fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Why don’t we identify reading problems early?
By: Joan Kelley
Tags: Early Childhood Education, Raising Kids, Reading Books, Education, Children Communication

Here’s what the research shows:

About 25% of children are at-risk for reading difficulties and need a boost in the earliest years.

A risk for reading difficulties can be identified as early as age 4.

Of the readers who later struggle, many are solid early on in some skills but not all — and they fall through the cracks.

Yet in reality, children’s reading issues are often not identified until the late elementary school years, or even later still. If early intervention works and identifying problems isn’t that difficult, why are so many kids overlooked?

No tracking system. There are quick and easy ways to find out if a child is on track or lagging behind, but this kind of monitoring is not part of the approach in pediatricians’ offices, preschools, or even kindergarten classrooms. While testing the youngest children is not always a popular idea, there are many reasons why it makes good sense to give children periodic, play-like assessments — or have parents complete checklists about children’s milestones and words — that will let us know if they have reached important benchmarks, from age 2 onwards. Children are often in different settings from year to year. When a child hits the age to move from one room in the childcare center to another, or moves from a preschool classroom to a kindergarten classroom, and then to the elementary grades, the consequence is that different adults are paying attention to that child’s reading development each year. In other words, no one person is charged with overseeing each child’s reading-related skills from the earliest days, and that increases the chance for an information breakdown. Not enough knowledge in the system. There is also the issue of variation in educator training. Once a child enters school, identifying issues is often dependent upon the child’s individual teacher. That means that a child may or may not be identified depending on what that particular teacher knows about learning to read, and whether she has been given materials and support to monitor readers’ progress and identify children who need extra help. The average educator has, at best, only taken one course in how to teach reading. So in too many cases, it’s often not until a child is visibly and significantly struggling, for a long period of time, that he or she is finally identified for support.

So in the end, it’s important that parents track and monitor children’s reading-related skills from the earliest years — but they need the knowledge and tools to do that. With parental oversight, there’s a better chance for better reading outcomes for kids.
What are your minimums for renewal?
By: Ed Pike
Tags: Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Leadership

Is it a walk each day, a good nights sleep, taking your lunch away from your desk?

Renewal is important to us. It recharges our batteries.

We are more likely to roll with surprises and cope with what life throws at us. It makes us better leaders, friends, partners.

We know it, yet we often don’t take the actions to renew ourselves. We set good intentions then get distracted by that oh-so-unimportant email, or other task.

We routinely don’t value ourselves and our renewal. We compromise the commitments we make to ourselves. They feel like a big thing.

We know that if we connect actions to existing habits they are more likely to stick.

Set your minimums. Is it being in bed (no devices) by 11pm, or going for a walk each day. Simple things.

Be pragmatic. Don’t commit to a daily run if you struggle to walk. Make them small, simple and achievable.

Invest in you. It is important for you to be the best of you.

Some practical advice

Set your minimums. Know them! Make the renewal action small, simple and achievable Build on good habits, connect renewal to what you do now Mentally reward yourself for the benefit

This is part of our Leadership Wizdom series, bite sized leadership advice for leaders who wish to improve their leadership, but don’t have much time. For more indepth articles check out The Change Wizard.

We coach leaders and help their organisations become more adaptable at www.thechangewizard.com
The one salmon fly?
By: Editor Ireland On The Fly
Tags: Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Fishing, Salmon And Sea Trout, Salmon Fishing

Guideline’s Calle Lundqvist has written about his ‘Rule of thumb about flies’ which is that the colour of the flies are not so important as long as they are brown. And here from the Guideline Blog is a step-by-step instruction from Calle’s desk.

Will the brown fly be as successful on Irish waters? All pics: guidelineflyfish.wordpress.com

Last swing of the pool. Once again that big fish that just showed its head and tail rejected the fly. Should I try another fly? Or just leave it and head to another pool? But what if you didn’t have to put yourself in that position, what if you could use a fly that the fish just can’t reject?

If I had to use one fly and one fly only for a whole summer, this would be the one. This one in different sizes and materials is tied to my leader 98% of the time.

I’m fishing for salmon. It works in dirty water, clear water, low water, high water, early season, late season. In fact my own statistics shows that 60% of the time, it work every time. Just remember to dip it in your confident jar before you tie it on.

The fly pictured here is about 10 cm long and the one I would use early in the season. Later in the season I’ll just make em´ smaller and use less flash and material.

Materials for the magical ‘Brown Fly’

Material needed

Black thread

Tube of your own choice with some weight

Some sort of copper flat braid.

Ice dub, Peackock black.

Orange polar bear or other stiffer material.

Fiery brown fur of your own choice. I use fox.

Orange and black ringneck hackle.

Copper Gliss n Glow.

Angel hair rusty olive.

Jungle Cook if you prefer. The fish don’t care.

Wrap the braid and the dubbing. About 50/50 of the body. Keep the body pretty short.

Tie the polar bear or your own material of choice first pointing forward and the fold back and secure. Add 2 strands of Gliss n glow and double them.

Wrap the orange ringneck hackle. Add another section of hair. This time fiery brown and a bit longer than the first wing (forward, back technique).

