fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Urbine Bunk Sets = Moyens
By: Van Sanders
Tags: Strange, Weird, Nonsense, Cartoon

Made off with a cartoon sandwich before Chrissy could best me… Again…

Woe to the wooly babies growing in the Northern Cavern. It would be another 8 hours before the custom etchings of Burnt Potato made their way into my harness. Over and after, under and ovular… just too much to partition and pay tribute to… like fiddles in the drain.

A small square woman is seen dancing to the clicks of Camera Band on the corner. Her dangling guts gag and choke. She seems to know that she is on display.

Ardor and a cream bath tonight after work. I’ll toast her cheeks when I know she’s ready. Vagimpulse brand dip sits on the falconry ledge, waiting for my sample goblin to tap the container before earthquake.

Grandpa is asking for the same “mobile-scissor, pond-sand” performance that Gee-Hardy & Gehestule Arp performed last time at the taco-penis match. If its too much to get them, I might just skate into his throat and debrief the coil instead.

Spear enters her lamb. Magically opens can. Ray bangs Nina. Votes past patina. Dove grows quickly. Ancho Herbert boils clean dumps so he might cram the diesel gurney right down Sister Bart Gart Suzerain Latchless Virginia Clint Brush Meerkat Crab Hammer. Fuck this bubble.
Lightning Channels — Segwit Inside
By: Segwit Resources
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Featured Posts

Individual payment channels composed as a series of interconnected links are what make the Lightning Network possible. lnd ’s channel design currently utilizes the upcoming Bitcoin upgrade: segwit. Although alternative less-ideal channel constructions are possible without segwit, by utilizing segwit we’re able to deploy the most efficient, flexible, and safe channel design. Additionally, the script upgrade capabilities created by segwit provide a path for upgrades to Bitcoin that will improve the privacy and efficiency of Lightning. Examples of such improvements include Elliptic-Curve Schnorr Signatures and unlocking new op-codes that allow for more private end-to-end payments over Lightning by randomizing the payment hash along the route.

Three very important features of Lightning enabled by segwit include: Unlinkable Outsourced Channel Monitoring, infinite channel life time, and the two-stage HTLC scheme proposed by Mats Jerratsch (later modified by Tadge Dryja). Without segwit, fully-automatic channel outsourcing that includes the broadcast of a transaction that claims all funds in a contested channel by the outsourcer isn’t possible. This is because without a malleability fix, the transaction ID of the commitment transaction can’t be known ahead of time. Similarly, the two-stage HTLC scheme greatly improves the usability of Lightning by allowing a long revocation delay with a short payment delay isn’t safe to deploy without segwit.

lnd ’s internal wallet is fully segwit-aware. The wallet is capable of segwit nested p2sh addresses, which look like regular p2sh addresses, and also native segwit addresses, which are more efficient and provide a greater degree of scalability. lnd implements BIP 142, which defines an address format for native segwit addresses. These addresses can be used to send money between instances of lnd or software that supports the BIP such as bcoin. On testnet, a native BIP 142 p2wpkh address looks like:

QWyzAWWPYUgdc6j6HxQpgvqKtyBo4xYjBkwr

Originally posted at http://lightning.community/release/software/lnd/lightning/2017/01/10/lightning-network-daemon-alpha-release/. Copied with permission.
Advanced React (anti)patterns
By: Jakub Šoltés
Tags: React, JavaScript, Asynchronous, React Hook, Callback

OK, so here’s the problem… Let’s say we want to break our control flow at some point. Application will ask user to execute some action and the flow can be resumed only after that. The most simple example would be opening a modal dialog where user has to select one of multiple predefined choices. Something like this…

Standard “react” approach to this would be to create two callbacks. First for the button, which will set the state and thus open the modal. Second for the modal where we finally have access to the value. Here is a code example.

What’s wrong with it?, you might ask…

Honestly, nothing, it’s pretty straightforward. This is the react way. A declarative state machine. Nevertheless, what often bothers me in situations like this is the interruption of control flow. In more complicated scenarios with multiple asynchronous user actions, I end up jumping from one callback to another. I wish I could encapsulate that user action, wait for it to be done and then resume the flow. As it turns out, I can. Is it more imperative? I guess. Is it awesome? Definitely!
Top Android Tech To Learn In 2018
By: Amit Shekhar
Tags: AndroidDev, Mobile App Development, Android App Development, Mobile, Android

Welcome to 2018. Happy New Year To All Of You.

