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5 Mistakes Companies Make When Leveraging Referral Marketing

Choosing the wrong incentive It’s important to choose a reward or incentive that matches your brand, as well as what your customer needs. “One of the most common mistakes in referral marketing from companies, whether big brands or struggling e-commerce platforms, is the attempt to save a few dollars as they try to tempt customers with poor, unrelatable incentives,” said one expert. When selecting what incentive or reward to use, find something that has to do with your brand identity. If you own a software company, giving away theater tickets isn’t going to reinforce your value proposition. Dive into your customer data to learn who your best customers are — as well as what they care about. If your best customers buy from you at regular intervals — weekly or monthly — then incentivize referrals with account credits or discounts off future purchases. But, if you’re working with a customer base that doesn’t buy frequently, consider offering a gift card or exclusive access to a new product. Think about what your brand can offer customers that will turn them into advocates for your company. Making it too hard Many companies overcomplicate their customer referral program. There are too many hoops to jump through and too much fine print a customer has to read to make the referral and claim their reward. Keep your referral program intuitive and easy to follow. Provide a clear link to the referral email or website. Give your customers easy options for networking through email and social media, as well as a way to track their progress and redeem rewards. Likewise, think about what it is you’re incentivizing. “Most referral programs place incentives on members earning a promotion or offer if they refer a friend who then makes a purchase. However, this is a big ask,” writes one expert. If you are asking too much of a customer, they won’t make the effort. Reward customers for achieving smaller, like getting an email address or the phone number for a potential customer. Asking the wrong way One of the biggest lessons WorldWide101 learned in their referral marketing journey was the value of positive reinforcement. In one of their trials, the company tried to “bribe” contacts to send them leads (their words, not ours!). Referral participants were compensated when their contacts signed up for the service — and remained customers three months later. The program design was perceived as penalizing the referrer if the customer wasn’t a good fit or if WorldWide101 failed to deliver their brand promise. It angered WorldWide101’s network and damaged its credibility with existing customers. What Worldwide101 learned was that the best referral partners aren’t (just) motivated by monetary reward. “They recommend your products and services because they genuinely like them, they genuinely like you, and they genuinely want to help someone they know.” Ask someone to join your referral program in a way that honors their brand loyalty and values their contribution to your company’s future. Targeting the wrong customers Most marketers know that not all customers are created equal. Referral marketing works best when you can activate people who are already big fans of your brand. Look at your sales data and social media channels to identify marketing personas who are active, as well as early adopters. You can also look for a segment of customers who would benefit from a financial incentive, such as a $50 credit on their next bill or a percentage of the sale. Brands that have failed to connect with customers are going to have a hard time running a referral program. Referral marketing isn’t a substitute for real customer service: these programs aren’t “set and forget” solutions for building brand loyalty. Referral marketing software can, however, help you determine who your best participants are, as well as test different incentives and channels to drive results. Forgetting to set a timeline You’ve found your target customers, set up a meaningful reward…and nothing happens. Referrals aren’t coming through as fast as you would hope. What’s going on? First, make sure your audience knows your referral program exists. What are good ways to connect with your audience? One of the biggest reasons why referral programs fail is because customers aren’t aware of it. A newsletter is a great way to spread the word about your referral program — if someone is on your email list, you can bet they support your business. But, you should also spread the word on your website, social media channels, and in-person. Second, add a timeline to your campaign to create urgency. Tie your rewards to a certain deadline — e.g., “bring in eight new friends by July 4 to win a case of wine.” Deadlines give customers something to work toward, increasing purchase frequency and keeping your brand top of mind. A little urgency can go a long way. Make sure your deadline doesn’t backfire, however. A short-term deadline may not give your customers enough time to learn about the referral reward and start spreading the word. Don’t expect customers to be constantly thinking about your brand. “One of the biggest mistakes companies make with referral marketing is assuming customers always have their brands on the top of their minds,” wrote Entrepreneur. Give your campaign time to work! For more resources on setting up a referral marketing campaign, check out the GrowSurf blog.

https://medium.com/@growsurfkevin/5-mistakes-companies-make-when-leveraging-referral-marketing-f9a9b47dc490

['Kevin Yun']

2020-12-18 20:40:30.406000+00:00

['Digital Marketing', 'Marketing Tips', 'Referrals', 'Referral Marketing', 'Growth Hacking']

How to Be a Successful Writer and Get Paid for Your Work

How to Be a Successful Writer and Get Paid for Your Work Ways I found legitimate paying opportunities for my work Photo by Iga Palacz on Unsplash *Disclaimer: Please be aware that there are affiliate links in this article. If you click on them, I will get a commission, without any cost to you. I wouldn’t recommend a product unless I tried it and believe in it. Feel free to check these products out yourself to see if they’d be a good fit for you. Every developing writer comes across tools that help them improve their craft. Procuring these tools not only enables you to improve as a writer, but it also gets your work out in the world, so you gain paying jobs. As I’ve tested and tried out tools of the trade, I’ve kept the ones that worked and placed them into my tool belt. I wanted to create a complete guide for you. So in this article, I’ll focus on: How to help improve your writing and be successful online. How you can find opportunities where you can get paid for doing what you love: writing. Here are some tools to assist your writing career: SEMrush To create quality content that will reach an audience and rank with your competition, you need a tool that can work for you. SEMrush is one-stop shopping with what they offer and they’re the number one marketing tool in the world! You can try SEMrush for FREE by clicking here*. Here’s how the all-inclusive suite helps manage your marketing workflow: SEO: Research, Audit and Analytics Advertising: Research, PPC Keyword Tool, Display Advertising and Ad Builder Social Media: Posting and Tracking Social Media Content: Content Audit, Topic Research, SEO Content Templates and Brand Monitoring Competitive Research: Domain Overview, Ranks, Keyword, Backlink Gap Analysis and Traffic Analytics Reporting and Management: Reporting and Lead Generation Tools Here’s how it works: Co-Schedule Headline Analyzer Once you have a topic in mind you want to write about, (or even if you’ve written your piece), it’s time to give it a headline. First impressions are important and for many readers, your title will be the reason they do or don’t click on your article. Co-Schedule Headline Analyzer is a great tool that can help you drive traffic to your article and rank in search results. The headline analyzer will breakdown your title and score it based on SEO practices. It will also measure the word balance of emotional and power words that could inspire your reader. It also offers a ranking based on sentiment, clarity, word count and character count. The platform is free, but you can upgrade to a paid plan for more features that will help give your headline the best opportunity to rank in SEO. Here’s how it works: Grammarly Good grammar goes hand in hand with being a good and successful writer. Grammarly* helps take the guesswork out of your writing. The great thing about Grammarly is that while it helps edit your work, it also trains you as a writer. As I’ve been using it, I have been noticing I need fewer edits with my work. There is also a plagiarism checker if you’re writing a research article. It will give you peace of mind if you’re writing on a specific subject where you will be using references. You can use Grammarly FREE by clicking here*. You can also upgrade your account for even more features! Here’s how it works: How I found legitimate opportunities to earn money as a writer The first step to obtaining a regular paying writing job is to keep writing! The more you write, the more experience you gain. Writing on Medium and developing your blog will highlight your talent and expertise in whatever area you specialize. The most effective way I found legitimate writing opportunities was by using social media platforms to pitch stories to well-established publications. I connected with publishers, editors and writers through LinkedIn. I would send a message to them to pitch a story I was looking to get published. Many publications offer a submittable.com submission option. I have used this opportunity to upload my stories for consideration. So far, I’ve been successful with publishing content for local, national and global publications. If you want to take the guesswork out of which websites will offer you the best paying opportunities, then click here to subscribe to my e-mail list and I’ll send you my FREE guide to websites that will pay for your writing. If you have any tips for other aspiring writers, leave them in the comments below!

https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-be-a-successful-writer-and-get-paid-for-your-work-7a3526322742

['Sarah Seweryniak']

2020-12-14 02:17:40.118000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Freelance', 'Advertising', 'Software']

Pier 1 May Be the Saddest Story of This Bankruptcy Boom

Pier 1 May Be the Saddest Story of This Bankruptcy Boom Why J. Crew and Chuck E. Cheese aren’t disappearing, but the retailer behind the papasan chair is Somewhere around April this year, production of Pier 1 Imports’ famous papasan chairs ceased. So did everything else in the retailer’s manufacturing supply chain, as the company discontinued all purchase orders early that month. “We didn’t want to impact our vendors by having product in production that we weren’t gonna take,” chief executive Robert Riesbeck tells Marker. Pier 1 will sell the papasan chairs and other products in its stores and distribution centers, aiming to clear every last item in by the fall. And that will be that. The retailer, a familiar presence in strip malls and shopping centers for decades, is liquidating. A slew of household-name businesses have declared bankruptcy since pandemic-related shutdowns beginning in March gutted the American economy. It’s happened across categories. J. Crew, J.C. Penney, Lucky, Chuck E. Cheese, Hertz, Gold’s Gym, GNC, Neiman Marcus, Le Pain Quotidien, the largest Pizza Hut franchisee, and the list goes on. It’s widely assumed this is just the beginning. The public square of social media lately has been full of nostalgic and emotional laments for their most adored (and sometimes, maligned) brands seemingly evaporating into thin air: “Well, La Pain Quotidien, I will miss you.” “JCrew bankrupt. RIP barn jackets and heather sweaters.” “Chuck E. Cheese just filed for chapter 11. The end of an era.” Others are less sentimental, but just as definitive: “The end of J. Crew was inevitable,” Jezebel declared. But in reality, these bankruptcies do not mean that all of these brands will simply disappear. It’s not likely that we will wake up soon to a world with no J. Crew or Pizza Hut. Chapter 11 has often been misconstrued by the public as immediate and dramatic confirmation that a company is shutting down altogether — as happened in recent years with Toys R Us, Barneys, and Payless Shoes. In reality, Chapter 11 is a financial tool that can buy a distressed company a second chance: The bankruptcy process gives it the opportunity to rejigger its debt arrangements, slash costs, restructure real estate and other commitments, agree to new ownership, and carry on in some new and improved version (albeit a probably smaller one). The end of Pier 1 as we know it is partly a classic and timeless tale of why a business — any business — rises and falls, how bankruptcy protection works, and what happens when it doesn’t. And that, in fact, was Pier 1’s plan. But sometimes, reorganizing doesn’t work. Sometimes, nobody is willing to accept the financial risk of helping an entity try a do-over. Sometimes it’s better to just sell every last asset — from the inventory to the intellectual property to the office furniture — and use the proceeds to give creditors whatever money that process produces. Sometimes it seems better to just give up. That’s what is now happening to Pier 1. The company was already vulnerable before the pandemic arrived. It filed for Chapter 11 protection on February 17, and its declaration to the bankruptcy court focused on the already familiar “retail apocalypse” stemming from a consumer landscape reshaped by the long rise of the internet and other factors. At that time — all the way back in February — government officials were still positioning the coronavirus as a problem playing out overseas, and the filing mentioned it only in passing, as an inventory-management issue affecting Chinese factories. In that world, Pier 1 had a plan to survive. It would be painful — closing nearly half the chain’s existing locations and consolidating distribution centers, leading to significant layoffs — but in combination with other strategic recalibrations, it could work. “We believed we had a business that had gotten turned around, and we were headed in the right direction,” CEO Riesbeck says. “We strongly believed that Pier 1 has a place.” But then, about a month later, Pier 1 had to close all its locations, just like most every “non-essential” business in the country. As the shutdown lingered, the company’s options evaporated. And on May 29 it announced what had slowly become inevitable: Instead of reorganizing in a new, leaner form, it would wind down operations completely. The auction of its intellectual property will conclude this month; the process of liquidating all existing merchandise — including the last of the extant papasan chairs — and closing all remaining stores should conclude by the fall. The end of Pier 1 as we know it is partly a classic and timeless tale of why a business — any business — rises and falls, how bankruptcy protection works, and what happens when it doesn’t. But it’s also a story unique to our moment: how a singular lightning-bolt circumstance that no business leader could control rewrites a company’s destiny. Pier 1, as an example of both narratives, opens a window on the potential futures that many businesses, large and small, are staring down right now.

https://marker.medium.com/pier-1-may-be-the-saddest-story-of-this-bankruptcy-boom-faf040c2b1b4

['Rob Walker']

2020-07-09 18:43:29.940000+00:00

['Retail', 'Business', 'Pier 1 Imports', 'Bankruptcy', 'Economy']

When the Answers are Uncertain…

We get it. Change is tough even in normal times. And change in the midst of chaos can push us over the edge. Leaving us feeling overwhelmed and stuck, unable to move forward. Do you ever wish you had a crystal ball so you could look into the future and know that everything will be okay? Sometimes what causes us the greatest stress is that the answers are uncertain; the unknown. As a young child, I was completely oblivious to the fact that I needed glasses until I took a mandatory eye exam at my elementary school. My parents were notified and I was promptly taken to an eye doctor. And within a short period of time, I was wearing my new glasses. I remember the feeling of finally seeing things that I never knew existed. I remember how amazing it felt to see clearly. When things are uncertain, our lives feel unfocused, much like poor vision. We just feel better when we have clarity about what the future holds. Do you ever wish you had a crystal ball so you could look into the future and know that everything will be okay? Think about a time when you’ve had to make a difficult decision. Sometimes the most painful part of making a hard decision is all of the contemplation you do leading up to the actual decision. Weighing all of the pros and cons. Seeking advice from trusted friends. Thinking about all possible outcomes. The worst-case scenarios. But once you’ve made the decision, everything suddenly becomes clear. You can take action and move forward with your decision. When answers are uncertain, our lives feel unfocused, much like poor vision. But how do you do that when there are so many unknowns? Sometimes you have to learn to live with uncertainty and ambiguity. The reality is that there has always been uncertainty in life. You just weren’t as aware of it because you had your normal schedule and day-to-day life, and that made you feel more safe and secure. You may never love uncertainty and ambiguity, but you can’t allow it to prevent you from enjoying life and moving forward. Here are a few things that you can do to keep moving forward, even in times of change and uncertainty: Focus on what you have control over. Don’t waste your time and energy thinking about things that you don’t have any control over. You can’t control what other people do. And you can’t control outside factors that are affecting your life. But you can control how you choose to spend your time. Be creative and think outside the box to find ways to bring enjoyment to your life. Create a gratitude list. When you’re going through challenging times, it is easy to focus on everything negative, which isn’t healthy. Intentionally spend time each day thinking about what you are grateful and thankful for. Share those things out loud with others. You may just spark some gratitude in someone else too. Be positive and look to the future. When you’re in the middle of change and chaos, it might feel like it will never end. However, life experiences tell us that difficult times pass. So focus on the future, knowing that the challenge you’re dealing with will pass as well. Do your best to maintain a positive attitude. Research by Shawn Achor, author of the Happiness Advantage, shows we are more collaborative, adaptive, empathetic, and more productive with a positive mindset.

https://medium.com/talksense-the-leadership-edition/when-the-answers-are-uncertain-d4d9d0ad8f9b

['Revela Group']

2020-12-10 16:24:32.689000+00:00

['Uncertainty', 'Business Strategy', 'Change Management', 'Executive Coaching', 'Business Development']

how to solve your baby’s sleep problem

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash Infant Sleep What are an infant’s sleep needs? Sleep needs for babies vary depending on their age. Newborns do sleep much of the time. But their sleep is in very short segments. As a baby grows, the total amount of sleep slowly decreases. But the length of nighttime sleep increases. Generally, newborns sleep about 8 to 9 hours in the daytime and about 8 hours at night. But they may not sleep more than 1 to 2 hours at a time. Most babies don’t start sleeping through the night (6 to 8 hours) without waking until they are about 3 months old, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds. About two-thirds of babies are able to sleep through the night on a regular basis by age 6 months. What are the signs of infant sleep problems? Once a baby begins to regularly sleep through the night, parents are often unhappy when the baby starts to wake up at night again. This often happens at about 6 months old. This is often a normal part of development called separation anxiety. This is when a baby does not understand that separations are short-term (temporary). Babies may also start to have trouble going to sleep because of separation anxiety. Or because they are overstimulated or overtired. Common responses of babies having these night awakenings or trouble going to sleep may include the following: · Waking and crying one or more times in the night after sleeping through the night · Crying when you leave the room · Refusing to go to sleep without a parent nearby · Clinging to the parent at separation Sleep problems may also happen with illness. Talk with your baby’s healthcare provider if your baby begins having trouble going to sleep or staying asleep, especially if this is a new pattern. Signs of sleep readiness You can help your baby sleep by recognizing signs of sleep readiness, teaching him or her to fall asleep on his own, and comforting him or her with awakenings. Your baby may show signs of being ready for sleep by: · Rubbing eyes · Yawning · Looking away · Fussing Helping your baby fall asleep ( Affiliate Link ) Babies may not be able to create their own sleeping and waking patterns. Surprisingly, not all babies know how to put themselves to sleep. And not all babies can go back to sleep if they are awakened in the night. When it is time for bed, many parents want to rock or breastfeed a baby to help him or her fall asleep. Creating a bedtime routine is a good idea. But don’t let your baby fall asleep in your arms. This may become a pattern. And your baby may begin to expect to be in your arms in order to fall asleep. When your baby briefly wakes up during a sleep cycle, they may not be able to go back to sleep on their own. Babies who feel secure are better able to handle separations, especially at night. Cuddling and comforting your baby during the day can help him or her feel more secure. Other ways to help your baby learn to sleep include: · Allowing time for naps each day as needed for your baby’s age. · Not having any stimulation or activity close to bedtime. · Creating a bedtime routine, such as bath, reading books, and rocking. · Playing soft music while your baby is getting sleepy. · Offering a transitional object that your baby can take to bed. This may be a small blanket or a soft toy. But don’t do this before your baby is old enough. Your baby should be able to roll and sit. This will prevent the risk of suffocation. · Tucking your baby into bed when he or she is drowsy, but before going to sleep. · Comforting and reassuring your baby when he or she is afraid. · For night awakenings, comfort and reassure your baby by patting and soothing. Don’t take your baby out of bed. · If your baby cries, wait a few minutes, then return and reassure with patting and soothing. Then say goodnight and leave. Repeat as needed. · Being consistent with the routine and your responses. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Understand Your Baby’s Sleep Needs During the first 2 months, your newborn’s need to eat overrules her need to sleep. She may feed almost every 2 hours if you’re breastfeeding, and possibly a little less often if you bottle-feed. Your baby may sleep from 10 to 18 hours a day, sometimes for 3 to 4 hours at a time. But babies don’t know the difference between day and night. So they sleep with no regard for what time it is. That means your baby’s wide-awake time may be from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. By 3 to 6 months, many babies are able to sleep for a stretch of 6 hours. But just as you think your baby is getting into a nice routine — usually between 6 and 9 months — normal developmental stages can throw things off. For instance, when your baby begins to associate bedtime with being left alone, she may start crying just to keep you around. Reducing the risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related infant deaths Here are recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on how to reduce the risk for SIDS and sleep-related deaths from birth to 1 year old: · Have your baby immunized. An infant who is fully immunized may reduce his or her risk for SIDS. · Breastfeed your baby. The AAP recommends breastmilk only for at least 6 months. · Place your baby on their back for all sleep and naps until they are 1 year old. This can reduce the risk for SIDS, breathing in food or a foreign object (aspiration), and choking. Never place your baby on their side or stomach for sleep or naps. If your baby is awake, give your child time on their tummy as long as you are watching. This can reduce the chance that your child will develop a flat head. · Always talk with your baby’s healthcare provider before raising the head of the crib if your baby has been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux. · Offer your baby a pacifier for sleeping or naps. If your baby is breastfeeding, don’t use a pacifier until breastfeeding has been fully established. · Use a firm mattress that is covered by a tightly fitted sheet. This can prevent gaps between the mattress and the sides of a crib, a play yard, or a bassinet. That can reduce the risk of the baby getting stuck between the mattress and the sides (entrapment). It can also reduce the risk of suffocation and SIDS. · Share your room instead of your bed with your baby. Putting your baby in bed with you raises the risk for strangulation, suffocation, entrapment, and SIDS. Bed sharing is not recommended for twins or other multiples. The AAP recommends that infants sleep in the same room as their parents, close to their parents’ bed. But babies should be in a separate bed or crib appropriate for infants. This sleeping arrangement is recommended ideally for the baby’s first year. But it should at least be maintained for the first 6 months. · Don’t use infant seats, car seats, strollers, infant carriers, and infant swings for routine sleep and daily naps. These may lead to blockage of an infant’s airway or suffocation. · Don’t put infants on a couch or armchair for sleep. Sleeping on a couch or armchair puts the baby at a much higher risk of death, including SIDS. · Don’t use illegal drugs and alcohol, and don’t smoke during pregnancy or after birth. Keep your baby away from others who are smoking and places where others smoke. · Don’t overbundle, overdress, or cover your baby’s face or head. This will prevent them from getting overheated, reducing the risk for SIDS. · Don’t use loose bedding or soft objects (bumper pads, pillows, comforters, blankets) in your baby’s crib or bassinet. This can help prevent suffocation, strangulation, entrapment, or SIDS. · Don’t use home cardiorespiratory monitors and commercial devices (wedges, positioners, and special mattresses) to help reduce the risk for SIDS and sleep-related infant deaths. These devices have never been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS. In rare cases, they have caused infant deaths. · Always place cribs, bassinets, and play yards in places with no dangling cords, wires, or window coverings. This can reduce the risk for strangulation. Photo by Nyana Stoica on Unsplash Tips : Did you know for example that in the first twelve months of your child’s life he forms 700 to 1000 new neural connections every second? This is one of the reasons why an 8-month old will have an easier time recognizing and sticking with a bed time routine than a younger child And it’s just one of the countless differences discovered by the scientist from the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child Discover the Scientifically Proven Solution That Gets Your Baby to Sleep like Clockwork It works even if everything else failed Proven by 17,643 well rested parents (and counting) So now you can find all the information of this presentation and a lot more in my guide “Baby Sleep Miracle” (Affiliate Link ) It is the fastest…easiest… scientifically proven method to solve your baby’s sleeping problems… once and for all This link Method to Get Your Baby to Sleep “baby Sleep Miracle “ Note : Any Link That is Clicked Throughtout this Article Maybe an Affiliate link where I Received compensation

https://medium.com/@coretanklasik12/how-to-solve-your-babys-sleep-problem-792dbebe7ae2

[]

2020-05-01 05:07:57.485000+00:00

['Baby Sleep Routine', 'Baby Sleep Consultant', 'Baby Sleep', 'Baby', 'Baby Sleep Training']

7 Times Powerful People Gave Pathetic Apologies For Their Bad Behavior

These fauxpologies remind us how not to say ‘I’m sorry.’ Few years have been as full of public apologies as 2017. Wait, let me restate that. Few years have been as full of public apologies, yet rife with non-apologies, as 2017. The #MeToo campaign, along with investigative journalism, forced many well-known people (but mostly men) to attempt sincere shows of public contrition for various longstanding forms of misconduct (but mostly sexual bullying, harassment and abuse). Some did better than others. Many failed miserably, inspiring the satirical Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, which does exactly what its name suggests. (Apology example: “As someone who grew up in a different era, harassment is completely unacceptable — especially when people find out about it.”) It seems worthwhile here to discuss what distinguishes a good apology from a bad one, an actual “sorry” from a “sorry not sorry.” Apologies that get it right explicitly admit failures, take responsibility, acknowledge the hurt inflicted, make no excuses, identify how the harmful behavior will change, and spell out how the perpetrator of the bad behavior will make amends. It’s a good idea to avoid talking too much about yourself or your feelings while expressing contrition. While it is a good start to acknowledge that the shameful accusation is “true,” you should still ensure the word “sorry” makes more appearances than references to “[your] dick.” Also, maybe don’t try later denying you did a thing you already issued a half-assed apology for, especially when we can hear and see you on the video, Donald. Stop it. It’s a good idea to avoid talking too much about yourself or your feelings while expressing contrition. The point is, all this fauxpologizing has made me reflect on terrible apologies from recent years. Here are seven examples of non-apologies that remind us how not to say “I’m sorry.” 1. Megyn Kelly: Recognizing and calling out my unfiltered racism makes you the racist. If you watch Megyn Kelly’s new-ish morning show (don’t), you might think nothing comes more naturally to the NBC host than stiffly dancing around with audience members in a joyless and contrived attempt at some simulacrum of sisterhood. You would think wrong. What actually comes much more easily to Kelly is racist fear-mongering, which she did a far more convincing job of enjoying during 12 years at Fox News. That includes the time Kelly, without a hint of satire, insisted both Jesus and Santa are white, an absurd dum-dum of a claim that resulted in numerous calls for an apology. Instead, Kelly made herself into a political correctness martyr and blamed people who don’t get how hilarious racism is. In particular, Kelly moaned about what she called the “knee-jerk instinct by so many to race-bait and to assume the worst in people, especially people employed by the very powerful Fox News Channel,” because conservative media millionaires are the people really suffering in this country. The self-absorbed non-apology continued apace: “For me, the fact that an offhand jest I made during a segment about whether Santa should be replaced by a penguin has now become a national firestorm says two things: race is still an incredibly volatile issue in this country and Fox News and yours truly are big targets for many people.” 2. Brock Turner: I’m not even sure how to spell ‘personal responsibility.’ Caught in the act of raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, Brock Turner wrote a letter to the court before it handed down the absurdly lenient sentence that reaffirms how wealth and whiteness affect criminal justice. Turner’s “apology” spends most of its length lamenting how hard he’s been on himself (“I shake uncontrollably from the amount I torment myself by thinking about what has happened”) and blaming his tendency toward raping women on alcohol and “party culture.” “At this point in my life, I never want to have a drop of alcohol again. I never want to attend a social gathering that involves alcohol or any situation where people make decisions based on the substances they have consumed,” Turner wrote, as millions of people who have gotten drunk and not raped anyone scratched their heads. He went on to blame news coverage of the rape, his swimming skills and his acceptance to Stanford — but not, you know, being a rapist — for his problems. “I’ve lost two jobs solely based on the reporting of my case. I wish I never was good at swimming or had the opportunity to attend Stanford, so maybe the newspapers wouldn’t want to write stories about me.” Cue the tiniest violin playing. “I want to show that people’s lives can be destroyed by drinking and making poor decisions while doing so… I know I can impact and change people’s attitudes towards the culture surrounded by binge drinking and sexual promiscuity that protrudes through what people think is at the core of being a college student… I’ve been shattered by the party culture and risk-taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school. I’ve lost my chance to swim in the Olympics. I’ve lost my ability to obtain a Stanford degree. I’ve lost employment opportunity, my reputation and most of all, my life. These things force me to never want to put myself in a position where I have to sacrifice everything.” First of all, maybe try not raping anyone else. That seems like a good place to start. 3. Lena Dunham: Oops, I did it again. Since forever — or at least from around when Girls became a thing — Lena Dunham has said and done a lot of stupid crap that reveals her short-sightedness and ignorance on issues of import too myriad to get into here. In several cases, she has followed up with a public apology, followed by another stupid statement, then another apology, rinse, wash, repeat. (She once wrote a piece about her “apology addiction” which missed all the points ever.) Most recently, Dunham, who once wrote “women don’t lie about: rape” accused a black woman, actress Aurora Perrineau, of lying about rape, because the white accused rapist was a buddy of hers. In addition to its general hypocrisy, Dunham’s horrible history on race made the statement all the more galling. After being taken to task across social media, Dunham issues another statement via Twitter — an apology, of course, as dictated by the pattern — which was equally tone deaf. “I naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friend’s situation as it has transpired behind the scenes over the last few months… I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry.” A few things: 1) You can literally just be quiet when you have nothing to add to except the dismissal of a woman’s description of her experience with sexual assault. Seriously; 2) when you add little statements hinting at your “behind the scenes” info about said experience, which is absolutely meant as a callback to your original dismissive statement, you undermine your so-called apology, so why bother issuing it? 3) it’s not just that it was “the wrong time to come forward.” If that’s what you think the central problem with your original statement is here, you really are never going to get it. In response to Dunham’s consistently garbage stance on race going back years, author and Lenny Letter contributor Zinzi Clemmons encouraged “women of color — black women in particular — to divest from Lena Dunham.” 4. Don Lemon: Just bite your way out of sexual assault. It was 2014. A steady stream, then a deluge of women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of rape allegations dating back decades. One of those women, Joan Tarshis, was subjected to a classic version of the Victim Blame Game by CNN’s Don Lemon. “You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it,” Lemon suggested to Tarshis, unhelpfully. “Meaning the using of the teeth,” he interjected a second or so later. “As a weapon,” he continued, turning the horribleness up to 11. “Biting,” he added, proving a relentless ability to make it worse. “I had to ask,” Lemon concluded, which he absolutely did not. Aside from the insane insinuation that the fault of rape lies with anyone but rapists, the idea that you could — and should — have stopped your rape by biting off your assailant’s penis fails on every conceivable front. It is an utterly ridiculous and offensive ask, both logistically and psychologically. Lemon, a sexual assault survivor, issued this tepid apology after 24 hours of outcry: “If my question struck anyone as insensitive, I’m sorry as that was not my intention.” He’s sorry the question struck you as insensitive. Next! 5. Ryan Lochte: This is a total non-apology I could not possibly have written. During the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, swimmer Ryan Lochte and three friends from the American team could have gone out and partied all night without international incident. Instead, Lochte et al. chose to wreck shop at a local gas station and make up a story about being held up at gunpoint by brown criminals. Lochte — who also sprinkled in fake details about his bravery — reportedly made up the story so he wouldn’t get in trouble with his mom. As I noted in a piece about the incident at the time, “if you have ever seen words come out of Ryan Lochte’s mouth, and you read his ‘apology’ on social media, you will instantly know there is no way he wrote, nor was allowed to contribute to, this letter”: “I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend — for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics. It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country — with a language barrier — and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that I am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event.” To again revisit my previous take on the incident: Do you see it? The convenient omission of what, precisely, his “behavior” actually entailed? The reliance, even still, on the trope of the frightening foreign “stranger” — in whose country you are a guest — speaking gibberish demands at you? The non-mention of the fact that the group was reportedly asked to pay $50 for the damage they’d done and refused? The use of the phrase “regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night,” which serves to distract from Lochte’s own behavior, which again, he never quite gets around to acknowledging? Kudos to his PR team for a job of ducking and dodging that proves they earn their cut. 6. Scientist Tim Hunt: Women are too emotional to be in laboratories. In 2015, Nobel Prize-winner Tim Hunt remarked to an audience of women science reporters, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls….Three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry. Perhaps we should make separate labs for boys and girls?” Given an opportunity to apologize by BBC Radio 4, Hunt declared he was “really sorry that I said what I said” — mostly because it was “a very stupid thing to do in the presence of all those journalists.” “I did mean the part about having trouble with girls,” he continued, figurative shovel digging even deeper. “It is true that people — I have fallen in love with people in the lab and people in the lab have fallen in love with me and it’s very disruptive to the science because it’s terribly important that in a lab people are on a level playing field. I found that these emotional entanglements made life very difficult. I’m really, really sorry I caused any offense, that’s awful. I certainly didn’t mean that. I just meant to be honest, actually.” For years people have been trying to nail down why there are so few women in STEM fields, but the answer remains elusive. 7. A lot of the men who ‘apologized’ for sexual harassment this year: I hope my PR person at least makes me sound earnest. Keep in mind, I’m not even including people who continue to deny and deflect, like Roy Moore or Brett Ratner. And please know this item could be a list in and of itself (in fact, that very list has been written a few times in the past few months). I am leaving off many, many examples because otherwise this piece would never end and I assume you have a life to lead between breaking news of emerging harassers and their apology statements. But here are a few apologies from men accused of sexual harassment and abuse who did it wrong. Harvey Weinstein: His open letter of apology kicked off by absolving him of full responsibility by suggesting he was just too behind the times to know any better, an insinuation belied by the “team of spies” he employed to keep his victims quiet. “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.” (Did I mention the letter misquotes a Jay-Z lyric? Because it does.) Garrison Keillor: How unsurprising that instead of a letter of apology, the Prairie Home Companion host offered a Keilloresque attempt at humor. After stating his “hand went up… about six inches” under a woman’s shirt — by accident, he suggests — Keillor paints himself as the world’s smuggest victim. “If I had a dollar for every woman who asked to take a selfie with me and who slipped an arm around me and let it drift down below the beltline, I’d have at least a hundred dollars,” he notes, so we know how unfair this whole thing is to him. “So this is poetic irony of a high order. But I’m just fine.” (Not that we asked, Gar.) Russell Simmons: “While [Jenny Lumet’s] memory of that evening is very different from mine, it is now clear to me that her feelings of fear and intimidation are real,” Russell wrote, as if anyone might have seen the situation Lumet has described as anything but harrowing. “While I have never been violent, I have been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades and I sincerely and humbly apologize.” Kevin Spacey: Pulled an intentionally distracting bait-and-switch by interrupting his “apology” to come out as a gay man, as if the issue of his sexuality and propensity for sexual harassment had anything to do with each other. (They do not.) As Billy Eichner noted on Twitter, Spacey “invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.” R. Kelly: Actually, R. Kelly has never attempted an apology. He hasn’t once come close to saying sorry or facing penalties, because despite dozens of allegations made by girls as young as 14 dating back to the 1990s, along with video evidence and a consistent record of abuse that is ongoing as you read this, his career continues to thrive. To quote Jim DeRogatis, who has written multiple investigative stories about Kelly, “no one, it seems, matters less in our society than young black women.” This article originally appeared on AlterNet. Republished here with permission.

https://medium.com/the-establishment/7-times-powerful-people-gave-pathetic-apologies-for-their-bad-behavior-8b45f7b77ed0

['The Establishment']

2017-12-09 06:49:13.772000+00:00

['Rape', 'Apology', 'Harvey Weinstein', 'Society Politics', 'Louis CK']

My 5 Most Cherished Childhood Christmas Memories Ever

Like the song says about Christmas, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” I can definitely agree with that, even though I didn’t really care for it during a period of time in my teenage years. But for the past couple decades (I know, I am elderly), I have gained a significant fondness for the roughly 40 day period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. As with most people, the most enduring Christmas memories took place during childhood, and I am no different. Here are my 5 most cherished Christmas memories from my days as a youngin:

https://medium.com/@deanteyoung/my-5-most-cherished-childhood-christmas-memories-ever-84ccd16c9ca7

['Deante L. Young']

2020-12-23 23:07:56.331000+00:00

['Life Lessons', 'Christmas', 'Childhood Memories', 'Memories', 'Self']

Terraforming Nye Health

When I stop to think of the word terraforming it immediately takes me to other worlds; barren and inhospitable worlds orbiting a star in a far away galaxy… but most of all, an opportunity for life. In some ways, this is the story of Nye’s infrastructure. Firstly, what do I mean by infrastructure? Infrastructure in this context, is the cloud computing that represents the foundation for our products. Much as a bad foundation for a house can cause subsidence and with it, endless cracks and doors that never quite close, as is the case with IT infrastructure. A bad infrastructure in cloud computing will result in poor reliability and service outages but it’s that door that doesn’t quite shut, that’s the serious security threat. A good infrastructure on the other hand, enables you to build resilient, secure and high performing applications efficiently. The story I am going to tell you here is how Nye Health have taken challenging foundations, resulting from early prototypes, to one of confidence and opportunity through rigorous best practice and drive. The Inhospitable Planet In the early days, Nye had a very typical infrastructure. We had AWS services that were manually configured through the AWS Console and our product ran on a single stateful EC2 instance. This was complimented with a separate AWS account for staging where we could test our server and client apps, prior to releasing the latest improvements. However, the devil is in the detail. These two environments were subtly different and both susceptible to configuration creep which inevitably resulted in service issues, for instance we had (to name but a few): A failed deployment of a new key feature with one release as the firewalls between production and staging environments were subtly different. The lack of parity between stage and production had the added side effect of extensive post release smoke tests and an inertia towards releases. An embarrassing outage caused by an application called Tripwire. Tripwire was installed on the EC2 instance at the very early stages of Nye to help protect against threats and vulnerabilities but was no longer in use — as far as we knew! Little did we know that the once dormant Tripwire started filling up disk space at an alarming rate culminating in our server to ceasing to operate. Worst of all, we had started to adopt and accept the bad behaviour of having to patch production manually: further risking service and furthering the configuration creep. It needed to change. We were deploying our software to the inhospitable planet and had to spend a lot of time looking after it — time that could be spent building things users love. Terraforming As has been eluded to so far, one way we started to tackling some of these issues was by leveraging Hashicorp’s Terraform. Pretty quickly, we went from an ill configured single EC2 instance to a high availability Auto Scaling Group, configured in a software development lifecycle. We were also able to unify our development and staging environments with production. Before I detail aspects of this transformation, I think it’s important to labour the change in paradigm that takes place when moving from traditional configuration through a web UI such as AWS Console vs Infrastructure as Code (IaC). By developing our infrastructure using Terraform we changed explicitly to a software development lifecycle for our cloud computing. Our infrastructure is now configured as code in our git repositories. This means it can be reviewed in the same way as changes to our product source code, through pull requests. What I have just listed may not sound that significant but think what it means: Nye Health have an auditable log for our entire history. The setup and provisioning of our infrastructure: load balancers, security groups, firewalls, user policies and so on, are all safely stored. Moreover, we can isolate changes and roll backwards or forwards where required, with more control. Below are some highlights from our endeavours that you may find useful: Just like source code for our product we introduced Terraform iteratively and through the same process and lifecycle of development, staging and to production until we had a production fully provisioned by Terraform. Configured our state in AWS S3 with Dynamo DB providing locking — looking to transition to Terraform Web in future. The automation has improved our speed and our safety of our deployments through consistency and removal of vectors of manual error. Documentation is as code, not locked away in an engineer’s head — the state of the infrastructure is there for all to read and understand (hopefully). Happiness. I like to code more than they do repetitively clicking through AWS Console to provision changes for all environments so it has improved my day to day work. It is important to avoid the temptation of a quick AWS Console fix and to keep all work as IaC in order to avoid conflicts. Actual re-use!!!! Nye Health adhered to Terraform best practice and developed modules in a separate repository and built up the infrastructure piece by piece. Until we could with a few commands create and destroy entire working environments for our Web Services as required. Undoubtedly there were challenges whilst adopting this workflow. Many of these were beyond my initial experience barrier. However, the beauty of using a mature tool like Terraform, is that you’re not going alone. There’s a wide community and plenty of help available so issues can be resolved quickly. For me, pain points were concerned with versioning and dependency management of modules (v0.13 improved this with the ability to use count with modules and the soon to be released v0.14 looks to further improve it with a lock file). I also struggled with the lack of best practice for separating environments such as production and staging (Terraform workspaces do not fill this gap but Terragrunt appears to help). Opportunity There have been countless lessons so far on our journey and we still have a long way to go. I know I’ve talked a lot about the tech (because that’s just what I love) but if one thing stands out from this process, it’s how the team, and in fact, the whole organisation, dealt with this challenge. We identified an issue, decided how to fix it and committed to getting it done. Not with a patch but with best practice. We’ve now built the foundations so that when required, we can make the next leap forward in infrastructure. We could move more services into an EC2 auto scaling environment or instead transition into k8s with serverless docker containers. When the time comes to decide, one thing is clear, wherever we are going, we will be going there with code. Everything as Code.

https://medium.com/nye-health/terraforming-nye-health-f4e5b0ce50a7

['Andrew Carmichael']

2020-12-04 16:32:31.284000+00:00

['Hashicorp', 'Healthcare', 'DevOps', 'AWS', 'Terraform']

Frequency Counter vs Multiple Pointers

Learning Data Structures and Algorithms is an essential part of being a Software Engineer. In the simplest terms, data structures are structures in which we organize data and algorithms are the set of instructions to perform a task. This past week I decided it was time to dive into this topic and prepare myself for any future interviews. I bought the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structure Masterclass instructed by Colt Steele on Udemy to help me accomplish my goals. You can find more information on this course here. This is not my first attempt at trying to learn data structures and algorithms. I was always too intimidated by the Big O mathematics and found myself giving up within the first 5 minutes. Steele does a great job explaining concepts for beginners. He lays out a solid problem-solving approach and several problem-solving patterns that I feel will help solve any interview question. I want to go over 2 patterns that I find super useful and have been using this week. Frequency Counter && Multiple Pointers The idea of a frequency counter is to use an object to collect values/frequencies of values. This can be used to avoid the need for nested loops. (O(n²)). The multiple pointers pattern creates “pointers” that correspond to an index or position and moves towards the beginning, end, or middle based on a condition. With multiple pointers, you want to make sure that whatever data set you are working with, is sorted. I want to share a simple example of how we could use either one of these patterns to solve it. Interview Question Implement a function called checkForDuplicates which accepts a variable number of arguments(any number of arguments) and checks whether there are any duplicates among the arguments passed in. Multiple Pointers Approach The first thing I like to do is restate the problem in my own words. For this example, I might restate it like so: Given an argument, check to see if there are any 2 that are the same. If this is true, return true, otherwise, return false. Next, I like to come up with some concrete examples. checkForDuplicates([1,4,7,7]) => true checkForDuplicates(['a', 'b', 'c'])=>false checkForDuplicates([2,2,4])=>true 3. After visualizing some possible outcomes, I start to pseudo-code. //sort the given arguements . I prefer ascending orders //create a starting point. Lets start at the beginning index of the data //create a second pointer. For this example I will create it at index 1 //create a while loop that will run while the second pointer is less than the length of the arguement //compare the two values that the pointers are currently pointing at. If these two values are the same, return true //increment the 2 pointers until the condition is met //if no pairs are equal, return false 4. After writing out my thought process, I start to code and solve the problem function checkForDuplicates(...args){ //sort the given arguements . I prefer ascending order args.sort((a,b)=> a > b); //create a starting point. Lets start at the beginning index of the data //create a second pointer. For this example I will create it at index 1 let start=0; let next=1; //create a while loop that will run while the second pointer is less than the length of the arguement while(next < args.length){ //compare the two values that the pointers are currently pointing at. If these two values are the same, return true if(args[start]===args[next]){ return true; } //increment the 2 pointers until the condition is met start++ next++ } //if no pairs are equal, return false return false; } //below is the solution without the pseduo comments function checkForDuplicates(...args) { args.sort((a,b) => a > b); let start = 0; let next = 1; while(next < args.length){ if(args[start] === args[next]){ return true } start++ next++ } return false } Frequency Counter Approach Now I will show you how you can solve this same problem with a different approach. Similar to how I approached the problem with multiple pointers, I reworded the problem in my own words and then created some concrete examples. Since I am using the same problem, you can review my thought process and the steps above to see how I would first approach this. Let's jump right into the pseudo-code for this approach- //create an empty object that will be used as a counter //loop through the set of data. If the data is not yet added to our object, add it and set it equal to a count of 1. If the data is found in the object, increment the count by 1. //loop through our created object to see if there are any values that are greater than 1. //if any keys have a value greater than 1, return true. If no duplicates are found, return false Next lets code this solution -

https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/frequency-counter-vs-multiple-pointers-62c9767fc1df

['Christy Tropila']

2020-12-03 21:35:55.673000+00:00

['Interview', 'Algorithms', 'JavaScript', 'Data Structures', 'Computer Science']

How Smart Homes Help You Save Money

Do smart homes save energy? Most of us would say yes. But do these fancy, futuristic homes also help save money? Not sure. As unbelievably cool as these devices look, but are they helpful in cutting the energy costs. Most smart home products are designed to use energy optimally and reduce consumption. The cumulative long term savings are worth the initial investment in smart homes. Smart homes easily start reaping benefits in a span of a year or two. How do smart appliances contribute to saving more money? Smart thermostats improve heating/ cooling efficiencies Thermostats regulate the temperature to maintain your home at an optimum temperature depending on the weather. But they aren’t ‘smart’ enough to understand your usage and accordingly maintain the temperature as per your needs independently. Smart thermostats are elegantly designed based on AI principles and powerful technology that sense your needs and automatically heat or cool the home as per your optimal requirements. They are designed to save energy by efficient use of your heating and cooling devices. Products like Ecobee and Nest Thermostats are proven to save up to 25% on energy expenditure yearly. 2. Smart blinds that work as insulators to prevent heat loss Smart blinds are connected through Wi-Fi and IFTTT to associated appliances like the thermostat that cover windows when the heating or cooling devices are turned on. The lack of proper insulation can drain more energy even if a thermostat is being employed. There may be several instances when you forget to close the windows while the air conditioner is working. Smart blinds automatically cover window panes as soon as the thermostat is active and insulates the house to prevent energy loss. And energy saved, is money saved. 3. Smart hubs auto-control all appliances The master controlling unit of a smart home is the hub to which all devices are connected. Smart home controllers like Alexa, Google assistant or B.One Hub control all appliances they are connected to. They switch off appliances that are not in use or left on standby after a period of time. A lot of energy is used by the appliances left on standby. The smart hubs allow the smart homeowner to remotely control the appliances thereby minimizing energy loss. You can easily turn off or on any appliance sitting right at your desk using a simple app and prevent loss of energy. 4. Smart lighting that uses cleaner energy Smart lighting is a multi-dimensional solution to all the lighting needs of a smart home. Lighting is known to use up to 12% of energy, which although is a high percentage usually goes unnoticed. LED-based smart lights consume 70–75% lesser energy than the regular CFL lights. There is so much you can do with smart lighting. You can customize the kind of lighting you require depending on the time of the day, season and your mood. You can set lights to auto switch on/off as per your daily routine, alternate lighting programs and remotely control lights left on. 5. Smart plugs actively monitor the energy usages Credit: Wemo Smart Plug Smart plugs are a revolutionary creation that can turn any appliance into a smart appliance by plugging it into these smart plugs. They monitor the energy consumed by the appliances and help use them more efficiently. Smart plugs can be controlled using a single hub from a mobile app or voice commands. Smart homes present a holistic approach to better living. The long-term benefits of smart homes are unquestionably high. Smart homes can help save up to 45% money otherwise spent on the energy you don’t actually require. Smart homes are the future.