Wrap a black ringneck hackle and add a few strands of the rusty olive flash.

Tie the last and longest section of the wing. This one fiery brown as well. (forward, back technique). Add Jungle Cook as sides if you like it. If you’re a badass you skip them.

Now just wait for summer and catch a Salmon!

Word & images by Calle Lundqvist, Guideline Power Team Sweden. Click here for more articles and information from the Guideline Blog.
2 Questions to Ask When Making Hard Decisions
By: Jerine Nicole
Tags: Life Lessons, Life Hacking, Personal Growth, Personal Development, Decision Making

2 Questions to Ask When Making Hard Decisions

Because pros and cons won’t cut it.

Photo by Noah Buscher

Being indecisive

I’ve always been an indecisive person. I could never pick from what color of the same shirt to buy or what job to take. One of them is more problematic than the other.

It would take me a very long time to choose, hoping that it was the “right” decision when I finally make one. When I do make a decision, doubts come rushing in, wondering if I made the right call. Again, it’s problematic.

I’ve been trying to change that lately. I encounter decision-making so often that I hate how much energy it takes up.

A few months ago, I started a second part-time job in another Emergency Department. I had an appreciation of technology in healthcare, so I wanted to be a part of the very first smart hospital in Toronto. And I wanted to leave my current job because of some issues.

I did my very best to compare the two hospitals to decide right away which job to pick during my 3-week orientation. I juggled between two stressful jobs in that time frame.

There were pros and cons to each decision. I was using my logical mind to decide, and I just couldn’t figure it out. I asked the people around me, and they all had their own opinions.

I finally found a way that works for me. I used to take days to make hard decisions, but now it’s less, maybe a few hours.

After a couple of coaching programs, this is what I learned:

I already know everything that I want.

Deep inside.

And so do you.
Vase
By: Mark A. Schrader
Tags: Flowers, Relationships, Self, Poetry, Life

Here you’ll find the bits and pieces that don’t really fit anywhere else. A place for everything and anything!

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What does docker runtime deprecation in Kubernetes mean for Developers?
Tags: Dockerfiles, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Containers

Kubernetes is deprecating Docker as a container runtime after v1.20.

At v1.20, you will get a deprecation warning for Docker. When Docker runtime support is removed in a future release (currently planned for the 1.22 release in late 2021) of Kubernetes it will no longer be supported and you will need to switch to one of the other compliant container runtimes, like containerd or CRI-O.

But this will not affect application developers using Docker desktop or Docker for Mac to build and run their images.

This change is for Docker runtime inside the Kubernetes cluster and is different from the docker used during development.

The image created by docker during development or CI pipeline is not specific to docker, but it’s an OCI (Open Container Initiative) compliant image.

So for now as a developer you would be able to continue:

Writing your dockerfile(s) the same way

Building and pushing your OCI compliant docker image to an image registry the same way

Using the OCI compliant image in your Kubernetes deployment YAMLs the same way

There is one important piece that will break for you as a developer if you are using Docker-in-Docker construct with your CI tool running on Kubernetes. There are lots of opinions on this pattern, and we prefer to use an alternative utility called kaniko as it does not require privileged access by the CI container. There are other utilities out there as well like img and buildkit to accomplish image building within containers running on Kubernetes.

Kubernetes is an ever-evolving project and story, thus nobody is 100% expert on it. With flexibility, it brings the complexity to run the apps and the peripheral integrations with it. Thus here at initializ, our goal is to make running your Apps on Kubernetes as easy as possible while providing you the ability to integrate with your favorite cloud-native services.

You can contact us to try our development platform for free.
Why Men Hate Female Dating Strategy: It Works
By: Sharon Alger
Tags: Relationships, Women, Social Media, Feminism, Sexuality

So, it’s shocking that the types of men FDS tries to vet hates it, right? So shocking. FDS teaches women to seek respectful men, who value women, aren’t abusive, and don’t sexually degrade them. FDS calls these men, ‘high-value men.’ ‘Low-value men’ are the opposite.

Men who find FDS offensive could choose not to read the sub. But, spoiler alert: they don’t. Because their terrible behaviour is being called out on a large scale. These men complain that FDS is a ‘man-hating sub.’ Although FDS praises good men all the time. The men who would like to see FDS shut down are uncomfortable with what they read on the sub. FDS holds up a mirror to their behavior, pointing out that they, they, are low-value men! And instead of improving themselves, and treating women as human beings, it’s easier to complain about women having opinions and making choices.

The men who hate FDS know that the sub is growing fast. This horrifies them, because of FDS’s 3-month rule. The FDS handbook recommends that women wait 3 months before having sex with a man. And this means a smaller number of women are having casual sex. Gasp! No wonder they’re trying to shut it down. These men know FDS expect a higher standard, and the number of these women are growing like crazy. FDS women won’t settle for ‘Netflix and chill.’ They demand higher effort dates.

So, how does a low value kinda guy deal with this bad news? They shame the women, of course. They declare that these women are ugly, fat, the female version of incels. They crow about crazy cat ladies. They warn these women that they’ll be forever alone. They won’t get a man.