Kotlin

Most of us have already started learning and using Kotlin. Last year, Google has officially declared Kotlin as a first-class language for Android. Its adaption rate is increasing at a very high speed. Let’s do not get left behind and start learning and using it in our app. This year it is expected to be used by the huge number of developers.

Check out the below links:

A complete guide to learn Kotlin for Android development

The official Kotlin style guide

Flutter

Flutter is a new mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.

It makes it easy and fast to build beautiful mobile apps. Like React Native, it also provides reactive-style views. It improves performance by avoiding the JavaScript bridge and using a compiled programming language, Dart. Dart is compiled “ahead of time” (AOT) into native code for multiple platforms. Compiling to native code also improves app startup times.

Lets see how Flutter goes in 2018. It will be great to watch.

Android Architecture Components

Android Architecture Components is a collection of libraries that help you design robust, testable, and maintainable apps. Start with classes for managing your UI component lifecycle and handling data persistence.

Most of us have already started working with Android Architecture Components.

This year it will be accepted by the huge number of developers.

2017 had started with the trend of using MVP, MVVM, RxJava, Dagger2 and then ended with the trend of using Kotlin and Android Architecture Components.

Check out the below links:

Learn MVP

Learn MVP architecture in the simplest way

Project based on MVVM architecture

A complete guide to learn RxJava

A complete guide to learn Dagger2

Happy Learning :)

Recommended Reading

Love More And Learn More

Check out all the top articles on Android at blog.mindorks.com.

Learn Data Structures & Algorithms By AfterAcademy from here.
A Terrifying Thing
By: Rebeca Ansar
Tags: Women, Self, Poet, Poetry, Poem

I think

my brain is a terrifying thing

carved-up pumpkin with two watchful eyes

pot on a stove set basically on fire

come alive, come alive

can’t help but burn the rice

thoughts thrown aside

whispers leaving ears

too small for all the things

I ask for it to hold

too big for all the space

you ask for me to waste.
Binance USD (BUSD) Now Listed on Faast
Tags: Usd, Busd, Stable Coin, Faast, Binance

Today we’re happy to announce that Binance USD (BUSD) is now available on Faast. Users of Faast will now be able to swap BUSD for other assets directly from their own wallet by visiting https://faa.st/app/connect or using the Faast Swap Tool on website, or any site supporting the Faast Swap API.

What is Binance USD (BUSD)?

BUSD is a US- dollar linked stablecoin that launched 2019 as the result of a partnership with Binance, the world’s largest centralized exchange, and Paxos Trust, a New York based financial institution that is also behind Paxos Standard Token (PAX), another USD stablecoin. (PAX is also available on Faast.)

One thing working in BUSD’s favor is that it has been approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). US dollar holdings which back BUSD are held in US banks backed by the FDIC, and the company’s reserves are subject to compliance checks with Withum, a leading auditing firm. Attestations are posted each month on the Paxos website.

At this time, BUSD has a market capitalization of around $202 million USD, and as more crypto traders become familiar and comfortable with it, BUSD will likely become a more popular stablecoin.

source: CoinMarketCap

Interestingly, the value of BUSD has shot up above $1 USD several times since it’s launch, briefly spiking at $1.03. But for the most part, it has proven to be very stable and this should not be cause for concern.

What Wallets Support BUSD?

BUSD is not built on Binance Chain, but is instead an ERC20 token, so any wallet capable of supporting ethereum will support it.

If you use a Faast-compatible hardware wallet like Ledger Nano S, Trezor One or Trezor Model T, you can simply connect your wallet and begin trading BUSD right away.

***

Time will tell how BUSD will fare against older, more established stablecoins. The project is still very new, but has rock-solid fundamentals.

