moscow and Smart City Lab department of the Moscow Department of Information Technology is gathering these experiences in one free database. At the moment there are 100 examples from Moscow and 18 Russian cities, which were included in the pilot group of the “Smart City” project implementa-tion. There are 350 smart practices in the database, 47 of which are from Moscow. Discover Russia’s smart city practices on the ICT.Moscow website (in russian) Partnership with China Yandex is going to participate in the development of a new mapping service. Is it created by Chinese Huawei Technologies, american Booking.com is also involved in the process. The launch is planned for October, the product is targeted at the developers who can use the service for their applications. Huawei devices will probably be installed with Mail.ru Group’s hardware. The Russian company is negotiating with Chinese colleagues and is open to any mutually beneficial partnership. Previously they had been discussing the embedding Yandex’s “Alice” voice assistant into Huawei devices and even installing Russian mobile operating system. Agrotech in Moscow Implementation of digital technologies in agriculture makes it possible to grow food in metropolitan areas. The city agrotech is a new and rapidly developing market. The most popular technology is vertical greenhouses, that can be placed in closed spaces. ICT.Moscow interviewed some experts to understand the potential of agrotech in Moscow and the possible barriers to its development. The experts anticipate in 3–5 years this sector might provide several thousand workplaces. Read more on ICT.Moscow website.

https://medium.com/ict-moscow/ict-moscows-weekly-roundup-42440aa4a46e

[]

2019-08-20 09:08:09.726000+00:00

['Russia', 'Yandex', 'Smart Cities', '5g', 'Moscow']

A short walk in the coastal mountains

Coastal stories… On a day of cold wind and chilly rain, we set out for a short walk in the costal mountains. A short walk. Should be back in an hour and a half at most. Will the rain hold off long enough? We are at Wilsons Promotory, the place where the Australian landmass sinks below the waters of Bass Strait. Two-hundred kilometres south lies Tasmania, After that, 2000km to the Antarctic. Stopping to watch a grazing wombat, we walk uphill at a moderate but determined pace. A glance at the sky is enough to keep us going. From that grey cloud mass this morning came a flurry of wind-blown cold showers. It was when they stopped that we decided to set off. The bush here is the low, scraggly shrubs and stunted trees that find foothold on these pink granite slopes. Here on the eastern side of the mountain they break the strong wind that has been with us through yesterday and today. The casuarinas, Malaleuca and Leptospernum through which we walk present none of the dangers of eucalyptus forest in windy weather — the readiness of eucalyptus to shed branches. The track climbs steadily. On reaching the western aspect of the mountain it leaves the forest and we enter a landscape of low, thick scrub. Below in the distance we look onto the windsea that is Bass Strait and to what might be a sheltered, sandy beach backed by high, vegetated sandhills. The open conditions on the mountain exposed us to a strong, cold wind. Stepping out of the forest we are blasted by a powerful wind. I stop to make a couple photos while my partner walks on. I catch up to find her holding onto a tree trunk. The wind is almost blowing me over, she says. Add the windchill to the around-12 degrees Celsius temperature to get a windchill factor that makes it much colder that the temperature alone. We hurry across this windblasted, open landscape and follow the track into the scrubby forest. Here, we are sheltered. We swing back onto the eastern face and finish the walk in calmer conditions. A few points Our walk exemplified a few things the novice bushwalker would best keep in mind. The first is that the weather on one side of a mountain can differ significantly to that on another side and at a different elevation. Second thing. Especially when walking in the mountains, and I include the coastal mountains, the possibility of bad weather suggests the wisdom of carrying warm and waterproof clothing in case conditions get bad, like they did up on the mountain that day. Fortunately, my partner packed her Patagonia Torrentshell rain parka which protected her from the cold wind. Mine was in my pack, however I made use of a lightweight Patagonia Houdini Air jacket, a windproof. It worked well there on the windy western side of the mountain. A third thing. Although we were not going to be out long on this short walk, we carried a few nut and grain bars. In an emergency, say being injured and having to overnight in the bush, the bars would provide a little energy to generate body heat. Today, their value lay in giving us psychological heat. It is interesting how nibbling a bar can boost sagging spirits numbed by cold winds. A fourth thing is to carry water. We did this, but due to the shortness of the walk and our drinking some before setting out, we drank little of it. Windproof and waterproof clothing, water and a little food. All basic equipment whether trekking coastal mountains.

https://medium.com/by-road-track/a-short-walk-in-the-coastal-mountains-7f6730ce7c56

['Russ Grayson']

2020-05-01 00:43:32.001000+00:00

['Wilsons Promontory', 'Backpacking', 'Hiking', 'Bush Walking', 'Roadtrips']

How I built a #2 Product of the Day in 2 hours

Show Keys, a tool that shows keypresses on your browser as you type, was a long-standing idea I had. Folks who make tutorials and videos use a bunch of cool shortcuts to get things done — showing keypresses is of paramount importance for the effectiveness of such videos. Initially, the MVP I had in mind was a full-fledged screen recording extension with a toggle that lets you control whether to show your keypresses or not. I reached out to a few people and talked with them, and it seemed like the only reason they post-processed their videos was to add key combo overlays for the viewer. As a thought began to take shape and I came across a tweet about a small side project by Siddharth who had written a small piece of Javascript code to show keypresses. You can paste the code on your browser console or add it as an import script to your website, and voila, you get to see the keypresses. At this point, it made sense to discard the idea for making a full-scale screen recorder (there are other tools for that anyway) and focus on just wrapping this piece of code in an extension. But I had little idea on how to achieve persistence and make this thing actually work better than just pasting code in the console. Chapter 1 — The two-hour sprint. On a bright, sunny Sunday, I sat down with a resolution to build out this thing within two hours. Never having done a code sprint before, and I had no idea what needed to be done. It would be fun, I thought. With the metaphorical blindfold on, I hit the timer. 2:00 PM IST — Learned about Content scripts. Without going into the deep details, they help you manipulate the website as you see it. Hate Twitter’s accent blue and want to make it pink with an extension? That is a content script in action. 2:30 PM IST — Checkpoint #1. The content script works. Now if you are on a webpage, turn on the extension and type, your keys get reflected on the top, right corner. The MVP was up. But this was not enough, if it remains on just for that single page, it does not add too much extra over Siddharth’s original script. You just hit an icon instead of pasting it on the console. A bit low effort, but not exactly worth it. Next target: Persistence 3:10 PM IST — I now know the nitty-gritty of how background scripts work. What are background scripts? Let’s say you have Twitter open in 5 tabs, and you want this pink accent to reflect in all 5. Background scripts would come to your rescue. 3:40 PM IST — Hmmm, the persistence works, but there are still a few bugs — you can always resolve them by toggling the extension off and then on, but not an attractive solution. The deadline was near, but the extension failed if you opened a new tab or refreshed a page. Think think, got it. What if I set a flag to set the state with the background script. The content script would check the flag and show keys if the flag says that it should. And this — worked. It was 3:56, but Show Keys — the extension was finally working. It was time to sing Hallelujah! 4 minutes to wrap up loose ends, clean up the workspace and send it out. Chapter 2 — The Launch It took around a week for the extension to get through the Chrome Store review process, and on June 20th, a week from the 2-hour sprint I put up Show Keys on ProductHunt. It was an impromptu launch, with zero pre-launch plan in place. Best practices went out of the window, and surprisingly it gained steam and forged on. Show Keys briefly hovered on #1 POTD before settling down at #2. Show Keys was my second launch on PH. TabTrum — the first went through extensive pre-launch research and folks were happy to take it for a spin. The second time around, it was surprising to note how a much simpler tool, that did just one thing won more accolades. Another interesting learning from the Show Keys launch was that PHers sent multiple new use cases that I had not thought of. I had borrowed Siddharth’s code and built the extension on top of it keeping just the developer audience in mind. Folks from the design world poured in asking whether this would be available for Figma or Sketch, and how this can be a useful tool to conduct usability tests for products that rely heavily on the keyboard. This inspiration and feedback from the community that Ryan kickstarted years back is a treatise to the build-in-public movement and a total anti-thesis from the notion that sharing half-baked ideas would lead to others taking them away from you. Share your ideas, and keep building.

https://blog.producthunt.com/how-i-built-a-2-product-of-the-day-in-2-hours-6e94ef6ea2c1

['Product Hunt']

2021-08-17 14:52:00.807000+00:00

['Developer', 'Makers', 'Product Hunt', 'Product Launch', 'Coders']

DSE2: G3 Data Analytics of Covid-19

This publication consists of articles related to Data science and AI written from Botnoi’s data scientists and students. Follow

https://medium.com/botnoi-classroom/dse2-g3-data-analytics-of-covid-19-8b5aa2214675

[]

2020-12-15 03:48:08.031000+00:00

['Botnoi', 'Botnoi Classroom']

K-means clustering on the San Francisco Air Traffic open dataset

Cluster analysis has become one of the most important methods in Data Analysis, Machine Learning and Data Science. The general idea of clustering is to divide a set of objects with various features into groups, called clusters. There are many algorithms used for clustering nowadays, but I am going to reveal the powerful and the simplest one, named K-means clustering. Photo by Leon Liu Table of contents Getting familiar with the dataset The History and the intuition of the algorithm Elbow method or how to find the best number of clusters Clustering validation: Silhouette analysis Additional resources Getting familiar with the dataset Today we are going to apply the full power of cluster analysis on the dataset provided by San Francisco Open Data, a monthly statistics by Airlines in San Francisco International Airport. For our work we will use Python and its libraries: matplotlib(seaborn), pandas, scikit-learn and numpy. So let’s begin our journey into the clustering!!! Firstly, as the in every Data Science task we have to get acquainted with the data we are working with. df = pd.read_csv("Datasets/Air_Traffic_Passenger_Statistics.csv") df.head() First 5 lines of the dataset (Image by author) As we can see there are multiple columns in our dataset, but for cluster analysis we will use Operating Airline, Geo Region, Passenger Count and Flights held by each airline. So firstly to determine potential outliers and get some insights about our data, let’s make some plots using Python data visualization library Seaborn. plt.figure(figsize = (15,15)) sns.countplot(x = "Operating Airline", palette = "Set3",data = df) plt.xticks(rotation = 90) plt.ylabel("Number of fights held") plt.show() Image by author From the frequency plot of the Airlines we can see that there are some examples with an amount of flights held bigger than the others. These are United Airlines and Unites Airlines — Pre 07/01/2013. So these airlines are our potential outliers. The reason why we are trying to find and eliminate outliers will be explained later. Let’s see the frequency plot of Countries that hold flights. plt.figure(figsize = (15,15)) sns.countplot(x = "GEO Region", palette = "Set3",data = df) plt.xticks(rotation = 90) plt.ylabel("Number of fights held") plt.show() Image by author As we can see the USA is the leader among the countries, that is because our outliers Airlines(United Airlines and Unites Airlines — Pre 07/01/2013) are the American ones. We can obviously see that either Countries or Airlines can be separated into some groups (or clusters) by the amount of flights they held. The History and the intuition of the algorithm K — means clustering is one of the most popular clustering algorithms nowadays. It was created in the 1950’s by Hugo Steinhaus. The main idea of the algorithm is to divide a set of points X in n-dimensional space into the groups with centroids C, in such a way that the objective function (the MSE of the points and corresponding centroids) is minimized. The objective function for K-means Clustering(source Wikipedia) Let’s see how it can be achieved by looking at the algorithm: Firstly the centroids are initialized randomly. The second step is to repeat until convergence (the centroids haven’t changed from the previous iteration) two steps: To find for each point in the X the closest centroid and to add this point to a cluster To calculate the new centroids for each cluster, taking the mean in values in every dimension So as this algorithms is working with distances it is very sensitive to outliers, that’s why before doing cluster analysis we have to identify outliers and remove them from the dataset. In order to find outliers more accurately, we will build the scatter plot. airline_count = df["Operating Airline"].value_counts() airline_count.sort_index(inplace=True) passenger_count = df.groupby("Operating Airline").sum()["Passenger Count"] passenger_count.sort_index(inplace=True) from sklearn.preprocessing import scale x = airline_count.values y = passenger_count.values plt.figure(figsize = (10,10)) plt.scatter(x, y) plt.xlabel("Flights held") plt.ylabel("Passengers") for i, txt in enumerate(airline_count.index.values): a = plt.gca() plt.annotate(txt, (x[i], y[i])) plt.show() Scatter plot based on Passenger Count and Flights held (Image by author) We can see that most of the airlines are grouped together in the bottom left part of the plot, some are above them, and our 2 outliers United Airlines and Unites Airlines — Pre 07/01/2013. So let’s get rid of them. df_1 = airline_count + passenger_count df_1.sort_values(ascending = False, inplace = True) outliers = df_1.head(2).index.values airline_count = airline_count.drop(outliers) airline_count.sort_index(inplace=True) passenger_count = passenger_count.drop(outliers) passenger_count.sort_index(inplace = True) x = airline_count.values y = passenger_count.values We have prepared our dataset for clustering. However the question is how to determine the “best” number of clusters to use. In order to figure this out we will apply the “Elbow method”. Elbow method or how to find the best number of clusters As we have already discussed, we are trying to minimize the objective function. It is clear that the more centroids we have the less is the value of the objective function.Moreover, it will become 0 — global minimum, when all points are centroids for themselves, but such variant is not for us, we will try to have some trade-off between number of clusters and the value of the objective function.In order to do this, let’s make plot of dependence of objective function value based on the number of clusters. from sklearn.cluster import KMeans X = np.array(list(zip(x,y))) inertias = [] for k in range(2, 10): kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=k) kmeans.fit(X) inertias.append(kmeans.inertia_) plt.plot(range(2,10), inertias, "o-g") plt.xlabel("Number of clusters") plt.ylabel("Inertia") plt.show() Image by author Our task is to find such number of clusters after which the objective function is decreasing not so fast or in analogy with human arm: if we imagine the plot as the human’s arm then the optimal number of clusters will be the point of the elbow. In out case the optimal number of clusters is 6. So now we are ready to do cluster analysis on our dataset. kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=6) kmeans.fit(X) y_kmeans = kmeans.predict(X) plt.figure(figsize = (15,15)) plt.xlabel("Flights held") plt.ylabel("Passengers") plt.scatter(X[:, 0], X[:, 1], c=y_kmeans, s=300, cmap='Set1') for i, txt in enumerate(airline_count.index.values): plt.annotate(txt, (X[i,0], X[i,1]), size = 7) plt.show() Image by author Now we have done the clustering of our data and we have make some assumptions and predictions based on the results. We can see that American Airlines and SkyWest airlines hold many flights and transport many people, so we can infer that maybe this airlines have planes with bigger capacity or people use these airlines more than other. Cluster analysis allows you to get many insights about your data. Now it’s important for us to validate the results of our clustering (to see how good the partition is), for this we will use Silhouette analysis. Clustering validation: Silhouette analysis In order to understand the main feature of such a type of validation we have to find out what a silhouette coefficient is. From Wikipedia For each point in our dataset we can calculate a silhouette coefficient using the formula above but there are some unclear things about what a(i) and b(i) is. So let’s understand the meaning of a(i) parameter. From Wikipedia For each point we can calculate a(i) - the average of distances between current point i and i’s cluster neighbors point denoted as j (either i or j should correspond to the same cluster). Now, let’s understand what b(i) parameter means. From Wikipedia For each point we can calculate b(i) - a minimum values of distances between current point i and points j that are not from the same cluster as i. Using parameters described above we can calculate the silhouette coefficient for each point in the dataset. Silhouette score takes values in range [-1;1]. When the value of coefficient is 1 this means that this point is really close to it’s cluster and not to the other,analogically -1 is the worst case. It’s always useful to make a silhouette plot. Let’s figure out what does it look like. In silhouette plot we draw a silhouette coefficient for every point grouped into clusters and sorted inside them. Looking at the plot we can tell how good is our classification: if the width of all “bars” if the same and every point inside a cluster has the silhouette coefficient bigger than the global average, such classification can be called good, otherwise we can’t tell that it’s absolutely perfect, but we can make some trade-offs due to the data we are working with. So now let’s make silhouette plot for our clustering (code is based on the example from scikit-learn documentation on Silhouette analysis). from sklearn.metrics import silhouette_samples, silhouette_score import matplotlib.cm as cm n_clusters = 6 plt.figure(figsize = (10,10)) plt.gca().set_xlim([-0.1,1]) plt.gca().set_ylim([0, len(X) + (n_clusters + 1) * 10]) clusterer = KMeans(n_clusters=n_clusters, random_state=10) labels = clusterer.fit_predict(X) print("The average silhouette_score is :{}".format(silhouette_score(X, labels))) sample_silhouette_values = silhouette_samples(X, labels) y_lower = 10 for i in range(n_clusters): ith_cluster_silhouette_values = \ sample_silhouette_values[labels == i] ith_cluster_silhouette_values.sort() size_cluster_i = ith_cluster_silhouette_values.shape[0] y_upper = y_lower + size_cluster_i color = cm.nipy_spectral(float(i) / n_clusters) plt.gca().fill_betweenx(np.arange(y_lower, y_upper), 0, ith_cluster_silhouette_values, facecolor=color, edgecolor=color, alpha=0.7) plt.gca().text(-0.05, y_lower + 0.5 * size_cluster_i, str(i)) y_lower = y_upper + 10 plt.gca().axvline(x=silhouette_score(X, labels), color="red", linestyle="--", label = "Avg silhouette score") plt.title("The silhouette plot") plt.xlabel("The silhouette coefficient values") plt.ylabel("Cluster label") plt.legend() plt.show() Silhouette plot for clusters (Image by author) As we can see clusters are not of the same size and not all clusters are made of points that have a silhouette coefficient bigger than the global average, but looking at our data, that is distributed in a bit strange way (see the scatter plot) we can conclude that this clustering has shown good results. Thanks you a lot for reading, hope you enjoyed the great power of cluster analysis!!! Additional resources

https://towardsdatascience.com/k-means-clustering-on-the-san-francisco-air-traffic-open-dataset-ee1f43968498

['Denys Mytnyk']

2020-11-21 18:26:04.768000+00:00

['Data Science', 'Cluster Analysis', 'Data Visualisation', 'Clustering', 'Python']

Omega Search / Progressive Decoupling

This content was originally delivered as a talk at Drupal Camp Asheville and Design4Drupal Boston. Omega, a non-profit, mission-driven educational retreat center, with its primary campus in Rhinebeck, NY, sought the expertise of Savas to improve search on their website. Search is extremely important to them as they wanted to offer easier user engagement for the wide range of users that come to their site. They sought a search experience that would allow a user to see the breadth of information while also being able to easily drill into specific areas of interest. Equally as important, Omega wished to “future proof” search development as they look forward to an eventual Drupal upgrade. Find the entire Omega case study here. Previously, the search was much like a standard Drupal search. It had an Apache Solr back end and integrated with Drupal. It wasn’t very dynamic and lacked both speed and efficiency. Omega wanted to provide an effective way for visitors to quickly discover and reserve an experience through their website. In our research, we learned that the search page, though popular, had lagging conversion rates. The design and functionality were not taking advantage of the power of Apache Solr. Our goal was to allow visitors to hone in on their interests across topics, locations, schedules, and teachers. With a progressively decoupled approach, we replaced the Drupal search view with an embedded React application that has an app-like feel, interfacing with the speedy Apache Solr search index directly while also accessing Drupal’s robust and editable metadata for each piece of content. This is how we did it. First, let’s get on the same page with terminology. Traditional monolithic Drupal handles the full request and response by rendering and delivering the entire page. Drupal is a data provider that consumers can access. Decoupled Drupal is a strategy where Drupal is used strictly as a content management tool, without a presentation layer, where you have Drupal as a central data store. This is sometimes referred to as “headless Drupal”. The options are limitless, but the essential point is that Drupal is the data store and different end devices are accessing that datastore and choosing how to present it (i.e. Amazon Echo will present it as voice). In Progressively Decoupled Drupal a JavaScript framework is layered on top of the preexisting Drupal front end. It allows Drupal to do the heavy lifting and render most of the page while the front end framework renders discrete parts of the page. The React app communicates with Drupal endpoints and updates parts of the page dynamically without refreshing the entire page. Often there is a lot of confusion around Drupal Search and the different options that are available. Core search Pros: Comes out of the box with Drupal, stores the search index in the DB, has a simple configuration Cons: Doesn’t scale well Search API module provides a framework for easily creating searches on any entity known to Drupal, using any kind of search engine. Search API Solr search provides a Solr backend for the Search API module. The backend uses Apache Solr servers for indexing and for searching content. It has great performance, is suitable even for use on large commercial websites and supports facets and multi-index searches. When you introduce the browser, it makes the request and is then sent the rendered page. Essentially we are rendering the entire page in Drupal, but there are different components within that page that are making asynchronous requests to other resources, in some cases Drupal and in some cases Apache Solr. So, in the previous Omega Search when a user clicked “next” to see additional workshops, an entirely new page was returned by Drupal. This old search is slow, there is no immediate refresh or “show more”. With the Progressively Decoupled Architecture, Drupal is only pushing data to Solr. Note here that the box around Drupal is the project root on the server. Drupal is returning essentially a blank page with the javascript App.js. The proxy.php script is a lightweight PHP script that It provides some basic security and does not bootstrap Drupal, except in the case of autocomplete as explained later. <div class="mail-container"> <a id="main-content"></a> <noscript> <div class="region region-content"> <div class-"container"> <div class="message error"> <p>Sorry, you must enable JavaScript to use the search page.<p> </div> </div> </div> </noscript> <div id="js-solr-serach" class="main-content solr-search containter"></div> </div> /** * Implements hook_preprocess_html( ). */ function omega_solr_preprocess_html(&$variables) { $current_path = current_path( ) ; if ($current_panth === 'search' ) { drupal_add_js( [ 'omegaSolr' => [ ' topics ' => _omega_solr_get_topics_list( ), ' teachers ' => _omega_solr_get_teachers_list( ), ' keyInitiatives ' => _omega_solr_get_key_initiatives_list( ), ' userIsPaidMember ' => _omega_membership_is_paid_member( ), ] , ] , options: ' setting' ) ; // Reference your own stylesheet. drupal_add_js( data: Drupal_get_path ( type: ' module ' , name: ' omega_solr ' ) . '/js/dist/omega_solr_app.js ' , ['weight' => 1, 'scope' => 'footer'] ) ; } } By adding the JS via drupal_add_js() we can also pass data to the app. For example user role (paid member), lists of taxonomy terms (topics, key initiatives) and nodes (teachers) to be used in pre-loading filters. Lastly, there is autocomplete integration. While Solr suggester was an option for auto-completion, it was more complex to implement and likely less manageable by the client. Proxy.php checks for autocomplete requests and handles them in a unique way. In the end, we delivered a best-of-both-worlds experience for blazing-fast interaction with the ability for richer features and website admin control. Want to see the whole project? Find it here. We have shared this progressively decoupled approach using React JS, Apache Solr, and Drupal at multiple conferences. Like what you see? Planning a project and need a team of digital experts? Work with us!

https://medium.com/@SavasLabs/omega-search-progressive-decoupling-1d9da0eed762

['Savas Labs']

2020-03-18 15:41:54.390000+00:00

['Search', 'React', 'Web Development', 'Skillshare', 'Drupal']

TypeScript With Fewer Types?

Outdated API Type Definitions Let’s say you are on a front-end team called Team Alpha (because front-end teams are the alphas… kidding) and you are consuming an API created by Team Bravo. Your team is large, so you went with TypeScript and laid out some type definitions for a particular API endpoint: OK, cool. Not only do we have type safety, but it’s easy to understand the input and output of the API endpoint. Fast-forward one week, and Team Bravo made a change to the /user endpoint. They sent a message in the api-news channel on Slack. Some people on Team Alpha saw it, while others missed it. Suddenly, your front end is breaking and you don’t know why. Here’s what was changed: Now, the types you wrote to protect you are causing massive debugging headaches because they are out of date. After a brief amount of time banging your head against the wall, you either finally read the update from Team Bravo or you find the source of the problem yourself. Maybe the first time is no big deal. You update the types and move on with your life. But how many times are you going to have to debug, update, and refactor? Probably forever. Ideal Solution If possible, a great “hands-free” solution is to use a type generator for your API schema. If you use GraphQL, you are in luck because there are solid options for type generators (GraphQL code generator, Apollo codegen, etc). This way, when the API changes, you can run a command to download the changes in request and response types. If you had the time, you could automate it to trigger downloads every time the API repo is updated, for example. That way, you are always up to date. If you are using TypeScript on both the client and server, then I think it would be smart to leverage that fact and share types downstream. It doesn’t matter how, just as long as you aren’t writing request and response types on the client.

https://medium.com/better-programming/typescript-with-fewer-types-f7fa636476db

['Kris Guzman']

2020-03-18 18:25:07.683000+00:00

['JavaScript', 'Web Development', 'Typescript', 'Technology', 'Programming']

Finding Your Purpose When There Is No Clear Direction

Finding Your Purpose When There Is No Clear Direction By Lissha Sadler Author Lisa Renee never gave up, no matter what life threw at her. Born on the south side of Chicago, she understood the struggles young Black women face at an early age. After the traumatic experience of losing both her parents, Lisa found herself learning to adjust to life through her faith at an early age. Now Lisa’s purpose in life is to inspire, uplift, and empower everyone she meets. “African Americans need to start reading more because there is strength in knowledge, and you can only make moved when you have the knowledge needed.” LS: Let’s talk a little bit about yourself and your book. LR: I published my first book, A Black Once Told Me To Give Up, in June of 2019. This book talks about my experiences as a Black student attending predominantly White universities, and how I had to adjust and overcome challenges that exceeded personal, academic, and emotional issues. I’m passionate about this topic because I had to find my strength to graduate and then find what my Blackness meant to me. LS: What does writing mean to you? LR: Writing for me has always been a space where I can use the voice that I never had, and finding the strength that I thought that I never had. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved writing. I couldn’t wait to be able to do the writing prompts in grammar school, high school, as is always loved, escaping through my writing. So writing has been a very big part of my life, especially seeing that I also love to do music. Back in the day, I used to love to sing. I would always write songs based on a period in my life. I had a flood in my basement where most of my things were, all my music, my lyrics, my thoughts, everything was pretty much in that basement. After that I fell back from writing, I was devasted. Fast forward to 2015 when I graduated from my undergrad studies, I needed to write a book because I had been through so much with my experience with college. It was time to get back to writing. LS: What was the most defining time for you? LR: A lot of my defining came from moments when I understood that I was not the only Black student going through these things. I feel like we are the only ones to talk about this. I had to learn if we want to ever exceed or be better, education can be better for us. But we need to speak about our stories and help another sister or brother out. Even if we cannot get it on a systematic level, we can do it within our community. LS: When you think about the contributions African American women have made to the literary industry, what is the impact one can have as an author? LR: I want it to be something that people can look back on and say, Yeah, she may have messed up in her life, she may have struggled in her life, she may even have a past in her life. But she always continued to strive for better. That is the impact I want to leave on people. I want them to know they have it. They just have to remove all of the negative thoughts in the process and be clear about how great and dope they are. I want people to find their purpose. LS: What do you think is needed to make AA publishing better? LR: More African American publishers, printers, and better distribution. A lot of authors are afraid to share their stores because the is not enough guidance through the process. We need a safe place that will allow us to be creative so we can advance African American Literature. We have so many black authors that write different genres, there is no reason out community should not be reading more African American Authors. LS: There’s a heavy cost to pursuing and pulling your vision together. Who has been your biggest support system throughout your journey? LR: I’m going to be honest, in the support area, I feel like I could have a better tribe behind me. There are a few family and friends that have helped me along my journey, they have encouraged and supported me with getting my book out there. LS: How do you think COVID has affected the literary world? LR: I would say in the literary world, just not being able to network and connect like you want to. In 2019, I told myself 2020 is going to be the year I’m going to get out there, and boom, Coronavirus comes. Even though that doesn’t stop us because there are ways around this phase with the Internet. However, there is nothing like being in a space with someone face to face. Right now there is a shift even with Coronavirus, and other things going on outside of that, especially all of the shootings in the Black communities. All this trauma and death going on around us. LS: What is next for Lisa Renee? LR: I will build my t-shirt and apparel line around my books. I want to incorporate black culture into the lives of more college students outside of HBCUs. So I am creating merchandise that will be all about the culture to make students feel more pride in their community. Those students that go to mainstream colleges sometimes feel like they do not belong because they don’t see enough of their own culture.

https://medium.com/@thebamtour/finding-your-purpose-when-there-is-no-clear-direction-c86eb96eafd0

['Black Authors Matter']

2020-12-16 23:45:47.418000+00:00

['African Literature', 'Women In Business', 'Empowerment Of Women', 'Authors', 'College Life']

Why You Shouldn’t Edit Highlighted Sections In Your Medium Story

Why You Shouldn’t Edit Highlighted Sections In Your Medium Story Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash If another Medium reader highlights a section or two from your published article or story because it catches their attention, do not edit the words they have highlighted even if you think the section could be improved. Why is that so? I will give you example of what happened to one of my articles recently. In this screenshot below Scuzzbucket Editor Franco Amati highlighted a section in this article I wrote, ‘3 Good Reasons Why Online Course Creators Should Not Heavily Discount Their Package’. Author’s screenshot After reviewing the highlighted section I wasn’t happy with how it read. So I decided to revise it. Author’s screenshot But after I made the revision I didn’t realise this highlighted area would disappear into the abyss as well as Franco’s name. Oops a daisies. So I contacted Franco via email and told him about my dilemma. I asked Franco if I could post an update to alert other Medium writers. And of course he obliged. Take Away

https://medium.com/illumination/why-you-shouldnt-edit-highlighted-sections-in-your-medium-story-fb468ec78c9c

['Erin Singh']

2020-12-12 03:56:17.924000+00:00

['Writing', 'Editing', 'Ｍedium', 'Life Lessons', 'Digital Life']

What Queer Eye Can Teach Us About Human Centred Design

source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 Don’t Put Your Avocado in a Silo This show is a great example of why we need cross functional teams. Humans are multifaceted. So any human-centred problem has to be approached with this understanding. If we think of the different aspects of your life like departments in an organisation, they need to be all on the same page in order for any change to be sustainable. Imagine the show was only Karamo addressing people’s mental health and social life, leaving people to undertake the rest of their life-overhaul on their own. If people went home to a messy house, low-quality sleep, poor diet and a lack of self-care tools, they would be much more likely to return to business-as-usual. However, Queer Eye recognises that people’s wellbeing is a complex, interdependent system. It also acknowledges that we need to think of people in terms of the skills and experience they bring, not their role. For example, when reconnecting Jess with her biological family and genealogy, Bobby, who is also adopted, is best placed to help her navigate this. He doesn’t have to just be the interiors guy. source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 We’re Not the Experts Humility is an important trait in designers that is often neglected from design education and discourse. We don’t always have the answers, but good designers know how to connect with the people who do. When it came to helping Jody find her own definition of femininity, the show turns to a group of experts to provide this guidance. I love that the fab five do not have to be the hero of the story. source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 Contextual Enquiry Leads to Great Insights This method can sometimes be treated as a luxury. But contextual research is compulsory in every episode. The team get to go into people’s homes and connect their reported behaviours and attitudes to their actual environment in order to find deeper learnings. When they find Arian’s graduation photo turned over in his bedroom, they are able to connect that despite saying that he graduated, he is ashamed because he failed and never received his diploma and hasn’t told his parents. Not that I’m saying we need to go through participant’s underwear drawers, but I’m certainly jealous of the amount of fieldwork they get to do. source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 Back It Up with a Business Case Working together with the people they design for is one of the major reasons for the success of the transformations. They understand what drives each person but also how they gauge success. This could be reaching a specific goal or how confident they feel. They are then able to implement solutions that they know will meet these success criteria. But the solutions also make sense within the business context of running that person’s life. Explaining that a high quality garment will work out at a lower cost per wear than a cheaper one, is a stronger argument than just style. Or by being able to say that a grooming routine will only cost you 3 minutes but demonstrate a massive impact on your mindfulness, means it is more likely to be adopted and sustained. source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 Confident Stakeholder Management Yes, it turns out its a lot easier to get buy-in when you‘re holding a Pottery Barn gift card. But. There is still something to be learned from the enthusiastic responses of Queer Eye’s clients. Firstly, positivity goes a long way. An optimistic approach helps people feel less intimidated by the task ahead of them. But this positivity is also grounded in a genuine respect for their clients and recognising what they have achieved so far. Secondly, there is a consistent confidence in their process. Rather than trying to please each person short term, they are able to stand their ground and take the client through each step. When Karamo facilitates a workshop to unpack Robert’s negative self-talk, Robert is visibly uncomfortable. But by committing to the intention of the activity, Karamo is able to support him through the challenge and have a strong impact. And What It Can’t Teach Us source: Queer Eye, Netflix 2019 Transparency There’s a big difference between not knowing what colour couch someone’s given you and not knowing whether a new strategic direction of your company will mean major changes to your job position. I believe in designing out in the open, with the people you’re designing for. Not just for the benefit of their input, but so that they can understand the decisions that are made in the process, benefit from your research, experience new ways of working and take ownership of what is being implemented. I think a successful implementation means having a positive impact at every step of the design process, not just in delivery. A big reveal is definitely a reality TV construct we don’t need to adopt.

https://medium.com/@katepaterson/what-queer-eye-can-teach-us-about-human-centred-design-b2a3adb4ac0d

['Kate Paterson']

2019-03-21 22:25:07.675000+00:00

['Human Centered Design', 'Queer Eye', 'Organisational Design', 'Service Design']

Côte-des-Neiges (Chapter III)