https://medium.com/@alexbryan802/how-smart-homes-help-you-save-money-a8f42bce5ea8

['Alex Bryan']

2019-05-25 06:06:15.041000+00:00

['Smart Home', 'B One Hub', 'Smart Lighting', 'Smart Home Products', 'Smart Thermostat']

So you are just going to give up on voting and allow the millions of Trump supporters cast their…

So you are just going to give up on voting and allow the millions of Trump supporters cast their votes and’s possibly win? Why? If you, and the people you are trying to convince to do the same, do this… Then this might be the consequence.. Trump wins another election, and we keep drowning, the 99% of us. Bcause the other party (Democrats), have a higher amount of people who are highly disadvantaged, disenfranchised, and generational immigrants… And they, possibly, majority of them, won’t get to vote at all. So who gets the upper hand here? Let’s be real, with the way things are going, with this current administration, USPS will run out of funding, so goodbye to mail in ballots option, since Trump and his cabinet are systematically trying to shut it down and possibly give it over to his billionaire supporters (e.g. Bezos from Amazon, UPS, DHS, etc.). Also, possibly suppressing voting poles in certain disadvantaged, less populated rural, diverse areas, like it happens almost every election year a Republican is in office, or when it’s an exit year for a previous two term president, and the Republicans are gerrymandering the heck out of it months ahead, to basically screws the registered voting Democrats, out of their vote, and put themselves ahead! Don’t believe everything big conglomerate corporate news outlets say, do some due diligence and research independent news publishers, since they aren’t being told what to report by some corporation and billionaire white person running it all. I’m sorry, I’m usually nice, but this level of shortsightedness, just takes the cake! Until a more worthy candidate comes along, the lesser evil of the two, is the better choice. By the way, news flash, you are white, you don’t have the same experiences, as the people you claim are around you, so until you walk in their shoes, you’ll never truly know. Keep that sort of shortsighted drizzle to yourself, and at least take the opportunities you have and use them for the betterment of all, not just your precious EGO! -HKB (Mother, teacher, avid reader of everything, and occasional writer - who are you?)

https://medium.com/@hkb/so-your-just-going-to-give-up-on-voting-and-allow-the-millions-of-trump-supporters-cast-their-votes-922f9cf812d6

[]

2020-06-03 04:50:19.793000+00:00

['Trump Administration', 'Trump', 'Soapbox', 'Be Informed', 'Biden 2020']

Serious back door Vulnerabilities spotted in TikTok

Serious back door Vulnerabilities spotted in TikTok The security flaws were identified by a cybersecurity firm Check Point, which the company claims to have fixed TikTok has broken all barriers of popularity, achieving 1.5 billion global users in just over two & a half years. The immense growth can be gauged from the fact that the app is available in 150 markets & used in 75 languages globally. Even more important is the niche that it serves — Generation Z which utilizes the app to create short video clips — mostly lip-synced of 3 to 15 seconds & short looping videos of 3 to 60 seconds. Having achieved all these laurels, however, the application has been under fire from a lot of quarters for the potential risks identified within the application recently. A Cybersecurity firm Check Point pointed to multiple vulnerabilities that its researchers uncovered. Although the security firm made Tik Tok aware of these security flaws on November 20, 2019, which the latter claims to have addressed by December 15, 2019, as confirmed by Check Point — the damage is done. The problems were brewing for Tik Tok, even before the report of these vulnerabilities surfaced. With its strong Chinese connection — the parent company ByteDance based in Beijing, the app was under intense scrutiny in the United States. Although the decision by American authorities to scrutinize Chinese technology like Tik Tok was considered more of a trade war by-product by some, that notion seems to be quelled with the recent revelations.

https://medium.com/technicity/serious-back-door-vulnerabilities-spotted-in-tik-tok-e717167a1b80

['Faisal Khan']

2020-01-15 00:49:20.554000+00:00

['Privacy', 'Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Future', 'Cybersecurity']

Dear 2020 — you piece of. my thoughts of 2020 wrapped up in an…

Photo by Kate Graur from Pexels Dear 2020, you were the year I quit my startup job back in San Francisco. I left a lot behind that January— my community, my family, and all stability. I vividly remember staring out that airplane window, watching the 7x7 city disappear into the thickening fog as we flew further and further away. I remember exiting out of Changi airport, distinctly being hit by a wave of humidity as I pushed my luggage cart to the taxi and an uncle held the car door open for me. The air was thick and immediately a bead of sweat ran down the side of my face, but I had never been happier. I breathed it in. You brought me new friendships in Singapore, some bridged by Facebook community groups, meetups, and random LinkedIn connections. You’ve led me to meet the many kind, highly entrepreneurial, and humorous humans of Singapore. You disrupted major industries, from airline to food to logistics. It was an acceleration of the death and life of businesses — even major conglomerates had to make pivots in digitalisation because of Covid-19. You’re the year where racism really reared its ugly head and crawled out from the gutters, and I read stories online of my brothers and sisters being attacked for being and looking Asian. Yet, it was the year we really rallied — Asian people, media, and communities coming out to denounce and address the racist attacks happening across the world. The community really came together and didn’t let one racist get by; our voices were loud, clear, and strong. That I was very proud of to see. This was the year that the Black Lives Matter movement accelerated, from communities coming together to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are names that won’t be forgotten. This is an ongoing battle, and we must continue to address it to bring equity to all people of color. You’re the year that decided Trump’s presidency will end after these long four years, and where the people decided the healing of the US will begin. You broke records for 11.11 Singles’ Day, exceeding $65 billion dollars in sales for Alibaba. You brought a surge of concern for sustainability and waste. You forced mental health into the center of conversation here in Asia, as many of us faced uncertainty at work, were socially disconnected, and left with our own thoughts. You made me realize that I needed to just delete those dating apps and stop looking for love, and how funny it was that all the qualities I wanted in my partner were ones that I needed to also exude. You helped me get over my fear of putting myself out there, writing and producing content that had my personal thoughts and face into the digital world. You helped me find my own courage and slowly become the person I was looking for. You brought new life into my family. To sum it in words, you’re like a minor heart attack that has woken up the average salaryman and made him question the validity of his life, his work, and his relationships. Thanks for putting our heads back into clarity. You reminded me of what was truly important, and what was at the core center of my life. It was family, and it took a pandemic for me to realize that. You put me in an interesting spot — with no traveling available to distract me from my own thoughts, and you forced me to face a few demons. You taught me how to sit alone in silence, and be okay with being by myself and my thoughts. We learned how to enjoy being alone and even look forward to having solitude and peace. You taught me how to say a hard “no,” making me realize how valuable my time is, and that I didn’t have to spend a minute on people that didn’t bring positivity or sapped my energy. You taught me how to identify toxic people, and to let them go. For that, I am thankful. 2020, I could almost say you were a piece of shit, but instead I swallowed my words. You were a piece of apple crumb pie at the dinner table I sat at on Thanksgiving this year, surrounded by a group of friends (some I knew well and some I just met), but you tasted like a piece of home. To be bathing in this type of warmth, huddled over a delicious meal, and playing card games on the table — you showed me that the feeling of home can live in different places. You are as bright as the Christmas lights adorned on all the trees in Orchard Road, twinkling above as I eat a Singaporean ice cream sandwich and laugh with my friends.

https://medium.com/the-open-mind-collective/dear-2020-you-piece-of-72e3504ad410

['Emily Fang']

2021-01-12 02:19:18.876000+00:00

['Personal Thoughts', 'Singapore', 'Growing Up', '2020', 'Reflections Of Life']

Introduction to dependency Injection-Dagger 2 [Part1]

What is A dependency? In simple words, dependency means relying on something for support, for example, your phone dependent on the sim, battery, display, etc. According to Wikipedia, the definition of dependency injection is In software engineering, dependency injection is a technique whereby one object supplies the dependencies of another object. A “dependency” is an object that can be used, for example as a service. Then there will be a famous Question, Why we need dependency Injection? The DI mechanism separates object production from object consumption Tightly coupled Vs Loosely coupled In the above examples class, A depends on class B. In Type1 B is tightly dependent on A, since class A needs to know how to instantiate the object of B. So the class A&B are tightly coupled. Sometimes the object creation of class B may complex because it need/know another ingredient like a, b, c, d, e(some other parameter objects consume in class B). In Type2, Inorder to create an object of class A we need to pass the object of class B. So class A doesn’t need to worry about the instantiation of class B and it is loosely coupled. In the above example, we found constructor injection, that’s we passed object ‘b’ to A through the constructor of class A. Types of dependency injection Injecting dependencies via constructor Injection via getter/setter Interface Injection Injecting dependencies via constructor In the above example, class Phone has a dependency on Sim. But these dependency class Sim is not created by Phone, instead of it injected/passed through constructor params ‘Phone(Sim sim)’. Injection via getter/setter methods In the above example, class Phone has a dependency on Sim. But these dependency class Sim is not created by Phone, instead of it injected/passed through ‘getSim()’ and ‘setSim()’ methods. Interface Injection In the above example, class Phone has a dependency on Sim. But this Sim dependency injected/passed through interface method ‘sendSim(Sim sim)’. The sendsim() method is called by the external part with Sim object. Again another question, Do we need DI frameworks? Not at all. You could simply pass all instances to other objects manually by your own logic by the above three ways. If you have a small application there is no need for frameworks like Dagger2. But frameworks will give you the following advantages You can remove tons of boilerplate codes. Help to write and maintain complex relationships between objects. Maintain the scope of your object nicely( is it needed in entire screen or single window/screen) Help to share object between multiple screens/class What’s next? Part2 available here

https://medium.com/@ebinjoy999/dagger-2-introduction-to-dependency-injection-part1-e9706eaa7873

['Ebin Joy']

2019-10-09 17:52:54.121000+00:00

['Dependency Management', 'Best Practices', 'Dagger 2', 'Dependency Injection', 'Android App Development']

The Origin of Machine Learning

Zoologists and psychologists study learning in animals and humans. There are several parallels between animal and machine learning. Certainly, many techniques in machine learning derived from the efforts of psychologists to make more precise their theories of animal and human learning through computational models. It seems likely also that the concepts and techniques being explored by researchers in machine learning may illuminate certain aspects of biological learning. As regards machines, we might say, very broadly, that a machine learns whenever it changes its structure, program, or data in such a manner that its expected future performance improves. Some of these changes, such as the addition of a record to a database, fall comfortably within the province of other disciplines and are not necessarily better understood for being called learning. Machine learning usually refers to the changes in systems that perform tasks associated with artificial intelligence. Such tasks involve recognition, diagnosis, planning, robot control, prediction, etc. Why should machines have to learn? Why not design machines to perform as desired in the first place? There are several reasons why machine learning is important. Of course, as I have already mentioned that the achievement of learning in machines might help us understand how animals and humans learn. But there are important engineering reasons as well. Some of these are: Some tasks cannot be defined well except by example; that is, we might be able to specify input/output pairs but not a concise relationship between inputs and desired outputs. We would like machines to be able to adjust their internal structure to produce correct outputs for a large number of sample inputs and thus suitably constrain their input/output function to approximate the relationship implicit in the examples. It is possible that hidden among large piles of data are important relationships and correlations. Machine learning methods can often be used to extract these relationships (data mining). Human designers often produce machines that do not work as well as desired in the environments in which they are used. In fact, certain characteristics of the working environment might not be completely known at design time. Machine learning methods can be used for the on-the-job improvement of existing machine designs. The amount of knowledge available about certain tasks might be too large for explicit encoding by humans. Machines that learn this knowledge gradually might be able to capture more of it than humans would want to write down. Environments change over time. Machines that can adapt to a changing environment would reduce the need for constant redesign. New knowledge about tasks is constantly being discovered by humans. Vocabulary changes. There is a constant stream of new events in the world. Continuing redesign of AI systems to conform to new knowledge is impractical, but machine learning methods might be able to track much of it. I hope you liked this article on the origin of Machine Learning. Feel free to ask your valuable questions in the comments section below. You can also connect with me from here, to learn every topic of Machine Learning.

https://medium.com/the-innovation/the-origin-of-machine-learning-c2a0893ee0c4

['Aman Kharwal']

2020-09-02 18:05:18.341000+00:00

['Programming', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Python', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning']

Why I Created My Own Parody Turkish TV Series

Image created by Author I have just finished grading about a hundred projects, and I have an upcoming batch of grading projects to be done. I have been overwhelmed with the volume and demands of online meetings, online teaching, and online grading this semester. It has been a very tough period and I have felt stressed out by everything that was online. I feel as if we have been trapped in squares for months. Computers, phones, laptops, screens, rooms, houses, study desks…. All of them are squares that trap us. We are like genies trapped inside squares. We have been stuck in our homes during the pandemic period. Our homes became our offices and we started spending more than 8 to 10 hours in front of our screens. Hence, we are all trapped in cages — square screens became our cages. We do have wild spirits, alas, we are limited by the frame — we cannot get out of the frame. The name of the frame might be Skype, MsTeams, Blackboard, Zoom, etc. As soon as one meeting finishes, another one starts. In the midst of all these, I wanted to escape from the boredom, the anxiety, and the stress of it all. How could I find a freedom space for my play, curiosity, imagination, creativity, and adventure in the cages of responsibility I am imprisoned in? My solution was to use improvisation and theatre to create fun for myself. I love watching Turkish dramas — this has been a mindless escape for me for years. A typical Turkish drama episode is 2.5 hours long and it does not require much focus or attention, so I tend to listen to an episode or two while I am working on my laptop. In fact, as I am writing this very article, I am listening to one of my favourite Turkish TV dramas. So, I ended up creating my own parody Turkish drama series and I started publishing them on my YouTube channel. The name of the series is ‘Asalet Paçalarımızdan Akar’ which is difficult to translate. I asked Google Translate and it gave me: ‘Our Nobility Flows From Our Troops’. It signifies a paradox of some sorts: “We are so noble that our nobility is as common as dirt” might explain it a bit, but not quite. Although it is in Turkish, you can watch the videos to get a bit of flavour: ‘Asalet Paçalarımızdan Akar’ — Teaser 1 In the first episode, Civanşah, who has inherited rich assets from his father challenges his relatives who each demands a piece from this rich inheritance. Mansions in Bosphorus and rich families who are divided by inheritance wars are very common in Turkish dramas and I wanted to satirise these. ‘Asalet Paçalarımızdan Akar’ — Teaser 2 In the second episode, Cihanşah dreams of her mother, whose dead body was mysteriously found in the mansion last year. In this meaningful dream, Ms. Dilruba gives important life advice to her son Cihanşah about how to maintain the family inharitance: Save, invest in gold, protect the family assets, and make sure you issue a marriage contract before you marry. ‘Asalet Paçalarımızdan Akar’ — Teaser 3 In the third episode, Cihanşah is experiencing double happiness. First, he got rid of his relatives who wanted a part of the inheritance. Second, he saw a mysterious woman and fell in love with her. This woman has red hair. Who is this enigmatic charming woman? :) I had great fun shooting these episodes. I did not have any script and I improvised on the go. I used the background music to get into the mood of these characters. ‘Asalet Paçalarımızdan Akar’ — Teaser 4 In the fourth episode, we learn more about how Cihanşah fell in love with this woman. Cihanşah sings about the charms of this woman. Her name is Suzan. The song used here is Orhan Gencebay’s famous song “When the season becomes the spring, love is born in the heart.” Cihanşah’s eyes see no one but the mysterious red-haired woman Suzan. The mentor of Cihanşah, Uncle Remzi, sees this state of him and realizes that the situation is bad: It looks as if rationality has jumped out of Cihanşah’s brain. Cihanşah pulls back from his marriage contract requirement, as he completely trusts Suzan. Suzan is a very common evil character that appears in Turkish dramas. Her goal is to get rich through marriage. She is always plotting. So, here I am. I do not know if I will continue this series. I do not have any script or any plan for going forward. This is pure play and will remain so. I will do whatever I feel like doing. Why did I create something so stupid? Because I had great fun! I would not get so much fun if I did these videos in English — it would require serious planning and work. This, however, was the perfect escape for me. I laughed to myself, I felt like a mischief, and I shared my terrible acting and plotting skills with everyone else. More importantly, I returned to my childhood. I was always creating, playing, daydreaming, improvising, and being foolish when I was a kid. I remembered these when I found my childhood diaries. I created my own theatre and performance events when I was 12. I had created my own logo when I was 13 (you can see below). I created my own cartoon and comic magazine titled “Kazikci Zipcik” when I was 14. I created four imaginary TV channels and their programming when I was 15. Image created by Author If you think about your own childhood, you will also find activities like these. Think about it: What did you love doing? Remember the times you felt excited when you were a child. You were playing, exploring, and learning all the time, and all these activities brought you joy. However, you lost that sense of wonder, play, and creativity when you grew up. Life got serious, and you have got too many responsibilities and busywork, and you are just trying to keep your head above water. So, you need to go back to your childhood and reclaim your childhood. You can reclaim your childhood and creativity by exposing yourself to novel experiences and playful activities. Try getting lost, traveling to new cities, learning a new language, writing a story, or playing an instrument. Do things just because you want to do them. This means getting a break from endless goals, worries, anxieties, busywork, and responsibilities. You can learn for the sake of learning if you are following your curiosity. When you are involved in creative activities, immerse yourself in the present moment, and truly experience the joys and wonders of exploration. Another lesson from this experience is: You cannot learn and grow if you try to be clever all the time. It is much better to be naïve, hungry, foolish, playful, and curious. To this end, I have stopped taking myself so seriously. In my work, I have started experimenting with humor and self-deprecation. When you do not take yourself seriously, this opens up a whole universe of freedom and flexibility for you. You take all that serious baggage (you have accumulated over decades) off your shoulders. Our lives are full of too much serious business. You need more spaces and moments for pure-play, foolish dances, horrible singing, and naive discovery. It is your task to open up these spaces and moments in your life. It is not easy to scare yourself and set yourself new challenges and adventures — as this makes you vulnerable. But if you do it, you will be rewarded. You will be happier. You might appear stupid at times, but this is worth it. Your friends will still love you with your weirdness. Why did I start this foolish adventure? I realized that I do not always feel creative and happy in my academic career. I feel a bit trapped by bureaucratic obligations, grading deadlines, article rejections, meetings, and never-ending tasks. Whenever I feel trapped, I know that this is a signal for me: I need to make changes in my work and in my life. It means I need more pockets for joy in my daily schedule. How can I find more joy and meaning in my life? This question requires me to think and act differently. I decided to allocate more time to follow my curiosities, passions, and interests. We are not robots. We need adventures. Sometimes, we need to relax, breathe, loosen up — just be. A wandering mind is not lazy — it is curious and exploring. We need more imagination and leisure in our lives to revitalize and refresh ourselves. Therefore, I started to waste more time for fun just for the sake of fun. Time spent playing or dreaming or improvising is never wasted. Whether you realize it or not, you are making progress whenever you reflect, dream, or create. You need a bit more chaos, randomness, dance, singing, independent learning, writing, and creating in your life. Improvisation is magic — it improves your life instantly. Using props and humor will improve your creativity. For example, I brought a squash to my class and it transformed my teaching. I used it as a prop for improvisation. We ended up creating hundreds of ideas around the squash (to increase its value). It is not about the squash — it is about your way of thinking. This is all about creating possibilities and an imagination space. Take-aways:

https://medium.com/an-idea/why-i-created-my-own-parody-turkish-tv-series-833146b99f88

['Fahri Karakas']

2020-12-19 04:45:41.653000+00:00

['Fun', 'Life Lessons', 'Personal Development', 'Self', 'Creativity']

The Nine Gems of Indian Art

India has, over decades, produced some of the most exceptional masters in the field of art, who have manifested the culture and tradition of the land by creating a visual harmony of emotions. In 1972, the Government of India, led by Indira Gandhi, passed The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, which restricted the export or movement of antiquities and art treasures that came under the purview of this legislation, outside the country’s borders. Over the course of the 1970’s, artworks by nine artists were declared ‘national treasures’ under this Act, thus disallowing their sale outside India. However, artworks by these artists that were already outside India by this time, were not impacted by the law. The nine artists whose artworks were declared as ‘national treasures’ are Abanindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, Nicholas Roerich, Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ravi Varma, and Sailoz Mookherjea. The legislation, while according tremendous respect and importance to the artists, unintentionally contributed to the lack of exposure and popularity of their paintings, since they couldn’t be sold or auctioned outside India, unlike works by artists such as Tyeb Mehta, M.F. Husain or S.H. Raza, from a younger generation. And hence, for the longest time, these nine artists commanded very low prices in the art market, with the exception of Amrita Sher-Gil, whose artworks were already in the European market. Things changed to a small extent when Christie’s, one of the world’s leading auction houses, held an auction for the first time in India in 2013, carrying some of the national treasures. Ashish Anand, Managing Director and CEO of Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), who had collected a large volume of works by these nine artists, has also been instrumental in helping promote their work. DAG held a showing of several of these national treasures at an exhibition titled Navratna: Nine Gems, at the India Art Fair, New Delhi, in 2018. With over 750 artworks of the ‘Navratnas’ in his possession, out of the 3000 that are privately held and not at government run museums, Ashish Anand perhaps owns the largest collection of works by the nine artists. Meet the Nine Gems that have left an indelible mark on Indian art. A banindranath Tagore A self-trained artist from Jorasanko, Kolkata, Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951) entered the world of art at a later stage in life. Inspired by the vibrant colours in Mughal and Pahari miniatures, and the frescoes of Ajanta, his work is a blend of traditionalism and innovation. Abanindranath Tagore attempted to reject western academic art education by developing an art movement called The Bengal School of Art. His painting, Untitled (Siva-Simantini), got sold at the Christie’s New York auction in 2013, for $555,750 million, setting a world auction record for the artist. Amrita Sher-Gil Referred to by acclaimed author Salman Rushdie as the “greatest woman painter”, Amrita Sher-Gil was the first important woman artist to emerge out of India in the 1930s. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1913, she received her early art training in Florence. Her art was heavily influenced by the European style of painting, especially by the post-impressionists, before she moved to India in her twenties. The Indian influence became more apparent once she started interpreting the life of Indians, particularly that of poorer Indians. She depicted their angular brown bodies and the impression their sad eyes created on her. Her journey as an artist was cut short at the age of 28 as she left for heavenly abode in 1941. Sher-Gil’s untitled rare self-portrait got sold at a Sotheby’s New York auction in 2015 for $2.9 million. Gaganendranath Tagore A self-taught artist and cartoonist, Gaganendranath Tagore (1867–1938) is considered one of the earliest modern artists in India. He experimented with Japanese and western modern art, including cubism, futurism, German expressionism and caricatures reflecting social and religious hypocrisies of his time, making him a pioneer in the field. According to Partha Mitter, writer and historian of art and culture, Gaganendranath Tagore was ‘the only Indian painter before the 1940s who made use of the language and syntax of Cubism in his painting.’ In 2015, his untitled watercolour on paper got sold at a Christie’s Mumbai auction for Rs. 43.7 lakhs. Jamini Roy An iconic artist, Jamini Roy (1887–1972) is internationally recognised for his endeavours in the world of Bengali folk paintings, that ushered a new beginning in the history of Indian modern art. Having studied at the Government School of Art in Calcutta, Jamini Roy’s initial work reflected the Post-Impressionism genre of landscapes and portraits in line with the western tradition taught there. Not satisfied with the outcome, the Padma Bhushan awardee soon found his own voice in developing a style that drew inspiration mainly from traditional Indian folk and village arts, especially those of Bengal, and restricting his palette to earthy colours like red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermillion, grey, blue, and white. In 2014, at a Sotheby’s auction in London, his untitled tempera on canvas got sold for £68,500, more than thrice the estimated price. Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (1882–1966), a noted artist of the Bengal School with great sensibility and technical range, was asked to sketch the emblems of the Government of India awards, Bharat Ratna and Padma Shri. The Padma Vibhushan awardee has also illustrated the original manuscript of the Constitution of India. Painting vibrant subjects and themes from rural India, Bose’s frequently depicted cobblers, tailors, farmers, and women milking cows. In 2013, his grandson sold a collection of 81 paintings for $2.9 million at a Christie’s New York auction, that not only consisted of exclusive works by Nandalal Bose, but also included some of Rabindranath Tagore and Abanindranath Tagore’s paintings. Nicholas Roerich Due to his significant contribution to Indian art, Nicholas Roerich’s (1874–1947) works were deemed ‘national treasures’, despite him not being an Indian. A Russian artist, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, and philosopher, he trained at the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. After living in France and America, Roerich came to India and settled down in the Kulu valley of the Himalayas in 1928, due to his deep interest in Indian culture. The influence of Theosophy, Vedanta, and Buddhism can be detected in many of his paintings. In June 2013, during Russian Art Week in London, Roerich’s “Madonna Laboris” got sold at a Bonham’s auction for £7.8 million. Rabindranath Tagore Renowned writer and a Nobel Prize awardee, Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) first started painting at the age of 63. His preferred mediums ranged from inks to watercolours to crayons and his subjects varied from landscapes to dramatic human faces and figures. Tagore’s art created a new unity by welding together different styles of art and art movements, and through his art, he expressed that which he couldn’t through his verses. A collection of 12 paintings by him were sold by Dartington Hall Trust charity, in London, for £1.6 million in 2010. Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906) was a celebrated Indian artist, famous for his realistic portrayal of Indian gods, goddesses and mythological characters, in scenes adapted mainly from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. Considered as one of the greatest painters in the history of Indian art, Ravi Varma fused European techniques with Indian sensibilities. Though a protégé of royalty, Raja Ravi Varma was the first to make lithographic prints of his artworks affordable and easily available, bringing fine art to the masses. An original 1890 Ravi Varma oil on canvas, titled “Radha in the Moonlight” was sold for Rs. 20 crores at a Pundole auction in Mumbai in 2016. Sailoz Mookherjea Regarded as one of India’s earliest modern painters, Sailoz Mookherjea (1907–1960) received his diploma in Fine Arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in 1937. Soon after, he moved to Paris, where his style of painting transformed adhering to European principles, but his subjects were still rural Indian people and scenes. Mookherjea stressed on colour over form and focused on expression and movement. His artworks rarely come up for sale, and when they do, they are sold for very moderate sums. In Saffronart’s Summer Online Auction, 2018, Mookherjea’s “Hill Fair” got sold for Rs. 14 lakhs. Although undervalued and unappreciated at the time when they were alive, these nine gems have left a lasting impression on Indian art and continued to serve as inspiration to artists over subsequent generations. Source:

https://medium.com/artisera/the-nine-gems-of-indian-art-bd7d4559679a

['Stuti Katiyar']

2019-04-05 08:36:57.810000+00:00

['Raja Ravi Verma', 'Indian Art', 'Art', 'Indian Artists', 'Art Blog']

Did CDC Delays in Up-To-Date Masking Advice Cost Health Workers’ Lives?

Kaiser Family Foundation (KNN) By Christina Jewett, MARCH 12, 2021 Since the start of the pandemic, the most terrifying task in health care was thought to be when a doctor put a breathing tube down the trachea of a critically ill covid patient. Those performing such “aerosol-generating” procedures, often in an intensive care unit, got the best protective gear even if there wasn’t enough to go around, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. And for anyone else working with covid patients, until a month ago, a surgical mask was considered sufficient. A new wave of research now shows that several of those procedures were not the most hazardous. Recent studies have determined that a basic cough produces about 20 times more particles than intubation, a procedure one doctor likened to the risk of being next to a nuclear reactor. Other new studies show that patients with covid simply talking or breathing, even in a well-ventilated room, could make workers sick in the CDC-sanctioned surgical masks. The studies suggest that the highest overall risk of infection was among the front-line workers — many of them workers of color — who spent the most time with patients earlier in their illness and in sub-par protective gear, not those working in the covid ICU.

https://medium.com/@joaquimcardosodorosario/did-cdc-delays-in-up-to-date-masking-advice-cost-health-workers-lives-76b4680d2ff4

['Joaquim Cardoso']

2021-03-15 01:36:38.838000+00:00

['Masks', 'N95']

More NFL stats for regular season

Teams Which team did better or worse in 2018 as compared to 2017, in purely mathematical terms? Percentage The Browns lead the pack in terms of % improvement (quite possible with their 2017) Baker Mayfield got some revenge after the initial comments when he was drafted as no. 1. Houston, Bears, and Colts improved dramatically followed by Chargers, Rams, Saints and Chiefs who are all in the Playoffs now. The bad news team sees the Cardinals and the Jaguars at the bottom of the list but also Vikings, Eagles, Panthers, and Steelers.

https://medium.com/sport-the-digital-r-evolution/more-nfl-stats-for-regular-season-1de8f9a37a82

['Carlo De Marchis']

2019-01-07 07:14:45.042000+00:00

['NFL', 'Data Visualization', 'Digisport']

Crowdfunding Railways — Rebuilding the Shanklin to Ventnor Line

There used to be a railway line between Shanklin and Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Built by the Victorians it was axed in 1966. There are current proposals to look into the feasibility of bringing it back. We should do this. I think we should crowdfund some of it and give an ownership percentage to the local community. I also think the Government could build a light rail or tram-train. The old line is currently serving as a cycle track between Shanklin and Wroxall. There the line disappears under a new housing estate through a blocked-off tunnel to its terminus in Ventnor. I am not a railway engineer and can’t comment on the specific challenges of construction. My only experience in infrastructure design is playing Sim City. If the authorities do decide to go ahead however I think building a light rail or tramway makes a lot of sense. Light Rail and Tram-trains Any large infrastructure project is expensive and often ends up over budget. To reinstate the Shanklin to Ventnor route we need to build approximately 4 miles of track. Across the world, light railway systems are being built. The Government seems quite keen on them in UK cities also. The main benefits of a light rail system are that it’s cheaper to build and maintain. There are less operational headaches and they look cool. Enthusiasts argue about the definition but to my mind, picture a tram with overhead cables and that’s what I mean in this context. These are normally seen in cities but should work for our short rural line. Wired magazine has an article about the tram-train hybrid. They can travel on tramways and heavy rail. This would mean the train could connect to the existing line at Shanklin and continue on to Ryde. Although in that case the whole line may have to be adapted. Crowdfunding If the government decides the scheme can go ahead then another reason a light railway makes sense is ownership. Heavy rail is owned centrally and their operation franchised. Trams and Light Rail can be owned entirely by the local authority which means they also get all the profits. I think we can take it a step further and allow direct community ownership via crowdfunding. The local authority would form a management company and any local resident can invest a minimum of £10. They would receive annual dividends of the excess profit or other perks like travel discounts. I understand that crowdfunding alone will not finance the project. It will offset some Government spending but I think the greater benefit is fostering a sense of ownership in a local asset. A local community with a tangible stake will be more likely to use and support the railway. The local authority will also be more directly accountable to the community. It shouldn’t be too difficult to manage all of this. The management company would make an initial offering on existing crowdfunding sites like Seedrs or Crowdcube. The minority shareholders could also be represented by via a nominee to streamline things a bit. Many favour railways in public ownership. I don’t agree but I think crowdfunding could offer a hybrid system in this small example. You could imagine the management company is owned partly by the community, the local authority and a larger investor. Many private railways exist in Japan and are run profitably with high customer satisfaction. According to the FT it would be difficult for the UK to copy the Japanese system wholesale. We could still adopt some best practises. The Japanese Government sets a higher limit on fares and allows an appropriate profit for operators. In our crowdfunded railway these rules could be enshrined within the company articles. Any large investor would buy-in on these terms. East Japan Railway Company (JR East) took a minority stake in West Midlands Rail. Maybe we could convince them Ventnor Rail would be a good long term investment? Local Infrastructure Investments It is well documented that building infrastructure greatly improves the local economy. The railway itself will create a number of jobs but will also have a multiplier effect. I think building such a project shows clear intention and will convince others that Ventnor is worth investing in. Ventnor residents should benefit directly from the line in terms of connection. They will also benefit indirectly with new inbound tourists given access to the town. The immediate effect of the Coronavirus pandemic has been a reduction of international travel. A domestic holiday suddenly looks more appealing. If the trend persists then a railway will mean Ventnor is well-positioned for the future. Finally, there are obvious environmental benefits. Increasing car journeys was one of the reasons that the original line was decommissioned after the Beeching report. Rail travel has in fact increased since the 1960s. Reducing car journeys is now a necessary part of addressing climate change. The government has banned petrol engine cars being sold past 2035. The intention is clear and now it’s time for a new era of community owned rail to reconnect our towns.

https://medium.com/@PaddyBarnes/crowdfunding-railways-rebuilding-the-shanklin-to-ventnor-line-69ebb9a7a89b

['Paddy Barnes']

2020-05-27 18:27:57.504000+00:00

['Infrastructure', 'Isle Of Wight', 'Crowdfunding', 'Railways']

The Claps on Medium

After a while, I noticed that I had more claps than fans for my stories. My first thought of course was that I misunderstood the relation between claps and fans. But then I saw that some fans had given some claps. I was surprised and asked myself what does that mean? For instance the following story The results of my second month on Medium | by Klaus Wagner | The Innovation | Oct, 2020 | Medium has 90 claps and 6 fans. And these six fans gave 3, 5, 8, 10, 14, and 50 claps. Don´t get me wrong I love every clap but that was a little bit too much for me. I couldn´t handle it. What is the difference between 3, 5 and 8 claps? Is there a system or a rule for clapping? And can I make mistakes by clapping although I want to give positive feedback? The Medium Help Center says: To clap for a post, click the clap button on the post page. You can clap up to 50 times per post, and you can use it to show the author how much you liked the story. When ranking stories, our system will evaluate claps users give out on an individual basis, assessing their applause for a particular post relative to the number of claps they typically give. Clapping for a story will notify the author that you applauded. Okay, clapping for a story on Medium allows you to distinguish between different levels of “like”. But which are the different levels? What are the criteria? Is there a general rule or something like that? As I mentioned above I have read a lot of articles about how Medium works. But I have never read anything about the “way of clapping”. Hmm, what to do? First I thought, I don´t care, I clap once and that´s it. I give positive feedback, I tell the author with my clap that I like the article and sometimes I leave a comment to express my opinion about that article. Isn´t it enough??? But more and more I am convinced that actually there are differences between stories. Recently I read the following story by Breana Wallace: My 2nd Month on Medium — Full Stats Breakdown | by Breana Wallace | The Innovation | Dec, 2020 | Medium I liked this story very much and I left a comment to tell her about my enthusiasm for it. And because of this article, I decided to think about my one-clap-habit. I concluded that there are stories that deserve a better valuation. From now on I will make difference in giving feedback.

https://medium.com/@klaus-wagnersbr/the-claps-on-medium-19a186d1ea6e

['Klaus Wagner']

2020-12-07 11:37:04.799000+00:00

['Writing', 'Ｍedium', 'Claps On Medium', 'Claps Medium', 'Feedback']

Self-Realization: An important tool for success

I am excited to write about the experience that I recently had with myself and it was about pondering the problem or gap I would want to work on as my Mega Project. In this blog, I will discuss briefly my problem statement, how I refined it and how was the experience. Let’s begin with my problem statement. Problem Statement “To develop a platform for inculcating the importance of “Knowing and recognizing yourself” in the young generation that will help them to select their career smartly by themselves.” Pakistan is in dire need of a career awareness platform for our high school and college students. 64% of Pakistan’s population consists of youth and most of them are unaware of themselves that what they want to in their lives. So, it’s very important to have a clear understanding of yourself. The career choice of more than 80% of our youth is based on the interests of parents, friends, and society but they neglect interest or they even don’t bother to think about what will be good for them. Having a clear understanding of their self will not only help them choose the right career, but it will also play a crucial role in the development of Pakistan. You will say that we all know about it. Now what! Take the example of a self-aware and career-oriented candidate. What benefit can we get from them? Let’s count a few: 1. He will remarkably perform well in studies 2. He will definitely look for ways to apply what she learned by getting a job, starting a new business in that field 3. After marriage, He will let his children dream big and achieve big. This will break the chains and parents will be well aware of future needs. They will be able to properly guide and allow their child to go for interest rather than their wish. 4. Every house will have at least one child who wants to make his/her mark. It will give why to every child in Pakistan and it will drive us to Quid-e-Azam ka Pakistan. If I consider my example, I have got the support of my family and got a good bunch of teachers but not every one of us gets the same opportunity. Its one of the biggest factor in our decline that we are not utilizing our young blood. Many talents could not come up just because they don’t have the necessary resources and are unaware of the modern world’s trends. There should be a platform which would lead our youth towards the pursuit of their dreams. Final Remarks If you want Pakistan to be Pakistan of Quid-e-Azam, you have to urge your majority population to play a role in the country’s progress rather than wasting time in useless activities. Let’s level the grounds for all the students by properly guiding them.

https://medium.com/@mrahimusman/self-realization-an-important-tool-for-success-1f438b10b74

['Muhammad Rahim Usman']

2020-12-25 21:14:22.875000+00:00

['Amal Fellowship', 'Amal Academy']

Accessing remote MySql server using local PhpMyAdmin

How to access remote MySql server using local PhpMyAdmin It is very tedious to connect your remote mysql box especially when you are working with VPN. Initially I used telnet to connect to mysql box than I try to use workbench. Workbench is good and better than using telnet but again it consume more memory and if VPN got disconnected it just hanged. It so irritating. Than I try to configure my PHPMyAdmin to access remote mysql server and it is really very easy to setup. Just you need to configure/modify a single file in PHPMyAdmin folder i.e. “ config.inc.php”. Just add below lines to your “config.inc.php” file add the bottom: //provide hostname and port if other than default$i++; $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'HostName:port'; //user name for your remote server $cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'userName'; $cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'Password'; //password $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config'; // keep it as config If your mysql server is in remote than make sure that you are very much connected to box and than try to access PHPMyAdmin using url. You will get “Current Server” drop down with both “127.0.0.1” and one what you have provided with “$cfg[‘Servers’][$i][‘host’]”. You can switch between the servers by selecting the server “Current server” dropdown. My PHPMyAdmin version: 4.0.4.1 My MySql Version: 5.5

https://medium.com/@suresh-kamrushi/accessing-remote-mysql-server-using-local-phpmyadmin-f96d1bb88a4a

['Suresh Kamrushi']

2020-12-22 12:33:06.339000+00:00

['MySQL', 'Phpmyadmin']

Defining ATT&CK Data Sources, Part I: Enhancing the Current State

Figure 1: Example of Mapping of Process Data Source to Event Logs Discussion around ATT&CK often involves tactics, techniques, procedures, detections, and mitigations, but a significant element is often overlooked: data sources. Data sources for every technique provide valuable context and opportunities to improve your security posture and impact your detection strategy. This two-part blog series will outline a new methodology to extend ATT&CK’s current data sources. In this post, we explore the current state of data sources and an initial approach to enhance them through data modeling. We’ll define what an ATT&CK data source object represents and how we can extend it to introduce the concept of data components. In our next post we’ll introduce a methodology to help define new ATT&CK data source objects. The table below outlines our proposed data source object schema: Table 1: ATT&CK Data Source Object Where to Find Data Sources Today Data sources are featured as part of the (sub)technique object properties: Figure 2: LSASS Memory Sub-Technique (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003/001/) While the current structure only contains the names of the data sources, to understand and effectively apply these data sources, it is necessary to align them with detection technologies, logs, and sensors. Improving the Current Data Sources in ATT&CK The MITRE ATT&CK: Design and Philosophy white-paper defines data sources as “information collected by a sensor or logging system that may be used to collect information relevant to identifying the action being performed, sequence of actions, or the results of those actions by an adversary”. ATT&CK’s data sources provide a way to create a relationship between adversary activity and the telemetry collected in a network environment. This makes data sources one of the most vital aspects when developing detection rules for adversary actions mapped to the framework. Need some visualizations and audio track to help decipher the relationships between data sources and the number of techniques covered by them? My brother and I recently presented at ATT&CKcon on how you can explore more about data sources metadata and how to use sources to drive successful hunt programs. Figure 3:ATT&CK Data Sources, Jose Luis Rodriguez & Roberto Rodriguez We categorized a number of ways to improve the current approach to data sources. Many of these are based on community feedback, and we’re interested in your reactions and comments to our proposed upgrades. 1. Develop Data Source Definitions Community feedback emphasizes that having definitions for each data source will enhance efficiency while also contributing to data collection strategy development. This will enable ATT&CK users to quickly translate data sources to specific sensors and logs in their environment. Figure 4: Data Sources to Event Logs 2. Standardize the Name Syntax Standardizing the naming convention for data sources is another factor that came up during feedback conversations. As we outline in the image below, data sources can be interpreted differently. For example, some data sources are very specific, e.g., Windows Registry, while others, such as Malware Reverse Engineering, have a wider scope. We propose a consistent naming syntax structure that addresses explicitly defined elements of interest from the data being collected such as files, processes, DLLs, etc. Figure 5: Name Syntax Structure Examples 3. Address Redundancy and Overlapping Another unintended consequence of not having a standard naming structure for data sources is redundancy, which can also lead to overlaps. Example A: Loaded DLLs and DLL monitoring The recommended data sources related to DLLs imply two different detection mechanisms; however, both techniques leverage DLLs being loaded to proxy execution of malicious code. Do we collect “Loaded DLLs” or focus on “DLL Monitoring”? Do we do both? Can they just be one data source? Figure 6: AppInit DLLs Sub-Technique (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/010/) Figure 7: Netsh Helper DLL Sub-Technique (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/007/) Example B: Collecting process telemetry All of the information provided by Process Command-line Parameters, Process use of Network, and Process Monitoring refer to a common element of interest, a process. Do we consider that “Process Command-Line Parameters” could be inside of “Process Monitoring”? Can “Process Use of Network” also cover “Process Monitoring” or could it be an independent data source? Figure 8: Redundancy and overlapping among data sources Example C: Breaking down or aggregating Windows Event Logs Finally, data sources such as “Windows Event Logs” have a very broad scope and cover several other data sources. The image below shows some of the data sources that can be grouped under event logs collected from Windows endpoints: Figure 9: Windows Event Logs Viewer ATT&CK recommends collecting events from data sources such as PowerShell Logs, Windows Event Reporting, WMI objects, and Windows Registry. However, these could be already covered by “Windows Event Logs” as previously shown. Do we group every Windows data source under “Windows Event Logs” or keep them all as independent data sources? Figure 10: Windows Event Logs Coverage Overlap 4. Ensure Platform Consistency There are also data sources that, from a technique’s perspective, are linked to platforms where they can’t feasibly be collected. For example, the image below highlights data sources related to the Windows platform such as PowerShell logs and Windows Registry given for techniques that can be also used on other platforms such as macOS and Linux. Figure 11: Windows Data Sources This issue has been addressed to a degree by the release of ATT&CK’s sub-techniques. For instance, in the image below you can see a description of the OS Credential Dumping (T1003) technique, the platforms where it can be performed, and the recommended data sources. Figure 12: OS Credential Dumping Technique (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003/) While the field presentation could still lead us to relate PowerShell logs data source to non-Windows platform, once we start digging deeper into sub-technique details, the association between PowerShell logs and non-Windows platforms disappears. Figure 13: LSASS Memory Sub-Technique (https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003/001/) Defining the concept of platforms at a data source level would increase the effectiveness of collection. This could be accomplished by upgrading data sources from a simple property or field value to the status of an object in ATT&CK, similar to a (sub)technique. A Proposed Methodology to Update ATT&CK’s Data Sources Based on feedback from the ATT&CK community, it made sense to start providing definitions for each ATT&CK data source. However, we realized right away that without a structure and a methodology to describe data sources, definitions would be a challenge. Even though it was simple to describe data sources such as “Process Monitoring”, “File Monitoring”, “Windows Registry” and even “DLL Monitoring”, data source descriptions for “Disk Forensics”, “Detonation Chamber” or “Third Party Application Logs” are more complex. We ultimately recognized that we needed to apply data concepts that could help us provide more context to each data source in an organized and standardized way. This would allow us to also identify potential relationships among data sources and improve the mapping of adversary actions to data that we collect. Our methodology for upgrading ATT&CK’s data sources is captured in the following six ideas: 1. Leverage Data Modeling A data model is a collection of concepts for organizing data elements and standardizing how they relate to one another. If we apply this basic concept to security data sources, we can start identifying core data elements that could be used to describe a data source in a more structured way. Furthermore, this will help us to identify relationships among data sources and enhance the process of capturing TTPs from adversary actions. Here is an initial proposed data model for ATT&CK data sources: Table 2: Data Modeling Concepts Based on this notional model, we can begin to identify relationships between data sources and how they apply to logs and sensors. For example, the image below represents several data elements and relationships identified while working with Sysmon event logs: Figure 14: Relationships examples for process data object — https://github.com/hunters-forge/OSSEM/tree/master/data_dictionaries/windows/sysmon 2. Define Data Sources Through Data Elements Data modeling enables us to validate data source names and provide a definition for each one in a standardized way. This is accomplished by leveraging the main data elements present in the data we collect. We can use the data element to name the data source related to the adversary behavior that we want to collect data about. For example, if an adversary modifies a Windows Registry value, we’ll collect telemetry from the Windows Registry. How the adversary modifies the registry, such as the process or user that performed the action, is additional context we can leverage to help us define the data source. Figure 15: Registry Key as main data element We can also group related data elements to provide a general idea of what needs to be collected. For example, we can group the data elements that provide metadata about network traffic and name it Netflow. Figure 16: Main data elements for Netflow data source 3. Incorporate Data Modeling and Adversary Modeling Leveraging data modeling concepts would also enhance ATT&CK’s current approach to mapping a data source to a technique or sub-technique. Breaking down data sources and standardizing the way data elements relate to each other would allow us to start providing more context around adversary behaviors from a data perspective. ATT&CK users could take those concepts and identify what specific events they need to collect to ensure coverage over a specific adversary action. For example, in the image below, we can add more information to the Windows Registry data source by providing some of the data elements that relate to each other to provide more context around the adversary action. We can go from Windows Registry to ( Process — created — Registry Key). This is just one relationship that we can map to the Windows Registry data source. However, this additional information will facilitate a better understanding of the specific data we need to collect. Figure 17: ATT&CKcon 2019 Presentation — Ready to ATT&CK? Bring Your Own Data (BYOD) and Validate Your Data Analytics! 4. Integrate Data Sources into ATT&CK as Objects The key components in ATT&CK — tactics, techniques, and groups — are defined as objects. The image below demonstrates how the technique object is represented within the framework. Figure 18: ATT&CK Object Model with Data Source Object While data sources have always been a property/field object of a technique, it’s time to convert them into objects, with their own corresponding properties. 5. Expand the ATT&CK Data Source Object Once data sources are integrated as objects in the ATT&CK framework, and we establish a structured way to define data sources, we can start identifying additional information or metadata in the form of properties. The table below outlines some initial properties we propose starting off with: Table 3: Data Modeling Concepts These initial properties will advance ATT&CK data sources to the next level and open the door to additional information that will facilitate more efficient data collection strategies. 6. Extend Data Sources with Data Components Our final proposal is to define data components. The relationships we previously discussed between the data elements related to the data sources (e.g., Process, IP, File, Registry) can be grouped together and provide an additional sub-layer of context to data sources. This concept was developed as part of the Open Source Security Event Metadata (OSSEM) project and presented at ATT&CKcon 2018 and 2019. We refer to this concept as Data Components. Data Components in action In the image below, we extended the concept of Process and defined a few data components including Process Creation and Process Network Connection to provide additional context. The outlined method is meant to provide a visualization of how to collect from a Process perspective. These data components were created based on relationships among data elements identified in the available data source telemetry. Figure 19: Data Components & Relationships Among Data Sources The diagram below maps out how ATT&CK could provide information from the data source to the relationships identified among the data elements that define the data source. It’d then be up to you to determine how best to map those data components and relationships to the specific data you collect. Figure 20: Extending ATT&CK Data Sources What’s Next In the second post of this two-part series, we’ll explore a methodology to help define new ATT&CK data source objects and how to implement the methodology with current data sources. We will also release the output of our initial analysis, where we applied these data modeling concepts to draft a sample of the new proposed data source objects. In the interim, we appreciate those who contributed to the discussions around data sources and we look forward to your additional feedback. ©2020 The MITRE Corporation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Approved for public release. Distribution unlimited 20–00841–11.

https://medium.com/mitre-attack/defining-attack-data-sources-part-i-4c39e581454f

['Jose Luis Rodriguez']

2020-09-11 06:57:33.210000+00:00

['Cybersecurity', 'Infosec', 'Data Sources', 'Attck', 'Mitre']

a quiet redistribution of empathy

a quiet redistribution of empathy poetry is merely a quiet redistribution of our empathy. a waterfall of emotion, each handful cupped carefully and passed to a woeful, waiting world. once it was flourishing text and decorated idiosyncrasies, long, winding metaphors and melodic maladies, plays on words and thoughtful peculiarities, softspoken remedies and heartbroken elegies. then it became a bullet aimed at a heart: short. quick. a gut punch. it’s metamorphosis traced like a paperback spine, it’s evolution tracked through the passage of time, it’s changes of heart and changes of mind, it’s anchors of peace and desperate lifelines. from ancient tomes to instagram poems, we wrote as far as we could dare to conceive, searching endlessly for a mental reprieve. the world may have changed and so may its prose, but the purpose of poetry stayed a flourishing rose. to define is to limit, and our emotion remains endless. it was infinite then, it is infinite now, and maybe it sounds different, but its reasoning is the same, not for glory and never for fame, merely to say, we are the same. there is a world we will never understand but we will face it hand in hand as our ancestors did so many years before, with those same honest words and a welcome, open door. seeking understanding of the impossible, seeking solace in the unimaginable, unwinding the wrapping of our grief into a final, calming sigh: relief.

https://medium.com/@saniwrites/a-quiet-redistribution-of-empathy-36d2fe93eaf2

[]

2020-12-04 18:25:19.122000+00:00

['Unity', 'Change', 'Poetry', 'Free Verse', 'Poems On Medium']

Murai Batu Bird, Stone Magpie Bird Sound, See Stone Magpie.