But that’s the beauty of FDS. They don’t care if they don’t get a man. They’re too busy building a life that fulfills them, with or without a man. FDS women know they’ll be fine, either way. This bothers men who hate FDS. How can this be? Their dicks aren’t the center of women’s existence? Something’s not right, here, they cry. They can’t do this to us. It’s hateful, it’s abuse.

Yes, protecting yourself from abuse is so hurtful to other people, isn’t it? Everywhere else on Reddit you can find certain men sharing tips on how to ‘pump and dump’ women. How to neg them. How to play the ‘dread’ game with them. How to ‘get’ sex out of a woman with the least effort. But no, it’s the women who are in the wrong, they whine. They’re not letting us pump and dump these whores! Because that’s how these men see women. And those are the men FDS wants to filter out.

It amazes me that men who hate FDS don’t see the opportunity here. FDS has created the perfect self-improvement template for men (aka, what they are seeking in a man). Are these men not seeing how making these changes would benefit them, too? Oh, well. It’s their loss, I guess. If they want to dig their heels in about this, I say have at it. Vet FDS women out. Those men will (maybe) get what they’re looking for, and FDS women get to avoid them. Win/win.
The benefits of using GrabAmeal platform
Tags: ICO, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Peer To Peer, Blokchain

2-way profitable for users

This is a rewarding meal sharing cum business platform. Buyers will get to enjoy healthy and quality homemade meals at reasonable price regardless their geo-location because buyers can select from registered lists of cooks/food sellers area wise. Before selection, the buyer can check the seller rating to be confirmed about service quality.

Alternatively, the sellers can get to share their meal from their home restaurants according to received booking online, as well as can rate the buyers. In both the ways GrabAmeal blockchain ensures safety, trust, and complete transparency of cooked food and the food cook as well as food consumers.

Business runs on simple approaches

GrabAmeal runs on three protocols: these are Identification protocol, reward protocol, and dispute resolution. The entire business module runs on these three protocols, which is simple to understand and execute.

Because of blockchain integration there is no risk of data adulteration.

It’s cost efficient to use the GrabAmeal platform because the platform charges nominal transaction fee from the buyers and sellers.

The feedback and review mechanism is a transparent way to grow business or sellers. For buyers it is a clean and healthy way to get quality food.

Reward system

The platform rewards the actual stakeholders (sellers and buyers) in value of the GrabAMeal platform by means of reward tokens for expansion, participation, and promotions. As the platform grows in business volume and transaction volume of the GAM token, the members of the GrabAMeal platforms will get to earn incremental benefits through carefully designed reward mechanisms.

Quality control mechanisms

Dispute resolution and quality control mechanism is one of the attractive features of this platform, beneficial for users and associates. If any of the GrabAMeal members face unwanted conflict in their buyer-seller coordination, a mechanism will help them to resolve the dispute by involving other sellers and buyers as well as independent food experts (auditors).

All participants will have a pre-defined role and they will have the power to vote in dispute resolution incidents against GAM token rewards.

These are the immediate benefits of using GrabAmeal platform: this blockchain empowered food sharing marketplace can help you in earning some more ways. Read the business white paper to explore more earning opportunities offers by GrabAmeal from : White Paper and One Pager

To know more about GrabAMeal world or if you have any questions, look them up in our website: https://grabameal.world/ico/ or

FAQ https://grabamealworld.freshdesk.com/support/home

or

send us a support ticket

https://grabamealworld.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new

or

feel free to email us at: contact@grabameal.world

To Stay updated on our company updates and announcements,

follow us on:

Telegram,Twitter, Facebook, Medium

Read Our White Paper and One Pager

Subscribe GrabAMeal Channel For latest updates and Press Bell Icon for updates :
Top Coding Algorithms — Linked List
By: Jeremy Zhang
Tags: Coding Interviews, Towards Data Science, Python3

Top Coding Algorithms — Linked List

Implementing a lined list in Python

Linked list is a list, but with each element pointing to the next element. So in a linked list, each node contains the current value of the node and a pointer to the next node.

Node

Like the graph shown above, the first node contains a value 2 and a pointer to the next node with value 4, and so on. So the implementation of a node would be:

Linked List

With the component of node implemented, let’s implement a linked list.

Add

So the first and most important function that a linked list need to fulfil is to append a new node to the end of the list.

To append a new node, we need to start from the first node in a linked list, moving to the end of it, and append the new element to the last node.

Reverse

Probably the most popular skill you need to acquire in an coding interview of linked list. To reverse a lined list, starting from the first element, we need to reverse the pointer one by one.

For each node, we reverse the pointer to assign it to previous node.

Insert

To insert a value after a certain node, we need to break the current pointer of node1 -> node2 and add 2 more pointer node1 -> new_node and new_node -> node2 .

Prepend

To add an element in front of a linked list, we need to assign the new element as head and point it to current head.

Print

Lastly, we implement a utility function to print a linked list.