EL QUE NO SE PUÉ TIRÀ SE’ONDEA — WHERE THERE IS WILL THERE IS A WAY I had never been more enchanted, more delirious with desire, and more terrified of anybody as I was of this woman. There she was, her body wrapped around my body, her eyes locked with mine — I was hers, of that I had little doubt… A 45 mins brisk walk…or a quick 15 mins taxi ride. Either way, we were going to dance the night away Background This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual persons and/or events is purely coincidental. The main character — and narrator — is Alejandro Zurita, a twenty-two year old bon vivant, studying Business Administration at Vanier College in Montréal in the early spring of 1996, just as the dot com boom and the Web 1.0 is about to start… Scents of summer The air felt warm but comfortable, a riotous combination of scents jockeying for position inside our senses: Faint notes of pollen, flowers, and fresh-plowed earth coming from just outside the city. Every year, as the summer entered its finals weeks, farms would start spreading manure, so that the nutrients would fertilize the soil before the winter; then the wind would carry the smell far and wide. Gitana, gitana Gitana, gitana Tu pelo, tu pelo Tu cara, tu cara “Oui, bonjour? C’est Candy,” she answered. The old Willie Colón song, Gitana, was Candy’s ringtone. When her phone rang, she reached into her purse for her sleek and decidedly utilitarian Motorola STARTAC. It may look dated now when compared to an iPhone SE (2020), but in 1996 this was the best and latest in mobile technology. It was THE status symbol, announcing the owner as a modern and plugged-in member of the intelligentsia. Candy was a recently minted member of the club as a young and up-and-coming marketing executive working for Hydro-Québec, the provincial power utility and one of the most important centers of money, power and influence in the province. “Oui, Ça va Marie,” she looked up smiled, reaching out and squeezing my hand. Marie La Liberté was one of her oldest and closest friends. She was a Registered, ER Nurse at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal; the largest hospital in the city — and by 2020 — the largest in North America. “We just finished le souper at Hélena…oui, just walking to the old port…” she trailed off, as we continued on Rue McGill, enjoying the sights and sounds. The scents of ethnic cuisine — an exotic, eclectic mix of oils, meats and spices — wafting out of the open doors and windows, spilling onto the streets; tightly wrapped around the bits of sounds and conversation. The rhythmic patterns of cutlery clinking against dishes, off-key interpolations of Descending E Phrygian scale, Cuban Clave, or Cante Alentejano providing the soundtrack. The faint, sulphurous smell of car exhaust, the omnipotent aroma of fish, tainted water, and rotting moss coming from the nearby Saint Lawrence River…C’est Montréal. Vivant. Brut! “Oh, no. We are going dancing tonight. Alejandro me soulèvera et nous danserons toute la nuit,” she whispered on the phone, giving me a sexy, knowing wink; leaving Marie with only the sound of her voice to read between he lines. We walked down on Rue McGill and turned right on Rue William and continued to the corner of Rue des Soeurs-Grises, slowing down some more as we passed Restaurant Hà-Vieux-Montréal, another of one of the city’s premier spot. The reputation was well deserved, a meal at Hà wasn’t just a meal. Hà immersed their guests in the traditional Vietnamese concept of Bia hơi¹. In Vietnamese, “bia hoi” refers to both fresh-brewed beer and the roadside restaurants where locals, perched on plastic stools, gather to consume it. “What?” she said, sounding both annoyed and surprised. Sacrament and Debauchery “Coño; pero que mierda e’ ‘eto! They moved?”, she asked; switching from French, to English, to Spanish, using the Hispaniola dialect, with the South-Eastern register; all without missing a beat. Yeah I know. Sexy and intelligent, she was THAT hot. At the corner of Rue William and Rue Wellington, we turned left towards Charon Brothers Park. Square des Frères-Charon as it was known in French, is a small square and park at the crossroads of several historic streets around Old Montréal; bordered clockwise by Rue Wellington, Rue McGill, Rue Marguerite-d’Youville and Rue des Soeurs-Grises. The square was built as part of a network of public spaces along the axis of McGill Street; which itself is a historic thoroughfare that links the Old Port/Old Montréal to the contemporary city center, Centre Ville. We continued on Rue Marguerite-d’Youville until Rue de Calliére and veered off to walk around the Pointe-à-Callière Museum complex; taking the time to admire its mix of modern and faux-classical architecture. “Sure, Marie. Il n’y a pas de problème. We’ll meet you guys at l’cathédrale,” she said. The Cathedral or l’cathédrale, was a small Latin Club on Rue Peel, near the Peel Métro station. It was just a small, square room with tables and bar stools arranged against the wall; with the bar at one end, and the dance floor in the middle. It wasn’t much to look at but it was hugely popular with our crowd, people who enjoyed real music — played by real musicians with real instruments — and who knew how to handle themselves on a dancefloor. If you knew how to dance Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia and Bachata; and you like to been seen and dress to the nines, l’cathédrale was the place to be on Friday nights. “That was Marie. They moved l’cathédrale,” she said as she ended the call and returned the phone to her purse. The tone in her voice had that excited quality, that distinctive timbre one gets when dying to tell someone a big secret, but not saying much and waiting for them to figure out the clues. “Y donde ‘tà ‘hora. Where to did they relocate now?” I asked. “3988 Rue Saint-Denis, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal,” she said, impatiently waiting for my mind to catch up and for me to get the joke. “Wait a second!” I said, finally making the connection. The sacrilegious jerk in me, the a-hole who enjoyed watching porn on which female performers dressed as nuns could not contain his glee. “That’s the old Catholic Church. The one they had to close down last year!” “That’s right, Saint Jude Catholic Church. Looks like ‘ol Judas Iscariot is up to his old tricks again,” she joked, and the ironic pun was not lost on me. The influence of the once all-powerful Catholic Church of Québec had been reduced from a lion’s roar to a domesticated cat’s purr. By 1996, the average attendance rate in the province’s churches had plummeted to an unsustainable 7%; down from a lofty high of 90% in the years leading up to the 1960s. All told, about 40 churches were falling out of use each year in the province. In almost all cases due to shrinking congregations and the parishes no longer being able pay their bills. The Archdiocese of Québec’s inability to adapt to a changing realities of dwindling congregations and an aging population — along with a lack of young people stepping up to replace the retiring clergy — had culminated in the demise of one of the province most powerful institutions. The end result has been an increasing number of unused church properties being sold to the private sector⁴,⁵,⁶. Some churches have been converted into pizza parlors, Spas, or even luxurious condominiums — and one, apparently — into a temple of hedonistic inebriation, sweaty bodies and wanton debauchery. “Come, my child,” I said, doing my best pervi-Monsignor impersonation, “tonight we shall listen to the gospel of Tito Puente, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón and the venerated apostles of La Fania All Stars,” provided we don’t burst into flame the minute we set foot inside the building, I thought. “Yes, father,” said Candy in her equally exaggerated, naughty catholic school girl³ voice. “Oh, we are going to burn in hell,” I thought, as I took her hand to continued our stroll. A voice that conjured Eden As the sun was finally setting and the first points of light appeared in the sky, we left the Pointe-à-Callière Museum behind, casually strolled down Place Royale, and back onto Rue de la Commune towards the Vieux Port. Rue de la Commune traces the original shore of the Saint Lawrence River. The historical buildings along the north side of the road are former commercial buildings, now turned into upscale, hipster shops and restaurants serving the city’s booming tourist industry. A 45 min leisure walk or a brisk 15 min taxi ride…either way, we planned to dance the night away We walked by the Montréal Science Centre, with its massive IMAX Theatre and up to the Sailor’s Memorial Clock and Tour de l’Horlodge — The Montreal Clock Tower. This impressive monolith, whose construction began in 1919 and lasted until 1922, is set on a small bend along the river shore; offering fantastic views of Île Sainte-Hélène and the South Shore. The Clock Tower is about 45m or 148 ft tall, the stairs have a total of 192 steps from the bottom to the top of the tower. There are three observation stops along the staircase. The north facing side has a memorial plaque to the sailors who died during the First World War; while the western facing side has rectangular columns reaching from the base. On one of the green spaces along la promenade there were several street performers, food vendors and souvenirs peddlers all vying for the tourists’ attention and dollars. We passed a quartet of musicians playing a strip down version of an old “fusón” Son Cubano Candy liked, called De Oro by Fernando Echavarria⁸,⁹ y La Familia André. Excited, she grabbed my hand and dragged towards them. “Oye, mi pana. Dejeme cantar un poquitico aqui!”, Yo! move over, let me sing some bars! She said to the guy singing. She just grabbed the microphone, and the poor guy simply stepped aside and let her. Y hay en tus ojos negros, junto al sol Lo alegre en tu sonrisa Y tu pelo en la brisa de oro Mi sueños trenzó (To’ el mundo) te quiero The guy playing the quinto, trés golpes and salidor congas, nodded at me, as if asking “Do you want some of this…?” He didn’t know I had a set of cueros at home and played with friends every once in a while. I sat down and proceeded to show off my marcha, timba, and cumbia prowess — doing my best to honor Pedro Peralta, the percussionist in the original recording — while Candy’s voice filled the air, Que de tus ojos le hablo a tu boca Y a tu boca le hice sentir Lo que guardaba aquí en mi pecho Y sólo despertó por ti En tu pelo teji mil sueños Y en tu aliento sembre un clavel En tu cuerpo hice mi cobija Y mi sábana fue tu piel, te quiero She was a goddess. Her silky-smooth, breathy voice bringing Fernando’s poetry to life, of my eyes, I spoke to your lips and I made your lips into desire A desire that burns inside my heart That roars for no one but you With a strand of your hair, I wove a thousand dreams With your voice I conjured Eden Inside of me you found your shelter My bare skin your blanket By the time the music ended, over one hundred people had congregated to watch and hear “her performance”. She got an already-standing ovation from the now “adoring” public. A couple of older gentlemen gave her flowers, hastily bought from the street vendors; and professed their undying “love”, to the chagrin of their wives. The guys playing kept pleading, “Otro màs! Otro màs!” One more. One more. It was all very sweet, spontaneous and beautiful. The perfect ending to a romantic stroll through what has to be the most idyllic place in all of Montréal. A fresh poison each week We headed out again on to the street, walking a few paces to the taxi stands; and a quick 15 minutes ride later, we arrived at l’cathédrale. The place was packed. Jean-Pierre, “l’incroyable Hulk”, as he was called, recognized Candy and waved us in, “Merci, JP,Ça va?”, she asked, flashing that Monna Lisa smile that made you hand over all your money. “Oui, Ça va, Candy,” he replied, opening the door for her, while giving me the universal, if silent ‘sup bro chin raise. “Marie et François sont déjà à l’intérieur et vous attendent les gars. Profite de ta nuit,” he informed us just as we went in — indicating Marie and François were already waiting for us — and closed the door behind us. Marie spotted us the minute we walked in and came running to meet us by the bar. A Church-to-Latin-Club conversion is a tricky proposition. The best church conversions, according to Clarence Epstein, history professor at Concordia University, emulate the original intention of the structure as a meeting place or public space. The owners of l’cathédrale seemed to have heeded his warning, because the interior was airy, welcoming, and unlike many other clubs in the city, it made having a conversation — while the music was playing — something resembling normal. The bar occupied the place of the altar, against the high Lancet windows facing the street. At the other end was a small stage, used for live performances, with a DJ booth off to the side. As before, tables and stools were arranged against the wall, leaving plenty of room for the dancefloor. A rig of stage lights and speakers was suspended high above. All other available spaces, including the bell tower were set up with chairs, bar stools or leather couches. Ostensibly, this was to encourage the patrons to mingle, drink, dance and talk. The last part without resorting to shouting over the music and drunken sign language. “Now It’s Party!”, she crowed. She threw open her arms, first giving Candy, and then me, a warm hug and the traditional Faire La Bise, or two-sided, Frech style kiss. There is a science to a French greeting: To proper Faire La Bise, you lean forward, touch cheeks and kiss the air while making a kissing sound with your lips. Marie grabbed Candy by the hand and off they went to find a seat and gossip. This left Francois and I to do what boyfriends do when their girlfriends run off to gossip — about their girlfriends — with their other girlfriends: We went to the bar and ordered drinks. François Amadou was a Noir de France, or Black Frenchmen. Originally from Bénin in West Africa, he had grown up in France, in Issy-les-Moulineaux just outside Paris. He had moved to Montreal in 1994 and worked for the CBC French service, Ici Radio-Canada Télé, in Montréal. Given the cultural similarities between Benin and Hispaniola — most of the African slaves that ended up on the island came from the ancient Kingdon of Dahomey — we hit it off immediately. Despite not knowing a word of Spanish, he was a fantastic salsa dancer, and could hold his own with the congas. Needless to say, I liked him a lot. “So, primo, what’s new in the world of news,” I said, using the Spanish vernacular for “cousin” as we approached the bar, gesturing the bartender for a beer and a glass of white wine for Candy. It was François’ job to tend to Marie’s needs, drinks-wise and otherwise. “Same old, same old. Ce sont les tonneaux vides qui font le plus de bruit,” he lamented. His “beat” was the political desk, and in 1996 there was never a shortage of noise and drama from Montréal City Hall, Quebec City or Ottawa. He wasn’t wrong, It’s the empty barrels that make the most noise. Jean Chrétien and his friends just didn’t shut up. “Yeah, but it beats the hell out of a nine-to-five job. C’mon let’s get our ladies drunk and take advantage of ‘em,” I said, grabbing our drinks and heading back to meet up with the girls. “Ça ma l’air bon,” he concurred. Sounded it like a plan indeed. Once the proper amount of beers, spiced rhum, tequilla shots and wine had been duly consumed. The stress of the week drained away by flood of laughter and animated conversation, Marie, François, Candy and I worshiped at the Church of Saint Jude. We listened to the gospel of José Alberto “El Canario”, exhorting the faithful to sing along, Que paren el reloj Que suban esa música Que bajen esa luz Que quiero bailar contigo Words are like air, they are like the wind After a smoldering set of Salsa Romántica, when Eddie Santiago’s “Tú me quemas” and Frankie Ruiz’ “Desnudate mujer” packed the dance floor; the music stopped, the lights dimmed and the fog machines hissed — covering the dancefloor in an thin, endless fog. When the first chords of the clarinet rang out, Candy looked at me in the semi darkness, with hunger in her eyes. This was her song — Willie Colón’s Gitana — and she wanted to be seen. She wanted to look into my eyes and see pure, unadulterated lust looking back at her. She wanted every man within her line of sight to want her, to desire her…and to feel the envy of every woman wishing to be her as she swayed and danced, giving herself to the music with reckless abandon. She grabbed me by the waist and pulled to her, forcing me to feel the rising heat off her body, the fire raging inside of her. When the bass, the Bongos Drum, and the Maracas entered on the ONE count of the 8th bar, I was not quite sure if I had it in me to finish the song. There was a 50/50 chance I would be dragging her into another bathroom stall and have my way with her before Willie sang the first verse. The way the rhythmic structure of the bass line — and syncopated percussion — emphasized the ONE, made her push her body into mine, her breast into my chest, her thighs against my legs, until I could feel the throbbing in the space between them. Delirious, I wished I could throw her onto the floor and taste her. But just as I was sure to lose my mind, just when I thought I could not hold on any longer, the song changed its time signature. Going from a flamenco-inspired, orgasm-inducing, slow Son Montuno, to a more traditional and subdued Guaguancó —as Willie sang the chorus, she gently pulled away. Gitana, gitana Gitana, gitana Tu pelo, tu pelo Tu cara, tu cara If there was a song that perfectly described Candy; how she loved, how she hated, it was Gitana, or Gipsy Woman. The pulsating 8th notes, the driving marcha: change of hand, hold, turn. Cross body lead, turn. My God, this woman could dance! Her hips swaying in perfect rhythm with the music; her chest heaving, wet hair clinging to her face…and every pair of eyes belonging to a man slave to her body’s every move. Porque sabes que te quiero No trates de alabarme tú Pues lo mismo que te quiero Soy capaz hasta de odiarte yo There she was: raw, pure…sexual. This woman was magnificent, powerful, and complete. The intelligence and confidence, the fearlessness and ambition. The piercing green eyes. The full, pillowy lips, wet traces of rouge where her skin met her mouth. The perfectly tanned, silk smooth skin glistening in the lights. The passion, the jealousy, the blind rage, the empathy and the hate. All perfectly balanced and contained for the moment, but make no mistake, she was a lion in captivity — majestic and docile yes — but ready, willing and able to rip you to shreds at the slightest provocation. Porque sabes que te quiero No trates de alabarme tú Pues lo mismo que te quiero Soy capaz hasta de odiarte yo This woman could look into my soul without opening her eyes. She could make me feel what she felt, whisper in my ears without uttering a word. She could be far across the room and yet hold me captive to her gravity. I was a mere satelite orbiting her, falling deeper into her embrace. I had never been more enchanted, more delirious with desire…more terrified and aroused by anybody as I was by this woman. There she was again, her body wrapped around my body, her eyes locked with mine — I was hers, of that I had no doubt. Sin mirarte yo te miro Sin sentirte yo te siento (yo te siento) Sin hablarte yo te hablo Sin quererte yo te quiero Kiss me once again before we say goodnight “Amor, take me home and make love to me,” she whispered. Make love to me. Not fuck my brains out, or plow me until it hurts; but “make love to me”—there is a difference. Her request meant she wanted me to bring her to the place I felt most safe, and make her feel safe. The place where I was the most at ease and make her feel at ease. It means to show up and be present. To show her my true, honest and naked self, so that she, in turn, could show me her own, true, naked self. It meant she would give herself to me truly, madly, deeply. She would do so without any barriers or walls, no pretenses or games…with no boundaries and no safety net. She would vurnerable, lower her defenses and let me in, so long as I too did the same. She meant that she would give me her all — her mind, her body and soul — and trust me to handle her precious cargo with kind love and tenderness. This was a request for intimacy, vulnerability, and trust. The ensuing multiple orgasms she would inevitably enjoy, however, were an ancillary benefit to the emotionally bonding experience. The song ended, we walked off the dancefloor and said our good-byes to Marie and Francois, stumbling towards the exit. JP motioned to a taxi as soon as we walked out, opening the door for her to get in — I was on my own. I managed to get into the cab and sit next to Candy, without cracking my head open, “Thank you, GP,” I thought. I heard myself shout our address, passing a CND $20 to the driver; telling him to keep the change. I took in a big breath of the fresh morning air, trying to clear my head, getting my mind into game mode for the night’s encore performance – I mean, to make sweet jungle love ’til the mornin’ to the woman in my life. There is a difference…

https://medium.com/the-desabafo/c%C3%B4te-des-neiges-chapter-iii-1d1ddb2edf1d

['Juan Alberto Cirez']

2020-10-19 18:37:42.099000+00:00

['Religion', 'Technology', 'Erotica', 'Music', 'Fiction']

Analyzing Sexual Abuse Incidents at Organizations Using Supervised Learning

Analyzing Sexual Abuse Incidents at Organizations Using Supervised Learning How oversampling yielded great results for classifying cases of sexual harassment. Nowadays, the severity of sexual harassment is gaining more and more traction, not just in the USA but throughout the whole world. To help combat the problem, I joined an Omdena project together with the Zero Abuse Project. Among 45 Omdena collaborators from across 6 continents, the goal was to build AI models to identify patterns in the behavior of institutions when they cover-up incidents of sexual abuse. My task: Overcoming an imbalanced data set When it comes to data science, sexual harassment is an imbalanced data problem, meaning there are few (known) instances of harassment in the entire dataset. An imbalanced problem is defined as a dataset which has disproportional class counts. Oversampling is one way to combat this by creating synthetic minority samples. Together with other collaborators, I worked on an AI tool that evaluates the risk factors that suggest potential predatory individuals within an organization and those associated with the cover-up. Our data consists of sexual harassment instances at work and their features. The data is provided by UNICEF. Instances of sexual harassment is a reported case of sexual harassment which is concluded by law enforcement. The risk factors are going to be our features in the dataset. Features include; state, number of relocation and institution the person is connected to. Since the nature of the data is sensitive and unique, I have predicted probabilities rather than classes for the prediction output type. In such questions, predicting either 0 or 1 may be too controversial. To cope with the data imbalance problem and sensitivity, I decided to apply oversampling and implement a random forest model. The power of oversampling SMOTE — Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique — is a common oversampling method widely used in machine learning with imbalanced high-dimensional data. The SMOTE technique generates randomly new examples or instances of the minority class from the nearest neighbors of a line joining the minority class sample to increase the number of instances. SMOTE creates synthetic minority samples using the popular K nearest neighbor algorithm. K nearest neighbors draws a line between the minority points and generates points in the middle of the line. It is a technique that was experimented on, nowadays one can find many different versions of SMOTE which build upon the classic formula. Let’s visualize how oversampling effects the data in general. Visual representation of data without oversampling Visual representation of data with oversampling For visualizations sake, two features are picked and from their distribution it’s clearly seen that the minority samples match the majority sample count. Impact on the predictions Let’s compare the predictive power of oversampling vs. not oversampling. Random Forest is used as the predictor in both cases. The ProWSyn version of oversampling is selected as the highest performing oversampling method after all the methods are compared using this[1] Python package. Let’s check the performance of models pre and post oversampling. ROCAUC without oversampling ROCAUC with oversampling With ProWSyn oversampling implemented, we can see a 13% increase in ROCAUC score, which is the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, from 84% to 97%. I was also able to decrease the Brier Score[2], which is a metric for probability prediction, by 5%. As you can see from the results, oversampling can significantly boost your model performance when you have to deal with an imbalanced dataset. In my case, ProWSyn version of SMOTE performed the best but this depends always on the data and you should try different versions to see which one works the best for you. What is ProWSyn and why does it work so well? Most oversampling methods lack a proper process of assigning correct weights for minority samples. This results in a poor distribution of generated synthetic samples. Proximity Weighted Synthetic Oversampling Technique (ProWSyn) generates effective weight values for the minority data samples based on the sample’s proximity information, i.e., distance from the boundary which results in a proper distribution of generated synthetic samples across the minority data set.[3] What is the output? x: number of instances; y: probability After the prediction, the histogram of predicted probabilities looks like the image above. The distribution turned out the be the way I imagined. The model has learned from the many features and it turns out there is a correlation within the feature space which at the end creates such a distinct difference between classes 0 and 1. In simpler terms, there is a pattern within 0 and 1 classes’ features. More care has to be put into probabilities really close to 1 (100% probability). From the histogram plot above, we can see that the number of points near 100% probability is quite high. It is normal to dismiss someone as a non-predator but much harder to accuse someone, therefore that number should be lower. What’ next? In our novel quest of preventing sexual harassment at the workplace, I was able to identify the main problem, which was the class proportion in target values. Since predicting probabilities in such a sensitive subject required a well-functioning and thought out model, I wanted to fix the biggest problem by creating synthetic instances of sexual harassment in the dataset and have the model it that way. As a result, the predicted probabilities, or red flags, have shown a high level of Brier Score and AUC which means a higher probability prediction performance. These high scores mean a much better predictive performance in plain English. But this is a double-edged sword, as the model would have a large number of highly probable sexual harassment entities on future data. Since this machine learning task is much more sensitive than for example predicting the price of second-hand cars, these high probabilities may lead to complications. Having more training data and using a very high threshold may overcome this problem. About Omdena Omdena is an innovation platform for building AI solutions to real-world problems through the power of bottom-up collaboration. Want to become an Omdena Collaborator and join one of our tough projects, apply here. We are also on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. SOURCES: [1] https://github.com/analyticalmindsltd/smote_variants [2] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-37456-2_27 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brier_score

https://medium.com/omdena/preventing-sexual-harassment-at-workplace-using-supervised-learning-c3b49a4d59c8

['Mertcan Coskun']

2020-04-25 12:06:56.103000+00:00

['Sexual Harassment', 'Python', 'Machine Learning', 'Oversampling', 'Data Science']

UN World Data Forum 2020: Increasing Open Data Literacy in the Time of Covid-19

Advocating for better and more open data on corporate impacts, and engaging the public in the use of that data, is the foundation of the WikiRate platform. This October we were delighted to take part in the first virtual edition of the UN World Data Forum with a Ted Talk on increasing open data literacy in the time of Covid-19. Our Ted Talk built on one of the main conference themes, Building Trust in Data and Statistics, with an exploration of the open data movement and our work to further corporate transparency. Through this work we are trying to not only build trust in the data — by making each data point traceable through transparent source citing — but also to make the data available in the first place. In the age of big data, accessible corporate sustainability data is lagging behind. Over the past four years we have been engaging volunteers, students and researchers in collecting open data on corporate reporting to the Sustainable Development Goals through research on the WikiRate platform. With the emergence of Covid-19, academic institutions have been faced with unprecedented disruption to their teaching schedules and confronted with new challenges in engaging students using virtual formats. In order to support this adaptation, WikiRate is working to ensure that professors are able to use our research platform as a teaching tool. In our Ted Talk, we present our Sustainable Development Goals research program as one such example for engaging students remotely in measuring and tracking corporate sustainability. Embedding open data literacy into curriculums in this way, is providing future leaders with knowledge and understanding of where data comes from, how it is used and the need for a critical approach to interpreting data. During what has been a turbulent year so far, the need to build trust in data and statistics, and to propel the open data movement forward, has never been clearer. We hope you enjoy our Ted Talk below! Interested in engaging with WikiRate to further the open data movement? Get in touch via our contact form.

https://medium.com/@wikirate/un-world-data-forum-2020-increasing-open-data-literacy-in-the-time-of-covid-19-34a826656049

[]

2020-10-20 12:36:03.117000+00:00

['United Nations', 'Open Data', 'Sdgs', 'Data', 'Education']

ENGLISH-TO-MALAYALAM MACHINE TRANSLATION USING PYTHON

This article is based on a project which I did with my friends Nahid M.A , Paul Elias and Shiv Shankar Nath. Today, the internet supports a wide array of languages. So, the concept of machine translation has indeed emerged as an important factor in connecting people who speak different languages. In this article, we are going to take a look at the process of translating English to Malayalam using Transfer Rules. WHAT IS MACHINE TRANSLATION? Machine translation can be defined as the process by which a software coverts text or speech in one language to another language. In other words, it is the study of designing systems that translates text from one natural language to another. Machine translation helps people from different places to understand an unknown language without the aid of a human translator. WHY MACHINE TRANSLATION? Machine Translation is considerably cheaper compared to human translators. They can sift through extremely high amounts of data within a very short span of time. Computer programs can translate enormous quantities of data consistently within a small time frame. If these were done manually, they would have taken weeks or even months to complete. “Without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country. The translator is my most important ally. He introduces me to the world.” – Italo Calvino TRANSFER RULES IN MACHINE TRANSLATION Transfer rules can be defined as a set linguistic rules which are defined as correspondences between the structure of the source language and that of the target language. Making use of transfer rules is one of the most common methods of machine translation. MT using transfer rules can be divided into three steps : Analysis of the source language text to determine its grammatical structure Transfer of the resulting structure to a structure suitable for generating text in the target language Generation of the output text In this project, we make use of the Malayalam transfer rules. These are a set of rules which have to be followed in order to construct Malayalam sentences with good grammatical structures : Image Source : Anitha T Nair, Sumam Mary Idicula, 978–1–4673–2149–5/12/31.00 IEEE 2012 All the “codes” which are mentioned in the above table represents the various parts of speech. Image Source : https://pythonspot.com/nltk-speech-tagging/ Various transfer rules were used in this program in order to attain accurate results. NP (Noun Phrase) and VP (Verb Phrase) are considered as the parent tags. These are some of the Transfer Rules that were implemented : If the parent tag VP contains child tag VBZ NP, it is reordered as NP VBZ If the parent tag NP contains child tags NP PP, it is reordered as PP NP If the parent tag NP contains child tags NP VP, it is reordered as VP NP If the parent tag VP contains child tags VBG NP, it is reordered as NP VBG POS Tagging of the input text PACKAGES IMPORTED DATASET USED The Olam English-Malayalam dataset has been used for this project. This is a growing, free and open, crowd sourced English-Malayalam dictionary with over 200,000 entries. The dataset consists of English words, their Malayalam definitions, and part / figure of speech tags. Link to the dataset : https://olam.in/open/enml/ Olam Dataset ALGORITHM SAMPLE OUTPUT Consider the input text “She is driving a car” Initially, the POS tagging of each word takes place, as shown below. POS Tagging of input text Reordering of words After applying the transfer rules and translating the words, we get the output. Output Text In a machine translation task, the input already consists of a sequence of symbols in some language, and the computer program must convert this into a sequence of symbols in another language. — Page 98, Deep Learning, 2016. ADVANTAGES OF MT USING TRANSFER RULES Machine Translation using Transfer rules has its advantages over other conventional translation methods. These include : This method takes grammatical structure of the translated Malayalam sentence into account. This method produces more meaningful outputs compared to Rule-Based MT (RBMT). Using POS tags, we can identify the part of speech each word represents in the sentence. DISADVANTAGES OF MT USING TRANSFER RULES This method of Machine Translation also has its fair share of disadvantages. These include : In order to improve the accuracy, we need to add a large number of rules. In some cases, POS tags are assigned to the words without considering the context of the sentence. This can affect the accuracy of the output. Writing the transfer rules require a lot of time. Moreover, good linguistic knowledge is necessary. One needs to be well versed with the language in order to deduce the transfer rules. Inability to accurately translate sarcasm and idioms. In such cases, the literal meaning of the input is considered. The non-literal, expressive meaning of idioms such as “It’s a piece of cake” and “Let the cat out of the bag” will not be considered. CONCLUSION To conclude, Machine Translation is the task of automatically converting source text in one language to text in another language. In this case, we are implementing MT using Transfer Rules to convert English to Malayalam. This method can even be applied for other languages. Throughout the years, the accuracy of MT systems have been constantly improving. Now, we have AI translation models which are capable of producing highly accurate results at a very fast rate. We can only wonder what the future of MT holds. Whatever it turns out to be, it will undoubtedly keep producing significant ripples in the language industry. REFERENCES

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/english-to-malayalam-machine-translation-using-python-e61f3c76deee

['Joel Jorly']

2020-12-22 16:40:22.094000+00:00

['Machine Translation', 'AI', 'Machine Learning', 'Malayalam', 'Language Translation']

My Journey to being OSCP Certified

This is not your typical “how I passed OSCP” blog It somewhat is — but I wanted to dive into specific details i.e. my failures and how hacking changed my life entirely! (for the better) I feel a lot of people out there can relate to my experiences. Personally, I believe I’m a great mentor / adviser to those who pop up in my DM’s on Twitter (follow me @Rainsec_) asking for guidance on their own path of becoming a penetration tester or simply wanting to get better at hacking boxes and preparing for the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) exam. I’ve been in the shoes of a complete newbie before with absolutely zero clue on what’s going on and I’ve asked people the same questions I still get asked to this day by other newbies and because of me being able to relate to them — I always go over & beyond in ensuring they’ve got the maximum help from me. I wanted to get this point across before going into the OSCP journey because I want those people who are struggling so much right now and feel clueless and hopeless in becoming a hacker that they infact CAN overcome their struggles and doubts! A lot of blogs I’ve read sort of just beat around the bush and go straight to the point of their great success of obtaining OSCP — which is fantastic but the whole point of a blogpost isn’t to flaunt your success it’s so somebody else can read it, take inspiration or find that motivation they needed to progress on their path! I’ve tried organizing as best as I could with what Medium offers to try and create subsections so you know what part of the journey you’re reading. Eventually I aim to host a website on GitHub and push this over there to make it a lot neater Let’s finally get into this long journey of mine Background Information MY LIFE BEFORE HACKING The beginning of my life taking a complete turn started on June 23rd, 2018. It was the night of my Professional Muay Thai C-class bout. From a young age, my aspirations were always to become a boxer and make my living from competing for world titles and taking the world by storm, this was kind of held back from my parents not allowing me to join a Boxing club due to health and safety reasons at around 13 years old which is seen as the golden age to start learning how to box. So, when I reached 18 years old and was starting to experience the big bad world on my own, I decided to join a club myself and didn’t take into account what my parents thought of it. From 18 to probably 20 I dedicated my entire life 24/7 to training. There was NOT a day I wasn’t doing some form of training, I just became so in love with the sport and put my studies aside and only focused on attending the gym at late evenings and doing my 5km runs everyday. Eventually, I stood out in gym from the rest and was quickly acknowledged as a “potential hot-prospect” so I was thrown into the deep-end with the top class fighters and trained with them every week. At this point I must have just started my 1st year of University, coming straight from college. For that whole year I just kept progressing at a rapid rate, learning from the best and not bothering with my University course (Cyber Security & Networks FYI), It came to a point where I didn’t attend classes and just studied for exams few days before and passing. Fast forward some more time, I finally have a fight announced for myself on June 23rd. What happens in boxing is that when a fight is announced, you typically go for a 6–8 week training camp. The camp is the hardest most painful, gruesome and severely mentally challenging thing a human being could probably take part in. Just imagine for 6–8weeks straight 7 days a week, you’re pushing your body to it’s limits with no time for breaks, dieting strictly, having constant injuries but having to use medications or sport creams to temporarily heal them, training 2x a day sometimes and still (somehow) improving every week. It’s crazy as hell but I enjoyed and loved it, even though you’re basically being bullied for 6 weeks by veterans of the sport. Anyway, the night of the fight came and long story short — I wasn’t able to perform on the night and took the loss after 5 rounds. This genuinely left me heartbroken and destroyed inside knowing I didn’t perform due to whatever reasons existed, and I took a few months off from doing any training. Another fight was booked for September but I stepped back after 2 weeks in the fight camp for that one, I needed to mentally regain myself before going at it again. Finding Penetration Testing as a career job THIS WAS THE TUNRING POINT OF MY LIFE, AND HOW I STUMBLED ACROSS PENTESTING During my time off from training I decided to see where I’m at with University work because I knew I was behind from the rest of my class, everyone seemed super smart and had their brains screwed on the cyber world. I started studying about my course and finding out what jobs I could actually land with this degree. After some nights researching, I honestly cannot remember how I came across this but I found out that you can get paid to be an Ethical Hacker. This seemed to good to be true — considering the salaries were also quite high. I spent time on YouTube and Googling about Ethical Hackers, what they do and how to become one. I spent time on Reddit r/netsec and things like that, and it was r/netsec where I seen somebody promote their Twitch channel. He was doing livestreams of teaching Pentesting by doing retired HackTheBox (HTB) machines and I immediately jumped on this bandwagon. FUN FACT: The streamer turned out to be TheCyberMentor. He was a very small streamer at that point TCM used to upload his 2–3 hour streams raw to his YouTube channel and because of USA and UK time zones I’d miss his streams — therefore I’d spend my nights watching those uploads on YouTube and taking notes wherever possible. The concepts he was explaining and the way he got his point across just stuck to my brain like glue, brilliant teacher. During this time period was when I spent a lot of my days researching and learning about Hacking concepts i.e. learning how to perform scanning and enumeration, what tools to use to perform scanning, what Kali Linux is and how to navigate through it. What helped tremendously to comprehend these basic skills was Immersive Labs which I think is a Cyber Security training platform for students eligible and employees of workplaces only. Eventually, I came across certifications and I was honestly so confused on what direction to head into. I didn’t know where to point my excitement and passion — do I point it towards my Cyber Security degree and aim for a 1st class Honors, or do I pinpoint Penetration Testing and try to learn how to hack? This was my biggest dilemma! Having no one around that I knew in real-life to guide me and answer my thousands of questions was a bummer and I relied on asking folk on Twitter or browsing around Reddit forums to see if anyone else was in my position. I’m the kind of person who likes to put 110% of my focus into something instead of having multiples areas to focus on, so I really was at a brick wall for a long period. Time went on. I continued learning from TCM, I also followed through with Andy Gills amazing blog posts over at and was slowly realizing that my passion may actually be in Penetration Testing. Some time passes again where I’m still studying Hacking in my spare time and I was having a blast! Majority of my time was spent on YouTube watching Hackersploit and the content he was uploading was mesmerizing, I still couldn’t fathom how Penetration Testing was a legal job. Everyday I made it a goal to learn something new — even if it’s something so small, I just made it a habit to read everyday and try learn something. Attempting Capture The Flags for practical experience MY FIRST CTF, HOW I FACED MY FEARS AND THE RESULT OF FACING SUCH FEELING After going through a lot of TCMs streams and adhering to his advice of self-belief and confidence, I took it upon myself to visit and to face my fears and just give this hacking thing a try for once. The whole time I was just learning concepts but never applying it anywhere, I felt very intimidated and scared to go into this because I did not want to meet failure on my first attempt of hacking. My biggest fear in life growing up has always been failure. It sometimes makes me over-prepare and it keeps me on my toes, granted, but there’s times I let it consume me — fear and failure combined is an awful combination TRUST me. It’s equally important to understand failure can happen to anyone and at any point and to prepare for worst case scenarios, I always envisioned myself succeeding in anything but whenever the opposite occurred I almost wouldn’t know what to do with myself or how to proceed from it. A vital lesson I learned after taking that break from boxing. So I was checking out VulnHub which is a Capture The Flag (CTF) platform of Windows/Linux images to download and run in a Virtual Machine. (CTFs are virtualized sandboxed environments with intentionally vulnerable services for participants to exploit. The operating systems vary from Windows to Linux and sometimes other systems. It’s probably the best method to practice Hacking legally and I highly recommend them to everyone, unless you’re interested in purely Bug Bounties — perhaps take another route.) I filtered the machines from the most easiest rated — literally I mean I properly searched for what the most easiest machine was at that point in time and it turned out to be Rickdiculously Easy: 1 which actually turned out to be so much fun! Definitely was glad I faced my fears. I actually recommend any newcomers to give this CTF a try, there’s about 13 flags I think but I was enjoying myself and I didn’t care how long I got stuck for. I didn’t end up completing it until maybe a week, even then I had to look up answers for the final 2 flags. I stuck with VulnHub for a bit trying to get as many easy machines under my belt as possible, I may have done I think 10 VulnHub machines in total. After building a little bit more confidence in myself, I decided to go for HackTheBox. Back then, TryHackMe wasn’t around — VulnHub and HTB were the most popular CTF platforms to practice on with the latter being incredibly harder. Making the move to Hackthebox.eu FEELINGS AROUND HTB, PERSEVERING THROUGH THE LABS The feeling you experience from getting your first root on a machine still applies even on your 70th root. HackTheBox turned into an addiction to me the moment I felt what it was like to finally get root and submit a flag for points, so as you can imagine I went on an absolute rampage on this site! I ended at 70 boxes completed from HTB before getting close to booking OSCP labs. Let’s discuss how I went from 1–70 and go into the highs and lows At first, Netmon was on the “Active” boxes section and was the easiest machine thankfully at the time to root. User flag was incredibly easy and root was trickier but I got there in the end with hints and whatnot. I thought from here onwards it’s going to be a smooth ride, so I tackled another box — Irked. This one I remember like it was yesterday, I was super thrilled getting a user shell on this because I remember trying for so many hours and finally getting there in the end. Box #2 down and I was so stoked at the progress I was making. The next machine was Help, and this was a pain! Definitely needed help with this one! This machine kicked my ass on another level and I remember being stuck for a full day and having to attempt the next night. I knew what was exploitable but had no idea how to pull it off, I looked around at the forums a lot and tried asking people for hints, thankfully people were nice on HTB and had no ego’s and reached out with some brilliant advice. This machine might have been the first to give me a headache. From here onwards it truly was a mixture of going through some good times and bad. I ended up coming across Ippsec on YouTube and noticed he had walkthroughs of every retired machine. After watching a couple of his videos, it became apparent that I have tons to learn and I’m too behind. A lot of self-doubt was creeping up but I just reminded myself that I’m not in a race with anyone but myself. Take it nice and easy, continue to enjoy hacking and try take every experience as a learning curve. I also spent a lot of time on forums.hackthebox.eu on whatever box I was attempting, my reasoning apart from getting hints was to also learn from other peoples methodologies. I would occasionally private message people asking how they got user or root and I learned from their strategies — it’s important to learn how other people do certain things or think about scenarios so you too, can learn and adopt it. At one point I checked what other machines I could go for but there wasn’t many Active Easy machines online anymore, so I was considering going for the VIP pass. Why? Because I had a look and realized there was so many more machines to practice on with Easy ratings! For a while I didn’t buy the subscription, I thought to myself I’m not good enough. I’d be wasting £10/month on something I probably would never succeed in, I should keep reading more online and try to increase my knowledge, or I should go back to VulnHub — however this little voice in my head was the fear of failure! I thought back to what I had learned during my experiences of life so far and decided to just do it, and it was the best decision I ever made. I paid for the VIP pass and jumped right in. Grinding out HackTheBox and ending at 70 rooted boxes PUTTING MY ALL INTO HTB, COMING ACROSS OSCP AND THE HIGHS AND LOWS THROUGHOUT HTB is where I honed a lot of my skills and spent majority of my days. I ended up not having much of a social life besides going out once a week and working weekends at my job, although I didn’t really notice my lifestyle was like this because I was still having a good time. To cut things short — I pretty much stuck at this for a good few months. I remember looking at ways to land a Pentesting job and I came across the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification and learning how it really helps you to get your foot in the door when applying for jobs. I also heard about how excruciatingly hard and mentally rough this exam was, so I decided to prepare hard for it. My experience with HTB was something! There was often times I felt stressed out and wanting to just pull my hair out, often times I would get stuck for days and have to resort to using forums or writeups to get past a certain section, at one point I even got burned out from it all and took a 1 month break. I bashed through too many in a short amount of time, I think it was around 30 boxes where I felt this. I really needed to mentally regain myself. The times where I felt at my lowest I would simply just ignore Hacking and start gaming with my friends which is another hobby of mine, or sometimes I’d hit the gym. I just wanted to de-stress myself by any means because it’s a horrible feeling. During my low times when I would tackle Easy rated boxes I would be struggling still so much. I wouldn’t say it was anything to do with having an ego because I most certainly don’t have one — but I almost couldn’t fathom how I was getting railed by Easy machines considering I had done a good number of these already and I expected myself to be rooting any Easy rated machine myself. I’d get stuck for a full day with almost no progress and STILL have to resort to looking at hints! A month goes by and I get back to hacking boxes after feeling more inspired. A mixture of good runs and bad runs occur— i.e. I’d have a good week or so of rooting boxes without much help and feeling happy and there’d be times where I was at a brick wall and needed hints and helps to move forward. I ended HTB with 70 rooted machines. These 70 machines were the results of endless nights up trying to root machines and going through hell! What I realized when I reached around the box #60 was that it doesn’t matter how many boxes you’ve done — there is endless knowledge to hacking and topics to understand, it’s impossible to know it all and every lab/CTF you take part in will always have something you don’t know about. This is what Hacking truly is, it’s about learning and improvising on the spot and using Google extensively to research! It never gets easier (which is precisely what I imagined). It took me a while to finally see this and I’m glad I did. I think this is what really encouraged me to stop beating myself up when I was getting stuck on boxes, I had to just accept reality. Oh, I also made sure to finish all of this list to get ready for my OSCP: It’s self-explanatory to what this list is if you read the top section once you’ve clicked onto it. At this point, I was feeling quite accomplished! But I must admit — even with that quantity of boxes I still felt imposter syndrome and self-doubt Moving to Virtual Hacking Labs for more practice GOING TO VHL FOR MY FINAL PRACTICE BEFORE CONTEMPLATING BOOKING OSCP LABS After finishing my time at HTB, I moved onto Virtual Hacking Labs (VHL) and bought a 1-month subscription. VHL was my final practice arena before digging into PWK labs and I heard too many good reviews about VHL so I wanted to add this to my study plan. This was my first time in VHL and I rooted all Beginner and Advanced Labs. My thoughts on VHL was greatly positive. I absolutely loved it and honestly, here is where I perfected my methodology a lot from those labs. It differs from HTB because the exploits are pretty easy to pull off, but they throw a lot of rabbit holes your way. Multiple Content Management Systems (CMS) and multiple web-apps, loads of services and you really have to stick to your enumeration strategies to pull through. I realized I used to rush a lot during HTB, but VHL forced me to learn to take my time and go through everything, take notes mentally or in CherryTree and come back to the notes once I’ve enumerated all. The only bad I can talk about this platform was the Privilege Escalation vectors were mostly Kernel exploits and some old systems. At this point — I was convinced there was no other preparation I could do and that I was ready to finally face the PWK labs. I mentioned before about how I perfected my methodology here. What I precisely meant by that was my enumeration skills starting from my initial nmap scans and how I enumerated web-apps and services. It’s so crucial to have a really good methodology flow to follow because by doing so, you avoid these rabbit holes people tend to fall into and it speeds things up — allowing you to have information on everything before thinking about looking up exploits. Diving into Pentesting With Kali labs and booking my OSCP I VENTURE INTO THE PWK LABS WITH 30 DAYS, MY THOUGHTS ON PWK LABS AND HOW I TACKLED THE LABS I finished all my desired prep work at this point and was ready to go for OSCP. Honestly, I felt under-confident and anxiety was increasing rapid! It was my friend @n7_sec that convinced me I should do 30 days of PWK as opposed to 60 and that I was ready to take down this behemoth, so 30 days I booked with the money I saved up from doing extra shifts at my part-time job. I ended my PWK time with 30 labs rooted including Pain, Sufferance and Gh0st— I achieved this with 12 days left of lab time and decided this was enough. My schedule during lab days was: Waking up late afternoon > Showering > Breakfast > Stuck in my room until very very late hours grinding labs > Sleep I didn’t watch the video tutorials they sent, I didn’t go for the extra +5pts lab report nor did I spend much time reading the PDF!. I’ll admit — I spent 1 day reading the PDF but it was a fast skim and just double checking if there’s areas I’m weak on/need learning. My feelings are really mixed on PWK labs if I’m honest - It was hard sometimes but it also felt like a breeze at other times. I don’t know what I can and can’t disclose so I won’t give too much away, but I’ll say that my preparation work before PWK was tremendously worth it. I would say I wasn’t enjoying PWK labs and wasn’t a fan of it, so with 12 days remaining I went back to VHL, booked another subscription and finished all their Advanced+ labs. I can’t give too much slander to PWK because to be honest — it did kind of tweak my methodology a bit in a good way of course. A lot of the labs were built around having solid enumeration skill because this is what OffSec heavily emphasize and try to teach. By now, my PWK labs were over and I think I booked the exam maybe 6 days later — enough time for a mental break but also not long enough to lose that feeling of momentum and being in the zone to tackle OSCP. My mind was in the perfect place at this point, had my confidence built up exactly where I wanted it and I perfected my methodology to the standard I wished. During the 6 day wait I didn’t want to COMPLETELY do nothing. Around this time, OffSec released a new training platform called “Proving Grounds”. You simply purchase a subscription to get access to machines picked/created by their team (or go for a Free option with different labs) and I thought this would be awesome as last minute practice. Damn was I totally wrong… I definitely disliked the Proving Grounds! I never went back to it after the first day. It isn’t needed to prepare for OSCP I wouldn’t personally recommend adding this to your preparation. For the next 5 days, I spent time learning Buffer Overflows. I already had experience with Stack Based buffers from a long way back so I knew 5 days was enough to cram it all in again. I prepared every day and night, worked on rooms from TryHackMe, VulnServer, TheCyberMentor ‘Buffer Overflows made Easy’ course and Tib3rius’s room in THM I’d conclude the PWK labs with a neutral feeling towards it. My reasoning is simply down to me expecting something a little different, the labs were hard at times and also a breeze at times. I was glad to have stopped at 30 labs and move back to VHL. I believe it’s an expensive certification — but it’s from Offensive Security and is seen highly around the world so I do understand the price. The Night of the OSCP Exam — I finally made it here EXAM DAY HAS CAME, HOW I PREPARED TO TACKLE THE BOXES AND REPORT WRITING 30th September 2020, I have my exam booked for 7pm. I woke up around afternoon time and had my usual shower and breakfast morning routine. Unfortunately, I had bad sleep the night before so I was feeling a bit drowsy already and totally not in the mood to go for a rigorous 24 hour exam, but there was nothing that could be done at this point so I just thought whatever, I’ll buy some energy drinks to keep me going. I live in a house with a lot of baby nieces who are really loud throughout the entire day so I informed my family to please take them to their rooms at 6pm and get them to sleep! Because I would be raging if my mental state was moved even the slightest bit, all my hard work and the rollercoaster of a journey I went through was all to see this day and I wanted it to go as perfectly as planned. 7pm finally dawned upon me and it was game time. My plan going into this was: Do the Buffer Overflow for +25pts Do the +10pts box Do one of the +20pts box Do other +20pts box Finish with 75/100 I planned to only go for the +25pts box as a Plan B incase the above doesn’t work out for me! My Buffer Overflow I am so glad I nailed this down perfect! I was able to do them in my sleep I practiced so hard for it — I got the Admin shell after 30 mins The +10pts box… yeah I did not get this to go as planned. I was going at it for an hour I think until I thought about just moving on. This definitely startled me a little because things didn’t go to plan, I guess I thought I’d have it rooted by 1 hour. Good thing I moved on fast to the next target — important advice to take into consideration! I went for one of the +20pts box and I eventually got user shell so I was super excited at this rate! I went for root for a while but no luck, I wasn’t seeing anything — decided to move on Now I was at 35points after a few hours and I thought I’m actually doing well. Next box was the other +20pts and I rooted that, sitting at +55pts and was over the moon now! I went back to the +10pts box to see what I was doing wrong, a lot of trial and error, googling, patience and eventually I got this thing to work! Now at +65pts and things were looking SO bright! I was so close to the end, I was starting to beat myself up about not handing in the lab report for the extra 5points but I stopped thinking about it because now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past, full speed ahead now! By now, I think I was at 7 hours in maybe? I remember spending a LENGTHY amount of time for the +20pts box I couldn’t get root on. I took a good few breaks here, chilled on YouTube, had a quick snack and was feeling very very sleepy. I was desperate to get some sort of sleep. I tried my best to stay awake though because I knew once I fall asleep, I won’t be waking up till at LEAST 8 hours! I didn’t want to sleep and lose the momentum I had at this point. I spent 3 hours trying to go for root, I knew what to do but nothing seemed to be working. I was having so many thoughts of worst-case scenario situations and was thinking back to how I was reading blogs, and people would get stuck on 65pts for the rest of the exam and not pass! I Had to keep persevering, believing in myself that I will get this rooted and to remain calm and take it easy. A little after 3 hours and I get the ROOT! Now I’m at 75/100 with 70 being the minimum required to pass! I remember jumping off my chair with excitement and couldn’t believe what had just happened! I finally defeated this gigantic long uphill battle! All that hard work I put in truly paid off in the end! I got passing points at 10 hours in. I spent the rest of my 14 hours of sleeping and getting all my screenshots, there was no way I was going to fail this due to missing some evidence for the report so I made sure to quadruple check everything. A huge sense of relief followed! Concluding with writing my Report and advice on report writing WRITING MY REPORT, FOLLOWING A BLOG ON GOOD PRACTICES AND SUBMITTING THE OSCP EXAM When it comes to the report writing — OffSec emphasize the importance of making it seem as professional as possible and make it like an actual real-life Pentest report. There’s loads of templates online such as on GitHub where people have written up a template and you just kind of add your screenshots, fill in blanks and write up the procedures to replicate. OffSec also provide you with a template anyway if you wish to use theirs. Mine was just done on Microsoft Word — I didn’t use any fancy markdown. When you guys are about to write your report, PLEASE ensure you have all screenshots required from the exam machines! Follow the exam guidelines on their website — they send you all the links you need by email before the exam anyway. It’s important you strictly follow what they consider a root compromise to be and how to read the contents of the flags and screenshot them. Please follow it carefully because you don’t want to be failing over something like that! If you’re struggling on understanding what a Pentest report should look like then I recommend reading this: A blog written by Red Teamer Andy Gill on teaching beginners to write their first Pentest report. I gave this a read before I went ahead and wrote mine. Concluding the blog, my personal advice, upcoming guideline book and a message to the reader MY THOUGHTS ON OSCP, RECOMMENDATIONS, NEWBIES AND ADVICE FOR ALL. READ ENDING PARAGRAPHS FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION To finally conclude this very long blog and personal journey of mines I’ll give my thoughts on the OSCP. I definitely respect anyone who has this cert, because going through the hell it takes to have the required skills and knowledge and mental resilience to tackle it is a hard thing to do and is by no means an easy task. I came from a very different background completely non-related to InfoSec or computing by any means, I never imagined myself becoming a Hacker as I thought it wasn’t possible unless you’re a bad guy on the dark web. I went through 16 months of constant learning and self-growing before I booked the PWK labs, and it was the most exciting times of my life! I’ll never forget the late nights. As for the cert itself and what it means, I hold this cert high in my mind and it will be my greatest achievement for a long time, it gets your foot in the door when trying to apply for Pentesting jobs and I believe this cert in particular shows a lot about a person as opposed to other certs out there which are just question-based. Would I recommend this cert to someone interested in Pentesting? YES! But keep in mind it is by no means a necessity to land a job — it simply helps a lot. For those who are newbies, I’m actually collabing with @n7_sec to create this OSCP Total Guide book thing which helps create a solid path to follow. I believe the hardest thing when starting out is actually knowing where to point your focus, what exactly to learn and what platforms to spend your time on and to make efficient use of your time —many of us are limited by time whether it be working 5–7 days a week or having a family to take care of. I suggest giving this guide a proper look, share it with others and follow it dearly! Since it isn’t released yet — I can give a quick rundown of what I suggest for newbies: Watch the entirety of this course This is pretty much what I watched back in the days from TCM but he’s now made it into a single video/course with timestamps in description Give Ippsec a watch for a few boxes to have an idea of what HackTheBox is like: Sign up for HackTheBox buy the VIP subscription Go to the Retired section of their boxes, filter from most Easiest rated and work your way up rated and work your way up Make good use out of the forums https://forum.hackthebox.eu/ don’t be afraid to ask for hints or look at hints Enjoy this process! REMEMBER you are in a race with NOBODY but yourself. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Take your time, it’s a learning experience everyday even for myself and those who are much greater than me. We learn new things all the time and hacking is all about learning and staying curious! That’s what I’d recommend for newbies. Stick with HTB rather than TryHackMe (If you’re planning for OSCP) because HTB will prepare you real good. THM without throwing it too much shade is quite beginner-friendly in the sense that they have a hinting mechanism and Q&A’s and it’s tempting to go and click it, they also sometimes give you a brief introduction before each box of what to expect — this is not the mindset you want to get into. HTB follows a Black-box testing procedure where all you have at your disposal is an IP address and nmap! Learning things the hard way pays off in the end, trust me. My first mentee was grinding out THM labs, when I sent him to HTB on an easy rated machine he was quite stuck! He eventually managed 10 or so retired machines I think before his VIP access ended and when he was back on TryHackMe — he was sailing through all their labs. Once again, I am NOT throwing shade at THM! It’s a good place but just not the right thing if you’re looking for OSCP. For those who are more experienced/intermediate level and nearing their OSCP, I recommend completing this list firstly before booking lab time: Ensure you’ve done extra labs, too. Try finish every single easy and medium rated retired box that is not on the list above. The whole idea is to have a solid methodology, those boxes in TJNulls list is not going to make you pass your exam, it’s the quality of your enumeration skills that will. Increasing the quantity / exposure to more labs will help solidify that. Next, I strongly recommend Virtual Hacking Labs: https://www.virtualhackinglabs.com Although it’s expensive — it’s worth every penny. I even bought this twice on two different occasions it was that good! Really helps you nail your methodology. Make sure you complete all Beginner, Advanced and Advanced+ labs Finally, you can take these whenever you wish but go through these courses and make good notes on them: https://tryhackme.com/room/bufferoverflowprep The most common thing people fail on the exam from what I gathered with my observations of peoples blogs is Privilege Escalations. I was the opposite in that I always struggled with initial footholds but excelled with Privilege Escalations! What helped me tons was doing a lot of HTB. Remember, I done 70 boxes before even considering PWK labs so I had a lot of exposure to different vectors of privilege escalating. VHL and PWK labs didn’t really assist me much in that sense. A combination of HTB and studying Ippsec a LOT really helped my game. Like I say to my mentees — make Ippsec your new Netflix! Really watch and understand his methodologies and why he does certain things, what scripts he runs and how he manually checks for things. As for which Tools I used in the exam, I didn’t really need any tool to make me pass. This is the mindset a lot of people should get out of, I was definitely included in this. I thought if I use this tool and that tool and oh this brand new tool which is meant to aid in OSCP I’d pass — this certainly was not the case. You don’t need anything apart from your methodology and Google! Just pray your internet is working fine on the day of exam and you have a good methodology, there is no secret sauce to pass OSCP! I can recommend tools I used during my prep days though: Nmap nikto smbclient smbmap searchsploit AutoRecon Ffuf Gobuster Hydra Burp Suite You can see from the list above that these are all basic tools! I think this is pretty much all there is to say in terms of the exam, I have so many people to thank on my journey but you can see my official passing post on Twitter and check the comments https://twitter.com/Rainsec_ The main thing I wanted to get across in this blog is to try relate to those out there who are really struggling right now and aspire to be OSCP certified. I understand what it is like having no one to speak to personally and throw your 100 questions at, being overwhelmed by it all and just confused on what to do. From my background and experiences you can see I myself, went through a lot of struggles to get here and have been really down in the dumps. When you have so much passion for something and you don’t see yourself improving or seeing success it gets you down more and really takes a toll on you mentally I took a whole 1 month away from hacking, sometimes I’d take a few weeks away from it because I was constantly seeing failure and not the progress I expected — I set high expectations and when they weren’t met, it would really get to me. I honestly hope you guys can learn from my personal experience, if you need someone to throw your questions at then I am that guy! Best place to reach out to me on is Twitter DM’s. If you’ve read this blog and felt inspired or feel it was nice to read — let me know in DM’s also! I’d love to hear what you guys think of this. This is my story of how I became OSCP certified. From Boxer to OSCP A true Zero to Hero journey! Filled with loads of highs and lows, going through the dark times but ultimately seeing the light at the end of the tunnel If you made it thus far, I salute you and thank you greatly for taking your time out to read this Please share with everyone you know who is struggling right now! NOTE: Keep an eye on my Twitter profile because soon I’m going to release the guidebook I’m creating for OSCP. It was initially going to be an Ultimate Cheatsheet but there’s loads of these online — a guideline with a little bit of a twist to it is unique and I’m certain you guys can benefit from it! I should also re-iterate the importance of methodology and taking breaks is. Once my foot is on the gas pedal there is no longer a break pedal — it took me so long to get out of this habit! It’s detrimental and can seriously cause you to take weeks or months off from hacking due to being burnt out way too fast. I urge everyone of you guys to honestly take breaks when you’re hacking. An hour away from the screen won’t do you harm, 30 mins even! You do NOT have to get root the same day you spun the box up. It’s okay to resume the next day, just ensure you’re learning from all mistakes! For methodology, what will get you far is not the quantity of boxes you’ve rooted — 70 roots from HTB didn’t exactly make me eligible for OSCP. I could have done 30 boxes and passed. It’s the methodology that is important! Why? because your methodology gets applied on every box you do, it doesn’t change. Whatever I did for box #32, I did the same for box #40. What I did on box #70, I did the same over at VHL and PWK — granted you work with different exploits and scripts but that’s all part of methodology, being able to handle anything you’re dealing with. Learning on the spot is a skill in itself I believe and only gets better overtime the more you do it. I have written a Web-App methodology I’ve sent to a couple mentees of mine, it helps when tackling these machines and it’s whole-heartedly the exact same methodology I used. It’s not some “secret” methodology — it might even be a replica of what you already do if you’re an intermediate student. Let it serve as a Sanity-check to the intermediates and a methodology flow to follow for beginners. If you’re interested, you can take a look at it over at:

https://medium.com/@rainsec/my-journey-to-being-oscp-certified-c4509aef6806

[]

2021-01-02 01:08:21.756000+00:00

['Penetration Testing', 'Cybersecurity', 'Oscp', 'Hacking', 'Journey']

How to Face a Job Interview as Fresher or Even Experienced

One should begin with getting their mind fixed with the thing which can assist them with better concentration. One should plan a long time before the scheduled interview. If you are really worried about how to interview, it is important to be proficient and sure. They watch ranges of abilities, yet in addition they check non-verbal communication. Try not to show your strain in an interview, be cool to confront the interview. Try not to make any stupendous thing out of strain. In fact, even the employers check job seekers clothing as well. Freshers become extremely on edge while confronting their first job interview. They should plan a long time before the interview to defeat this nervousness. Hardly any focuses which one should remember Preparation: Fresher should get ready certainly before an interview. Endorsements and archives: Check every one of the authentications and records required for a meet. Resume: First thing which selection representative watches, is the resume of the applicant. This should be exact and should cover significant ranges of abilities. If aptitudes are significant to the organization this can include an additional point. Try not to inconvenience yourself by including pointless details which you can’t reply during the interview. Details of the company: Study about the association before going to meet. If possible think about the association their work culture from companions/seniors. Thinking about the association will assist you with addressing addresses like why this firm and so on. Tech talk: Know your subject well. Keep your nuts and bolts solid. Most questioners get some information about the undertakings which you have done. So be sure about that. You can give mock interviews for both hr and specialized round. The presentation: Tell me about yourself. This is questioner most loved question. Record the insights regarding yourself and practice it well. Tell just the pertinent subtleties. Notice any uncommon aptitudes which you have. Be certain about your methodology while telling about yourself. Quality and shortcoming: Interviewer may get some information about your quality and shortcoming. So set yourself up. Know your capacities and potential well. Show your entire being admirably. Show shortcoming which is in a way positive. Dress Well: First impression is the last impression. Be set up with formal dress. Don’t hesitate to groom yourself to introduce best which is agreeable and suitable for the interview. Be perfectly punctual: Do not be late for the interview. Arrive at the scene early so you have sufficient opportunity to unwind. Be sure: Answer all the inquiry with certainty. Keep in touch with the questioner. Try not to shake legs or chomp nails. This will show that you are nervous. At the end, it is definitely suggested that you should be enough confident but never overdo with that and be prepared with your the best if you are really worried about how to interview.

https://medium.com/@developers_33307/how-to-face-a-job-interview-as-fresher-or-even-experienced-903f68567d60

['Interview Expert']

2019-11-21 12:49:42.545000+00:00

['Interview', 'Job Interview', 'Interview Tips', 'Interview Preparation', 'How To Interview']

Implementing Gradient Descent for multilinear regression from scratch.

Gradient Descent is one of the most popular optimization algorithms that every Data science enthusiast should have a deep understanding of this topic. Here, in this blog, my target is to make even the newbie to the Machine Learning field should be able to understand easily. The only prerequisite is just basic python. In this blog, I will be using the Boston house price dataset, which is a toy dataset provided by sklearn library. About the Dataset: It has 506 records,13 features, and 1 target variable. Gradient Descent is an iterative algorithm use in loss function to find the global minima. The loss can be any differential loss function. The different types of loss functions are linear loss, logistic loss, hinge loss, etc. For our dataset, we will be using linear loss because the target is a continuous variable. In the above figure, considering the loss function as a convex function, on the x-axis, we have the parameter weight and on the y-axis, we have a loss value, the blue curve line is the loss function. At first, we are randomly initializing the weight “w” and using the Gradient descent algorithm the final weight “w” is obtained which gives the minimum loss. When we say we are building a Linear Regression model, It is nothing but we are trying to find a straight line(one feature) or a hyperplane(multiple features) that best fits the data. And the equation of a line is represented by “mx+b=0” where “m” is the slope and “b” is bias. We can also refer to “m” as weight and “b” as intercept. For example, if we have 5 features then the equation of hyperplane is represented by : Now Let’s see how to find the best fit line using Gradient Descent. In the above line equation, “m” and “b” are the parameter we need to update using Gradient descent to find the best fit line (when I say the best fit line, it is nothing but finding minima in loss function) and “x” is the given input data. The equation to update weight and bias: where “dl/dw” is derivative of loss w.r.t weight, “dl/db” is derivative of loss w.r.t bias, and “n” is the total number of records. Here, the weight is a vector with size=13(we have 13 features). Steps for Gradient Descent: Standardize the data: 2. Initialize the parameter and hyper_parameter 3. Find derivatives of loss w.r.t weight and bias. Loss Equation Derivatives of loss w.r.t “weight” Derivatives of loss w.r.t “bias” or “intercept” 4. Update the weight and bias till we get the global minima. The above figure is the plot between loss and the number of the epoch. After each epoch, the loss is reduced Initially, the loss is decreased drastically till the 1000 epoch After the 1000 epoch, there is a minimal decrease in the loss. This shows that we have reached a global minimum. 5. Using the final weight vector and bias, we can predict the output This is the final weight and bias after the 2000 epoch The above table is the comparison between the actual target and the model predicted target. Lastly, if you want to see the entire code, you can click on this link Github. Here, is the link for implementation of Stochastic Gradient Descent for multilinear regression on the same dataset: link If You Enjoyed this article:

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/implementing-gradient-descent-for-multi-linear-regression-from-scratch-3e31c114ae12

['Gunand Mayanglambam']

2020-11-13 16:37:20.964000+00:00

['Python', 'Data Science', 'Deep Learning', 'Gradient Descent', 'Machine Learning']

Manusia Depresi

A teenager who likes to write about random topics. Welcome!

https://medium.com/@adindabz03/manusia-depresi-907f8f185f19

['Adinda Bunga Zhafirah']

2020-12-22 10:15:18.759000+00:00

['Teenagers', 'Depression']

Why I left my nonprofit marketing job to learn full stack development

I pursued a career in the nonprofit field because I wanted to solve social challenges alongside a group of passionate people. I just left my nonprofit job after 8 years to study software engineering for the same reason. From prioritizing passion to prioritizing problem solving Many people enter the nonprofit sector with the hope of aligning their career with their personal passion to better society. I was one of them. When I finished college with a communications degree in 2013, I believed my career would only be meaningful if my job directly supported an important social cause. I felt strongly that working for a nonprofit was the best way to achieve this goal. My post-college career journey began with the assumption that my motivation and excitement about work would naturally arise from knowing each task supported an explicit social mission. As I gained experience and took on more nonprofit roles, from managing volunteers to marketing initiatives, I realized that personally connecting to the mission wasn’t the determining factor in meaningful work. The specific mission mattered on a high level, but what motivated me more were exciting, difficult problems and the process of figuring out how to solve them. While working on projects like planning a summer camp and developing an annual communication plan, the drive and sense of meaning primarily came from overcoming concrete problems and helping others achieve specific goals. It was much less mission-dependent than I expected, which challenged my view that I would only find meaningful and impactful work in the nonprofit sector. In 2020 I started to look beyond my nonprofit marketing role and explore a wider range of career paths. Web development stood out; the field involves life-long learning, problem solving, and collaboration — with the potential for large-scale, positive impact. Software as a tool for good Technology makes it possible to build and scale solutions to social challenges in powerful ways. When COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, I was working at a nonprofit that provides job training and employment services. As the pandemic caused widespread unemployment, these services became even more important. Applications like Zoom and Google Drive made it possible for us to quickly shift our in-person trainings to a safer online format. Beyond providing practical services for daily work, technology can inform decision making and planning through data access and analysis. For example, the LandPKS mobile app provides tools and resources to help users practice sustainable land management. Users can monitor data on their land’s soil health, vegetation, and other key factors to evaluate the effectiveness of their current practices. LandPKS also created a habitat module in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Colorado that helps users learn how to foster habitats for local species on their land. If you’re interested in a creative example of how tech is being used to address social challenges, check out Project Owl. They developed both hardware and open source software that helps restore communications in areas impacted by natural disasters like hurricanes. Collaborative community The nonprofit field tends to attract individuals who value collaboration and community. As I’ve started learning about programming and web development, I’ve seen these same values on display, especially in the open source community. There are also an incredible amount of free resources that help people learn to program. As a newcomer to the field, I have felt welcomed and encouraged. In the spirit of supportive community, here are a few of the resources I’ve found helpful while starting this journey: CodeNewbie — Community for people learning to code that offers helpful articles and podcasts geared toward newbies. >> I learned about the Owl Project mentioned above through a CodeNewbie podcast episode! — Community for people learning to code that offers helpful articles and podcasts geared toward newbies. >> I learned about the Owl Project mentioned above through a CodeNewbie podcast episode! Harvard’s CS50 Course — Harvard makes their CS50 Intro to Computer Science course available online, including lectures and problem sets. This introduced me to core CS concepts like memory, data structures, and algorithms. — Harvard makes their CS50 Intro to Computer Science course available online, including lectures and problem sets. This introduced me to core CS concepts like memory, data structures, and algorithms. Udacity — You can build your skills through free or paid courses on subjects like JavaScript, Git and HTML + CSS. — You can build your skills through free or paid courses on subjects like JavaScript, Git and HTML + CSS. Flatiron School’s pre-bootcamp prep — 75+ hours of lessons and labs focused on the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Ruby. It’s a free resource whether or not you attend a full bootcamp with Flatiron. Making the move After spending the summer diving into coding concepts after work, I started to consider next steps. I ruled out pursuing another university degree because of the time and cost involved. Instead, I researched immersive bootcamp programs designed to help people like me make the jump to a new career in web development. I considered a few different options, but Flatiron School’s prep work and philosophy around pursuing mastery and viewing coding as a craft solidified them as my top choice. In late November, I left my job in nonprofit marketing to start a 5-month software engineering program through Flatiron School. I’m a little over a week in, and I love it. The work is challenging and engaging, and my fellow students have already fostered a culture of support and growth. I look forward to learning alongside them in the months to come.

https://medium.com/@staceymck/why-i-left-my-nonprofit-marketing-job-to-learn-full-stack-development-ae4c7767aa7c

['Stacey Mcknight']

2020-12-15 02:41:38.172000+00:00

['Coding', 'Career Change', 'Web Development', 'Flatiron School']

Before you buy a Christmas puppy

As much as I love hanging out with family and friends during the holidays, I must admit that quite a few of my favorite Christmas memories involve a dog somewhere nearby. While my mother will give me a guilt trip about it, my father already knows that if there is a dog anywhere near me, you just invited a dog napper into your home. In the very rare occasion that a dog doesn’t like me (less than a handful of times in owning two dogs and walking 80) and I have to opt out of a dog walk, my eyes will very likely stay on that four-legged fur ball running around the room. But there was one particular puppy who I wish I would’ve laid eyes on a few weeks after Christmas. The puppy was beautiful and comfortably sat in my lap, but I kept hearing him whimper. Even after being bottle fed, he seemed sad in a way that I just did not remember my other two dogs being. Although I was initially terrified of the puppy that became a statue on our basement step for 13 years and ecstatic to see another one who hogged our hallway for 9 years, neither one of them seemed miserable to be around me upon first introduction. No matter what I did with this one, nothing helped. The next time I saw my brother’s wife, who the dog belonged to, she was dog-less. She said she had to return the dog to his mother for a little while longer because the dog was starving. As soon as he saw his mother, he immediately went straight for the colostrum. According to the American Kennel Club, “Puppies rely on their mother’s antibodies to get them through their first few weeks of life. Puppies start to lose this immunity between six and eight weeks of age, at around the time they receive their first vaccines.” But the owner of the bitch just wanted to be able to provide safe, happy homes for these puppies, not knowing that she was doing a disservice to them at such a young age. This was the first in many lessons I learned about puppy shopping over Christmas. Pet adopting and shopping over the holidays In 2020, social isolation has led many people to become first-time or repeat dog owners. It’s gotten to the point where some shelters have run out of dogs to give away and dog fostering locations were able to find dog foster parents too fast to even get through the waiting list; the ASPCA saw a 70 percent increase in interest alone. Photo credit: JillWellington/Pixabay But there are a few additional things that new pet owners should keep in mind when trying to find a puppy this Christmas (and even after the coronavirus vaccine is available to all). Prepare for a warm, draft-free room ahead of time. Newborn puppies cannot control their body temperatures. Although it seemed odd to me at first to wrap a furry dog in a blanket, they must be kept away from drafty areas. And if you live in a cold-weather climate, you can put them at even more risk. The Merck Veterinary Manual recommends using a heat lamp to keep the new litter warm, as long as you can also keep track of overheating risks, too. Before adopting, ask whether heat lamps or heating pads are recommended. Newborn puppies cannot control their body temperatures. Although it seemed odd to me at first to wrap a furry dog in a blanket, they must be kept away from drafty areas. And if you live in a cold-weather climate, you can put them at even more risk. The Merck Veterinary Manual recommends using a heat lamp to keep the new litter warm, as long as you can also keep track of overheating risks, too. Before adopting, ask whether heat lamps or heating pads are recommended. Know how to hold puppies for feeding. According to the Veterinary Centers of America, Inc. (VCA), when feeding, hold the puppy in a horizontal, head-neutral position as it would be when feeding from its mother. If you cannot master that, contact a veterinarian immediately to show you alternative feeding methods and assist in tube feeding. If the dog is cold, you also put it at risk of aspiration — inhaling food or liquid into one’s windpipes or lungs. According to the Veterinary Centers of America, Inc. (VCA), when feeding, hold the puppy in a horizontal, head-neutral position as it would be when feeding from its mother. If you cannot master that, contact a veterinarian immediately to show you alternative feeding methods and assist in tube feeding. If the dog is cold, you also put it at risk of aspiration — inhaling food or liquid into one’s windpipes or lungs. Understand the hygiene needs of newborn puppies. Bottles and nipples should be cleaned and then boiled in water to sterilize them between each use. Additionally, refer to the instructions to clarify how long milk replacers should last. The VCA recommends using it all within 24 hours and to always keep it refrigerated. If you forget, discard any remaining formula after one hour (when it is usually at room temperature). Bottles and nipples should be cleaned and then boiled in water to sterilize them between each use. Additionally, refer to the instructions to clarify how long milk replacers should last. The VCA recommends using it all within 24 hours and to always keep it refrigerated. If you forget, discard any remaining formula after one hour (when it is usually at room temperature). Be ready for different temperaments of older puppies. The Internet is flooded with stories about why people shouldn’t get dogs from puppy mills. You can do a simple Google search for a flood of op-eds on the topic. (I have mixed opinions on it because the dog is already here. Ditching the dog doesn’t change the fact that it now needs an owner.) However, I have never bought a puppy mill dog. I’m sure I’ve walked a few though, judging from the level of initial aggression, mistrust, frustration and loneliness these dogs usually exhibit from either the owners of the puppy mills or prior pet owners who should not have been allowed within 1,000 feet of anything on four legs. The Internet is flooded with stories about why people shouldn’t get dogs from puppy mills. You can do a simple Google search for a flood of op-eds on the topic. (I have mixed opinions on it because the dog is already here. Ditching the dog doesn’t change the fact that it now needs an owner.) However, I have never bought a puppy mill dog. I’m sure I’ve walked a few though, judging from the level of initial aggression, mistrust, frustration and loneliness these dogs usually exhibit from either the owners of the puppy mills or prior pet owners who should not have been allowed within 1,000 feet of anything on four legs. Stay in touch with the dog owner — more specifically, the bitch. This is yet another reason that puppy mills are tough. If a “family” claims that they had puppies to give away, but you never get to see the pet parents nor do you see any sign of the dog in a healthy, happy household, chances are this is a for-profit company. That puts the puppy at risk immediately. If the puppy really does come from a family household, you should be able to do exactly what my brother’s wife did — take the puppy back to the mother if (s)he was taken just way too soon. Unfortunately, abandoned puppies don’t have this luxury so you better be a fast learner as a dog owner. But if you do, don’t lose touch. Yes, there is a safe socialization period (6 to 12 weeks) for a dog to get used to the new home, away from his sisters and brothers and mother and father. But there is a drastically different timeline between basic nutritional needs and optional family gatherings. If any of the above makes you want to run for the hills instead of getting a puppy this young, maybe hold off for a few weeks. Let the initial owners and dog caregivers handle this part. Keep in mind though that as with any living being, you’ll still have to be aware of all health, nutrition and behavior habits. If you’re nervous now, you’ll be nervous later. Get yourself ready to have a dog long before the dog trots into your home.

https://medium.com/doggone-world/before-you-buy-a-christmas-puppy-80dccad0e225

['Shamontiel L. Vaughn']

2020-12-28 00:55:18.644000+00:00

['Dogs', 'Pet Owners', 'Christmas Gift Ideas', 'Puppies', 'Animal Rights']

7 Stages to Computerize Your Online Business and Increment Sales

The present business people care about being enthusiastic about work and realizing that it has a bigger significance. As business people, we like our work to have some effect and help to make the world a superior spot. Simultaneously, be that as it may, we like our work to be effective. Doing admirably by doing great. With the most exceedingly awful downturn in a long time in our back view-reflect, the present business people should be amazingly innovative and do things productively. These 7 stages to mechanize your online business will build deals and improve your tasks. Mechanization is the way to building a fruitful business with less assets. To make marvelous organizations, as a group, and to utilize innovation, at last to better the world is a shared objective of the present business person. And yet, the present business visionaries don’t have the monetary assets accessible to employ a group of laborers. So the more that the present business visionary can achieve solo, the better. Finding the equation to business person achievement won’t be a simple excursion or a straightforward assignment. You need to work at it. In any case, on the off chance that you utilize these 7 stages to online business computerization, you can begin finding the achievement and building the future you have consistently needed. 7 Stages to Building a Computerized Online Business: Here are seven stages that you can take on your excursion to turning into an independently employed, free and profoundly effective business person without burning up all available resources. 1. Construct a WordPress Site The most well known substance the board framework accessible today is WordPress. As the present business visionary, you will need to choose the correct substance the board framework to fabricate your site. WordPress possesses all the necessary qualities. It’s free, its protected, its adjustable so you can actualize these mechanization tips into your site and draw near to arriving at your objective of building a robotized online business. Pick an expert WordPress topic that is spotless, quick, and responsive. We suggest StudioPress WordPress Subjects. They are fueled by the Beginning Structure, which in layman’s terms, implies that the in the background stray pieces of your site will be web crawler benevolent, responsive with moment refreshes and water/air proof security. Try not to sit around with some unacceptable WordPress topic. Pick a structure that is best in class and one that will refresh with the snap of a mouse. Numerous locales are hacked (or simply don’t utilize WordPress without limit) since they have not been refreshed and with StudioPress subjects, the demonstration of refreshing your code to the latest innovation takes simply a tick. Refreshing to the current variant of WordPress and Beginning a snap. Everything is incorporated, so you don’t need to call your designer. Set aside time and cash. Early introductions Check: Your site is just in the same class as your plan and your web facilitating organization. 2. Assemble your Email Rundown Email promoting is an amazing asset that can expand your scope past your site and make new deals openings. In case you’re not structure an email list, you’re committing a colossal error, so begin first thing with your new business and start assembling an email list. Any systems administration occasion gives great occasions to gather business cards, which would then be able to be physically added to your email list. However, on the off chance that your like most business people, there isn’t sufficient time in the day to go to each Office of Trade occasion. Thus, to fabricate your email show, you need to robotize. The simplest and best approach to computerize your email advertising endeavors is with Aweber Email Promoting. I have attempted them all and I generally return to Aweber. To begin with, you need to figure out who is your intended interest group. This basic exercise will help. To begin with, answer these inquiries: What do your optimal supporters need? What’s the fundamental issue they have that you trust you can settle? What’s your strategy for taking care of that issue? What do you love to discuss more than anything? Whenever you’re done, you basically join them all. These are the individuals you are obliging. This is your intended interest group. 3. Compose Convincing Substance The best method to develop guests to your site or blog is to compose convincing substance. Truly, truth is stranger than fiction. The time you spent in English class in secondary school will at long last prove to be useful. At the point when you’re composing content, you will need to consider the crowd you’re attempting to reach… what’s more, get down on them. Compose evergreen substance that helps, advises and fulfills your intended interest group. Evergreen substance is immortal substance that is as yet significant. You could experience your documents, or you could likewise utilize a WordPress module like Restore Old Presents on rearrange the cycle. There is additionally an incredible instrument that I utilize considered MeetEdgar that permits you to distribute a post and afterward naturally reuse your top posts a few times on a timetable. The quantity of supporters you have is straightforwardly identified with… Your capacity to drive exceptionally focused on traffic to your blog. Your capacity to change over that traffic into Wildly Steadfast endorsers. Your capacity to get your perusers to elevate and allude you to companions. Presently it’s up to you to make a move and fabricate your email list with convincing substance. 4. Assemble your Web-based Media Profiles With regards to online individual or business marking, the production of web-based media profiles is significant. Think about every online media profile you make as a presentation page for your image. This presentation page is potentially the principal experience that somebody will have with your image, and you will need that initial introduction to be brilliant and make the guest need to find out about you. 10 stages you need to follow to make an effective online media profile: Your name — Make certain to enter the name you need to be found under. Your username — Consider what individuals will look for you, and ensure that your username is remembered for the URL. Your profile pic — Utilize an expert photo, yet less that you don’t show some character. Make certain to stay with a similar picture as your default photograph starting with one organization then onto the next. This way individuals effectively remember you across every interpersonal organization. Your connection — Ensure that your connection is up front so that individuals can discover it rapidly and navigate to your site. Your profile — Exploit this to share simply the best about yourself and your image. Furthermore, consistently — consistently — connection to your site or greeting page. Your inclinations — Take a gander at these fields as an extra spot to get some extraordinary watchword esteem. Discover books, narratives, and profiles of compelling individuals in your industry and add those in these extra fields. Your experience — A modified foundation will permit you to share extra data that may not fit in the fields of your profile. Your security settings — These shift from organization to arrange, yet you will need to ensure that the data you might want to be public is perceptible. Your movement — When your profile arrangement is finished, your on-going mission will be to keep a solid degree of action on your primary informal organizations, which for most will be Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Mechanize this! We like Cradle. It’s reasonable and an extraordinary method to keep your web-based media action at top execution. Your advancement — your site! On the off chance that you are lacking as expected, focus on the Web-based Media Large Three: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Remember to interlink your profiles to one another. In the event that you can share various connections on a social profile, ensure a portion of those are to your principle social profiles. 5. Sync your Blog or Site Add social offer catches onto your page or consequently post via online media at whatever point you distribute another article. Also, with Stage 2 (above) you will be able to make a blog broadcast with Aweber so that each time you distribute another blog entry to your WordPress site, Aweber will utilize your post to make dynamic bulletin and broadcast your substance to everybody on your email list. Why? Since research shows that the lead supporting cycle today takes seven to eight “contacts”. These seven to eight contacts that it takes to qualify a lead are vital segments of the lead sustaining measure, permitting promoting the occasion to instruct and advise possibilities as they travel through each stage in the purchasing venture. These touch focuses are occasions to get ready leads for the last stage in the purchasing venture, the purpose of dynamic. Sync your web-based media profiles to greeting pages that are explicit to your guest. Our number one mechanization apparatus for change advancement is Flourish Leads Points of arrival. Fabricate a computerized deals pipe that runs a profoundly enhanced. Sync your site with a select in structure so your guests can without much of a stretch buy in to your pamphlet: Aweber has numerous layouts that you can use to add a pick in structure to your site. ThriveLeads has a wide range of “triggers”. Trigger choices can be the accompanying: Show on page load Show after a specific timeframe Show when the client looks to a particular piece of the substance Show when the client looks to a level of the path down the substance Show when the client is going to leave the page (leave plan) — this trigger choice doesn’t deal with cell phones. Show when the structure enters viewport Show when the client clicks a component Presentations on snap. Modify which select in structure shows, when and where with ThriveLeads. You can sort out all the structures you need to show naturally on the site into various Lead Gatherings. Inside each Lead Gathering, you can make and alter different pick in structures immediately, set them to show up in numerous spots, and set up A/B tests. We “interface” our ThriveLeads structure to Aweber’s Programming interface so when a guest finishes the pick in structure, their email address is consequently added to our lord email list at Aweber. What’s more, from inside Aweber, we have a blog communicated arrangement with the goal that when another blog entry is distributed, a clever bulletin is naturally made utilizing their template.

https://medium.com/@josephtoni02/7-stages-to-computerize-your-online-business-and-increment-sales-8f19313c4d7b

['Joseph Toni']

2020-12-17 20:25:40.005000+00:00

['Sales', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Online Business', 'Online Marketing', 'Make Money Online']

Ownership Renounced event detection

Hello folks, just a quick passing update. We are focusing heavily on the SPOON app development so we have been a little less active on the medium side of things. When you look at BSCScan it might seem trivial to understand that a transaction is an actual ownership renounced event. Well, maybe not that trivial, ’cause you need to check the logs or the additional details. However that is not the way the information is stored in the blockchain. Everything is compressed and encrypted and cannot be decrypted immediately. Everything is in hexadecimal but also encoded, which makes it difficult for anyone to read it by just getting the data. There is also no helper method to decode the data. So you resort to different practices to try to decode and decrypt the information you get from the blockchain just so you can start giving it some sense. This is what we had to do to start decoding the ownership renounced event. An event that is very simple and can be interpreted in two ways. You either see that the renounceOwnership method has been called, or you identify in the logs that there is an OwnershipTransferred event from one address (the current owner) to the 0x0 address (dead address). In doing so we also researched what competing tools do, and every tool has found a different way. We have also done our own custom way which is quite high performant, but will need to be revised for every single blockchain network we adapt to (for example, Polygon, Theta, TRON, etc). Having discrepancies between networks is something we expected, and so we will make sure that the SPOON application introduces “environment configuration and variables” from the start, so when you make the switch from one network to another everything still works as expected. So, long story short, we are now able to properly and quickly identify ownership renounced events in the BSC, and we also see that eventually in the future we will need to grow to introduce a QA team so we can ensure consistency between blockchain networks.

https://medium.com/@spoontoken/ownership-renounced-event-detection-9225402e42d4

['Spoon Token']

2021-06-23 08:59:54.527000+00:00

['Binance', 'Investment', 'Blockchain', 'Binance Smart Chain', 'Cryptocurrency']

‘Getting into the flow’: what does that even mean?