Murai Batu Bird, Stone Magpie Bird Sound, See Stone Magpie. This type of stone magpie is popular in Indonesia and the division of stone magpie types is based on the dossier from “The Clement of the Birds of the World 2011” file. To make it easier for readers, hobinatang has completed the pictures and explanations for each point. Don’t miss a thing. 1. Types of Murai Batu Medan Magpie batu medan ranks first on our summary list. Because the Medan stone magpie has a very melodious and varied voice, it often enters contests along with the tombstone magpie. So don’t be surprised if this guy is the prima donna for breeders or hobbyists in Indonesia. In the past, methyl bromide birds were still found in several areas of northern Sumatra such as Bahorok (the black-billed magpie species is one of the most popular in Medan). Bukit Lawang and at the foot of Mount Leuser. But did you know that currently, the existence of the original Medan’s stone magpie has declined significantly, so herders are struggling to find the original Medan’s stone magpie in the area. Even so, you can still easily find the stone magpie of Medan from the results of crossing with the stone magpie that always descends from the stone magpie of Medan, such as the Malaysian stone magpie, Pasaman Batu’s magpie, Aceh and Padang. You can see the characteristics of Medan’s stone magpie below: Large body. Even bigger than other stone magpies. The color of the fur is jet black and shiny. However, if exposed to the sun, the color looks a bit bluish. There are 4 pairs of white feathers with a black band which is split horizontally on the tail. The legs of Medan’s stone magpie are usually black and some are blackish-red Body length is about 27–30 cm The only thing is that Medan’s stone magpie, when singing, has its tail straightened to touch his head. For the price of the stone magpie from Medan itself is very varied, depending on the quality and experience of participating in the competition. MB who is still a puppy, usually sold nearly 2 million more. 2. Murai Batu Nias It is called the magpie, because it comes from the island of Nias. Administratively, the island of Nias is still part of the province of North Sumatra. However, nowadays the magpie is also difficult to find in its habitat, due to an unsanitary environment, which makes it even more rare and almost extinct. Even if bird lovers really want to keep this kind of magpie. The inherent characteristic of this pie nias is that it can sound quite loud even though its body size is small. The headstone magpie has a tail that is up to 8 inches long and there is only one color, black. Another advantage of the magpie is that it can quickly mimic the sounds of other birds, and taking care of it is also easy. MB Nias is not an easily depressed or stressed type of bird, in fact he is very adaptable so that he is faster to train and reproduce. 3. Types of Murai Batu LampungLampung’s Previously,stone magpie was often underestimated by fans of chirping mania, but ever since Kitaro (Dede’s stone magpie) won the highest podium in the contest d President Joko Widodo’s Cup birds and was offered 600 million rupees, now Lampung’s stone magpie increased her prestige, so she fears. the attention of many people and more and more chased by the mania of twittering. The body size of Batu Lampung’s magpie is almost the same and is similar to the size of Nias stone magpie but smaller than Medan’s stone magpie. The length of the tail is about 12–18cm. Its hair on the chest is brownish orange and a little dark. He is mentally strong, agile. Currently, Lampung Batu’s magpie costs around IDR 500,000 to IDR 1,000,000. However, it can increase further if the popularity of Magpie Batu Lampung continues to increase. 4. The Aceh Stone Murai Bird The Aceh stone magpie really comes from Aceh to be precise in the region / small islands of Simeulue, Lasia, Breuh (especially in Lampuyang) Lhoong, Keude Bieng and Sabang. The most famous in the Aceh region are the Sabang magpie and the lampyang magpie (will be discussed in a special point). In general, the Aceh stone magpie has body characteristics that are neither too large nor too average. The tail length is almost the same as the tail length of Medan’s Magpie, which is around 19–30cm. Even though it’s small, it turns out that the Aceh stone magpie has some advantages in terms of its sound that rolls like a gunshot, sometimes cutting and varying. For him to become a mainstay of the tweet mania. which clearly has pretty good fighting power can compete with other types of stone magpies. The price of aceh stone magpie is not much different from Medan stone magpie depending on the quality and condition, bro. 5. Murai Batu Sabang and Lempuyang (Aceh) Murai Sabang and Lempuyang are the 2 most popular types of magpies with aceh ID cards, both of which live on small islands around Aceh (Sabang and Breueh islands, see map below). The people there call it magpie sabang and magpie lempuyang. Both have long tails between 20 and 28 cm and are black (black tail). The difference is that Sabang’s magpie leaves tend to be soft compared to Lempuyang’s magpie leaves which tend to be straight. On the basis of the tail there are also types of logs, sabang and lempuyang) 6. Murai Batu Kalimantan / Borneo Borneo is another name for the island of Borneo, on this island there are three types of magpies rocks. Namely the banjar stone magpie, Palangka stone magpie and crown stone magpie. However, people often call these three types of magpie batu borneo or Kalimantan. The characteristics of the quality Borneo stone magpie are as follows: The chest hair of the Kalimantan stone magpie is light brown. But some are a bit dark. The brighter the brown color, the stronger the mental strength of the Kalimantan stone magpie. The sound of the chirping clicked and came out continuously. The tail is not too long, only 10–13 cm. His eyes were sharp. The shape of the head of the Kalimantan magpie is not round, that is, flat or somewhat square. The legs are dark brown or reddish brown. Do not choose a Kalimantan stone magpie with yellowish legs as they are generally not mentally good. Choose a Kalimantan stone magpie that always opens its beak (a sign that it has a loud voice). The handle is strong and big. The Borneo magpie price, based on what we saw in the chirp mania group, sells for around Rs 1,400,000 or less. 7. Murai Banjar (Borneo) As we mentioned above, Banjar magpie is one of the three types of stone magpie native to Kalimantan, which spreads in East and South Kalimantan. The banjar type is the most popular. Even the community is seen to have a strong fighting mentality. Its food is the same as that of other magpies, namely insects, worms, caterpillars and caterpillars. The body size of the banjar magpie is small, medium and large. The tail length is about 10–15cm, with a light brown chest, dark black legs but sometimes blackish brown. 8. Murai Palangka Borneo Unlike the banjar, the magpie palangka spreads in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. Has a characteristic long tail of about 15–18 cm, but physically it is almost the same as the Lampung’s magpie. On the chest brown to dark brown, legs black, sometimes reddish brown and yellowish white. The fighting style is the same as that of the other Borneo magpie, which develops chest hair when fighting, but only in the abdomen to the edge of the chest. If the Banjar magpie develops all the reddish-brown chest hair up to the neckline, making it like a tennis ball. 9. Crown Murai Batu of Borneo If the crown has a white color on his head, that is why it is called the “crown”. Distributed around North Kalimantan to Malaysia. From his fighting style and physique he looks like a banjar, it’s just that the crown magpie has a white tint on his head. 10. Types of Murai Batu Jambi The existence of this stone magpie from Jambi province is not as popular as the Sumatran magpie we discussed above (Magpie Medan, Aceh, Nias and Lampung). Even so, the Javanese magpie is quite charming and can sing melodiously if properly trained. More or less its abilities are like the Malaysian stone magpie or the brothel stone magpie. (will be discussed in the next point) Murai Jambi himself is divided into two groups, namely one group living in the lowlands (swamps) and the other group living in the highlands. In general, the Magpie jambi that lives in the lowlands has a smaller body and a short tail, while the Magpie jambi that lives in the highlands has a long tail and curves upwards. The difference between jambi and medan magpies is the length of the tail and black color, the tail of the medan magpie is longer than the jambi which is only 10–16cm, then the black color of the jambi pie does no bluish effect when exposed to light. For the price I can’t say it exactly, but it’s more or less the same as other Medan magpies. 1.5 million IDR (can be more or less) 11. Types of Murai Batu Jawa or Larwo This Javanese magpie or commonly known as Larwo actually has a unique name meaning. Larwo which means Lare Dowo (long hair). Even though the Javanese stone magpie is not as famous as the Medan stone magpie, it also has a unique feature, which is when the song of the hair on the top of the head will stand upright like a crest, although usually the one that is standing is the chest hair. The characteristics of the original Javanese magpie are its posture or small size, it has black fur on its belly, makes a good sound like other stone magpies and has a long tail hair of about 8–10cm . 12. Murai Batu Irian / Papua / Tangkar Centrong? Maybe there is someone who understands better, is this magpie iris or commonly known as papua magpie and tangkar centrong including stone magpie type? Because if you look closely at the Iris magpie, it is a little different from other stone magpies, but why are there so many sites that include Irian’s magpie including type MB? The classification of Irian’s magpie has the scientific name Crypsirina temia or latinya Racket tailed treepie, this type belongs to the family of Corvidae of the genus Crypsirina. Its hallmark is the eyes which appear to be wearing dark glasses, then the body is about 35cm long, black fur with dark green tips and a bit oily for a shiny appearance. 13. Types of Thai stone magpieThai stone Next is themagpie or so called muari batu Langkawi which is currently cultivated on the border of Malaysia and Thailand. The bird of the Thai magpie is in high demand by the public to be included in the competition. Based on the mentality of the stone magpie from Thailand, he is known to be strong and aggressive. Its hallmark is small in size but has a long tail up to 38 cm. Although long, the tail feathers are not thick or only a few strands of hair. 14. Types of pie Batu Bordan The pie de bordel is similar to the pie de pierre de terre. Because it was the result of a cross between male Medan stone magpies and Borneo stone magpies. So it’s no surprise that the brothel magpie is similar to the land stone magpie. In addition, the resemblance begins with the pattern of the tail pattern and the posture of the body. The result of this marriage gives the brothel magpie a unique advantage that she likes to play his cock when she fights. He also has good mental voice, great voice, can have good and varied voice, and cool fighting style. 15. Murai Batu Malaysia Some areas of Malaysia have very good stone magpies, including Pahang, Selangor, Kelantan and New Negeri. However, the best known are those from nine countries. This Malay Magpie from nine countries has a strong mentality, is tough and is known to be aggressive. However, from a physical point of view, almost all Malaysian magpies from anywhere have the same tail feathers, which is around 8 inches. In addition, all Malay stone magpies are also sought after to be included in contests or competitions, as their beautiful voice and fighting style is no less good than Bordan’s stone magpie fighting style. 16. Types of Murai Batu Lahat The best-selling stone magpie on the market and the easiest to find is the lahat’s magpie. While it is the most famous in Indonesia. Murai batu lahat is approximately 18–23cm long, his body posture is very similar to that of a tomb magpie. The benefits are also the same as some other stone magpies, namely that they have a pleasant and varied voice and have a strong, tough mentality. 17. Philippine Magpie Even though it comes from overseas, the Philippine Magpie is not suitable if entered in a contest or contest. Because the voice is not good but the style is very good. So the reason some people hold the Philippine Magpie is because of its cool styling, so it is only used as an ornamental bird. These are the names of the most famous stone magpies in Indonesia, although in reality there are still names of stone magpies depending on the region of each island, such as in Medan there are Bahorok stone magpies , etc. Now we are going to mention the scientific division of magpie which was cited by a university in the United States. 18. Scientific Division of Murai Batu Types Below types of magpies are not only found in Indonesia and neighboring countries, but also all over the world. So when you think about it, in this article there are over 20 types, not just 18. Okay? Copsychus malabaricus malabaricus, native to the Indian peninsula. Copsychus malabaricus leggei, its natural habitat in Sri Lanka Copsychus malabaricus indicus, has spread across the region from Nepal to Assam and northeast India. Copsychus malabaricus interpositus, spreads in southwest China to Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina and the Mergui Islands. Copsychus malabaricus minor, native to Hainan (southern China). Copsychus malabaricus mallopercnus, is found on Malay Peninsula, Riau Islands and Lingga Islands. Copsychus malabaricus tricolor, its spread is in Sumatra, Java, Bangka, Belitung and the island of Karimata. Copsychus malabaricus mirabilis, widespread on the island of Prinsen (Sunda Strait) Copsychus malabaricus recovering, its spread on the islands of northwest Sumatra Copsychus malabaricus opisthopelus, scattered on the islands of southwest Sumatra Copsychus malabaricus javanus, spreads in the region of Central Java Copsychus malabaricus omissus, its spread is in East Java Copsychus malabaricus ochroptilus, widespread on Anambas island (South China Sea) Copsychus malabaricus abbotti, scattered on the Bangka islands and Belitung Copsychus malabaricus eumesus, this stone magpie is found in the Natuna Islands. Copsychus malabaricus suavis, comes from Kalimantan except northern Kalimantan Copsychus malabaricus nigricauda, ​​?? scattered in the Kangean and Matasiri islands (Java Sea). Copsychus malabaricus stricklandii, Murai Batu from the lowlands of northern Kalimantan, Labuan, Balembangan and Pulai Banggi. Copsychus malabaricus barbouri, the habitat is on the island of Maratua (in North Kalimantan). This is a comprehensive review of the types of stone magpies in the world, including Indonesia. Can be useful.

https://medium.com/babbling-bird-lovers/murai-batu-bird-stone-magpie-bird-sound-see-stone-magpie-a1bb33fc601a

[]

2020-12-07 06:31:35.795000+00:00

['Songs', 'Hobby', 'Bird']

Mother Cosmos

Ranging much of the Indo-European and Proto-Indo-European world, and more broadly approximately 4,000–25,000 years ago, one senses echoes of an image now almost entirely evaporated into the time before humanity’s earliest memories or histories. Though not at all clear today, with some trepidation and humility, one may venture to describe this widespread image as maternal. Were one to consider only two works from the era in question, they might be the “Venus” of Willendorf of Paleolithic Europe and the Upanishads of ancient India. Both the Venus and the Upanishads may not only stand as artifacts of humanity’s deep past, in the form of sculpture and literature, but as indications of the mental landscape common to all human beings. Measuring little more than four inches high, carved from limestone in ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE, the “Venus” of Willendorf was discovered in Lower Austria (Humanistic 5). This particular Venus, one instance of a number of female figurines discovered around eastern Europe, may grant a clue as to the cultural and psychological state of Paleolithic humans in that region — including, or especially, as an indication of what these people thought of women generally and of Woman in the abstract. In this era women “secured food by gathering fruits and berries” and “acted as healers and nurturers.” Additionally, “the female (in her role as child-bearer) assured the continuity of the tribe … As life-giver, she was identified with the mysterious powers of procreation and exalted as Mother Earth” ( Humanistic 4). Embodying not only practical concerns but cosmic vision, as well, the Venus and her counterparts may indicate not only the ways in which prehistoric human communities viewed women, but the way in which they saw themselves in relation to the world around them. Venus of Willendorf, frontview. Borrowed from Wikimedia Commons. Jungian psychologist Erich Neumann suggests as much in The Great Mother, describing the ostensibly prevalent mother-imagery of eastern Europe as an indication of the psychological development of prehistoric humans: the conscious ego emerges from the automatic unconscious mind in much the same way a child is gestated and birthed by their mother; while the child develops through separation, individuating themselves from their mother (a stage Neumann sees in the subsequent prevalence of father- and hero-imagery), the child begins in close relation to their mother — their contingent origin. A number of figurines like the Venus of Willendorf “show the female nude with pendulous breasts, large buttocks, and a swollen abdomen, indicating pregnancy” (Humanistic 4); moreover, perhaps these maternal images are related to the numerous caves and their art which prehistoric humans carved and painted (Lascaux and Chauvet, for instance), harking back to one’s biological womb in order to evoke the sense of a more cosmic womb which gave rise to all of nature, humanity included. Lascaux cave, interior; Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley. Borrowed from Wikimedia Commons. Neither the Venus nor the caves contemporary with her carving are self-explanatory, meaning that explanations such as those offered by Neumann are merely speculative. However, in a roundabout way, Neumann’s analysis and the explicitly maternal contents of the Venus and her counterparts may testify to these artifacts’ place in human (or at least Indo-European) development. Though their meanings are not immediately obvious, the Venus and the caves stand as precursors to the thought and culture of subsequent societies, a kind of civilizational womb, mother to the peoples and cultures to follow in the Neolithic era and beyond. The Venus of Willendorf, then, may serve as a reminder not only of the mysteriousness and obscurity of much of human history and prehistory, but as a concrete reminder of humanity’s contingency, deriving its contents from an origin which is beyond memory or history and yet which sits at the very root of much of the present. The Upanishads of ancient India may capture this maternal cosmos in a literary vein. Initially orally transmitted from the eighth to sixth centuries BCE, these 250 prose commentaries on the more ancient Vedas capture the essence of Hinduism: pantheism, which, in the case of Hinduism, “identifies the sacred not as a superhuman personality, but as an objective, all-pervading Cosmic Spirit called Brahman.” The Hindu view “that divinity is inherent in all things” and that “the universe itself is sacred” ( Humanistic 65) seems fairly cogent with the prehistoric maternal cosmos at which the Venus and her caves hint, perhaps being a distant descendant of this worldview. Consider the Hindu cosmology as a whole: “In every human being, there resides the individual manifestation of Brahman: the Self, or Atman, which, according to the Upanishads, is ‘soundless, formless, intangible, undying, tasteless, odorless, without beginning, without end, eternal, immutable, [and] beyond nature.’ Although housed in the material prison of the human body, the Self (Atman) seeks to be one with the Absolute Spirit (Brahman). The spiritual (re)union of Brahman and Atman — a condition known as nirvana — is the goal of every Hindu. This blissful reabsorption of the Self into Absolute Spirit must be preceded by one’s gradual rejection of the material world, that is, the world of illusion and ignorance, … achieving liberation of the Self and union with the Supreme Spirit” (Humanistic 66). Aitareya Upanishad, Sanskrit, Rigveda, Devanagari script, 1865 CE manuscript. Borrowed from Wikimedia Commons. A vision startlingly similar not only to Neumann’s own model of the emergence of consciousness but to human reproduction, this Hindu cosmology and its literary exploration in the Upanishads may evoke similar phenomenal states as those sought by the prehistoric populations who carved figurines like the Venus of Willendorf and who occupied and painted caves such as Lascaux and Chauvet. Furthermore, the Bhagavad Gita, the most popular Indian text next to the Upanishads, serving as something of a commentary on the latter, further explicates this theme in its conversation between Arjuna, who feels dissociated from and adrift in the world, and Krishna, a manifestation of Brahman who calls his interlocutor to abandon desire for this or that particularity and to instead embrace the whole of existence — Brahman, the whole of which everything and everyone is a part (Humanistic 66–67). Both the Venus of Willendorf and her caves on the one hand, and the Upanishads and their adjacent literature on the other, are ancient enough as to have created numerous varying and even contradictory interpretations. Neither piece is self-explanatory. And yet both stand at the basic origins of much of modern human thought and culture, perhaps even of humanity’s overall psychological development. If serving as nothing more than a hint at humanity’s mysterious contingency (as in the case of the Venus), or in exploring that contingency from an existential and psychological perspective (as in the case of the Upanishads), both the Venus of Willendorf and the Upanishads secure themselves as landmarks and staples of human history, and thus as deserving of recognition and preservation in the overall narrative of human origins and development.

https://medium.com/interfaith-now/mother-cosmos-cebba0ec9a59

['Nathan Smith']

2019-10-06 23:15:47.430000+00:00

['Literature', 'Spirituality', 'Philosophy', 'Religion', 'Psychology']

Improve your voters with the Open/Closed principle

Improve your voters with the Open/Closed principle Think about provided examples and improve them with some OOP concepts. In software engineering one of the main challenges of an application is the maintainability… A lot of new developer tends to work on framework without the knowledge of concepts of OOP (Object Oriented Programming) as SOLID principle and others. In this article, we are going to refactor the voter example provided in the Symfony documentation by applying the Open/Closed principle in order to improve the maintainability. Symfony’s voter example As we can see this example works totally fine and is easy to understand… but if the project tends to grow over time we are going to have several problems: This class will become longer each time we need to add a criterion, with 2 criteria this class has already 47 LoC (Line of Code). So imagine with 10… When we will need to add criteria we are going to modify the switch case, which is a violation of the Open/Closed Principle. So, how can we prevent these issues? We need to find a way to add an extra case without adding code, to do so we are going to use a an array, each time we need a new criterion we just need to add it to the array. The DI (Dependency Injection) component of Symfony allows us to easily create a list of services implementing an interface and this is the feature that will make our code easily extendable. Here you can find the interface we will use. Now lets take a look at the DI’s configuration.To register our criteria, we do have to add a tag to each class implementing the interface. We will then inject the tagged services into our voter as a ServiceLocator. And our brand new voter is now open to extension and does not have to be modified anymore, the voter will never change regardless the number of criteria we want to use. Open/Closed voter So now the criterion responsible for the edition now implement our interface and looks the same as the example provided in Symfony’s documentation. CanEdit criterion And the criterion responsible for the view action look like : CanView criterion And now to use those criteria we just replace the hard coded attribute by the full qualified name of the criterion, which also improve the autocompletion. In conclusion, the main challenge with examples in a documentation is to make the code as simple as possible for people to understand the concept, but they don’t really suit for all project. Doing a copy/paste of the documentation will guarantee you have a working application, and it’s usually fine for simple projects. That said, you should always think twice when working on long living code base, and such patterns will help you in the long run.

https://medium.com/darkmirafr/improve-your-voters-with-the-open-closed-principle-1eae3f77f505

['Vincent Monjaret']

2020-06-15 06:01:01.204000+00:00

['PHP', 'Solid', 'Open Closed Principle', 'Symfony', 'Software Engineering']

User Interface (UI) and User Experience(UX) design and how Augmented reality has reshaped design principles.

User’s first impression matters most in the success of any product design. As far as it is concerned, a successful UX and a UI are essential to ensure that this first approach is delivered to the users with the objective of providing ultimate user satisfaction. Though UX and UI work complementing each other at times, there’s more than a fine line between the differences identified in them. Especially when new technologies such as Augmented Reality influence the conventional UI and UX designs; it is not about a simple swipe across the screen anymore. The digital experience has to be far more considerate of the extra dimensions dealing with the immense level of complexity cooperated with the real-world environment. What is User Experience design? UX design (User Experience Design) is a design concept which is concerned with digital products to improve the inclusive experience of the users throughout their entire journey with the product. In simple terms, user experience manages to provide meaningful and relevant experiences to the user who engages with the product. UX designers have to direct their concern throughout the user’s entire experience from the first to the last encounter of a product, in order to identify and solve related problems that can occur to the user. The designers have to follow through the steps the users take and map their journey. Also, UX designers engage in researching the issues/user pain-points and identify procedures to solve them. Target users and their requirements must be identified during this design stage via all-encompassing user experience research. According to gathered information, a structured illustration must be created at the final stages in order to specify the features the consumers require to navigate through the product easily. The vital goal of UX designing is to ultimately optimize the convenience, efficiency, effectiveness and to provide a satisfying experience to the user. What is User Interface design? UI design is concerned with enhancing the interactivity as well as the overall visual presentation of digital applications. The visual outcome and interactive features in an application are designed through this procedure to ensure user fascination is well elevated. All these interactions between the user and the digital device/applications are formed through the visual elements added such as buttons, tabs and screens etc. on your smartphone or other smart devices. The ultimate objective of UI designing is to strengthen the identity of a brand with the use of visual assets in the interface to ensure that the design is visually appealing and interactive to the user. UI designers also play a part in creating an impact on a product’s comprehensiveness and the accessibility. The UI designers make decisions about colors, contrasts, intensities and other visual elements to improve the overall presentation and the interactivity of a product. Reshaping UX/UI designs to integrate Augmented Reality(AR) Thanks to Pokemon Go and social media platforms like Snapchat and Facebook, Augmented reality gained the spotlight of digital users during the last 5–6 years. With the emergence of the new technology, digital products began to grab the marvels for the convenience and the usability it delivers. In general, UX/UI designs for AR based products are associated with few key principles that require emphasizing, especially over traditional UI/UX design strategies. -Ensuring that AR is the suitable medium to approach the product functionalities. AR could be used as a medium to ultimately optimize the overall user experience and solve the user issues in a more prominent manner. The required functionalities of the product should be vitally enhanced with the experience the user receives through AR. -AR design should be in sync with the business objectives and the user expectations. The designer must ensure that A UX/UI design complements the AR applications and adds direct value to the product which ultimately increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the product. -Minimizing the effect of hardware limitations. It is also important to make sure that the AR application is available to devices that are capable of handling specific AR functionalities. Errors shouldn’t occur when users try to use these specific features on devices which don’t support them technically. -Think outside the frame. Since, AR integrates the digital world with the real world, it is more important to seamlessly create interactions to ensure that the user has the ability to interact with the real-world environment in the most effective way. That is when traditional UI design concepts face redundancies to provide new AR mediums to embark into UI design. With the implementation of AR, the visual and interactive elements broaden along a wide range. It becomes far more than buttons and screens. Interactions are embedded to real-life activities which open up endless possibilities to keep the user engaged. And it is important to anticipate that users will use these AR applications in a variety of real-world environments. -Be aware of the the space and directions required for interactions UX designing for AR applications can add few more additional issues users might encounter especially given the extra dimensions in the real-world environment. Safety instructions should be interpreted to the user clearly and it is one of the most significant parts of the UX design stage when it comes to working with AR. When the product is concerned with AR applications, the UX design has to redirect their focus towards issues with safety measurements, eye anatomy of the user, moving directions and distraction statistics mainly to ensure the safety of the user. -Testing is key. It is important to make sure that usability testing is carried out in real-world conditions when an operative prototype is available for the design. This will ensure the interactions are safe and comfortable for the users. -Use additional features and minimize user inputs through the journey. Cameras and other external sensors on the device can be used to collect relevant information rather than expecting inputs from the user. The total AR experience shouldn’t be interrupted by anticipating user inputs all the time. -Providing a clean display. A wider space of the screen should be reserved to display the physical world and virtual objects rather than cluttering the screen with buttons, tabs and other visual UI elements which can directly disrupt the user experience. - Audio and easy navigation. The overall user experience can be enhanced via adding audio effects and instructions to the application rather than providing text based navigation through the product. It is important to make sure that more visual navigation elements are provided through the virtual experience itself rather than using separate text based instructions for navigation. In a nutshell, While UX design is concerned about identifying and solving user issues/pain-points; UI design is concerned about creating visually-pleasing and interactive interfaces. The UX design process where UX designer maps the structure of the user journey is usually followed by the UI design procedure where the structure is filled with visual and interactive elements, in the product development journey. In addition, UI and UX design for AR has created many opportunities to generate uniquely engaging platforms to drastically elevate user experience and satisfaction. On behalf of Team LiveRoom, put together by Kushlani Perera

https://medium.com/@liveroomlk/user-interface-ui-and-user-experience-ux-design-and-how-augmented-reality-has-reshaped-design-c3e1980fdec8

[]

2020-12-18 15:36:10.618000+00:00

['Ui Ux Design', 'User Experience', 'User Interface', 'AR', 'Augmented Reality']

Cyberpunk 2077 Part 1: Problems

After spending a considerable time on the controversial Cyberpunk 2077, I decided to write some improvement ideas. But before talking about improvements, I need to talk about the problems, right? So let’s start there. Of course I had to use Johnnyboi here For those who want to get right into it, here are the articles that delve into particular topics (updated as I write them) If you want to read more about the problems I see, the original article continues from here: All of these articles may have spoilers. I guess it should be expected anyway due to the nature of them but you’ve been explicitly warned. In fact, I’m starting with some spoilers right away! So far, I’ve had three toons. The first was a Street Kid who asked Panam for help (which was the only option besides the default two) and let Johnny to go on at the end. I played him semi-stealth with revolvers and snipers but his build was pretty messed up with high technical, craft perks I didn’t use and random perks left and right. The second one was a Corporate melee with Reflex and Body focus that had no one to ask for help and went for the Arasaka ending. I tried the “gun ending” in this one, too. Also, I quickly increased the difficulty to hard and very hard during this run. I’ve started a Nomad recently on v. hard who’s going to be a Netrunner and a full ghost (no detection, no killing). These combined with a bit of afk-time sum up to a total of 130 hours. So I’ve had the chance to experience the game in different ways. When I think about the points to improve in the game, I realized it boils down to some basics which are: The story pace and segmentation: ie where the story milestones are The difficulty: ie difficulty of every aspect at different points in the game The effect of choices: ie our ability to change the course of the game in minor or major ways Open World: There aren’t enough sandbox or open-world-specific elements. These are broad topics, of course. If I wrote an article about each, they’d be too long. Plus, these are intertwined topics which makes isolating them pointless. So what are some bite-size aspects of the game to tackle? Let’s try these: Mission Choices: While there are different ways to solve a “zone”, the quests themselves rarely change despite having dialogue options that suggest they would Life Paths: The starting experience is too brief and while there are a lot of dialogue options, see (1) and once our life in the streets start, our old life is never relevant Difficulty: Fights are too easy, especially if you know what to do. Harder difficulties seem to be simply about higher enemy stats. There is no difficulty outside combat. Static World: Whatever you do in the game; Night City, its gangs, law and fixers are always at the same place, reacting the same, nothing ever changes. Character Looks: Not only character customization is limited, it’s also pointless when we thought looks were everything. These will be my main topics for the next articles. There are a couple of other topics that may also be tackled such as Crafting but I don’t have enough to write about them. I’ll update this article with links to the articles (on top) as I create them. Ready to run our imagination in Night City? I know I am. See you in the next one!

https://medium.com/@ekrematamer/cyberpunk-2077-part-1-problems-894c48c55a44

['Ekrem Atamer']

2020-12-27 00:59:28.580000+00:00

['Cyberpunk', 'Videogames', 'Design', 'Analysis', 'Gaming']

Filmmakers need to think beyond making stories & hopeless heroes

Sourav Dutta interviewing Arif Islam (beekeeper) from West Bengal ‘Inspiration is not enough. Emotion has no value now. It is time to find a way where we can connect people in a practical way to support each other, regardless of our profession. We only think of what ‘I’ can achieve. Have we ever thought of doing something for others and made efforts for their achievements?’ — said Sourav Dutta (independent documentary filmmaker) from Mumbai. Who is Sourav Dutta? With an experience of over 10 years, Sourav Dutta started his career in Kolkata as a special teacher for kids who failed in subjects like English and Maths in Bengali medium schools, later his fascination of photography and film making brought him to Mumbai in 2011. Till now he has worked for television, advertising, web series and collaborated with multiple individuals and also for various YouTube channels as a writer, director and assistant. Working on his documentary film series project on alternative education & lifestyle called Project Nomad, Sourav is also an acting & digital film making trainer, currently mentoring for an international project called ‘The Bulbul’. He is also working as a creative head for a children’s robotics initiative, called Witblox. Q. What is your take on filmmaking? I have never been to any film school. I completed my school life in 2006, and in those days film schools used to hold a superior place in case you want to learn filmmaking. It’s no more the same, and since I have never visited one, I am not bounded or deeply affected by any particular idea, style or philosophy of filmmaking. So my take on film making is quite different, open & also keeps changing(smiles). It is definitely a form of art but not personal. And since it's not personal it must have some value & respect to withstand itself for long enough, even after me. Q. So what value do you put into your films and how? Values are not things rather efforts & intensions with which I love to work. With all my films I made connections, a permanent one. When I publish them locally people connect with me to further connect with the people from my films, who are real and doing wonderful works. Normally when we finish a film and publish it we consider it as done and we move on with the next project. In my case, I too move on with my new project but I also do a lot of work with all my existing films as they are not just films but stories of people and their works with whom people want to connect, work and learn. And I consider this a very important part of my filmmaking. When people find answers, gets help, it adds value and respect to my films. Q. What kind of films are you into? Categorically they are documentary films, and they talk about learning and lifestyle. Q. Can you tell us about your current project? Definitely, there is nothing to hide. Rather I would like everyone to talk about it. My current project is about bee migration. I am following a set of beekeepers who travel hundreds of kilometres with their bees, to collect different flavours of honey, which a machine can never replace. You see, in this era of free information, we feel like we know everything. I do agree that we know a lot but the real question is how deeply do we know? Say, for example, we know that the beekeepers work very hard to collect honey, but how hard they work? What exactly they do? We don't know that. So as a filmmaker I feel that it is my responsibility to make you realise that and then help both the parties to connect so that you can get the best honey and the beekeepers’ community gets a direct buyer. In that case, both my subject & my viewers are my heroes. Q. We have heard that you work with an extremely small unit, is that true? Yes, it is true. There are a few reasons for that. A small team is possible because its a documentary film. During the shoot, we just need to shoot what is happening or planned. There is no actors, sets, lightman, makeup man, nothing of that sort. Secondly, a documentary film is more about timing, if you time it right you get the best content. Thirdly, you have to be bang on, you can't miss anything because there is no take 2 in non-fiction. And finally, to do all the above three, you must have a small & dedicated team. Hence, smaller the team, better the work. I have been working with just a team of 2, which includes me as well(smiles). Q. You have worked with the mainstream film industry for quite a few years, what made you quit the mainstream? I haven't vacated the mainstream. I have just chosen to do less of mainstream work and more of independent work. The reason being my learning process. Mainstream regardless of the type of medium is monotonous. Working with a particular production house for long is like driving a car in one particular gear. To move fast you need to shift gears. Once you learn to change the speed, you learn to tackle better. That is what I love to do. Q. What are your future filmmaking plans? Filmmaking is a tool, using which I want to create a community of people who will live together in harmony. I want to spread filmmaking as a skill more than that of art because we have always considered art as an expensive subject. Q. Any message for the upcoming filmmakers? We have always been said to follow others but not to create our own. The world has changed, it’s time we create our own.

https://medium.com/@chaturraghav/filmmakers-need-to-think-beyond-making-stories-hopeless-heroes-8796e3b8ab1a

['Chatur Raghav']

2021-01-05 10:29:36.611000+00:00

['Filmmaking', 'Interview', 'Documentary', 'Bees', 'Project Nomad']

Jacob Blake: The #MeToo Horror Story We Were Warned About

Back when the #MeToo movement was gaining traction, one common claim by conservatives commentators was that a man who had been merely accused of rape could have his life ruined. Upon a mere accusation of rape, we were warned, a man could, for example, get shot in the back seven times on charges that were later dropped. I used that example to because that is basically what happened to Jacob Blake. Yes, the charges against Jacob Blake have now been dropped after he excepted a plea deal. Both Blake and his lawyer have said that Blake basically only took this so he could see his kids (you know, those kids the police department lied about him kidnapping — I’m sorry, lied about thinking he was kidnapping) again, which is a position many parents are forced into. The defense also noted that the only reason Blake was allowed to take this plea deal was because there was not enough evidence to get Blake a guilty verdict. The woman who accused Blake of sexual assault also was uncooperative with the prosecution, and refused to answer to a subpoena. Of course, even if the accusations were true, that wouldn’t justify what the police did. Rape is not a crime that results in capital punishment, even if it did that’s not the decision of the police officer, and even then the police had a very clear chance to arrest Blake when he walked around a car several times. However, the fact that the police were doing all of this based on a false accusation of rape is worth mentioning — just rubbing salt in the wound is all. For that matter, it is possible that Jacob Blake was a rapist — but remember, it’s innocent until proven guilty, not innocent until shot by a police officer or innocent until engaged in mild arrest resisting. However, again, the fact that there’s no evidence he did is worth mentioning, because it proves a massive issue with our justice system. Our justice system has increasingly gone from “innocent until proven guilty” to “shoot first, find a justification later.” Michael Brown robbed a convivence store, Eric Garner was selling loose cigarettes', Treyvon Martin hit George Zimmerman, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend was selling drugs, George Floyd was on drugs, and Tamir Rice had a toy gun that kind of looked like a real one. Breonna Taylor was the worst example, as there the justifications were based on lies through and through, but Blake’s were nearly as bad — although the lie that he was a kidnapper was attempted, but never stuck. Here, the police betted on the idea that Blake was a rapist, which also failed to gain sympathy and was also either a lie or has so little evidence it might as well be a lie. Personally, I am very happy Blake got his day in court, however, it would still be nice if he didn’t get shot seven times in the back first. Blake, it has now been proven, was not worthy of getting shot — and that is all that matters regarding this story.

https://medium.com/@ephromjosine/jacob-blake-the-metoo-horror-story-we-were-warned-about-a9f45007c7ae

['Ephrom Josine']

2020-11-11 17:45:05.220000+00:00

['Metoo', 'Jacob Blake']

Understanding ETL Pipeline

Example Imagine that there is a database that contains web log data. Each entry in the data contains IP address of a user, timestamp, and the link clicked by user. Think of a scenario where you want to run an analysis of links clicked by city and by day. You would need another data set that maps IP address to a city, and you would also need to extract the day from the timestamp. With an ETL pipeline, you could run code once per day that would extract the previous day’s log data, map IP address to city, aggregate link clicks by city, and then load these results into a new database. That way, a data analyst or scientist would have access to a table of log data by city and day. That is more convenient than always having to run the same complex data transformations on the raw web log data. Using ETL pipeline makes sense because, before the usage of cloud computing, companies and businesses used to store their data on private servers that were expensive and running queries on huge datasets could be very expensive in terms of time and economy.

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/understanding-etl-pipeline-76718d299a08

['Chaitanya Krishna Kasaraneni']

2020-05-01 17:43:21.689000+00:00

['Data', 'Data Engineering', 'Data Science', 'Programming', 'Etl']

SDGs Blog: The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs - Taking on global ambition as a Local Pathways Fellow

SDGs Blog: The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs - Taking on global ambition as a Local Pathways Fellow UN-MGCY Follow Aug 7, 2017 · 4 min read by: Clinton Moore “We need 21st century ideas for 21st century challenges.” “Business as usual will not deliver great cities.” “Urbanisation as a process does not guarantee economic growth.” “We need to be provocative and transformational.” The above quotes are a sample of thoughts, jotted down in my notebook, from world and local leaders that I have heard two months into the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Youth Local Pathways Fellowship. They point to some of the great human and development challenges of our time. They point to a common theme — we need creativity and boldness at the junction at which we stand. The journey so far as a Local Pathways Fellow has been thoroughly rewarding. We are 60 young people from 52 cities around the world, driven by visions of sustainable, inspirational, fair, and profound positive change for humanity. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not just our agenda to champion, but everybody’s. Two months in as a Fellow, I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Implementing the New Urban Agenda Conference in Melbourne in May 2017. This was a conference and an agenda for everybody, as demonstrated by a session led by young people and people who have experienced homelessness. Despite our differences in experiencing the city, there were clear consistent themes that emerged in that session. Housing and transport were key concerns, and other discussions centred on the “right to the city” tenet. The New Urban Agenda has begun to stimulate renewed, cross-sector discussion on the Melbourne we want. Melbourne’s success as a liveable and prosperous city has drawn unprecedented levels of growth and investment, and brought to life pressing questions on our urban character, form and fabric. The Resilient Melbourne Strategy, for example, points to the challenges of population growth, social cohesion, climate change, and inequality. Melbourne is experienced very differently by its people, depending on their location, access to quality jobs and services, and proximity to reliable public transport. So with 17 SDGs, 169 targets, and 12 months before me as a Local Pathways Fellow, what is my rallying cry? I am explicit in my passion for SDG 11, to make our cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. My life path to date has criss-crossed the social, environmental, cultural, and spatial dimensions of many cities in Australia and Asia. Having lived in places that colour the seemingly wholesome tapestry of ‘urban’ so very differently, we face tremendous challenges in providing opportunity and tempering urban consumerism while yet cultivating sustainable and fair urban growth. I am now based in Melbourne, but I look upon my time in Manila and Ulaanbaatar with great fondness. For a tragic urbanist like me, living in modern Ulaanbaatar turns some of the concepts we learn about “cities” upside down. Heading out to the ger districts and spending time with a Mongolian family, I saw first-hand the challenges that Mongolian authorities have in managing spatial growth and providing opportunities, particularly for young people, in a context where mass urbanism is relatively new. New apartments rise to meet the steppe in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia All three cities (Melbourne, Manila and Ulaanbaatar) are indeed experiencing rapid growth. Whilst the conditions of growth may be different, they can all look to Goal 11 and its targets as key rallying points of inquiry, action, and partnership. Needless to say, that cities worldwide should be strengthening their appetite for SDG localisation plans and education. Increasingly, I have been drawn to the body of work around resilience in our cities. How are our institutions and communities prepared for the “order, disorder, and re-order” of modern life, as put by theologian Richard Rohr? Resilience in cities may generally be understood as the ability to recover from disaster or unexpected events, while still addressing ongoing stresses such as social inequality. The Local Pathways Fellowship is seeking to build up and enhance a body of knowledge and practice on the SDGs making; it is a show of strength and dynamism from young people around the world. We know that future generations will inherit the cities, lands, oceans, and communities that emerge from the SDGs and as such are considering how to leave them the best inheritance possible. The 2030 Agenda is necessarily ambitious and stirring. Linking local movements with the broader global story is what makes programs such as the Local Pathways Fellowship so transformative. The SDGs are not just a United Nations aspiration, but about the uplifting of the human and environmental condition for all of us. The SDGs are a global response to the challenges of our time. We are all in this together. Clinton Moore is an inaugural SDSN Youth Local Pathways Fellow. Skyline growth in Melbourne, Australia References Center for Action and Contemplation, 2016. Order, disorder, Reorder. Available at: https://cac.org/order-disorder-reorder-2016-02-23/ Resilient Melbourne Strategy, 2016. Available at: http://resilientmelbourne.com.au/strategy/ SDSN Youth, 2017. Meet the fellows. Available at: http://localpathways.org/fellows United Nations, 2017. Sustainable Development Goal 11. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11

https://medium.com/un-major-group-for-children-and-youth/sdgs-blog-the-2030-agenda-and-the-sdgs-taking-on-global-ambition-as-a-local-pathways-fellow-ac03611fd537

[]

2017-08-21 05:08:37.200000+00:00

['Sdsn Youth', 'Urbanization', 'Sdgs', 'Sustainable Development', 'Cities']

Haiku: The Weight of Wealth

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash Heavy bills and coins Bearing down on mind and soul Our Selves sold for it ………………………………………………………………………………………. Looking for books of Haiku poetry to enjoy? Check out these recommendations: The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa: In this collection you will find English translations of many of the greatest poems by three of the greatest masters of this art form: Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa. Classic Haiku: The Greatest Japanese Poetry from Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and Their Followers: Another collection of roughly 200 poems by these masters from as early as 1670. Accompanying the poems are photographs by John Cleare which serve to bring the poetry within these pages even more into life. The Haiku Handbook (25th Anniversary Edition): How to Write, Teach, and Appreciate Haiku: Rather than just exposing you to the poems of the masters, this volume sets out to show you both how you might create your own haiku, and even teach others about this form of artistic expression. Included are lesson plans for both elementary and secondary school use, and even a seasonal word index for you (or your students) to use. Want to enjoy more haiku poems on Medium? Check out this publication: This article contains some affiliate links to books that I recommend as to more fully engage with Haiku poetry. If you choose to purchase these books via my affiliate links, you will help support my writing and research at no additional cost to you.

https://medium.com/haiku-corner/haiku-the-weight-of-wealth-29d5a415daac

['Charles Beuck']

2019-12-10 00:33:31.720000+00:00

['Poetry', 'Haiku', 'Life', 'Money', 'Poem']

Should I pay for Plex Premium?