Test

Example:

ln = ListNode()

ln.add(3)

ln.add(2)

ln.add(4) ln.print_list() ln.prepend(1)

ln.print_list() ln.reverse()

ln.print_list()

would produce:

[3, 2, 4]

[1, 3, 2, 4]

[4, 2, 3, 1]

[Source Code]
Ginco Bizdev Update Mar. 2019
By: The Ginco Team
Tags: Ginco, Startup, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Wallet

in Both Sides of the Table
A trend trading strategy (that works) in S&P 500 Day Trading
By: Ming Jong Tey
Tags: Money, Day Trading, Investing, Finance, Stock Market

Find out how to use this trend trading strategy to profit in day trading the S&P 500 futures (ES) with these two steps to increase your winning rate.

Check out the video for a complete walk through of the daily market analysis of S&P 500 futures (ES) for 21 Dec 2020 trading session. In this video, you will find out the market recap during the last session and a trade review in the three-minutes timeframe (including entry, exit and the rationale behind). Going forward, I will cover the bias, the key levels to pay attention to, my trading plan for the session later.

Timestamps:

1:32 Market recap

4:40 Trade review

5:30 Trend and trading range

10:00 Identify the trend

14:50 Identify the supply and demand

15:45 How to determine high supply or demand

18:36 Current stock market outlook

Watch my market analysis video in the last session if you haven’t in order to better relate to the market recap and the trade review.

Bias — neutral (Day trading); bullish (long term)

Key levels — Resistance: 3750, 3720, 3700; Support: 3670–3680

Potential setup — Look for potential reversal at the key levels.

Photo by Author — Ming Jong Tey

Photo by Author — Ming Jong Tey

Click below to subscribe my weekly stock trading / investing ideas and EXCLUSIVE content in email for free:

https://hot.wishpondpages.com/ideas/ (Yes, it is free)

Further Reading

Disclaimer: The information in this presentation is solely for educational purpose and should not be taken as investment advice.

Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel
Comedy equals structure plus details
Tags: Humor, Comics, Comedy, Meta

And now that you have this template, you can always be a slightly smug yet humorous ding dong.

https://www.dieselsweeties.com/ics/1040/
Please Check Your Pity at the Door
By: Jeremy Helligar
Tags: Relationships, Pity, Psychology, Nonfiction, Compassion

Please Check Your Pity at the Door

It could destroy a relationship. Try the Big C instead.

When it comes to a loved one going through pain or being a pain, choose your reaction wisely. Sympathy, unless it’s for the devil, tends to go over pretty well. Empathy will win friends and influence people to see you in a flattering light. But whatever you do, don’t pity the fool — or anyone else.

So, in love and friendship, why is “pity” such a dirty word? That is the question, and I asked it for years. I’d often heard characters on TV say things like “Don’t pity me!” and “I don’t need your pity!” Every time, I wondered, What’s so wrong about pity?

Then one Saturday afternoon, I got my answer. I was having a post-mortem lunch with my latest ex-boyfriend during which he unexpectedly asked if I had stayed with him for as long as I did out of pity.

“Um, well …” Enough said.

Now, a relationship recap: What began as mutual admiration devolved into something else entirely. I was in love with him, but once he began to peel away the layers to reveal someone who was addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, and victimhood, my admiration wavered.

He was a hot mess, and I stayed with him as long as I did (a year and a half) in part because I didn’t want to kick him when he was chronically down. But then, about a year into our relationship, I read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which led to a period of reevaluation. I finally decided I didn’t owe him a place in my life, and so one evening following another of his self-destructive episodes, emboldened by literary courage, I broke up with him.

My guilt nearly ate me alive. He was a good guy who needed help, and I felt like I’d abandoned him. I was in my early twenties, though, and I was in no position to fix him — or anybody, for that matter. There was love there, but it had been corrupted by pity. I had to admit it (to myself): I pitied him.

“What? You pitied me?” he asked, translating my non-answer with dead accuracy. “That’s why you were with me all that time?”

Compassion means you treat someone with kindness because you empathize with them in some way. Pity means you feel sorry for someone. I suppose that can be somewhat degrading to the person, but does it really matter?

Again, my non-response said everything I didn’t. He threw $20 on the table and rushed out. I finished my meal in silence, replaying the conversation in my head. Afterward, I asked the waiter to wrap up his uneaten lunch, and I walked to his apartment. Surprisingly, he let me in. I gave him his lunch and his change and accepted his apology when he offered it. We didn’t speak again for eight and a half years.
Эксклюзивное интервью с основателем Olympus Labs Кай Ченом: «Мы хотим, чтобы разработчики получали…
By: Ivan Mogilevtsev
Tags: Russian

Olympus puts the power of blockchain in the palm of your hand-with a groundbreaking blockchain-based financial ecosystem and d-app marketplace for investors and developers.

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My Book About Donald J. Trump is Now Available
By: Jacquelyn Lynn
Tags: Inspiration, Politics, Creativity, Writer, Donald Trump

My Book About Donald J. Trump is Now Available

Want to write a book about Donald Trump? We’ve made it easy for you!

Image by Jacquelyn Lynn using MockupShots

Do you prefer to watch a video rather than read? Scroll down to see the video.