Everybody knows that feeling. You seem unstoppable, everything seems to be going naturally and time is standing still (or is flying, depending on how you see it). You started working at 4pm but after a quick look at your watch you realize it’s getting more closer to 4 am now — the next day. If you recognize yourself in this, you might be familiar with the concept of ‘getting into the flow’: achieving a state of mind in which everything seems possible and you’re just… rocking it. Flow, also known as the ‘zone’, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity (source: Wikipedia). Interestingly, one literally loses sense of time and space: you’re so caught up in your work or project everything else disappears (including your SO — yes, you know what I mean). In 1975, a guy named Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (what’s in a name?) came up with this fantastic scheme to put the concept of ‘flow’ in a bit of context: I love this matrix, because it makes a beautiful connection between mental state of mind and Abilities (or Skills) versus Challenges. It shows why it’s so important that companies in general, and more specifically managers, bosses, product owners (and all other leading professionals) have to make sure that whatever they do, is challenging, but takes into account the relevant skillset of the team involved. Without these two factors, don’t expect miracles, creativity, fun or groundbreaking, innovative concepts from your folks. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, is a well-known saying in the digital world, strengthening this: you have to create the right circumstances for people get into the flow, a feeling of control, arousal, etc. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker So when you start a new project, consider your team and ask yourself: How can I make the task at hand challenging? Are we pushing ourselves enough? Are we adding the most value for our client? What is each team member’s challenge and does it fit him or her? Which skill sets are required for the task at hand? Who is doing what? Will they need to learn and expand their skills in order to tackle the challenge at hand? I’ve seen this go wrong too many times. Everybody knows that one guy that’s waaayyy to relaxed (high skillset, low challenge) or that one person that is constantly walking on eggshells because he or she is not equipped to face the complex challenge at hand (low skillset, high challenge). Both are unhealthy and undesirable for the workplace. That all being sad, finding the lazy person in the room can pay off, as Bill Gates articulates beautifully: “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” – Bill Gates I wonder if he was talking about the designer of this poster:

https://uxdesign.cc/getting-into-the-flow-what-does-that-even-mean-58b16642ef1d

['Frank Van De Ven']

2018-01-13 04:18:29.897000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Skills', 'UX', 'Teamwork', 'Startup']

It’s easier to enjoy a new language than it seems

It’s easier to enjoy a new language than it seems. No matter how much you struggle right now, you can change that. Language-learning is fun. There, I said it. If you’re not having fun, stop what you’re doing and change things up. There’s a way for you to have fun. It may not be what others do to have fun in the language but it’s fine. What matters is that you have fun. Fun comes with experimentation. Try new things. Learn a new hobby in the language. Use a recipe in a different language. Meet someone new who speaks the language. Write your diary in the language. Watch Netflix with double subtitles with the Language Learning with Netflix extension. Anything. You need to have fun. So go out and play with the language!

https://medium.com/the-language-learning-hub/its-easier-to-enjoya-new-language-than-it-seems-8b2176967c7

['Mathias Barra']

2020-12-09 16:19:38+00:00

['Fun', 'Language Learning', 'Inspiration', 'Education', 'Language']

10 Fundamental Life Lessons That I Didn’t Learn Until My Thirties

Life is full of lessons. The longer you live, the more you (hopefully) learn. Here are some fundamental lessons that took me until 30 to fully understand. 1. Acquire knowledge not stuff Stuff weighs you down. Knowledge sets you free. I used to spend a lot of money on cars, expensive phones, and other electronics. Now, I spend it on books and online courses, which are far less expensive (saving money is wonderful), and they expand my overall knowledge, helping me to earn even more money in the future. 2. You are your best investment 401(k)’s, IRAs, Tesla, and Bitcoin are all great investments (as of today). But you are a far better investment than those will ever be. There are lots of ways to invest in yourself — buy a gym membership (and actually go), read books, sleep 8 hours a night, talk to a therapist, etc. When you make these investments, you improve your overall “score” as a human, which elevates your confidence, your well-being, your earning potential, and general happiness. You’ll never make a better ROI than money and time spent on yourself. 3. “Not enough hours in the day” is bullshit You have the time to do anything you want. It’s all about priorities. Don’t believe me? Check your daily screen time or how much time you waste watching shows or playing video games. Every time I tell myself, “I don’t have the time for that,” what I’m really saying is, “that’s not a priority for me right now”. 4. Only do things YOU want to do I juggle many different priorities including my 9–5 job, writing, coffee shop work, personal goals, and relationships, but there’s one theme they have in common — they’re all things I want to be doing. Even though it took until 30, I’m quite proud to have learned this lesson so early in my life. I feel like many others live their entire lives according to someone else’s plan, Past Jason included. But now, I realize no one gets to make my schedule except for me. Life’s too short to plow somebody else’s metaphorical field. Though I don’t always enjoy the things I do, I at least know that it’s my choice to do them, and whenever I want, I have the power to stop and do something else instead. Always do what you want. 5. Your phone is just a distraction It’s a shiny object always within arm’s reach that gives you full access to as many rabbit holes that you’re willing to spend your time venturing through. Normally though, you’re just checking it waiting for a social media notification or someone you’re crushing on to send you a message. Hell, I’ve spent a TON of time browsing Reddit just waiting for a girl I like to text me back. When she does, it’s like a shot of dopamine that gives me just enough of a dose to wait for the next one. But all that time spent “waiting” is time wasted. Your phone is hands down the biggest distraction from doing the work you know you should be doing. These days when I catch myself in that loop, I ask myself, “What are you waiting for dumbass? Put the phone down,” and then I get back to work. 6. The perfect time never comes There will always be a super justifiable, totally realistic excuse not to do something. I’m not kidding — there are a lot of legitimate reasons against going back to school, or starting a new project, or settling down, or whatever else. That’s the problem though. There’s always something, which is why if you want it bad enough, you have to make it a priority and just do it. It doesn’t matter what else is going on in your life. If it’s important to you, you’ll figure it out and make it work. 7. You never know where life is going to take you… …so always be willing to take a chance. The best job I’ve ever had (my current job) was with a company I had never heard of. While waiting for companies like Boeing, BMW, and Eaton to get back to me, I said, “screw it, I’ll go interview with those guys.” And it’s been 100% worth ever since. The best dates I’ve had are ones that I was reluctant about and came close to canceling. The best life experiences I’ve had were spur-the-moment “fuck it, let’s do it” adventures. Time and again, life surprises you. You can try to plan all you want, but it’s the unplanned events that make life spectacular. 8. Love yourself first You won’t find what you’re missing internally in someone else. 9. With others, love isn’t enough In 2017, I married the woman I loved. Six months later, we were separated. Eventually, divorced. Love simply wasn’t enough. Now, I understand there are a lot of other factors that need to be considered when choosing a lifelong partner, including the big things like: Do you agree on kids and how to raise them? Do you agree on how you spend your money? Do you agree on how much time to spend together? But also the little things like: What temperature do you like to keep the thermostat on? How do you load the dishwasher? How often should you cut the grass? Wherever total agreement isn’t possible, compromise and willingness to make it work are what dictate a successful relationship. 10. It’s totally OK to break routine In fact, you should break your routines regularly. Routines are awesome…until they’re not. Case in point — even the best exercise routines eventually lead to plateaus (i.e. stalled progress). Use routines as long as they’re working for you. When they no longer work, or when you’re no longer happy with them, find a new one. Life changes but smart people adapt. Bonus lesson — The best nights are spent sober, in bed by 9 pm, reading with a scented candle. I couldn’t think of a better way to close out this article. It’s a very specific lesson, but kind of my favorite one. I learned that I love these kinds of nights, and 9 times out of 10, it’s what I do. My thirties are turning out to be way better than expected.

https://medium.com/the-post-grad-survival-guide/10-fundamental-life-lessons-that-i-didnt-learn-until-my-thirties-1b72ad91d3bc

['Jason Gutierrez']

2020-11-01 14:02:28.372000+00:00

['Life Lessons', 'Personal Development', 'Self Improvement', 'Personal Growth', 'Life']

The Snapchat story

I recently read How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, The Snapchat Story by Billy Gallagher. The book is fantastic and full of lessons. It’s well worth the read, but below are some of the passages we learned from. Snapchat really started as a sexting app. “He wouldn’t have to worry about sending a hookup a picture of his junk! And girls would be way more likely to send him racy photos if they disappeared.” The seed round is the easiest to raise. “But the descent from seed-funded startups to Series A and B is often much steeper than people expect. Raising some money for an idea is not that difficult. Staying in the game round after round, as the world changes and targets are met or not met, is extraordinarily difficult.” Small investors don’t do much diligence. “Had any venture capital firm or person invested $30 million on their own, they would have gone through a rigorous due diligence process, vetting Clinkle’s team and technology inside and out. But none of the sixty-odd investors had a significant amount of money on the line. And so, there was no one with sole responsibility, let alone a board seat, when things started to go to hell for Clinkle.” Too much cash killed Clinkle; it made them lazy. “Clinkle never came close to feeling this sort of pressure. This long runway, combined with their insistence on perfection, became toxic as they spun their wheels, creating many products that never saw the light of day.” Stanford kids wanted to start any startup. “There was a shift at some point, from smart kids saying, “I want to solve X problem” to students going, “I want to start a startup. Now I just need a damn idea!” The yellow logo. “Evan studied the hundred most popular apps in the app store and noticed that none had yellow logos. To make Picaboo stand out, he put the Ghostface Chillah logo on a bright yellow background.” Cater to the power users. “Although it had less than a hundred users, most of whom were Evan and Bobby’s friends, the people who did use the app were using it all day, every day. Evan and Bobby knew Snapchat had value, because everyone who used the app used it all the time. They needed to get it into more people’s hands and make it grow, even if they had to force this growth at first.” Why Snapchat works. “Teenagers also felt pressure to post the most glamourous representations of their lives on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites to rack up likes. Even designed Snapchat as an antidote to this obsession with likes and retweets. Snapchat was not meant to be a social network — it was designed as a small, private network, to share with your closest friends. Snapchat had no lies, no permanence, no social anxiety.” Snapchat removed the pressure of the perfect photo. “Because you could only reply with a photo, friends would send selfies of themselves reacting to photos. We talked through photos instead of posting them to garner likes. The cost of creating and sharing a photo dropped so much knowing that the photo would disappear. It wasn’t just that taking and sharing a photo was essentially free; sending a photo to a friend no longer had the importance it once did with testing. You were just exchanging lightweight photos that were meant to be discarded immediately.“ All the VC passed initially. “But the first venture capitalist who met with Evan, including blue chip firms like Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Partners, passed on the investment. Disappearing photos? It sounded like a sexting app at best, or a fad at worst.“ Until they saw the growth. “Snapchat had jumped from one thousand daily active users in late 2011 to one hundred thousand daily active users in April 2012. Just ten days after meeting Evan, Liew convinced his partners, and Lightspeed invested $485,000 in Snapchat, valuing the young company at $4.25 million. Snapchat grew by a factor of ten, from one hundred thousand daily active users to a million in just six months.” Facebook tried to bully Snapchat into selling. “Evan explained that they weren’t just interested in selling the company. In response, Zuckerberg showed them something new that his team had been working on. Poke, a new Facebook app, would be released in a few days, What was it? A messaging app for disappearing photos and videos. The message was clear: join us, or we will crush you. It was an exact replica of Snapchat. An unabashed copy, Poke even stole Snapchat’s user interface for recording videos. This was a show of might from Zuckerberg and his team up north. Veteran Facebook director of product Blake Ross had led a small team in developing Poke in just twelve days.” Zuck’s acquisition strategy. “If you’re trying to help convince people that they want to join you, helping them understand all the pain they would have to go through is a valuable tactic,” Mark Zuckerberg later said when asked about Facebook’s acquisition strategy. Now, he intended to show Evan and Snapchat the pain they would have to suffer to compete with Facebook.” Copycats from bigger competitors often fail. “On the day it launched, Poke shop up to the top spot in the iOS app store, pushing Snapchat down to ninth. But just a week later, Poke had dropped to thirty-fourth, while Snapchat rose back up to third. Why did Poke fail? It failed to solve any problems for young users, who were more than happy with Snapchat, and it solved a problem that didn’t exist for older users, who still didn’t get the appeal of disappearing content. Poke was further hampered by the fact that teens were drawn to Snapchat because it explicitly was not Facebook, which was populated by their parents and collected everything they posted forever.” Sometimes competitors inadvertently help you. “Within weeks it became clear that Poke hadn’t just failed — it actively helped Snapchat. Searches for and mentions of Snapchat skyrocketed in the weeks following Poke’s debut. More importantly, Zuckerberg’s flailing attempt at an acquisition and then clone validated the ephemeral messaging space and helped change the sexting narrative that had been dogging Snapchat. Evan would later call Poke “the greatest Christmas present we ever had.” A new metric when things are going so well. “teenagers were so addicted to the app — opening it and sending and receiving snaps dozens of times per day — that the company started focusing on hourly active users.” What Snapchat was about. “People wonder why their daughter is taking 10,000 photos a day,” Evan later said. “What they don’t realize is that she isn’t preserving images. She’s talking…It’s not about an accumulation of photos defining who you are. It’s about instant expression and who you are right now. Internet- connected photography is really a reinvention of the camera. And what it does is allow you to share your experience of the world while also seeing everyone else’s experience of the world, everywhere, all the time. By taking out the forever part of a picture or text, more people want to share. They aren’t afraid to put themselves out there, to send an ugly picture that may turn someone off or a beautiful picture that may seem narcissistic.” Snacpchat wasn’t easy to use, which made it stickier and collaborative. “So teenagers would ask, “How did you do that?!” and show each other how to use new and hidden parts of the app.“ Turning on revenue too soon would have hurt the value. “Right now it’s all about users and growth and engagement, which we know will go up and to the right for a while. It’s going to take a while to come up with a cluster of monetization schemes that get you to the point where you won’t to be judged on revenue/earnings multiples. We have to assume there is no AdWords-like magic bullet. Lasky warned Evan that starting to generate revenue would change the lens through which investors evaluate Snapchat from user growth-focused to revenue-focused.” Low options pricing helps recruiting. “We will benefit from having lower strike price as we hire over the next few years.” Mobile really hurt the size of the ad business. “Noto explained that Facebook ad impressions had declined year over year but were offset by revenue per impression increasing. Ad impressions were declining because people were increasingly accessing Facebook on their smartphones, which had less space for ads than desktops.” At some point, you cant be a startup. “In 2012, Snapchat had fewer than ten employees; in 2013 the number jumped to thirty. In 2014, it would soar past one hundred, and Evan and Bobby needed to put more structure in place.” Design drives Snapchat. “Unlike at most tech companies, Engineers aren’t rock stars at Snapchat. The designers are. Evan, a product design major, ran the design team as a flat team of twenty until 2016, when they began reporting new VP of Product Tom Conrad.“ The impact on communication. “By not allowing users to message unless they were sending photos or videos, Snapchat had taught users to communicate through media rather than around it.” Turn on revenue only when you must. “By 2014, Snapchat was burning over $100 million a year and Evan pushed harder to start monetizing the product. Revenue would let Snapchat invest more in future product development; but a bad revenue scheme would piss off users and could hurt both growth and engagement, so they had to be careful.” Ad business isn’t growing. “Despite the wild changes in media formats over the past century, the amount of money spent on advertising has generally remained constant. In the advertising business, the only way to make money is to steal some else’s share of the pie. In the first quarter of 2016, a Morgan Stanley analyst estimated that for every new dollar spent on online advertising, 85 cents would go to either Google or Facebook.” Snap achieved incredible scale. “In 2014, seventy-one million people were using the app daily; 40 percent of eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds in the US with a smartphone used Snapchat.” It’s ok to be expensive when you’re figuring things out. “Snapchat’s early ads were very basic and extremely costly compared to peers’ ad offerings — they charged advertisers hundreds of dollars for a very short spot, typically ten to thirty seconds. This was partially done on purpose to be prohibitively expensive and keep demand low, as Snapchat had a small team and was still building its infrastructure, both technically and organizationally.” Snapchat provided validation for some. “Snapchat users loved sending in their submissions to Live Stories, hoping their snap got picked for the show; fans sent in almost sixty hours of content for each NFL game during the 2015 season.” Good design. “Snapchat was cleverly designed so that it was easy for users to ignore features they didn’t like. Because of this, when Snapchat misses, they missed small. That is, misses didn’t cost them users. And when they hit, they hit big, with wild successes like Stories and Live.” Focus. One of Evan’s role models, Steve Jobs, put it this way: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” Speed is critical. “As Evan understood with the camera opening and the speed of delivering snaps, speed is everything on mobile. Every millisecond users waited for content to load, they thought about switching apps.” Early monetization efforts were not an instant success. “In early 2015, as Discover was just rolling out and snapchat advertising was still nascent, advertisers were struggling to put engaging content on the platform. Between 60 and 70 percent of viewers closed a Snapchat ad after three seconds of viewing it.” Brand marketing done right. “They have slapped their eponymous logo — with no mention of Snapchat or any words at all — on the luggage bins at security at LAX and on massive billboards in Times Square. Many of the billboard panels in Times Square simply were covered in Snapchat yellow. People who knew what the logo means are in on the cool secret; those who don’t either ask or simply remain ignorant and uncool.” Secrecy is valued at Snapchat. New hires are indoctrinated from day one to not talk about what they work on, even down to telling them not to put a specific role on their LinkedIn pages. How a CEO spent his time. “Evan continued to be very aggressive in hiring, spending 40 percent of his time recruiting. (He devoted the rest of his time to product and attending meetings and events. 40 percent and 20 percent, respectively.)” The Snapchat vesting schedule (Similar to Amazon). “Snapchat has also locked employees up by requiring nonlinear stock vesting, where employees get 10 percent of their stock options after their first year, an additional 20 percent after their second, 30 percent after their third, and the final 40 percent after their fourth year.” Ads needed to be good content. “As frustrating as it was for advertisers, Evan was focused on what was best for Snapchat’s users. Rather than looking at advertising as a tax on using free products or necessary evil, he considered it as another product and more content for users. Evan personally rejected ad campaigns that he didn’t like or that he thought users wouldn’t like; Kevin Systrom had done the same when Instagram launched ads.” You have to be willing to cannibalize yourself. “Just before Facebook went public in 2012, Mark Zuckerberg had a bound red book titled Facebook Was Not Originally Created to Be a Company placed on every employee’s desk. The book’s penultimate page offered a grave rallying cry: If we don’t create the thing that kills Facebook, someone else will. “Embracing change” isn’t enough. It has to be hardwired into who we are that even talking about it seems redundant. The Internet is not a friendly place. Things that don’t stay relevant don’t even get the luxury of leaving ruins. They disappear.” Visit us at blossomstreetventures.com and email us directly with Series A or B opportunities at sammy@blossomstreetventures.com. We invest $1mm to $2mm in growth rounds, inside rounds, small rounds, cap table restructurings, note clean outs, and other ‘special situations’ all over the US & Canada.

https://blossomstreetventures.medium.com/the-snapchat-story-56468f5793ac

['Sammy Abdullah']

2020-12-21 15:51:58.959000+00:00

['Founders', 'Snapchat', 'Startup Lessons', 'Venture Capital', 'Startup']

Python for Transit: Get the Most Out of Your GTFS With This Python Package

Python for Transit: Get the Most Out of Your GTFS With This Python Package What this article is about This article is meant to be a light introduction to the Python package gtfs_functions. This package was specifically designed to speed up some frequent GTFS spatial analyses I do at Remix and it should be easily accessible for anyone with a little Python knowledge. If you feel that this content is not thorough enough on the explanation for each function, I recommend you visit the article that dives in the specific function you are interested in. Also, note that the outputs of these functions are GeoDataFrames, mostly intended to be visualized on maps but they are also susceptible to be analyzed in non-spatial plots. For the article, I downloaded the GTFS from SFMTA (San Francisco, CA). Using the functions of this package we will: About GTFS (skip if you already know about it) If you are slightly related to the transit industry, you have most probably heard about the GTFS standard. If you haven’t, let me put it simply for you: GTFS is the data standard transit agencies use across the world to upload their transit offer to Google Maps. It is implemented across (almost) every Public Transit Authority in the US, largely implemented in Europe and many cities in Latin America are getting on board with it as well. Its advantages are a lot, but I will only name a couple that are specifically relevant to this article: It has both: timetables and geometry information about the bus routes It is widely adopted by PTAs across the world In other words, GTFS has enough information to visualize things on a map, and if you learn to work with it, you’ll be able to analyze transit in many different cities across the world! Excited yet? I know! Now, let's get to it. Note: If you are not familiar with the files of a GTFS zip file and how they relate to each other, I recommend you to read the official documentation about it. GTFS functions, the package This package groups a series of functions that I usually use in my workflow as a Data Scientist at Remix. You can find the repository and official documentation on GitHub. Note: In the following sections I assume the reader is already familiar with the GTFS text files and how they relate to each other. Package installation and import To install the package and import it to your notebook run the following: 1. Read the GTFS To parse a GTFS into the datasets we run the following: This will generate three DataFrames (routes, stop_times, and trips) and two GeoDataFrames (stops and shapes). As we will see below, these dataframes are slightly different from what you would get by reading each file independently with the normal pd.read_csv() function. I will get into more details about it later, but for now, all you need to know is that these modifications are made to better fit our workflow. It is also worth noting that the parameter busiest_date=True. This means that only the information for the busiest date of the GTFS will be imported. If you want to import the information for all the dates in the calendar you can apply busiest_date=False. Let’s take a look at what we have. Routes Pretty much the same as the original “routes.txt” from the GTFS with the added value route_name that is the concatenation of route_short_name and route_long_name. Stops The main difference with the text file from the GTFS is that it is a GeoDataFrame with a Point geometry that can be mapped. Trips Stop_times The arrival and departure time are expressed as seconds from midnight and has more information than the original text file like route_id, shape_id, stop_name, runtime_h, and of the Point geometry. Shapes Each shape_id has a LineString associated with it. This LineString was created from the list of lat and lon for each shape in the original text file. 2. Calculate stop frequencies With the output of the previous step: The output for one specific stop shows: GeoDataFrame output for the function stops_freq(). 3. Calculate line frequencies With the parsed GTFS from step 1: The output for one specific line shows: GeoDataFrame output for the function lines_freq(). 4. Cut the shapes into segments The output shows: GeoDataFrame output for the function cut_gtfs(). 5. Calculate segments speeds The output for one specific segments, direction, and time of day shows: Note that in the example above the chose segment 3114–3144 appears four times: one for each of the routes that serve that segment and a fourth time for the route “All lines”. This route is created by the function and it aggregates the weighted average speed in that segment taking into account all the routes that stop in its starting and ending stop. Also, notice that the aggregated value for “All lines” takes into account the three segments, ignoring the direction the lines had in the GTFS. This makes sense since the segment always starts and ends in the same stops, even if the assigned direction is different in the GTFS. The route “All lines” is created by the function itself and it aggregates the weighted average speed in that specific segment taking into account all the routes stop in its starting and ending stop. 6. Calculate segment frequencies In the same way, we had the frequency by line, we can now have the frequency by bus segment. It takes the same three arguments that we had for speeds: The output for one specific segments, direction, and time of day shows: Note that the same behavior we saw in “speeds” repeats here. The aggregation of “All lines” for the segment disregards the assigned direction in the GTFS, and only considers the starting and ending stop for the segment. 7. Show results on a map You can always export the GeoDataFrames we saw and open them in your favorite GIS software, but I added a function to allow the user to quickly take a look from the notebook before going into that workflow. It is not meant to be presentation-ready or fully customizable, just to take a quick look. The function map_gdf() is built on top of the folium library and allows you to quickly visualize and style the data on a map. It takes 6 arguments as shown below. For example, to visualize line frequencies: If we want to see the data for stop frequencies: If you are looking to visualize data at the segment level for all lines I recommend you go with something more powerful like kepler.gl (AKA my favorite data viz library). For example, to check the scheduled speeds per segment: You will need to manually style the colors and filters but you will have complete control over the visual. Or you can always learn to do it programmatically (which I haven’t yet). 8. Export your work You can save your GeoDataFrames into a shapefile or geojson with geopandas like with any other GeoDataFrame. Nonetheless, since I found it repetitive to specify all the parameters geopandas needed to create a shapefile or geojson I built the function save_gdf() on top of that to help me save some time. To save a file as both, shapefile and geojson: If the arguments shapefile and geojson are not specified, the function will save it as a shapefile by default. 9. Some other possible interactive plots In this section, I show a few examples of how the data could be visualized in plotly but it is by no means an extensive list of the things one could do. Histogram The most frequent plot I use is a histogram to identify the best cutoffs to style the layer: 2. Heatmaps This code creates a Heatmap with the scheduled speeds per segment for one specific route and direction. And this is the interactive output: 3. Line charts: Speed on a segment by hour of the day I’ll admit this one is a little more advanced but in all truth, it is just a few annotations one has to add to make the plot much better. The interactive output shows: Acknowledgments & References Far from taking credit from other’s work, I want to acknowledge that some functions of this package were built on top of great and more generic packages and were just slightly modified to better serve this specific workflow. For example, the function import_gtfs() heavily relies on partridge, a powerful Python library created by Remix founders that makes parsing a GTFS very easy. Similarly, map_gdf() and save_gdf() are built on top of folium and geopandas respectively.

https://medium.com/swlh/python-for-transit-get-the-most-out-of-your-gtfs-with-this-python-package-44d0b732f657

['Santiago Toso']

2020-12-11 01:48:45.398000+00:00

['Transit', 'Transportation Planning', 'Urban Planning', 'Python']

25 Tips and Tricks to Write Faster, Better-Optimized TypeScript Code

25 Tips and Tricks to Write Faster, Better-Optimized TypeScript Code Optimize your TypeScript code using modern techniques, tips, and tricks I always used to prefer something like a newspaper which give enough information in a shorter span of time. Here, I create tips for day to day Frontend development. You might be doing angular development for a long time but sometimes you might be not updated with the newest features which can solve your issues without doing or writing some extra codes. This can cover some frequently asked Angular topics in interviews. This can cover some frequently asked TypeScript interview topics in 2021. Moreover, these topics can help you to prepare yourself for JavaScript interviews in 2021. Here I am coming with a new series to cover some tips which helped me in my day-to-day coding. 1. How to convert an array of objects to object with key-value pairs? We do have a lot of requirements for destructing array objects before using them in our application. we can use Object.assign and a spread syntax ... for creating a single object with the given array of objects to achieve this function. var data = [{ key1: "val1" }, { key2: "val2" }], obj = Object.assign({}, ...data); console.log(obj); 2. How to Exclude property from type interface? We do typecast a lot in order to write cleaner code and we do use interface to achieve this, but sometimes we need to exclude some property of interface before using it. We can use the omit property to exclude from the interface to achieve this function. interface Interface { val1: string val2: number } type InterfaceOmitVal1 = Omit<Interface, "val1"> 3. How to import JSON file in TypeScript? When we want to use any JSON file in our application we can use the following approaches. declare module "*.json" { const val: any; export default val; } Then add this in your typescript(.ts) file:- import * as val from './abc.json'; const test = (<any>val).val; 4. How to convert a string to a number in TypeScript? There were a lot of times where backend services share us the string of numbers instead of a direct number. We do have the following ways to convert a string to a number. There are a couple of ways we can do the same. Number('123'); +'123'; parseInt('123'); parseFloat('123.45') 5. Is there a way to check for both `null` and `undefined` in TypeScript? One of the best features I love to check multiple null, undefined, NaN,’’,0, and false in one shot using the below code. if( value ) { } will evaluate to true if value is not: null undefined NaN empty string '' 0 false typescript includes javascript rules. To know about Angular Optimization Techniques Check out this series. Understanding OnPush Strategy For Improving Angular Performance We Should Not Call methods From Angular Templates To know more about these techniques, Please check this article. Understanding Memory Leaks in Angular 6. How to Enforce the type of the indexed members of a Typescript object? We do use interface to enforce the type of the indexed members of Object. interface dataMap { [name: string]: number } const data: dataMap = { "abc": 34, "cde": 28, "efg": 30, "hij": "test", // ERROR! Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'. }; Here, the interface dataMap enforces keys as strings and values as numbers. The keyword name can be any identifier and should be used to suggest the syntax of your interface/type. 7. How can I create an object based on an interface file definition in TypeScript? As we discussed a lot about typecasting, let’s see how we can create an object based on an interface file definition. If you are creating the “modal” variable elsewhere, and want to tell TypeScript it will all be done, you would use: declare const modal: IModal; If you want to create a variable that will actually be an instance of IModal in TypeScript you will need to define it fully. const modal: IModal = { val1: '', val2: '', val3: '', }; 8. How to remove whitespace from a string in typescript? we can use a Javascript replace method to remove white space like "test test".replace(/\s/g, ""); 9. How to ignore typescript errors with @ts-ignore? We can change the ESlint rules to avoid the @ts-ignore issue. We can disable the ESlint rule. Add that in your ESlint config ( .eslintrc or equivalent) ... "rules": { "@typescript-eslint/ban-ts-ignore": "off" } ... OR "@typescript-eslint/ban-ts-comment": "off" 10. Is there a way to define a type for an array with unique items in typescript? It can be achieved by creating a type function with extends InArray mentioned in the solution. const data = ["11", "test", "tes", "1", "testing"] as const const uniqueData: UniqueArray<typeof data> = data type UniqueArray<T> = T extends readonly [infer X, ...infer Rest] ? InArray<Rest, X> extends true ? ['Encountered value with duplicates:', X] : readonly [X, ...UniqueArray<Rest>] : T type InArray<T, X> = T extends readonly [X, ...infer _Rest] ? true : T extends readonly [X] ? true : T extends readonly [infer _, ...infer Rest] ? InArray<Rest, X> : false You’ll get a compiler error if the same value occurs more than once. 11. How to read response headers from API response in TypeScript? Nowadays, we do have a lot of security on the frontend side, and one of the common methods we do use to implement security is the JWT token. We do get the token in the response header and when we want to decode it on the component side below is the most common method I found to this date. In the Component. this.authService.login(this.email, this.password) .pipe(first()) .subscribe( (data: HttpResponse<any>) => { console.log(data.headers.get('authorization')); }, error => { this.isloading = false; }); If you are looking for array and object-related tips please check out this article. 12. How can I check whether an optional parameter was provided? As TypeScript provides the optional type in the function, a lot of time we need to check opposite conditions. When we want to check the optional parameter provided is null or not, we can use the below approach. It should work in cases where the value equals null or undefined : function checkSomething(a, b?) { if (b == null) callMethod(); } 13. How to restrict type with no properties from accepting strings or arrays? When we do have an interface but we want to restrict the strings or arrays or any specific types, How we can extend our interface? Let’s consider the following example where to want to restrict object or array. interface Interface { val1?: number; val2?: string; } function Change(arg: data) { } Change("test"); We can do something like this to make Change accept at least an object: interface data { val1?: number; val2?: string; } interface notArray { forEach?: void } type type = data & object & notArray; function test(arg: type) { } test("test"); // Throws error test([]); // Throws error 14. How to use Map in TypeScript? TypeScript supports something called Record . It natively works as Map and supports our function. Below is the example for Map in TypeScript. type dataType = Record<string, IData>; const data: dataType = { "val1": { name: "test1" }, "val2": { name: "test2" }, }; 15. How to initialize Map from an array of key-value pairs? As typecasting is a hot topic to maintain clean code if we want to typecast array key-value we can follow the below approach. const data = [['key1', 'value1'], ['key2', 'value2']] as const; Or, we can create like this. const data: Array<[string, string]> = [['key1', 'value1'], ['key2', 'value2']]; Or, if you need to preserve the keys/values exactly: const data = [['key1', 'value1'] as ['key1', 'value1'], ['key2', 'value2'] as ['key2', 'value2']]; Recently, I was trying to prepare myself for the upcoming interviews and it was a bit tough to search in google and open link and see same questions each and every time so I thought of sharing what I have found and what is most common questions someone should know if they are preparing for an interview. Below are the most common interview questions asked in Latest Angular Developer Interviews. These Angular Interview questions and answers help to prepare for Angular developer interviews from junior to senior levels. Moreover, this article covers the basics to advance angular interview questions which you must prepare in 2021. 16. How to create an instance from the interface? If we want to create an instance from the Object we can use the following two approaches. interface IData{ val1: number; val2: string; } then var obj = {} as IData var obj2 = [] as Array<IData> 17. How can I cast custom type to primitive type? We can create a type of specific numbers and pass that type to the creation of a variable like this. type Data = 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5; let myData:Data = 4 let data:number = myData; 18. How to add if else condition in the Observable? we can add a switch map to check where the observable got value or not. Let’s check the below example. this.data$ .pipe( switchMap(() => { if (canDeactivate) { return Observable.of(canDeactivate); } else { return Observable.of(window.confirm("test")); } }) ); Or we can write like this. this.data$.pipe( switchMap((canDeactivate) => Observable.of(canDeactivate || window.confirm("test")) ); 19. How to use a generic parameter as an object key? As we are concentrating more on typecasting let’s see if we want to typecast the object key. Let’s see an example where we have the response coming from the GraphQL and we want to create a type for the response coming dataId This can be achieved using the following ways. QueryKey extends string key in QueryKey interface GraphQLResponse<QueryKey extends string, ResponseType> { data: { [key in QueryKey]: ResponseType; } } interface User { username: string; id: number; } type dataIdResponse = GraphQLResponse<'dataId', User>; Example: const dataIdResponseResult: dataIdResponse = { data: { dataId: { id: 123, username: 'test' } } } 20. How to cast a JSON object to a TypeScript class? To write a clean code we need to typecast properly. Here are different methods to cast JSON objects to the TypeScript class. Considering the following interface and a silly JSON object (it could have been any type): interface Interface { val: string; } const json: object = { "val": "value" } A. Type Assertion or simple static cast placed after the variable const obj: Interface = json as Interface; B. Simple static cast, before the variable and between diamonds const obj: Interface = <Interface>json; C. Advanced dynamic cast, you check yourself the structure of the object function isInterface(json: any): json is Interface { return typeof json.key === "string"; } if (isInterface(json)) { console.log(json.key) } else { throw new Error(`Expected MyInterface, got '${json}'.`); } 21. How to load external scripts dynamically in TypeScript? The most elegant solution to load the external scripts is to use a third-party library named script.js. It can be done by following simple steps to install the script.js library. Step 1: npm i scriptjs npm install --save @types/scriptjs Step 2: Then import $script.get() method: import { get } from 'scriptjs'; Step 3: export class TestComponent implements OnInit { ngOnInit() { get("https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=", () => { //Google Maps library has been loaded... }); } } 22. How to concatenate two or more string literal types to a single string literal type in TypeScript? You can now use template string types to do this: function createString<val extends string, val2 extends string>(data: val, name: val2) { return data + '/' + name as `${val}/${val2}` } const newVal = createString('abc', 'cde'); // const newVal: "abc/cde" 23. How to make one string by combining string and number in Typescript? As ES6 introduced the String literals we can use that to combine any number and string to make one string. Your string concatenation then turns into this for example: str = `${number}-${number}-${number} string string string`; 24. How to dynamically assign properties to an object in TypeScript? Playing with Object is one of the common tasks every Frontend developers do in their daily routine. Below are different ways we can dynamically add a property to an array of objects. 1. Index types interface MyType { typesafeProp1?: number, requiredProp1: string, [key: string]: any } var obj: MyType ; obj = { requiredProp1: "foo"}; // valid obj = {} // error. 'requiredProp1' is missing obj.typesafeProp1 = "bar" // error. typesafeProp1 should be a number obj.prop = "value"; obj.prop2 = 88; 2. Record<Keys,Type> utility type var obj: {[k: string]: any} = {}; becomes var obj: Record<string,any> = {} MyType can now be defined by extending Record type interface MyType extends Record<string,any> { typesafeProp1?: number, requiredProp1: string, } 25. How to get the names of enum entries in TypeScript? Yes, when we have used enum most of the time we don’t care about the key but sometimes we need to get values dynamically from the key to fetch the values. For me, an easier, practical, and direct way to understand what is going on, is that the following enumeration: enum colors { red, green, blue }; Will be converted essentially to this: var colors = { red: 0, green: 1, blue: 2, [0]: "red", [1]: "green", [2]: "blue" } Because of this, the following will be true: colors.red === 0 colors[colors.red] === "red" colors["red"] === 0 This creates an easy way to get the name of an enumerated as follows: var color: colors = colors.red; console.log("The color selected is " + colors[color]); It also creates a nice way to convert a string to an enumerated value. var colorName: string = "green"; var color: colors = colors.red; if (colorName in colors) color = colors[colorName]; 26. How to write get and set in TypeScript? TypeScript uses getter/setter syntax that is like ActionScript3.Most of the time getter and setter used to make private variables inaccessible or modified by the outer world. Below is an example of common getter and setter syntax in TypeScript. class foo { private _bar: boolean = false; get bar(): boolean { return this._bar; } set bar(value: boolean) { this._bar = value; } } References: Are you preparing for interviews? Here are frequently asked interview questions in Angular. It covers the Latest interview questions for Angular and Frontend development. Let’s check how many of these questions you can answer?

https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/25-tips-and-tricks-to-write-faster-better-optimized-typescript-code-c1826cf4730e

[]

2020-12-29 01:35:26.798000+00:00

['Typescript', 'React', 'Angular', 'Web Development', 'JavaScript']