If you’re asking this question, you’re probably in a situation similar to mine — you’re using Plex, but unsure whether it is worth the cost of premium. I spent a lot of time researching the features, and running Plex both with, and without Premium, and wanted to share my learnings. So, is it worth it? The short answer for most people is sadly, probably not. I think it is sad because the Plex team has created a great product. However, they have the problem that every freemium software creator has — how do you make the base product appealing enough to drive adoption, yet offer sufficiently compelling features in the premium version so people will want to pay for it? The longer answer is really dependent on how you use Plex. Let’s start with a quick overview of the Premium-only features (feature list as of early 2021): Live TV and DVR functionality Mobile Sync and Downloads Premium Music and Photo libraries Hardware-accelerated streaming Custom user management and sharing restrictions Bandwidth Management Camera upload Early Access & Preview Releases Free Access to Plex Apps Ad skipping — not listed on the premium features page, but appears to be a premium-only feature. Not all of these features are equally valuable. You can read more about these features on the Plex site, but in my opinion, they don’t do a very good job of explaining why these features are important. For me, and I suspect most of you, there are really only a subset of the features that may be useful to you. The most important I believe are: Hardware-accelerated streaming Custom user management/share restrictions Bandwidth management Free plex apps ad skipping These features share a general theme, which is that they are really only of value to users running Plex installations with multiple users. For example, hardware-accelerated streaming (either CPU or GPU) is a bit more blocky than software-rendered, but has the virtue of freeing the CPU up for additional transcodes. Hardware today is such that even an old i5 is enough to run 2 or 3 simultaneous transcodes — the hardware support then is really only a factor when running installations where you are simultaneously running more transcodes than that. Keep in mind that many of the users may not need transcoding services. The user management is obviously a key feature for these same users. The ability to bucket kids programming, and segment it from adult-oriented TV and movies is useful for those running multi-user installs. The bandwidth management is similarly useful. The free plex apps are nice, but they are already so cheap (I paid $5 for the plex app for my iPhone and iPad) that they alone cannot justify the cost. I enjoy the ad skipping feature, but most ads are in 30 second increments anyway that you can typically replicate the functionality with the 30 second skip ahead button. If you decide to try the Plex Pass, I’d advise going with a monthly plan, or a yearly plan first to try it out. Each year, Plex runs specials on the lifetime subscription, which is probably the optimal approach if you find value in the premium service. I hope that Plex continues to evolve the product and add new features, and I’m sure the “Premium or not” calculus will evolve with the product. However as of February 2021, Premium really only makes sense to me for these multi-user Plex installations.

https://medium.com/@iamamish/should-i-pay-for-plex-premium-4926802be5fd

[]

2021-02-12 16:55:54.153000+00:00

['Home Theater', 'Plex', 'Streaming']

No One Believes That I’m Japanese

No One Believes That I’m Japanese Mixed race people don’t often get the acceptance that everyone else takes for granted Photo: Rika Hayashi/Getty Images I knew when I started my degree in Japanese and International Relations that I would spend a year in Japan. Although I didn’t grow up speaking my father’s native tongue, I still imagined that as soon as I landed, fluent Japanese would flow from my mouth. Sadly, that’s quite far from the truth. For me, as someone caught between being Japanese and British, returning to my father’s homeland has been a complex and challenging experience. While the friends I’ve made have blissfully enjoyed Tokyo’s many thrills and sights, my identity issues have bubbled up to the surface. This is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed my time here. I’ve spent endless nights singing my heart out in karaoke bars, dancing underneath the pulsating lights of Tokyo nightclubs, and tucking into food that sizzles off my tongue. However, I don’t have the privileged ignorance of viewing Japan as a complete outsider. Even though my father is Japanese, I am not proficient in the language or the cultural customs. I am someone halfway (or ha-fu [ハーフ], as they say in Japan). Even among the other half-Japanese people I’ve met here, I feel like an outsider. Every time I hear them launch into fluent Japanese, I feel ashamed. Whenever I have to speak Japanese in front of them, I feel the strings in my stomach tighten. It terrifies me that they might think I’m not truly one of them, because my father didn’t gift me the language that runs through our bloodline. If I cannot even identify as half-Japanese, then what am I, truly? Many mixed race people are familiar with this question. We ask it of ourselves and field it from others. Those who ignorantly ask, “What even are you?” to racially ambiguous people should know that this is a question that has plagued us for our entire lives. We do not need you to remind us of the pains of being othered. Our experiences have already done that job for you. In the U.K., I don’t feel like I am “enough” of a person of color to participate in the current discourse. In Japan, the othering of mixed identities is more structural. Most important is the issue of nationality. The supposed homogeneity of Japan is reflected in its stringent laws on dual nationality — those with dual citizenship are required to give up one of their nationalities by age 22. Pro tennis player Naomi Osaka recently received worldwide attention as the sporting world awaited her choice. In reality, the idea of a homogenous Japan is a myth. Japan is home to a large Korean community, and the number of foreign residents is at an all-time high, with an estimated 2.73 million living in Japan as of the end of last year. But the myth of homogeneity persists and only serves to erase the lived experiences of mixed race people. Moreover, it is not uncommon that when I speak Japanese, I am often met with weak, broken English. I am aware that people are trying to be helpful. But as someone who has a basic grasp of the language, it is a grim reminder that no matter how hard I try, I will never be fully accepted. For the expats in Japan who’ve experienced this, it’s a minor annoyance. However, it causes me to question my identity. Am I not acting Japanese enough for them? Will I ever be accepted as the ethnicity that I am so often stereotyped as in the U.K.? Who and what am I? The purpose of my year in Japan is not just to become fluent but also to reconcile my identity. My classes, which are all language modules, only amplify these uncertainties. Whenever my name is called in class, I always feel the pause. The question on everyone’s mind: Why is there a Japanese person in a Japanese language class? Once my staring classmates identify my halfness, I feel a certain expectation weigh down on me. Half-Japanese people are often perceived as proficient in both languages, which is an expectation that I cannot meet. I stumble over simple phrases when I have to read aloud in class. Words fall out of my mouth and scatter onto the ground. They fail to find their properly pronounced homes when they come from my lips. When my Korean and Chinese classmates speak, though, their Japanese flows gently from their mouths, words rising sharply into the air, even though they’ve only been here maybe six months longer than I have. I’m ashamed that I speak more poorly than they do. Worse still are my classes with other Japanese or half-Japanese students who have lived here for a while. The stress takes its toll; I even bailed on a class presentation because I was afraid of my classmates hearing my Japanese. I crumble under the expectation that my name holds, and sometimes I would rather obscure my identity by asking the professor to use my Anglicized name, or to omit my last name altogether. I cannot shake the feeling that this is somehow antithetical to who I am, yet I continue to do so subconsciously. How long can I really continue doing this? Lately, I’ve been writing out my full name. My tests, homework, and vocabulary exercises are now marked with a name that most would mistake for any other Japanese person. And that is exactly my intention. The purpose of my year in Japan is not just to become fluent but also to reconcile my identity. I’m a different kind of Japanese, but I’m still Japanese. The world still can’t fathom identities that cross borders, but mixed race people break down those misconceptions every day. We must have the strength to define ourselves, especially in the face of how we are perceived. For me, learning to be different has also meant learning to feel at home with my identity. And although nobody believes that I’m Japanese, I do. And that’s all the validation I need.

https://humanparts.medium.com/nobody-believes-me-that-i-am-japanese-ef46fdaed734

['Tom Matsuda']

2019-11-13 17:12:51.170000+00:00

['Race', 'Japan', 'Identity', 'Self', 'Acceptance']

Honey Daiquiri

Oh Dear Sweet Honey, how I love thee. I think to myself as I text away with TJ. Ah TJ. My anime watching, basketball loving, Marvel following guy I’m texting. That’s it. I realise that I’m being impatient but come on. TJ and I have been texting almost every day the past week — which please appreciate, is a miracle for me, as I genuinely despise being on my phone unless of course I’m messaging Honey — if she ever looks at her phone, or Bugsy — if you count forced computerised one worded responses you see under ‘T-Mobile — Saved Texts’ — but still! A week, and every day…almost, and aside from the odd flirtatious comment in the form of a competitive jest every once and a while, TJ has made no further advancement in the progression of our relationship in order to find out who I actually am. Like e.g. asking me on a date. ‘So just ask him.’ ‘Que?’ Honey asks from the kitchen as Bugsy plays his new karate ninja app game thing on his phone and I sit on the carpet by the T.V looking down at mine and TJ’s entire relationship in all its emoticon glory. ‘If it’s a problem, she should just ask him.’ Bugsy says with a semi-uninterested shrug. ‘Bugs, there is no way in hell I’m asking TJ out on a date.’ ‘I never said that.’ ‘You literally just did.’ ‘No, I said ‘just ask him’ and stopped talking, I never said ask him on a date.’ I roll my eyes. Unbelievable. ‘You should just say to him you guys haven’t gone out yet or spoken in person since you spoke for three seconds at basketball.’ Honey says moving things around in the kitchen as there’s a crash. ‘Sunnova! Whit.’ She growls. ‘Everything ok in there sis?’ ‘Uh-huh. Just Whit trying to test my reflexes by piling up every dish we own in a giant unstable mound by the sink, no biggie.’ Bugsy and I share a smirk as Frap, Honey’s cat, stalks out of the darkness nervously and I pull her onto my lap, stroking her. She’s always so loving. I think to myself as she throws her head into me purring loudly while I scratch behind her cute little kitty ears. ‘So what should I say Honey?’ ‘That as much as you enjoy communicating via electronic waves and phone couriers it would be nice to, ya know, not.’ I type out the message, then instantly stop. ‘Wait. Instant dilemma.’ ‘What?’ ‘Well what if he suggests going out? I hate going out?’ ‘See? Impossible to please.’ Bugsy says I assume to Honey and I suddenly feel like I’m out of the loop and have missed something. ‘Do not use Daiquiri as an example, she’s barely female.’ ‘Hey!’ ‘As for not wanting to go out, just invite him to the house then hermit, that way at least he gets to hang out and talk to dad as something other than just Coach.’ I pause. ‘You’re a genius.’ I finish typing out the message and press send. ‘Thank you Honey!’ ‘You’re welcome Daks, be sure to text me as soon as you realise…’ ‘Huh?’ ‘Nada.’ ‘You’ll be there right Bugs?’ ‘Well, I haven’t intimidated anyone in a while…?’ I turn to my non-biological brother — but brother nonetheless in disbelief. ‘I don’t know how they do it, I mean you look so human, so lifelike and yet are such a robot.’ He looks up from his phone for the first time to glare at me the way only a cyborg with the urge to kill can… As I flutter my eyes cutely and his eyes darken. ‘If I were a Grimm I would cut your head off.’ ‘Oh Grimm, oh Nick — stop brain hacking me!’ He sticks out his tongue as Honey pokes her head around the corner confused. ‘What are you guys talking about?’ ‘That new show Grimm, Daiquiri’s added David Giuntoli to her ‘white guy elevator list’ — I tried to tell her that was racist.’ ‘Oh Grimm, is that any good?’ ‘So far it’s aiite — but Nick.’ ‘Nick?’ ‘Nick, aka main guy in Grimm that I wish I wasn’t so attracted to ’cause he sorta reminds me a lot of Whit — he is so fine — Grimm guy! Not Whit — I mean yes Whit but also…sigh. You get it right? Yeah you get it.-’ ‘You have two lists?’ ‘You don’t understand, he’s so friggin hot — again, sorry he looks like your husband.’ She shakes her head stepping out of the kitchen, with a light coat of flour covering her arms while she wipes her hands on her apron, noticing Frap. ‘Hey! Do not show my cat love!’ Frap darts off my lap, scurrying into the shadows as I turn to Honey in shock. ‘Do I need to call RSPCA?’ ‘Do not show her love — she knows why — I thought I could trust you.’ I laugh. ‘And more importantly? What did you say most awkward person ever?’ I pat off Frap’s remaining fur, opening up the message on my phone. ‘I said, ‘so hey, as much as I enjoy yours, mine and T-Mobile’s relationship, I was wondering if you wanted to come over mine sometime? Maybe. If you can. If you want?’…See that was smooth…right?’ Bugsy and Honey turn to each other slowly shaking their heads as I look between them both, lacking in praise. ‘There’s just…’ ‘There’s no hope.’ They say as I instantly and nervously deflate.

https://medium.com/honey-daiquiri/honey-daiquiri-ee1cbdcda3fb

['Miniq Brown']

2015-10-17 13:21:13.485000+00:00

['Short Story', 'Comedy', 'Life']

Inspiration Needs Trigger

A few months ago, I took a challenge. Five days. Write one story every day. No topics prepared. Sit-and-write. The first day was easy. I had a topic in mind. Then it became challenging. Fingers on the keyboard, browser closed. 2 minutes passed. Nothing. 5 minutes. Not a single word. Millions of ideas passed me by, but no solid starting point. No inspiration. I’ve decided to write down a random word and start from there. “Shoelaces” Surprisingly, my brain got a kick. It was like typing a phrase into the Google search bar. Some first ideas. Slowly, a solid line emerged. The first sentence, second… The energy started to flow. A sentence fueled inspiration for the next one. I was aiming at a quick story. Here is the result. Here we go! Inspiration needs a trigger. This time it was a word. Other times, the inspiration came from the thing itself. Here is what happened last winter on a cold Saturday morning. I’m a father of two wonderful boys. Three and five. Like all little boys, they use most of my time during the day. My only chance to stay in shape was to visit the gym early in the morning. Alarm rang. 6:00 AM. I forgot to switch it off. S**t happens. I planned to go to the gym, and I was determined to keep that promise. I wasn’t inspired but wasn’t angry either. During the week, I went to the gym again. Surprisingly, the next Saturday, my mind was already waiting for the morning. A glimpse of energy before I put my feet on the floor. I felt inspired to go exercising. A lot of people tell me. “I have no energy now.” They wait until energy comes and inspiration hit. Don’t do that. It may never happen. Energy grows by doing things. Inspiration is most of the time triggered, rather than coming by itself out of nowhere. This was my story of inspiration. What’s yours? -Slavo

https://medium.com/@slavoonlife/inspiration-needs-trigger-7e52eff0ad

['Slavo Petrik']

2020-12-12 19:55:33.193000+00:00

['Life Hacking', 'Life', 'Mindfulness', 'Inspiration', 'Life Lessons']

THE GLOBAL IDENTITY CRISIS AND DATA PROTECTION WITH BRUCE SILCOFF

Bruce Silcoff on the Speaking of Crypto podcast “We’re working with Bermuda right now to put the whole country onto eIDs or digital IDs so one of the first steps would be to do that. The second step will be to make it useful within Bermuda across business and government. And the next step is to enable Bermuda residents to take that ID and use it globally. That’s interoperability.” SoC podcast 025. The Global Identity Crisis and Data Protection with Bruce Silcoff Bruce Silcoff, CEO of Shyft Network I talk to Bruce Silcoff at Shyft Network https://www.shyft.network/ about the global identity epidemic. He explains that there are over 1.1 billion people in the world with no official identification, which is a huge problem that is hard for those of us in developed countries to maybe fully understand. It means they have no right to own property, they have no way of being allowed to vote, they can’t access services like healthcare or schooling. Shyft is hoping to do play a role in remedying this global issue by working with the United Nations on two of their initiatives: ID2020 https://id2020.org/ and Blockchain for Impact https://blockchaincommission.org/. Also, where digital identity is concerned, in Bermuda, Shyft Network is working to make credible national digital identification a reality and then to continue to break new ground by making that digital identity accessible, usable, and interoperable across international borders. And Bruce, with his entrepreneurial background and valuable experience during the dot com era shares what makes the blockchain revolution so different. “Everywhere I go, no matter who I sit beside, whether it’s in a restaurant or whether it’s on an airplane, as soon as the word blockchain comes out, as soon as I open up my laptop and people see stickers on the top of it, people want to have a conversation.” He talks about blockchain being a truly global movement on a huge scale and that the pace is way faster than the dot com boom was. And he shares what it is that’s really key to building a successful company. And although he breaks it down into simple terms, I get the feeling that it’s experience that makes biggest difference and knowing just how to do what he suggest, which comes down to communication, having the right team, and collaboration with other companies. We talk about data being an asset and a valuable one, and how companies need to validate not only someone’s ID but also information about what the risks are in doing business with them. Shyft Network is able to take KYC and AML data and make it useful by attaching a credibility layer to it. We talk about the risks associated with centralized data, like centralized wealth, and how decentralization is a necessity when it comes to security. And Bruce tells a really great story of how he got into blockchain. And the spoiler is that it has to do with Joseph Weinberg and that Bruce was impressed by his passion, vision and honesty and the rest I’ll leave for the podcast. For more info about Shyft Network or to reach out to Bruce directly: https://www.shyft.network/ bruce@shyft.network Telegram group: https://t.me/joinchat/HhrB_hKGQDQKU7mhpzor_g

https://medium.com/speaking-of-crypto/025-the-global-identity-crisis-and-data-protection-with-bruce-silcoff-af7f02a3f21

['Shannon Grinnell']

2018-11-11 21:05:25.685000+00:00

['United Nations', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Data Privacy', 'Blockchain', 'Identity Management']

Lorde’s Artistry is Not Defined By Her Sadness

In early 2013, I received a Facebook message from my friend that said “you might like this song” and a YouTube link. We were both fifteen year olds who thought ourselves as fans of “indie music”, which just meant we knew who Lana Del Rey and MGMT were. It wasn’t unusual for her to give me music suggestions, stuff I could download via youtube-mp3.com and transfer to my iPod classic. Neither the title track or the artist name were familiar to me, so I had no idea what to expect. The song was Royals by Lorde. I instantly fell in love, and quickly located the rest of The Love Club EP to add to my library. Her music became the soundtrack to my tenth grade, and she was virtually all I listened to for the next few months. As an awkward teenager living in Australia (and not one of the glamorous parts either), I connected with her music in a way I never had before. Lorde’s experiences and feelings felt so similar to my own, and it felt like she was a friend. This feeling was strengthened when I was lucky enough to see her live shortly after the release of Pure Heroine — one of her first Australian shows, on a $35 ticket I got for my 16th birthday, at a venue that could only fit about two thousand people. She had yet to find her bravado, so to speak, and was a quiet girl who hid behind her long hair and the long black sleeves that defined her style in the beginning. And yet, she warmed up to us as the night went on, laughing and talking with the crowd (a friend I’d made on the night yelled to “Drink that water, Lorde!” during a break, to which she giggled and replied “I will.”) She knew that her audience was filled with people around her own age, going through the same things, who could probably understand her disillusionment with the grandiose ideas of wealth and America better than most — Australia and New Zealand are neighbours, after all. It wasn’t the most exciting or theatrical concert I’d ever been to, but there was something special about spending that night with her before her career reached unimaginable heights. Flash forward a little bit. It is now 2017. I am nineteen and in my first year of university. The past few years have not been kind to me, and I was now living in an unfamiliar city, completely alone for the first time in my life (three older brothers makes for a…loud childhood.) I was recently coming to terms with the realisation that young adulthood isn’t all I made it out to be, the kind of thing you can’t process until you reach it. I don’t miss high school by any means, but my early twenties have been lonely and confusing in their own kind of way, something I was beginning to see in my final year of being a teenager. As if by some greater power or a contractually obligated release, 2017 was also the year that Lorde came out with Melodrama. It was a departure from the slow, gentle thump of Pure Heroine, which had been a snapshot of being fifteen, sixteen, seventeen; an expression of desire to be invited to the party but turning your nose up at it in faux distaste, because you’re meant to be so much cooler than that. Melodrama was louder and more vibrant, a diary of finally getting invited to the party right after your heart breaks in two, and losing yourself to the sound and the lights so you don’t have to think about your failed relationship or what tomorrow will bring. In short, it was the album that I so desperately needed for that stage of my life, and I welcomed it with open arms. Once again, Lorde’s music defined my experiences for the next few years. I had my heart broken and I broke some myself, I laughed loudly while drunk at parties and reeked of vomit the next day when cleaning up plastic cups, I fell in love with strangers and out of love with friends, I replayed my past over and over again but looked away from my future, I found myself getting lost in the bright lights in my head and in the world around me, so they could temporarily blind me from all the things that I didn’t want to see. Melodrama was the friend that lit your cigarettes and encouraged you to do tequila shots but held your hair back and comforted you when you were throwing up in the bathroom later, crying about how unloveable you were. Lorde performing at the Sydney Opera House for Melodrama Dance After finishing the tour for her sophomore album, Lorde disappeared from the public eye. She wiped her social media accounts, her website no longer updated, and she retreated to New Zealand, where she would be far less likely to be photographed on the street. The party was over, and it was time for everyone to go home until our hostess welcomed us back. That invitation came a week ago, in the form of an email (her preferred method of communication with fans) which announced her upcoming album, Solar Power, and the lead single of the same name. In her two year absence from our lives, there was a lot of talk about what Lorde would give us when she came back. Another collection of songs about the trials and tribulations of youth? Another album about crying in the taxi and blowing all our friendships to sit in hell with that one special someone? People wanted Lorde to give us another set of songs to cry to, to reach through the speakers and hold our hand as we navigated adulthood. Solar Power was not that. It was a departure from her usual melancholy music, a song that sounded more like Loaded by Primal Scream than anything Joni Mitchell or Lana Del Rey ever put out. Solar Power is about leaving the sadness behind, turning away from the digital world, and embracing the simple pleasures of surf, sand, and sun. Lorde in the music video for Solar Power As I write this, I’m sitting on my bed in a sweater and coat, buried underneath an electric blanket. My cat, a grumpy old woman that is 80% fur, is cuddled under the quilt with me. My constant companions are my annual winter cough and the candles I have lit at all times. I’m very much caught up in the kind of winter that Lorde declares that she “can’t stand,” the kind of winter that I personally love. I’ve never enjoyed summer, so it’s hard for me to understand the passion Lorde has for the season in Solar Power. But every time I listen to the song, I’m filled with a desire to run to the beach and wait for the UV rays to burn through the clouds and redden my cheeks. It was different from what we were used to, but I loved it all the same, as I had done with every other Lorde release since I first discovered her, eight years ago. So it was surprising to me that a lot of people didn’t feel the same way about it. It wasn’t what people were expecting, but more importantly, it wasn’t what they had wanted. Wasn’t Lorde supposed to give us our sad girl anthems? Wasn’t she supposed to give us music to cry to? Wasn’t she supposed to tell us how to deal with the messiness of your early to mid twenties? This isn’t what we spent years waiting for! Doesn’t Lorde know that we can’t enjoy the warmth of the sun because we’re too sad and confused to do anything except cry? I could argue that it’s just the first song from the album, and that we have no idea what lies ahead. I could argue that Lorde’s previous emails to us have spoken about grief and her time in Antarctica, and that the rest of the album might reflect those better. I could argue that she’s still working with Jack Antonoff, who produced all the heart-wrenching tracks on Melodrama that people love so much. Except…it doesn’t matter if all those things are true or not. Because Lorde’s talent is not determined by the mood of her music. The entire Solar Power album could feel exactly like the titular track, and it wouldn’t make Lorde any less talented or any less connected with her fans than she was when she released Melodrama. And the expectation that she’s supposed to release sad music for twenty-somethings to cry to is an incredibly bizarre one. Artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski have spoken about their frustration with this idea of the “sad indie girl persona.” This myth that because their songs are personal, they should be about the more upsetting and difficult times in their lives. Because feelings of grief and anger and heartbreak are easier to relate to than songs of hope and joy and love, and that’s what we want from female singer-songwriters. If they’re going to show us their diaries, then it needs to be the juiciest parts, the ones that speak the most to our experiences. It’s a reflection of an unfortunately popular mindset that I see a lot in online spaces now, that healing and growing is unfair, that only negative emotions are valid, that we’re all supposed to wallow in our misery together because if one person can’t be happy, then no one can. If artists want us to connect to their work, then they either need to be sad or they need to fake being sad, because that’s their appeal. Your personal experiences only matter if they’re similar to our personal experiences. And I have to wonder if these people actually enjoy the artist as a person and a creator, or if they enjoy them because they’re an extension of themselves. Because if you only see their value when they’re creating stuff that reflects you…then maybe it’s time to throw in the towel, instead of expecting the artist to either continue to suffer or warp their story for your sake. I don’t relate to Solar Power the way I did with Royals or Green Light, but I certainly don’t feel any less connected to Lorde because of it. The song is hopeful and honest and human in a way I know Lorde to be, and it doesn’t devalue her past work. Maybe it even strengthens it. Maybe it’s a continuation of the narrative of Pure Heroine and Melodrama, about where you go the morning after the party you used to long to be invited to. When you’re left with your mistakes and your regrets, and you can so clearly see the hearts you’ve broken and the scars of your unhealthy coping mechanisms. And you know that you can either continue down that path of sadness, let it swallow you whole and overtake you. Or you can dust yourself off, grab the hands of the friends you still have, and dance around in the sun as you finally begin to think that maybe, just maybe, your future can be bright and happy, as long as you let it. Or maybe Lorde didn’t mean any of that, and Solar Power has no deeper meaning, and it really is just a fun song about getting high on the beach with your friends. As someone who spent their New Year’s Eve doing exactly that, she has my full support. And even if I’d spent NYE curled up in my bed, alone and sober and asleep by 8pm, she’d still have my full support. Because I fell in love with her music all those years ago because there was something so human about it, and there still is. That hasn’t gone away because the sadness has. Artists want to connect with audiences, want to release something that other people can relate to, want to make their fans feel seen and heard. But this expectation that this connection should come at the expense of their own well-being and desires is a selfish one. Lorde does not exist to create songs for young adults to feel depressed over. She is simply an artist who wants to create stories inspired by what she’s been through, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, and take her fans on a journey. And if that journey is taking her up towards the sun, to something more happy and freeing, then all the more power to her. I know that I won’t be getting off this ride.

https://medium.com/@locallesbian/lordes-artistry-is-not-defined-by-her-sadness-938e21a062d3

[]

2021-06-18 03:52:46.227000+00:00

['Music', 'Lorde', 'Solar Power']

Want to Retain Employees of Color? Let Them Be Themselves

Therein lies the dilemma for People of Color. They may assimilate at work and be better received by their colleagues, but they are less satisfied and productive, or they may flout workplace norms in favor of being themselves, with costs to their professional success. In either situation, People of Color can’t win. That’s why the onus should be on employers to cultivate a culture where everyone feels comfortable being themselves. Here are some ways employers can do this: Share a commitment to employees bringing their full selves to work. Given that longstanding norms around professionalism have discouraged people from expressing their true selves at work, employers should voice their commitment to allowing employees to bring their full selves to work. They can state this explicitly in hiring documents, during new employee onboarding meetings, on their website, and in HR handbooks. Practice vulnerability and authenticity. Leaders disproportionally affect the culture of a workplace. If leaders want to encourage employees to bring their full selves to work, they should start by doing so themselves. Leaders might relax their style of dress, share their holidays and traditions with their employees, or be open about aspects of their personal lives with employees. Educate employees on biases that drive homogeneity. Affinity bias describes our tendency to like and get along with people who are like us. It leads employers to hire people who they see as similar to themselves, often describing these people as “culture fits.” Affinity bias explains why employers often champion homogenized forms of self-expression in the workplace. Employers should educate employees about affinity bias and voice their intention to overcome it by welcoming different types of people and different forms of expression at work. Encourage employees to build relationships. Authenticity is a byproduct of safety. We act unauthentically because we sense the need to do so to be accepted. When we build relationships, we develop the trust and safety necessary for authenticity. Employers should provide employees opportunities to build relationships with one another by planning workplace happy hours, scheduling meetings with agendas that are purely social, or starting meetings with “highs and lows” to build intimacy. Be open to feedback. Creating an inclusive workplace is an ongoing process. To determine whether the workplace does, indeed, welcome people’s full selves, employers should survey employees to determine if they believe that. They might also ask employees for more recommendations on ways to encourage employees to express their true selves at work.

https://bthechange.com/want-to-retain-employees-of-color-let-them-be-themselves-ff4b7a46e427

[]

2020-12-16 08:58:43.111000+00:00

['Employee Engagement', 'Work', 'People Of Color', 'Diversity', 'Anti Racism']

5 Yoga Poses For Stress/Anxiety Relief

EASY POSE Easy pose in other words Sukhasana strengthens the back and stretches the knees and ankles. It also opens the hips, groin, and outer thigh muscles (abductors). Sitting upright with your spine aligned also reduces stress and anxiety. It calms the mind and is known to be therapeutic for stress. Easy pose is a very common pose for practicing meditation and breathing exercises. BOUND ANGLE In the crazy world, we live in right now, it’s good to have a few things that can help you relieve that stress and get back to feeling normal. We all know that yoga is great for that, but there’s no need to do a full hour-long class. You can get some awesome stress-busting benefits from practicing bound angle! Come into the pose, spreading the knees wide, and letting gravity pull them down toward the floor. Close the eyes, and begin to center in. Follow the in and out of the breath for 5 to 10 minutes, then open your eyes, gently come out of the pose, and go on with your day. It’s that easy! you’ll find that you’re happier, feel more connected, and perhaps most importantly, less stressed-out. CHILD POSE This yoga pose is one of the best and easiest poses when it comes to yoga this pose helps with relaxing the body. Child pose calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue. According to Harvard researchers, putting the body in a relaxed state through exercise can send calming signals to the mind. This approach can break the stress cycle and improve mental fitness. Stay anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Beginners can also use Balasana to get a taste of a deep forward bend, where the torso rests on the thighs. Stay in the pose from 1 to 3 minutes. FORWARD FOLD This resting standing pose may help relax your mind while releasing tension in your body. Muscles worked: spinal muscles. forward fold calm the central nervous system, relieve stress, and menstrual cramps. As well as reduce fatigue, headaches, and insomnia it cools the body. Forward fold helps with so many things like, stretches the hips, hamstrings, and calves. Strengthens the thighs and knees. Keeps your spine strong and flexible. Relieves tension in the spine, neck, and back. Activates the abdominal muscles. SAVASANA Savasana (Corpse Pose) is much more than a moment’s rest at the end of a yoga class. The essential pose is crucial for calming the mind and body, here are additional benefits: Calms the central nervous system, aiding the digestive and immune systems. Calms the mind and reduces stress. Stay in Savasana for five minutes for every 30 minutes of your practice. To exit the pose, first begin to deepen your breath. Bringing gentle movement and awareness back to your body, wiggling your fingers and toes. Roll to your right side and rest there for a moment.

https://medium.com/@maryamhadi23/5-yoga-poses-for-stress-relief-d43e24fa9553

['Maryam Hadi']

2020-12-28 06:31:38.944000+00:00

['Anxiety', 'Yoga', 'Yôga', 'Anxiety Relief', 'Calmness']

Metaball loop ( Blender tutorial )

If you’re looking for how to loop animated metaballs in blender, you’ve come to the right place. Since this is a procedural animation, it will be easy to control the number and size of metaballs, amplitude, speed, etc. Here you can check video version and I also added a link to the blender file containing all the nodes at the end. Install ‘animation nodes’ add-on First of all you need to have ‘animation nodes’ add-on installed in your blender project. You can download the latest version for your platform here. Then go to edit/preferences/add-ons. Click install in the right top corner and choose the downloaded zip file. Also, don’t forget to check the box next to the node name. Add premade node group Metaball movement is driven by a vector that is generated by wiggle node output. Looping a wiggle node output is not an easy task. In this topic i won’t dive into the details how to achieve it. Lucky for us there is a ready to go solution nicely provided by Razie. You can download it here. A blender file contains the node group that you can append to the project. Also make sure to delete the additional scene that was created automatically after importing the node set. Let’s get started! 🚀 First of all we need to add metaball object to the scene. Then for one of your views change editor type to ‘Animation nodes’. Generate metaball instances The node set below generates 12 metaball instances in one place. Because for now the ‘Object Transform Output’ node have the same location values for every generated metaball.

https://wannathis.medium.com/metaball-loop-animation-17975b8b0123

[]

2020-12-19 13:30:43.631000+00:00

['Animation', 'Blender', 'Design']

The Foundations of Islam (7 classes)

The Foundations of Islam (7 classes) SHAYKH HAMZA YUSUF covers five areas: the Qur’an, basic practices, core beliefs, spirituality and the end of time One of the most popular and effective series for teaching the basics about Islam. Given at the annual Dar al Islam Teachers’ Institute in New Mexico, these lectures are meant to provide a comprehensive overview of the religion and world of Islam for non-Muslims. The classroom style presentation covers five main areas: the Holy Qur’an, basic practices, core beliefs, spirituality and the end of time. The program is based on the well-known hadith (prophetic saying) of Angel Gabriel that teaches Islam, iman (faith) and ihsan (spirituality). Although he focuses on the basic teachings, his deeper exploration of the subject results in a series which any non-Muslim, new Muslim or life-long Muslim can appreciate and benefit from. These lectures are essential for any person or organization seeking to educate others about the true teachings of Islam. Some of the topics discussed: Islam as the teaching of previous prophets, rationalizing God’s rulings, the problem of evil, God’s imminence, capital punishment, suicide, losing the spirit of the Law, Dajjal (anti-Christ), and secularization in the Muslim world. (Duration: 8 hours, 55 min) Prescribed Reading: Being Muslim: A Practical Guide by Asad Tarsin

https://medium.com/muslim-open-online-course/foundations-of-islam-series-shaykh-hamza-yusuf-6d589c6a865e

['Muslim Open Online College']

2017-11-01 13:03:35.895000+00:00

['Muslimopenonlinecollege']

Facebook Marketing Tips That You’ll Want To “Like”

Facebook is widely used in the United States. However, you can also use it to further your business. You can pay to do marketing on Facebook, but there are free options also. Whether you use the free options or the paid options, the following advice will help. Use all of the options available to you on Facebook when using it to market your business. There are so many different ways that you can customize your page, the key is knowing exactly what those options are. If you need help there are many websites, including Facebook, that can give you some insight. Focus all of your Facebook posts towards your business or industry. Make them relevant and inform your customers and fans about things they would be interested in. Don’t just make a post without having a purpose. Your customers already have enough information coming to them, so make your posts relevant so they stand out. All content on your site should be easy to Like and Share on Facebook. It should also appear in shortened form with a link on your Facebook wall. If people are able to share your content with their followers, you’ll find that your reach begins to expand exponentially, and so will your profits. Watch your grammar, even if you do not feel like it is necessary. You may feel like you can get away with a mistake here and there due to the nature of your business, but this is not true. If you know that your grammar has issues, run everything through a checker before you post it. You should now have the tools you need to run a successful Facebook marketing campaign. Setting up a Facebook marketing campaign is not costly, so you can easily experiment with the advice from this article. Be certain to begin immediately, as your competitors might not even be using Facebook. Get ahead of the competition.

https://medium.com/@Ana_The_Author/facebook-marketing-tips-that-youll-want-to-like-5ade1d4c8e30

['Ana Stephens']

2021-12-13 03:53:07.077000+00:00

['Marketing Strategies', 'SEO', 'Marketing', 'Facebook', 'Facebook Marketing']

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice: selective values so long it is not for Palestinians

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2016 official portrait, credit: Supreme Court of the United States By Ismail Y Syed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (hereafter RBG) while being acknowledged as a fierce feminist campaigner and who added the much needed moderate voice as well as gave a new judicial dimension for progressive values, RBG also needs to be seen against the background of all her records and selective activism for selective rights. RBG was a clear pro zionist whose actions and deeds showed she supported or condoned Israel, a state that resembles no less than of an apartheid state, disregarding many Palestinians, women and girls among them who weren’t worthy of her judicial activism or her stride for equality, fairness and justice. No one should be let off the hook who advocate people’s rights selectively. Last but not least RBG chose — in contrast to other honourable Jewish brethren members — to go and collect the nominated Genesis award honoured to her by an apartheid Israeli regime that is bent on settlers’ occupation and systematic violations of Palestinians’ rights in violation of international norms and laws. RBG, by collecting Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award — whose recipient serves as a role model for Jews worldwide through a connection and commitment to their Jewish identity, Jewish values, the international Jewish community and/or the State of Israel (the last part to be noted) — she made a statement of ‘see no evil hear no evil’ in relation to the downtrodden rights of millions of Palestinians — women female community among them — whose right to equality and justice does not matter. To the contrary, actress Natalie Portman declined to collect the award from Israel as the state that was awarding it no longer reflected the humanitarian/Jewish values she was brought up with. Had RBG been lesser of a public justice figure and more of a former Congress/Senate leader, benefit of doubt may have been given but she was a judge at the nation’s top court holding one of the highest and prestigious constitutional offices in the land whose statements and omissions can shape the legacy for generations to come, therefore RBG ought to know the consequences of actions and inactions and it is fair to judge her that way. Late practising English barrister, Muzahid Ali Syed, used to say that people from other professions are judged by their actions, while members of the esteemed judiciary and legal profession are judged by their omissions and inactions; to rephrase, they are judged by even more higher standard as pure as they can be, as impartial as they can be and as fair and equitable as they can be. There is a legal maxim, particularly for those in positions of authority and influence, that their inaction and silence can speaks as much as their words and actions, where their inaction and omissions can amount to complicity, where their silence amounts to crime and RBG therefore need to be assessed in that context. RBG was not a politician where personal bias comes into play for vote grabbing interests or the need to serve a particular lobby. She was well informed or ought to be informed of consequences of her actions and inactions as a person occupying the highest constitutional office for delivering rights, justice and fairness, not least her acceptance of award from a regime whose policies resembles settler driven apartheid, which even the A list celebrity had the moral sense to decline to attend the award as mentioned earlier, yet RBG went all the way to show her acceptance of the award. RBG needs to be praised as well as condemned, she needs to be judged by her actions and her inactions, her silence and indifference/turning a blind eye to the injustices and sufferings inflicted on thousands of Palestinian women and children who have been deprived of their male loved ones, thanks to tit for tat warcrimes committed and extra judicial killings by Israel under the so called pretext of self defence against the Palestinian victims living under the occupation. How can Justice Ginsburg possibly fail to see the miscarriage of justice or the absence of international law and norms toward the Palestinian people by willing to accept the award from a rightwing regime of Israel, a state whose government is bent on eroding egalitarian secularism and bring on race based supremacy laws? Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been made into overblown cult figure by the progressive left when it comes to equality, fairness and justice and she therefore ought to be judged both on her actions and her inactions/indifferences to the very values she is known to have stood up for, wherever she spoke or travelled. Speaking up for selective rights, selective fairness and justice isn’t an honourable thing to do, certainly not for a justice who served at the nation’s highest and prestigious court of the land where people place their trust as the last and final place for judicial conscience on fairness, equality and justice. Judicial silence and acts of omissions are also taken seriously and looked up to by many for cues on getting the direction on rule of law, justice and fairness on a values that are consistent and not selective. RBG may indeed have been a vocal judicial activist like no other for progressive feminist values but she needs to be judged with the wider cohort where she really belonged: white feminist liberalist school that draws inspiration from and uses the same post Enlightenment white imperialist values that are made to work for the white liberal imperialists, feminism being among them. Twitter @IsmailYSyed

https://medium.com/@ismailysyed/ruth-bader-ginsburg-us-supreme-court-justice-selective-values-so-long-it-is-not-for-palestinians-335944f2b3c7

['Ismail Y Syed']

2020-09-25 12:38:36.759000+00:00

['Israel', 'Equality', 'SCOTUS', 'Palestine', 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg']

The Five Latest Trends In Legal Tech

For a long time, the word “legal tech” seemed an oxymoron. 20 years ago, if you asked a lawyer “how do you organize your documents”, the answer was mostly likely “folders”, if they didn’t mean literal paper folders . However, the world has transformed. As technology starts to creep into the legal world, we have seen hundreds of startups mushrooming in legal tech, many of whom raised tens or hundreds of millions. According to this article, in 2019 alone, $1.9B was invested in legal tech. What are the trends in legal tech? The front runners are e-discovery related tools. Smart lawyers or engineers (or lawyer turned engineers) quickly found the previous discovery model where you have paralegals or young lawyers read and tag documents and emails are antiquated. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence, the e-discovery space is the first to innovate and transform and where AI and ML are the most prominent. Second to follow suit are contract review and legal research tools. Although the law is complex, they are, after all, words that follow certain patterns. Using AL and ML, instead of having lawyers reading through each provision, now you can easily research, gather and tag relevant contract languages and relevant legal documents using SaaS. As a matter of fact, our friend at Appinventiv cited e-discovery and contract review as the most used applications in legal tech. CLM and practice management tools are on the rise. The most modern law firms and the in-house departments of modern technologies companies also discovered there are better ways to work. You can store your contracts, tag them into different categories and even negotiate contracts with other parties using online tools. You can take in clients, start marketing campaigns, manage the bills and track lawyer’s billable hours using more sophisticated software. Smart people have found niche areas to innovate. Not long ago, I received a parking ticket and decided to try DoNotPay. It worked like a charm. Granted, I paid them $30 for a year of service, but that’s better than paying the $75 ticket. More importantly, I didn’t lift a finger, other than uploading the few pictures I took at the time. I didn’t have to fill out a paper form, find a stamp and mail in my contest. There are apps that can help you notorize online. You can draft your wills and fight your delayed flight claims online. As the millennials continue to live a digital life on phones and computers, there are legal related tasks where now you can just text, chat and get resolutions. The legal marketplace still needs disruption. While there are a few forward thinking websites where you can post your legal questions or try to find lawyers online, the space remains to be confusing, complicated and daunting. Why pick out a lawyer from a 100+drop down menu or write up a lengthy summary? Worse yet, you still need to wait to hear back, and have to talk on the phone! Who wants that? Why not just chat online and get connected to the right lawyers online, immediately! The legal marketplace still needs to innovate with machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data. This is where we come in. We are the unique combination of legal tech and AI. Leveraging CBinsight, we created this map of the most funded legal tech companies. Although we are still a very early stage startup, we are hoping to be the center stage of legal tech, soon! Disclaimer: the below is our categorization and understanding of the legal tech landscape. This is our personal, subjective opinion. This is not a representation of any warranty or claim for scientific research methodology.

https://medium.com/@sleegal/the-five-latest-trends-in-legal-tech-cea012c760ea

['Sleegal Ai']

2020-10-25 01:45:27.622000+00:00

['Strategy', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Legal', 'Tech', 'Legaltech']