Stablecoins may not be the most exciting thing in the world, but they serve an important purpose, and BUSD appears to be doing that job very well.
How to Deal With Dry Spells as a Solopreneur
By: Kahli Bree Adams
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Freelancing, Business, Marketing

So what can you do to deal with those periods of ‘famine’?

1) Don’t panic!

It can definitely be a bit worrying if your inbox stays silent for days on end, but rest assured that this is normal when you are first starting out, and that things will soon pick up again. Don’t let that unsettle you — just keep calm and carry on! It’s easy to start doubting yourself: Was there something wrong with that last project I delivered to my regular client? Did someone leave me a poor rating or review somewhere? Has the service I offer become obsolete over night and AI has taken over?? Try not to let your imagination run away with you, but remind yourself that every solopreneur experiences quiet periods at times, and that’s completely normal and to be expected.

2) Market your services continually!

Even if you’re currently busy, it’s crucial to allocate some time (e.g. 30 minutes a day) to marketing your services to prospective clients. This will ensure that you will get enquiries continually, and you thus decrease the chance of experiencing extensive dry spells. In fact, when you’re busy is precisely the right time to approach new clients. That’s because you’ll feel more confident to negotiate with clients than during quiet times when you might be desperate to secure any job that comes your way — no matter how low the pay or how unenjoyable it may be.

3) Use any quiet time wisely!

Rather than dipping into the local swimming pool or lounging in the garden with a novel, use any quiet spells to take care of administrative tasks you have been putting off, check that you have invoiced all your recent projects, chase late payments, attend networking events, complete CPD activities in the form of webinars or an online course, check if your website or marketing collateral can be improved, write an article for a trade publication, etc. As you can see, there’s always a lot to do, even when you’re not ‘working’!

4) Put away savings!

Try to put away some spare cash whenever you can so you don’t panic during a dry spell and can resist the temptation to accept low-ball jobs offers just to make ends meet. This can be easier said than done, but every little counts and can help in quiet times.

5) Polish up your portfolio!

If you don’t have a portfolio yet, this is the perfect time to put one together. Look through your old projects and see what best showcases your skills. If you already have a portfolio, review it and see how you can improve it to make it even more interesting to new clients. Make sure it contains any skills you may have acquired since you first created your portfolio. An amazing site for creating your free and aesthetically appealing portfolio is Contently.
63 Tensorflow Courses on Coursera
By: Przemek Chojecki
Tags: Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Coursera, TensorFlow, Data Science

63 Tensorflow Courses on Coursera

All the Tensorflow courses on Coursera

Coursera is the most popular educational platform (and my favourite one), while Tensorflow is the most popular framework for machine learning experiments.

That’s why I’ve decided to make a list of all (!) Tensorflow courses on Coursera available at the moment. The total number is 63 and though most of the courses are only about Tensorflow, some of them are just using Tensorflow as the framework for doing Machine Learning.

Note that there are a bunch of non-English courses as well. For a smaller list of Tensorflow courses with discussion, read my other text.

Tensorflow courses on Coursera

List of Tensorflow Courses on Coursera

Final word about Tensorflow

That’s all, 63 courses in total on Tensorflow and around.

Hope you’ve found something enjoyable!

*disclaimer: the above links are affiliate, thank you for your support*
When it comes to football, do you prefer the sound of silence or the roar of a fake crowd?
By: Enrique Dans
Tags: Coronavirus, Football, Television, Spain, Soccer

IMAGE: Jim Gibson on Twitter — Status update #1271177141846147077

When it comes to football, do you prefer the sound of silence or the roar of a fake crowd? Enrique Dans Follow Jun 12, 2020 · 3 min read

Last night, hungry for football after a three-month fast, I watched part of the first match in the return of Spain’s top-flight division, La Liga: the Sevilla — Betis derby. As much as anything, I was impressed by the technology used to try to create some atmosphere in a stadium devoid of fans. The Verge covered the event here: “Spanish soccer returns with computer-generated crowds, and it actually works”.