Increase Sales By Understanding the Universal Buying Process

You do it. I do it. Every single human does it as part of their “buying” process — regardless of what they’re purchasing It can be the meal they’re purchasing for dinner that night OR the new car they’re purchasing. It always goes through this process — the car purchase simply takes longer than the meal due to the rationalisation process required So, what are the 3 steps? Interest Desire Buy What’s most fascinating here, is that this perfectly aligns with our “temperature” framework too… Cold Warm Hot What’s even more fascinating is that this perfectly aligns with the different parts of our “marketing” and funnel too… Before Opting In After Opting In Purchase As such, we can use our language and storytelling frameworks to speak directly to these different stages of the buying process. We can utilise our understanding of psychology as copywriters to speak directly to these individuals and support them through the process Cold, Interested — speak to them about what it is exactly that they want Warm, Desire — speak to them about how they get exactly what they want Hot, Buy — speak to them about what life looks like afterwards Now, this isn’t to say you do ALL of this inside the one piece of copy — you don’t. Each piece of copy is specific for the stage they are inside the buying process If you speak about buying OR even how to get what they want and they have NO desire yet — you’re saying the right thing to the right person at the WRONG TIME! You’re missing 1/3 of what’s needed and your results will suffer Match them up and watch what happens! Nick Maier @nickmaier__

https://medium.com/@nick-maier/increase-sales-by-understanding-the-universal-buying-process-690cf54033a9

['Nick Maier']

2020-12-21 20:56:39.728000+00:00

['Copywriting Tips', 'Words', 'Marketing Communication', 'Copywriting', 'Copywriting Services']

Bending Time

My baby is twelve weeks old. Barely a semester, a season, and yet a lifetime. All my experience as a mom. His entire life and counting. In this time, how our worlds have changed. In his earliest days, time was measured in 3 hour chunks. To feed a baby 8 times a day, we had to feed him every 3 hours. It didn’t matter if it was 2pm or 4am, Tuesday or Thursday. Only the routine mattered — feed, diaper, awake, sleep. “Routine” is a funny way to put it. It was all the same, but it was always different. Newborns have no sense of schedule, and we were never sure what he needed next. Through trial and error, midnight texts to parent friends, and a ton of internet searches, we stumbled our way through those earliest days. We were learning how to be parents, and he was learning how to be in the world. We were everything he had ever known, and yet we were strangers getting to know each other. He was changing quickly, but so were we. We were always figuring something out, trying to solve a new puzzle, cross a new obstacle, demystify an unknown. How do we get my milk supply up. Is he eating enough or do we need to supplement with formula. Why is he breathing in that odd way. How do we keep him awake enough for a full feed. Why hasn’t he pooped in two days. Do we diaper change or feed first, if he’s already screaming. Despite its repetitiveness, it’s impossible to land on a rhythm. We had some schedule in theory. We lived moment to moment, firefighting, in practice. In those 3 hour chunks, time felt compressed. How is it time to feed him again. How is it time for me to wake up already. How is it, when is it, where in time are we again. But time passes, and before we know it, it’s been a week, two, three, then a month. And yet those first weeks felt like forever. When friends described their 2- and 3-month-old babies, it was unimaginable that our little bundle would ever get there. “Oh, your nursing sessions will speed up, babies get more efficient,” they tell you. But when? Someone would describe their 30 minute bedtime routine, and it baffled me that we could ever squeeze in a bath, feed, swaddle and have him fall asleep in that short window. A friend said, “In a few months, he’ll be smiling and cooing at you, and you’ll feel totally different about all this.” When, when, when. I was impossibly impatient for him to smile. Every milestone was forever away, hundreds of feeding cycles away. It didn’t take a few months after all. It was a matter of weeks. He was 6 or 7 weeks old when the smiles slowly emerged. First the edges of his mouth learned to turn up, eyes staring straight. “Was that a smile?” I would wonder, unconvinced but so eager. Over a few weeks, they crept across his face, as bigger and brighter emotions emerged. I must have taken a hundred photos but I found that my phone camera couldn’t capture his smiles. We are so used to holding a pose for pictures, but it turns out that smiles are not a snapshot but an entire motion. They sweep across his face — mouth open, cheeks raised, eyes shining bright, then his entire body wriggles with delight. I find myself mesmerized. Even now in this newborn phase, I can feel time slipping. He will never be this tiny and precious again. When I’m nursing him, I try to remember to put down my phone or Kindle, and look. I marvel that this small creature can feel so perfect. His little self leans against mine, his closed eyes with long lashes, his hands conducting some imaginary music. Can you believe we already indulge in nostalgia. Remember the old days when he was a wrinkly old man. When he used to fall asleep at every feed. When he took 45 minutes to nurse and our overnight feeding routines would take over an hour. Remember when we used to double swaddle him with hospital blankets. Remember when the blue striped onesie with the fold over mittens was too big, then fit perfectly, then was too quickly too small. We talk about it like olden times; that was all just weeks ago. How can you feel nostalgia even as you’re experiencing it in the present. How can you feel sad that it will be gone even as it occurs 8 times a day right now and takes up hours of your day, every day. Sometimes when a photo is taken at the right angle in the right light, the baby double chin and plump peach cheeks recede, and I get a glimpse of how he will look in the future, when he no longer looks like a baby, when he looks like his future self. A boy. A young man. There is a lot of talk of the future as I narrate our world to him. There is so little he can do in the present, but there is so much that lies ahead. One day when you can eat foods with us. One day when you can sit up at the table. One day when you’ll get to see a cow or dog or sheep in real life. One day when we can hug our friends again, you will meet them for the first time. One day when we can get on planes again, you will board one for the first time. One day when you will need shoes. One day when you can walk, you will go places and find your way in the world. One day you will tell your children… But here and now, you are still just twelve weeks old. Here you are in your small perfection. The day you were born feels forever ago, and yet I’ve lived almost my entire life without you, your timeline a tiny fraction of mine. How is it that you make time race, slow to a crawl, compress, stretch, pause, and even disappear. How is it that you can contain so much past and future. How is it that when you smile, I am held in the present.

https://medium.com/ailiangan/bending-time-e53503755aa0

['Ailian Gan']

2020-07-28 23:34:00.612000+00:00

['Parenthood', 'Newborn', 'Baby', 'Motherhood']

ICOVO’s Token “OVO” will be listed on cryptocurrency exchange “BitOnBay” in August 2018.

We are exciting to share with you that “ICOVO’s Token OVO will be listed on cryptocurrency exchange BitOnBay “ in August 2018. About BitOnBay BitOnBay Corporation (CEO Suparat/Thailand) have three future. First is fast transaction, strategy pleasant trading experience through unique and fast trading system. Second is strong security, provide top notch security system. Third is customized trading environment, easy and intuitive UI. Both beginners and experts in trading can use our platform with easy.

https://medium.com/icovo/icovos-token-ovo-will-be-listed-on-cryptocurrency-exchange-bitonbay-in-august-2018-504dc72ea55a

['Icovo Ag']

2018-10-02 05:13:58.397000+00:00

['Headline', 'English', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Exchange']

How we built better automated UI testing at Vimeo

Automated UI testing is an important part of evaluating the quality of a given software build or release candidate. By running tests against a real version of our application at Vimeo, we can very closely mimic the end-user experience. This is done to increase quality and confidence in our builds by ensuring that key components are working as intended, which helps our human QA testers to focus on things that humans are good at: contextual and exploratory testing. We have some of the best human QA testers in the business, but nobody wants to spend hours making sure every button on the Vimeo Player works with each new release. Reducing the burden of regression testing frees up our QA analysts for deeper, more complex UI tests. At Vimeo, we wanted to enable automated UI testing and roll it out across teams. The idea here is that different teams need automated UI testing in slightly different ways, yet everyone ought to be using the same overall framework. So we wanted to split the work between types of engineers, where application engineers write the tests and scenarios, and automation engineers maintain the core framework. This way, automation engineers can support and guide test writing but not maintain the suites and scenarios themselves, while application engineers, who understand the product, can write great tests but not worry about implementing and maintaining automation frameworks. We accomplished this by building a Node.js package called the UI-Tests-Backbone. Backbone settles dependencies (chiefly WebdriverIO and its sub-packages) and provides utility functions and browser configurations that are useful to teams at Vimeo in a generic way. While different teams have different application functionality to test, these generic Backbone tools (such as headless authentication and shared configuration data) are useful to all teams; that is, they aren’t team-specific. In addition, we created the UI-Tests-Playbook, our detailed documentation, along with a boilerplate code repository to get started. By providing this for all teams, any application engineer can begin creating a UI testing suite for their team without having to research, evaluate, or experiment with setting up a framework on their own. The following screenshot shows one of Backbone’s more important functions, baseAfterTest , which records test results in the report after a test finishes. It’s implemented in the WebdriverIO afterTest hook, like so: Now, when a test fails, the generated report is standardized to include helpful information to diagnose the problem. The figure below shows a failing test. The report includes a link to the Browserstack session (which features a video recording), as well as a screenshot, browser logs, and the entire HTML document at the time of failure for easy reference. One challenge we ran into along the way was finding an optimal method of packaging and distributing Backbone so it could be installed as needed in our Jenkins environment. npm (Node Package Manager) enables you to specify GitHub URLs, which is a convenient way to deliver Backbone as a dependency to various projects. However, at Vimeo, we use a private GitHub server for all of our code, so when it came time to run tests in our Jenkins environment, it wasn’t clear how we could accomplish package installation for our private Backbone repository. Fortunately, at Vimeo we have an amazing DevEx team (as in Developer Experience) that helps keep us moving by providing robust tools and processes for all of our engineering teams. They had already made the Credentials Binding Plugin available for our internal developers, and by wrapping our npm install step with the plugin’s withCredentials block, installation was a breeze. To ensure the success and adoption of the Backbone project, we provided additional tools and video supplements. We used Vimeo Record to make instructional videos and Vimeo Create to promote the tool internally. Finally, we used Hubot to integrate test runs with Slack (you may have heard of it, we use it at Vimeo for in-house chat and communication), so engineers and non-engineers alike can run tests and get results without needing a development environment. Just a simple command in Slack kicks off tests and delivers the results to the user, lowering the barrier for entry. Backbone was a challenging yet effective project for facilitating and expanding the scope of QA Automation at Vimeo. So far, five teams have implemented new suites of tests, and we’ve seen several dozen manual test runs via Slack. This is great, but developers also want these tests to run automatically as code changes are made. And with that, we are currently developing the means to run these tests automatically as part of our Continuous Integration software development cycle.

https://medium.com/vimeo-engineering-blog/how-we-built-better-automated-ui-testing-at-vimeo-59e3feca7e84

['Andrew Katsikas']

2021-09-14 14:54:37.104000+00:00

['Development', 'Qa Testing', 'QA', 'Ui Testing', 'Automation Testing']

Unemployment in India | Jobs in India

India is the fastest growing economy in the world but that doesn’t mean anything to the country having 127 crore people, many of whom continue to struggle for finding the right kind of jobs. India’s unemployment rate stood at 5 percent in 2015–16 compared to 3.8 percent in 2012–13, according to the fifth annual survey of employment-unemployment published by the ministry of labor and employment. At first glance, that seems like a reasonable unemployment rate for a country like India. However, a separate quarterly survey conducted by the government on jobs being created in key sectors tells a different story. For a country where 1.2 crore people enter the workforce each year, the pace of job creation remains far below that, what is needed even though the economy is growing its job opportunities at just 7 percent per year. Across eight key employment generating sectors, only 1.35 lakh jobs were added in the calendar year 2015, quarterly surveys of employment showed. In other words, jobs created were equal to only 1 percent of the addition to the workforce. These sectors include textiles including apparel, leather, metals, automobiles, gems & jewelry, transport, information technology, and handlooms, etc……. For best Job opportunities please visit — https://jobcircle.in/

https://medium.com/@jobcircle1/unemployment-in-india-jobs-in-india-b63ad6b2cff

['Job Circle']

2019-06-17 11:18:05.408000+00:00

['Jobs', 'Unemployment', 'Job Hunting']

The ‘Will’ of Bode Express at the 2019 Preakness!

So why did Bode Express steal the show at this year’s Preakness Stakes? Is it because unfortunately Johnny Velazquez was thrown off and it was amusing to watch the 2 year old run by himself? I don’t think it was just that! While it is great and vindicating that War of Will won the Preakness, can we talk about the Will of Bode Express? Bode demonstrates, in my opinion, the ‘working class hero’ as John Lennon sings. Bode rolled up his hoofs, said I GOT THIS and literally competed down the stretch of the Preakness ! He embodied what every human strives to be: the self-sufficient, having it all together, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade type of mentality . Did it make you think, how can a a 2 yr. old horse keep his cool the whole way? I hope so because that cool way is something we can all pick up on. As humans we fall apart at the slightest inconvenience or slightest thing going wrong. Maybe Bode today is beloved because he did not crumble! We too, don’t have to crumble, just do what Bode did and run on in this God-given journey known as life! That is all for now! Talk soon on Medium! Screengrab by : @_nataliea on @twitter!

https://medium.com/@alexginnyc/the-will-of-bode-express-at-the-2019-preakness-4f7db3ae986b

['Alex Garrett']

2019-05-18 23:51:42.585000+00:00

['Breaking News', 'Life Lessons', 'Preakness Stakes', 'Médium', 'Horse Racing']

An Interview with music artist 4Sayken

A rapper from West Auckland, New Zealand that specializes in double time rapping and has been killing it on stage and in the booth for the past decade. His tongue-twisting rap style has earned him the chances to be the opening act for world-famous artists such as Tech n9ne, Rittz, Obie Trice, Necro, Merkules, Mobb Deep, Rugged Man, Madchild, Devilman and much more. He's also set to be the halftime show for the UFC championship held in November in New Zealand. He's also been a top tier battle rapper for the 1outs Street Battles. His bandage is facebook.com/4saykenism story is pretty different to the average person’s. I started writing raps as a way to vent my anger when he went to jail. At the time I was 13 and only started recording to make CDs and send them into prison so dad felt like we were in there with him. My first fanbase was essentially a bunch of prison inmates and my first underground mixtape was called for the prison cells. In a lot of ways music has kept me alive and out of prison. While I was young and dumb I thought that to step up and take the role of man of the house meant that I had to make money and so I did in stupid ways. At 16 I was on burglary charges and got discharged (restorative justice) because the judge thought I had a future with music and had to record him a song (road to redemption) showing what the ordeal had taught me. I also tutored a workshop called Hip hop rehab in which I helped rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners into society with hip hop being the main point of focus in order to reach them. I’ve performed in Aotea square with king lapis with a live orchestra to back me (apo) in 2015. I’m able to play drums. guitar. keyboard write record mix master produce my own music. my influences are rappers like tech n9ne bone thugs rittz and Yelawolf.

https://medium.com/@mugn/an-interview-with-music-artist-4sayken-dff0eba82a12

['Quotes Writer']

2019-10-11 17:57:39.463000+00:00

['Songs', 'Music', 'Artist', 'Trends', 'Interview']

The team we are bringing together

The team we are bringing together Good afternoon. Over these past few days and weeks, we have announced members of our administration, who will help us meet the unprecedented challenges facing the American people. We have brought together a health care team that will help contain this pandemic once and for all, an economic team that will help build an economy that works for working people, and all those looking to work, and a national security and foreign policy team that will help keep our nation safe, and restore and advance our leadership around the world. Today, we are announcing leaders who will help deliver immediate relief to every corner of our great country, from rural communities to big cities and every place in between, leaders who will help care for our veterans and their families, and advance opportunity for all Americans at this consequential moment for our country. At a time when one in eight households say they didn’t have enough money for food in the past week, we need leaders who understand that no one should go hungry in the United States of America. At a time when one in six renters are behind on rent, we need leaders who will not only help provide relief to all who need it, but help address the affordable housing crisis in America. I was in high school by the time my mother saved up enough to put a down payment on a home. So, I understand the dignity of homeownership, and the importance of making the American dream a reality for everyone. At a time when veterans, including those I’ve represented in California, have been strained by almost two decades of war and economic hardship, we need leaders who will treat all who’ve worn our nation’s uniform, and their families, with the dignity and respect they have earned. Leaders who will be focused on doing what’s in the best interests of the American people, who will negotiate trade deals that are good for workers and good for our economy, who will address the defining challenges of our time — from combatting our climate crisis to advancing racial justice. That is what these remarkable Americans will do. I know them well. And some are dear friends. These leaders have different backgrounds and lived experiences. They bring to their roles different skills, perspectives, and areas of expertise. And they all reflect the very best of our nation. They are all dedicated and compassionate public servants, and all of them are ready to hit the ground running on day one. So, congratulations Mr. President-elect on these outstanding choices. I look forward to working with you — and the team we are bringing together — to meet the urgent challenges facing our nation, and rebuild our country in a way that lifts up all Americans.

https://medium.com/@kamalaharris/the-team-we-are-bringing-together-ec5bd778b1a5

['Kamala Harris']

2020-12-12 01:51:24.636000+00:00

['Kamala Harris', 'President', 'Policy']

How “Controllable” React components maximize reusability

How “Controllable” React components maximize reusability A deep dive into what really makes React components reusable How many times have you tried using a component just to find out you could not manipulate its state? How many times did the component just not work “out of the box”? Stop pulling your hair out — we can do something about it! In this article, I will show you how to increase your components reusability by managing your components data flow in a better way. Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash There are 3 different ways to manage your data flow: The Uncontrolled way, where the component manages its own data. The Controlled way, where the parent manages the data. The Controllable way, where you get the best of both worlds! Choosing the right way will have a tremendous effect on the component’s reusability. FYI, all the examples are in React, but the discussion in this article is really about concepts pertaining to components data flow. Those concepts are easily applied to Vue.js or any other framework that support components. Introducing Tabs Our story is the story of Tabs: The Tabs component, holds the Banana and Apple tabs Clicking on any tab will change the active one, indicated by a style and content change. Let’s write a simple markup for it: So, how do you decide which tab is active? The Uncontrolled Way Uncontrolled is when the component manages its own data. Let’s look on a simple input element: <input/> Typing in an input element Typing text in the input will set the value of the element with that text. Changing value from the outside is possible only by a DOM manipulation, for example, by using React’s ref and accessing the element’s instance. Applying the same approach to Tabs, we get this:

https://medium.com/myheritage-engineering/how-controllable-react-components-maximize-reusability-86e3d233fa8e

['Noam Elboim']

2018-12-22 15:19:28.719000+00:00

['Components', 'Controllable', 'JavaScript', 'React']

Lego Set 31 — Phantom. This week I won’t be writing much. The…

This week I won’t be writing much. The last few days have been hectic. Do not forget to check on the REDLINE kickstarter, we’re not too far from being able to make a new badass mecha-themed novella out of that game. But back to the topic — although I did not have much time to write, I wasn’t about to leave you without a build this week. So, I bring you a simple one, but different enough from the others to warrant some attention. This is because the Phantom has little in the way of offense, but it has other strengths. Built by Clan Wolf to help rebuild its military strength after the debacle at Tukayyid, the Phantom is a sort of an oddball in Clanner mech design. Although an OmniMech, which means that it can be adapted to any potential role, the major function of this machine is that of a barely-armed heavy scout. That is because the weaponry of the baseline Phantom is almost non-existent. Instead, it sports a complete array of electronics, for defense and target detection. It is also incredibly fast, faster than most light Mechs, actually. This places it in the evolving doctrine of the clan. The Wolves have always used quick and hard-hitting machines, and the Phantom is a Mech that has the speed to work within this context, and the systems to support other, stronger units. The model I bring you wears the colors of the Wolves-in-Exile, and uses 31 parts. A bargain for a machine that can run around spotting other troops and has the electronics to defend itself. As stated above, do not forget to check on the REDLINE Kickstarter and Twitter announcement now that you are here. This is a cool game and universe we love, and we hope you are as excited about it as we are.

https://medium.com/@metastablemachine/lego-set-31-phantom-5098a3a28fdb

['Francisco Duarte']

2021-09-05 21:47:45.423000+00:00

['Lego Instructions', 'Phantom Mech', 'Redline Trading Card Game', 'Lego Battletech', 'Kickstarter']

Dear Love songs

It’s hard to tell whether love makes one crazy-passionate or one just has to be crazy-passionate to meet up to the expectations of love. Love songs will have you believing that it is the former, whereas, you are responsible for majority of people doing the latter. And frankly, you demand a lot. When push comes to shove, I seriously doubt that anyone would catch a grenade for their lover and jump in front of a train. Is it either/or? Because one kills you, and the other… really kills you! The journeymen claim that they would walk 500 hundred miles and 500 hundred more just to be the man who walks a thousand miles to fall down at her door? Why? George Ezra sang : all my love is yours, all my time is ours, all my reckless dreams, all my restless hours, No matter where you go, baby I’ll be there… all of it? …okay… clingy. The goals we get an inclination to live up to, courtesy of the lyrics you contain, are very unrealistic. I believe they are nerve-wrecking and wreak havoc on anxiety. You have a lot to think about, Bud. Instead of starting what may have been a more effective way curbing your menace- an online petition, a google form shared on twitter and WhatsApp that no one will fill, I made a list. Below are a few well thought out lyrics for you to consider: “I will definitely at a point in this relationship not show up to/for something for/with you, and not have any other excuse other than ‘I was tired’ because I genuinely was. Please don’t make me have to lie to you about it” “If you stare ‘longingly’ into my eyes for longer than 4 minutes 23 seconds at a stretch, I may fart. That’s my threshold “ “You can be very stressful sometimes” “There’s really no way I can tell if you’re the love of my life, you know, what if I just settled?” “ I thought you were funny at first but now I realize it was just lust” It doesn’t have to be as accurate and fantastic as the ones above, it just has to be vey realistic. It’ll be nice to get an ‘ain’t that the truth’ emotion from you once in a while. I challenge you to change your narrative. Best wishes, Moyosore S. Quadri.

https://medium.com/the-haven/dear-love-songs-cf07029dea01

['Moyosore Sheriff Quadri']

2020-12-15 14:12:03.721000+00:00

['Humor', 'Humour']

How To Make High Net Income From Real Estate Without Owning A Brick

Image by Tierra Malorca Passive income is a phrase that is tossed around these days because it’s deemed as an easy and endless way to earn money while asleep or partying. There is nothing that works properly that is easy and fun at first. Generating passive income takes more time commitment, money, dedication, and hope upfront that most aren’t willing to sacrifice for a (possible) return down the road. No guaranteed. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward, and well, loss. In this category, investing in assets, real estate and side hustles come into play. For ultimate financial success, it is recommended to have 2–3 side passive income streams. The more the better but that is typical because, after that many, you most likely are doing a lazy job biting off more than you can chew. Real estate has become increasingly popular during the pandemic as the surge for suburban homes, land, and more space means higher prices and crazy competition. This housing market is largely driven by 2 factors which hasn’t happened in this grand of a way since the Great Depression: 1) Shortage of available housing inventory 2) Extremely low-interest rates Hence, that’s why the richer are getting richer. Pandemics, recessions, crises, economic busts, whatever you want to call it are made for the rich. You can easily determine if you are well off and comfortable by observing your financial situation when things get tight. Lower to middle-income families aren’t focused on the stock market these days. They are concerned about being able to pay off their rent and not wait on line for the first time at a food bank. There are always more opportunities provided to those who are at the top. Compared to last year, there has been double-digital annual growth in both list and sale prices showing a lack of inventory and incredible demand rising to a 14-year high. Seasonally adjusted home values rose by 2.9% between September and the end of 2020, and the rise of total of 7% is predicted till September 2021. Image by Avi Waxman So how can you get in on the action without owning anything? Well, just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you are saving money. For most readers who are in their early teens to Millenials, it can still be early to purchase or even rent a place of your own. But that doesn’t mean we cannot profit from this incredible market that only happens during the worst economic cycles! As with real estate, you have 2 options. You can buy a home in a leafy green, sunnyside friendly community that actually will raise the value of your property or rent out the upstairs of your home on Airbnb or a separate property on your own. If space is an issue, which it always is in the most in-demand cities, there are other options that do not require you to have physical space or inventory. There is also a way to remove the hassle of taking care of a property, something people usually consider when they think of estates. It isn’t real after all. Image by Maurice Williams While on that topic, let’s discuss the misconceptions about real estate: Myth #1: Any property is worth it Just because it’s a physical tangible place, doesn’t mean it is in demand or will go up in value in 5 years. You still have to do all your research, due diligence, snoop the neighborhood and look into the past history of the property to make sure it isn’t known as the haunted house of the village. It isn’t an asset until you can guarantee nothing is fishy. Myth #2: Renting is the Easiest Way to Make a Full Salary Income It sure is a nice chunk of change each month but at the start, you could easily and most likely will be losing money on your own property! Doesn’t make sense right? Well, depending on how much work needs to be done, the liabilities, home insurance, maintenance, contracts, and negotiations between heating, broker fees, moving fees, renovation, construction, water, gas, etc. bill btw. yourself (the landlord) and the renters, you could easily see a month or two of rent already down the drain due to these responsibilities that come with every renter every few years. It isn’t a money-making machine unless you nurture it. Myth #3: Every Property in a Great Neighborhood Has to Go Up This seems like it would be the case until something disastrous might happen or the school goes broke. Whenever you purchase a piece of real estate, understand what makes it go up in value. Is it because it is located in a community with a great school or nice outdoor space to jog and do weekend pilates or close to the city but a nice distance away in suburbia? I would always suggest pinpointing more than 2 things about the place just in case something goes down or a lawsuit hits, there will still be demand for the property based on the other things that the place has to provide. Diversify, diversify, diversify! Myth #4: Real Estate is the Best Debt It can get very tempting to see one of your rental properties doing well and the family is enjoying the place planning to stay there for a few years to raise their kids. This sparks a pulling urge in your gut to want to immediately buy another property in the same town or test out a new market. Unless you have millions of dollars in cash which is not recommended one bit due to the purchasing price decreasing in value by 2% these days due to inflation, you are going to have to get a mortgage. The more mortgages you have, the less trustworthy you are simply because you owe the bank more money, even if you have the best credit score in the world. As a refresh, there are two types of debt: Good Debt: Used for investments such as properties, business loan or education in hopes of appreciating in value in the future Bad Debt: Used for depreciating liabilities such as luxury goods, car payments, credit car bills Although properties and real estate fall under ‘good debt’, it is still debt and must be prioritized. These monthly payments along with the additional payments of your property(s)’ maintenance, home insurance, renters’ insurance, etc. all add up! Myth #5: See you When the Contract Ends Renters! Just becuase you made a done deal for the next 2 years to not raise the rent for your renters and keep them there, doesn’t mean you won’t see them again, very, very soon. In fact, you will most likely have to get to know each other, whether you like it or not because as with everything, problems always arise. Whether it’s a leak or broken dishwasher, it isn’t their responsibility to fix it. You guessed it. It’s yours! They are just paying to live there like in a hotel or Airbnb, not be the handyman. Almost every weekend my mother and I get texts from our renters that the lightbulb is broken or the shelf in the closet is cracked. Anything that they didn’t do or own, is your responsibility as an owner. Some people may or may not be able to handle all of this, especially with the more properties you own. In that case, I would advise asking a management company to supervise the tenants for you so you don’t have to be the weekend repair dude or toilet plunger when your renters become unknowledgeable about how to turn the stove on. Happens more than you think. People are pretty dumb when it comes to common sense. Thanks, school. Now that I’ve frightened you about the rental process. Rest assured, you can still get in on the big change not even owning a single brick. Image by Cosmic Timetraveler REITs REIT is a company that simply owns, operates, and finances income-generating real east. It is similar to the way mutual funds are operated where they are pools of the capital of numerous investors, investing in real estate on your behalf. So anyone can earn dividends from real estate. They are publicly traded like stocks so they are fairly liquid, unlike physical real estate investments where cashing out the equity from a property takes time to sell. This is what happened in the financial crisis of 2008. You never want to have more than 40% of your net worth tied to real estate because it will be difficult to get that money back in time of crisis when banks such as Lehman Brothers or Bear Sterns, two banks that went bankrupt gave default faulty AUMS mortgages to home buyers who couldn’t afford them. Types of REITs: Equity REITs: Most are made up of equity, which owns and manages income-producing real estate. THis revenue is generated through rental properties Mortgage REITs: These REITs lend money to real estate owners and operators through mortgage loans Hybrid REITs: Mix of equity and mortgage REITs Now how can a 20 something-year-old actually get a hold of this? With investing, time is of the essence. The earlier the better. Whether you trade on Fidelity, Vanguard, or even Robinhood (the retail investing app), the broker will help you purchase shares in publicly-traded REITs. But is it worth the money and possible risk? Pros -Liquidity -Diversification -Transparency -Stable cash flow through dividends -Attractive risk-adjusted returns Cons Low growth -Dividends are taxed as regular income -Subject to market risk -Potential for high management and transaction fees Image by Unsplash It is possible that everyone in the United States can own some piece of real estate. Yet, since investing isn’t taught in school, that is challenging but isn’t once you understand how REITs is just investing any other asset. As we’ve learned that real estate takes diligence, patience, time, compromise, and money up front to generate stable income from tenants, that might not be for everyone, especially if you are working full time and cannot afford to be a weekend babysitter for the property. The older you get, the more you can evaluate which option is best for you, but regardless of your age, if you are over 18, there is no reason you shouldn’t be waiting on investing $100 into a REIT to see immense returns by the time you buy your first property! Everyone always needs a place to live, real estate is here to stay!

https://medium.com/@miagradelski/how-to-make-high-net-income-from-real-estate-without-owning-a-brick-a1366da72aa

['Mia Gradelski']

2020-12-14 19:07:41.621000+00:00

['Wealth', 'Housing', 'Rich', 'Real Estate', 'Finance']

Perspective Is Everything

Here’s the Life Lesson Everyone faces difficult things, but a shift in perspective is the most effective way to get through challenges. It’s not that I like losing a tooth. And I certainly don’t like spending more money on my teeth this year. However, I’ve been in a great deal of pain for more than a month. I am willing to do what it takes to live pain-free again. Sure, I won’t be completely pain-free for the next few days as I recover from surgery. But I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Shifting your perspective isn’t always easy, but it’s always worthwhile. Right now, I’m going through an especially difficult point in my life. There have been several financial and work-life hurdles that I either wasn’t expecting or have found more challenging than usual to overcome. I feel a great deal of pressure as a single working mom, and it’s even harder to talk to other people about my circumstances because I “made more money than ever” in 2019. So far, after taxes, all of my dental work over the past year, putting my daughter into a private school, and finally becoming a driver, my savings account is honestly not where I thought it was going to be when I first began making better money a year ago. And I’ve been deeply ashamed of that over these past couple of months. Getting through that frustration and overwhelm has definitely required a change in my perspective, and it hasn’t been so easy as people make innocent and even well-intended comments about how I’m doing so great.

https://medium.com/mind-cafe/perspective-is-everything-4929fb04eb7b

['Shannon Ashley']

2019-12-15 15:47:29.574000+00:00

['Personal Development', 'Life Lessons', 'Self', 'Shannon Ashley', 'Mental Health']

Disney+

By: Caroline McGlynn The Disney+ Logo With so much content only found on Disney+, such as Tangled, Avengers Endgame and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Disney+ is a very fast-growing streaming service. Many subscribers preordered Disney+ up to 2 months in advance. In the U.S. alone, approximately 1.9 million people preordered Disney+. Mr. Matteson, a Social Studies and videography teacher at South Kingstown High School, said he ordered Disney+ “before it came out.” On April 11 Disney announced its new streaming service, Disney+ and since then Disney stock has already gone up 16.5 percent. Disney+ launched November 12, 2019, and in the first 24 hours gained 10 million subscribers. In comparison, HBO Now has only 8 million subscribers after 5 years on the market while Netflix possesses 150 million subscribers after 22 years. No question, Disney+’s fast growth is increasing competition between streaming services. SKHS freshman Maisie McNeice (Photo credit Maisie McNeice) “Before I got Disney+ Netflix was my favorite streaming service,” SKHS freshman Maisie McNeice said. “Now I can’t decide.” McNeice isn’t the only one having trouble deciding what her favorite streaming service is. “It’s between Netflix and Disney+,” Matteson said. This is some of the content you will find on Disney+ (Photo credit Maisie McNeice) Millions of people log on to Disney+ daily to watch their favorite shows and movies. This includes most Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, National Geographic and Disney content. “Some of the content is very fun and nice and entertaining,” Matteson said, “like Jeff Goldblum, and The Mandalorian, and Forky Asks a Question.” The World According to Jeff Goldblum, The Mandalorian, and Forky Asks a Question are all original Disney shows only found on Disney+. By putting certain shows only on Disney+, Disney was able to increase the number of paying subscribers who they hope to get hooked on a show through the free trial. Disney originals don’t seem to be the only factor driving people to Disney+. Another factor seems to be nostalgia as many subscribers enjoy rewatching Disney shows and movies from their childhood. McNeice said she enjoys Disney+ because “I can watch all of my childhood shows and realize what I didn’t understand years ago.” SKHS freshman Emma Davis agrees with McNeice, and she said she would recommend Disney+ because “it gives you a chance to in a way relive your childhood.” Davis also said that her favorite film to watch is Wizards of Waverly place because it was one of her favorite TV shows as a kid. Matteson admits that the only reason he got Disney+ is the Disney+ original Mandalorian. “There is no other reason other than the Mandalorian!” McNeice disagrees. Her favorite show to watch on Disney+ is not the Mandalorian or any of the other Originals, it’s Good Luck Charlie, she said, a TV show from 2010 that she used to watch when she was younger. Matteson said that he has always liked the Disney+ content, especially “considering that Disney has consumed most of Hollywood, Marvel, Pixar, StarWars.” Disney has taken all of its content off of other sources to increase the number of subscribers and increase revenue. “I have control with Cox that had On Demand and I would look up Disney but nothing would come up,” McNeice said. With tons of original content, Disney+ is growing rapidly and drawing fans away from other streaming services. Netflix and Disney+ (Photo credit ktswblog.net) According to USAToday, a report from Cowen & Co. showed “Netflix lost over 1.1 million subscribers to Disney+ with barely a month in the game.”

https://medium.com/skhs-rebellion/disney-97b42fcbefef

['Caroline Mcglynn']

2020-03-09 12:16:10.512000+00:00

['Competition', 'Neflix', 'Disney', 'High School', 'Disney Plus']

Year in Review: Here are the three new research reports I dropped in 2020

Year in Review: Here are the three new research reports I dropped in 2020 The impact of COVID-19 on the media business, deep dives into eCommerce as a revenue stream for publishers, and my eighth annual report on the state of Social Media in the Middle East Image via Software Suggest ’Tis the season to look back at the past 12 months. And what a year 2020 has been. Over the next few days, I’ll bring together my output from the past year around media business and revenue models, changing journalistic practice (including local media,) digital/tech in the Middle East, as well as the podcasts I’ve hosted. Alongside this, I’ll also share the media mentions and interviews I’ve been fortunate enough to have in the media, and my teaching materials from 2020. To start this series, here are the three full research reports I published this year. Collectively, across SSRN, Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Scribd and SlideShare alone, they have enjoyed more than 15,000 views. 1. Social Media in the Middle East: 2019 in review This report is the eighth in an annual series of publications, dating back to 2012, designed to share the latest stories, trends and research in social media usage from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Using a wide variety of academic, industry and media sources, this White Paper identifies important insights from social media’s development over the previous year. The report is the first to be co-authored with University of Oregon Ph.D. student Hadil Abuhmaid. It was designed by recent UO graduate Kelly Kondo. University of Oregon: Social Media in the Middle East: 2019 in review, by Damian Radcliffe and Hadil Abuhmaid. Download, or view online, via the University of Oregon Scholars’ Bank, Scribd, SlideShare, Academia.edu and ResearchGate. 2. The Publisher’s Guide to eCommerce: Case Studies The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected most industries, including the publishing and media sectors. Arguably, the advertising downturn associated with the pandemic makes it clearer than ever that companies need to diversify their revenue streams. Facing an “extinction event,” as the current crisis has been called, may encourage publishers to look again at eCommerce and its potential. In doing this, it makes strategic sense for publishers to identify propositions that build on their existing relationship with audiences; and which play to their strengths. Audience data and insights, coupled with trust and name recognition, are valuable commodities that can be harnessed to support eCommerce activities. Historically, as BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti noted at the start of 2020, media companies have not done a good job of this. “….A longstanding problem in the media industry where content creators provide the inspiration to buy a new product, go on a vacation, or watch a new show–but don’t capture much of the economic value created,” he argued. “This is sometimes referred to as the “attribution problem,” where Google and other middlemen end up capturing value they didn’t create. We see a real opportunity for us to reclaim some of that profit.” Peretti, as this new report shows, is not alone in this optimism. If publishers can further understand, and anticipate, the user journey — including the role of content as a driver for purchase decisions — then this remains a firm foundation on which eCommerce products and properties can be built. 3. The Publisher’s Guide to Navigating COVID-19 This free-to-download report brings together the best examples we’ve seen of how news and media organisations have risen to meet the challenges of COVID-19. It looks at a range of tips and tactics to help all kinds of publishers, from subscriptions to eCommerce, the state of ad tech, and tools for building loyalty. The Publisher’s Guide to Navigating COVID-19 report’s 80+ pages are split into seven chapters covering the pandemic’s impact on the media, what it means for subscription strategies, and how publishers are building loyalty and engagement.

https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/year-in-review-here-are-the-three-new-research-reports-i-dropped-in-2020-70a2afa52753

['Damian Radcliffe']

2020-12-20 23:59:11.745000+00:00

['Middle East', 'Ecommerce', 'Research', 'Research Reports', 'Covid 19']

Campaigns for Digital Marketing — Best Practices

An important part of online marketing is digital marketing, which involves promoting services and products using online and web-based technologies such as mobile phones and computers. To succeed in today’s highly competitive world, every company competes for maximum visibility and sales. To reach out to the maximum number of customers, a business looks for efficient and cost-effective methods. In addition, they employ a variety of marketing techniques to promote their products and services. Digital marketing is becoming increasingly popular among businesses. Search engine optimization involves using appropriate keywords in the website, which is one of the most effective methods of digital online marketing. This process involves keyword research, which helps a lot in increasing the web rankings and visibility. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN find your website easier when your website is optimized. Here are some tips that you can use to perform good keyword research for internet marketing. You can choose from a variety of digital marketing channels if you wish to market your products or services online. There are several popular ones, including search engine marketing, paid search marketing, video marketing, display advertising, video promotion, and networking marketing. Choosing which channel is right for your product is entirely up to you, as each has its advantages and disadvantages. Search Engine Marketing: An effective form of online marketing, SEM is very popular. It’s a network of websites that you can place ads in, pay per click, and see results immediately. Proper keyword research is critical for better results. Before placing your ads, find out which audience, location, demographics, and competition you will be targeting. Having high-quality copywriting and relevant URLs is key to effective advertising. Make sure you do keyword research on the niche of your business to ensure the quality of your campaign. Pay Per Click Marketing: PPC advertising is one of the most effective ways to reach a global audience. It’s not hard to reach millions of people with PPC advertising to a large group of people at once. A small business with a limited marketing budget may benefit from this method. Using this method, you will only pay when a visitor clicks on your advertisement. Offline Advertising: In addition to its effectiveness in digital advertising, offline advertising also has great potential for online marketing. This type of advertising is effective regardless of where a business is located. Your brand awareness, sales, and costs can all be increased by using offline advertising. It is important to consider a few things before using offline advertising such as; choosing a product and service that is right for your business, promoting your business, and identifying an audience for your product. To reach a large audience, you must spend more money. Keyword Research: It is a very important thing for online marketing campaigns to reach your target audience. Your keyword should be something that can easily grab the attention of viewers. A website using keywords that can attract an audience will be a perfect match for your keyword research. Make your website unique by researching your competitors’ keyword strategies. Bus Advertising: A good marketing strategy can attract potential customers and increase your conversion rate. In bus advertising, you need to follow the strategy to advertise your product. A good example of this strategy is; mailing every visitor a coupon for your products. Moreover, you can also use pop-up windows to catch the interest of potential customers. Final Words The dream of every online marketer is to have a successful business. The scenario is, however, different for every marketer. You must experiment with different methods to figure out what leads to your success. It’s easy to see why online marketing requires so much learning. When something doesn’t work out for you, try not to become discouraged. You can always try something else. You can always learn from your mistakes. Continuing to seek improvements will lead to success.