Trade AUDT using Uniswap: Guide 🇦🇺

AUDT is a stablecoin linked to the Australian dollar. AUDT are linked to audited Australian Dollar bank deposits, domiciled in Australia. What you need AUDT or ETH or both , depending on what you would like to do, buy , sell or provide liquidity . or or , depending on what you would like to do, , or . Metamask or another supported Ethereum wallet application. or another supported Ethereum wallet application. Supported Browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) Buy AUDT Visit uniswap.org in your browser and click launch App. Click ‘Connect to a wallet’ in the upper right side of the window, choose your preferred wallet application (We use Metamask in this example) and confirm the operation displayed. After successfully connecting your wallet with Uniswap, you can choose which two ERC-20 token, or ETH you want to swap. To buy AUDT, you must first search for it by pasting the AUDT token contract address in the search field: 0xd7e0f80fb28233bdde0006c50568606a8feb964c Search for AUDT using its contract address: 0xd7e0f80fb28233bdde0006c50568606a8feb964c When done successfully, AUDT will show up in the ‘To’ field. Choose how much ETH you want to exchange for AUDT and click Swap Confirm the Swap and a smart contract will automatically exchange your ETH for the respective amount of AUDT. The same can be done between any other token where Uniswap automatically routes the swap through multiple smart contracts. You can exchange any other ERC-20 for AUDT, too. Provide liquidity for AUDT markets Uniswap allows anyone to provide liquidity for any markets by granting token to so-called pools. Such liquidity providers can accumulate trading fees. The following describes how to provide liquidity to the AUDT/ETH market. Start by connecting your Wallet to Uniswap as described in the previous part of this guide ⬆️⬆️⬆️ Then click Pool and Add Liquidity Now choose for which market you want to provide liquidity, in our case it’s the AUDT-ETH market. To choose AUDT, paste the token contract address in the search field: 0xd7e0f80fb28233bdde0006c50568606a8feb964c Choose how much token you want to lock to act as liquidity, click Supply and confirm. Note: You always need the same amount of token worth on both sides, e.g $100 in AUDT and $100 in ETH.

https://medium.com/@Chrono.tech/trade-audt-using-uniswap-guide-4ea4cae0df8a

[]

2020-08-07 15:42:19.083000+00:00

['Smart Contracts', 'Ethereum', 'Defi', 'Uniswap', 'Crypto']

Setting an Income Goal for Your Side Hustle

Making money isn’t always the main reason people start a side hustle but it is something to think about at some point or another. Whether you want to make extra cash to pay for vacations, to pay off your student loans or you want to make enough money to leave your day job, it’s in our favor to think about how much money we would like to make from our hustle and set an income goal. I say this all of the time but it’s worth repeating, YOUR SIDE HUSTLE IS A BUSINESS. Whether you spend an hour a week or 70 hours a week on it, thinking about it as a business is going to help you succeed (whatever success looks like to you). You set goals for content and activities for your hustle, so why wouldn’t you also set goals on how much money you want to earn? Most people feel uncomfortable talking about money, even in their own business. But you are setting yourself up for failure if you choose to never look at the finances of your side hustle and set goals accordingly. Consistently posting more content on your blog is great, but if you’re not making any money on it or worse losing money (because you didn’t take expenses into account), then you’re not really running a business. You are running a hobby, and it’s not likely to grow into more than just that. That is why, before you do anything else, you need to set income goals! Not sure how much you should aim to be making with your side hustle? Don’t worry, I got you girl! Here are 3 crucial things to consider when figuring out how much your business should be making… What is your end goal? Did you start your business with the intention of keeping it as a side hustle? If your goals are to pay off credit card debt or student loans, or if you want to save up to travel more, your income goal can probably be much lower than if you’re looking for your hustle to bring in enough money for you to leave your day job. Setting goals will give you clarity and allow to you focus on priorities. Calculate your expenses. If you’re paying off or saving for something specific you will want to first, calculate how much you need to accomplish that, second decide when you need to have it paid off by, and then work backward from there. For example, if you have 15k in credit card debt you want to pay off and you want to have it paid off in 12 months, you need to make at least $1,250 per month plus the interest rate your credit card will charge you, let’s call it 13% monthly interest. To reach this goal of paying off your credit card you need to make roughly $1,500 per month from your side hustle. But what if you want your side hustle to eventually replace your day job! You will want to calculate your monthly recurring expenses (fixed costs). This most likely includes housing, car payment & insurance, groceries, and any other costs that you will have no matter how much you decrease your expenses. Next, calculate a realistic budget for entertainment. I know we’re all hustling and working what seems 24/7, but everyone needs (deserves) a break! You should budget money to go out to eat, for the movies, or any other activities you enjoy doing in your downtime. And don’t forget to include a budget for savings! Leaving your day job and saying goodbye to a steady paycheck is scary so you need to build a safety net just in case your business runs into a slow period after you’ve gone full-time. Plan to have savings to cover at least a couple of months of your necessities budget. Taxes and operating costs. Whatever your situation, the number you came up with from the above, you’ll still need to make more to account for taxes and operating expenses. You should be tracking how much it costs to run your business every month, if that amount is greatly increasing the amount you need to bring in every month it may be time to see if you can decrease your expenses. Can you keep running your side hustle but lower your costs? If so, try doing that. If not, you’ll need to increase your income goal to account for that. Now don’t forget about the taxman! If you need to make 3k per month to cover your necessities, entertainment, and savings, you’ll need to estimate your taxes on that income. If you’re in the 25% tax bracket, a quick way to estimate is to increase that 3k budget by 25% — so you need to make around $3,750 per month. You should do this same calculation for the $1,500 per month you want to pay towards your credit card debt as well, so after taxes, your side hustle will need to bring in a grand total of about $1,875 in order to reach your goals. Feel confident about your income goal. Does this sound scary and totally impossible for you? That’s ok! Break it up into smaller and simpler milestones in order to reach your goal. Maybe that is to bring in one new client per month until you hit your goal, maybe it’s to make 5 more sales in your Etsy shop per month. Breaking your overall goal into smaller parts will keep it attainable and keep you from getting discouraged along the way. As you look back and review those smaller goals, if you see that you’re not moving closer to your overall income goal, it is time to re-evaluate. Do you need to charge more for your client services? Maybe your operating costs for your business are too high. Or maybe you need to set up additional streams of income if your side hustle isn’t growing as fast as you hoped. Either way, I have found that your income potential is much higher with a business you are running and setting prices for. If you put in the time and effort you will make more income as your business brings in more revenue. Whereas your salary at your day job stays static unless you get a raise. It’s much more feasible to grow your income using a side hustle than waiting around for a raise or promotion — let that be a motivator for you. Once you achieve your income goal, it’s time to celebrate (happy dance)!! Then set another income goal! Maybe that is to double your side hustle income or it may be to grow your hustle income by 10% each month. Whatever your goals, as long as you’re breaking them up into simple and achievable milestones, you can succeed. You got this! In order to create the life you want, how much does your business need to make? What is your income goal for your side hustle?

https://medium.com/@sam-dinicola/setting-an-income-goal-for-your-side-hustle-74e8850e8f4d

['Sam Dinicola']

2021-01-18 21:29:41.871000+00:00

['Side Hustle', 'Side Project', 'Business Goals', 'Income']

A Practical Guide to Appreciating Films and Enjoying Them Even More

A Practical Guide to Appreciating Films and Enjoying Them Even More Learn how to watch for important details and fully experience the magic of movies you already love—and find new favorites, too Photo by Mason Kimbarovsky on Unsplash Watching a film is perhaps one of the most straightforward tasks there is. You don’t need to do much. Even so, it’s one of the most exhilarating pastimes available. But what if you could heighten the experience even more? Film creators put an excessive amount of detail in their movies. Unfortunately, the average viewer misses the majority of them. That’s not a bad thing, but by learning to pick up on the details, you could enjoy films so much more. Before I joined university, I had a relatively normal perception of films. I went to the cinema now and then, taking a particular liking to action movies, but never caring past the basic plot. As my degree went on, my passion for film grew. I became obsessed with the industry, memorizing all sorts of obscure facts. Surprisingly, I found that my new-found passion rubbed off on my best friends. Even though we don’t live together anymore, we still regularly discuss the latest films, encouraging one another to watch something we like. They too began picking up the smaller details. Here’s a funny conversation we had after watching Joker: Image by the author They go on to say how thankful they are to be able to see and appreciate more when they watch a film. Over the past three years, some of the most exciting conversations I have had are when my friends and I dive into a film’s subtleties and nuance. There’s an endless catalog to choose from, and there will always be another surprising behind the scenes fact you can learn. A shared love for films has helped bring us closer together, as we race to share our opinions after a new release. One of my most enjoyable cinema experiences came from watching Hobbs and Shaw with them. Since we can appreciate the best parts of a film, it makes the more ridiculous ones highly entertaining. The benefits don’t end there either. Since I’ve learned to get more enjoyment from films, my creativity has spiked. I’ve watched football documentaries and real estate reality shows, centering articles around a quote that stood out. When you can look deeper into a shot’s meaning, you will find the ability to pull creative ideas from the most unlikely of places. A film doesn’t have time to spell everything out for you, so whatever you see on the screen has a purpose. Whether it’s an old painting on the wall or a worn knife on the table, the director has put it there for a reason. For example, it could set the scene or flesh out the character further. Understanding this has enabled me to become a more efficient storyteller, as I now acknowledge how each word can impact the story. As films epitomize the “show me don’t tell me” rhetoric, I’ve learned to cut the waffle and get to the point. In this article, I will outline my experience learning the film industry’s ins and outs and how I adapted this to get more enjoyment from films, even the worst ones.

https://medium.com/better-humans/a-practical-guide-to-appreciating-films-and-enjoying-them-even-more-34e55ab64a61

['Max Phillips']

2020-12-18 15:41:11.393000+00:00

['Movies', 'Lifestyle', 'Creativity', 'Learning', 'Film']

Back to the Basics of Fat Loss

As we get ready to step into the warmer months of the year, many of us are reaching for some kind of fat loss goal. After all, everybody wants to be swimsuit ready, am I right? Above all else, we have to remember that it’s not what you do at one meal or one event that makes the difference. It’s what you do the other 80% of your week that will decide how you make progress toward your goals. Let’s remember, to achieve or maintain fat loss as well as a healthy body, we have to have a few things in line: 1. Calories- This is the term for our bodies source of energy. In order to drop any kind of weight, we must consume less calories than our body uses, this is known as a calorie deficit. If you aren’t burning more calories than you consume, your body has no reason to turn to stored energy (body fat) for fuel. The best way to know how many calories we are eating is to track our food so that we can control our portions. 2. Protein- To maintain a higher metabolism (i.e. burn more calories at rest), you want to keep as much muscle tissue as possible. This can be tough when you’re in a calorie deficit because your body can easily use muscle tissue as energy as opposed fat stores. In order to protect as much valuable muscle as possible, you need to eat an appropriate amount of protein in regular intervals throughout the day. This is known as being in an anabolic state, where your body is burning carbs and fat for fuel while protecting lean muscle. Typically, a serving of protein about the size/thickness of your palm, every 3–4 hours is enough to keep you in an anabolic state. 3. Sleep- Our body does a large majority of processing nutrients and repairing tissues while we sleep. Lack of quality sleep raises hormones for hunger, lowers hormones for fullness and slows down our overall metabolism. Not to mention the fact that forming the proper habits for fat loss like consistency in the gym, preparing quality food, and increased daily activity get more difficult if you are constantly tired. In fact, some studies have shown that losing 4–5 hours of sleep causes you to perform as if you’ve had 5–6 beers. The recommended amount of sleep for adults is 7–9 hours but keep in mind, it’s just as much about quality as it is quantity. 4. Water- Whether it’s brain function, digestion, joint function, or fat metabolism, your body relies heavily on adequate water consumption. Not only does it play a crucial role in bodily functions, but drinking water frequently throughout the day helps keep the feeling of fullness, preventing the need for that “snack” that has more calories than we’d like to admit. One of the main ways the body metabolizes fat is through the liver but if it’s dehydrated, it can’t do that job very effectively. Recommended intake for adults is 100–120 ounces of water daily. Although there are many factors that can affect how our body loses fat stores, these four areas are where the majority of your attention should be. Remember, a good rule of thumb to use in forming a properly portioned meal is a palm sized portion of protein (fish, chicken, beef, eggs, etc.), a clinched fist size portion of carbs (rice, potatoes, oatmeal, fruit, etc.), and a clinched fist sized portion of veggies (broccoli, carrots, celery, etc.). The Summer season will bring new challenges, but a proper diet paired with frequent activity is sure to help improve your life in all areas.

https://medium.com/@carrolljustin62/back-to-the-basics-of-fat-loss-3ec0f5d6b24b

['Justin Carroll']

2020-04-23 16:53:29.555000+00:00

['Weight Loss Tips', 'Fat Loss', 'Weight Loss', 'Fitness', 'Nutrition']

When design solutions create problems: a new logo for sustainability

Is this not to be celebrated? More and more attention being drawn to sustainable options? Why might I suggest this could be more problem than solution? Each of these logos requires recognition, cognition, and — crucially — trust. Some companies and certifications are incredibly rigorous, others are plain greenwashing, and the onus is on the consumer to decide which is which. Like I’ve done previously, I compare this to price and quality ratings. Price has one face — a numerical cost. Ratings are almost universally 5 stars. All products play by the same rules, and they are instantly understandable. With the proliferation of sustainability logos, are we solving the original problem? Are we helping make it easier for people to buy better? Or are our well intended individual efforts having a collective effect of making consumers have to work harder? Companies attempting to stand out from one another in sustainability may actually be undermining the bigger cause that has been set out to be achieved. I believe indicating sustainable products is one place where the design process can and should diverge from the typical design dogma of solving for your own company or cause’s brief. Instead, could companies collaborate, perhaps with the governments too, to try to reach commonality rather than disparity? Fewer, more meaningful, logos, or ratings. Directly competing companies using the same means to judge and indicate sustainability. With a reduced surface area, the pressure increases. The road to get there is fraught, however. These conversations between companies rarely happen, and certainly not commonly between designers who are ultimately the creators of these assets. The certifications are all in competition with each other, each vying to be the truest and most recognised. Could there be a mechanism for designers across companies to create unified thinking, in recognition of sustainability’s greater purpose? How would it happen? It’s the ultimate design brief.

https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/when-design-solutions-create-problems-a-new-logo-for-sustainability-226f349912cb

['Rich Brown']

2022-01-06 12:11:26.929000+00:00

['UX Design', 'Design', 'Logo Design', 'Sustainability', 'UX']

Feasibility of Symbiotic Housing in Pakistan

Overview As our Mega Project guidelines came alive, I started thinking deep about that how I can impact the society with my Idea which could be socially sustainable and Entrepreneurial at the same time which I think is the main purpose mentioned in Mega project guidelines I did a lot of research on these types of problems that are still unsolved and realized that there is a huge shortage of housing. The accessibility of affordable housing remains a nightmare for middle & lower-income groups in Pakistan, despite the government’s striving plan to build five million affordable housing units in five years. Current housing does not meet national needs. Estimates, based on the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) and Census 2017, show that current housing stocks are around 23.8 million housing units, while housing needs are around 34.1 million housing units. This infers that Pakistan is currently facing a total housing backlog of 10.3 million. Analytics based on Census-2017 shows that housing needs are higher among low-income which is estimated as 5.2 million housing units, while only 0.5 million housing units are needed to accommodate the richest group. The only solution we have for this shortage is to design and built somethings that is highly affordable and sustainable at the same time that has a very minimum environmental impacts as we have already the worst air quality especially in Karachi. For that purpose, I want to import the Japanese idea of sustainable housing which is perfect as per our requirements and standards but we need to review a little bit to find out feasibility of that concept here in Pakistan. Here comes a favorite part of mine which is doing research so I’ve enjoyed a lot while collecting all the data which I even cannot mention here because of the limit but still I’ve tried best from my side to be as much specific as I can. Here are some very basic purposes of that concept of sustainable housing [Symbiotic housing]. Fukazawa Symbiotic Housing Concept This is a Japanese concept of clean & sustainable housing in the middle of highly dense and developed urban areas to deal with the housing shortages and that is so much needed because of drastic increase in population. Goals of Initiative 1. to help preserve the global environment. 2. to be in harmony with the local environment. 3. to provide a comfortable and healthy residential environment. It is necessary to improve the quality of life on and off the site with the least environmental burden, as well as to ensure an increase in its affordable housing capacity. It must be designed and built with careful consideration of local natural conditions and incorporated various passive daylighting, heating and cooling solutions. Complete Plot plan of Setagaya-ku Fukazawa Symbiotic Housing Complex Feasibility in Pakistan In my opinion, that concept will cost a lot here is Pakistan so I have to find a solution which would be much more feasible and affordable because per annum income of an average person here in Pakistan is 590$. So, I think when we will start working after approval, it will be a tough task for us to come up with something that meets the criteria of concept and also feasible for the personnel here I think I have such team who can do these things, I believe in them. I feel so satisfied to volunteer myself to this project as it will put a great impact on our society and our city where housing shortage is touching its peak, I see here that streets & towns are so jam packed & mismanaged.

https://medium.com/@anasazeemkhan/feasibility-of-symbiotic-housing-in-pakistan-789af9f0b729

['Anas Azeem Khan']

2020-12-27 11:47:19.006000+00:00

['Housing Solution', 'Pakistan', 'Amal Academy', 'Housing', 'Sustainable Homes']

Is the death penalty effective in preventing serious criminal offences?

According to the entire history of humanity two groups from different professions like criminology researchers, law experts, and psychiatrists. One group claims that the death penalty effective in preventing serious criminal offences. Another group deny the first group opinion. The second group claim that the death penalty is inhuman activity and it is brutalized for society as compared to a life sentence without parole. In view of Amnesty international article a clear scientific consensus that the death penalty does not deter and Journal of criminal law and criminology Vol.99, №2 that has research to examining the different opinion of criminology experts on the deterrence effects of the death penalty. In this research the author report that 82.2% of criminology experts do not believe the death penalty is effective in preventing serious criminal offences. In a factsheet of Death penalty information Centre (DPIC) claim with a public survey majority of the voter, 61% choose the punishment other than the death penalty. In the past, most the countries of the world used the death penalty as a political tool. “That is why We decreed for the children of Israel whosoever kill a human being, except(as punishment) for murder or for spreading life-threatening chaos on earth, it is as if killing the entire human race; and whosoever save a human life, save the entire human race. Our apostles brought clear proof to them; but even after that most of them committed excesses in the land.” Qur’an 5:32. In the above translation of Qur’an verse described the importance of the human soul and it not only about the Muslims, but it is also about the humanity of the world to attract the people each other and live together with peace and brotherhood, without any boundaries of age, gender, caste, religion and nationality.

https://medium.com/@ghulamhussain372/is-the-death-penalty-effective-in-preventing-serious-criminal-offenses-b88f43a374b9

['Ghulam Hussain']

2020-12-02 17:25:41.329000+00:00

['Death Penalty', 'Death', 'Criminal Justice', 'Amnesty International', 'Criminal Offenses']

Creating Python Functions for Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Cleaning

Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Cleaning are two essential steps before we start to develop Machine Learning Models, and they can be time-consuming, especially for people who are still familiarizing themselves with this whole process. EDA and Data Cleaning is rarely a one-time, linear process: you might find yourself going back to earlier sections and modifying the way you treat the dataset quite often. One way to speed up this process is to recycle some of the code you find yourself using over and over again. This is why we should create functions to automate the repetitive parts of EDA and Data Cleaning. Another benefit of using functions in the EDA and Data Cleaning is to eliminate the inconsistency of results caused by accidental differences in the code.

https://towardsdatascience.com/creating-python-functions-for-exploratory-data-analysis-and-data-cleaning-2c462961bd71

['Freda Xin']

2020-01-21 22:58:04.781000+00:00

['Data Visualization', 'Exploratory Data Analysis', 'Python', 'Data Science']

HYUNDAI CRETA (2020)

CRETA is a famous Compact SUV from HYUNDAI, A Feature loaded SUV with lots of features and new design to attract the buyers….https://carsareas.com/hyundai-creta-2020/ To know the price, engine and road real life performance visit :https://carsareas.com/hyundai-creta-2020/ To rear more car blogs visit our site at :https://carsareas.com/ CARSAREAS

https://medium.com/@piyushgujral21/hyundai-creta-2020-35c7a8841761

[]

2020-12-17 12:27:15.405000+00:00

['News', 'Hyundai', 'Latest News', 'Cars', 'Automobile']

CasinoCoin: Flare Finance and the Family of Digital Assets

by JC Collins Welcome back to this edition of the CasinoCoin blog. Today we’re going to talk about the milestone of having the digital asset CasinoCoin (CSC) added to the decentralized world of Flare Finance. That’s right, CSC is now a new addition to the Flare Finance suite of digital assets. Breath. Exhale. Let’s continue and understand what this means. The first time I walked into a Las Vegas casino, I was 26 years old. The MGM Grand was green, loud, bright, and damn if it wasn’t sexy as hell. Most looked their best. Some looked their worst. No one cared as they rolled dice, sipped drinks, and ran back and forth between the ATMs and poker tables. The Motorola flip phones were everywhere. It was foreshadowing the things to come. Here it all was, I thought — one of the last scenes in the Casino movie starring Robert DeNiro and Sharon Stone, in real life. The MGM Grand was like a city inside a city. Money flowing and people moving about everywhere. The Casino movie represented the transition of Las Vegas from one era into another. Thinking back on those days, I feel something similar now as the world transitions into tomorrow and the world of digital assets and decentralized finance. But what does that all mean? Are we like the Casino movie characters, about to be blind-sided by something we never saw coming? Let’s find out together. DeFi, or decentralized finance, is the most popular term in the cryptosphere right now, and there’s a good reason for that. Decentralized finance is a trustless financial network developed on a blockchain protocol. Its primary function is to remove intermediaries and allow for the frictionless flow of value, or capital, across the Network’s series of smart contracts. Okay, that’s a lot. So, let’s break it down into easily relatable terms. First, let’s understand that Flare Finance and the Flare Network are two different entities. The Flare Network is a new blockchain developed with partial support from Xpring, the funding arm of Ripple. XRP is the native token on the XRP network, and Spark is the native token on the Flare Network. So far, so good. Both the XRP network, or blockchain ledger, and the Flare Network (it could have been called the Flare Blockchain Ledger, but Network sounds badass) can accommodate other digital assets alongside the native tokens of XRP and Spark, otherwise known as FLR. The obvious example of this is CSC being moved onto the XRP ledger, capturing all the speed, scalability, and cost advantages of the XRP ledger itself. This move has made CasinoCoin a contender amongst a family of digital assets developing around the XRP ledger, Flare Network, and Flare Finance. Not to mention making it the best digital asset for use in online gambling platforms and brick-and-mortar casinos worldwide. Let’s take a quick learning break. Smart contracts and what are they? In short, smart contracts are computerized transaction protocols that execute the pre-determined terms of a contract. These smart contracts, once developed, are autonomous and require no intermediaries. It is more straightforward than it sounds. Every time money, or value, moves is through a transaction. These transactions are between two parties. The world of yesterday required these two parties to use an intermediary for any transaction that wasn’t a cash transaction between two people. All meaningful transactions in business, banking, insurance, foreign exchange, real estate, etc., all required an intermediary to provide trust between the two parties. Smart contracts fulfill this transaction in a trustless and autonomous manner. No intermediary is needed. For our understanding in this article, I would ask you to think of Flare Finance as a country, smart contracts as cities, or common economic zones, which is, in essence, the purpose of cities. Later we will consider how value moves between cities or smart contracts and how family trips, or family visits, occur between those cities. Do you see where I’m going with this? Larger digital and decentralized economic zones. Digital assets are value vehicles that move around within the cities or decentralized economic zones, being smart contracts. Flare Network and Flare Finance (the country) also allow them to move without friction across smart contracts (from city to city) on different blockchains. When a vehicle travels down a road or highway (imagined as the network channels and intersections for our purposes), it encounters air resistance or air friction. More friction equals more bleeding of value. People eventually made better, sleeker, and more efficient vehicles to reduce friction. Digital assets don’t just lessen this friction; they remove it — value-efficient. People walking across a casino floor between ATMs and poker tables or using an intermediary to load funds into an online gambling platform can also be considered a form of friction. Now let’s revisit our opening statement on DeFi. “DeFi, or decentralized finance, is the most popular term in the cryptosphere right now, and there’s a good reason for that. Decentralized finance is a trustless financial network developed on a blockchain protocol. Its primary function is to remove intermediaries and allow for the frictionless flow of value, or capital, across the Network’s series of smart contracts.” Does that make more sense now? It should. Flare Finance is the first to offer decentralized financial services built on the Flare Network with fully functioning financial products. It opens up the freeways for investors to experience new decentralized financial products. Such products are focused on non-custodial liquidity pools (non-custodial is just a fancy way of saying no intermediary), decentralized insurance coverage, Peer-2-Peer margin and spot trading, and much more. What this means is that an individual investor can be their own bank — a new era. The full suite of Flare Finance products are as follows: FlareX — Is an intuitive and efficient margin and spot trading platform that can decipher trading algorithms while providing traders with an edge in a simple manner. FlareFarm — A versatile governance and yield farming platform that assists investors in earning yield benefits and percentage returns on staked assets. FlareLoans — Will assist investors in creating digital asset collateralized loans, which will drive more profound value into the decentralized financial products. FlareMutual — Provides digital asset investing into risk-based mutual funds, which further collects yields on those digital assets. FlareWrap — A non-custodial (no intermediary) cross-chain asset bridge that allows digital assets on other smart contract networks to migrate to the Flare Finance ecosystem. (Remember moving between cities for family visits or family trips?) FlareMine — Is a decentralized mining product that will allow Bitcoin and ETH mining platforms to mine Spark (FLR). Let’s talk about the value vehicles (digital assets) within this decentralized ecosystem and common economic market. CasinoCoin CSC is the newest addition to the Flare Finance fleet of digital assets. Others include the native YFLR, YFIN, and YUSD, along with FLR, XRP, LTC, XLM, XDC, DOGE, ALGO, ADA, TEL, CEL, BNB, CAKE, SHIB, and SANSHU. It is a true family of digital assets all interoperating within the Flare Finance ecosystem and across-network bridging with their native networks. All can take advantage of smart contract capabilities without using the native token of the Network. CasinoCoin CSC will now have that function as a Flare Finance asset. The Flare Network, which provides the network infrastructure for Flare Finance and its native asset FLR (Spark), has also added F-Assets to its Network. These F-Assets are heavily utilized in the Flare Finance decentralized finance platform to provide deeper liquidity pools. These are XRP, LTC, XLM, and DOGE. In later releases, there is potential for BCH, ALGO, and more to be added. At the start, CasinoCoin will integrate with FlareX, FlareFarm, FlareWrap, and FlareMine. FlareLoans and FlareMutual will incorporate as the CSC liquidity pools deepen after subsequent use within the Flare decentralized finance architecture. The mission of the Flare Finance Foundation is to promote a positive financial impact and a positive moral and physical impact on the world. CasinoCoin now shares in that mission. The core mission specific to CasinoCoin is to provide fast and secure solutions for the regulated gaming industry with both players and operators in mind. It includes Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) verifications which remove additional friction from casinos having access to new pools of potential players — liquidity pools. The migration of CSC from casino utilization to decentralized finance on Flare Finance brings further advantages to both as value can flow freely and without friction between both worlds. The Bank for International Settlements has now cleared the mass adoption of Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC. CBDCs are the next gamechanger for digital assets. Each nation’s CBDC will provide a regulated on and off-ramp between the worlds of government money and the world of decentralized finance and other use cases, such as online gambling platforms and use within brick-and-mortar casinos in Las Vegas and around the world. One day soon, I will walk back into the MGM Grand. Pulling my smartphone out of my pocket, I will open the CasinoLobby xApp, scan a QR code on the new poker table and instantly load funds into the table’s account. After some winning hands, I will move towards the bar, and while sipping whiskey, I will transfer those funds out of my CasinoLobby xApp into Flare Finance and stake it in FlareFarm to earn a percentage yield. All without having to walk to an ATM, visit a bank, use an intermediary, or look un-cool by waiting in lines. Wearing oversized DeNiro eyeglasses, I might even sit there inside the MGM Grand, sip my whiskey, and play some online poker on the smartphone in my other hand. As I leave the casino, I will transfer unused funds back into my CBDC wallet, scan the QR code inside the electric limo to head back to the hyperloop terminal, and be home to my family in Canada within 2 hours. No friction. This is the world of tomorrow. Tomorrow is now. Join the family with us. CasinoCoin Links: Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Reddit LinkedIn YouTube Discord Telegram

https://medium.com/@casinocoin/casinocoin-flare-finance-and-the-family-of-digital-assets-76dc99b9c055

[]

2021-06-26 19:55:44.242000+00:00

['Flare', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Casino', 'Xrp', 'Crypto']

Universal Basic Income: America Could Be the First Nation to End Poverty

Photo by Jiroe on Unsplash America has always been exceptional. We were the first nation born from ideals of personal liberty. We were the first to bring technology like electricity, automobiles, and the internet to the people. And we were the first to protect and compensate hard-working citizens in the form of Social Security, Medicare, and the G.I. Bill. We make bold moves that have never been made before because we have the strength and courage to overcome challenges to our liberty. We do it because we believe that in America, the land of “We The People,” our greatest responsibility is to ensure the well-being of all Americans. In recent years, millions of Americans have suffered from new challenges. These include: Evaporating manufacturing and retail jobs Growth in automated machines replacing workers COVID-19 shuttering 60% of small businesses and eliminating millions of jobs These challenges have caused over 8 million Americans to fall into poverty this year. Now, as many as 50 million Americans face food insecurity in 2020. That’s over 1 in 8 Americans struggling to put food on their children’s plates — Americans in every community in the nation. New challenges require new solutions. Luckily, finding new solutions is what makes America exceptional. Ending Poverty in America with Universal Basic Income (UBI) The American Union supports universal basic income (UBI) as a solution to the growing poverty in America. Our legislation enrolls every citizen in an American Union job — an unconditional weekly payment of $300 plus an additional $100 for every child dependent. This is your share of the growing American economy, for the hard work you do to make this nation great. It’s our duty to promote the general welfare — health, happiness, and prosperity. As Americans we must ensure that every child has food on his or her plate, and that every citizen has the means to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Great American leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. promoted the idea of UBI (he called it “guaranteed annual income”) as a way to lift the poor up and give them valuable purchasing power to strengthen the economy. At the heart of all that civilization has meant and developed is ‘community’ — the mutually cooperative and voluntary venture of man to assume a semblance of responsibility for his brother. -Martin Luther King, Jr. Modern thinkers like presidential candidate Andrew Yang helped to normalize the concept of UBI and show how it could end poverty and increase quality of life overnight. The American Union supports ready-to-pass legislation which will make UBI a reality and end poverty in America for good. Here’s how it works. 15% Value Added Tax (VAT) A 15% value added tax on businesses would largely pay for UBI. Even if the whole VAT were passed on to customers (it won’t be), an estimated 85% of Americans would receive more money than they contribute. Just think about it. If you spend $5000 a month, you might pay $750 a month to the VAT. That leaves you with a net gain of $550 a month from your $1300 American Union job. The Americans who might pay more in VAT than they receive are those who regularly spend over $2000 each week — and remember, that’s not per household, that’s per person. That means, for a family of 4 to lose money from the VAT, they’d have to spend over a quarter million dollars per year. The VAT will not negatively affect the lives of ANY Americans. Those who pay the most will benefit from a happier, healthier, more equal society around them. More Fees for Polluters We all learned in school that littering is bad. Yet, we allow corporations to engage in littering on a massive scale. Oil spills have destroyed some of America’s greatest coastlines. Pollution has caused countless thousands of deaths in cities. Plastic pollution accumulates in our oceans. And the growing frequency of extreme weather is costing trillions of dollars. It’s time we put a financial cost on these companies for polluting our country. If they don’t want to pay, they can clean up their act and we can all enjoy a cleaner and safer America. If they choose to pollute, those fees will be shared with every citizen to offset the damage. The Congressional Coin Purse Congress has the authority under the Constitution to create money. That’s a good thing — economies need cash to circulate to keep growing. But they’ve delegated this authority to the Federal Reserve, who creates it as debt. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars in interest each year, profits that could go to the people. This creates spirals of debt and poverty that can only grow worse and worse. Congress can create money under its own authority, and every American will get a share to spend as part of their American Union job. America is Ready for UBI — We’ve Done it Before If our legislation with UBI was passed tomorrow, you could receive a payment for your American Union job within weeks. The infrastructure is already in place, and we already know that it works. How? The government issued a $1200 stimulus check to every adult citizen under the CARES act. This money was meant to provide support during the coronavirus pandemic. And it worked. We saw that Americans spent money on necessities and not luxuries. We saw Americans keep their homes and feed their families. We saw it lifted millions of families out of poverty, even if only briefly. The economy was stronger because of it. The question is: Why stop there? We have the money, the structure, and the necessity to become the first nation to end poverty. Not for one month, but every month. Everyone gets an American Union job. The only thing that’s stopping us is our entrenched two-party system. Democrats and Republicans are too busy fighting, blaming, and backdoor-dealing to provide for the people of this country — even during a global crisis. The American Union can putting the power back into the hands of the people. Together we can circumvent this system and use the power of our votes to make UBI a reality. Together, we can end poverty in America. Join the American Union: Together, We Will End Poverty The Blueprint for a Better America is a legislative package that can end poverty tomorrow. In addition, it will end mass incarceration and end the endless wars. But we need your help. In order to pass our Blueprint, we must stand together as a voting block. If our leaders agree to end poverty, they’ll get our votes. If not, they lose their jobs. The eyes of the nation are now on the Georgia run-off elections, and the American Union is taking the opportunity to make our voices heard. We have moved our center of operations to Atlanta, and our momentum is building. When 2% of Georgia voters vote with the American Union, we’ll be the deciders of the run-off elections on January 5, 2021, which will determine the balance of power in the US Senate. That leverage will enable us to insist on immediate passage of our legislation. If you’re ready to stand up and take democracy back from the broken two-party system, join the American Union today. You can help by: As Dr. King said, “At the heart of all civilization is community.” Join our community, and bring an end to poverty in yours. Learn more at phoenixcongress2020.com.

https://medium.com/@phoenixcongress/universal-basic-income-america-could-be-the-first-nation-to-end-poverty-8b85b0d7c673

['Phoenix Congress']

2020-12-09 18:02:42.641000+00:00

['Universal Basic Income', 'American Union', 'Poverty']

High School ABC’s

A single mention of anything school related can set off a panic attack. Breathing in the ever shrinking Confines of this school has become one of the most Difficult things for me to do. Every time I step foot into this place, I can Feel the tears recklessly attempting to Get loose. Despite my efforts to control them, my Hands are shaking. If I am being honest, there Is only one word bouncing around in my head at all times, causing my heartbeat to Jump erratically, beads of sweat to race each other over my face, and a Kickstart of anxiety in my chest: college. Like my brother, I have foolishly been hoping to Mimic him in getting a full ride but as I am a Nincompoop with nothing they are looking for, my chances Of recieving that are about as good as our former President’s chances of not getting assassinated. Quite honestly, I am tired, annoyed, pissed off, and constantly Ready to die. This thing, this stress, has a hold on me like nothing else. It is happily Stealing my will to get out of bed and unapologetically Taking any and all of my opportunities to sleep. Hidden Under this calm facade, I am falling apart, my Various pieces disintegrating in a cloud of tears. For so long, I have been Waiting to go to this magical place where I can be free and do as I please but at this point even a Xanax could not calm me down enough to be happy about this idea that has always been so abstract until now. But, Yesterday I got two hours of sleep, so maybe I just need to calm down and catch a Z.

https://medium.com/@mysafestplace/high-school-abcs-75a37d1faf40

[]

2020-12-02 03:05:45.912000+00:00

['Abcdarian', 'College', 'High School', 'ABC', 'Stress']

What Influences the Quality of my Life? (Part 2) #3

How do you test a law to see if it works? As the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson put it: “As for methods, there may be millions and more, but the principles are few. The man who understands the principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries the methods and ignores the principles is sure to run into problems. » You may have learned something new and tested it to see if it works, and then you realized that it didn’t work for you. If it’s really a law, it works for everyone –laws are not like humans or animals who can discriminate. If what you have learned is really a law, then the question to ask is not “Does this law really work? ‘’ but rather, ‘’Am I applying this law appropriately to my situation?’’. You have just attended a conference in which the speaker explained to you how selling solar panels made him financially rich (I specify financially, since not all wealth is necessarily financial). If you don’t understand that the principle is to sell customers what they need, you will go back to your country and order several solar panels in order to start selling too, forgetting that the people in your area already have electricity all the time, so they don’t really need a solar panel. This is what happens when you try methods without understanding the principles behind them. You’re going to have problems with your business, you won’t have any customer, and you’ll say that the principle doesn’t work, whereas it’s rather you who tried to copy a method, without understanding the principle behind it. If you had understood that the principle is to sell customers what they need, you would have inspected your surroundings instead, and you would have realized that these people have electricity, but they may lack a place to recreate. So, you’re going to create one, and be successful in your business. If you learn a principle or law that works for other people, start by understanding it so that you can apply it appropriately to your situation, instead of just copying even the methods used by others and then complaining after that the principle doesn’t work. Some people take their personal situations and make them into laws It is true that there are people who take their personal situations and make laws out of them, when they are not. Let’s say you’re married to an unfaithful man, and you start telling your daughters that no man is faithful on this earth, then they need to prepare themselves accordingly. Is that true? Of course, no. But still, some people experience common situations and draw hasty conclusions, as if their situation were universal. The more you know about laws, the easier it will be for you to identify the laws that are really laws, and separate them from those that are just personal experiences that some people have had, and talk about them as if they were laws. Remember: a law applies to everyone, no matter who you are. The power of a law If a child jumps from the top of a 10-storey building, do you think he will fly and not be affected by the law of gravity just because he doesn’t know about it? If you go with your vehicle to a country where the law says that the steering wheels must be on the right, and yours is on the left, do you think you won’t be stopped, just because you didn’t know? Not knowing the existence of a law is no excuse for not being affected by it. A law does not care whether we know it or not — whether we understand it or not. It impacts us, whether we like it or not. In this blog, you will learn several laws that you don’t know yet, but that still affect your life — and you will understand laws that you thought you knew, but don’t really understand because partial knowledge is still ignorance. If you know part of what it takes to get a rocket off the ground and you don’t know the rest, which astronaut is going to get on your rocket? Wouldn’t that be suicide? Partial knowledge is therefore still ignorance, because it will not allow you to achieve the desired goal either. Partial knowledge is still ignorance In the next story, we will talk about what motivates the actions of every human being. Although there are universal laws that govern the world, each culture seems to have its own code of ethics, deciding what is right or wrong to do. In the following story, we will therefore see where these codes of ethics come from, and the impact they have in the results we have in our lives, in relation to the different laws. We will see the consequences of living as if the laws do not exist, and much more. Thank you.

https://medium.com/@mbayabu/what-influences-the-quality-of-my-life-part-2-3-d7e735a18985

['Christian B. Mbayabu']

2020-12-19 16:46:35.741000+00:00

['Influence', 'Quality Of Life', 'Methods', 'Experience', 'Law']

Why Bitcoin’s base layer can’t be scaled

As the Bitcoin community argued throughout much of 2017 about how to scale a network hit by high fees, a group of miners and developers decided to take matters into their own hands by forking BTC and increasing the block size of Bitcoin, creating Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Why would increasing block size be the right way to scale the Bitcoin system? When more miners join the BTC network, one might think the additional processing power would increase transaction speed — but this isn’t so, as additional miners only increase the network’s security. In fact, BTC’s transaction processing speed is directly a function of the system’s settings for 1) block size and 2) block creation rate, both of which are community determined. In the sections below, we’ll explore why transaction speed can’t be scaled using these levers without increasing vulnerability to double-spend attacks (although there are other concerns, like the increased centralization risks and node requirements posed by larger block sizes). Along the way we’ll try to cover a few relevant Bitcoin basics, but there should hopefully be many other great sources, including the white paper, which have that covered. One of Bitcoin’s core security assumptions is limited network delays In Bitcoin’s white paper, a few fundamental assumptions ensure the network’s security: Users each keep a copy of the “blockchain”, and updates are handled for “honest” users by always updating to the “longest chain” they are aware Miners solve “proof-of-work” puzzles to add blocks onto existing chains, and block additions are handled for honest miners by always adding to the “longest chain” they are aware of When there are limited network delays and honest participants control >50% of the network’s total computational power, the longest chain will be controlled by honest participants and will (with very high probability) grow faster than attackers’ alternate chains In real-world conditions when there are at least some network delays, we’ll discuss how increasingly large block sizes and faster block creation rates lead to more “forking”, which decrease the security of the network. Security (in this context) means preventing double spend attacks When security is discussed in the context of Bitcoin, we are referring to the ability to prevent double spend attacks. There are two stages to getting a transaction completed on the Bitcoin network — A) User A needs to access their Bitcoin wallet to declare they are sending money to User B, and B) the network acknowledges this transaction and adds it to the permanent record on the longest chain. While security for Step A is really about wallet and wallet password security, security for Step B is about making sure previously “valid” transactions aren’t rolled back in “double spend” attacks. What is a double spend attack? It involves an attacker first issuing a transaction on the current longest chain, then using their computing power to create an alternate longer chain that does not include that original transaction. Note that for Bitcoin, the longest chain is always the “truth” — honest users pull from it to update their own records, and honest miners add to the longest chain when they find new blocks. Let’s say Bob sends Jim 1 BTC for a pizza. After this transaction is confirmed on the longest currently available chain in block 10, Jim gives Bob his Pizza. However, if Bob wants to cheat his system, he can start from block 9 and mine a new block 10 and block 11 which not only doesn’t include his payment to Jim, but uses the same 1 BTC in another payment to pay for chicken wings. Since Bob has created a new longest chain that excludes his payment to Jim, Bob has now spent the same 1 BTC twice (“double spend”) for BOTH a pizza and chicken wings, while Jim has been cheated out of his payment money and is missing a pizza. Bitcoin’s block creation rate and block size can be changed easily… When we discuss Bitcoin scalability, it’s important to note that both the “block” creation rate, which determines the confirmation speed of transactions, and the individual block size are determined by the network. Notably adding additional computing power will make the network more secure against attackers, but does not directly result in more transactions being processed. Since (# of transactions processed / second) = (# of blocks created / second) * (transactions per block), Bitcoin’s scalability is actually something the community can actually set if agreed upon. So why can’t Bitcoin simply scale by increasing block creation rate and block size (e.g. as Bitcoin Cash attempted)? … but only at the expense of security (decreasing the security threshold) This is because increasing either of these variables decreases the network’s security threshold. Security threshold = % of the network’s processing power needed to run a double spend attack Bitcoin’s core security rests on the idea that if “honest” nodes control >50% of the computing power, they will be able to mine blocks and grow their longest chain faster than any attacker can potentially create an attacking chain. Let’s run a few basic calculations to see how this might work. H = growth rate of main chain (in # of blocks/second), controlled by honest participants D = growth rate of attacker’s chain Z = amount of computing power, on average, needed to successfully create a block If H > D, then the honest longest chain will grow fast enough to be secure from double spends. Under good network conditions, if the total computing power of the network is C, the fraction of computing power controlled by honest nodes is h, then say (for simplicity) H = C*h/Z. If the fraction of computing power controlled by dishonest attackers is d, then D = C*d/Z. With ideal network conditions, an attack will succeed if D>H, or d > h. Since all nodes are either honest or dishonest, d+h = 1, and the security threshold is 50%. Higher network delays means the honest longest chain grows more slowly Previously, we noted that Bitcoin’s security in it’s original white paper assumes a “synchronous” network, where participants learn of new blocks and the current longest chain instantaneously. Say there is a blockchain with 5 blocks (Blocks = A, B, C, D, E) — think about two scenarios: A) Network/internet is fast - miners learn of new blocks and new longest chains quickly, and quickly switch to working on top of new longest chains. Here, a newly discovered block would be F, and would follow right after E. - miners learn of new blocks and new longest chains quickly, and quickly switch to working on top of new longest chains. Here, a newly discovered block would be F, and would follow right after E. B) Network/internet is slow - miners don’t learn of new blocks quickly. Say Ted’s current blockchain only has 3 blocks, A to C. When he discovers a new block, call it D*, he adds it to his chain (Blocks = A, B, C, D*), only to realize the longest chain is now A to E. Their newly discovered “block” is now wasted and won’t be on the longest chain. Additionally, (A, B, C, D*) is now a “fork” of (A, B, C, D, E) — it’s shorter than the longest chain, and has a different block in an earlier position. Effectively when honest computing power is wasted creating blocks on top of old chains that aren’t the longest, the longest chain by honest nodes grows more slowly as computing power is wasted on unused blocks. So instead of H = C*h/Z, it might be H = ½ * (C*h/z) if half of the blocks are wasted. So now even if honest nodes own 50% of the computing power, the security threshold is only For an attacker to be able to win: D > H → C*d/Z > C*h/Z → d > ½*h → d = 1/3 Security threshold = 34% Therefore when there are network delays, h > d alone doesn’t guarantee security. Indeed, an attacker with only 34% of computing power could succeed in an attack. Why doesn’t forking affect dishonest attackers? We usually assume dishonest attackers can communicate more easily among their own nodes (e.g. through direct network connections), and always focus their efforts on growing a single chain, therefore wasting fewer blocks. For more details on this idea, see source DW13 here: https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/454.pdf “Indeed, Decker and Wattenhofer [DW13] already experimentally observed that increasing the networks delays in Nakamoto’s protocol leads to increased forks, and they noted (through heuristic calculations) that an attacker could use these delays to violate consistency with an attack that requires less than 50% of the mining power.” How do block size and block creation rate affect “forking”? Increasing the block size makes it slower for new blocks to be communicated throughout the network. This is similar to the effect of slowing down network speeds, in that new blocks and longest chains take longer to be propagated across the network, increasing the frequency of forks. The impact of “block creation rate” is also similar — the more quickly new blocks are being created, the more often the longest chain is growing, and the more often nodes will find themselves wasting “blocks” by working on top of outdated, shorter chains. Final thoughts While adding additional mining power to the network makes Bitcoin more secure, couldn’t you then increase block size or creation rate to increase transactions processed, while still keeping security constant? This might work in theory, but probably isn’t the long-term solution for Bitcoin, since Bitcoin would need to scale by orders of magnitude more before it became competitive with other centralized solutions (like Visa), assuming the goal is to become a method for everyday payments. In the meantime, there’s always the Lightning network for users to hold out hope for.