For the rest of the games to be played over the coming weeks in Spain, La Liga will allow fans to decide if they want to watch matches with empty stands and no background noise other than the players and commentary. But should they want a bit of old-school soccer stadium rowdiness, they can flick to another channel with fake crowd noise and a static texture that has been superimposed on the stands, complete with generic chants and songs, the volume of which goes up and down to supposedly reflect the ups and downs of events on the field, including goals. Having seen a couple of Germany’s Bundesliga matches that were broadcast with just the commentary, I have to say that I prefer Spain’s approach as a way of filling the awkward emptiness of an empty, echoing stadium.

The sound is provided by Electronic Arts (EA), the creators of the FIFA videogame. As anyone who has played the game will know, the stands are filled with synthesized human figures, a solution that La Liga has decided not to use. Instead, they cover the stands with a static texture produced by Vizrt, a Norwegian company. The idea isn’t to mislead viewers, who can always switch to the channel with the original signal, but simply to make the event look and sound more natural.

Watching a match played behind closed doors is obviously not the same as the real thing, and looks and sounds more like a training session, but filling the stands with computer-generated human figures would probably have been a distraction. The static texture generated by Vizrt does the job reasonably well and allows us to focus on the game.

That said, the technology is still not perfect: when the camera moves closer to the stands, the static texture fades away and they are glaringly empty. Admittedly, this is somewhat paradoxical, but is at least in line with the principle of not trying to hoodwink the viewer. Last night, sometimes, the static texture took a few seconds to disappear, giving the impression of overlapping polygons where they clearly shouldn’t be. But after a short time, I decided that I would rather watch the match in this way, rather than in silence: in short, the technology did its job reasonably well.

Matches played in empty stadiums with the stands filled with computer-generated artificial sounds and textures. Welcome to the future :-)
Tableau 101: Connecting to Data #1
By: Furkan Kılıçaslan
Tags: Visualization, Data Visualization, Data Science, Tableau

At the right(blue colored) section, there is a connect part for the data connection.

Tableau supports many type of databases. You can connect to file as well as a wide range of server-based data. Let’s check it out one by one.

To a Server

If you are working in a company, you can access your company’s databases by server menu.

In below, you can see full list of data connections currently supported by Tableau. Tableau supports many type of databases.

Supported databases by Tableau

To a File

If you are connecting to file data like Excel, you just need the location of your file.
Ethereum is not a security
By: Blair Marshall
Tags: Bitcoin, Newsletter, Ethereum, Coinbase, Security

Ethereum is not a security

Issue: 040

Rollercoaster week for Bitcoin

A new study indicates that Bitcoin was indeed manipulated by Tethers for much of 2017. The study suggests that as much as half of the price increase last year can be attributed to the printing of tethers.

Another crypto-exchange, South-Korean based Coinrail, was hacked, losing a reported $40M.

SEC officials say Ethereum is not a security

SEC officials stated there belief that Ethereum is decentralized enough that it no longer qualifies as a security.

“And putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions. And, as with Bitcoin, applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to current transactions in Ether would seem to add little value. Over time, there may be other sufficiently decentralized networks and systems where regulating the tokens or coins that function on them as securities may not be required. And of course there will continue to be systems that rely on central actors whose efforts are a key to the success of the enterprise. In those cases, application of the securities laws protects the investors who purchase the tokens or coins.”

Coinbase makes big announcements
Indian Summer
By: Lucy King
Tags: Nature, Japan, Poetry, Autumn, Haiku

Playing at the intersection of mind, spirit and curiosity. Editor of Mindset Matters and Haiku Love (^_^♪)

Follow
연결 리스트 with C++ (Part II)
Tags: Cpp, Linked Lists, Data Structures, C

in Both Sides of the Table
Sleep Acrobatics
By: Louis Hart
Tags: Sleep, A Cornered Gurl, Nonfiction, Body, Life

When I go to bed at night it’s like a bad acrobatic act in a cheap circus.

I lie on my back and my legs start tingling and try to go to sleep.

If I turn on my right side my right arm doesn’t know where it’s supposed to be and if I change to my left side then my left arm doesn’t know where it's supposed to be.

Sleeping on my stomach is impossible — never could do that.

I can’t cross my legs or ankles because that causes pinched blood flow and/or pinched nerves. Either way, it’s painful.

If my legs are bent, they want to be stretched out straight but as soon as they are straight they want to be bent.