Recently I saw a prediction that between 20 and 40 books about President Donald Trump will be released in 2021.

Whether you love him, hate him, or have mixed feelings about him, it seems that everybody has something to say about our 45th president.

But not everybody has the resources to get a book published.

So if you’d like to write a book about Donald Trump, we’ve made it easy for you.

Just get My Book About Donald J. Trump, put your name on the title page, and start writing.

My Book About Donald J. Trump includes lined and unlined pages, giving you space to write or draw. It also includes photographs you can write captions for, draw on, or just use for inspiration.

Record your observations and opinions, respond to what others have said or written, and make predictions. This is your book, your chance to say what you want.

When you’re finished, you can proudly display My Book About Donald J. Trump in your home or office.

My Book About Donald J. Trump makes a great gift for anyone on either side of the political aisle — or even in the middle.

Available on Amazon or ask your local bookseller to order it for you. #MyDJTBook

Watch the video:
App login design: The art and science of choosing a login method
By: Joseph Russell
Tags: Login, New York, UX Design, App Design, UI Design

Another plus comes through signing up. Generally, users must provide a valid email from which they click a confirmation link. Some may see this an extra barrier to entry, but this gives developers a confirmed email address. Developers can use this as a marketing lead for paid services and future offers. With email service providers becoming more aggressive in filtering spam, requiring a user to open and act on an email will also help you on the whitelist.

Cons:

One of the drawbacks of this app login design method is that it places specific demands on the user’s memory. Users must walk the line between a password being easy to recall, but not so weak that it can be cracked or guessed. A secure, uncrackable password might take the form of a long stream of numbers, randomly capitalised letters and perhaps symbols. These are not recallable for most people.

As a result, users frequently forget their supposedly memorable piece of information. An app or service must then have a mechanism in place that can deal with both forgotten and compromised passwords. This leads to additional development effort and maintenance.

Because of the difficulties outlined above, users frequently use password managers and check the options that allow them to stay logged in. These are a conscious step toward a more seamless user experience. However, should a device fall into the wrong hands, the mechanism of a password as a piece of knowledge being known only to the user become entirely invalid.

Another issue caused by “password fatigue” is that users habitually employ the same password for various apps/sites. With data breaches and hacks commonplace, a reliance on email and password authentication means your security can only be as good as the security of the other platforms your users hold accounts with.

Social login and third-party login

Social media logins use the credentials contained on a user’s social media account to register or login to third party apps and platforms. As a login method, this can prove to be a convenient alternative for both users and developers. This is because it offers streamlined ways to register users that don’t require filling in forms or accessing emails to verify credentials.
Wabi Sabi’s Christmas Hamper
By: Wabi Sabi
Tags: Koans, Self Improvement, Aphorisms, Self Actualization, Short Story

Bill and Sarah both grew up middle-class and left college with roughly the same advantages in life.

Bill joined a law firm, worked hard all his life, steadily built up a reputation. He gave 10% of his earnings away every year, and sometimes when he was feeling particularly generous — Christmas, Lent — he’d donate some extra funds to whatever relief effort caught his attention. He died surrounded by his loving family.

Sarah worked a series of office jobs. When she turned 30 she gave everything — all her earnings, savings, possessions — away. She spent the rest of her life travelling around, learning what she could about the ultimate purpose of life, going on retreats, spending time communing with God in the forest, helping the unfortunate people she met in whatever way she could. She died alone.

Ultimately Bill donated far more money, helped far more people and left far more of a legacy to future generations in his children and grandchildren.

Who lived the better life? Why?
My Dream Shoes
By: Simran Kankas
Tags: Life Lessons, Inspirational, Self, Shoes, Poetry

I put on my dream shoes

Head towards my destiny

In love with my new walk

I feel taller and

every problem seems tiny

I take a giant leap forward

When any barrier blocks my way

I tap dance on the dream path

Celebrate every step, my heart says

My dream shoes must be magical

They have given me a new vision

Wherever I go now

It is all beautiful

The tiny droplets of my dream

are touching the sun’s rays

Creating a rainbow and spreading

the colors of joy on my evening days

It’s like with each step I am taking

Dust turning into a magical powder

Enough water from the sky

to give earth a love shower

Don’t know how far the destiny is

I am just enjoying this part

Not only is it a good sign

It is a good start
Lurching
By: Gail Walter
Tags: Survival, Pandemic, Covid 19, Poetry, Life

Lurching

what covid does to walking

Edvard Munch | Ashes

from coping to thinking dying

might be preferable

as a way out a grim solution

to the interminable inside

or at least sleeping

until almost forever

teasing death celebrating

at your imminent arrival

this day after day

and you can’t see me

and I can’t see you

so we don’t

know if the rumor

is true

that you took your own hair

in bundled contempt

of unkempt ends and pulled

just to see

if you were there

at the roots of it

to feel

And here the sky

has closed

for business replaced by slate

grey that weeps and weeps

and snivels and complains

until you just want to yell

pull yourself together

for god’s sake

sky

and this contrast

so stark with

those days you awake

and you are

alive

and happy

to have it so

even as your surface murmurs

with the masked breath

of an inexorable sadness

that others are sick

and scared of ending

or protesting and not caring

about life

or rather caring

about something

bigger

and in the space

where there isn’t panic

you wonder where

the end will be

and if you dare hope

for something

after

© Gail Walter 2020
I Anglie má svoji Drtinovou
By: Martin Pánek
Tags: Farage, Eusoc, Politika, Notes

in Both Sides of the Table
10 Things We Learned in 2020
By: Upside Business Travel
Tags: Business Travel, Tech, Inspiration, Startup, New Year