https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/why-bitcoins-base-layer-can-t-be-scaled-ecaa79f6f3cb

[]

2019-02-09 04:11:50.618000+00:00

['Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Technology']

How I Achieved Financial Freedom by Quitting My Job

How I Achieved Financial Freedom by Quitting My Job Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash Quitting my job was never something I considered while trying to crawl my way toward financial freedom. Why would I give up the only secure income I had? I have always considered myself efficient with my personal economy. I made sure to cover all fixed expenses, put something aside for a rainy day, and build my investment portfolio. But as I look back at years of taking microscopically small steps toward financial freedom, I realized how much my comfortable situation actually held me back from achieving financial freedom. Diagnosed me crazy yet? — Let me elaborate on my thoughts. Comfort resulted in boundaries One of the first things I saw when starting to pick my work-life apart is; I always stayed within my budget. Don’t get me wrong, that was the intention of operating on a budget, but I saw no real progress. Every month I saved the same amount, spent the same amount, and I invested the same amount. I operated on a zero margin budget, and that was where I located my first set of problems; I knew I had the money coming in every month, so I was loose handed with subscriptions and expenses, knowing they would be covered. I saved the same amount of money every month, which fooled myself into feeling like I accomplished progress but looking in the rearview mirror, I could have put aside much more. I saw progress toward my financial freedom goal, but I was catch up in a race with no finish line in sight. I kept tracking my progress in Excel, but I settled for marginal progress every month, feeling like I did a great job as long as the numbers crawled forward. (Would take me somewhere around 50 years to achieve a liveable passive income, great plan genius…) The conclusion drawn from this comfortable routine? I didn’t really challenge myself in reaching my final goals. Hit the reset button I’ve changed my job a couple of times throughout my career, but I’ve never given my resignation without having a new place to call home. It was terrifying, exhilarating, and fun at the same time. Easily summed up to one of the strangest but yet most enjoyable moments in my career. So I did the unthinkable, I cut the only safe income source I had. Now, this is where I really started to push toward my financial targets and see results. But, how can you start saving more if you quit your job, you might wonder? By pushing the most primal and developed instinct we have (Thank you mammoth chasing Thomas from the past) into action; The survival instinct. Quitting my job really forced me to start evaluating every single dime going in and out of my accounts. I started from scratch and created a new budget, new money targets, and cut all fixed costs that had previously been covered by my salary. How I took control of my expenses Cutting my expenses all the way to the bone was necessary for my new life to have any chance of success. I didn’t know how much money would come in every month. Hence I needed to keep my fixed expenses as low as possible. How I did it? — With a few brutal but efficient steps; First, I went through my bank statements and listed up every single reoccurring expense. After listing them all up in a massive excel sheet, I started categorizing them into 3 groups. Vital (housing, power, gas, and so on) Comfort (services, subscriptions, gym, and so on), and the last one was Cut (everything I cut right away) This took quite a few attempts before I had cut away enough expenses to be satisfied, but in the end, I managed to press down my expenses per month from roughly $1800 to less than $600. (I’m married, so the mortgage is split between us) The ultimate secret to achieving complete happiness and financial freedom? — Be cheap. By that, I don’t mean you should go for the cheapest alternative, worst quality, or so on, but be picky about what you spend your money on. It sounds easy, but it takes a lot of discipline. The importance of diversifying your income sources Now things were starting to get real. I had cut my expenses, but I had also cut away my only reliable income source by quitting my job. Without trying to sound silly pointing out the obvious, living on a budget is rather hard without any money coming in. But to avoid falling back into my old habits, I set myself a goal for 5 different income sources, preferably scalable long-term. This way I could continue to increase my income, but as long as I stayed strict on my expenses, I could plow more money into the financial machine toward financial freedom. The way I did that? By running my finances like a conglomerate with 5 different subsidiaries. Each one had to cover its own expenses and contribute profit to the main unit (my income). This way, ended up with the flowchart below. Picture by Author. Now we’re really starting to get momentum here, but due to poor drawing skills, let me explain the model. First, I set out to create 5 different income sources; Freelance work, income from platforms such as Medium, Youtube, and my blog, the dividend portfolio, affiliate links spread across the various platforms, and lastly, royalties from eBooks and other digital products I sell on my site. Most months, my billable hours from freelance is enough to cover my fixed expenses. This means I can plow any other income from the remaining 4 sources back into my dividend portfolio, allowing it to grow faster. As I mentioned previously, by keeping my expenses to the bare minimum, I can let my other income sources accelerate the growth of my passive income source (Dividends) again, resulting in higher income, and we have take-off! The bottom line I was able to quit my job and live from the proceeds of freelance work. By smart and strict spending routines, I created passive income sources to sustain my budget and focus on putting my money to work efficiently. I set out to prove that anyone can create their own path, and it’s never too late to get started. The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced many to think alternatively after being laid off due to lockdown. By taking a step back from traditional employment and seeking alternative options, many more might be able to achieve financial freedom through diversified income sources. While I always applaud people for seeking out their own path, make sure not to make any rash decisions that might impact your ability to sustain yourself. Plan smart, utilize budgets, and think ahead. Financial freedom might be closer than you think.

https://themakingofamillionaire.com/how-i-achieved-financial-freedom-by-quitting-my-job-ece79b8229e9

['Thomas Groenvold']

2020-11-11 20:39:22.941000+00:00

['Financial Freedom', 'Self Development', 'Freelance', 'Investing', 'Diversification']

The Day I Jumped Out of an Airplane

“I hope I won’t get scared in the last minute!” exclaimed Vijith keeping his eyes fixed on the distant aircraft steadily descending from the vivid blue sky. I looked at him, he did look a bit nervous. That was unexpected. After all, he was the one who had planned that trip. He was the one who went around at the office inviting everyone to join. This happened five years ago, on Nov 1st, 2015. It was a clear sunny day in the lush green suburb of North Wollongong, 85 km away from Sydney City. It felt strange that Vijith was nervous. I looked around. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone else too had a pinch of fear in their eyes while their smiles silently spoke loud words about how excited they were. “Are you scared?” Meria asked me while she carefully dabbed sunscreen on her hands. I realized that I was also showing mixed signs of nervousness and ecstasy. Was it silly to be scared at that point? I guess not because our fear was the drive behind the dive. We were not jumping just to see those birds-eye-views from the sky. Instead, all of us were silently searching for a greater sense of achievement that escalates our self-esteem. And those beautiful sceneries were just gifts, rather than goals, for those who are bold enough to come out of the safe zone. “Let's go to the beach” called out Sujith, interrupting my thoughts “We won’t be flying until 2. We have plenty of time”. The eight of us walked to North Wollongong Beach and the two amateur cameramen among us started experimenting with their expensive toys. The sea was cerulean blue with gentle waves that had milk-like crests. The sky was dotted not with clouds but with parachutes that seemed too tiny due to the vastness of the sphere above. Many more parachutes flew over the sea and safely landed on the ground nearby. Everyone started looking less scared and more excited as each parachute landed. Time passed by and all we did was taking photos and watching the divers. “We need to move on…” called out Mithun, the eldest among us. “The thing is,” he said “We will have to sign certain forms before getting our equipment for the dive. If we go to their office now, we can avoid the last-minute rush.” Some of us wanted to stay at the beach a bit more longer but knew that it was pointless to argue. Mithun walked towards the office and we followed. The forms to be signed were funny in a cruel way. The statements were like “I declare that if I get hurt or die the diving company is not responsible” and the ‘to-be-filled’ columns asked “The contact details of the person to be contacted in case you die”. “So why are we doing this ??” I asked myself again “Oh yeah... self-esteem; challenge; pride” After securing all our belongings in lockers, a lady handed out some wild equipment to us. Following her instructions, we attached that equipment to our bodies. Later on, we were greeted by our diving instructors. They led us to a bus. And after a 20 minutes long bus journey we reached a mini-airport quite far from the North Wollongong beach. My instructor explained that we would cover this distance from the beach within seconds in the air. His name was Ralph. He was a friendly old man who was twice my age and thrice my size. Ralph told me stories of his previous dives. He had been diving for years and he had lots of stories to tell. We boarded a jump-plane from the airport. Inside it, we had to sit on the floor since jump-planes didn’t have seats. In fact, it barely had space for 16 divers and 1 pilot. Ralph sat behind me, Aswin on my left, Vijith’s instructor in front, and on my right side, it was the window. The view from the window was amazing, but it was not new. I’ve been on helicopters twice before — once above The-12-Apostles and once over Pokolbin. Even though this wasn’t a helicopter, the overall view was pretty much the same — aerial view of sea and land. In fact, even tall hills can give you a high elevation view. The only difference is that when you are on an aircraft, earthlings would seem even smaller. I remembered the first time I saw a high elevation view back in Kerala. I was a child. It wasn’t very high, still, I was scared. The years that followed gifted me with many such experiences. High elevation was no longer scary. In a short while it started to get boring — both Ralph’s stories and the view. I looked around. Aswin’s face was red. Mithun seemed okay. I couldn’t see the faces of the rest of the crew but could sense the air of nervousness creeping in again. The instructors were cracking jokes, but my mates didn’t seem to be in a mood to laugh. I looked out again, the elevation was steadily getting higher and higher. It started becoming interesting. Soon the elevation was so high that the houses and roads weren’t properly seen. The ocean looked magnificent. The land, even though it was mostly green, had a mixture of hues here and there as if an artist had mixed oil paint on a palette. “We are 14000 feet above sea level and the temperature is…” an instructor started announcing. “That sounds very high.” I thought “14000 feet !!! How much is that in kilometers? 1000 meters is 1 km... but what about feet? Bad time to do the math. Why can’t they announce it in meters?” While I was lost in not-so-significant thoughts, I felt something fall from the plane. And suddenly I heard a scream and realized that it was a person. No, it was two people — Sujith and his instructor. They had jumped !!! No sooner than Sujith’s scream had faded, the next pair jumped. Meria, Alan, Dilip, Vijith, and Aswin jumped. And it was my turn. “Are you ready?” Ralph asked me. I nodded. We crawled to the aircraft’s door. A strong cold wind blew. A sudden shiver shook my body. My palms suddenly felt wet. “Am I sweating ??” I clutched my side belts. “On the count of three…” shouted Ralph so loud that I could hear him despite the loud rattling noise of the aircraft engine and the strong wind. “1, 2, 3…” and I remember raising my feet. In a fraction of a second, we were in the air. We were in the air !!!! No, we were not floating peacefully in the air. We were falling down with great velocity. A strong cold wind was blowing against us. The cold air was hitting directly at my face and pushing my cheeks outward as if the wind wanted to tear my face apart. Recalling Ralph’s previous instructions, I looked up and the wind stopped hitting directly at the face. And that’s when I found myself starring at a blue expanse. The sky looked curved and the horizon infinite. The jump-plane was flying away and it soon turned into a black dot in the vivid blue cloudless sky. Seconds later the black dot vanished into the blue. Felt a bit dizzy for everything around me was blue, blue, and blue. Avoiding straight hit from the cold wind, I slowly looked sideways down again. Like snakes, roads ran between green and yellow patches on the ground. Waves played with the beach sand imitating the flowing laces of old Victorian gowns. It was a unique feeling. I was in mid-air, floating freely; my legs hanging down like hands. Like any other object under the herculean hands of gravity, I was falling. The vast blue sphere above me; land and sea below me. The parachute suddenly opened. The pattern of our movement changed in a jiffy. We were no longer falling at great speed but rather slowly floating like a pendulum while still descending down to the ground. The strong rattling sound of the wind was no longer heard. The parachute was under perfect control by Ralph’s strong hands. He directed it towards the sea. We floated above the cerulean blue Aussie sea for some time. Beautiful, peaceful, and calm. Life ought to be like that sea. Beautiful and peaceful. But most of us are too busy worrying about things that are not worth worrying about at all -the daily battles of deadlines & tasks, the murmurs & opinions of people who don’t matter to us, and many other negative vibes that would live in the limelight only for a day or two. We often don’t realize that there is a lot more in this world to explore and experience. Ralph tilted the parachute a bit and it started moving in a different direction. The wind was at his aid. We were now moving closer to the ground. “Are we about to land”, I asked him. “That’s right, Kiddo” replied the giant. “Can we fly around for some more time?” I asked again. He smiled and said no. We floated above the green patches for some more time, descending lower as each second passed by. And finally, my legs touched the dew-kissed grass. Vijith came running like a madman as soon as I landed. He gave me a high-five, shouted something in excitement, and ran to the next person who had just landed. Soon the whole crew gathered, everyone, smiling gleefully as they spoke about their recent adventure in the sky. The sky was slowly turning a bit more cloudy and slightly darker. More parachutes were coming down. Felt a bit guilty about taking months to plan and book a dive that takes just a few minutes. Felt more guilty realizing that there are a lot more items in my unwritten “to do” list waiting for a tick mark. For the rest of that evening, my thoughts circled around many questions. That day ended like any other day when darkness swallowed yellow light in the west. Weekdays and weekends followed. But life didn’t continue as usual as I started seeing goals and dreams from a different perspective. Secretly & silently I thanked everyone and everything that had led me into the sky diving adventure.

https://medium.com/be-unique/the-day-i-jumped-out-of-an-airplane-2c326110b588

[]

2020-12-03 06:08:54.693000+00:00

['Travel', 'This Happened To Me', 'Inspiration', 'Storytelling', 'Self']

Employee Benefits for Canadian Nannies, Housekeepers & Caregivers

I’ve had a few friends ask me about this, so thought I’d consolidate my thoughts in a single post. A number of our clients at Beneplan have revealed to us that they’ve added the boss’s caregiver to their payroll and now wonder about adding them to their benefit plan. There are a number of pros to providing a caregiver with Canadian employee benefits: In a labour market where it seems like “we need them more than they need us,” it’s a great way to distinguish yourself as an employer of choice. as an employer of choice. You will eventually observe them in their physical job and empathize for their sore feet, lack of a dentist, or medicine needed. Your heart will tell you to help subsidize these costs. for their sore feet, lack of a dentist, or medicine needed. Your heart will tell you to help subsidize these costs. Instead of giving them cash from your hard earned after-tax dollars, you can deduct a Private Health Services Plan as a business expense from a Canadian sole proprietorship. Further, the dollars the employee receives are tax-free to them, therefore allowing them to bypass unnecessary income taxes if the money is going straight to medical expenses. from a Canadian sole proprietorship. Further, the dollars the employee receives are tax-free to them, therefore allowing them to bypass unnecessary income taxes if the money is going straight to medical expenses. Benefits through a third party are a clean way of letting someone else be the bad cop with your budget (otherwise, where do you draw the line?) without getting into the detail of their private medical details. with your budget (otherwise, where do you draw the line?) without getting into the detail of their private medical details. The perceived value of benefits is usually greater than the discrete costs. The simplest and most cost effective way to provide a starter benefit plan is to add a singular health spending account with the amount you’re comfortable budgeting. Here’s how you’d go about it: It’s best to set up a separate plan or division from your firm’s benefit plan. This is because your firm may be designed for a different type of worker and the coverage may not be a fit for the caregiver. Find a provider of Canadian health spending accounts or benefit plans. Provide your budget and desired start date. and desired start date. Consider giving benefits only after the probation period is over, for example, three months after the hire date. is over, for example, three months after the hire date. Provide the enrolment form to the caregiver and have them submit it to you. Always keep a copy on file for your records. for your records. If you have multiple caregivers , it’s best practice to allow them the same opportunity to have benefits. It’s understandable if you want to provide different tiers/classes of benefits, but make sure it’s only based on non-discriminatory factors such as tenure or occupation — not based on gender, age, perceived disability, family status, or other protected parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or provincial human rights codes. , it’s best practice to allow them the same opportunity to have benefits. It’s understandable if you want to provide different tiers/classes of benefits, but make sure it’s only based on non-discriminatory factors such as tenure or occupation — not based on gender, age, perceived disability, family status, or other protected parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or provincial human rights codes. It’s best practice to cover the entire premium. I don’t recommend that you ask the caregiver to contribute a portion of their pay to the plan. It may leave a bad taste in their mouth, the caregiver can’t deduct the full amount from their taxes, and you won’t be saving a significant amount. Either provide the plan or don’t. Termination of Benefits Based on Canadian employment standards, here are the Do’s and Don’ts of terminating a benefit plan: DO DO remember to terminate the benefit plan if your caregiver quits. The plan should end on their last day at work. DO terminate the plan if you have let them go. The plan should end at the end of their notice period. Ex) If you give them two weeks’ working notice, the benefits should end on their last date worked. If you give them two weeks’ paid notice, end benefits on their last day being paid. DON’T DON’T terminate their plan arbitrarily without giving them prior written warning. Just like you wouldn’t let them show up to work with the door locked without any notice, don’t let them show up to the pharmacy with a prescription they can’t fill. DON’T terminate their plan if they go on vacation, sick leave, parental leave, or any other protected leaves under Canadian employment standards (like Ontario’s ESA). This is deemed discriminatory. DON’T terminate their plan if they leave the country but are still your employee. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ask them or the benefits provider what they claimed. DO NOT ask to see their receipts. DO NOT prevent them from adding their legal dependants to the plan. It’s none of your business who in their family is sick or healthy. Individuals have a right to the privacy of their personal health information. That’s the basic nuts & bolts — feel free to reach out if you have any questions — yafa@beneplan.ca.

https://medium.com/@yafasakkejha/employee-benefits-for-canadian-nannies-housekeepers-caregivers-6a3d42ff9345

['Yafa Sakkejha']

2019-02-28 15:48:07.359000+00:00

['Employee Benefits', 'Caregivers', 'Moms', 'Dads', 'Taxes']

Could Dance Meditation Be the Secret Doorway to our Creative Flow?

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I discovered this technique accidentally, while I was experimenting with dance as a warm-up for my yoga practice. I had learned about dance meditation during my training in India, but practicing it in a room full of other students wasn’t fruitful for me. It felt awkward, I couldn’t turn off my thoughts of how ridiculous I might look. I love dancing, a lot. But mostly when I am alone. So when I returned home, I started dancing before my yoga practice. Mostly because it seemed much more fun than doing 10 sun salutations in a row. And like I said, I love dancing. This is when I noticed that every time I would start my practice by dancing, things started to flow on their own. Everything aligned, my breath aligned with the rhythm of the music, my body movement was in perfect harmony with my breath, I would completely forget myself. My yoga practice would be longer and deeper, more flowing. For the first time, I became one with the practice. It was as if my body was moving on its own. And I was simply watching it. THE UNEXPECTED CONNECTION The more often I danced before my Yoga Sessions, the longer the dance periods became. Sometimes I would even completely skip the asana part and just dance for hours. I would turn on any music that made me feel like moving my hips, close my eyes, and let go into whatever movement felt good. After I’d become tired of dancing, I would turn off the music, sit down, and simply listen to the silence, feeling into the after-effects. And wuuushhh.. gates would open and creativity flush in. I noticed that dancing allowed me to tap into my creative flow, within only a few minutes. I would start writing fanatically, filming hours and hours of video material, one idea after the other entered my head. It happened frequently. The more I danced, the longer I’d find myself in the zone. Discovering this — and because the world was facing its first global lockdown — I decided to isolate myself for three days, no phone, no internet, just me, my journal, a bag of incense sticks, and music. Though I expected to become incredibly bored after a while, it seemed like these three days rushed by in minutes. The result was a 10-hour long dance meditation, a ton of new ideas, and hours and hours of filming material. This weekend I discovered a new side of myself. And it felt genius! It felt like I had entered another realm. But what had happened? Was this a manic episode? Was I slowly going mad?

https://medium.com/spiritual-secrets/could-dance-meditation-be-the-secret-doorway-to-our-creative-flow-c5d8f4ef3af8

['Jasmine Soumana']

2020-11-09 07:02:55.483000+00:00

['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Meditation', 'Spirituality', 'Spiritual Secrets']

[Ann] Nine Chronicles Mainnet Launching Update

Firstly, we’d like to say thanks to every community member for patiently waiting for the launching of Nine Chronicles Mainnet so far. Now we are announcing the launching schedule and requirement for you to join the Mainnet. Below are the details. Mainnet & Early Access Launching Sept. 28th. 2020. 17:00 KST Requirement Unlike CBT, ‘Activation key’ is required for you to join Mainnet and play the game. Activation keys will be distributed as follows(Keys will be distributed after the Mainnet launching and subjected to change depending on circumstances). CBT Participants: 1 Activation Key 1 Activation Key Presale Participants: 3 Activation Keys We will be collecting the presale participants’ address for asset distribution which was used for the users’ final CBT client. We will be sending emails regarding the details to the email address used for your presale participation so we urge you to check your inbox for further specific instructions. Join our Planetarium Discord community for more information and inquiry!

https://medium.com/nine-chronicles/ann-nine-chronicles-mainnet-launching-update-b0213c279120

['Nine Chronicles']

2020-09-11 12:28:17.017000+00:00

['Ann', 'Planetarium', 'Ninechronicles', 'English']

4 Ways to Make Self-Care Easy (without chocolate)

Photo by Sam Loyd on Unsplash Tonight I looked after myself. Self-care is one of those buzzwords which has taken on a different meaning over the last few years. Some people think of it as eating chocolate and having a bubble bath. For me, it’s putting on some meditation music, vacuuming the floor which was getting me down, and making myself eat some vegetables. But it’s doing so with compassion. I made myself pasta — a comforting and favourite dish, with added vegetables. I couldn’t bear the idea of seated meditation today, so I combined the activity to mindfully clean and tidy. I listened to a podcast and let myself dance around the room to it — forcing myself to move a little because all I wanted was to go for a nap on the sofa; at 5:30pm. I shared a recent struggle with my story-teller community. In essence, self-care is individual: yours will look different to mine, but the one thing in common is that tweaking something to make it “better” has a huge impact. The small steps really do add up. In 2016, I had a pretty flawless self-care routine going. I meditated daily, exercised 3x a week for at least 20 minutes, walked 3–4 times a week, ate 5-a-day most days… 2020 has been one hell of a reset for me. And going into September, I felt stable enough to begin building up. Photo by Emma Gossett on Unsplash For those who know me or have followed a while, I spoke about my word for 2020 being “Steadfast.” I wanted to feel rooted, after the last couple of years turned me into soup. I wrote back then that “the difficulty for 2020 is that I’ve disintegrated so many things this year,” so that’s where I began. Seven months in, the soil is tilled, the earth sown and I am watering it ready for those seeds to grow. What’s the first step? Consider future-you. Thinking about what is useful for you right now, I want to focus on “What step will future-you be thankful that you took?” Often self care is what might feel good in the moment, but the most positive aspects I’ve found is to consider what will have a positive impact longer term. Eating chocolate will make you feel good now, then guilty, tired, bloated and that mood boost will likely be short-lived. Forcing myself to do five minutes of yoga with a glass of water instead will be harder in the moment but me-tonight will be glad of not feeling guilty or uncomfortable, the sense of achievement will boost my mood for longer, and I may even feel more energised without a sugar crash. Equally, I was feeling emotionally drained on Wednesday, so I grabbed a frozen pizza, added my own fresh toppings (healthier or something), put on the Lion King, and then went to bed by 8pm (meditated, journalled then let myself sleep it off). Self-care is sometimes about taking a nap and having an easy evening, but for me the important aspect is to meet my basic needs — fresh vegetables, a feel good movie to help me smile, and still fitting in my journal and meditation practise before letting myself have ‘time off’ because those will actually help me. Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash I think of True Self-Care like parenting ourselves. Whatever technique works for you, considering the longer-term positives is definitely a key factor in self-care. Sometimes, chocolate is okay. Much like feeding my cat a treat or taking a duvet day following a hard time. I’m not saying to avoid anything. But there is a line that has blurred over the past decade between self-care and indulgence — especially those actions with a tangible downside like a sugar-crash or handover afterwards. If you need to gamify your life, do it. -I get “experience points” in my workouts because it’s an RPG fitness game. -If you only drink enough water when you are trying to keep thirsty plants alive on a phone app, it’s all good. -Ask yourself what “superhero-me” or “warrior-me” or “future-me” would do if faced with this choice. I’ve spoken before about self-care being like parenting and why this means you don’t need discipline. But the main block for me is in that perception of control. If I don’t feed my cats or water my plants, or get out of bed when my alarm goes off, someone will suffer. I know it, I can see it. I know that my cats rely on me, those indoor plants need watering. I know that there will be pretty quick, negative results if I skip my duties that involve other people. And caring for others gives us a huge boost in certain neurotransmitters. It is that sense of individuality — that eating this sugary treat won’t hurt anyone else — that often stops us from making the ‘healthy’ choice. And often, the pull of chocolate now just outweighs the “possible” sugar crash of later. It is the idea that little choices we make don’t matter - that this one chocolate bar or one “blip” won’t add up, or that the positive NOW will outweigh any kind of negative in the future. Photo by Jeanie de Klerk on Unsplash The Takeaways are Simple (but not Easy). Self-care may not always feel “relaxing” or “fun.” Self-care in my eyes is a preventative measure to avoid negatives, not necessarily a positive. It can help to have external motivation/praise, and/or to hold yourself ‘responsible’ for your wellbeing (like cleaning the litter tray because you know you and your cat could get sick / have accidents if you don’t.) Small items add up. My common self-care items add up to under 5 minutes a day — choosing water over soda, taking 10 deep breaths locked in the bathroom, putting on one upbeat song and singing to it in the car, standing up to stretch from my desk every 2–3 hours. If you are too busy/have kids/are a carer/struggle with energy, consider the transitions between tasks — Waiting for the kettle to boil? Take 3 deep breaths. Brushing your teeth? Do some squats. Walking from bedroom to kitchen? Pause at the window and identify 3 things which are yellow. Someone I coached once explained self-care as ‘Not the pop culture self-care, like a pedicure, but things that truly make you feel full.’ You cannot give if you are empty, so refill your own well regularly. Need help reinventing yourself, managing day to day stressors and getting clarity on what tasks to focus on? Grab your free copy of the Four Steps to Reinvent Your Life here.

https://medium.com/change-your-mind/4-ways-to-make-self-care-easy-without-chocolate-a7ecfeb994ad

['Katy-Rose']

2020-09-30 13:20:21.033000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Self Improvement', 'Self Care', 'Resilience', 'Wellbeing']

TrustNote Announces Strategic Investment in Blockchain Game Asset Exchange BIT.GAME

TrustNote invest in Blockchain Game Asset Exchange Two of the most innovative next-generation blockchain projects have increased cooperation with the announcement of TrustNote’s strategic investment in BIT.GAME. Both parties will further strengthen cooperation in the areas of blockchain game ecosystem development, marketing, and new blockchain game incubation. The partnership between TrustNote and BIT.GAME has obvious benefits for both parties. TrustNote will promote the BIT.GAME project in the TTT investor community. TTT token holders can use TTT tokens to invest in BIT.GAME and enjoy favorable discounts provided by the BIT.GAME project. The increased partnership will also mean greater integration between TrustNote and the two exchanges operated by BIT.GAME. Custom tokens issued on TrustNote will receive priority listing on BIT.GAME Exchange and BIT.GAME AIDEX, while the TrustNote Super Wallet will directly connect to the trading interfaces of both exchanges. This means that custom tokens and digital assets created on TrustNote will be listed automatically on both of BIT.GAME’s exchanges. TrustNote’s strategic investment marks the latest stage in cooperation with BIT.GAME. On March 6, 2018, it was reported by China’s largest news media group People’s Daily that BIT.GAME and TrustNote had agreed upon strategic cooperation and jointly initiated the “Global Blockchain Game Alliance.” On April 3, 2018, TrustNote founder Jeff Zhou gave a keynote speech entitled “TrustNote Reshapes the Value of Credibility in the Gaming World” at the Global Blockchain Forum. The April 30, 2018, announcement of TrustNote’s strategic investment in BIT.GAME further deepens cooperation between the two parties. Both TrustNote and BIT.GAME are dedicated to providing the tools necessary for developers to unlock the potential of tokenized innovation. TrustNote’s simple TRC20 protocol makes it easy for anyone to create tokens and digital assets without the complex coding required to issue smart contracts on other platforms. BIT.GAME provides original and complete development kits for traditional game publishers looking to develop the next generation of blockchain-based games. ABOUT TRUSTNOTE TrustNote was created with the belief that decentralization is the key to freedom of innovation in the digital age. Many of today’s blockchains have compromised on true decentralization, denying innovators and future thinkers the freedom to create the change they want to see. TrustNote is designed to make development easy, fast, and scalable, and bring trust to an untrusting environment for every person on every device at a low cost. Currently, many public ledgers emphasize hype and marketing before launching their main chain and providing a working product. In contrast, TrustNote waited until the launch of its mainchain on January 18, 2018, before engaging in any marketing efforts. TrustNote combines the instant and low-cost transaction capabilities of a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) ledger structure with a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus model to build a distributed ledger that is instant, scalable, fully decentralized, and secure. TrustNote adheres to a Satoshi Nakamoto-styled truly decentralized concept of security, insisting on PoW as the most reliable consensus algorithm available. TrustNote’s aim is to create a truly fast, scalable, and developer-friendly blockchain. TrustNote aims to spark innovation and build the new tokenized economy with its TRC20 token protocol and iToken platform, which allow users to create and publish tokens freely and simply without having to code complex smart contracts. TrustNote’s Super Wallet provides security and rich application interfaces for tokenized applications, blockchain games, and social applications. On TrustNote, everyone can participate, all things can be tokenized, and transactions can be conducted on a truly decentralized network. TrustNote allows everyone to have their own digital assets and gain corresponding rewards through value exchange. The platform has been optimized for use by every person on every device, with full support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. TrustNote allows new ideas to become reality and flourish on the blockchain, empowering its users and democratizing decentralized development. BIT.GAME: The world’s first blockchain game vertical trading platform Seeing blockchain as the next step in the evolution of gaming, BIT.GAME is aiming to create the world’s largest blockchain gaming ecosystem. The BIT.GAME exchange will facilitate the trading of digital assets and gaming tokens, aiming to offer over 100 cryptocurrency trading pairs by the end of 2018. They will also provide complete development kits to games publishers for use across a range of blockchain networks. BIT.GAME founder Eric Sun has said that BIT.GAME will provide technical support, capital incubation, and asset trading services for innovative and high-potential blockchain game projects. More than 100 projects have already shown interest in utilizing the BIT.GAME platform. BIT.GAME has also reached strategic cooperation with four public blockchain projects, including TrustNote. Through these strategic cooperation agreements, BIT.GAME seeks to explore the application of blockchain in the gaming industry and promote the development of blockchain gaming ecology. BIT.GAME will provide a crowdfunding mechanism which allows game developers to seek funding, with BIT.GAME users voting on which projects receive support. BIT.GAME is also looking to further the concept of “paid-to-play” gaming, where users are rewarded for playing by receiving a cut of the game’s advertising revenue.

https://medium.com/ringnetwork/trustnote-announce-strategic-investment-in-blockchain-game-asset-exchange-bit-game-9d7db007f37f

['Bob Lu']

2018-08-20 11:10:04.585000+00:00

['Game Development', 'Partnerships', 'Announcements', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin Exchange']

How I got scammed by a Facebook ad

How do you like my sunglasses? They’re actually winter boots! Amazing, right? This magic illusion is made possible through a Facebook scam, of which I was a victim. It’s humbling, being the victim of fraud. I watch the news all the time. I read about the women who are bilked out of thousands of dollars because they fall in love with fraudsters. The Canada Revenue Agency calls me routinely telling me that I have to act now (and send gift cards) before my case is sent before a tribunal. I tuned those stories out, to be honest. After all, I’m too smart to be fooled by these fools. Too savvy to be scammed by these scammers. But now the scammers are laughing at me. And so, to prevent anyone else from feeling as foolish as I do right now, I’m going to tell you a story. I got greedy, and then I got fooled About a month ago I was scrolling through social media and whizzing past all the ads showing women shaving their faces with giant, multi-bladed razors (do women do this?) or prancing around wearing leak-proof underwear. When, all of a sudden I saw an ad for Sorel boots and stopped scrolling. The ad caught my eye because 1. I’m Canadian, and 2. Boots. My current Sorel boots lasted longer than my marriage and I had been considering an upgrade, you know, for something a little more modern. A little less dated. I’m still talking about the boots, folks. (Or am I?) I hadn’t pulled the trigger on the boots because I wasn’t sure if I could afford them. Sorel boots can be pretty pricey. As though reading my mind (as Facebook often does), this ad promised me Sorel boots for less than half of what I would normally pay. This broke mother said, “Heck yes!” “This seems almost too good to be true,” I muttered to myself as I clicked through to the website, which was filled with pages and pages of Sorel boots. I found a pair for me. I found another pair for my fast-growing kid. I’m nothing if not a generous broke mother. Buyer’s remorse sets in Moments after completing the sale, I felt it: Dread. I sent the URL to a friend who explored the site’s code and gave me the bad news as gently as he could: “Dude. That site is fake. You’re not getting any damn boots. Dummy.” He would prove correct. The company responded with an invoice, thanked me for my purchase and asked me for my patience as shipping would be delayed due to COVID-19. Two days later I received shipping information, telling me my package was en route from China. Something shipped, but what? I waited. I wondered. Should I call the bank now? How about now? Like I do with everything important, I wrote a reminder on a Post-It note and stuck it to my computer monitor. And then yesterday my boots arrived! But wait, the box was adorably small for two pairs of winter boots. Were they boots for ants? No, indeed they were not boots for ants, they were actually sunglasses! Really fancy fake Ray-Ban sunglasses, with a nice little case and a lens cloth and everything! As adorable as these sunglasses were, they were not $180 worth of winter boots. Could I afford to learn from this? There was a moment I considered doing nothing. It was my own fault. I should have known better. I was embarrassed. Had my purchase been for $50 I probably would have done nothing. I might have even sucked up a charge for $100 and called it a life lesson. But $180 is not nothing. So I peeled the Post-It from my monitor and called my bank. An hour spent chatting with a great fraud investigator at BMO, and it appears I may someday get my money back. In the meantime, here is a word of advice: Shop local. Shopping local won’t prevent you from going to a shoe store and walking out with a fun new pair of sunglasses. But it will prevent the black magic of that can turn much needed winter boots into silly (but adorable) face accessories.

https://medium.com/@dannabach/how-i-got-scammed-by-a-facebook-ad-7cc05274a759

['Danna Bach']

2021-01-05 00:23:59.418000+00:00

['Fraud Prevention', 'Scam', 'Online Shopping', 'Writing Life', 'Facebook']

Why India needs to invest in safeguarding education from crisis like COVID in future?

Highlights · Coronavirus pandemic gave rise to the global health crisis that impacted the education of numerous students. · More than 1.5 million schools got closed due to a national lockdown in India, affected the study of 286 million children from primary to secondary, of which 49% are girls. The Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) project approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday under the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) may help education systems to fight with the COVID-19 pandemic to emerge out of situations such as a lockdown. education app development The CERC would enable education, in any case, to be more responsive to any natural, man-made, and biological disasters. The CERC will help out the government to respond in a situation like a school, coaching, academic, institutional closure, or infrastructural damage to the learning system. The government says that CERC will help out to maintain education in any case by remote learning or other assistance also facilitate the utilization of streamlined financing request procedures and the rapid re-categorization of financing. The global health crisis aroused due to COVID-19 lead to life-saving lockdown, one way only that impacted education of numerous school children. 1.5 million schools got shut down that stopped education of 286 million children from primary to secondary of which 49% are girls. A UNICEF report released in August says COVID-19 added 6 million boys and girls that are completely out of schools due to the pandemic. Government, NGOs, and start-ups have started investing and innovating in various programs to minimize the effect of covid-19. For instance, the ‘ATL App Development Module’ launched by NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) for all school children across the country in July. The ATL App Development modules, launched in collaboration with Indian homegrown startup Plezmo it had the aim to grow the skills of school students with a priority toward transforming them from App users to App makers, it comes under AIM’s flagship Atal Tinkering Labs initiative. “Just contemplating ordinary subjects won’t help. Creating 21st-century abilities which incorporate relational abilities, collaboration, authority characteristics, and so on are likewise required. Presently the world is confronting a phenomenal test with Coronavirus. At the point when understudies are at home, ability advancement should be supported,” said R Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. Similarly, Learning Links Foundation, an NGO launched a coding challenge named CODETHON 2020, for Navy Children School students during the lockdown. CODETHON 2020 was a part of the ‘Learn to Code’ initiative conducted under the larger Veterans Skilling Program supported by The Boeing Company in India, it is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells rotorcraft, rockets, airplanes, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. Boeing has collaborated with Learning Links Foundation to arrange skilling programs for youth, veterans, and their families in different locations across the country. An alignment of government vision in the development of the self-reliant and skilled nation. “The new schooling strategy empowers presenting coding in evaluation six. Coding isn’t only the repeating theme between expert fields like computerized reasoning, the Internet of Things, mechanical technology, and distributed computing. It is an incredible method to create basic reasoning and critical thinking aptitudes, which researchers and architects — including plane design specialists — invest a great deal of energy considering and utilizing to separate bits of knowledge, improve measures, and change their work,” Salil Gupte, President Boeing India said. Around 170 students are an active part of ‘Learn to Code’ along with these 76 entries from 54 students were received for CODETHON 2020. On Tuesday, all participants and winners of CODETHON 2020 got the award with DIY robotics kits. One more development is to serve uninterrupted online learning to millions of students around the country. The government of India has a group All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in a partnership with Microsoft to empower learners and teachers with skills to prepare them for the future. Conclusion AppSquadz software is the leading education app development company committed towards advanced technological assistance to the remote learning and distance training program. All kinds of educational devices like pen drive course development, virtual classroom software, eLearning app, SD card solution, google drive solution, etc. are provided by the fastest emerging team at AppSquadz with its highest qualification, skills, and experience.

https://medium.com/@appsquadz/why-india-needs-to-invest-in-safeguarding-education-from-crisis-like-covid-in-future-1c9800f6a5

[]

2020-12-08 10:07:54.481000+00:00

['Education Mobile App', 'Mobile App', 'Education App Development', 'Education App', 'Education Application']

Album Review: EP! by JPEGMAFIA

Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, or better known by his stage name, JPEGMAFIA, is a rapper, singer, and producer from Baltimore. He’s had quite an interesting year with several features and a lot of growth from his 2019 album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs. While he released quite a few singles during the year, I didn’t really check that many out, except for his BALD! tracks. Now, several singles later, he has released a short EP titled, EP! The first track from the EP is BALD! Since there is a remix a few tracks later, I am going to group the two right here. I actually heard both of these tracks before the EP came out, and these tracks made me excited for what JPEGMAFIA was going to put out in the future. The track opens up with a slowed down track that is eventually sped out. You get some light synths and a bass in the background. Peggy basically talks about how he’s rocking the bald hairstyle. Other than that, Denzel Curry also kills it on his feature for the remix. After that, we have COVERED IN MONEY! The track comes in two different parts. It opens up with a skit like introduction, but JPEGMAFIA quickly comes in after the small singing tidbit. For the instrumental, he’s rapping over some distorted drums and people chanting. For the second part of the track, you get a quiet synth like instrumental backing the track. I’m not really too big on either of these instrumentals so they have been pushing me away from this track. Peggy also raps about going out with a bang and wanting to lave a legacy behind him when he dies. BODYGUARD! is a piano heavy track once all of the noises at the beginning of the track subside. It’s also the shortest track on the EP, just under two and a half minutes. It features a heavily autotuned JPEGMAFIA singing over most of the track. At times, it sounds like it could be a BROCKHAMPTON track. On this track, he talks about wanting to be with this girl and no one else. He also talks about how this girl wants fancy cars and nice things from him. CUTIE PIE! opens up with an upbeat and exciting drum and bass line. Peggy’s rapping is a bit different than what he usually delivers. It definitely seems less aggressive and much quieter compared to some of the other tracks on his previous albums. It seems like he was messing with a vocoder in the last bit of the track, but it seems like it’s just inaudible tidbits thrown in there. I do enjoy the sound of it, but there’s just a lot going on at the end. THE BENDS! — OG MIX opens up with a sound clip from president Trump, which isn’t the first time Peggy has played around with politics in his music. The sound clip was talking about the support from African American voters. Since the name of the track is THE BENDS, he does throw a small nod to Radiohead’s album and the track, No Surprises, which is actually off of OK Computer. While Peggy talks about it being ‘MAGA raps’ for the second verse, he does this for satirical purposes. Other than that, that’s what mostly the second verse talks about for the rest of this track. ROUGH 7 is oddly enough the seventh track from the album. The track has a weird wavy synth sound that carries the beat of the track. It also features the rapper Tommy Genesis that opens up the track and is periodically sprinkled in throughout. She does bring a unique perspective to the track I actually enjoyed her feature. However, since it is named ROUGH 7 there are some innuendos slipped in there by both rappers. living single opens up with a vaporwave like aesthetic to it. While I do enjoy the light and wavy beat, I’m not too big from JPEGMAFIA’s singing tracks, which we experience mostly towards the beginning. I also don’t think his rapping fits with the beat, so there’s really no way he is able to win or have a great track with this one. This track talks about a breakup with someone else, and it also mentions the rap industry and the lack of pay. The last and final track from the album is SUPER TUESDAY! The track opens up with some chopped noises, but then eventually switches to some string instrumentals. The beat cuts out for a few seconds in the middle, and we’re greeted with a different string instrumental, but also get a guitar thrown into the mix. Also, he mentions Super Tuesday in the track, which is when most people cast their votes for the presidential primary. While I was excited for this, most of these are just singles that he has come up with throughout the year. Also, I just think these are one off singles that are him just experimenting other than his previous two albums which have garnered a lot of attention. Hopefully we will get another album release in the near future. Overall Rating: 5/10 Favorite Tracks: BALD!, BALD! REMIX, ROUGH 7

https://medium.com/@lazymusicguru/album-review-ep-by-jpegmafia-ec49d16b6c0d

['Lazy Music Guru']

2020-12-23 02:37:13.437000+00:00

['Album Review', 'Ep', 'Music', 'Jpegmafia', 'Hip Hop']

Six Steps to End Sexual Violence in War

Six Steps to End Sexual Violence in War Verveer and Bangura list six explicit ways that rape as a weapon of war can be tackled in work on peace and stability. by Melanne Verveer & Zainab Bangura. This article originally appeared on Passblue. WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Nadia Murad, a human-rights activist from Iraq’s Yazidi minority, and to Denis Mukwege, a Congolese physician, for their fight against sexual violence as a weapon of war. ISIS fighters entering Raqqa in 2013. In 2014, the jihadists committed genocide, including rape, against the Yazidi population in their ancestral home in northern Iraq. CREATIVE COMMONS On the one-year anniversary of the reporting that sparked the #MeToo movement, the committee’s recognition of the power of survivors’ voices is welcome. However, as former policy officials who have worked to end sexual violence in conflict, we wonder: what took so long? Sexual violence in war is not new. During the Rwandan genocide, 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped in three months. More recently, widespread sexual violence has been documented in Liberia, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria and elsewhere. This atrocity can no longer be accepted as mere collateral of war but must be addressed for what it is — a strategic weapon of war. Today, that recognition is beginning to happen. A growing evidence-based case illustrates how sexual violence influences peace and security. The International Committee for the Red Cross has recorded the harm done by sexual violence to a community’s ability to heal from conflict. A Council on Foreign Relations study shows that wartime rape undermines post-conflict stability by fueling displacement and weakening governance. Researchers have found a “robust” link between women’s physical security and whether countries are themselves secure and peaceful, a connection that was highlighted in the Women, Peace and Security Index, produced by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. As Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary-general, once remarked, “No policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended” than empowering women and girls. The massive numbers involved in cases of sexual violence in wars sometimes make us lose sight of the real people who are irrevocably affected by such abuse. Murad and Mukwege, in different ways, live the horrors of modern conflict. In 2014, the Islamic State kidnapped Murad, subjecting her, with thousands of other Yazidi women, to systematic rape. Mukwege, the founder of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has treated tens of thousands of rape victims for years. Both Murad and Mukwege have borne great personal risks to offer their first-hand accounts and advocate for the protection and rehabilitation of survivors and for ending impunity. Incredibly, both Murad and Mukwege have survived death threats and persevered in their demand for justice to female survivors. Upon receiving news of the award, Mukwege said that “[t]his award will have real meaning only if it helps mobilize people to change the situation of victims in areas of armed conflict.” We recommend six steps to compel change. First, pursue justice. Perpetrators must be prosecuted. Both the United Nations Security Council and international treaties recognize that sexual violence used as a weapon of war is a crime against humanity, a war crime and can constitute genocide. Murad’s own response to the Nobel Peace Prize emphasized the genocidal character of the sexual violence she and her fellow Yazidis experienced by the Islamic State. Second, enable access to justice. In Bosnia, most cases of sexual violence were never punished because women lacked sufficient access to legal institutions. Women are still tormented by what happened to them while their perpetrators are often viewed as upstanding citizens. Third, do not ignore the value of data. Local authorities, with international assistance, must collect data and investigate reports of sexual violence to prosecute cases and ensure justice when hostilities end. Fourth, offer holistic care. Survivors of sexual abuse need medical care, as well as social and psychological support. They also need to have their lives made whole. As a survivor in the Congo said, “We want to go from our pain to power.” When asked what she meant by “power,” she said, the desire to have a normal life and a job. Fifth, carry out UN Security Council Resolution 1325 effectively. The resolution links women’s agency to peace and security and affirms the need for accountability and protection from sexual violence. The UN should embrace sanctions regimes to better address sexual violence in conflict. There must be zero tolerance for sexual abuse among peacekeepers. More broadly, the UN should consult with and carry out the proposals of its special envoy for sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, whose office has expertise in this area. Sixth, address sexual violence in peace agreements and ensure that women actively participate in negotiations when deals are reached. In the US, vigorously implement the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017, which requires the government to support this approach. The Nobel Committee’s decision to honor two courageous humanitarians rightly spotlights the endless brutality of sexual violence in conflict. Its decision not only condemns sexual violence but understands how it destroys peace and requires justice.