https://medium.com/@cefnogidigital/campaigns-for-digital-marketing-best-practices-ead0d4cb0e92

['Cefnogi Digital']

2021-11-19 07:03:53.475000+00:00

['Online Marketing', 'Digital Marketing', 'Seo Services', 'Google Ads Campaign', 'PPC Marketing']

Automating employee engagement & social impact programs for HR teams

Designing the Dashboard — A UX Case Study Business intelligence is growing and HR is no exception to this growth. Talent is becoming a scarce commodity in today’s workplace especially in the millennial era where millennials are self aware of their value and very comfortable leaving an unappealing job. As the demand for job satisfaction grows, businesses must seek innovative ways to attract and retain employees. Social impact programs help by providing employee engagement through business immersion, leadership development, and volunteerism. Companies are challenged when using multiple platforms to plan, track, and obtain feedback for all events and programs. Allowing clients to manage events and programs and have the ability to analyze employee feedback in real-time helps increase overall employee engagement. Enter a new HR platform — EPOCH — connecting employees to community engagement opportunities. EPOCH is an employee engagement platform for companies to increase social impact and cross-functional connections. EPOCH partners exclusively with top community organizations, personally curates relevant opportunities to employees, and handles logistics end-to-end to put together an event for the workplace. The Brief and Our Team The EPOCH dashboard project started with our client, Jade, needing a redesign of EPOCH’s current HR dashboard to make it more user friendly and visually appealing as well as developing the walkthrough process for the user and streamlining the current process to organize, track, and gather feedback for employee events. Our team consisted of 3 UX Designers, which includes myself, and 1 UI Designer, with a project timeline of three weeks.

https://medium.com/swlh/automating-employee-engagement-social-impact-programs-for-hr-teams-123d7637f7b9

['Linda D. King']

2019-10-15 20:34:48.161000+00:00

['Hr Dashboard', 'Hr Resources', 'Employee Engagement', 'Event Management', 'UX']

CEZO 5th Token Burn has been completed

As promised on December 26th, CEZO has reduced its maximum supply of CEZ tokens from 5.94 billion to 1.98 billion. 80% of the maximum supply has been burned. CEZO will burn a total of 90% of its maximum supply by the end of 2020. Next burn date will be announced soon. BURN TXID: https://etherscan.io/tx/0x281c412f7eeb57876b03ead93bd5c18812599bf2543b668256ebd02890c2cf58 We are excited about these changes to the CEZ token supply and believe they will serve the community well. Website: https://cezo.io Twitter: https://twitter.com/cezo_io Telegram: https://t.me/cezo_io

https://medium.com/@cezo_io/cezo-5th-token-burn-has-been-completed-5b60c23bffd

[]

2020-12-26 21:04:49.751000+00:00

['Cezo', 'Uniswap', 'Binance', 'Binance Smart Chain', 'Dapps']

How Audius Increased Throughput With Cloudflare Workers

A Little Background… Every time an Audius client initializes, it performs a main-net eth (read-only) contract call to fetch a list of available discovery services for clients to talk to. Even something as simple as viewing the trending tracks on Audius requires first hitting the chain to set the backend against which the client will communicate. This process of picking a backend can be simplified down to listing the available services registered on main-net eth and picking the fastest (in reality, it’s slightly more complex). As you can imagine, this process results in a tremendous amount of reads of a nearly-static list over the main-net ethereum web3 json rpc protocol. Worse still, the client does this on each initial load, where every millisecond counts. The data we get here needs to be fresh, but it doesn’t need to be that fresh as it seldom differs user-to-user across a short time period. Enabling caching in a proxy layer buys us performance gains as well as reducing our need to depend on a single-point-of-failure eth provider. Win win! Beyond the performance gains to be had, last week’s Infura outage demonstrated the community’s reliance on a small number of web3 providers. By using this approach, a project can easily swap out providers or add additional providers on the fly, including multiple providers and API keys from the start to increase resilience to these types of issues in the first place. Enter Cloudflare Workers We were able to use Cloudflare workers to set up a small piece of infrastructure to help meet our demands. The Audius project team wrote a simple Javascript worker that runs on every Cloudflare edge location, receiving incoming eth-rpc requests. The requests are parsed and forwarded to a web3 provider chosen-on-the-fly, whose responses are then cached — keyed by the request’s body parameters. Subsequent eth-rpc calls are checked against the cache and eagerly returned when there is a hit, skipping expensive and unnecessary chain reads. This means less downtime, reduced costs, and improved load-time. In Action As it stands today, nearly 80% of all of the Audius client’s onchain requests are being served by the Cloudflare cache with no perceived degradation of service by end users 🎉. Now, any DApp can be more resilient to web3 provider issues of any kind. This should also include fallback logic directly, to avoid the centralization risk introduced by the project team too. Check out our repo! This code is offered as a starting point rather than an all-in-one solution — cache parameters such as TTL are configurable and should be tuned & refined per project. In terms of future work, we can envision a world in which workers are smarter, potentially performing specific actions based on the entire body of the request. One could dynamically forward requests to different providers based on the content, run caching experiments on slices of traffic, or even dynamically switch providers. The future is wide open for this package, and we’re eager to see where the broader web3 community takes it! Follow Audius Website | Discord | Twitter | Instagram

https://medium.com/audius/how-audius-increased-throughput-with-cloudflare-workers-8bff4093593f

[]

2020-11-17 20:49:44.007000+00:00

['Web3', 'Distributed Ledgers', 'Audius', 'Developer Tools', 'Ethereum']

Flatbuffers, Reflection and Data-Driven Rendering

An updated version of this article can be found here: https://jorenjoestar.github.io/post/flatbuffers_reflection_data_driven_rendering/ Motivation Finding a good balance between code and data in Rendering. What is the necessary code that should be written ? Why ? In rendering many areas can be described in a fast and robust way using data. A pipeline (in D3D12/Vulkan lingo) for example is a collection of different states: depth stencil, alpha blend, rasterizer, shaders, etc. All those state can be hard-coded or defined in data. Moving them to data can help with the visibility of them, that instead of being buried somewhere into the code can be retrieved before even running the application. As a bigger-scope example, a frame-graph can be implicitly defined inside the code, if different areas, or in data. Recent posts about it started raising attention to the problem, especially after the introduction of lower-level APIs like D3D12 and Vulkan and their resource barriers. I’ve personally used something like json (xml back in the day) since 2009, after asking myself the very silly question: ‘what is the biggest dependency in rendering? Render Targets!’ Since then I saw only in the Codemasters postprocess system (since Dirt 2) a similar approach, and have never being able to advocate towards it. The only full use case I have is my personal indie game (a full deferred rendering pipeline with many different rendering needs) all defined in a json file (render_pipeline.json). Anyway, a couple of examples of this data-driven mentality can be found here: http://bitsquid.blogspot.com/2017/03/stingray-renderer-walkthrough-7-data.html I chose to see what is a good way of describing low-level rendering resources, the bricks towards data-driven rendering. I’ve already tried defining them in a json file, but wanted something more direct — something I can copy easily with minimal parsing. I found 4 possible approaches: Custom data language Already existing data language Json (already used) Hard-coding everything In this experiment I’ve chosen Flatbuffers for the easy of use, the good performances and the feature set that seems complete. As an exercise, I wanted to create some UI based on the data coming from Flatbuffers without having to write too much code. Flatbuffers Flatbuffers is a serialization library developer by Google used by many companies. https://google.github.io/flatbuffers/ Compared to Protocol Buffers (still developer by Google) it tries to go towards a very simple parsing/unpacking (actually ABSENT in Flatbuffers, so much faster to read/write) and serialization speed. Flatbuffers is mainly a compiler that accepts .fbs (FlatBuffers Schema) files and can generate code for serialization purposes. The advantage is that it automatically generates the parsing files in the language you prefer (C++, Java, C#, Go, C, Lua, Javascript, Rust) without you needing to write the always tedious serialize/deserialize methods. It is largely based on either simple c-structs or tables with offsets for more complex object. The objective here will be to create a schema file, define a couple of resources (like textures) and use those to automatically generate UI. I will be using the SDL + ImGUI sample from the amazing ImGUI as a base. The flow will be the following: Write schema files Generate reflection informations Parse schemas Generate UI Schema Files Let’s write our first schema file. A bigger version (that I am using for my low-level renderer) is included in the github repository. namespace rendering; enum TextureFormat : ushort { UNKNOWN, R32G32B32A32_TYPELESS, R32G32B32A32_FLOAT, R32G32B32A32_UINT, R32G32B32A32_SINT, R32G32B32_TYPELESS, R32G32B32_FLOAT, R32G32B32_UINT, R32G32B32_SINT, R16G16B16A16_TYPELESS, R16G16B16A16_FLOAT, R16G16B16A16_UNORM, R16G16B16A16_UINT, R16G16B16A16_SNORM, R16G16B16A16_SINT, R32G32_TYPELESS, R32G32_FLOAT, R32G32_UINT, R32G32_SINT, R10G10B10A2_TYPELESS, R10G10B10A2_UNORM, R10G10B10A2_UINT, R11G11B10_FLOAT, R8G8B8A8_TYPELESS, R8G8B8A8_UNORM, R8G8B8A8_UNORM_SRGB, R8G8B8A8_UINT, R8G8B8A8_SNORM, R8G8B8A8_SINT, R16G16_TYPELESS, R16G16_FLOAT, R16G16_UNORM, R16G16_UINT, R16G16_SNORM, R16G16_SINT, R32_TYPELESS, R32_FLOAT, R32_UINT, R32_SINT, R8G8_TYPELESS, R8G8_UNORM, R8G8_UINT, R8G8_SNORM, R8G8_SINT, R16_TYPELESS, R16_FLOAT, R16_UNORM, R16_UINT, R16_SNORM, R16_SINT, R8_TYPELESS, R8_UNORM, R8_UINT, R8_SNORM, R8_SINT, R9G9B9E5_SHAREDEXP, D32_FLOAT_S8X24_UINT, D32_FLOAT, D24_UNORM_S8_UINT, D24_UNORM_X8_UINT, D16_UNORM, S8_UINT, BC1_TYPELESS, BC1_UNORM, BC1_UNORM_SRGB, BC2_TYPELESS, BC2_UNORM, BC2_UNORM_SRGB, BC3_TYPELESS, BC3_UNORM, BC3_UNORM_SRGB, BC4_TYPELESS, BC4_UNORM, BC4_SNORM, BC5_TYPELESS, BC5_UNORM, BC5_SNORM, B5G6R5_UNORM, B5G5R5A1_UNORM, B8G8R8A8_UNORM, B8G8R8X8_UNORM, R10G10B10_XR_BIAS_A2_UNORM, B8G8R8A8_TYPELESS, B8G8R8A8_UNORM_SRGB, B8G8R8X8_TYPELESS, B8G8R8X8_UNORM_SRGB, BC6H_TYPELESS, BC6H_UF16, BC6H_SF16, BC7_TYPELESS, BC7_UNORM, BC7_UNORM_SRGB, FORCE_UINT } attribute "ui"; struct RenderTarget { width : ushort (ui: "min:1, max:16384"); height : ushort; scale_x : float; scale_y : float; format : TextureFormat; } There are few things here to discuss. Enums. Flatbuffers can generate enums with string version of each values and conversions between enum and string. Struct. It is exactly like C/C++: a simple struct that can be memcopied. Different than a Table (that can point to other structs and Tables). Attributes. This can be used to define custom parsable attributes linked to a member of a struct/table. They can be used, for example, to drive the UI generation. Generating Reflection Informations After we generated the schema file, we can serialize it and load/save it from disk. But we need reflection data to be able to automatically generate the UI we need! There are two main reflection mechanisms in Flatbuffers: mini-reflection and full-reflection. We will use both to generate a UI using ImGUI and see the differences. Mini-Reflection This is the simplest of the two and works by generating an additional header file for each .fbs file we use. The command line is the following: flatc --cpp RenderDefinitions.fbs --reflect-names This will generate the RenderDefinitions_Generated.h file that must be included in your application and has the downside of needing you to recompile every time you change the data. Also, and this is the biggest downside, I could not find any way to parse custom per-member attributes. I hope I am wrong, but could not find any documentation on the topic: everything seems to point towards the full reflection mechanism. So why bothering with the mini-reflection ? Mini-reflection generates code, and this became useful for one of the most tedious C/C++ code to write: enums! I can’t count how many times I write an enum, I want the string with the same value for it (for example to read from a json file and get the proper enum value) and every time an enum is changed is painful. So a lesson from the mini-reflection is to have a code-generator for enums for C/C++, and I will show an example soon in another article. Back to the enums, Flatbuffers generates: 1) Enum 2) Name array 3) Value array 4) Enum to name method A nice property of the generated code for the enum is that it is easy to copy-paste in any c++ file — no Flatbuffers involved! This is my first choice now when I want to write an enum in any c++ application. Full-reflection This is the most used (or at least documented) form of reflection in Flatbuffers. It use a very elegant solution, totally data-driven: it reads a reflection schema file that can parse…ANY other schema! This very Inception-esque mechanism gives the full access to all the types, including Attributes. By executing this command: flatc.exe -b --schema reflection.fbs RenderDefinitions.fbs the RenderDefinitions.bfbs (binary fbs) file is generated. This is the file that needs to be read to fully reflect the types inside the .fbs file. The order of operations is the following: 1) Generate a binary fbs with flatc (with the command line shown) 2) Load the bfbs file generated 3) Load the schema from the bfbs 4) Reflect The fbfs file contains all the informations from the schema: types, enums, attributes. Parsing schemas and Generating UI For both reflection mechanisms the objective is the same: given a type (RenderTarget) generate an editor that can edit properties and potentially load/save them. Mini-Reflection The UI generation is pretty straightforward with mini-reflection. Each type defined in the .fbs file contains a type_name-TypeTable() method that gives accent to a TypeTable. This contains a list of per-member type, name and default values. What is really missing here is the attributes, that could be used to generate custom UI in a more specific way (eg. adding a min/max/step to a slider). The code doing this is in the github sample. There are few interesting points here. ImGui usability In order to use ImGui to modify a struct, I had to create the class FlatBuffersReflectionTable to instantiate a struct with a similar layout than the Flatbuffers struct. This is annoying but I could not find a way around different than this. With this in-place, a ImGUI slider can point to a memory area that can be used to save/load the data. Let’s begin by retrieving the TypeTable: const TypeTable* rt_table = rendering::RenderTargetTypeTable(); The TypeTable is what is included in the generated header and contains the reflection informations. Listing the members and their type is pretty straight-forward: The interesting parts: flatbuffers::TypeCode contains the reflection information for a type Given a type_code, sequence_ref can be used to check if it is an enum, pointer, or primitive type. In this case is used for enum, showing a combo with all the selectable values Base_type contains instead the primitive type. In this example a bool can be mapped to a checkbox. This uses the custom reflection_table class to have a memory area for ImGUI. For mini-reflection this is basically it. Full-reflection Code here is longer but it follows the 4 steps highlighted before. All the code is inside the ReflectUIFull method. Here the binary fbs file and its corresponding schema are loaded. // 1. Obtain the schema from the binary fbs generated std::string bfbsfile; flatbuffers::LoadFile("..\\data\\RenderDefinitions.bfbs", true, &bfbsfile ); const reflection::Schema& schema = *reflection::GetSchema( bfbsfile.c_str() ); The schema can be used to list the types: // 2. List all the types present in the fbs. auto types = schema.objects(); for ( size_t i = 0; i < types->Length(); i++ ) { const reflection::Object* type = types->Get( i ); ImGui::Text( " %s", type->name()->c_str() ); } (Using the auto here because I am lazy. The type is some multiple templates of offsets…) We can also list all the enums: auto enums = schema.enums(); for ( size_t i = 0; i < enums->Length(); i++ ) { const reflection::Enum* enum_ = enums->Get( i ); ImGui::Text( " %s", enum_->name()->c_str() ); } A problem I found (with a workaround in the code) is that enums do not have an easily to access array of string values. So I generated one for the sake of example, but I am far from happy with the solution! Going forward, we can get the type we want to reflect (notice the full namespace.type): auto render_target_type = types->LookupByKey( "rendering.RenderTarget" ); and begin the work on each field: auto fields = render_target_type->fields(); if ( fields ) { // 5.1. List all the fields for ( size_t i = 0; i < fields->Length(); i++ ) { auto field = fields->Get( i ); ... and the UI can be generated. For each field, the primitive type can be accessed with the following: reflection::BaseType field_base_type = field->type()->base_type(); and again, I found a workaround to know if a type is primitive or an enum. Last piece of the puzzle: attributes! auto field_attributes = field->attributes(); if ( field_attributes ) { auto ui = field_attributes->LookupByKey( "ui" ); if ( ui ) { ImGui::Text("UI attribute: %s", ui->value()->c_str()); } } These can be parsed as strings and can be used to drive UI code (like a slider with min, max and steps). Conclusions In the end, I’ve managed to generate UI based on a type without too much code. There was some reverse-engineering to do because I could not find proper documentation (I possibly miss some links to a in-depth example of reflection!) but nothing major. The full source code: Contains everything PLUS a beefy RenderDefinitions.fbs files, that you can theoretically use to describe a full pipeline state (in D3D12/Vulkan lingo) for you rendering. Following are the pros and cons of using Flatbuffers as way of generating UI: Pros Defining structures in data it makes easier to generate code that targets different platforms AND engines Flatbuffers is a solid parser and code generator used by a lot of companies in many different projects With some minor reverse-engineering UI can be fully generated by just writing few lines of code Mini-reflection great for generating enums and their string values needed for better debuggability in C/C++ Cons Lacking of deep documentation and examples could be intimidating to start For the sole purpose of UI generation it could be an overkill Writing a custom parser that does a more specific job could be easy and more custom (I will make an article about that too) The quest for Data-Driven Rendering I will continue writing articles on this topic and creating code for the purpose. I am a huge advocate of writing the code that is necessary, but there are few intermediate steps to be taken. Something I am doing for my indie project and want to include in following articles (and github repos!) is: Writing a simple code generator Writing a hlsl/glsl superset language (like Shaderlab from Unity) Using a data-driven render pass sequence to render a frame Create a spiritual successor of FxComposer Any comment, correction, question please contact me. Stay tuned!

https://medium.com/@BadFoolPrototype/flatbuffers-reflection-and-data-driven-rendering-c60995007c17

['Gabriel Sassone']

2019-08-05 15:09:34.719000+00:00

['Cpp', 'Programming', 'Coding', 'Google', 'UI']

I Exercised 6 Times A Week For Two Months — Here’s What I Learned

Flashback to freezing early last year, and you can imagine how unenthusiastic I was to embark on an eight-week fitness challenge that promised to upend my entire routine. The Deliveroos and Sunday night sofa sessions with three varieties of Lindt that I was using to self-medicate throughout winter were about to be replaced with daily HIIT classes, alcohol abstinence, limited caffeine and virtuous home-cooked meals. But it was too late to back out — a few weeks prior I’d innocently signed up for the F45 Challenge. For the uninitiated, F45 is a worldwide Australian-born exercise phenomenon that’s spreading like wildfire throughout the UK and Ireland, with studios as far afield as Glasgow, Bath, Bristol, Oxford, all corners of London, and elsewhere, with more set to open this year. (Mark Wahlberg, whose own hardcore workout schedule starts at 2.30am daily, just bought a minority stake in the franchise, so you know it’s serious.) Its USP is its 45-minute circuit classes that combine interval, cardiovascular and strength training to build muscle and fitness. It holds four eight-week challenges a year, which involve training as many times a week as you can manage, while following a meal plan and monitoring your body composition (muscle, fat and more) at the beginning and end. Yeah, it’s a lot. So why did I sign up? A fitness challenge was high on my goal list for 2019 — I’d never done anything like it and wanted to see how I’d feel, mentally and physically, from sticking to a structured exercise regime. My goal wasn’t to lose weight — if anything, I was keen to put on muscle and spice up my exercise regime while challenging myself. I was stuck in an exercise rut and bored of my unfocused routine — which amounted to a Pilates or kettlebells class here, a 10km run there, a few times a week — and didn’t think it would be much of a sacrifice at a time of year when my social life wouldn’t ordinarily be popping off anyway (I was wrong, but more on that later). Flash forward to now, just a week after finishing the challenge at F45 Farringdon, the endorphins are settling down and the novelty of being able to guiltlessly sip my favourite gin cocktails is starting to wear off, and I’m in a good position to reflect on what I learned. Whether you’re considering doing the next F45 Challenge or another challenge (like Barry’s Bootcamp’s Face Yourself or Hellweek, the CrossFit Games, or marathon training), or merely looking to hop back on the fitness train for spring, you may find this useful too. You really do get out what you put in In a world where everyone’s Instagramming their workouts, and gyms flog their classes with the help of their Herculean superstar trainers’ vast online followings, it’s easy to expect immediate results from the latest fitness trend. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. But the F45 Challenge hammered home the obvious, unglamorous truth: the more sustained effort you expel, the more likely you are to see the outcome you want. The days when I chest-pressed 10kg rather than my safer 8kg were the days I’d leave the studio feeling proudest and most satisfied. “People become braver and push themselves more with weights from week to week,” says Honey Fine, a fitness coach at F45 Farringdon. “They learn that being part of a community allows you to feel comfortable in a safe environment to train, discuss the challenge and their concerns.” Equally, there’s no getting around the importance of dusting yourself off and trying again when you hit stumbling blocks. “Getting back into the swing of it after a holiday can be tough for people,” Jake Hazell, F45 Farringdon’s studio manager, tells me, and yep, he’s right. In week three, just as I was hitting my stride, I went on a long weekend to Marrakech and everything went out the window (because YOLO and there’s no way I wanted to be That Girl who ruins their boyfriend’s holiday by eschewing the bread basket and leaving him to drink alone). I ditched the meal plan and broke the plan’s no-alcohol rule, and I drank a few other times later on in the challenge and ended up going more overboard than usual because of the novelty of it. While I don’t regret the fun I had (and wouldn’t have done anything differently on holiday), it was tough getting back into the #fitness mindset and annoying knowing I’d undone my progress. The key, though, is picking up where you left off and letting it go. The challenge is hard enough as it is, without the added mental anguish of regretting some fun experiences that can’t be undone. A support system is surprisingly important I’m usually an independent exerciser and have no problem motivating myself to work out — the thought of jogging with a friend to “catch up” brings me out in hives — but I seriously underestimated how vital others’ encouragement would be to get me through such a massive lifestyle change. “Team changing, life changing” is the F45 slogan and they’re not just empty words. Complaining about the meals and difficulty of certain classes with the same people each day was cheering. My now-friend Mervet Kagu, with whom I did virtually every class, also describes “the sense of community and support from fellow challengers and the trainers” as her biggest motivation throughout. As someone who usually avoids all eye contact with others at the gym, I surprisingly didn’t mind having to make small talk with fellow challengers at 7am. I was also added to a WhatsApp group headed by the trainer who’d act as my mentor throughout (shout out to Jonah!), which I was grateful for countless times. Once I’d muted it, which I did within five minutes of being added, it was an invaluable source of challenge intel. https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live2.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live3.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live66.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live67.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct223.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct224.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct225.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct226.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct227.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct228.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct229.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct230.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct231.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct232.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct233.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs202.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs203.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs204.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs206.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs207.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs210.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs6.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-rrs211.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo214.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo215.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo217.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo218.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo219.html https://www.greatblackheroes.com/lov/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo221.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live2.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live3.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live66.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Barcalona-v-Juventus-Live67.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct223.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct224.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct227.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/psg-istanbul-bb-en-direct232.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs202.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs204.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs205.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs207.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-crs209.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo219.html https://ituseu.itu.edu.tr/voc/Video-Barcelona-vs-Juventus-vivo221.html The first two weeks were the hardest for me — the meal plan means no coffee, alcohol or sugar — and on the first day (my first without coffee for at least a decade) I had the worst headache of my life and felt like I was outside my body, looking down on myself. The immediate impact of the cappuccino withdrawal amazed me, but the WhatsApp group told me I wasn’t alone, and I ended up having one of the best sleeps of my life, so it wasn’t all dire. On top of the support from the Farringdon studio, there was also the global network of F45 studios to get me through. Whatever fitness challenge you’re doing, I’d recommend following others doing the same challenge on social media. Everyone on the F45 Challenge around the world does the same classes each day, and it was helpful looking at others’ versions of the same meals and the classes beforehand. My Instagram feed looked like the inside of a bodybuilder’s kitchen, with all the chicken breasts and protein shakes on the challenge hashtags I was following, and I’d religiously watch the studio’s Instagram Stories for a glimpse of the workout I had to look forward to. Variety is underrated While it’s important to be deliberate and consistent in your training, it’s crucial to have diversity within each session (the same goes for healthy eating). The focus of F45’s classes alternates each day: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are cardio-focused, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are weights-based, and Saturday is a slightly longer class (Hollywood, my favourite) that combines both. Classes are never repeated (and specific exercises are only repeated every now and again) so you never get bored, while recipes on the meal plan aren’t repeated week to week. I realised my diet was extremely lacking in diversity — as a veggie, I leaned heavily towards carbs and wasn’t getting enough protein (I’m now a protein shake addict) — and I was too reliant on caffeine (see: the aforementioned crippling headache). I came away with a cookery book’s worth of recipes that I’ve already been recreating in my post-challenge life. You have to make sacrifices if you want to see results Sad but true. Call me a sheep, but I don’t enjoy socialising sober at night when everyone else is drinking. This meant I had to turn down invitations and plans where I knew alcohol would be involved (read: about 80% of them) to stay on track, because I knew I’d be miserable being the boring “healthy” one and having to explain why I wasn’t eating or drinking as normal. (You may find it easier to strike a balance between socialising and a fitness regime, but an all-or-nothing approach sometimes works better for me.) Thus, my social life suffered — badly. During the week I’d spend every evening at the studio, followed by meal prepping for the next day (three meals and two HOMEMADE snacks). Because my fridge is so small I couldn’t make a week’s worth of meals on Sunday like other people. (This being said, I’d never done a weekly online shop before the challenge and it’s a habit I’ll be sticking to because it is, crushingly, cheaper than nightly runs to Tesco Express. My mum was right.) Fitness apps may have scored a bad rap recently (with critics claiming they’re too number-heavy) but for me, tracking my habits, mood and workouts in the diary section of the F45 Challenge app became a key source of motivation when I was struggling, and I’d eagerly await the “drop” of the following week’s meal plan on Mondays (how’s that for a sorry glimpse into my life?). I stuck to the meal plan pretty staunchly and trained six times a week on average, giving me a huge sense of achievement and satisfaction that I hadn’t felt for ages. It was great having a fitness and nutrition plan laid out for me — it freed up mental space to think about other things. Nothing’s more important than your mental health Too much restriction and life admin, I very quickly realised, is terrible for my mental health. In between the alcohol abstinence and nightly meal-prep, there were times when I felt pretty low. Luckily the encouragement from others and the classes themselves were enough to keep me going, but it’s called a “challenge” for a reason: it’s not sustainable long term. A challenge like this (if you’re a fitness fanatic and can afford the hefty £200 a month) is fun, life-enhancing and the health benefits are amazing — by week eight my skin was blemish-free, I felt stronger and I’d shaved a year off my biological age — but it made me realise how much I value alcohol, meals out, and simply doing nothing (that is, not exercising) for my mental health. That being said, I learned you have to get through the lows to properly value the highs — and I’ve already put the dates for the next challenge in my diary.

https://medium.com/@charlenetcrosley14/i-exercised-6-times-a-week-for-two-months-heres-what-i-learned-fab1923a4a03

[]

2020-12-08 18:40:26.833000+00:00

['Rrr', 'R', 'Nissan Gtr R34']

Using Blazor in Your Existing ASP.Net Core MVC Applications

The first thing we must do is configure the application to use the Server Side Blazor service. So, let’s go ahead and add in an additional line to the existing ConfigureServices section of the Startup.cs file. Add service for Server Side Blazor Server Side Blazor executes its C# code on the server and uses SignalR to communicate with the browser, therefore we need to add an additional entry into the Configure method in the same Startup.cs file to enable the SignalR endpoint. To find out more about SignalR take a look here. Add mapping for Signal R Hub Before we can add our component, we need to create a new folder to contain our Blazor components. There is no convention for naming this folder, however I am going to call it Components as that correctly conveys its usage. New Component folder to contain the Blazor Components Creating our Blazor component Okay, now all the setup is in place we can start to re-write the MVC Index view for movies to use our Blazor component. The Index view currently looks like this: Existing code in Index.cshtml view Let’s start by right clicking on the Components folder we created earlier and selecting Add and then choose Razor Component. In the dialog box that opens change the file name to MovieList.razor and press Add. Once the component has been created replace the contents with the following Blazor code: The new Blazor component called MovieList.razor You will see that this component closely resembles the table in the original Index view. Notice the @code section, this is one of the options for writing your C# code in Blazor and I am using this technique here for ease of displaying the code in this post. However, when writing production code, I use a separate code-behind .cs file that encapsulates the C# logic from the view. In the C# code, the Movies parameter will contain a collection of movies which will be passed into the component from the Index view. The foreach statement then iterates over the collection and creates a new row in the table for each movie. I have also added a couple of buttons PreviousMovie and NextMovie purely to demonstrate that the application responds to events without any JavaScript being written. Each time a button is clicked the movieIndex is changed and the current title field is updated to match the current row in the table by using the Skip(movieIndex) command on the Movies list. In order to fix the reference errors in our component; we could add some using statements to the MovieList.razor file, however if we add the using statements to a file called _Imports instead, then all our Blazor components will be able to reference them. Let’s create our _Imports.razor file in the root of the project and add the following using statements. These references include our own MvcMovie namespaces as well as the most common framework references used by Blazor components. The _Imports.razor file containing the using statements for all Blazor components Integrating our Blazor component Now, let’s update our original Index view to make use of the MovieList component. The modified Index.cshtml page with integrated MovieList component As you can see, the component element is referencing our MovieList Blazor component and specifying a render-Mode of ServerPrerendered. The render modes available according to Microsoft are: Server: Renders a marker for a Blazor server-side application. This doesn’t include any output from the component. When the user-agent starts, it uses this marker to bootstrap a Blazor application. ServerPrerendered: Renders the component into static HTML and includes a marker for a Blazor server-side application. When the user-agent starts, it uses this marker to bootstrap a Blazor application. Static: Renders the component into static HTML. So, what do these terms mean in reality? Well, if you want your page to be dynamic and found by search engines; including our rendered Blazor table then you shouldn’t use Server. You want to use ServerPrerendered instead, as this will effectively render a static version of the Blazor table component to begin with and then wire it up to the Blazor server application afterwards. This means it will be able to react to events e.g. clicking the Next Movie button on the page. If you choose Static, then the page will not respond to any events. We are also passing in a parameter containing the Model to our Blazor component. If you recall from earlier, we specified a parameter in our component called Movies and the contents of our Movie list will be passed to our component via this parameter. Now at this point you will see some more unresolved references for MvcMovie.Models and MvcMovie.Components, that’s because we need to add some using statements. Now we could add these to the Razor page, but I have added them to the _ViewImports file instead. Adding the references to _ViewImports allows any Blazor components to be visible to all the ASP.Net Core Razor pages in our application. Okay, go ahead and add the references so that your _ViewImports file looks like mine below. Adding using statements to _ViewImports.cshtml After a quick rebuild, your Index.cshtml view should now look like the one above with all references resolved. The final step is to add the script tag for the blazor.server.js file which you could do directly in the Index page, but I prefer to add it to the _Layout file which contains all the script tags in one place. Adding blazor.server.js to _Layout Viewing the final result Now let’s run the application and see if it still works. MvcMovie application with a table rendered using Blazor Summary There you have it; the ASP.Net Core app has loaded and when we click on the MovieApp link, we see a Movie table rendered using the Blazor component we built. Try out the Previous Movie and Next Movie buttons to see the Current Movie Title change, without the use of JavaScript. As you can see it’s quite straight forward to include Blazor components in your ASP.Net Core applications, once the initial boilerplate code has been created, adding further components should be relatively simple.

https://medium.com/capgemini-microsoft-team/using-blazor-in-your-existing-asp-net-core-mvc-applications-f1b09bd66f4b

['Simon Goodwin']

2021-01-26 12:24:13.089000+00:00

['Software Engineering', 'Blazor', 'Csharp', 'Development', 'Software Development']

Your Tinder Bio is Trash

Your Tinder Bio is Trash Katie Dutch — used with permission Still not having much luck online dating? If your online dating profile pictures aren’t garbage and your messages to prospective dates are more interesting than “Hey” or “How’s your day going?”, it might be that your bio is a dumpster fire. No Bio This isn’t Mad Libs, I can’t fill in the blanks for you, man. You shouldn’t legally be allowed to online date without filling out the bio. You’re trying to get a job at a top firm without even applying. NEXT! Don’t be a lazy jackass. I’ll fill this out later There IS no later. There is only NOW. This is more of that lazy jackass stuff I mentioned earlier. Did you sign up for this dating site while sitting at a red light? You have time. Do it now. I’d almost rather see nothing than someone taking the time to say they don’t have the time. What else do you not have time for, brushing your teeth? Paying your rent? Getting me off? Bad form on all counts. All Emojis This feels like you’re a child who doesn’t know how to use your Big Boy words. We don’t need an emoji of everything you’ve ever liked or done in your entire life. Words are cool. String them together strategically to form sentences. Chicks dig sentences. SC>NY>HI>CA>VH1>TMZ>ATM>VCR>FBI>MTV Stop it. This isn’t the Travel Channel. None of your moves are interesting without a backstory. Save your backstory for actual conversation. I just see a jumble of letters and my eyes start rolling back in my head. Yes, we get it, you’re either well traveled or totally unstable. Keep them to a minimum, please. Thanks. No Drama, No Games Uh duh. No one is looking for drama or games, except those who explicitly state they’re not looking for drama or games. It’s always the biggest drama queens who whine, “Drama just finds me!” It’s called projection, my friend. Also, what you focus on is what you get. If you’re analyzing everything someone says or does looking for signs of drama or game playing, you’re gonna find it. Because you’re looking for it. Because you really want there to be some. So stop. Or keep it up! It entertains the hell out of ME. Being Bitter Don’t drone on about your latest break-up. That’s not a turn on. That’s not enticing. That’s not a selling point. Don’t talk about your “crazy ex” or your “restraining order” or considering giving up on ever finding a “good one”. Negative attitudes are kinda shitty. Who wants to sign up for that? Other bitter bastards. Barf. Knock it off. Maybe take a break from dating until you stop feeling like everyone is out to screw you over and there’s no point in dating because we’re all going to die alone. Maybe work on that. Long List of Demands No “What I’m looking for” or “Must be:” kind of lists. This isn’t Wendy’s, you’re not ordering a value meal. Be more concerned with presenting what you bring to the table than boring everyone with your unrealistic expectations. Expectations are just premeditated resentments. Also, by sharing your wishlist of personality traits you’re laying out exact directions to your heart, something your date should learn and earn while dating you. Don’t hand out the answer key to the test because people WILL cheat. “Find out what you want, be that girl for a month, wait the worst is yet to come, oh no…” — T. Swift Exceptions: stating your stance on pets and smoking. I don’t date smokers and I love my cat more than you. These are non-negotiable. Any of the following generic, boring shit Fluent in sarcasm Let’s go on an adventure Dog parent Sapiosexual Just looking for the Pam to my Jim Friends, family, and lovin life Just looking to meet people and see what happens Wonder if women ever send the first message on here 6’1” because apparently that matters? Dream it and you can achieve it Love everyone Do one thing every day that scares you No fatties This isn’t an inspirational quote Instagram page. Don’t be a Basic Bitch. Please have more personality than this. Stand out. Be different. Be funny! Be silly. Be quirky. This is your time to sell me on you. Hell, sell YOU on you.

https://medium.com/@nikimarinis/your-tinder-bio-is-trash-338e6c504b4f

['Niki Marinis']

2021-01-06 21:15:19.439000+00:00

['Dating Advice', 'Humor', 'Relationships Love Dating', 'Online Dating', 'Life Lessons']

Time Release

Spiralbound Comics for life, brought to life by Edith Zimmerman.

https://medium.com/spiralbound/time-release-5b21d7887523

['Ali Shapiro']

2020-01-03 21:51:33.784000+00:00

['Adderall', 'Comics', 'Quantum Physics', 'Drugs', 'Addiction']

Build an Analog Resource Monitor to Find Your PC’s Bottlenecks

There are a lot of components inside of your computer that can potentially create a bottleneck and limit its overall performance. It isn’t, however, always immediately apparent which component should be upgraded. If you do a lot of photo editing, for example, upgrading your processor probably won’t help much, but upgrading your RAM might. The best way to find your performance bottleneck is to monitor which components are being taxed the most. There are plenty of software utilities to do that, but you can also follow Saša Karanović’s guide to build an analog resource display for your desktop. The primary benefit of a standalone resource monitor like this is that it will save valuable screen real estate, while also ensuring that you can always see how your computer is currently running. Karanović’s setup has analog gauges, called galvanometers, to show the current usage for the CPU, memory, GPU, and network. All you have to do is glance at those gauges to get an idea of the percentage that each component is being taxed. If you want to monitor something else, like hard drive usage or CPU temperature, it’s simple to customize this setup. The two main components needed for this build are the galvanometers and some kind of microcontroller. Just about any microcontroller will work, so long as it can appear as a USB device when connected to your computer and communicate over serial. Karanović started with an STM32F103 microcontroller development board, and then later designed a custom PCB for the microcontroller. A simple Python script is used to check the status of each component, and then sends the readings to the microcontroller. The microcontroller then alters the voltage going to the galvanometers. Each dial’s position is proportional to the current going to the galvanometer, and the voltage changes that. Just house the microcontroller and gauges inside of some sort of 3D-printed enclosure, and you’ve got a handy analog resource monitor to find your performance bottlenecks!

https://medium.com/@cameroncoward/build-an-analog-resource-monitor-to-find-your-pcs-bottlenecks-6e69f1f61e9

['Cameron Coward']

2019-09-24 13:04:57.936000+00:00

['Makers', 'Performance', 'Stm32', 'Technology', 'Computers']

แทรกกลาง. ทุกคนต้องการการลงสนามเพื่อพัฒนาตัวเอง…

A member of Mutrack and Inthentic. I lead, learn, and build with vision, love and care. https://piyorot.com Follow

https://medium.com/people-development/%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87-d952149c1630

[]

2020-01-15 10:52:44.288000+00:00

['Self Improvement', 'Employee Engagement', 'Mentorship', 'Leaders', 'Coaching']