There are years that ask questions and years that answer. — Zora Neale Hurston

2020 was undeniably one of those “ask” years full of twists and turns, ups and downs, ins and outs. However, despite the struggle and the “unprecedented-ness” of 2020, there’s always a silver lining and lessons to be learned.

Here at Upside Business Travel, we learned that we are even more resilient than we thought. We learned that we are a strong, cohesive team that cares for one another. We learned that we are capable of almost anything we set our minds to. We learned that even in the midst of crisis, we can find a way to win.

As we close out 2020 and begin to look ahead into the promise of 2021, we decided asked some of our fellow Upsiders what they learned in 2020 and we know we’ll all be keeping these lessons top of mind for years to come.

Be flexible and take it as it comes — Erik Mangor, Senior Full Stack Engineer Define what’s most important. Let the rest go! — Maggie Whatley, Director Client Experience There’s actually a lot you can do in 700 square feet! — Liz Healy, Full Stack Engineer

PIVOT! — David Lee, Senior Quality Engineer Focus your energy on things within your control — Tara Stigall, Implementation Success Manager A genuine and supportive team makes all the difference — Julie Gelb, Senior Digital Marketing Associate

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Enjoy every relationship for what it is in the moment or what it was in the past. — Warren Zentz, Director, Customer Experience & Operations Just keep swimming!! — Kathryn Rhoads, Full Stack Engineer Embrace the chaos. — Francesca Dapiran, Account Manager, Travel Children need exercise ;) — Chris Blackburn, Senior Full Stack Engineer (& Dad Extraordinaire!)

What did 2020 teach you?
Have I Always Been a Good Writer?
By: Kamga Tchassa
Tags: Self, Creativity, This Happened To Me, Writers Life, Writing

I still think, every single day, that I am not a good writer.

It’s been worse recently: I have not been getting the ‘results’ I thought I’d get with how much work I believe I am putting in. Even though I have been in transition for the past year dealing with immigration, work, marriage, etc.

The truth of the matter is: I am not organized, my social media efficiency has slacked, and I could write even more.

Knowing all this doesn’t stop me from feeling like a failure.

It’s as though because I am aware of my potential, and I read all these amazing writers, I compare myself with them although I am aware of what a bad idea this is.

Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash

I’ve always done something with words ever since I can remember. In all this time, I have hardly been able to predict if something will resonate with the reader.

And I am also lazy. Terribly lazy. I have a poetry collection I’ve never published, I have a fiction trilogy I have outlined but haven’t started writing, I always find an excuse to not submit to magazines anywhere.

I only recently put out my first real digital product that had anything to do with my craft — an audio collection.

I keep falling and getting up on this writing life.

Some days are amazing. I feel the words flowing out and the joy of how much I am actually good at it. I have a landscape view of how far I have come and how my practice of reading and writing is paying off.

Then, some days, there’s nothing. I literally feel like the worse writer on earth and that everyone who said I should get a job was right.

I have tried to write on those days and those are the pieces I am usually proud of: they remind of how much I love writing and how to me, it’s not only about the audience but a way of communicating with the world.

The more I spend time writing, the less I feel ‘great’ about it.

I mean…I don’t enjoy writing as much anymore but I enjoy having written.

It’s like going to the store to get groceries. You might not want to drive or take the bus, but you want your food. And there’s no Amazon fix for this.

I’m almost always in a fight with myself where I need to do what I don’t feel like doing (writing) so I can feel ( the joy of words).

But these are just extreme scenarios.

Some days are pretty regular: I get an idea, I sit on the computer or phone, I get it out, I love it, and my community loves it.

Some days, I spend months on a piece: it sucks, no one likes it, I hate it and I feel terrible.

Or I really like it, and I’m left wondering what I did wrong.

It’s like a sea wave, this writing life: it ebbs and flows. Like a surfer, I need to remind myself that I know how to swim if I miss my move.

That I can get back on the board and try again.

Photo by Oliver Sjöström on Unsplash

I need to remember that some days, I’ll have the perfect sequence of wave, strokes, and skill.

I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable with my level of skill as a writer.
I See the Universe in Your Eyes
By: Salam Khan
Tags: Micropoetry, Love, Beauty, Poetry, Universe

I See the Universe in Your Eyes

I don’t

need to

travel

the earth

or visit the

outer space

to explore

the stars

and be

fascinated

by the

milky way

when

I can see

the Universe

in your eyes!
Mugging for social media
By: Gérard Mclean
Tags: The Artist, Oscars, Social Media

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If you’re gonna make a movie that features a dog and that movie wins Best Actor and Best Picture of the Year, we’re gonna have a thing or two to say about it. I’m talking about The Artist starring Uggie and a few human beings in supporting roles, of course.