https://passblue-un.medium.com/six-steps-to-end-sexual-violence-in-war-8c3975179f1c

[]

2018-10-17 18:35:11.767000+00:00

['Human Rights', 'Women', 'Gender Based Violence', 'War']

19,755 Businesses are Looking For Copywriters Right Now–And This is How You Find Them…

One of the most rewarding parts of my business is teaching and mentoring other copywriters… And a while back, I asked a group of my copywriting students what their biggest challenge was in their career. The answer? “Getting clients”. By A HUGE margin. Seems that most beginning (and intermediate) copywriters tend to hit a brick wall when it comes to marketing themselves effectively. So I began to develop a customized marketing system to help solve this problem. And what I found was shocking, to say the least… Amazingly enough, there really is an abundance of copywriting work out there. In fact, at the time of this writing, I found 19,755 total listings using the keyword “copywriter” on some popular jobs sites. Yeah, that’s right. Almost TWENTY THOUSAND businesses desperately looking for copywriters — RIGHT NOW. So where are these primo gigs? How do you sort through everything to find the best one for you? And the biggest question — how do you get HIRED by these people? Here’s 3 quick tips to help… 1) Use Keywords to Weed Out the In-House Gigs: The majority of these listings will demand that you move somewhere to work in an office. And as freelancers that’s about the last thing we want to do, correct? So weed out the in house gigs by adding certain keywords to your search. These four have served me very well in the past: telecommute offsite remote virtual When you add those to a search, it cancels out the thousands of other copywriter listings that are for in-house gigs only, helping you save a ton of time and effort and target your prospects more effectively. 2) Don’t Stress About Qualifications: This one drives me NUTS. I’ll pass along a great job lead to one of my students and the first thing they say is “I don’t have this degree or that level of experience.” To which I reply, WHO CARES! Here’s the thing — you and I both know that being a good copywriter doesn’t necessarily mean having a degree or loads of experience. I’ve seen newbie copywriters who can write circles around established pros, and experienced copywriters with degrees lining their walls who couldn’t write their way out of a paper bag. The only thing that matters is “can you write well, get a decent ROI, and hit a deadline?” They don’t care if it’s a Harvard graduate or a monkey with a Speak and Spell. Anything else is baloney. So if you see a job you want, skip the long list of qualifications and just go for it. You’ll be surprised how easily all of those must-have qualifications will fall away after they see a few samples of your stuff. 3) Avoid the Bid-for-Hire Sites: I know I’ll get flamed for this, but I don’t care… If there’s one thing that infuriates me, it’s seeing talented copywriters writing for pennies on these bid-for-hire sites. I can’t believe the amount of work they’re doing for the rock-bottom fees they agreed to. Look, if you take anything away from this article, please let it be this… You have a significant value in the marketplace. You have a talent and an ability that few others have. So why are you leasing it out for next to nothing? Because those people that hire you are going to make thousands, if not TEN of thousands or even HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars from the copy you write. Doesn’t it make sense that you should be compensated fairly for it? Yeah, I know it’s relatively easy pickings. And I know there’s a lot of work to be had. But think of it this way… When you’re looking for someone to date, would you rather just choose any ol’ Tom, Dick, or Harry (or Tina, Vickie, or Mary) that came along — regardless of how they looked, acted, treated you, etc… ..or would you rather wait for the RIGHT one? The one that’s going to treat like you deserve…and respect you…and value who you are and what you do? When you look at it that way, makes a little more sense. Doesn’t it? So when you’re searching for copywriting gigs, keep these 3 things in mind and you’ll be miles ahead of the rest of the crowd — I guarantee it! And if you want a list of red hot copywriting job leads delivered to your inbox every weekday — for FREE — Go Here Now. :)

https://medium.com/@jay_70791/19-755-businesses-are-looking-for-copywriters-right-now-and-this-is-how-you-find-them-95c9cdb0a83b

['Jay White']

2019-04-09 17:39:30.313000+00:00

['Freelance Writer', 'Freelance Writing Jobs', 'Copywriting', 'Copywriter', 'Freelance Writing']

Being on the receiving end

Being on the receiving end Christmas is upon us…..and so are the decorations, Christmas cards, carols and the gifts….all the gift. I absolutely love wrapping presents and more than that, I love giving gifts from the heart. It’s the perfect time for me to reflect on the treasured relationships I have with some amazing people in my life. Gift giving feels like an extension of joy, love and thanks for filling my heart up in a unique way . I wish I could give all those near a dear to me something. So I guess you say that I’ve got the giving part down…. but the receiving part, not so much. I’m pretty sure it stems from my gift getting experience as a kid. When I got a present the unspoken rule was that now I owe that person a part of me. Be it being a good girl, or giving a present in return. If either of these two things didn’t happen I was told that I was ungrateful and spoiled. As an adult I still to this day kind of carry that belief with me. Don’t get me wrong , gifts are awesome! However, what happens in my brain is not. Obviously I’ve been thinking about this subject a lot today. I’ve struggled with the whole receiving awkwardness for a while now. Except today in the. on my way home from therapy I actually prayed on it. Side note… my car is currently my place of worship and prayer (more on this later). Instead of going home I stop to drop off a gift and have a little COVID style porch chat for a little bit (it was so soul filling…. ugg, I miss people). I’ve been immensely blessed by this wonderful family as many have…. and honestly our little porch chat was a wonderful gift! I was both a giver and receiver and I felt joyful. I got home and sent message about how nice it was to see her. Several exchanges later I’m the recipient of a unexpected gift from her and her family (so very thankful). As wonderful and needed as the gift was , it was her message that held the biggest gift of all for me “ no strings attached, no thanks needed. Please enjoy . God is good”. In her message I heard God loud and clear…. child you are worth so much to me and are so very loved. I hear your pain and your confusion. There are no strings attached to my love dear one…. none at all. I’m learning Father, I’m learning. Thanks for loving me with no strings attached…. -Michelle

https://medium.com/@michellegruberhomrighouse/being-on-the-receiving-end-f266bc1b5c5c

['Michelle Gruber Homrighouse']

2020-12-19 20:45:15.917000+00:00

['Spiritual Growth']

The Best Things in Life are No More Free

They used to believe that The Best Things in Life Are Free, and now, I think they must have changed their views. Earlier, people had the view that the best things in life are the family and friends that we have and these people do not cost any money. They are obtained free of cost and whatever investment you need to make to maintain these things are your efforts, your speech, and your emotions towards them. However, this took an upside-down turn when even family and friends demand monetary investments for the maintenance of the relationships and this is why you could say that the best things in life are no more free now. Talking about the family, people hardly talk to each other unless they have some need. And while the parents try to talk to the children when the children are busy in their technological, artificial world, either the parents get ignored or they get to listen that the children are busy. And this is not just about the children. Even some parents are so busy on their smartphones and other technological products that they hardly have time for the children. So where are the best things that went missing in this aspect? Could you still say that the best things in life are free? There was a time when there were no mobile phones and people used to meet and greet their friends personally every single day. Then came the smartphones and people were separated. They could call each other and check on their friends virtually, and even if one of the friends lied about being good, they never came to know the reality. There were further many revolutions and then arrived the messenger apps where you could just text the other person and get their well-being. And slowly, this culture too ended unless you were really good friends with some person. In fact, every person now speaks to the other person only when they need something and this applies to the family and friends as well. So it is quite a dreadful situation that the best things in the life of human beings are already lost and you can revive them only for a limited period of time by using some cash, just as you would recharge the internet pack of your smartphone. The pack dies — the smartphone dies, and the need dies — the relationship dies.

https://medium.com/@abhishekkumar020591/the-best-things-in-life-are-no-more-free-3f6c6cc6ff3e

['Abhishek Kumar']

2021-07-15 13:15:45.064000+00:00

['Lifehacks', 'Life Hacking', 'Life', 'Lifestyle', 'Life Lessons']

Turkey-Indonesia strengthens diplomatic ties by boosting trade volume

Turkey and Indonesia had agreed to growth their bilateral exchange extent to $10 billion (TL seventy six billion) from the present day $1.five billion and to enhance investments in each nations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated Tuesday. The minister changed into talking at a press convention along Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta. Çavuşoğlu and Marsudi additionally inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on diplomatic cooperation, in addition to diplomat exchanges and training. He cited that 2020 changed into the seventieth yr of the status quo of diplomatic ties among Ankara and Jakarta and the monetary ties maintain to bolster, including that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Indonesia go to because of take vicinity subsequent yr could provoke a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council among the 2 international locations. The council could gift a floor for businesspeople from each international locations to find out commercial enterprise possibilities and fields of cooperation. Sharing that the council summit changed into deliberate for 2020 however changed into canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Çavuşoğlu expressed that he hopes that the summit becomes an crucial possibility for the 2 international locations to bolster partnerships in some of sectors.T The minister highlighted that the development and infrastructure sectors in Turkey mainly have the fine offerings to provide and that the neighborhood companies are very interested by the infrastructure tasks to transport Indonesia’s present day capital to the Kalimantan area that’s most of the Southeast Asian united states’s agenda. Turkish production agencies additionally helped circulate Kazakhstan’s capital from Almaty to Astana. Indonesian President Joko Widodo introduced remaining yr a $33 billion megaproject to transport the nation’s capital from Jakarta to the province of East Kalimantan. The circulate isn’t handiest because of the united states’s look for a brand new metropolis to update the congested capital however additionally due to the fact its present day capital keeps to sink extra each yr, accelerating the united states’s race towards growing sea levels. Construction and infrastructure efforts are set to start for the brand new capital in 2021. Çavuşoğlu delivered that he and Marsudi additionally mentioned the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) version, mainly withinside the production sector.D Highlighting the truth that Turkey is turning into a international version in phrases of PPP, Çavuşoğlu stated the united states is prepared to percentage its revel in with Indonesia. “We have accomplished such a lot of primary tasks in Turkey via the PPP version, and Turkish production agencies are 2nd withinside the international after Chinese companies,” he stated. Stating that the protection enterprise is one of the sectors that may be bolstered among the 2 international locations, Çavuşoğlu stated: “Turkey gives 3 blessings which can be quality, aggressive costs and the shortage of political obstacles.” For her part, Marsudi stated that the 2 aspects agreed to maintain negotiations for a unfastened exchange agreement (FTA) in 2021, as legal through the leaders of each international locations. “The Turkey-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IT-CEPA) has the ability to growth bilateral exchange among the 2 international locations,” she stated. Welcoming Turkish investors’ growing hobby in Indonesia, Marsudi stated: “I instructed Minister Çavuşoğlu approximately the employment regulation that changed into currently accepted in Indonesia and encourages overseas investment. I accept as true with this may offer a extra favorable surroundings for Turkish investments here.” On nearby and international issues, Marsudi stated that they mentioned the significance of strengthening multilateralism withinside the combat towards the coronavirus pandemic. Emphasizing that peace and balance withinside the Middle East could be crucial for a international recuperation withinside the post-pandemic period, she stated Indonesia and Turkey agreed to bolster the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to enhance the welfare of Muslims. Çavuşoğlu additionally stated that the 2 international locations have to paintings collectively to guide the Muslim network towards anti-Muslim discrimination. “We have to guide the (Muslim) network through operating collectively with Indonesia and combat towards these,” the minister stated.2 Çavuşoğlu highlighted the improved threats of Islamophobia and discrimination towards the Muslim international and stated the 2 international locations have to additionally stand collectively towards tries to damage their values. “As crucial Muslim international locations we should defend the mutual pursuits and pursuits of our international locations and the (Muslim) network,” he stated.

https://medium.com/@bakkerlucas/urkey-and-indonesia-had-agreed-to-growth-their-bilateral-exchange-extent-to-10-billion-tl-1249d6274f48

['Lucas Bakker']

2020-12-23 12:47:07.806000+00:00

['Indonesiia', 'Turkey', 'Economy']

Central, We Have a Problem

“Central, this is Alpha One.” “Go ahead Alpha One.” “We’ve lost a lot of fuel, but we think we have enough to get home. Just waiting on your confirmation.” “Alpha One, we’ve done the math and we’re truly sorry. We are organising the calls with your families. God bless you.”

https://medium.com/centina-pentina/central-we-have-a-problem-e2b32e6eefd1

['Rob Eggers']

2020-12-10 10:04:14.994000+00:00

['Pentina', 'Space', '50 Word Stories', 'Flash Fiction', 'Dialogue']

AYS Daily Digest 7/12/2020: Iraqi Asylum Seekers in Denmark fear deportation

FEAUTRE: Mass arrests of Iraqi asylum seekers in Denmark According to refugee rights activist Lene Kjær, a large number of Iraqi citizens who have had their application for asylum in Denmark rejected, have been arrested by the police on Monday and have been transferred to the Ellebæk ‘exit centre’ for the purpose of deportation. This is what Danish authorities call “motivational imprisonment”: detaining people in order to pressure them to sign voluntary return papers. Denmark recently signed an agreement on deportation of people on the move who committed crimes in Denmark, and proceeded with the first deportation. Authorities, despite pressure on Iraqi officials, cannot deport rejected asylum seekers to the country. “Denmark has flown Iraqi people to Baghdad several times; every time they had to fly them back to Denmark because Iraqi authorities refused to receive people who are deported by force!” However, over the last week, Denmark have opened an embassy in Baghdad, which could pave the way to new negotiations. Activists engaged in refugee rights told AYS that they requested information about this from the Iraqi embassy in Denmark, which replied that no new agreement has been signed. The police action has initiated a wave of anxiety among other refugees and asylum seekers in Denmark. People at risk of arrest or return should immediately contact a lawyer in the area of immigration law to ensure that legal procedures are followed and respected. Denmark has a return agreement with Afghanistan. People from Afghanistan are at risk of being detained in Ellebaek as soon as they receive a rejection of asylum, and to be detained until their deportation. There is no return agreement with Iran. People from Iran cannot be deported by force. Despite this, it has happened that people have been taken to Ellebaek. As with people from Iraq, this is a method authorities use to pressure them to sign voluntary return papers. There is no agreement with Syria on forced returns. “Syrian people are NOT at risk of experiencing this.”

https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-7-12-2020-iraqi-asylum-seekers-in-denmark-fear-deportation-a24cedd61f50

['Are You Syrious']

2020-12-08 15:19:57.784000+00:00

['Refugees', 'Europe', 'UK', 'Digest', 'Greece']

Premature birth Pill is one of the least complex and the best strategies for ending pregnancy.

Before You Things To Taking –Abortion Pill Premature birth Pill is one of the least complex and the best strategies for ending pregnancy. It encourages you to dispose of your pregnancy inside the 9 weeks. You simply need to counsel your PCP before you devour this prescription. The cost of this drug could end up being somewhat costly thus you should converse with your precious ones heretofore. Many individuals feel that premature birth pills are undependable and they have a few results. This isn’t at all the situation. In the event that you need to find out about them, at that point you can peruse on this article cautiously. The choice of completing a premature birth is a passionate and unpleasant one. No young lady can take it immediately. Along these lines, on the off chance that you have considered taking a premature birth pill to end your pregnancy then you ought to recollect a ton of pivotal things. You need to have an appropriate authorization to purchase such a prescription in the event that you are under 18 years old. You should make each stride cautiously so that no burden is caused later on. Fetus removal pill is an extraordinary method of clinical premature birth which is taken up inside 9 weeks of pregnancy. It is protected and speedy so you can without much of a stretch use it. It is an awesome option in contrast to the fetus removal measure as it is a significant difficult one. The adequacy of pregnancy pill is very acceptable. The viability is around 97 to 100%. It works easily and causes you dispose of pregnancy without an excessive difficult situation. In any case, you ought to complete a legitimate test before you devour the drug. You need to converse with your primary care physician about your medical issue and request a legitimate subsequent test. There are sure conditions during which an individual shouldn’t burn-through such meds. On the off chance that you are confronting any medical problems, for example, stress or cardiovascular illness then you should avoid these kinds of pills. They can truly badly affect your body. Along these lines, all things considered we can undoubtedly infer that fetus removal pills are an awesome answer for you yet you should play it safe and converse with your primary care physician about it. As we as a whole realize that counteraction is superior to fix. This is the reason you should attempt to rehearse safe sex with condoms, and so on With a tad of information you can remain protected and solid. Counsel your PCP today! Premature birth Pill. Orlando Women’s Center was set up in March 1996 by to give a full scope of medical care for ladies, including, actual assessments, family arranging, guiding, lab administrations, premature births and so on If you don’t mind Visit US http://www.abortpills.net/.

https://medium.com/@abortpills-net/premature-birth-pill-is-one-of-the-least-complex-and-the-best-strategies-for-ending-pregnancy-5a5933160d39

['Jon Adan']

2020-12-19 13:21:29.374000+00:00

['Abortion', 'Pills']

The BORG — 12 Hours In. 12 Hours After Launch — PreSale was 1…

Circulating Supply According to Etherscan.io, total circulating supply is ~6250 BORG, including all those that purchased in the pre-sale. Top Holders: 1. Burn Address — 434,000 BORG Burned once Pre-sale Completed. 2. BORG Governance Fund — Locked Tokens for 3 Months on Team.Finance. 3. BORG Pre-Sale Contract — Only 7777 Tokens can be unlocked for marketing purposes, to be manually unlocked. Over 70k will remain locked forever in the Deployer. 4. BORG Token Contract — Will be put into Uniswap once “Auto-Balance” feature is enabled.

https://medium.com/theborgtoken/the-borg-12-hours-in-da6b331bd8be

['Locutus Of Borg']

2020-12-26 20:38:05.841000+00:00

['Decentralized Finance', 'Defi', 'Ethereum', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin']

Building Custom Layers on AWS Lambda

Building Custom Layers on AWS Lambda Many developers face issues when importing custom modules on AWS Lambda, you see errors like “No module named pandas” or “No module named numpy”, and most times, the easiest ways to solve this is to bundle your lambda function code with the module and deploy it on AWS lambda which at the end makes the whole project large and doesn't give room for flexibility. To solve this problem, we use something called Layers on AWS Lambda. Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash What are Layers? According to the docs, A layer is a ZIP archive that contains libraries, a custom runtime, or other dependencies. With layers, you can use libraries in your function without needing to include them in your deployment package. Layers let you install all the modules you need for your application to run, it provides that flexibility for you deploy your lambda function and even with layers you can even make your own custom code and add external functionality as a layer itself. It saves you the stress of managing packages and allows you to focus more on your code. Benefits of Layers Makes your deployment package smaller and easily deployable The layer can also be used across other lambda functions. Make code changes quickly on the console. Lambda layers enable versioning, which allows you to add more packages and also use previous package versions when needed. Now that we know what layers and see how useful it is, let’s build one 🚀. Step 1 Create a new directory and navigate to the directory on your computer: israel@israel:~$ mkdir my-lambda-layer && cd my-lambda-layer Step 2 Next, create a folder structure for the modules that you need to install: israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer$ mkdir -p aws-layer/python/lib/python3.7/site-packages The folder structure is essential because that is where Python expects to find the modules you’ve installed. For this article, I used python 3.7, if you want to use a different python version, change the python3.7 in the folder above to the desired version. Step 3 Let’s install our libraries. To install just a single module for your application, use the following command, in this example I’ll be using numpy. israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer$ pip3 install numpy --target aws-layer/python/lib/python3.7/site-packages To install multiple modules, create a requirements.txt file in the base directory and add the modules with their respective versions: israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer$ nano requirements.txt Add your modules, just like in the image below: Image by Author Then install them with the command below: israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt --target aws-layer/python/lib/python3.7/site-packages You should have a folder tree like this: Image by author Step 4 Next, we navigate to the lambda-layer directory and create a zip file for the layer that will be uploaded. israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer$ cd aws-layer Now zip the entire folder: israel@israel:~/my-lambda-layer/aws-layer$ zip -r9 lambda-layer.zip . After zipping the packages it will have the name “lambda-layer.zip” You can upload the zip file to your lambda layer using AWS CLI or using the AWS web Console, for this article I’ll be using the AWS CLI Using the CLI To create the lambda layer automatically using the AWS CLI you can use the command below: aws lambda publish-layer-version \ --layer-name Data-Preprocessing \ --description "My Python layer" \ --zip-file fileb:// lambda-layer.zip \ --compatible-runtimes python3.7 And you’ll see the lambda layer created in your Web Console. Also, be sure to set your credentials and permissions on the AWS CLI to deploy the layer. Image by author Testing the Layer To test the Lambda Layer, I simply created a new Lambda function and added my layer to it, you can do this by simply clicking on Layers, then click on the custom layer option and select the layer you just deployed to Lambda, at the end, you should see an image below: Image by author Then on the function, I imported Pandas and numpy Image by author Then I tested the function and got the following response Image by author From the image, our code was able to run successfully and we could import external packages for our application. Summary So far we've been able to see the beauty of layers and how powerful they are, you should always use them wherever you want to use external modules or even when you have your own custom code you’ve written. Thanks for reading 😊.

https://towardsdatascience.com/building-custom-layers-on-aws-lambda-35d17bd9abbb

['Israel Aminu']

2020-11-13 06:23:13.455000+00:00

['AWS', 'AWS Lambda', 'Python', 'Serverless']

Drawing in GTK in Rust (part 1)

It’s a double challenge: I’m learning Rust (but I can say I more or less know the language by now), and I’m trying to use GTK in Rust. I’m a complete beginner in GTK, and even if I know Rust, it does not mean I can use it properly. So I’ll learn a huge library (written in C) by using it in a complex and hard language I just learned. Well, well, good luck, me. (Side note: I hadn’t forgot about Rust type language, second part is in drafts but I need time to process that stuff to provide a consistent reading). Our goals: Create a resizable window Have a drawing area in this window Draw something there in realtime Have a some dropbox element to change something (color? Good idea) React to Enter by copying content of the drawing area to the clipboard (this part I’ve solved earlier). The list looks reasonable, and I shouldn’t have any troubles to do this if only I know how to it. That’s the main curse of lore. You understand what to do, but you don’t know conventions on how to press buttons there, and how they call those buttons there… Anyway, let’s go. Resizable window I already have a stub for creating a window: [1] The main difference from a reference is that I moved app into a normal function instead of closure. By sheer luck it’s resizable, but it’s not my achievement. Resizable Window of Nothingness Lesson learned: If I skip gio::prelude, Bad Things happens: the method `connect_activate` exists but the following trait bounds were not satisfied: `gtk::Application : gtk::ButtonExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::EntryExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::ExpanderExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::FlowBoxChildExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::GtkMenuItemExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::ListBoxRowExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::StatusIconExt` `gtk::Application : gtk::SwitchExt` Huh. If I hadn’t know that I need to use prelude for gio , it would have been an hour long debugging. (BTW: I have no idea what is gio and why it’s not in gtk …) How others do this? With help of this SO comment, I’ll look closely into process-viewer. They can do this using GTK: Graph drawn by process-explorer (picture here). The actual code to draw graph is here. Notes to myself: use cairo; use gtk::{self, BoxExt, ContainerExt, DrawingArea, ScrolledWindowExt, StateFlags, WidgetExt}; use gdk::{self, WindowExt}; … and here my first lore question: how it calls GTK for start? My first guess was a Connecter trait, but it’s declared in the code, therefore it should not be used by underlying libraries. The second thing we have Graph structure with corresponding impl . No clue. My next guess is that something at higher level is calling us. The Connecter trait looks as the most prominent candidate. Before reading it out, let’s confirm it. Bingo, Connecter is found twice — in the file above and here. Yep, here the curated except from this file: cpu_usage_history: Rc<RefCell<Graph>> let mut cpu_usage_history = Graph::new(Some(100.), false); cpu_usage_history.set_label_callbacks(...) cpu_usage_history.attach_to(&vertical_layout); let cpu_usage_history = connect_graph(cpu_usage_history); # FUNKY! ... cpu_usage_history.connect_to_window_events(); All this happens in create_process_dialog function, which is called once from create_new_proc_diag function here, which are used in the same file, inside build_ui function, which is called from the main . Bingo! We’ve reconstructed a call stack. Now we need to extract a minimal drawing protocode from this. application.connect_startup(move |app| { build_ui(app); }); ... info_button.connect_clicked(... ...sys => move |_| {...create_new_proc_diag(&process_dialogs, pid, &*sys.borrow(), &window, &*running_since.borrow(),start_time);} ... #inside create_new_proc_diag let mut notebook = NoteBook::new(); let mut ram_usage_history = Graph::new(Some(total_memory as f64), true); vertical_layout.add(>k::Label::new(Some("Memory usage"))); let ram_usage_history = connect_graph(ram_usage_history); ram_usage_history.attach_to(&vertical_layout); scroll.connect_show(clone!(ram_usage_history, cpu_usage_history => move |_| { cpu_usage_history.borrow().show_all(); })); notebook.create_tab("Resources usage", &scroll); let area = popup.get_content_area(); area.pack_start(¬ebook.notebook, true, true, 0); popup.get_preferred_width(); ram_usage_history.connect_to_window_events(); return ProcDialog {...ram_usage_history,...} ... Funny enough, nothing true happens inside connect_to_window_events . The actual drawing happens inside draw function for Graph trait Insofar I got a lot of words here: notebook , area , scroll ,… Now I’ll try to use those in my app. But who calls draw ? pub fn connect_graph(graph: Graph) -> Rc<RefCell<Graph>> { let area = graph.area.clone(); let graph = Rc::new(RefCell::new(graph)); area.connect_draw(clone!(graph => move |w, c| { graph.borrow() .draw(...})); graph } It’s heavily related to this line from previous snippet: let ram_usage_history = connect_graph(ram_usage_history); As I can see, there are a lot of closures in GTK, we attach them to stuff. I’m not completely understand how closures can interact with the rest of application (but I’ll find out this soon). Docs intermission Before trying to combine those lines into my own proof-of-concept code I’d like to procrastinate a bit over GTK documentation for those keywords. Oh, by the way, there are tons of books on GTK, just to help to continue to procrastinate for as long as needed. Nah, I want to keep it short. Notebook (GTK Notebook) — A tabbed notebook container: Screenshot of notebook from official docs High chance I don’t need it in my simple case. But it’s good to know that it exists and to know it’s name. Both ‘area’ and ‘scroll’ puzzle me, as I can’t find direct pages in docs. For area I can’t find anything, and in source get_content_area noted three times without function definition. Moreover, I can’t find it in a gtk-rs repo as well! That’s intriguing. let popup = gtk::Dialog::new_with_buttons( ... let area = popup.get_content_area(); So it looks like a method for dialog … This is GtkDialog, and it has gtk_dialog_get_content_area () . It returns the content area GtkBox. Now we know that ‘area’ is a Box — A container for packing widgets in a single row or column. [wow! Total twist! I though that ‘area’ is where they draw. No, box is just a container for widgets, so it’s a higher level stuff than I need. Good to know.] scroll — GtkScrolledWindow GtkScrolledWindow — Adds scrollbars to its child widget let scroll = gtk::ScrolledWindow::new(None::<>k::Adjustment>, None::<>k::Adjustment>); ... scroll.add(&vertical_layout); scroll.connect_show(clone!(ram_usage_history, cpu_usage_history => move |_| { ram_usage_history.borrow().show_all(); cpu_usage_history.borrow().show_all(); })); notebook.create_tab("Resources usage", &scroll); scrolled window Again, miss. We don’t need this. I feel like I missed something. let area = graph.area.clone(); area.connect_draw(clone!(graph => move |w, c| { graph.borrow() .draw(...})); }) graph.area.clone — what is this area? use gtk::DrawingArea pub struct Graph { ... pub area: DrawingArea, ... } ... area: DrawingArea::new(), GtkDrawingArea sounds like the place I want to draw onto. So I need create a window, attach a GTKDrawingArea to it, draw on it and update it as needed. Can I just attach it directly to the window? Coding time … I’ve stuck almost instantly. How I add DrawArea to the Window? I found this example. There I can see less intimidating chain of actions (but gosh, it’s hard to jump between C and Rust). window = gtk_application_window_new (app); frame = gtk_frame_new (NULL); gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), frame); drawing_area = gtk_drawing_area_new (); gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (frame), drawing_area); Now I need to translate this into gtk-rs/Rust. let win = gtk::ApplicationWindow::new(app); let frame = gtk::Frame::new(None); let area = DrawingArea::new(); Good, good, almost there. Where is gtk_container_add? Should it be an associated function for window or gtk::container_add ? Neither. A little peek into process explorer… frame.add(&frame) compiles! One small step for the man, and humanity does not care. frame.add(&area); win.add(&frame); Two lines done. All I need now is some proof of work. Draw something. As far as I understand, I need to attach some callback to handle draw events… area.connect_draw(move|w, c|{ println!("draw"); gtk::Inhibit(false) }); It prints! I’m getting closer and closer. c is Context (Cairo context?), and w is self , as far as I understood. In my case it’s a DrawingArea which my closure is attached to. Draw it! c.rectangle(1.0, 1.0, 100.0, 200.0); c.fill(); And, finally, we’ve got our first rectangle on the screen. Good! Here is my code. Next thing is to react to resize. To see what’s going on, I need to somehow show that I’ve updated the screen. My idea is to use random colors on each draw. Random, you said… The next error have thrown me away from GTK and directly into LEARNING RUST. The code: let mut rng = rand::thread_rng(); area.connect_draw(move|w, c|{ println!("w: {} c:{}",w, c); c.set_source_rgb( rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0) ); c.rectangle(1.0, 1.0, 100.0, 200.0); c.fill(); gtk::Inhibit(false) }); The error: error[E0596]: cannot borrow `rng` as mutable, as it is a captured variable in a `Fn` closure --> src/main.rs:25:30 | 25 | c.set_source_rgb(rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0)); | ^^^ cannot borrow as mutable | help: consider changing this to accept closures that implement `FnMut` --> src/main.rs:23:27 | 23 | area.connect_draw(move|w, c|{ | ___________________________^ 24 | | println!("w: {} c:{}",w, c); 25 | | c.set_source_rgb(rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0), rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0)); 26 | | c.rectangle(1.0, 1.0, 100.0, 200.0); 27 | | c.fill(); 28 | | gtk::Inhibit(false) 29 | | }); | |_________^ Huh. Closures, Fn-traits and borrow-checker at theirs best. Funny enough, the simpler version does work: let clo = move ||{rng.gen_range(0.0, 1.0)}; My guess is that connect_draw wants to have closure with Fn trait, not with Fn-mut . Yes, I’ve made a simpler example and found it have an exactly the same problem. Why connect_draw wants Fn, not Fn-mut? Is there any specific reason, or it’s just an oversight? I think, it’s time to read the docs. Oh. They said ‘ RefCell ’, and whilst I watched a video or two on them, and read about them, I don’t like them. There is something fishy …unsafe hidden inside the interior mutability idea. Nevertheless, let’s use it. Ah… It worked. Happiness! let mut rng = RefCell::new(rand::thread_rng()); area.connect_draw(move|w, c|{ println!("w: {} c:{}",w, c); let r = rng.borrow_mut().gen_range(0.0, 1.0); let g = rng.borrow_mut().gen_range(0.0, 1.0); let b = rng.borrow_mut().gen_range(0.0, 1.0); c.set_source_rgb(r, g, b); c.rectangle(1.0, 1.0, 100.0, 200.0); c.fill(); gtk::Inhibit(false) }); I still have troubles to understand gtk-rs explanation for reasons why it should be RefCell . Anyway, now I can see a shiny rainbow on resize. And it’s not good, because I redraw the whole screen on each time. We need to learn how to redraw the invalidated part only. Should I take a break? It was kinda hard. I’m right now start to dig into invalidation topic, but a bulk of text above pushing me down. Even this thing sits in my drafts happily, it still pressure me. So, I’m posting this part (I’ve added ‘part 1’ to the title just now) as it is, with no final solution in it. Stay tuned for the next part. My code at this moment is at this commit. My next goals are to support partial redraw (invalidation), have a separate code to draw something continuously (while handling partial redraws due to external reasons), and add some GUI elements to the window. Some dropbox and a button would be enough for now.

https://medium.com/journey-to-rust/drawing-in-gtk-in-rust-part-1-4a401eecc4e0

['George Shuklin']

2019-07-08 07:10:41.840000+00:00

['Rust', 'Learning To Code', 'Programming', 'Gtk Rs', 'Gtk']

Letting go of Guilt & Shame in Your Finances

Facing your debt and the rest of your finances can be an emotional roller coaster. The way you earn, save, and spend money is a result of your history and experiences with it. And for most of us, that history is tainted by guilt and shame for the mistakes we’ve made or ones that were made for us. My first job out of college paid $10 an hour. It was a job in my field, using my master’s degree. I went home every day and looked at the $50K of student loans I owed and felt hopeless. Soon it started to give me anxiety, and I stopped looking. I felt so stupid for taking out so much debt. Eventually, I gave up trying to pay them off and lowered my payments to $30 a month. For two years I made $30 monthly payments. I got a better job, moved out of my mom’s house, and even followed frugal living tips I read online but still believed I couldn’t afford to pay more on my loans. The whole time I carried the guilt and shame of thinking “I shouldn’t be buying [insert anything here], I should be paying off my student loans.” But I, like most millennials, ignored it, and let it fester to the point where having student loans was normal. Everyone else had them, so I could too. I believed the lie that “I’ve been like everyone else my whole life and I’ve gotten by just fine, so it’s good enough for my future too.” The guilt and shame came up again once I started paying off my debt. I felt guilty about every purchase, even if it was in the budget. Everytime I messed up I felt shameful, like I wasn’t capable of doing it. I learned it’s easy to try to stay normal. It’s hard to become someone you don’t know how to be. Paying off debt takes courage like you wouldn’t believe. You’ll be different, you’ll be doing things that are different, and not everyone in your life will be OK with it. So it’s essential that you’re mentally strong going into it. And that means letting go of the guilt and shame that are inherently wrapped up in your money mindset. Letting Go of Guilt Guilt is the feeling of having done wrong or made a mistake. A healthy relationship with guilt is actually good — it allows us to have empathy for others. An unhealthy level of guilt can cause an unrelenting amount of pain. Anyone who’s ever had money has made a financial mistake. Maybe it’s small like a habit of impulse spending, or putting all your appliance purchases on payments. Maybe it’s something bigger like being trapped in a cycle of payday loans or buying more house than you can afford. We can often feel like our debt rules how we identify ourselves in regards to money. But you are not your debt, you don’t have to be the person who took on that debt. Stop rationalizing your actions, take responsibility, and forgive yourself. I wish it were as easy as telling you to stop feeling the negative consequences of guilt and use it to grow, but it’s not. So here are some ways you can come to terms with it: Write down one of your financial mistakes and what was going on in your life when you made it. Include how you felt about yourself and others involved. Analyze what your needs were at the time, if they were being met, and if not, why? Identify the catalyst for your behavior. Were you going to college? Going through a divorce? Dealing with low self-esteem? Evaluate how you’re judging yourself. Are you comparing yourself or seeking approval from successful family members or wealthy friends? What standards do you want to use to judge yourself? Is there information you have now that you didn’t have then? What do you wish you’d known then? What did you learn from the experience, including the aftermath, and how would you handle it differently today? I did this when coming to terms with my student loans. I felt great when I signed for them! I needed a graduate degree to do what I loved, and in my arrogance, I did no research and decided to get my degree no matter the cost. I didn’t fully understand compound interest, and I can’t help but hate the guidance counselor who let 19-year-old me sign for so much money without explaining it. I also didn’t know there wouldn’t be many jobs in my field when I graduated. But I forgave myself for not doing enough research or having information that wasn’t available to me. And now, I don’t regret taking out those loans in the slightest. They got me to where I needed to be and helped bring me to where I am today. I wouldn’t have half of the great things in my life today without those student loans. I’m proud of myself today, but it took time, hard work, and a lot of introspection to get there. And now, not only have I learned from my financial mistakes; I’m also able to empathize with others who’ve made the same ones. Every mistake we make is an opportunity to one day help someone else avoid or work through the same mistake. Even if it feels silly and awkward, share your experience and what you’re learning. It’s an opportunity to set you on a path to growth that you wouldn’t have started otherwise. And don’t let feelings of guilt persuade you into feeling sorry for yourself. You are exactly where you were meant to be right now and as long as you stay committed, you have the opportunity to grow exponentially through this debt-free journey. Letting Go of Shame Shame is different from guilt. Shame is a painful feeling of inadequacy. Or as famed researcher Dr. Brene Brown puts it: Guilt is “I made a mistake.” Shame is “I am a mistake.” While guilt can be healthy if it teaches you a lesson and helps you empathize with others, there is no healthy level of shame. Shame leads to feeling trapped, isolated, and powerless. In her research, Dr. Brown has found that there are four elements to building resilience to shame: Recognize shame and its physical (heart racing, chest tightness, etc.) triggers. We often feel shame physically before we realize it mentally. Recognize the external factors that led to your feeling of shame. See the link between what you’re feeling and society’s often-conflicting and shaming expectations. Connect with others to receive and offer empathy. Do the hard task of reaching out for support. Discuss and deconstruct the feelings of shame. Separate shame from other emotions. Identify the people in your life who make you feel like you’re not skilled enough to accomplish this or you don’t deserve to succeed. Recognize how they make you feel and talk about it with others. Don’t keep shame in the dark. We’re conditioned to think we have to do everything and do it perfectly so we don’t look weak. But there’s no way to be successful on that mission. You will mess up, life will ruin your plan, but the beautiful thing about life is that you can revise the plan and move on. If you’re feeling shame about your financial situation, or any part of your life, don’t sweep it under the rug or try to get by on your might. Build resilience to shame so you can get through the tough times even when you’re not feeling 100%. Jen Smith is the is the writer behind ModernFrugality.com, cohost of the Frugal Friends Podcast, and author of three books including Pay Off Your Debt For Good, from which this excerpt is from.

https://medium.com/@modernfrugality/letting-go-of-guilt-shame-in-your-finances-94122acfd9f8

['Jen Smith']

2019-11-21 14:54:31.501000+00:00

['Guilt', 'Frugal Living', 'Shame', 'Debt', 'Student Loans']

The Strangest Particle

In the late 1990’s in Japan, 50,000 tons of water filled an underground detector in the river-cut city of Hida. The watery cavern was surrounded by phototube detectors which would alert researchers to blinks of light emanating from the collisions between neutrinos and water molecules. This is how we realize a neutrino has interacted with matter — they set into motion charged particles which can often leave trails of light in their wake. They can also change the composition of molecules, such as when they interact with chlorine to produce Argon. Neutrinos created 12 miles away (20 km) in the planet’s atmosphere were compared to those detected 8,000 miles (12,870 km) away. Researchers realized that the longer the particles were forced to travel, the more they underwent a strange and fascinating change. There are three neutrino types: electron, tau, and muon. When a neutrino collides with an atom within a detector, it will create only its respective kind of particle. That is, electron neutrinos will only create electrons, muon neutrinos will only create muons, and so on. This was confirmed in an experiment from the 60’s where neutrinos created alongside taus only ever produced tau leptons, exhibiting something like a memory of where they were born. Regardless, neutrinos can change during travel. The values of their mass fluctuate, allowing them to morph from one of the three mass states (sometimes called “flavors”) into another. This change is the reason we know the particles must have mass. In order to switch identities, neutrinos have to experience time, and anything that experiences time is not traveling at the speed of light. Particles which do not travel the speed of light must have mass. The Solar Neutrino Problem is a perfect example of oscillations. The experiment from the 1960’s experienced a lack of electron neutrinos arriving in the Homestake mine in Dakota. Because they weren’t accounting for the oscillations, researchers failed to detect the tau and muon neutrinos also arriving at the mine. It is thought this change is able to take place because of special relativity’s claim that particle velocity at near light speeds is determined by mass. Each particle is made of a combination of three mass states. But the mass states travel at different rates through the universe and eventually this difference in rates leads to the neutrino morphing between flavors. This coming decade, DUNE (the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) will become operational, constructed with the hopes to study just this phenomenon. It doesn’t occur anywhere else in our Standard Model. And as such a striking anomaly, it is the ghost particle which has the potential to redefine what we understand about physics. It’s even a candidate for dark matter. Like this animated particle, a neutrino of one flavor doesn’t have to stay that flavor forever. The more it travels, the more its identity can change. The internal motion of our galaxy’s glimmering stars, the galaxies themselves — colliding or remaining spinning from where they hang in the inky blackness, and certain fluctuations of the CMB all present to us the same mystery: there should be five times more normal matter in existence for all of these events (and more) to take place. Our answer is dark matter. And it, just like our neutrinos, does not absorb nor emit light and has little interaction with regular matter. It would seem, then, that neutrinos and antineutrinos are the perfect solution to the question of dark matter. But in order for that to be true — and some scientists do believe it could be — we must ask for one more thing. The neutrinos we’re familiar with would give rise to hot dark matter, a type of matter that moves quickly and thus wouldn’t allow for the formation of certain structures in the early universe. So, while neutrinos may explain some of the dark matter in the world, it’s estimated they’d make up at most only 1.5% of it. The rest of the cold dark matter effects have to come from a new kind of particle — the sterile neutrino. A DUNE prototype. In studying neutrinos which come from collapsed supernova, the particles could help us witness the birth of a black hole. Image by CERN. The sterile neutrino is named such because it doesn’t interact with matter at all, not even using the weak nuclear force. The Z boson, which is in part responsible for the weak nuclear force, will sometimes decay into normal neutrinos after it’s created in a particle collider. It would not, however, decay into sterile neutrinos. If one takes into account both normal neutrinos and their sterile counterparts, it would provide an explanation for all of the dark matter we’ve observed. Experiments like the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) or MiniBooNE conducted in 2018 point to anomalies in neutrino oscillations. MiniBooNE, for example, gathered data on muon neutrinos transforming into electron neutrinos as they traveled. It resulted in many more electron neutrinos than allowed by the Standard Model. But capturing evidence for these particles is a tricky thing. For every experiment that gathers evidence of sterile neutrinos’ existence, there are detectors in other parts of the world at odds with this conclusion. The latest comes in the form of the MINOS+ experiment, an analysis which reveals nothing special in the oscillations which would confirm the heady, sterile particles. It takes clever and careful experiments to study a ghost. Dark matter has, for a long time, been one of the greatest mysteries surrounding the construction of our cosmos. And we may have an answer — one which has so far evaded us, as is in its nature to do. But the coming decade is focused on examining the solitary and fleeting spirits which course through every bit of space. Resolving, perhaps, this scientific haunting.

https://medium.com/predict/the-strangest-particle-d16298ab18c3

['Ella Alderson']

2019-07-04 20:28:40.764000+00:00

['Space', 'Physics', 'Mystery', 'Science', 'Cosmos']

Full Moon Party

Full Moon Party Every month is the same thing. All full moon is a party. It’s like a movie scene: fire, juggling, more fire, all the pyrotechnics possible. Place: Koh Phangan Island, Thailand. It’s not a religious celebration like the Lantern Festival, which happens in Chiang Mai. Far from it. Full Moon Party is chaos amid Buddhist centers. Get inside that unknown world, surrounded by all kinds of people, is to get in touch with the insane center of all Asia. Some go to yoga retreats to recharge their energies. Some want to connect with the animalistic side of the island. I have never met so many people in the same vibe and intensity: happiness, euphoria, electronic music, and, for the most daring and inconsequent, drugs. Bold, because the use of any illicit drug is forbidden anywhere in Thailand. I am sure no person wants to be caught by the police and pay a bribe. Either that, or it is jail: a hell on earth, I believe. The island works accordingly with the full moon, not the party, the real moon. There is not much movement on “normal days.” Full Moon Party is once a month, but when it happens, the island changes. Barefoot on the sand and tons of people having fun near the sea along the endless blue water. Have you been to a beach party? Probably nothing like the Full Moon Party. Those who do not get lost at the party and spend hours looking for a familiar face does not know what excitement is. More emotion is to get in touch with some random group from Scandinavian countries and become best friends. Euphory only ends if you are willing to face the insanity of that island. Want to jump on a rope with fire? Do you want to participate in a pull-up championship? It has either. Do you want to sit and watch it all happen? Yes, you can. What you can’t do is lose your mind. Forget the world around you, have the sense of experience that once in a lifetime. What are the odds of a return to chaos? I knew chaos, and I say: it was an intense experience, unique, but once is enough to leave the body like that. No soul and body can withstand two rounds of a full moon. Balance is more than welcome to you. Enter the first sanctuary after facing the full moon on Koh Phangan island and energize yourself. But don’t think you’re ready for another. Retire, even just for a few days, the bucket of dubious rum and cola that is not Coca-Cola. Your experience might be even more intense than your roommate’s if you finish the night in one of the hundred tattoo studios scattered around the island. And yes, they work through dawn to catch tourists thirsty for a lifetime mark to remember that chaos. I saw men and women lying down while their tattoo artists were marking their skins in those who went beyond us, mortals, who just performed with leaping over the flaming rope. Thank you, full moon, for making me sleep in the top bed and wake up without clothes. The cycle was complete. I can’t deny, almost had a mark in my arms. Better keep the full moon in the sky for enjoyment and away from the buckets.