Artful Intelligence v Artificial Intelligence

There is a lot of discussion nowadays about creativity, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and ontology (The Theory of Mind). Rightfully so. As computers get smarter and faster, and various types of data become more readily available, the unquestioned impulse of many businesses, institutions and governments is to go the numeric — Big Data — route. Perhaps, though, there might be a few bumps along the way. Primary among them is data robs us of our aliveness, and understanding people in all their aliveness is the basis of prediction, which is the name of the game in both personal and corporate life, especially in these highly complex times. It’s all too common that business now forgets one simple reality: People do not run on facts or logic. Real life cannot be adequately represented by ones and zeroes. Emotion and belief still rule the roost. As C.P. Snow, a scientist and a writer, stated in his Rede Lecture (published as a book, The Two Cultures, 1959), the intellectual and creative sphere of life — particularly in Western society — is split into two polar groups (two tribes), each with its own language, belief system and membership codes for inclusion and exclusion. This polarization is a great loss to all of us. As Wynton Marsalis has noted in Ken Burns’ documentary, Jazz, “Great new ideas can come when something and its opposite get smashed together.” In other words, the clashing of two cultures can and ought to produce creative chances. This is exactly the possibility offered by metaphor. Yet, in most business contexts, due to speed and a now globalized competition, this opportunity has not been realized. When thinking and feeling have been unrelentingly separated, the result in many cases, is we have “handy men” — expedient, but without wisdom. This abyss can only be filled by imagination, not by analytics. Analytics can explain the past, but the past is the past. Imagination is about what could be. Imagination is about the future. The void can be filled by ARTFUL THINKING. Bruce Springsteen is a good example of the power of imagination, an imagination fed by his own self-story of a searching boy from the Jersey Shore who was “Born to Run” and caught “Fire” to end up in the “Land of Hope and Dreams.” In the documentary, “Bruce and I,” fans of ‘The Boss’ commonly describe why their love for the rock n roll icon. They offer two related responses: “Bruce understands me.” “Bruce make me feel less alone.” Big Data spread across from end to end of “Thunder Road” can’t come close to doing that. In his show, “Springsteen On Broadway,” he jokes by saying “I have become exceedingly rich by writing songs about people who work in factories. I’ve never been in a factory. That’s how good I am.” And good he is: Intimately aware of his own self-story and empathetic to such a degree that people can read their own self-stories into his songs. The result being his audiences can see they might have one or two more options than they are presently aware of. They can see their world and the world is a slightly expanded way. That’s artful thinking. That’s the function of art. Think of the admonition by the poet, David Whyte: “Anything or anyone/that does not bring you alive/is too small for you. The well-known business consultant, Dr. Roger Martin, in a different voice, reflects a similar thought when he writes in Harvard Business Review,Sept/Oct 2017: · “Big Data tends to narrow strategic options and hinder innovation.” · “To make decisions about what could be, managers should devise narratives about possible futures, applying the tools of metaphor and emotion.” · “The behavior of customers will never be transformed by a product whose design is based on an analysis of their past behavior. · “Imagination is a very different process from analysis.” Imagination requires artful thinking. One reason I call it “artful” was prompted by a quote from Willa Cather, a novelist who wrote about American frontier life: “What is art but a mold to imprison for a moment the elusive element which is life itself — life hurrying past us and running away, to strong to stop, too sweet to lose.” So we have arrived at LIFE. And business-speak — numeric, linear and coldly logical — isn’t articulate enough to capture the everyday behavior and experience people have living real lives, on the ground, real time. Business is always trying to remove the “I,” but that is exactly what it needs to capture, in order to apprehend and comprehend people talking, working, playing, enjoying small pleasures, suffering pain and aching hearts, creating families and growing older — all the while doing their best to hold off the demons that seek to destroy them. Such a lexicon, removed as it is, from the natural, alive mind, misses what people want more of — more life, more love, more hope, more truth, and more power and more soul. That is the territory that human presence inhabits, even more than the world of consuming products and looking dominant.. Business lingo — particularly, marketing-speak — doesn’t let people express themselves in their own voice. Instead, business abstracts the audience — and itself — out of the body, out of direct experience and out of seeing the possibility of a wider future than is currently conceived. Across the landscape of economic skyscrapers the self is left outside many an office door. This is all in the service of erecting a cover-story that seems to increase predictability and minimize vulnerability. Business is in the business of avoiding the fact that life, at best, is a reverie between sorrow and splendor. Business worships at the alter of “Big Data,” and as a consequence, true aspects of people’s identity and longing are asunder. In contrast, we — private individuals and business executives — should all learn from the likes of Bernard Lown, MD, cardiologist. He suggests: · A doctor must rely on the art of human understanding to amplify the insights of medical science. · The most effective way to reach a diagnosis is for the doctor to become fully engaged with the total human being. · Practice that art of medicine requires not only expert knowledge of disease, but an appreciation of the intimate details of a patient’s emotional life. · Medical wisdom is about the capacity to comprehend a clinical problem at its mooring, not in an organ, but in a human being. Intuition and experience are required to grasp the subliminal and integrate ir rapidly and comprehensively. Business can learn from the wisdom of eminent doctors and artists such as singer-songwriters, musicians, actors, film directors and novelists. Business can learn from artful intelligence.

https://medium.com/@bobdeutsch/artful-intelligence-v-artificial-intelligence-9e0e20acb198

['Bob Deutsch']

2019-09-17 15:40:21.750000+00:00

['Artful Life', 'Creativity', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Imagination']

Build a free Slack App using Google Apps Scripts and some fun features to make you look cool to your coworkers

Build a free Slack App using Google Apps Scripts and some fun features to make you look cool to your coworkers Matt “Rudy” Benton Jan 22·14 min read Custom Slack Apps can be cool I have rewritten this multiple times trying to come up with a catchy intro for this blogpost. At this point, I am going to stop attempting and inform you that this is now one of the many posts out there about creating a Slack App and how a Slack integration can be used to improve things in an organization. This post should give you insight on how to set up a Slack App utilizing Google Apps Script at no additional costs. Additionally, I will share some fun features I added to my App that may give you new ideas of what could be done with this simple setup. So how did this all come about: I was part of a small team that put together and executed a virtual week of holiday festivities for Maveris in lieu of an in-person company holiday party. A simple explanation of the week was that there were daily competitions for employees to compete in through submitting and voting in Google Forms as well as meetups and other random banter in created Slack Channels. An underlying goal of the competitions and events was to win “Magic Maveris Medallions’’ (to be more concise, I’ll refer to this as points from now on in my writing), that were essentially used as raffle tickets for prize drawings at the end of the week. With people working on different tasks and supporting different contracts, the team decided to attempt to use Slack as a central communication point for employees related to the festivities. As you will see later, it also provided some additional functionality to improve events or aid in solutions to possible problems we discovered while working with the Google Suite. We did not get everything integrated into Slack as we had initially hoped, due to various constraints, however, we still feel it worked out great. I just hope if you read through the blog it gives you ideas and with your imagination, how you can improve things in your organization at no additional cost. Before we start, in case you are interested in more details about the week of festivities, check out post on the company blog: https://maveris.com/maveristmas/ Additionally, some other posts related to the technical aspects of Maversitmas that may be helpful to others: Disclaimer: In this blogpost I am going to assume the reader has some familiarity with Slack and how it works. I also may assume that the reader is familiar with some Google Apps Script stuff. If you are not familiar with it and your company or you personally use google, check it out. Thanks to my friend @dillenbl for telling me about all the cool things he has been doing with it and opening my eyes to it. As I mentioned above, employees essentially won raffle tickets. And if you are competitive like I am, you will want to know how many of these tickets or points you have at any time. I personally didn’t want to field messages all day of people asking if I could tell them how many points they had. That with the fact I had wanted to create a little Slack App from the beginning, I thought, “What a great idea. Can I build a Slack App so that the employee can just make a request and get their own response?” The Team was already tracking each person’s point totals in a Google Sheet (mentioned in more detail in the referenced blog posts above) tied to each person’s email address. Since Slack for our company can only be used with your Maveris email account, I felt this could be a simple solution. Create a Slack App in the Maveris Slack Workspace Create a Google Apps Script, deploy it as web application, receive the request from Slack Create a slash command for the Slack App, configured to send requests to the deployed web application Parse the web request from Slack and retrieve the info Return the info to the Slack user Create a Slack App in the Maveris Slack Workspace There is already enough info out there on how to create a Slack App. Just google this and follow the steps to create a Slack App for the workspace. Now just like when you create your own Rock band, the name is the most important part. So ensure you come up with a cool name for your Slack Bot. Pick an Awesome name Create a Google Apps Script, deploy it as web application, receive the request from Slack First, the advantage to using Google Apps Script is that it is free, plus in our case it is tied into our design for these events. We already decided to use Google Forms and Google Sheets, so it was built into that infrastructure. From Google Apps Script, you can easily access other Google Sheets, files in Google Drive, values in Google Sheets, etc. Basically you can build and deploy a small web app without worrying about a lot of the infrastructure. You are bound to some of the ways Google may do things, but again like I said, it’s free and with some trial and errors or sweat and tears you can get it to work. So, create a project at scripts.google.com. The big thing to know is that to publish any script as a web app they must meet a few requirements: A script can be published as a web app if it meets these requirements (https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/web): It contains a doGet(e) or doPost(e) function. or function. The function returns an HTML service HtmlOutput object or a Content service TextOutput object. Make note of the e, this is an event object that is tied to an event in Apps Script. So in a doPost(e) function, the e is a reference event from a POST request. This is where your Slack App will make its POST request with information. So create a function below just to get started (you will change this later): function doPost(e) { var a = “Hello Maveris Labs”; return HtmlService.createHtmlOutput(a); } Deploy the script as a Web Application (Publish -> Deploy as Web App..) and get the URL for the web app. Make sure you have the Web App set to execute the app as yourself and the access as “Anyone, even anonymous” Create a slash command for the Slack App, configured to send requests to the deployed web application So this part gets a little confusing, or it did for me. Seems there are all types of custom Slack integrations; ways to manage Slack Apps in a workspace. To create the slash command for the App, you want to access it through api.slack.com/apps. I, at times, have spent time trying to find this and getting stuff in the Slack Workspace management of Apps that doesn’t allow you to modify the App itself. This is the same place you can also add incoming webhooks for your App and do way more things then I yet know how to even do. I hope you don’t get confused as I did. So once in the Slack Api section and you have selected the App you have permissions to adjust, select the Slash Commands. This works by having the App as part of the workspace and adding the slash command allows any user to run the /command which then has the App run by a created bot-user. As you can see in the image below, I have my App called Maveristmas-Bot and I created a Slash Command /maveristmas that invokes the App to send data to the URL. Put the URL for your deployed web app from above in the Request URL section. After this is complete, when a user runs the desired slash command /command, a POST request is made to the deployed web app and the doPost(e) function is executed as mentioned before. For my design of the App, I chose to keep it simple and just make one slash command and had the information sent after it as the commands. This way I didn’t have to create new slash commands when I added new pointless features. All I had to do was update the Google Apps Script and redeploy the Web App with no changes to Slack. This is up to the reader how they want to do it, but worked well for me. To aid in troubleshooting or development: During development or troubleshooting it may be difficult to ensure your data in the event object e, is what you expected. There are different ways to accomplish this and each developer has their way they desire to do so. I stole some code from a StackOverflow post (regrettably, I don’t have the reference at this time to provide credit, and added it to the doPost(e) function): var spreadsheet_id = "SHEET-ID-GOES-HERE"; var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById(spreadsheet_id); var sheet = ss.getSheetByName('log'); sheet.getRange(1,1).setValue(JSON.stringify(e)); This snippet of code will add the current event object to the provided Google Sheet (ensure the script has the correct permissions and scope to access the Sheet). Each time doPost is executed, the script will overwrite the data in the first cell and show the last event object. It is definitely not pretty but it works. Obviously with some slight modification to the snippet you could have it log all event objects per line or maybe just the parameters from the event object, etc. For example, while developing the Slack App, I was unsure exactly how the POST data for a slash command (this link would have helped back then) was sent to my deployed Apps Script. Executing the /maveristmas apple command in Slack and using the above code snippet provided me the ability to see what data was in the event object to work with. Below is a beautified version of the data provided in the spreadsheet: Beautified event object of the data from a slash command in Slack From this image we can determine that Slack sends data in JSON format. In the data, the user_name and the text fields are important to me. The user_name field will be important to determine who made the request and the text field is the data after the slash command. Remember this is how I chose to build the App, however, you could choose to separate slash commands and then parse on the command field. Parse the web request from Slack and retrieve the info So now you have a way for your users to make a request that sends a post request and data to your App script. You can see above how the data gets in. You simply parse the request, do whatever magic you want with it and send it back to Slack. Then, as long as it goes back formatted correctly, it will be displayed to the user privately. In the doPost function, I put the code in an if statement that only processed if the event had data. Then I used Google’s built-in methods for the event parameter (https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/web). I parse out the parameters for the user_name, command, and the text. I decided I didn’t care if there was extra stuff sent by the user and just based everything off whatever the first word was after the slash command. if (e !== 'undefined') { var slack_params = e.parameter; var userName = slack_params.user_name; var slack_cmd = slack_params.command; var slack_cmd_params = slack_params.text; var slack_first_param = slack_cmd_params.split(" ", 1); Now that the data is parsed, I need to get the data I want. As I mentioned before I wanted to allow the employees to check on their point total. So I created another if statement that checked for the slack_first_param == mytotal and if it was, then I looked up the username in the Team’s Google Sheet that was tracking all the points and returned the value from the total column. The lookup function, stolen from my co-worker @thecyberbutler with way more javascript-Fu then I, can be found on his post here or a gist here. The returned value was then put into a message variable then returned to Slack return ContentService.createTextOutput(JSON.stringify({“text” : message,})).setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON); As I mentioned before there are all types of fancy ways to send messages back and format them, with pictures and other cool things. But for simplicity sake, I initially did this and just added some emojis to look cool. Example of the Slack App response for checking on points (MMMs represents the points) So here is the very basic format of code for the Slack App in some of my original design. I hope it helps give you a nice setup for things you can do and improve on it. function doPost(e) { //code snippit to just log POST requests for testing var spreadsheet_id = "ADD-SHEET-ID-HERE"; var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById(spreadsheet_id); var sheet = ss.getSheetByName('log'); sheet.getRange(1,1).setValue(JSON.stringify(e)); if (e !== 'undefined') { var slack_params = e.parameter; var userName = slack_params.user_name; var slack_cmd = slack_params.command; var slack_cmd_params = slack_params.text; var slack_first_param = slack_cmd_params.split(" ", 1); if (slack_first_param.toString().toLowerCase() == "mytotal") { message = ":boom: You currently have " + lookupValue(userName) + " MMMs!!:star2:"; return ContentService.createTextOutput(JSON.stringify({"text" : message,})).setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON); } } } Improving the Slack App with more features So after creating the initial Slack App, I had to add a few pointless functions and make it way more fun. THAT’S HOW I ROLL From the above code, I changed out the If statement and just created a switch statement. This made it easier to add things to the script. The script would check the first parameter passed and then work through the switch statement looking for a match. Once the match was found, a separate function could be called to return the desired message to send to the Slack user. Then whatever I needed to have done I could take care of in that function, or multiple functions. This really made the script more modular and ability to adapt on the flow as needed. After the switch statement completes the message is then returned to the Slack user (you may notice in the xkcd function I had to format the message differently and did not follow this exact flow). As you can see above I created some pointless functions. But I will say I received a lot of comments from employees and could be morale boosting for your organization. Now I did not create a whole new API with thousands of Ron Swanson jokes or Chuck Norris jokes. I did one better, I found someone else who is already providing this service for free. I then created a function that would use App Scripts UrlFetchApp.fetch() function to make a request to the API. Then I would parse the data for what I wanted from it and return it to the user. To the user, my bot was magically giving them some cool Chuck Norris jokes for them to laugh at. Chuck Norris Joke: /maveristmas chucknorris var chuck_web_url = " var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(chuck_web_url); var obj = JSON.parse(response); var joke = obj["value"]["joke"]; return (joke); } function get_chucknorris_joke(){var chuck_web_url = " http://api.icndb.com/jokes/random?exclude=[explicit ]"var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(chuck_web_url);var obj = JSON.parse(response);var joke = obj["value"]["joke"];return (joke); This API allows the user to exclude explicit jokes, being for work, I suggest you do that. Ron Swanson Quote: /maveristmas swanson var swanson_web_url = " var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(swanson_web_url); return response.getContentText().slice(1,-1) + "- Ron Swanson"; } function get_swanson(){var swanson_web_url = " https://ron-swanson-quotes.herokuapp.com/v2/quotes var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(swanson_web_url);return response.getContentText().slice(1,-1) + "- Ron Swanson"; I decided that since it was quotes from Ron Swanson, I added the ending there to make it look more like a quote. I thought about working to add an image with it, maybe next time. And if you don’t know who Ron Swanson is, I strongly recommend googling him and learning from his vast knowledge. Random Fact: /maveristmas randomfact var fact_web_url = " var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(fact_web_url); var obj = JSON.parse(response); var fact = obj[0]["headline"]; return fact; } function get_randomfact (){var fact_web_url = " https://www.mentalfloss.com/api/facts ";var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(fact_web_url);var obj = JSON.parse(response);var fact = obj[0]["headline"];return fact; There was a lot of different info you could pull in from this API response. I kept it simple and just grabbed the headline as the fact. XKCD Comic: //for the xkcd function to get a random value function getRandomArbitrary(min, max) { return Math.random() * (max - min) + min; } function create_image_block_payload(image_url, text ="Random text"){ var payload = { "blocks": [ { "type": "image", "title": { "type": "plain_text", "text": text }, "block_id": "image4", "image_url": image_url, "alt_text": text } ] }; return payload } //the 2150 value is not the highest number it can go, it increases each day. Large enough for me var comic_number = Math.trunc(getRandomArbitrary(0,2150)); var xkcd_web_url = " var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(xkcd_web_url); if (response.getResponseCode == 404){ var payload= {"text" : "Error trying to get an xkcd image, please try again",} ; return payload } var obj = JSON.parse(response); var comic_url = obj["img"]; var img_title = obj["safe_title"]; return create_image_block_payload(comic_url, img_title); } function get_xkcd(){//the 2150 value is not the highest number it can go, it increases each day. Large enough for mevar comic_number = Math.trunc(getRandomArbitrary(0,2150));var xkcd_web_url = " https://xkcd.com/ " + comic_number + "/info.0.json";var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(xkcd_web_url);if (response.getResponseCode == 404){var payload= {"text" : "Error trying to get an xkcd image, please try again",} ;return payloadvar obj = JSON.parse(response);var comic_url = obj["img"];var img_title = obj["safe_title"];return create_image_block_payload(comic_url, img_title); For the xkcd function you can see it was a little more complicated. This was because I had built my switch statement to send back just simple strings as messages. In this case I had to return the message in a different format so Slack can present back an image. I am not going to dig into this here and say just check out Slack Block Kit Builder and see all the cool things you can do. Next time I want to do more with this to make everything look fancier. Also, the xkcd API doesn’t really give a random response, so I had to create the randomization. My approach was to figure out about how many different comic numbers there were out there. At the time there were over 2150 and 0 is the latest comic number. I then just grabbed a random number and then made the random API request to that comic number. In the response it has the URL for the actual image. That is what then gets returned to the user in Slack. Then Slack will go pull down the image from the provided URL. So there you go, if you have made it to the end of this blogpost, you now have an idea of how to create a simple Slack App, and then add some pointless but fun functionality. I hope this helps someone. If there are better easier ways to do this please let me know. Here is a gist of the full script for anyone that wants it or wants to tell me how to do things better.

https://medium.com/maverislabs/build-a-free-slack-app-using-google-apps-scripts-and-some-fun-features-to-make-you-look-cool-to-6afb1b91a1c7

['Matt', 'Rudy']

2021-01-29 14:46:19.142000+00:00

['Ron Swanson', 'Xkcd', 'Slack', 'Google Apps Script', 'Slack Apps']

A BREATH FROM DEATH: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THROUGH SUFFERING

Many speak about the bigger picture, but most forget without the minuscule, minute and microscopic elements the bigger picture is useless. It means nothing at all. Unfortunately, most leaders are just in title and misuse their authority thus are unable to fathom the importance of the minuscule, minute and microscopic elements. History has shown leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr, Nelson Mandela, and Maya Angelou as great examples of leaders who knew the importance of these elements. May I request together we deep dive into this through a simple exercise in breathing? If need be, feel free to close your eyes. Focus on your breath. Take your time. Please breathe in and breathe out, breathe in and now breathe out, breathe in and breathe out. Feel free to open your eyes. Today, I truly appreciate this minuscule, minute and microscopic act of breathing. This breathing in, breathing out is the only moment we have. This breathing is the now, it is truly being. The reality, the evidence, the science is very precise that this thing we call breath is exceptionally small but without this, the bigger picture of our existence will never be there. On 10 Jan 2021, I was taken on an unexpected journey where I experienced for several days that “death is only a breath away”. Rushed into emergency at approximately 10:00 AM and even with no beds available some phenomenon happened that around 01:00 AM of 11 Jan I was moved into the ICU COVID ward. It was on 31 Dec 2020 that the whole of my family (11 of us) was struck by COVID. We all were recovering very well as we had slight to mild symptoms. Yet, on 10 Jan 2021, that day I became part of the millions who got engulfed by the seriously nasty symptoms of COVID: difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chest pain, jaw throat was clenched and constricted, the speech was slurry and the voice was barely audible. Dangerously low oxygen levels and severe pneumonia were visiting me. They decided to make my body their guest house for numerous days. Yes, these unwanted guests were residing in me and they took over. It reminds me of Rumi’s poem The Guest House: This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honourably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. The energy from my body was completely sucked out. Psychically, mentally and emotionally I was in a total state of vulnerability. Trust is powerful, very powerful. In such a vulnerable disposition I had to give my trust in the hands of the medical fraternity. I salute these front liners, the selfless unsung heroes. They are the true superheroes. What does one do in such a helpless and defenceless scenario? From memory, I recall getting messages from well-wishers that you have to fight this, you have to win over this, you have to conquer this. You have to beat it. You have to dominate this. You have to crush this. But I never did that. Instead, the path I was given was to embrace it. Yes, embracing the truth that I could either die or live. That required me to have jigra, which means to be brave of heart and know whatever will be, will be. Yes, you heard it right I never fought as some source of energy made me embrace my situation with joy, love and compassion. I did nothing as the four noble truths took over. For centuries the four noble truths have been practised and lived by many on a daily basis across the East in countries such as India, Tibet, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka. And nowadays there are people in the West who follow and live by its wisdom. For the first time in my life, I got a nanoscopic glimpse of the immense practicality and abundance of the four noble truths. What does it mean taking refuge in the four noble truths? “I made the joyous discovery that humour, smile and laughter brings compassion to remove suffering.” — Rohit Bassi 1. There Is Suffering (Symptom) Cognitive-behaviour therapy such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) is used for psychological treatments which takes inspiration from this truth. You may say, think and feel “there is suffering” is morbid and pessimistic. Thus, let me dig deeper and say this means there is dissatisfaction, disillusion, problem, pain, challenges in life. This could happen with your health, wealth, relationships or any aspect of your existence. In my world, I translate this suffering into “Courage”. Ask yourself the question are you willing to tap into courage to be aware and realise life is not suffering (although there is suffering in life) but life is full of abundance? 2. Cause of Suffering (Diagnosis) Our intensity of suffering/ dissatisfaction is caused by our perception, experience, beliefs and the way we have been conditioned from our childhood. This happens especially when we are facing conflicts, misunderstanding, doubts or going through adverse times. In fact, Dr Garbour Mate research shows, we carry our ancestors’ expressions in our DNA that we can experience as our own suffering/ dissatisfaction. We reincarnate certain behaviours, thought patterns, emotions, actions on a regular basis and many of these we do it on daily basis thus label as life sucks. In my world, I translate this cause of suffering into “Clarity”. Ask yourself the question are you willing to gain clarity to clean the suffering whenever you encounter it? 3. Cessation of Suffering (Prognosis) We play a major part in our difficulties; thus we are also the solution to our dissatisfaction. We may not be able to change the things that happen to us or what others do upon us but we can transform our responses. That means one can end suffering and that does not mean that you stop getting suffering in life. The father of evolution, Charles Darwin, summaries what hinders us from the cessation of suffering as: “It is our arrogance, our admiration of ourselves”. In my world I translate this cessation of suffering into “Conviction”, getting into a state of being free from doubt, the deep knowing there is a solution to suffering. Ask yourself the question are you willing to strengthen your conviction that suffering can end whenever you encounter it? 4. Walk The Path (Prescription) There is a solution to all suffering and the only way to discover it is by passing through it. Not conquer it, not fight, not crush but embrace it. That means to be in a state of compassion. A non-struggling, peaceful mind is a possibility when we bring compassion into our existence. Think about it why would Stanford University’s set up Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, there must be something extraordinarily amazing about compassion. Compassion is the key as it encompasses intelligence, conscious communication and emotional wisdom. In the teachings of the four noble truth and my world “walk the path “translates into “Compassion”, not apathy or sympathy or empathy. Compassion is the solution. Ask yourself the question are you willing to take the hand of compassion for yourself and others whenever you encounter suffering? As I laid in the ICU COVID ward experiencing “death is only a breath away” there was gratitude for each breath in, each breath out. By taking refuge in the four noble truths gave me the knowing and faith to rise and let go. As a leader for yourself and others remember the bigger picture is pointless, powerless and purposeless without the minuscule, minute and microscopic elements. Que sera, sera whatever will be, will be. Thank you. Peace be with you. Amor Fati. ROHIT BASSI — DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION THROUGH MINDFULNESS. RESULTING IN YOU BEING ABLE TO LEAD WITH COURAGE, CLARITY, CONVICTION & COMPASSION Experience of 25+ Years | Delivery in 21+ Countries | Best-Selling Author® Leadership Communication Speaker | Trainer | Executive Coach Phone: +971-(0)55–553–2275 Email: roi@roitalks.com Speaker Website: https://www.rohitbassi.com/ Training & Coaching Website: https://www.roitalks.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitbassi/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iaminlearning1

https://medium.com/@rohit-28877/a-breath-from-death-a-different-perspective-through-suffering-b5e65fe160f

['Rohit Bassi']

2021-04-25 09:27:32.644000+00:00

['Communication', 'Death And Dying', 'Leadership', 'Mindfulness', 'Life']

First of all, great article and easy read.

First of all, great article and easy read. This is a helpful reminder to evaluate your media and internet presence every once in a while. Honestly, I hate searching myself (mostly because I dislike any photos), but I realize it’s becoming best practice!

https://medium.com/@nickmarmolejo/first-of-all-great-article-and-easy-read-af470dc0be1

['Rice']

2020-12-08 20:27:02.103000+00:00

['Relationships', 'Fatherhood', 'Advice', 'Parenting']

Meet the team: Mike Balestrino

What do you focus on at B Capital? I spend the majority of my time working hand-in-hand with our incredible founders on a range of projects, from strategic to operational, to help grow their businesses. Tactically, this means getting “under the hood” to gain a first-person perspective of what’s really happening with the business to help them prioritize and execute on their strategic objectives. Beyond the direct engagement, I spend the remainder of my time helping grow our firm, which could mean advising on our growth strategy or looking for solutions to help us become more efficient. What attracted you to working at B Capital? At the onset, the first thing that attracted me to B Capital was how much progress the team had made in its first five years. From building a global firm to managing $1.5B AUM, it was clear that this was a team that both had a vision and executed on that vision. Beyond the growth, however, was the people. Each person I met was incredibly impressive in their own right yet had a curious humility that was very attractive. Now, having been part of the team for a while, it’s clear that we grow through one another, with each person pushing and educating his/her peers to help the collective get better. I haven’t seen this dynamic elsewhere in my career, and it’s a big reason why I was attracted to the firm. If you weren’t in this career, what would you be doing? As an avid sports fan, I’ve always imagined that I would end up working in some sports-related field. And while my aspirations to end up on a field ended years ago, I’d like to think I’d be trying to be the next “Brad Pitt in Moneyball.” My love for sports coupled with my inner nerd who’s obsessed with statistics and data tell me that if I weren’t in VC, I’d be somewhere in the sports business realm, ideally as a team general manager. What is most interesting or unique about working in venture capital? The most interesting part of working in venture capital, and specifically growth investing, is seeing first-hand how decisions impact the growth trajectory of a business. Having come from the F500 world, it wasn’t always clear how one’s work impacted the business, but the venture space provides a nearly real-time assessment of how decisions shape the business in the near and long-term. What is something someone might not know about non-investing roles at a VC firm? Something that surprised me about working in VC, outside the traditional investor role, is the amount of exposure you can get when experiencing growing companies’ inner workings. The ability and opportunity to see the mechanics of the business, coupled with the variety of the work, is extremely rare. Consequently, the learning is off the charts as you’ll be talking growth strategy with one company in LATAM one day and operational efficiency with a completely different company in the US the next. Connect with Mike on LinkedIn today! Recommended Reads: Meet the team: Nick Thompson, Head of Technology at B Capital Group Meet the investor: Shwan Kazzaz Meet the investor: Aditi Sharma

https://medium.com/b-capital-group/meet-the-team-mike-balestrino-b4d0bfb07281

['Brianna Jo Thompson']

2021-03-04 17:13:12.901000+00:00

['Venture Capital', 'VC', 'Operations', 'Startup', 'Investing']

When Setting Top-line Goals, 3 Perspectives are Better than One

Tis the season…not for jolliness…but for annual forecasting. Countless companies spend the month of December frantically closing out the current year, while scrambling to codify goals for the fiscal year ahead. So, for many small-scale SaaS businesses, this is decidedly NOT the most wonderful time of the year. Rather, when it comes to financial planning and analysis, it can be a time of feast or famine. Famine in this case is represented by simply not doing any intentional planning. A surprising number of small software companies don’t share fiscal goals with their teams, or even set formalized financial plans whatsoever. Feasting, in this case, occurs when a leader’s eyes are bigger than their mouth, resulting in an unreasonably aggressive growth plan based on exuberant hope more than rational thought. Perhaps this is less like feasting, and more like binge-eating junk-food (in that it is based on impulse, offers a temporary jolt, induces sickness soon after, and is terrible health-wise in the long-term). But neither of these extremes is necessary; and a thoughtful plan does not require gobs of bureaucratic process (one of the primary excuses offered for this feast / famine dynamic). Rather, we’ve seen that the simple concept of triangulation can efficiently produce the building blocks of an informed financial plan that balances multiple perspectives on the business. Here’s how it works: First thing first, this approach focuses overwhelmingly on setting the top-line goals for a business. The long-pole in the financial planning tent is this top-line goal (also known variously as: revenue, bookings, ARR, and sales). This is because sales performance ultimately dictates the money flowing into the business and highly influences the expense levels the business can sustain. Note: admittedly this is more nuanced in businesses with outside funding, but eventually holds true as they mature toward cash-flow breakeven. Bookings are also the most highly variable / least-controllable aspect of any plan, as discussed in this prior post; and getting the top-line goal wrong can unleash a cascade of pain throughout the entire business. For these reasons, setting an appropriate top-line goal is the critical step in developing a sound plan. The reality is, that this goal must be ambitious enough to please financial stakeholders, realistic enough for the team to execute with confidence, and based credibly on relevant historical data (while also not being shackled to the past). A tall order, indeed. To ultimately arrive at an appropriate goal, we like to start by pulling together three different top-line targets based on three distinct views into the business. Later we’ll compare / contrast / compromise across the three resulting targets, hence the term triangulation. The three perspectives in play are (1) top-down, (2) left-to-right, and (3) bottoms-up, as follows: (1) Top-Down: Exactly as it sounds, this perspective typically comes from someone in a senior role (e.g. founder, CEO, board member, investor) taking a birds-eye view into the business to determine a revenue growth goal. Unsurprisingly these tend to be quite ambitious and generally unencumbered by on-the-ground realities that could stand in the way of goal-attainment. These are also often oriented to support an impressive growth narrative (“We’re going to grow 100% next year!”) or establish an inspirational milestone (“$10M in ARR or bust!”). The benefit of top-down goals is that they tend to be “stretch goals;” the downside is that they can induce some unsustainable “growth-at-all-costs” behavior or set the business up for failure. Almost always, the top-down goal is the highest of our triad of targets. (2) Left-to-Right: This is a forecast based on historical performance and trends, whereby past years (on the left side of the spreadsheet) inform future years (on the right). Such objectives typically reflect the perspective of someone in a Financial Planning & Analysis role and are based on some reasonable application of past performance to predict future results (“We’ve grown year-over-year bookings 25% on average for the last 3 years…so we’ll forecast 25% growth next year”). Anyone who has spent time in early-stage SaaS businesses will quickly spot the pros and cons of such an approach. Specifically, although past is prologue, these businesses are operating in extremely dynamic environments; and reliance on past data has only limited utility. History…only so helpful Generally speaking, Left-to-Right tends to be the middle-child in our family of goals — neither the aggressive hyper-achiever, nor the black-sheep slacker — just…meh. (Note: this last statement comes from a card-carrying middle-child). Bottoms-Up: This approach constructs a bookings goal from the bottom up and represents the perspective of the person / people responsible for driving day-to-day sales results (e.g. CRO, VP of Sales, VP of Marketing). This perspective starts from $0 on day 1 of a fiscal year and assumes “nothing happens until someone sells something.” More mechanically, it establishes a bookings forecast from its component parts by building up a notional population of representative sales deals across a time-period. This approach tends to incorporate multiple inputs into detailed models, including: · Number of fully-ramped sales reps · New quota-bearing hires / time to ramp new hires · # of deals a fully-ramped rep can close per month / quarter / year · Average contract value (ACV) per deal · Conversion rates from sales opportunity-to-close · Conversion rates from lead-to-opportunity · Conversion rates of website visitors-to-leads · Conference, webinar, user group attendance…related conversion rates…and much more The resulting forecast from such an approach tends to be quite conservative, sometimes prompting accusations of sandbagging by its advocates. Almost without fail, this will be the lowest among our trio of prospective top-line targets. Triangulating: Simply quantifying each of these different perspectives is certainly a step toward a more inclusive and informed top-line goal. But a bit more work at this point is what yields the real progress. The truth is that the three different methodologies produce widely divergent results, both in terms of target figures and the rigor used to arrive at them, so compromise is necessary. Graphically, these could be plotted like this. Top-line goal-setting Each goal has its own shortcomings, and none of these goals tends to unilaterally offer an ideal bookings target. Without further discussion, these different data points simply shine a light on the misalignment that commonly exists across the various stakeholders. This can look like this: Top-line goal-setting But these inputs also provide the forum for an interactive discussion around the drivers of each. Optimally, organizations can move beyond this zone of Uninformed Conflict simply by asking pointed questions of each goal: · Top Down: What are the specific results needed to support a compelling growth story? What organizational changes are necessary to support attainment of those results? · Left-to-Right: What conditions are consistent with the past, such that a continuation of past performance is a reasonable expectation? What market / operating changes might raise performance expectations (product improvements / upsell offerings, better sales training, improved marketing collateral) or lower them (increased competitive intensity, unpopular compensation plan, additional funding for a key competitor)? · Bottoms Up: What assumptions in the models are overly pessimistic? What are the key variables that drive the most performance improvement; and what can be done to with surgical focus to relax constraints on those variables? This exercise forces people out of their default perspectives and drives productive (albeit, often uncomfortable) discussions. Inevitably, this drives more informed goal-setting and better alignment across the business…and quite frequently, it helps move the top-line goal up and to the right in our now-familiar graph: Top-line goal-setting Conclusion: The top-line goal is critical to annual planning efforts. To be fit for purpose, it must balance ambition, credibility, and executability. Only by clearing this bar will it fully serve its multifaceted purpose: to please optimistic financial stakeholders, satisfy the inherent skepticism of internal number-crunchers, and pass the “red-face test” among the troops. Admittedly, this is only a start; and many other components are needed to really nail annual planning. But getting this goal right is a great foundation around which to build; and triangulating across these multiple perspectives is a simple way to inform this process. Plus, doing so is a good way to make the New Year something really worthy of celebration by all stakeholders.

https://medium.com/made-not-found/when-setting-top-line-goals-3-perspectives-are-better-than-one-dae197aebc7c

['Todd Gibby']

2020-12-17 18:51:41.598000+00:00

['Growth Strategy', 'SaaS', 'Business Strategy']

The Unheard Benefits of Working 9–5

Many Millenials and Gen Z hate 9–5 jobs. They say it’s selling your soul to big, nasty corporations. They say they have a personality unlike everyone else; they’re hipsters. Rejecting 9–5 jobs almost makes you cool and rebellious. I was once one of these people. One of the first books I read as a university student was Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Workweek where the subtitle is “Escape 9–5, live anywhere, and join the new rich”. Amusing and seductive, I was indoctrinated into believing this was the most important way to live. In the book, Tim explains how someone can live as a digital nomad; one of the tips is to earn in US dollars online and spend in a less valuable currency like Mexican pesos. You can make money and travel at the same time: you’re responsible for your own existence like an adult, but you’re also having fun like a child; best of both worlds. Then there are people like Gary Vee, who tells everyone to hustle. Hustle, hustle, hustle. Chase your dreams. Build your empire. Live your ambitions. This kind of advice is everywhere. These entrepreneurs make their journey to success sound like a brilliant myth; struggling against their friends and parents, suffering from their own ambition, and rising in spite of everything else against them. I still love Tim Ferriss and Gary Vee; it feels unfair I called them out, but they’re who came to mind because they had an influence on me. As I went on my own journey, I decided to try 9–5 anyway. I‘d never tried it and it was an easy option. I discovered something I didn’t expect; it’s almost taboo to say, but I love my 9–5 job. There are benefits to a 9–5 job people don’t often talk about. You have less responsibility People often say that working for someone else is building someone else’s dream; other people have said it’s like living for someone else. Whatever the message is, the idea is that you’re not living for yourself. While you’re working for someone else’s dream, you’re getting paid. You’re also probably learning, making friends, having fun, and everything else you get from working with a lot of other people. We often like to think the people at the top have the freedom to do whatever they want. We imagine them to sit in their comfortable chairs and smoke cigars, but they’re really in a position of overwhelming responsibility; they’re responsible for the business, and if they own shares, the business is responsible for their wealth. As a salaried employee, you take no risk. You get paid whether the business succeeds or fails. If the business fails, nothing happens to you except you might have to find another job, but shareholders suffer emotional and financial losses; they take a hit to their ego and a hit to their bank account. When you lack authority, people don’t ask you difficult questions. You don’t have to make the decisions that’ll change the lives of possibly billions of people. Every time Mark Zuckerberg makes a decision, it impacts the 2.7 billion people who use Facebook. Being an employee means you don’t have to worry about any of that. I’ve been in a fortunate position to have never worried about work. I love my job and I’m a conscientious worker with the 8 hours I have every day, but I’m not forced to work until veins are popping out of my head. There’ve been times I’ve become attached to the project and really want it to succeed, but if I were honest, I wouldn’t lose sleep if it failed. I can’t imagine entrepreneurs having the luxury of relaxation. Companies usually treat you well I can’t speak for every corporate experience. I’m sure there are companies that treat their employees terribly. Those companies won’t survive. Companies don’t just compete for talent with money, but also with their environment. I work at a tech company that isn’t even FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) and the perks are already amazing. I love the food, snacks, values, culture, friends, diversity, teamwork, money, autonomy, flexibility, mission, workplace activities, transparency, dedication to our customers, empowerment of employees, empathy, openness of leaders, standing desks, care for the environment, laptops, tools, clean bathrooms, company events, development opportunities… The ultimate goal of a company (at least a for-profit public company) is to make money for its shareholders, but to achieve that goal, they have to focus on culture. A good culture not only increases employee productivity but decreases employee exit. Employee exit is expensive; to hire a new person, you pay someone to look at resumes, set up interviews, interview people, make a decision on who to hire, integrate them with a new team, onboard them, etc. Keeping you happy aligns with your company’s main goal of increasing profits — a win-win situation. My company treats its employees well. I’m actually worried about how I’m ever going to find a place better; they’ve put golden handcuffs on me.