If I add a second pillow to raise my head a little I can breathe better but the next morning I have such a crick in my neck that I’m miserable all day.

If I cover up with a blanket I get hot and if I don’t use a blanket I get cold.

If by some strange chance, I actually get settled enough to begin drifting off to sleep, then the little itches start. First, maybe one on the side of my leg. It won’t go away so I have to go into a contortion to reach it and give it a scratch. Immediately following there is one on my ear lobe and another on an elbow — and on and on.

The variations seem endless, but eventually, after going through all of this fun and games time, I finally become so exhausted I fall asleep.

Life is strange.
The Billionaire’s Guide To Oligarchy
By: Dale Biron
Tags: Philosophy, Politics, Justice, Resistance Poetry, Poetry

First, never admit your practice is a form of hoarding,

that stifles, stultifies, and leaves stagnant any

economy in which you participate, turning your

benevolence into the weapon of your choice.

Second, obscure any neo-kingdom building plans.

Remember, your castle will require many serfs,

a few well-paid, especially to those who tow your line.

Third, keep quiet the purchase of influence, still know

where money concentrates, power gravitates.

Fourth, stay silent about defanging democracy.

Let them choose A or B, where A equals B.

All this is guaranteed to bend the curve of justice

that Martin King talked so much about,

more and more and more (your) way.
How to Become a Powerful Good Luck Magnet
By: Lucy King
Tags: Inspiration, Entrepreneurship, Psychology, Productivity, Self Improvement

How to Become a Powerful Good Luck Magnet

Quick and easy ways to bring more good fortune into your life.

Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash

A delivery man came by asking for Lucky King today.

It is remarkable how often people mispronounce my name in this way. I get called Lucky on average once or twice a week!

I have treated this as a game for years. Every time someone calls me Lucky I imagine I receive a good luck credit.

Ka-ching!

At a wedding one time my nameplate was misspelt as Lucky King. People came up to my boyfriend all night asking to be introduced to Lucky.

That evening was a bonanza for me!

Ka-ching!

Ka-ching!

Ka-ching!

Seriously though, I do consider myself blessed in life. Like most people I have dealt with family, health and employment difficulties. When times have been challenging, I’ve always believed I would get through — and somehow I do!

I am conscious of not shying away from challenges due to fear. Making a fool of myself is okay. Failure is okay. I have done both on many occasions and learnt useful lessons each time.

Facing fear head on is important because — fear blocks good luck from entering your life.
Tilt
By: Jude Folly
Tags: Metaphysics, Couples, Passion, Human Condition, Poetry

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

you welcome the slow, deliberate

velocity of fingers thru your hair

tilting you back

and all momentum gathers at

your lips, mine upon yours

in a frenzy

we merge into each other

gradual, crushing force of glaciers

our flesh melds

inconsolable grasping

so thoroughly I pass into you

I am

you(r) (be)com(ing)
Design, McDonaldization, and the Disenchantment of Society
By: Kaylee White
Tags: Design, Education

The dominate mechanistic world view has dominated since the dawn of the 21st century. We are coming to a point in human history (the anthropocene) where new ideas are coming about. Complexity theory has proven that everything is interconnected, which encourages us to look at the world in a new way.

How can designers design to usher in this transition? Designers need to use rigorous critical thinking. For example, they need to ask questions like, “What about that works? What about that doesn’t work so well?” They need to think about how we meet our needs in place-based ways. How do we improve the quality of life for everyone?

McDonaldization

McDonalds made a paradigm for efficiency. Most social technical systems have been affected by this efficient way of functioning. The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are dominating is affecting more and more factors of society.

The goal of design: The shaping of flows of energy and matter to meet human concerns (without impeding the ability of other species to meet theirs).

If design is a ubiquitous human activity, what is the role of the professional designer? McDonaldization effects not only the restaurant business but also education work, the criminal justice system, health care, travel, leisure, dieting, politics, the family, religion…

“Our goal: to totally dominate the quick serve restaurant industry worldwide… I want McDonald’s to be more than a leader. I want McDonald’s to dominate.” —McDonald’s company chairman

Dimensions of McDonaldization

Efficiency

Offers the best way possible to get from bing hungry to being full. Workers follow steps in a predesigned process and are watched over closely by managers

Calculability

Quanitity = quality. A lot of something and the quick delivery of it means it must be good: Big Mac, large fries, quarter pounder.