https://medium.com/@phdalmolin/full-moon-party-9af441773211

['Pedro Dalmolin']

2020-12-22 12:19:52.673000+00:00

['Short Fiction', 'Creative Writing', 'Traveling', 'Thailand', 'Fiction']

Man Acutely Aware Unusual Name Is Only Thing That Makes Him Interesting

Man Acutely Aware Unusual Name Is Only Thing That Makes Him Interesting Photo by christian buehner on Unsplash “Please, call me Tinseltown Macbeth Buttfart,” Tinseltown Macbeth Buttfart Stevens told our reporter. “Mr. Stevens is my father.” Editor’s Note: We made the difficult decision to cut the rest of this interview from publication, due to the fact that Tinseltown Macbeth Buttfart had nothing interesting left to say.

https://medium.com/@angryangryalice/man-acutely-aware-unusual-name-is-only-thing-that-makes-him-interesting-ebe72064a50

['Alice H. Lahoda']

2020-12-18 15:55:57.465000+00:00

['Satire', 'Interview', 'Personal Development', 'Humor', 'Men']

Piloting Your Life: In-Flight Entertainment (Love Rollercoaster) (May 14, 2019)

Welcome Back My E-Ticket Holding Passengers: As I was meditating and stretching this morning I thought about what I wanted to write this week. I did a mental replay of the last 7 days and it was another doozy of a week. Since I’ve been so focused on getting draft 3 of the book done, I’d already put so much of it out of my mind. It was quite the emotional roller coaster and I thought I’d share some of the ride with all y’all. Zuko, kitty with 8 lives left This little guy went into heart failure on Thursday and we nearly euthanized him to put him out of his misery. He was drowning from the fluid in his lungs and the vet’s prognosis was not good. When we were sobbing and saying goodbye, he started to perk up and groom himself as if nothing had happened.The vet came in to see if we were ok and was totally surprised by his condition. She said, “That was unexpected.” Poor Rei. She was prepared to let him go and when I said, “Well, I can’t put down a cat that looks this good and yes, I know he will have another recurrence, most likely in the next 9 months, but we will love him and care for him until then.” He’s pretty good about taking the medicine we give to him by syringe twice a day, always followed by treats. Keep on keeping on, Prince Zuko! Let’s try to get you past your second birthday. Terri with Anne Cocquyt of The Guild I fell back in love with supporting female founders and investing while speaking at a Guild event on Tuesday in San Francisco. I was inspired by the women there and had some truly engaging conversations. I met Kim Roxie (I call her Moxie Roxie) from Texas who has a clean cosmetics line (LAMIK Beauty) for black and brown skinned women. She may not know much about the Silicon Valley ecosystem but she will very soon. She’s been working on her business for a while, but in Texas, where things are very different from here in the Valley. Special thanks to Anne Cocquyt for hosting the event, having me as the guest for her fireside chat and appreciating my candor. Terri with Shilpa Bhat Thursday I was a guest at Stryker Medical in San Jose to speak at their regular Stryker Women’s Network (SWN) event. I spoke of my experience with unconscious bias and had a great time with a diverse, highly supportive and inquisitive audience. I am counting this as my first paid speaking gig since they gave me a lovely gift card and Stryker water bottle for my efforts. They too appreciated my candor and my willingness to talk directly about the issues, rather than dance around them. Special thanks to Shilpa for the opportunity, and to her husband Sanjoy for the introduction. Shilpa is quite the firecracker and I now know why he and I worked so well together; he was used to strong, competent, dynamic, and amazing women! I am just a few days away from turning in draft 3 of the book and it’s turned into a slog. I am spending way too much time on every word and phrase and now have to go back through all of the chapters. I know that I have lots of clean up in the chapters I worked on two weeks ago. I am canceling most of my plans this week so I can make sure the content is the best it can be before Katie (my writing coach/editor) takes it and works her magic. I don’t want to be embarrassed by the content when she gets it Saturday. I’ll have a reprieve for a few weeks before I get it back and have to dig in for three more weeks.The final draft is due on 6/21. There was a WSJ article on the New Rules of Middle Age, Written by Women that confirms that my theme is right on point and perfectly timed. Now to stop procrastinating, pour a cup of tea and get back to work! Adam had to work on Mother’s Day so Rei, Zeke and I joined him at Laser Quest where he marshaled our game. I am so proud of him. He’s had this job for over a year and has shown tremendous work ethic. He’s been called in to cover someone’s shift on several occasions and has happily gone to help out the team that he loves even if he doesn’t love the work. He’s even gone in hungover which is a good lesson in our opinion. Rei and I cooked and baked together after Zeke took care of most of breakfast and a lot of the clean up. Rei is so kind and courteous and capable. And she’s starting to ‘fashion’ as she calls it and is enjoying adding color to her wardrobe, but always with a little twist. That’s my girl. I even pulled out a win on the tennis court on Saturday night, playing singles for 2 hours. That too was a slog. My opponent radiated negativity which wasn’t fun but I had at least 8 aces. My serve was on fire and I got in my 10,000 steps after sitting on the couch and writing all day! If you’ve been wondering about the taglines, they are all titles of songs. This week’s song, Love Rollercoaster, came out in the 70s and I remember hearing various urban myths around the scream in the middle. The older kids loved terrifying me with some of the stories and I couldn’t remember why I thought of honey when I heard the song. Now I know why and I looked up what the real truth was and found it here. If your week is a roller coaster, I hope you feel all the feels and let them “wash through you like a wave” as my friend Connie suggests. Resisting the feelings gets us nowhere. Have a great week! Piloting Your Life (the podcast)

https://medium.com/terri-hanson-mead/piloting-your-life-in-flight-entertainment-love-rollercoaster-may-14-2019-105cfe513f6a

['Terri Mead']

2019-05-14 16:57:55.242000+00:00

['Piloting Your Life', 'Writing', 'Midlife Women', 'Womanism']

New Book Releases: December 1, 2020

I’M STAYING HERE, Marco Balzano, Jill Foulston (Translator). As fascism overtakes Europe in the early 20th century, a German woman in Italy must make impossible decisions when her young daughter goes missing. Publisher’s Weekly calls it “quietly devastating.” Bookshop. ORDESA, Manuel Vilas, Andrea Rosenberg (Translator). From the acclaimed Spanish novelist and poet, a work of autofiction about a man looking back at the shattered pieces of his life. Bookshop. REST AND BE THANKFUL, Emma Glass. A pediatric nurse approaches burnout in a novel the Star Tribune calls “a pungent piece of writing, tactile and sensory to the extreme.” Bookshop. PERESTROIKA IN PARIS, Jane Smiley. A horse wanders out of her stable and discovers Paris, becoming friends with an elegant dog and a young boy who lives with his 100-year-old great-grandmother. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres. Bookshop. THE ARCTIC FURY, Greer Macallister. After several search and rescue groups have failed to find Lady Jane Franklin’s husband and his expedition, Franklin decides to send twelve women to search for him instead. But one year later, the leader of the all-female search and rescue group is on trial for murder, and only five of the women she traveled with will stand behind her. What happened out there on the ice? Bookshop. I use affiliate links for the wonderful Bookshop.org. If you click and buy through my link, I get a small commission, but it would be equally wonderful if you ordered these books through your local bookstore. :)

https://angelalashbrook.medium.com/new-book-releases-december-1-2020-398ffe3e7ac2

['Angela Lashbrook']

2020-11-30 15:11:12.066000+00:00

['Literature', 'Culture', 'Reading', 'Fiction', 'Books']

The Soundtrack Of My Year

The Soundtrack Of My Year Even the abhorrent Apple music users are well versed in the yearly pilgrimage of the yearly Spotify wrap-ups; the ones that migrate from one’s individual app to the stories of each and every one of your high school friends social medias so that the world can know how cool and cultured they are based on their top 5 artists. It’s my favourite time of year. I like seeing other peoples posted playlists — it’s a little peak into the lives of others. The eyes aren’t the only windows to the soul these days. You listen to how many minutes of music? You discovered that many new genres? It’s impressive, my guy. I love it. I’m want to see exactly what myself and others listened to throughout a year — you can track the moods you were in, what spoke to you, how you felt. And damn it’s intuitive. I can look through that list of 100 songs and pick out the moments I listened to each one. By the Month! I can tell what moods I was in. Remember what I was doing when that song was on repeat until I finally got sick of it. January “Movement” Hozier The year started with fateful optimism. This song was first streamed on January 1st — and I hit 50 listens before the month was up. You can tell who stuck by my side this year. Hozier wrote this song in self-inflicted solitude, so it’s only natural that it was my introduction to the year. If I am alone, I will blast this and dance throughout my kitchen. If I am not alone, you can put good money on the fact that this will be creeping through my headphones. When you move Honey, I’m put in awe of somethin’ so flawed and free February “Sunbleached Girl” Shag Rock My dad and I explore La Crucecita. We look for cheap sunglasses and cheap beer, and find them both before 11am, settling in at a coffee shop and bar that overlooks a park, and a church. We watch the locals ride by on motorcycles. I take off down the dusty road for a walk, a little tipsy off my beer and tortilla chip breakfast, admiring how the sidewalks in Mexico are a solid 2 feet higher than the road. Pour a little sugar she knows I got a sweet tooth for her ways I’m addicted to her gaze March “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher” Sonya Belousova God, I wish I was joking. This was a month of Tiger King and sourdough bread, the beginning of the end of times, the start of 7000 hours of binge watching material. We watched the Witcher over the course of two days, and fell briefly in love with this song (or at least, I did). I never played it after the month of March, but clearly it left enough of an impression on the algorithm. This month was back when all the weirdness of the world still had an air of fun to it, a bit of mystery. The whole it-will-all-be-over-soon mentality coincided with online university courses and the freedom of doing nothing. It seemed a bit like a joke, then. It was only funny for a little while. At the edge of the world Fight the mighty horn That bashes and breaks you And brings you to mourn April “Like a Stone” Audioslave A month of mountain biking and head banging on the drive to the mountains. Driving past grocery store line ups a mile long, we make our way to the mountains, far, far away from the rest of the world. It’s here I fall in love with the oldies again; Jeff Buckley and Pearl Jam fill my ears as I grind up the mountains. I like to watch you sing along, making the perfect harmonies to all those 90s grunge tunes. In another life, I could picture you up on those stages making music. I like to think about that sometimes. In your house I long to be Room by room patiently I’ll wait for you there Like a stone May “Sundown” Gordon Lightfoot The world winds down, the second-to-last university semester of my life closes and we drive far, far away from the ocean and back to our valley cocoons and the protection of our parents. Shelter us, we say. Protect us from this storm. Back in my childhood bedroom I listen to this on repeat, the soothing melody letting me forget about the faded yellow paint I chose when I was 14 and the fact that I’m back surrounded by it. I start up school again and get a job part time, but it’s the one I had in high school and I feel like I’m living my life in reverse. I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans She’s a hard loving woman, got me feeling mean June “Mountains” Moontricks I spend every day that I can on a mountain bike and I manage not to think about my body. It’s a blessing and a miracle. I find this song on a playlist made by guys who run a Youtube channel about bikes. I get very into bikes. I purchase stickers from these Youtube men, and also socks. For biking. I can listen to this now and remember falling in love with a new sport. Folky, electronic music with beautiful harmonies and the coolest beat. Just close your eyes and let it wash over ya. Let me be free, Let me be free, Let me be free July “No Ceiling” Eddie Vedder For the past 3 years either Eddie Vedder or Pearl Jam has taken up at least a month of my year in terms of listening time.I always get sucked into an obsessive phase — although usually it’s in October. See, that’s the thing about global pandemics. They really mess with your body’s natural rhythm. To be honest in July it was basically just the entire Into The Wild soundtrack, but this is my favourite song. (Actually, I like The Wolf. It’s just Eddie Vedder howling. Sometimes I think about setting it as my ringtone.) Really, whenever Eddie pops up I just know I’m going through another existential crisis about life and society. I think in this case it was a combination of a restless summer and the subsequent completion of my final semester of university. A fairly fitting way to spend my last month as a sociology student if you ask me. As I walk the hemisphere I’ve got my wish to up and disappear August “Lake Shore Drive” Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah It’s driving with five people in the cab of a two-seater beat up pick-up, mountain bikes rattling in the truck bed, strapped to the makeshift bike rack we slid in the back. The late-summer sun beats down on the pavement, the sky is a flaming orange, and there’s just enough daylight for late-night shreds after work. I like those long summer evenings, when it seems like the sunset lasts for hours. We can look at the water and the mountains; the light bouncing off the lake and off our sun-kissed skin. We smell the summer scents of the valley: dust, smoke, and dry pine trees.We’re soaked in sweat, we’re covered in dirt, we go out on the town for beer after 10km of sweet, sweet mountain descents. I always come back here thinking I never will again, and I always leave wanting more while trying to escape. And it’s Friday night and you’re looking clean Too early to start the rounds A ten minute ride from the Gold Coast back make sure you’re pleasure bound And it’s four o’clock in the morning and all of the people have gone away Just you and your mind and Lake Shore Drive, tomorrow is another day And the sunshine’s fine in the morning time, tomorrow is another day September “Iffy” Caamp I’ve never found moving to be scary. In fact, I kind of like it. I think you can blame my parents for that; their constantly migratory habits. We never actually moved outside of our hometown but we did move houses seven times within the city limits, and at one point almost moved across the country. We once moved into one house and moved out nine months later. It’s like packing is my natural state. This move felt no different, just another experience. Sometimes I forget that some people aren’t as used to change as I am. Aren’t as content being the odd ones out, the new guys. I kind of like the anonymity, the freshness. I want to walk for hours with music playing and rain falling, exploring all the new places. I want to see the trees, the rolling grey fog filling in the spaces between them. It’s salty here, and I love it. Locked up all your windows and bolted all your doors And I’ve had some trouble listening my ears are glued to the floor And oh no you wont see me again, least a year or more Said my bags are all packed and my shoes are by the back door October “Nights in White Satin” The Moody Blues I’m not saying you need to belt this one out while washing dishes, but I’m also not, not saying it. (You should) Do you ever doubt every choice you’ve ever made? Sing, then sing louder. It doesn’t matter that you’re not good, only your neighbours can hear you and you don’t really know them — should I have gotten to know them? Ah, it’s too late now. Moody blues is right. ’Cause I love you Yes I love you Oh how I love you Also, “Season of the Witch” Donovan #spookyszn Oh no, must be the season Oh no, must be the season Oh no, must be the season of the witch November “Drowning” Radio Company A lot of things ended in November. Nothing big or important, but a lot of little things. Sometimes little endings hurt more than the big ones; life still goes on in a way as if nothing really happened. You only notice the little endings sometimes, and then it hurts a little more than you’d expect. I turned 22 quietly. I love being born in November but I don’t really like birthdays. Maybe I just feel attached to the scorpion, all spiky and untrustworthy. Untrusting. Hold the day Oh we pray To make it through the night December Here’s where Spotify’s year end wrap up fails: you get sent your data at the beginning of December. That’s a whole month of music in the year that you’re not even counting. Part of me wants it to believe they do it that way so that Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You doesn’t end up being everyones #19 song of the year every. Damn. Year. Despite it being early in the month, but current top song would be: “Riveria Paradise” Stevie Ray Vaughan The last weekend of November we took two ferries to get from the coast to the Island, and spent the weekend hitting the mountains for hours. I rode shotgun with a friend of a friend on the morning drives to the trails, and we talked about life, and travel and the beautiful west coast. I followed him on Spotify after three minutes in the car. Like music soulmates, I grooved to every tune he threw on. I asked him to play Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd and he asked which live version was my favourite. Man had more than one live version cued up and ready to go. He said I would probably dig this song. I do.

https://medium.com/illumination/the-soundtrack-of-my-year-3d0174b124fe

['Kae Smith']

2020-12-05 18:36:37.291000+00:00

['Time', 'Spotify', 'Life', 'Illumination', 'Music']

Logistic Regression Code in Python for absolute beginners

Brief About Logistic Regression Algorithm Brief about Logistic Regression Algorithm When we need to predict o the class where the predicted variable has a set of defined values like yes or no, we use Logistic Regression. Difference between Logistic and Linear Regression In Linear Regression, the value predicted variable is continuous whereas, in the Logistic Regression Algorithm, the value predicted variable is discrete. Maths behind Logistic Regression The Logistic Regression Algorithm uses the Sigmoid function. Its maximum value is 1 & the minimum value is 0 and ‘e’ is Euler’s number which is equal to 2.71828. now to perform classification in Logistic Regression, we replace z by the equation of a straight line, modifying the function to Note- to understand the equation of a straight line read Linear Regression Code in Python for absolute beginners. How Classification is done? When the value of the function comes out to be more than 0.5 then it will be class A and when less than 0.5 then class B. Code for Logistic Regression on Jupyter Notebook using Python Step1 Importing all required libraries Step2 Reading data in Jupyter Notebook within ‘ ‘ enter the path to the data set in your system. .head() will show the first 5 rows of the data set Step3 Separating Dependent and Independent Variable The .drop function will remove the column mentioned in ‘ ‘ and store the remaining data in x. [[‘ “]] will store that column in y. Step4 Preparing training and testing data set train_size will tell the machine what percent of data is considered as a training set and the remaining will be testing data set. The training data will be chosen randomly and not in sequence. Here train_size is 0.8 which means 80% of data will be used for training the machine and the rest 20% will be used for testing. Step5 Importing Logistic Regression and making it class object Step6 Fitting training data set in our model Step7 Predicting the class of Testing Data Step 8 Calculating accuracy and precision of predictions Classification_report will give the accuracy and precision of the model. This is the easiest code to run the Logistic Regression algorithm. If you need an example of fitting actual data then write in the comment and I will make a separate blog for it.

https://medium.com/@easymlcodes/logistic-regression-code-in-python-for-absolute-beginners-8a1de8cc9cd9

['Vipul Agarwal']

2020-10-03 08:15:44.177000+00:00

['Logistic Regression', 'Linear Regression Python', 'Python Programming', 'Machine Learning']

What is Forex Trading and How it Works?

What Is Forex Trading? Forex trading is at its simplest, equivalent to the exchange of currencies that you would do when going abroad: a trader buys one currency and sells another and the exchange rate fluctuates continuously depending on supply and demand. In the foreign exchange market, a global marketplace that is open 24 hours a day Monday through Friday, currencies are traded. All forex trade is carried out over the counter (OTC), which ensures that there is no physical exchange (as with stocks) and that the market is overseen by a global network of banks and other financial institutions (instead of a central exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange). A vast majority of trade activity in the forex market occurs between institutional traders, such as people who work for banks, fund managers and multinational corporations. These traders don’t necessarily intend to take physical possession of the currencies themselves; they may simply be speculating about or hedging against future exchange rate fluctuations. For example, a forex trader might buy U.S. dollars (and sell euros) if she believes the dollar will strengthen in value and therefore be able to buy more euros in the future. Meanwhile, an American company with European operations could use the forex market as a hedge in the event the euro weakens, meaning the value of their income earned there falls. Forex Trading Marketplace The forex trading marketplace, as it stands today, is the world’s largest and most liquid market due to a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, ease of performing transactions over the internet, the modern development of travelling, ease of international communication and modern transportation, which have made our world a smaller place. By making our world a smaller and more global place, this automatically means that people, goods and services can travel faster and more easily. This also means that a necessity of currencies to be traded against each other is needed in order for this to happen. All these factors have determined a growing forex trading marketplace, which will only continue to grow and become more dynamic, liquid and responsive. How Currencies Are Traded Just like a stock’s ticker symbol, all currencies are assigned a three-letter code. Although there are more than 170 currencies worldwide, a significant majority of forex trade includes the U.S. dollar, so it is particularly useful to know its code: USD. The euro, the currency recognized in 19 countries in the European Union (code: EUR), is the second most common currency in the forex market. The Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD), the Canadian dollar (CAD), the Swiss franc (CHF) and the New Zealand dollar (NZD) are the other main currencies, in order of popularity. All forex trading is expressed as the two currencies being traded in a combination. The following seven currency pairs, known as the majors, account for approximately 75 percent of forex market trading: EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD AUD/USD USD/CAD USD/CHF NZD/USD How Forex Trades Are Quoted Each currency pair represents the current exchange rate for the two currencies. Here’s how to interpret that information, using EUR/USD — or the euro-to-dollar exchange rate — as an example: The currency on the left (the euro) is the base currency. The currency on the right (the U.S. dollar) is the quote currency. The exchange rate represents how much of the quote currency is needed to buy 1 unit of the base currency. As a result, the base currency is always expressed as 1 unit while the quote currency varies based on the current market and how much is needed to buy 1 unit of the base currency. If the EUR/USD exchange rate is 1.2, that means €1 will buy $1.20 (or, put another way, it will cost $1.20 to buy €1). When the exchange rate rises, that means the base currency has risen in value relative to the quote currency (because €1 will buy more U.S. dollars) and conversely, if the exchange rate falls, that means the base currency has fallen in value. A quick note: Currency pairs are usually presented with the base currency first and the quote currency second, though there’s historical convention for how some currency pairs are expressed. For example, USD to EUR conversions are listed as EUR/USD, but not USD/EUR. What is Forex Trading Software? Forex trading software is an online trading platform provided to each XM client, which allows them to view, analyze and trade currencies, or other asset classes. In simple terms, each XM client is provided access to a trading platform (i.e. software) which is directly connected to the global market price feed and allows them to perform transactions without the help of a third party. Who are Forex Trading Market Participants? Forex trading market participants can fall in any of the following categories: 1. Traveler’s or overseas consumers who exchange money to travel overseas or purchase goods from overseas. 2. Businesses that purchase raw materials or goods from overseas and need to exchange their local currency to the currency of the country of the seller. 3. Investors or speculators who exchange currencies, which either require a foreign currency, to perform trading in equities or other asset classes from overseas or either are trading currencies with the aim of making a profit from market changes. 4. Banking institutions that exchange money to service their clients or to lend money to overseas clients. 5. Governments or central banks that either buy or sell currencies and try to adjust financial imbalances, or adjust economic conditions. Three Ways to Trade Forex There are three different ways to trade forex, which will accommodate traders with varying goals: 1. The spot market. This is the primary forex market where those currency pairs are swapped and exchange rates are determined in real-time, based on supply and demand. 2. The forward market. Instead of executing a trade now, forex traders can also enter into a binding (private) contract with another trader and lock in an exchange rate for an agreed upon amount of currency on a future date. 3. The futures market. Similarly, traders can opt for a standardized contract to buy or sell a predetermined amount of a currency at a specific exchange rate at a date in the future. This is done on an exchange rather than privately, like the forwards market. The forward and futures markets are primarily used by forex traders who want to speculate or hedge against future price changes in a currency. The exchange rates in these markets are based on what’s happening in the spot market, which is the largest of the forex markets and is where a majority of forex trades are executed. Forex Terms to Know Each market has its own language. These are words to know before engaging in forex trading: Currency pair. All forex trades involve a currency pair. In addition to the majors, there also are less common trades (like exotics, which are currencies of developing countries). Pip. Short for percentage in points, a pip refers to the smallest possible price change within a currency pair. Because forex prices are quoted out to at least four decimal places, a pip is equal to 0.0001. Bid-ask spread. As with other assets (like stocks), exchange rates are determined by the maximum amount that buyers are willing to pay for a currency (the bid) and the minimum amount that sellers require to sell (the ask). The difference between these two amounts, and the value trades ultimately will get executed at, is the bid-ask spread. Lot. Forex is traded by what’s known as a lot, or a standardized unit of currency. The typical lot size is 100,000 units of currency, though there are micro (1,000) and mini (10,000) lots available for trading, too. Leverage. Because of those large lot sizes, some traders may not be willing to put up so much money to execute a trade. Leverage, another term for borrowing money, allows traders to participate in the forex market without the amount of money otherwise required. Margin. Trading with leverage isn’t free, however. Traders must put down some money upfront as a deposit — or what’s known as margin. Risks of Forex Trading Because forex trading requires leverage and traders use margin, there are additional risks to forex trading than other types of assets. Currency prices are constantly fluctuating, but at very small amounts, which means traders need to execute large trades (using leverage) to make money. This leverage is great if a trader makes a winning bet because it can magnify profits. However, it can also magnify losses, even exceeding the initial amount borrowed. In addition, if a currency falls too much in value, leverage users open themselves up to margin calls, which may force them to sell their securities purchased with borrowed funds at a loss. Outside of possible losses, transaction costs can also add up and possibly eat into what was a profitable trade. On top of all that, you should keep in mind that those who trade foreign currencies are little fish swimming in a pond of skilled, professional traders — and the Securities and Exchange Commission warns about potential fraud or information that could be confusing to new traders. Perhaps it’s a good thing then that forex trading isn’t so common among individual investors. In fact, retail trading (a.k.a. trading by non-professionals) accounts for just 5.5% of the entire global market, figures from Daily Forex show, and some of the major online brokers don’t even offer forex trading. What’s more, of the few retailer traders who engage in forex trading, most struggle to turn a profit with forex. Compare Forex Brokers found that, on average, 71% of retail FX traders lost money. This makes forex trading a strategy often best left to the professionals.

https://medium.com/@plainascii-56355/what-is-forex-trading-and-how-it-works-31d2dc6d1f0

['Smith L Sutphin']

2020-11-17 18:59:48.157000+00:00

['Forex Trading', 'Forex Traders', 'Foreign Policy', 'Forex']

Live` Paris FC vs Guingamp, <LiveStream!!>

We present Paris FC vs Guingamp, online services for Pageant Match, in the form of live streaming with the best quality fulll HD quality, enjoy your favorite Pageant (FREE..!!) ************************************** Visit the web : https://is.gd/20ZouX ************************************** Match Now = Paris FC vs Guingamp ************************************** ATTENTION : for easy registration,please register now to keep from network busy or access full, before the performance begins… DONT FORGET TO FOLLOW FORE MORE INFO AND UPDATE

https://medium.com/@kakangkor/live-paris-fc-vs-guingamp-livestream-758d61dfad3c

[]

2020-12-22 05:32:42.921000+00:00

['Soccer']

10 things to complete your JavaScript skills.

1.THIS & GLOBAL THIS: “This” refers to an example of an object or class. It also changes depending on how a function is called. It’s only relevant wherever you use it and also changes when you are in strict vs. non-strict mode. 2. OBJECTS: The main reason you must master objects in javascript cause everything in javascript is objects. Object-oriented programming is a must-have skill to claim yourself as a pro. 3.CLASS: being comfortable with objects, you must start learning the classes which are objects and constructor functions under the hood. Understanding how an object works, you’ll understand the limitation & advantages of a javascript class. it is a go-to for developers to avoid the cluster of the wired prototype in javascript, and get it done. 4.FUNCTIONS: After objects, the function is the second most powerful thing in javascript. It is a very important thing to master as a modern javascript developer. it has become a common practice to write functional programming in major frameworks and libraries. since functional programming is flexible and can be reuse unlimited time, it simplifies the process of writing a complex application much easier. functions in javascript allow you to do anything and can be used in almost all conditions. 5.SCOPE & CLOSURE: The scope is about making the box and the closure is a special box. If you understand the SCOPE it will help you create code that works together and closure is just a powerful tool you should use if you like the concept of encapsulation and functional programming. 6.DATA STRUCTURES: You cannot understand how the web work without understanding data structures. it’s a huge topic, but as a developer, this is one of the primary things that you must master. 7.SINGLE THREAD, NON-BLOCKING, ASYNCHRONOUS, CONCURRENT: these are the core component of web app developments. you will understand better what kind of project should you use javascript by understanding why JavaScript is single-threaded. 8.PROMISE & ASYNC AWAIT: Promises and async…await allow you to deviate from the traditional linear way to execute programs which for a single-threaded language like Javascript, make it more powerful and fast to compute a lot of things quickly without resourcing to create dedicated threads. Javascript is a single-threaded language, therefore without creating dedicated threads, it cannot be used for multiple computing and faster processing. so, to avoid that we use promise and async-await. 9.CONTROL FLOW: If you want to build a complex application, you must understand how things work step by step. it will also allow you to build even more complex programs. 10.FETCH & AJAX: Since JavaScript mostly use for web-based applications, Data is a huge part of it. You need to send requests, fetch data from the server all the time. so fetch and ajax is something you must understand very well.

https://medium.com/@mshowkat/10-things-to-complete-your-javascript-skills-b206d08ad858

['M Showkat']

2020-11-17 19:10:57.929000+00:00

['Programming Languages', 'Programming Tips', 'Javascript Development', 'Javascript Tips', 'JavaScript']

How to Create Widgets in iOS 14

TimelineProvider The content displayed by iOS 14’s widgets works similarly to watchOS’s complications in the sense that instead of having an extension that is running all the time, you provide at once a “timeline” of events that the OS should display throughout the hours, days, or even weeks. This is useful for apps like Weather and Calendar where you can “predict” what is going to be displayed in the future, as you already have that information. In our case, since we are unable to predict Swift’s commits, we’ll provide a timeline that contains only a single event — making iOS refresh our widget on a more regular basis. To create a Timeline , we first need to define a TimelineEntry . A TimelineEntry only requires the Date when this entry is expected to be rendered in the widget, but it can also contain any additional information that you require. In our case, our entries will contain the Commit that we want to display in the widget: But before creating the timeline, we need to be able to fetch such commits. Let’s create a CommitLoader class that fetches and parses Swift's latest commit: When fetch is called, this loader type sends a request to GitHub's public API and parses the latest commit, giving us the message, author, and its timestamp. We can now create a Timeline that fetches the latest commit, adds it as an entry, and schedules itself to be updated after a while: struct CommitTimeline: TimelineProvider { typealias Entry = LastCommitEntry /* protocol methods implemented below! */ } The TimelineProvider protocol has two methods that we need to implement. 1. snapshot() - the fake information of the widget The required snapshot() method of the TimelineProvider protocol defines how your widget should be configured when it appears in transient situations, such as the widget selection screen. This configuration will be used when showing correct information doesn't matter: To create a snapshot configuration, all you have to do is create and return a fake entry of your TimelineEntry object: timeline() - the true information of the widget The timeline() method, however, defines the real information that should be used by your widget. The objective is for you to return a Timeline instance that contains all the entries you want to display when they are expected to be displayed (the date of the entry) and when the timeline "expires." Because our app can’t “predict” its future state like a Weather app, creating a timeline with a single entry that should be displayed immediately will suffice. This can be done by setting the entry’s date to the current Date() : The policy property of the timeline is what defines when iOS should attempt to discard this timeline and fetch a new one. Currently, they can be .never (widgets displaying a static content that never changes), .atEnd (when the last entry in the timeline is displayed), or .after(Date) (a specific amount of time after displaying the timeline for the first time). Since our timeline only has one entry, I decided to use .after to tell iOS that this widget should be reloaded every five minutes. Note, however, that the widget API’s documentation states that you can’t predict when the widget will be updated. Even though the timeline itself will indeed be fetched again after five minutes, there’s no guarantee that the iOS will update the view at the same time. From my personal experience, the view actually took around 20 minutes to update by itself. The update time is based on a few factors, which include how often the widget is seen by the user. If you need to force a widget to update, you can use the WidgetCenter APIs from your main app to reload all timelines (or a specific one): WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines()

https://medium.com/better-programming/how-to-create-widgets-in-ios-14-8cf58d34ce89

['Bruno Rocha']

2020-06-25 12:30:03.784000+00:00

['Swift Programming', 'iOS', 'Xcode', 'Swift', 'Programming']

Lightning Loop Alpha: An Easier Way to Receive Funds using the Lightning Network

Lightning Loop Alpha: An Easier Way to Receive Funds using the Lightning Network The Lightning Network development team has put a march in its beta phase Lightning Loop, a non-custodial service that makes it easier for people to receive funds for LN. The Lightning Labs service allows you to connect Bitcoin in and out of the chain by exchanging ‘submarine’. In the current version of the Loop software, only chain-to-chain exchanges are allowed, where the Loop client sends out-of-chain funds in exchange for the funds being returned to it. According to the development team, this problem generated that over time, the capacity of payment channels with Bitcoin would be filled before the massive use and could not accept more payments with Bitcoin. Lightning channels are like money tubes: the more you send, the more you can receive and vice versa. But the amount of funds remains within the channel, so Lightning requires “entry capacity” to receive funds. The new custody system is called Loop Out and will allow users to increase their reception capacity by downloading their funds from the network while keeping channels open. Loop Out can be used to move funds to an exchange, wallet services or cold storage, as the user decides. According to its official blog Lightning Labs, the custody service can be used in various situations such as: Acquisition of liquidity funds from the incoming channel from arbitrary nodes in the Lightning network. Deposit funds in a Bitcoin address in the chain without closing the active channels. Payment to chain backup addresses in case of lack of liquidity of the route. The need for Lightning Loop comes from the high growth of the Lightning network and the number of applications during the last year. LoopOut initiates an output loop exchange with given parameters, which allows a simple RPC for any exchange. In addition, the Lightning Labs team plans to launch soon a complement to this solution called Loop In, which will allow users to fill their Lightning channels with Bitcoins in the chain of exchanges or wallets. As is known, when a user makes a series of purchases through LN, the balance of his channel decreases and therefore his ability to pay. With Loop In you can use to recharge funds in LN from an external wallet or through an exchange account. With Loop, users can keep the Lightning Network channels open indefinitely, which makes the network more efficient, more stable and more economical to use. Loop Out transactions are limited to a maximum of 0.01 BTC (1M sats) for the initial test version from already available in the official Github channel of the company, to be used by developers through the gRPC API of Ligtning Loop. According to the site 1ML.com, the number of nodes of the LN network has increased by 17.34% and the number of channels by 39.8% in the last year, without this launch. The capacity of Lightning Network reports a growth of 51% in the last months and it is expected that with Loop these figures will be doubled. Bitrefill and Blockstream are the main drivers of the massive use of Lightning Network.

https://medium.com/the-capital/lightning-loop-alpha-an-easier-way-to-receive-funds-in-lightning-network-657bf063def0

[]

2019-03-21 05:14:07.491000+00:00

['Lightning Network', 'Bitcoin', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Btc']

Design distributed deployment system

James O’Brien for Quanta Magazine Problem: 1GB file is generated every 24 hours on one of the machines inside Google data center. This file needs to be copied only once to all the machines across all the data centers. Design this system. Google has millions of machines and data centers across the globe. Thus, it is impossible to use this machine as a single centralized point of file sharing. The goal is to design a system architecture and flow that can handle these huge files. Design interviews test your ability to analyze and solve big problems, quickly. They are hard, but not impossible, especially if you prepare carefully. Important Design Considerations: The most important part is to gather requirements, reduce problem ambiguity, and explore all possible hidden constraints. What are the clarifying questions we can ask to the original problem? Can we compress that file? Can we connect any pair of machines? Can we be fault-tolerant to network failures? How much time will it take to copy that file? What are the different types of failure events that can occur? How to optimize sync time Not all of the nodes are equal in compute/storage/network characteristics and current load (node could be running heavy cpu/gpu tasks). Capacity Estimation and Constraints Let’s assume 1 data center has 100k server nodes and machines on average Likewise all these servers connected via a (single local) flat topology network where any node can connect to any other node within the same DC. Let’s estimate and assume that we have up to 400 MiB bandwidth (upload+download) If we serve that file from a single machine a single download will take 1 GB / 400 MiB/ s = 25s Therefore distributing it over 100k machines would take more than 25 days! Even if we assume that that file is some sort of a log file and could be compressible to 0.5 of the size it still does lead us to 12–15 days of synchronization. So let’s keep compression aside for now. Apparently synchronization time is the key problem of this design but the good news that it scales ~ O(N/M) where N is the number of servers and M is the number of file serving peers (M=1 in our back on the napkin math above) By the end of this section, we have the answer to (4) How much time will it take to copy that file — from 25s per download and O(N/M) for total sync Obviously this problem could reveal a whole new level of complexity if we change the initial requirement from 1GB to 100GB but this could be a bonus question* Approaches and trade-offs Before moving forward let’s consider answers to a few questions to navigate our problem-solving vector Should we divide the file into smaller pieces and serve it to all the machines? Should we consider using a peer-to-peer approach to address O(N/M) ? Should we just increase file servers M to a fixed number like 100 in O(N/M) ? How to coordinate 100k machines from a greed lock and not exhaust all network bandwidth? Let’s start exploring p2p file sharing idea. In a simplified case — to build it we need to have 3 things — file seeders and file downloaders and seeders index for coordination. The last one also needs to be centralized. Seeder (FS file seeder) and leecher (FL) nodes are coordinated via the indexer. The indexer itself needs to be stateful, linearly scalable, and fault-tolerant. This could be an actual practical challenge. The p2p coordination flow is the following. FS nodes register and de-register from an indexer FL pulls the indexer and connects to any node available seeder to download the file Once the download finishes FL register on the indexer and becomes FS(1) These steps repeat until eventually the file will be shared with all nodes. How to address the cold start problem when potentially all 100k will try to connect to the same machine? To address that we either need to have a distributed lock (which easily can be implemented with KV storage) as an additional synchronization mechanism. Likewise, we could handle it in the indexer implementation. Do we know a classic data structure that could help us represent and p2p indexer? A naive approach would be a KV storage or hash map to implement a lock on the node while it’s downloading. The trade-off of this approach is that client will have to retry connection attempts to a seeder and constantly pulling this lock state from the indexer. Another option is to use stack/queue to store available seeders. And after each download, FS and FL can self enqueue to that queue to speed up the file distribution. Solution My favorite approach is to use a distributed queue for the following reasons. Seeder can enqueue coordinates of a local file server connection (ip/port) into the queue and wait for the download. FL just needs to pick up the message and connect to the seeder for the download (which exclusively grants access to that seeder). Once the download is complete we will have +2 just enqueued seeders (one original seeder and one just converted leecher) The queue is super easy to scale and partition This approach is simple and elegant using a classic well-known concept. For full synchronization, it only requires O(Ln(N)) time on avg Adaptive load distribution — faster seeders will share faster Having 100k messages in the queue will indicate that sync has been finished. Since at peak we need to handle up to 100k rps we could spin up 10 queue partitions x 10k rps which is on the lowest spectrum of benchmarks for any queue implementation. Note: Simple solution is always the better one. Tradeoffs Worst case scenario leads to O(N) when only one node can seed download A slow FL can be a bottleneck for a fast distribution (node could be in the middle of a long term computational task). As an option, we can exclude such nodes from seeding. If the download fails seeder needs to re-register into the queue and this could go potentially into an infinite loop in combination with the same bad FL. This could be handled by storing additional counter/download status state in the globally Delivery at least once as a common pitfall for the queues. The same message could be delivered to 2 consumers which leads to a race condition. To handle that we can use a single server TCP connection simultaneously available on the downloader. Any connection refused errors should be ignored by the FL Handle dead seeder nodes in the queue. Similar behavior to (4) from FL perspective Handle dead FLs in progress measurement. Could be resolved by tracking it via an additional state What if one of the queue partitions goes down? This could be handled by partition logic/implementation such as consistent hashing using unique node attributes (ip/mac addresses/hardware id etc..) Multi DC Assuming 50 data centers across different regions. This task could be actually simplified if we assume there is a DC gateway where we can push that file into a single machine. Thus this problem is reduced to a single DC version which we already deconstructed. Bonus questions: What if the network is not flat? What if there is ~ 2% rate of connection errors between nodes due to multi-tenancy issues? How to monitor the process? Enjoyed this article or have a better solution? Let me know in the comments.

https://medium.com/@s10n/design-distributed-deployment-system-723a05e91372

[]

2021-01-30 08:51:48.508000+00:00

['System Architecture', 'Distributed Systems', 'System Design Interview', 'System Design Project', 'Programming']

Burning Up

50 WORDS Burning Up Image by Hans on Pixabay You are dripping with sweat, rivulets leaving trails on your skin. The sheets are damp. Your skin is flushed from your cheeks to your chest. Hot to the touch, heat radiates from you. I can feel it. You press your lips into mine. I have the cure for your fever.

https://medium.com/the-bad-influence/burning-up-6742cf878f74

['Edward Riley']

2020-12-03 13:12:29.811000+00:00

['Passion', '50 Words', 'The Bad Influence', 'Heat', 'Fever']

Tempo Traveller on Rent in Delhi for Mathura Vrindavan Tour Package

tempo traveller Mathura and Vrindavan are two most religious and beautiful tourist destinations to visit in Uttar Pradesh India. These cities are very popular for Indian pilgrimage because of the birthplace of much loved Krishna. Not only in India but much pilgrimage visits these places from each corner of the globe every year. You can see a big crowd of pilgrimage during the festive season in Mathura Vrindavan. Tourists donate a huge amount of money in the trust of Temples of Mathura Vrindavan. Experience Tours is a reliable Tour and Travel agency in Delhi NCR that comes up with some amazing and exciting packages and Tempo Traveller in Delhi to experience and cover all sightseeing ever enjoyable and memorable Tour to Mathura Vrindavan. When we think about any religious Tour Package, many destinations in India come up in our mind and Mathura Vrindavan is one of them. If anyone wants to visit Mathura Vrindavan and finding a best Tour and Travels agency for making their trip memorable, contact Experience Tours for Mathura Vrindavan Tour by Tempo Traveller from Delhi according to your needs and in budget price. Mathura Vrindavan Tour is the best option for those peoples who are highly religious and have a great spiritual mind. You can convert your dream in truly to book Mathura Vrindavan Tour Packages. Every Hindu devotee has a desire to visit Mathura Vrindavan in their life at least once. Our company has brought about Tempo Traveller on Rent for Mathura Vrindavan which is ever profitable and enjoyable. In our Tour packages service, we include all temples and other tourist spot sightseeing in Mathura Vrindavan. We cover each destination of Mathura Vrindavan from Birthplace of Lord Krishna to Barsana. Barsana is the place where the beloved of Lord Krishna Radha lived. We also offer many other services in our packages like arranging Tempo Traveller, Toyota Innova and Volvo bus for sightseeing and Travel, best and professionals Tour guide and driver to declare every facet of Mathura Vrindavan and easily entering in the temples because they have strong connections. We also arrange accommodation and food for our clients according to their recommendations. According to Hindu mythology, Mathura and Vrindavan are two very famous and desired places to visit. Pilgrimage and Tourists come here from all over the world with full spirituality and seeking peace of mind. We started our company with the aim of comfortable Travel of our clients and peace to keep at every stage of their journey and introduce them with all the history of Mathura Vrindavan. Our team of professionals always ready to provide you with harmony and stillness traveling service. We always provide Tempo Traveller on Rent service at a budget rate and our price for service is very pocket-friendly. Our service depends on the three pledges include safety, security and quality services that claim to carry out and for that and work hard best of their ability. According to feedback from our client, “I want to visit Mathura Vrindavan with my family and was seeking a best Tour and Travel agency who could provide us with a safe, reliable and affordable Tour Package for our trip. I found Mathura Vrindavan Tour Package that provides by Experience Tours. I found their packages with a suitable price fulfilling all my needs and they make our trip very memorable.

https://medium.com/@tempotravellerdelhi/tempo-traveller-on-rent-in-delhi-for-mathura-vrindavan-tour-package-c4ae2bfba927

['Tempo Traveller Delhi']

2020-02-21 08:22:39.442000+00:00

['Travel Writing', 'Travel', 'Tourism', 'Travel Tips', 'Traveling']

The Purpose of Life

Create your own meanings Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash I always prided myself over my philosophical bend of mind; I could muse about all these profound questions at a young age and try looking for solutions. However it soon became a problem when the flow of questions remained the same but the solutions stopped coming to me. However hard I thought, some questions were bigger than my tiny brain! As I delved into philosophy for the first time, I realized, neither Aristotle nor Socrates had answers so many times and it is the thoughts that change at the way how you perceive things and that, mostly you can create your custom made solutions, applicable solely to yourself. That is how I solved my question of WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MY EXISTENCE? I tried to answer it in the simplest form I can, because let’s admit, the answers to some of the most complicated questions could be the simplest ones. So for the above question, I simply drew the answer from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It’s a simple psychology concept which explains how our first priority should be psychological needs which includes food, shelter, air, water, sleep, clothing and reproduction. The second is safety needs having health, employment and other resources under its wing, the next is the feelings of love and belonging followed by a rather complex component of self-esteem and then self-actualization of reaching ones potential. Spotting the basic needs and others after, I made the formula- Life is all about sustaining you, living and creating. Explanation: Sustaining you This is quite self-explanatory- get jobs at an appropriate age, irrespective of the fact whether it’s satisfying or not, if it isn’t as satisfactory, we have the other components to make up for it. Living The best living is when you are healthy, so first priority under living should be taking care of your health and then enjoying what life has to offer. Your sudden dance breakouts or bathroom singing can keep you covered in this department of living. Creating I strongly believe all of us are artists even if we do not have a visible exploitable skill. Some of us are naturally writers, poets, script writers or comedians, some create life and prove exemplary in parenting or some create some other kind of art but trust me, every action of human is closer to art than you think.

https://medium.com/@shaili2k9/the-purpose-of-life-e92a0c85ab39

[]

2020-12-24 14:17:16.985000+00:00

['Life', 'Purpose', 'Life Lessons', 'Maslows Hierarchy', 'Goals']