https://medium.com/the-post-grad-survival-guide/the-unheard-benefits-of-working-9-5-1e8d4b3917fc

['Bryan Ye']

2019-09-12 11:31:01.307000+00:00

['Work', 'Careers', 'Entrepreneurship', 'College', 'Career Advice']

Analyzing and Visualizing the 1st Presidential Debate

Sign up for The Variable By Towards Data Science Every Thursday, the Variable delivers the very best of Towards Data Science: from hands-on tutorials and cutting-edge research to original features you don't want to miss. Take a look.

https://towardsdatascience.com/analyzing-and-visualizing-the-1st-presidential-debate-6bb10c4c1119

['Tds Editors']

2020-10-05 13:17:12.959000+00:00

['Office Hours', 'The Daily Pick']

The Immersive Environment Design of Captain Spirit

GAMES UX The Immersive Environment Design of Captain Spirit Creating immersion through meaningful environmental interaction This article is available as a video: watch it here! The environment of a game is what surrounds the player’s character and is a stage to the designed narrative and/or gameplay experiences that will emerge to the player. So a game’s environment should not just be about creating some physical space for the character to exist in; instead, it should be more about creating a believable environment that justifies and further empowers the narrative experience the game strives to convey. And it doesn’t take a thorough game-analyzer to make out a merely playable environment from an immersive and lively one. Even a casual gamer can make out that difference; because an immersive environment is felt. And it feels real and meaningful. So, how do you do this? How do you create an immersive environment and not just a lifeless backdrop? (Left) Mortal Kombat 3 — Behind the Scenes. (Right) Sonya in Mortal Kombat 3. Source: NeoGamer. Immersion through interaction There may be a thousand ways to create an immersive environment; but in this article, I want to specifically point out how the prologue to Life is Strange 2: The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit managed to create an immersive experience that really made me feel like I was in the room with the characters. And Captain Spirit achieved the experience through relevant instances of meaningful interaction with its environmental setting. The whole game is based on this mechanic of nonlinear interactive exploration to also uncover the narrative backstory of the small family and learn about their sad and affecting history. Now, I know that the whole Life is Strange series is based on this exploratory mechanic, but Captain Spirit just hits differently. And maybe it is that way because every choice of interaction is relevant, meaningful, and not overdone. Developers want to enclose the player in a meaningfully interactive environment but not exhaust them with over-abundant instances of non-relevant interaction. (Left) Relevant Interactions in Captain Spirit. (Right) Mimicking Excessive Choice of Interactions. Excessive choice of interactions will only clutter the screen and quickly exhaust the player from the idea of interacting with the environment. Environmental storytelling and interaction Stories can also be told through the environment itself without any interaction between it and the player. Environmental storytelling is when you convey deeper stories through narratively designed environments and specific placement of its inhabiting objects and characters. But I also think interaction takes it a step further. Not an interaction that merely states the obvious that the player has already figured out but one that further rewards the player’s attention to detail with additional relevant information. Chris looking at the bottle of perfume in his Dad’s room. For example, when you walk into the Dad’s room in Captain Spirit and notice the bottle of perfume, had there been no option to interact, there is only so much you can assume about it. Maybe you won’t even pay much attention. But when you do interact with it, this is what Chris says: “I am glad Dad kept Mom’s perfume…Smells just like her…” You learn it is the character’s mother’s bottle of perfume that his dad has still kept after his mother’s passing. The dialogue also reminds us of the sensory feeling of having the perfume there, especially one that smells of someone you love but isn’t around anymore. The interaction makes the existence of the perfume bottle more personal and relatable. Now, simply adding interaction to any environment and its objects will not do the trick. Interacting with the perfume bottle creates a personal feeling because it is meaningful to the narrative experience. And that is the key-word here — meaningful. Meaningful environmental objects The environment of Captain Spirit feels immersive because there is meaning to almost everything that exists in it. Most objects don’t exist only because they look cool or are expected to exist, but because they add to the narrative experience and are born out of it in the first place. Photos and trophies from the Dad’s early life placed on the shelf in the living room. Take, for example, the trophies and the photos on the shelf. They don’t exist only to fill up space and make it look like an occupied shelf, but they really exist as a memory of what the Dad’s life was like once; chasing his dreams and building up to bigger ones. The meaning in these trophies and photos get deeper when you see what is left of this once-motivated man who was never able to achieve the biggest dreams. He is left defeated, watching a basketball game, chain-smoking and drinking heavily to battle the reality of having lost a wife he really loved. Charles, the Dad, sitting by the sofa. The design of Captain Spirit’s environment and the placement of the objects inhabiting it are already done meaningfully, and the touch of interaction only adds to the experience. And you’d be wrong to believe only story-driven games might want to aim for an immersive environment because a genre as opposite as fighting games has evolved to embrace this trend. Developers of fighting games have found that a touch of interaction adds life to their environments and keeps them away from only feeling like backdrops behind the stage. Environment interactions in Mortal Kombat 11. Another thing that adds to the immersion of Captain Spirit’s environment is the minor choices of interaction. Like the option to shoot the dad with a toy gun, do the dishes, the laundry, play with the scattered toys, or even make instant pasta for the dad. You might choose to interact with a few of these choices and not with the others. Minor interaction choices in The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. And while these minor choices don’t really affect the game much, they do create a sense of freedom and realism. They make the experience even more immersive when you choose to do something and another NPC acknowledges your act of choice. Just like the freedom you have to interact with most of the things in your surroundings, it’s there if you choose to utilize it. Also, do not overlook the environment design of Captain Spirit that is very believable, to begin with. Finding car keys under the sofa, the indoor drying rack, or hanging beside the kitchen door, makes sense in the game world and adds a feeling of authenticity. Captain Spirit’s believable object placement/environment set-up. This only goes on to validate that the goal of object placement should not just be to merely fill up the environment, but also make sense within the context of the world. If the environment is not believable or convincing enough, the player will surely pick up on the awkwardness. Chances are you might have not played this game and might think that the environment looks pretty ordinary and usual. But merely looking at a game’s environment is never enough to judge or understand it. It is only by playing and experiencing it that you get a feel for it, and learn how deep or shallow the environment really is. Now, I understand that not every game can be, or should be, rendered interactively explorative, and I’m not saying that interaction is the only way for an immersive environment to be achieved. But Captain Spirit surely managed to create an immersive environment through interactive exploration, not to mention the good work of environment design that it builds upon. It is worth pointing out that the feeling of immersion is not something that exists independently, and cannot be worked upon directly. It is just something that comes to be when many minor aspects of an overall good design work together to achieve it. The feeling itself is invisible but is surely felt loud and clear when done correctly.

https://medium.com/super-jump/the-immersive-environment-design-of-captain-spirit-97caeb3b16f5

['Tushar Deb.']

2020-12-24 10:38:56.574000+00:00

['Game Design', 'Gaming', 'Videogames', 'Storytelling', 'Game Development']

Formal Truth and Logic

Combinations with Connectives and Quantifiers Usually an argumentation or proof requires a qualification, under which conditions it holds, how individual statements relate to one another, or how a statement generalizes over a group of sufficiently likewise cases. A statement can be qualified or tied to a condition through a combination of logical connectives. Quantifiers limit or express the general validity of a statement. Logical Connectives Logical connectives are operators that always transform their expression to a truth value. Classical examples for connectives from our everyday language are AND, OR and NOT. Their meaning slightly differs from our intuitive understanding of the word. That is due to their narrower definition, removing all ambiguity in interpreting a mathematical logical sentence. Lets go through the definition of these logical connectives. This list is not exhaustive, but any other logical operation can be expressed through a combination of the following elementary connectives. Truth tables, as you will see, are a convenient way to gain insight into how logical connectives operate on their operands. Unary Operators The only unary logical connective in this list is the negation. Let A be a statement, which can be attributed the property of being either true or false: Definition: The negation ¬A of A is the statement, which is false, if A is true, and which is true, if A is false ([1], p. 18). That is the negation, or logical NOT, inverts the truth value of the statement. That means, a true statement negated evaluates to false, and a false statement negated evaluates to true. Expressed in a truth table, it looks like this: Other unary connectives not further explained here, are the constant expressions logical true and logical false, and the logical identity. Binary Operators The binary logical connectives, i.e. operators which require two arguments, are the conjunction, the disjunction, the implication, and the equivalence. The conjunction is one of the most fundamental connectives. The natural language’s cousin of the logical conjunction is the grammatical and, which serves to form a compound sentences. Hence, the conjunction is also known as logical AND. Be A and B respectively either true or false statements: Definition: The conjunction A ∧ B of A and B is the statement, which is true exactly if both A and B are true ([1], p. 18). The conjunction evaluates to true if and only if all of its operands are true. Otherwise, it results in a value of false. Similar to how the conjunction represents a logical AND expression, the disjunction represents logical OR. Let A and B be statements: Definition: The disjunction A ∨ B of A and B is the statement, which is true exactly if at least one of the statements A or B is true ([1], p. 19). Conversely to the conjunction, the disjunction evaluates to false, if and only if all of its operands are false. In any other case it produces a value of true. Hence, the logical OR is more permissive than the logical AND in that it only requires one of its arguments to be true, for the entire statement to become true. The implication is possibly the one connective in this list, which is the easiest misleading. Maybe that is due a conception that an implication describes a causal relationship. Let A and B here be statements again: Definition: The implication A → B of A and B is the statement, which is false exactly if A is true and B is false ([1], p. 19). That means, an implication will always produce a value of true, unless its first operand is true and its second operand is false. It may seem like an arbitrarily specific condition. But put in different words: You can never imply something wrong from a correct statement. It is important to understand, that an implication is a directional statement and that an implication does not automatically determine that the reverse statement B → A were also true or false, respectively. What colloquially is often described as an implication, actually is determined via equivalence. Be A and B both statements again: Definition: The equivalence A ↔ B of A and B is the statement, which is true exactly if A and B are both true, or if A and B are both false ([1], p. 20). An equivalence still does not establish a causal relationship between its operands. So, given again the example from the beginning: If 12 ≥ 9, then 6 ≥ 7 and 2 × 2 = 4. We can replace the individual statements with variables, to make it easier: “If A, then B and C”, where A is 12 ≥ 9, B is 6 ≥ 7, and C is 2 × 2 = 4. Written in proper formal notation: (1) A → (B ∧ C) This statement is composed of an implication and a conjunction. The implication is true, as long as (B ∧ C) is not false, while A is true. If A were false, then statement (1) would always be true. (B ∧ C) is true, exactly when both B and C are true. We evaluate the statements A, B, and C as follows: A: 12 ≥ 9 is true B: 6 ≥ 7 is false C: 2 × 2 = 4 is true Inserting these back into statement (1): (2) true → (false ∧ true) The parentheses (false ∧ true) evaluate to false: (3) true → false As this is the only scenario, for which a logical implication returns false, our entire statement is false. We did not look once at the whether “if A, then B” is a sensible statement from a causal point of view. Consider, if we had changed the above statement to: If 12 ≥ 9, then 7 ≥ 7 and 2 × 2 = 4. According to the rules that we have established further above, this statement is in fact true, even though none of the individual statements are conditionally related to each other. Remember when I said, the statement were “false, but probably not for entirely obvious reasons”? Logical Quantifiers From a logical perspective, there are only three quantities that are essential to describe the realm of validity of a statement: None, at least one and all. The prior two are in fact two instances of the same property. None is synonymous with not one. Why is it not that none and all are opposites to each other instead? If you negate all to not all, it still leaves room for a quantity of perhaps some to which a given statement may apply. Negating at least one to not at least one negates the existence of the property in question definitively, no matter to how few elements at least one has referred to in the first place. That means effectively, there are two fundamental quantities and their corresponding negations. Existential Quantifier The existence of something is mathematically expressed through the symbol ∃. How is this relevant for logical statements? Well, sometimes we would like to express, that there exists definitely at least one instance of something with a specific property. Or other times we would like to limit a statement by saying “If there is at least one thing with property X…”. Definition: Existential quantifier ∃: The symbol ∃ is verbally expressed through “There exists” ([1], p. 23). Mentally you can always insert the words “at least one” to make the meaning of this phrase unambiguous for even non-Mathematicians. As mentioned, quantifiers are usually used in the context of “There exists a x with property X”: (4) ∃x: X For example as in this phrase: (5) ∃n ∈ ℕ: n = 1 It reads: “There exists at least one natural number n, which is equal to 1.” Universal Quantifier Distinct from the mere existence of an element with a property, is the ubiquity of a property in a group of certain elements. Definition: Universal quantifier ∀: The symbol ∀ is verbally expressed through “For all” ([1], p. 23). The universal quantifier complements the above case of the existential quantifier, as: (6) ∀x: X Which reads: “For all x with property X”. Applied to the example with natural numbers: (7) ∀n ∈ ℕ: n > 0 It means: “For all natural numbers n, the relation n > 0 holds true”. An example for a true statement using both existential and universal quantifiers would be: (8) ∃n ∈ ℕ: (∀m ∈ ℕ: n ≤ m) (cf. [1], p. 24) Verbally expressed it reads: “There is a natural number n, for which the relation n ≤ m holds for any natural number m.” The statement would not be true, if at least m were allowed to also be a negative number. Negating Quantifiers We touched the subject when introducing the concept of logical quantifiers. The opposite of “All x have property X” is not “No x have property X”. The foolproof way to get to the logically correct negation of a logical statement is to invert the quantifier from existential to universal quantifier or vice-versa and then to negate the adherent statement. A statement, such as ∃x: X would negate to ∀x: ¬X. Negating the statement ∀x: X yields ∃x: ¬X. In other words: The negation of “There is a x with X” is “¬X holds for all x”. The negation of the statement “X holds for all x” is “There is at least one x for which ¬X holds”. Lets apply our knowledge to negate statement (8): The statement is composed of three individual statements A, B, and C. Unnesting the statements will make the procedure clearer: (9) A: ∃n ∈ ℕ: B (10) B: ∀m ∈ ℕ: C (11) C: n ≤ m Negating A means to invert the existential quantifier to a universal quantifier and then negating statement B. Therefore: (12) ¬A: ∀n ∈ ℕ: ¬B Hence, we naturally also have to negate B by flipping the universal quantifier and negating C: (13) ¬B: ∃m ∈ ℕ: ¬C What is the negation of the statement n ≤ m? We have not covered that topic at this point, because it is actually not a question that formal logic would be meant to answer, but rather set theory. The complement of a set specified by a property is the set of all elements, to which this property does not apply. (14) ¬C: n > m Putting it all together, we come to the negation of the entire statement: (15) ∀n ∈ ℕ: (∃m ∈ ℕ: n > m) The statement “There is a natural number n, for which the relation n ≤ m holds for any natural number m” negates to “For all natural numbers n, there is a natural number m for which the relation n > m holds”. Incidentally — and unsurprisingly — this statement is not true, as it produces a contradiction for the very possible scenario in which n = 1. Conclusion Congratulations for making it this far! Feel free to have yourself a cookie — you earned it. Together we just laid out our basic tool set to understand how to approach mathematical reasoning, and we have everything now that we need, to move on to mathematical induction, discussing proofs and hard evidence. In the next article, we will question unquestionable truths. We will discuss proof techniques. And ultimately, we will prevail. Stay tuned! References [1] L. Unger: Mathematische Grundlagen: Grundlagen. Kurseinheit 1, Volume 1, FernUniversität, Hagen, 2019.

https://medium.com/cantors-paradise/formal-truth-and-logic-c55e1c57c9d9

['Michael Prantl']

2020-09-22 09:33:53.864000+00:00

['Formal Logic', 'Mathematics', 'Programming', 'Computer Science', 'Mathematical Logic']

14 December 2020

Sometimes you will taste the bitterness and sourness of a glass of milk if you keep it too long

https://medium.com/@bittersourmilks/14-december-2020-d329543c6652

['Someone']

2020-12-14 13:19:03.682000+00:00

['College Life', 'Friends', 'Diary', 'Problems', 'Parents']

She — A Memoir.. A disappointment in sheep’s clothing.

A disappointment in sheep’s clothing. She lives alone so she can barely wake up on time, yet at all. No one brews the coffee for her. No one holds the door for her. When she sits her feet tap. Her hands shake. Eyes muster up the courage just to split. December is usually rainy here. She is not okay but she does not have to hide it — she lives alone. She eats alone. She cries alone. And if she laughed she would laugh alone too. Can it really be hiding when no one is looking? She opens the windows as her tough action for the day. She smiles as she sits in the other room. Disgusted by her self pity as it grabs her by the throat. She knows she is the reason she cannot breathe. One day, maybe tomorrow, breath will be exhilarating. Maybe tomorrow she will use more verbs. But for now, we is scary. So she will buy a Keurig and automatic doors to stay safe.

https://medium.com/@amyemma/she-a-memoir-a9c86a9f2543

['Amy Emma']

2020-12-22 21:55:41.947000+00:00

['Fear', 'Commitment', 'Aloneness', 'Honesty', 'She']

Automating the data movement from GCS to BQ using Data Transfer Service

In this example, Let us assume we have a cloud storage bucket with URI gs://bucket-dts-bq/ which has several csv files and there’s a destination table created in BigQuery as dtstransfer.salesdata. To Set up a cloud transfer from console: Navigate to BigQuery page, and click Data Transfers under the left pane. At this stage I assume you have already enabled APIs and Services mentioned above. Create A Transfer from BQ data transfer screen On create transfer page, you would need to make selections required for your data transfer. Select the source type, which in our case is Google cloud storage. You can choose from a variety of sources, or even select third party transfers from Google Cloud Marketplace. Give a name to your transfer job under Transfer config name. You would need to choose a schedule option, which enables a trigger for the data load. You may choose to load data at any interval you want. By default, DTS allows Daily, Weekly and Monthly. For example, if you want to load data bi-weekly, you may choose Custom. You can even change the time zone depending upon where your data is loading from You can select the data source details such as destination table , cloud storage URI etc. Under Write preferences , you may choose to either append or mirror (Please note mirror overwrites the fresh batch of data every time the scheduler runs). , etc. Under , you may choose to either append or mirror (Please note mirror overwrites the fresh batch of data every time the scheduler runs). You can choose to delete the source file after each successful transfer by checking the option available. You may even choose to receive email notifications about the transfer run. Selecting data source and providing write preferences. Imagine there are problems with source data, or there is an outage at the source. You can initiate data backfills. This process is called Refreshing and you can initiate it from your data transfer console. Please note this option is enabled only for runtime parameterized transfer configurations. Parameterization is process of setting up runtime parameters in order to load data by run_time. Using runtime parameters, you can specify how you want to partition the destination table. You can easily retrieve files by matching a particular run_time. For example, salesdata$20210403 (Table_name$Run_Time) is the file loaded into partitioned BQ table from GCS at specific run time. To Set up a cloud transfer from CLI: The above assumptions apply here as well. #Set transfer configuration — Wild card (*) enables to read all files in GCS bucket instead of listing each file individually. #Make transfer configuration same way we create DTS from Console. bq mk --transfer_config -- data_source=google_cloud_storage \ -- target_dataset= dtstransfer -- display_name “gcs-bq-transfer” \ -- params=’{“data_path_template”:” gs://bucket-dts-bq/*.csv”, “destination_table_name_template”:”salesdata”, “file_format”:”CSV”,“max_bad_records”:”1", “skip_leading_rows”:”1", “delete_source_files”:”true”}’\ -- data_source=google_cloud_storage Points to remember when using DTS:

https://medium.com/@rspraneethkumar/automating-the-data-movement-from-gcs-using-data-transfer-service-e156b851a9bb

['Sp Kumar Rachumallu']

2021-03-04 12:03:21.795000+00:00

['Gcp', 'Data Transfer', 'Bigquery', 'Google Cloud Platform']

Cold Case of Jennifer Watkins Finally Solved After Two Decades

Cold Case of Jennifer Watkins Finally Solved After Two Decades Once again, genealogy has helped find a killer. Jennifer Watkins via people.com 23-year-old Jennifer Watkins was working at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs as a dietary aide when she went missing. On the 6th of November 1999, Jennifer didn’t pick up her children from her mother’s home, once her shift at the hospital ended. Her husband, Michael was concerned as it wasn’t like Jennifer to forget to pick her children up. Soon after, he called the police to report his wife missing. Two days later, Jennifer’s body was found under a set of stairs in the hospital. The area was under construction at the time and was empty of the bustling staff and patients who usually occupied the halls. The autopsy showed that Jennifer had been sexually assaulted and had died from blunt force trauma to her head. She had been bound and wrapped in plastic, but the killer had been careless. DNA, hair and semen samples were taken from Jennifer and the crime scene. Initially a suspect in the case, Michael was brought in for questioning numerous times during the investigation, but he was eventually ruled out and cooperated fully with the police. The investigation was textbook, and every enquiry was followed up appropriately, but the police ran out of suspects quickly and the case went cold. Until now. Last week, the Colorado Springs Police Department held a press conference, to announce that they had found Jennifer’s killer. Over the past few years, using the DNA left behind at the crime scene, CSPD and Parabon NanoLabs, who is based in Virginia, were able to create a profile of Jennifer’s killer. They created a composite of the suspect through the profile, which showed that the man had blue or green eyes, blond or light brown hair and had Northern European lineage. The composite sketch via Colorado Springs Police Department In August this year, a lead was identified using genealogy. 29-year-old Ricky Severt was an employee of the Memorial Hospital and had worked in the maintenance department for around a year. He was interviewed at the time of Jennifer’s murder but claimed he hadn’t seen her on the day of her disappearance. Ricky Severt via Oxygen.com Unfortunately, Severt was killed in a car crash in November 2001, just outside Colorado Springs. To ensure the police had the right person, DNA was collected from his family members to confirm that Severt was indeed Jennifer Watkins’ killer. “I am proud of all the Cold Case detectives throughout the last 21 years who have never stopped working for Ms. Watkins. Not for one moment did they ever lose sight of what was most important: Finding the truth for the Watkins’ family.” — Vince Niski, Colorado Springs Police Chief. The case is now closed but Jennifer’s family will never see justice served to her murderer. The Colorado Springs Police Department had 91 unsolved homicide cases. Now they have one less. “After all these years, we are grateful to finally give Jennifer Watkins’ family the answers they deserve.” — Vince Niski, Colorado Springs Police Chief. Parabon NanoLabs also helped solve the disappearance and murder of Jessica Baggen. Once again, a killer has been caught. Who will be next?

https://medium.com/the-true-crime-edition/cold-case-of-jennifer-watkins-finally-solved-after-two-decades-f0e806c7dbdb

['Josie Klakström']

2020-12-15 15:30:59.391000+00:00

['Cold Case', 'Genealogy', 'History', 'Short Read', 'True Crime']

Their Backs Against the Wall: Small-City School Districts Like Providence, RI, Reopen With Aging Buildings, Few Resources

By Asher Lehrer-Small Just over a year after a devastating report by Johns Hopkins University indicted Providence public schools for low academic standards and unsafe buildings, the district has launched a hybrid reopening model amid all the familiar worries of COVID-19 — ventilation, social distancing and testing. The 24,000-student district’s woes may be more high profile than most thanks to the Hopkins report, but with students and teachers back in their classrooms since Sept. 14, Providence now walks the same thin line as many other small and medium-sized public school systems. Should the district prioritize the academic and social well-being of its student population, which studies suggest may be disproportionately hurt by remote learning, or the physical health of students and staff by avoiding the hazard of facilities that have seen decades of neglect? The answer is Providence will somehow need to do both. “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that people feel safe, that their kids get an education,” Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green, who took charge of the district last year after a state takeover, told The 74. “We were already behind the 8-ball, we know that.” Providence, like many of its small-city counterparts foraging for revenue streams even before the pandemic, will have to manage this difficult balance with limited funds. “Small-city school districts tend to have older facilities,” explained Andrew Van Alstyne, co-author of a 2018 report on resource gaps in small-city school districts. So as these districts try to adapt to the pandemic, “they’re doing this with their backs already against the wall.” The 2019 report from Johns Hopkins University researchers on Providence schools found that, “[the city’s buildings] are crumbling, there’s mold, there’s water coming into the building.” “We don’t need to be told in Providence that we’re struggling. We know we’re struggling,” said Providence high school teacher Maya Chavez. For many teachers, fixing Providence’s schools is a matter of equity. Eighty-four percent of the children the district serves come from low-income families, and 91 percent are students of color. If Providence schools fail to effectively mitigate the risks of the virus, it will be historically marginalized students who bear the brunt of the consequences. “If we don’t have the resources, then we need to demand that those resources are made available. We can’t just accept this idea that Providence kids are going to be less safe… and less healthy, and less cared for than kids in other districts,” said Chavez. Providence schools have undergone a partial reopening, thanks in part to statewide enthusiasm for in-person learning spearheaded by Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo. Elementary students are back for full in-person learning, while middle school students and high school freshmen alternate between days of in-person and remote instruction. Most other high school grades are still primarily remote and districtwide 6,500 students opted out of in-person learning entirely, signing up for a remote option through the first semester. In response to the virus, Providence has upped its efforts to ensure safety. All summer, the district was working to update school facilities, and each of the district’s 38 buildings has a plan to maintain good air quality. For sanitation, the district now has 60 percent more custodians on staff than last year. “We know the buildings are aging…. But that does not make the buildings unsafe for COVID,” said Infante-Green. Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green speaks to the press after the first day of school Sept. 14, 2020. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) But some teachers aren’t so confident. Many buildings have windows that are painted shut and will not open (though the district said these classrooms have been equipped with air purifiers). Multiple teachers told The 74 that even during in-service training this September, their HVAC systems didn’t function properly. When the district released the results of its school-readiness walkthroughs before opening, a number of schools had essential safety measures marked incomplete. There are “major, major problems that are slipping through the cracks and going unnoticed,” said Chavez. Chavez and a number of other teachers have been outspoken in their efforts to call attention to these issues. They have taken to Twitter posting photos of safety hazards in their classrooms. A week before the district reopened, the Providence Teachers Union staged a protest on the statehouse lawn setting up a mock classroom to demonstrate just how cramped their buildings would be. ‘I miss learning’ Commissioner Infante-Green hopes staff will unite and direct their focus on the task ahead. “Right now we’re fighting a pandemic, and we should be working together to get our kids ready and to be front and center,” she said in a press conference after the Providence Teachers Union announced an appeal to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety for a districtwide facility review. Even during a pandemic, the district has implemented a number of measures to promote student success. It invested in a new K-8 curriculum, expanded teacher professional development, created algebra tutoring options for all 9th-graders, and rolled out college dual enrollment opportunities for high school seniors. This week, seniors also returned to their buildings for half days, in part to prepare for the college application process. Still, in majority-low-income districts like Providence, there’s reason to believe that the most important move of all may simply be the safe return to in-person learning. Initial research on the effects of COVID on education finds that remote learning disproportionately hurts low-income students, who may be less likely to have reliable internet, quality devices, and a room free from distractions. Many Providence students are grateful for the chance to be back in the classroom. “I miss learning,” said Ghana Alnmes, a sixth-grader who immigrated to Providence five years ago with her family as refugees displaced by conflict in Syria. Alnmes is a star student: even while honing her English language skills, she earned a spot in her middle school’s gifted and talented program. But even for her, remote learning was difficult this past spring. Ghana Alnmes, standing front, with her family (Asher Lehrer-Small) “If you’re online, you just open the computer, and press on the meeting, and just, like, go to sleep or something,” she said. Most of the kids “really don’t do anything or listen to the teacher.” When she herself was tired, she would record the classes to watch later, Alnmes was quick to note. She’s glad to now be back in-person at least part of the time. Michellette Brand, a high school senior in Providence, has also had difficulty with remote learning. She attends a charter school that opted to start the year fully online. During the school day, she regularly has to tend to her two younger brothers. “My house is actually really loud. So it’s very stressful to be in a house that’s very loud, that you can’t really control. Because I can’t focus on school work,” explained Brand. Michellette Brand’s school, a charter, opted for full remote learning to start this school year. Her home environment can make it tough to focus. (Courtesy of Michellette Brand) But even though she recognizes the benefits of in-person learning, Brand has been upset with the way Providence has gone about its reopening. She is a leader in the Providence Student Union, and has joined multiple conversations with district officials that were billed as opportunities for students to share their voices, including one meeting with the commissioner the week before schools reopened, but she doubts whether students were taken seriously. “It’s kind of like we’re just not being listened to,” said Brand. “It’s kind of like they host these meetings and conversations just so they can be like ‘Hey, look, we are listening to you.’ But it’s kind of just like for show. It’s not really for action.” Still, Brand hopes that the district will be real about the challenges and dangers of COVID. “This isn’t something that you can sugarcoat. It’s a serious issue,” said Brand. ‘Are they going to tell us if there’s COVID in the classroom?’ For Providence high school teacher Cindy Castellone, the dangers are personal and threatening. She is the primary caregiver for her husband who is recovering from heart surgery, and has additional health complications herself. She filed an application to teach in the district’s Virtual Learning Academy, a remote learning option for Providence students, but her request was denied. Later, she heard that some teachers had received Virtual Learning Academy placements, even though they preferred to teach in person. Via text, Providence Teachers Union President Maribeth Calabro confirmed what Castellone had heard, but explained that “folks are fearful of speaking out due to retaliation.” “The lack of transparency has been really quite horrifying,” said Castellone. The Providence Teachers Union held a rally opposing school reopening outside of the Rhode Island Department of Education building in Providence on Sept. 15, 2020. (Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Parents in the district share Castellone’s frustration. Toting signs reading ‘You Promised Us Transparency. This Isn’t It’ and ‘Tell Us the Ventilation Plan by Classroom,’ a group of parents representing 11 Providence schools protested the lack of communication in the lead-up to reopening. “They give us a note if there’s lice in our classroom. Are they gonna tell us if there’s COVID in our classroom? Are they gonna tell us if there’s COVID in the school?” said Jenna Karlin, one of the parents who took part in the protest. Herself the symbol of institutional power in the district, Commissioner Infante-Green empathized with their concerns. “There’s distrust in Providence, period. I think they have been let down for a very long time, so anything that anyone says, their first instinct is not to trust.” A few of the Providence parents who participated in a protest leading up to the district’s reopening (Jenna Karlin) But amid fear and skepticism, health experts are optimistic about the measures that Providence schools have put in place. “We’ve really set up a robust approach to addressing COVID in the K-12 school system,” said Dr. Philip Chan, associate professor of medicine at Brown University and medical director for the Rhode Island Department of Health. Any student or staff member who is symptomatic or has been exposed to someone who tested COVID positive will have access to free, rapid-results testing. “We are really leading the way in this,” said Chan. “I think we’ve set a model for other places.” As of Sept. 28, across Rhode Island, there had been 33 positive cases identified among in-person students and staff and 44 positive cases identified amongst virtual learners, said the state Department of Education. According to Chan, those results actually represent the successful interruption of the chain of transmission in schools. “That was what the system was designed to do,” he said. But as strong as Providence’s safety measures may be, the task ahead for the district will be anything but easy. Notwithstanding the many uncertainties and even with district critics, there is still a shared sense of purpose and commitment to the city’s students. Karlin, the parent of two elementary students, has confidence in the school environment her children enter each day. “The leadership of the school, the teachers, the aids, right, I think everyone there is really excited to see them and will give them… a warm and caring and steady environment,” she said. High school teacher Chavez, while demanding changes for her students, knows that the path forward will take work on all sides. “I’m not here to call Providence out, I’m here to call Providence in.” Visit the74million.org/pandemic for more news and analysis about the pandemic’s effect on schools, students, educators and families. Sign up for The 74’s daily morning newsletter.

https://the74million.medium.com/their-backs-against-the-wall-small-city-school-districts-like-providence-ri-reopen-with-aging-5141fe98cd3

[]

2020-09-30 17:34:47.779000+00:00

['Providence', 'Coronavirus', 'Pandemic', 'Rhode Island', 'Education']

Clarity for Teachers: Day 32

‘All the tension you feel comes from being unclear. No one else is to blame.’ ‘Who are you arguing with?’ Anna will say to me. The fingers of my left hand are moving, tracing a little circle in the air, a wheel rolling along. This is a tell: it means I’m off in my head, rehearsing an argument over something that’s got to me. It’s been a while now, but in the first years that we lived together, she’d catch me like this often enough for it to become a joke. All the tension you feel comes from being unclear. Really, all of it? No one else is to blame. Seriously, don’t I get to blame anyone else, even a little bit? I think of the old cartoon: the voice off calling, ‘Are you coming to bed?’, and the reply, ‘I can’t, this is important. Someone is wrong on the internet!’ It’s so satisfying to be right — factually, morally, preferably both at once. Doesn’t it feel good having someone to blame? It’s like having a teddy bear, or a comfort blanket. Do you ever catch yourself staging an argument in your head, protesting your innocence, insisting on your justification? (No? Maybe it’s just me, then…) And the worst thing is, it’s an unspoken accusation you’re protesting against and it’s coming from someone close to you — except that then you catch yourself, and you realise, the accusation is unspoken because it lives in your head, where you’ve put it into the mouth of someone you love, or into the thoughts you imagine them having. You’re arguing with your own sense of guilt, and probably being a nightmare to the other person while you’re at it. One of the weird gifts of parenthood, I’ve found, is the way it wakes body memories of earliest childhood. When my son was still a baby, I’d feel the waves of anger and indignation when he got upset, the way the wails and the sobs would rise and fall and rise again, and I’d find myself vividly remembering how it was to be four or five years old, I guess, and to get so angry I had to be sent to my room. How the anger and the tears would ebb and then surge again, as I let myself ride another crest of self-righteous indignation, replaying the drama one more time, not quite ready to let it go. There’s something demonic about drama. It possesses us, and our voices change, our eyes widen, our fingers start tracing invisible patterns in the air. I’m not describing some distant memory of my younger self here, either. This is not about how things were when I was five, or twenty-five. The last time I got properly caught on a wave of drama was last week. People get hooked on drama, on being right and knowing who’s to blame, and there are days when I’ll take the bait. But I’m lucky these days to have friends and teachers who will help me catch myself before I get carried away, before the tension I’m feeling carries through into actions and consequences, before I take it out on anyone else. They’ll say things along the lines of what it says on this card. It’s a bitch, this card. It spoils the party, the drama party in my chest, where everyone’s wearing a mask, and under all the masks there’s only me. And at that point, all that’s left to do is laugh — at myself, with my friends, at the joke it took me long enough to get. Västerås, 17 April, 2020

https://medium.com/how-to-be-clear/clarity-for-teachers-day-32-876f88bff02e

['Dougald Hine']

2020-04-17 07:42:29.973000+00:00

['Clarity', 'Emotions', 'Advice', 'Drama', 'Arguing']

Dunnit — A Minimalist Take On The To-Do List Apps

The app let’s you create a “have-done” list that motivates productivity & good habit formation. What is Dunnit? A productivity app for creating motivating and rewarding have-done lists for building good habits. It’s one of the best to do list apps for you to increase your productivity, track your progress and motivate action. Standout Features: Easy to use and user-friendly Motivating and rewarding have-done lists Build good habits and increase productivity Add tasks, chores, and goals on your daily lists Tick off the things you complete Completed items appear brighter on the list Add point scores to each goal Scores rise as you get things done Compare productivity points each day Track your progress Stress-free way to motivate action Uniqueness: High Usefulness: High Potential of going viral: Medium IMPORTANT INFO Compatibility: IOS 9.0 or later Requires: Android 4.4 and up Developer: Pareto Applications Official Website: Dunnit App Store Download Link: Dunnit Google Play Download Link: Dunnit

https://medium.com/@hightechholic/dunnit-a-minimalist-take-on-the-to-do-list-apps-bac404a71bda

['Tech News']

2020-12-25 18:36:50.002000+00:00

['To Do List', 'Apps', 'Habits', 'Lifestyle', 'Productivity']

A practical approach to queering design

Queer design is collective Although empathy has been packaged up as a neat little Design Thinking™ books, workshops, and proprietary consulting models, the queer designers I know have a lifetime of experience in empathy on even the most skilled sprint facilitator. A lot of queer designers I’ve talked to feel they are able to more fully put themselves in others’ shoes because of how much time they’ve spent pretending to be someone else. We’ve turned a survival mechanism of being able to move through spaces that aren’t for us into a professional adaptation. And we bring that outsider perspective with us when we enter the field. In design today, people on the outside are considered edge cases and most large organizations don’t design for them. But as Eric Meyer says, “When you say ‘edge case’, you’re really just defining the limits of what you care about.” A lot of queer designers I’ve talked to feel they are able to more fully put themselves in others’ shoes because of how much time they’ve spent pretending to be someone else. So it’s not enough to bring outsider perspectives into the design process, we need to bring in people currently relegated to the edges of our practice and actually center them in our work. One way to do that is having diverse teams. Studies have shown that diversity leads to increased productivity and innovation, although the queerer the design industry becomes, the less we should need to rely on business metrics to argue for what’s right. We also have to expand our definition of a design to people who aren’t traditionally included in it and embracing a spirit of co-design. We need to enroll our “edge cases” as our partners in the design process to create work that serves them as well as it does everyone else. We should do this not because products that accommodate users at the margins do a better job at meeting the needs of everyone in middle (although they do) but because we should be challenging the idea that the experiences we build should have margins at all—or that the business’s margins should define them. We must also challenge the idea that we are the ones who should be building these designs. Communities can solve problems for themselves when they have the resources and designers from within those communities are empowered to do so. Very often, what a problem calls for is not a designer to unlock the solution but the political will to enact what we know will work (usually money, usually controlled by people who’d rather not see the problem solved). Not every nail needs design thinking or an interface or a logo. “I am not a beginning. I am not an end. I am a link in a chain.” ― Keith Haring I think queering design means letting go of our egos as designers. There’s still such a cult of celebrity in the field. We’re taught to revere individual designers who make iconic work, like Milton Glaser and the I heart New York logo. We pay less attention to work created by teams or ephemeral work that eschews a sense of “timelessness” to improve people’s lives now. A lot of us are still chasing that FastCo Design spotlight, the retrospective of our work, or the seat of honor at an AIGA gala. But some of the most memorable queer designs aren’t attributable to one person. The “Silence = Death” poster, which I think is one of the most striking designs in history was designed by a collective. Feminist activist artists the Guerrilla Girls work anonymously to keep focus on the issues their work addresses.

https://medium.com/queer-design-club/a-practical-approach-to-queering-design-f331bbc948a7

['John Warren Hanawalt']

2020-12-02 18:19:50.121000+00:00

['Queer', 'LGBTQ', 'Design', 'Technology', 'Diversity']