We don’t do movie reviews here, though this film is certainly worthy of one. After seeing it a few dozen more times, I may write one. For now, though, here are two observations.

“Silent” media gives a voice to the mute or the flawed.

Social media channels are for the most part, silent media. They do not require anyone to actually be themselves or show themselves in photos or video. You are what your words are in blog posts, in tweets, in Facebook updates and such. You do not need to be a great speaker, be able to carry a tune or dance to perform in the social media space. Social media gave to many nerds and geeks what silent film gave to George Valentin (and Uggie the dog if you want to extend the metaphor.) Sorry, you will have to see the film to the very end to understand this reference. Yeah, I know.. but life has no short-cuts.

Unfortunately for most, video is on the rise in the social media space, giving it a real voice in much the same way talkies did for silent film. Many stars will fall by the wayside, but it will also make way for the young. “People are tired of old actors mugging at camera to be understood. Out with the old, in with the new. Make way for the young! That’s life!” (Peppy Miller, The Artist)

Hating on the French

Can we just stop that already? As the Oscars went on and The Artist picked up more awards, my twitter stream filled up with anti-French tweets. I think we may be able to learn a little bit from Jean Dujardin who said in his acceptance speech, “I love your country” and proclaimed his delight for cinnamon rolls on the red carpet. If a big star like Dujardin can find delight in the smallest, pedestrian things about America, why can’t we find these same things about the French?

We all have flaws. Some of us are socially awkward; some are camera-shy. Still others have stage-fright and other have a French accent. Most of us are the dogs that run around the feet of others, just trying to get some attention. The tools you learned to use to overcome your flaws may not help you next year.

The survivors in this game are not the young as Peppy Miller suggested, but those who are willing and able to adapt.
Market Overview: 23 — 29 April
By: Alexandra Petrova
Tags: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Market, Erc20, Vitalik Buterin

Last week was the week of correction. In the previous overview we mentioned that correction would be very logical for the current situation. On the last day of April, Bitcoin is trying to consolidate at the $9300 level. Whenever it rises beyond $9400, intensive sales start. But at the same time, sellers aren’t ready to offer their cryptocurrency for less.

Market players are waiting what happens next and the forces of “bulls” and “bears” are more or less equal at the moment. Trading is even marked by anxiety. For instance, on April 28 the price reached $9500 and $8750 mark points in just 5 minutes and then returned to its normal volatility.

The main support levels for the following week are $9000 and $8500. The main resistance levels for the following week are $9800, $10500 and $11700.

The total cap of the cryptocurrency market passed the 400 billion mark point and has been kept above this level for 4 days already. With the increase of EOS and other altcoins’, Bitcoin dominance index lowered to 36,7%. We’d like to remind that the minimum of 33% was reached in January and that Bitcoin price can increase with advancing rate. At such moments, many traders prefer to switch from altcoins to the market ‘engine’ giving Bitcoin additional strength.

There are several factors demonstrating that the downtrend is likely to be over.

First of all, intensive SHORT selling. For Bitfinex exchange, the short volume has dropped twice since mid April.

Secondly, the rising activity of Bitcoin network. The number of transactions has increased again up to 200 000 and even 250 000 in 24 hours. The average block size is also growing.

Finally, another factor is the reaction to the media background. The market reacts much calmer to negative news. Thus, for example, it totally ignored the information that the Mt. Gox trustee resumed cryptocurrency sale. The price also didn’t drop in response to Vitalik Buterin’s boycott of the major Consensus conference or his refusal to release frozen Parity funds due to its vulnerability and even critical vulnerability of multiple smart contracts of ERC-20 tokens .

We are expecting the following increase in price this week. The most important thing is how the main cryptocurrency is going to change. Bitcoin can reach resistance levels pretty soon that seemed unsurpassable in February and March.

-Tokenbox.io
A Beginner’s Guide to Getting a Headstart on 2021
By: Tom Handy
Tags: Life Lessons, Self Improvement, Writing, Motivation, Writer

A Beginner’s Guide to Getting a Headstart on 2021

7 tips to help you make the next year a great one

Photo by Roy Reyna from Pexels

You’ll be glad when January 1st gets here, so you can get started on 2021. This year put you and everyone else through much change, deep thoughts, and adjusting plans all at the last minute.

In a sense, this is how life is in general but compressed into nine months or so. You saw everything. People lost their jobs, businesses went out of business, the stock market crashed only to rebound, and kids learned via computers.

Governments pushed out trillions of dollars in response, but it still wasn’t enough. Unemployment is still bordering on above normal rates.

To get ready for 2021, this is what you need to do. It’s time to pull your game plan out and strategize for a new year. It’s time to reignite your life.

1. Say good-bye to FEAR.

2. Plan like you are playing to win a chess game. Don’t play chess? Scrabble works as well.

3. Keep building your emergency fund in case your city runs into another round of the virus spreading.

4. Learn to invest if you haven’t already. Investing is one way to build your reserves. Government and work retirement plans are very unpredictable.

5. Work off the virus weight you put on. A healthy body is a great way to avoid getting sick.

6. Cherish and spend time with your loved ones as best as you can.

7. If you are in business or a writer, you need to focus on the next 12 months. Figure out what you can do that is different to set you apart from your peers. What you did in 2020 was good, but you need to make 2021 better.

Final thoughts

You need to mentally prepare to make 2021 the best year possible. This year was tough, and you got through it. You learned some new skills, persevered, and put up a good fight. Now it’s time to put all that together for your comeback in this new year.

Start the year strong and finish the year even stronger. A great deal of life is mental, regardless of how smart or how strong you are. Your mental toughness will prove that you came out on top.
Design Inspirations #2 - Date inputs 🗓
By: Daria Khimych
Tags: Inspiration, Design, UI, App Design, UX

Most common date picker patterns

To succeed in designing the date picker you need to know exactly what issues have to be solved. There are plenty of different interface patterns created, waiting for you to utilize them properly. Let’s flick through the most common ones:

text input

scrolling date picker

dropdown list

calendar.

Text input is the most basic option for date input and the most effective one in many cases. It can be used to provide dates that are far into the past/future. If you decide to employ it, don’t forget to suggest your users an appropriate date format and/or handle the field validation. Works incredibly in combination with the calendar pattern. 🌟

Date Range Picker by Greyson Sofia MacAlpine

Date Range Picker Concept by Scott Raney

Scrolling date picker is commonly used on the mobile devices. And it does its job well when the user has a limited number of dates to choose from. Otherwise, it will turn out to be slow and unproductive.

Appointment booking by Johny vino™

Creating Event by Alexandra Bondar

Travel iOS App — Search Flights by Yara Velichko

Dropdown list is still the most frequently used pattern on the web. It’s usually divided into next values: day, month, year. It can be used to provide birthdates, appointments and special events dates etc. But there are some problems that lie behind this pattern: sometimes it’s too hard to find the proper year because of a very long list, and the whole process of picking the date can be elongating. Personal trick: make your user to type in the year instead of to select it from the dropdown. 😎

Schedule a meeting — App by Hrvoje Grubisic

Create a New Project Modal by Paul Flavius Nechita

Calendar pickers usually display one or two months at one time and remind us of the well-known printed versions. They show the days of the week and allow us to perform a bunch of actions. This pattern will go well with events that are close to the present time (within a current year) - it will prevent extra navigation.

Calendar for Task Manager by Aga Ciurysek for 10Clouds

timeION by kohutpiotr for 10Clouds

My Calendar | Day View by Julia Jakubiak for Fireart Studio

Cottage Booking Process by Daria Khimych for 10Clouds

Siheidu calendar by Aga Ciurysek for 10Clouds
Every Murderer Lives Next to Someone
By: Akos Peterbencze
Tags: Television, True Crime, Family, Crime, Movies

On August 13, 2018, Shan’nan Watts returned home from a trip to Arizona. Her husband, Chris Watts, waited for her at home with their small children, Bella and Cece. The following day, Shan’nan and her daughters went missing. A close friend Nickole tried contacting her by text messages, phone calls, but she received no response. Feeling concerned, she went over to the family’s house. There were no signs of Shan’ann and the kids. She called the police and Chris to let them know about their missing.

Later that day, Chris arrived home to see that police officers were waiting for him alongside Nickole in front of the house. He let them in to search the property and discuss the options of locating his family. He seemed a bit edgy, nervous, but not devastated by the alarming news. Every person reacts differently to bad news, and Chris’s reaction didn’t seem unusual. The shock and worry settle slowly.

Police discovered Shan’ann’s purse, phone, keys, and wedding ring. Her car was parked at the house, and Chris claimed he had no idea where they might be, but hoped they were safe. He gave interviews to local news stations trusting the public to help to locate them.

The documentary smartly uses social media, text messages, and videos to provide an insight into the couple’s relationship. They were ordinary people with stable jobs and loving kids. However, their marriage was going through a rough time, verging on a possible divorce.

As suspense builds, we learn that Shan’ann tried everything to save their marriage. We see intimate message exchanges between her, Chris, and a close friend who supported her mentally. However, her efforts found no appreciation on Chris’s side. He seemed to ignore his wife and daughters and had no intention to keep the family together anymore. He wanted a divorce. Shan’ann felt the emotional distance, and her husband was getting further and further away from her. The hope to save her family was diminishing slowly.

A day later, police called in Chris for interrogation. Searching through text messages, asking friends, family, and neighbors, something didn’t add up. Chris insisted that he doesn’t know his family’s whereabouts. The interrogating officer kindly asked him if he had an affair. Chris denied it, saying, “I did not cheat on my wife.” Later he was asked to do a polygraph test, and he agreed without hesitation.

Given such circumstances, Chris was extremely nervous and couldn’t control his breathing. The woman who ran the test suggested him to calm down, saying, if he’s telling the truth, he has nothing to worry about. The truth has an obnoxious tendency, though: it always comes out.