Predictability

Assurance that products & services will be the same over time, in all locales. Workers behave in predictable ways, following scripted behaviors which leads to extreme standardization. Assumption is that people want as few purposes as possible.

Control

Control is exerted over the people who enter the McDonaldized system. Lines, limited/set menu, few options & uncomfortable seats has people eat & leave quickly. Workers are trained to do a limited number of things in precisely the same way.
A field
By: Cameron Robinson
Tags: Spirituality, Death, Christianity, Poetry, Mortality

I found a tree behind a field.

Under the tree was dewy grass.

And past the grass was tender dirt

And yet beneath, worms were feeding.

The ants were marching all in order,

For some unseen, instinct guides

Their little bodies all in order.

The treasures of their world

They brought to the hill

And through the hole.

Past this world above and

Into the world they built below.

And there, a worm to bring me hope,

An ant that lead to Mount Zion.

The tree that stands casts

A cross’s shadow on the altar

Of dewy grass beneath my feet.

The tender dirt, a narrow road.

For what else are we except, maybe

In the hands of Gentleness,

Worms becoming sons and daughters,

Bought with Loving, Living Blood.
Passing methods as props in Vue.js
By: Mauro Perez
Tags: Vuejs, JavaScript, Best Practices, Front End Development, Components

Recently, I learned a new trick for keeping my Vue components more DRY.

You might be used to passing methods down to child components using custom event names like this…

// Calling custom fish component

<fish v-bind="{color, size}" @swim="swim" /> // Inside custom fish component

...

<button @click="$emit('swim', data)">

...

But there is another more succinct way…

// Calling custom fish component

<fish v-bind="{color, size, swim}" /> // Inside custom fish component

...

<button @click="swim(data)">

...

In the first case, Vue is using the event system, and in the second the method prop is a simple callback. There are some reasons for using one approach over another, depending on context, of course.

Some find that keeping data and callbacks separated into props and events makes their components more clear and easier to understand. The docs provide an important distinction about using a custom event…

…the child component is still completely decoupled from what happens outside of it. All it does is report information about its own activity, just in case a parent component might care.

So if you don’t need to completely decouple your child component from its parent, you too can benefit from this sleeker syntax!

If you liked this trick, you can check out Keeping props DRY in Vue.js.
Job Enjoyment vs. Pay: What Can You Sacrifice?
By: Alexandria Hoover
Tags: Work, Balance, Job, Open Letter, Happiness

Job Enjoyment vs. Pay: What Can You Sacrifice?

An open letter

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Have you ever had to weigh the choices of good pay and an enjoyable job? Have you had to determine if the commute, long hours, burnout, or work was worth it? Have you ever decided “no?”

Then this letter is for you.

I know what it’s like to dislike your job but recognize the pay gets you by. I know what it’s like to think you were going to like something you ended up not liking at all. I know what it’s like to want, no need out, but you’re unsure what will happen next.

I used to think I could handle any job as long as the pay was good and I didn’t have any qualms about the business’ ethics. Until I encountered the actual dilemma. I had a much longer commute than I was used to, which piled on the mileage to my already used car. I had a job that, by its description, was exactly what I had gone to school for. I had an income I wasn’t accustomed to, allowing me to quickly pay off some debts, pile some money into savings, and even treat myself occasionally. At first, that longer commute was fun. It was my first “big girl” job, and I felt like an adult. At first, I was excited by this idea that, after years of school, I’d get to work in a real office of my own. But that excitement quickly dwindled.

Two months in, my personal life took a nose dive. Three months in, I hated how exhausted I was because of the commute. Four months in, I didn’t feel I was using my education or knowledge at all. I wasn’t permitted creativity or autonomy in things I was told I would be. By six months in, I’d had enough. But now I had to play that dangerous game: was the pay worth the depletion of my mental health?

Eight months in, I decided “no.”

I didn’t have any full-time job prospects, but I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t worth the lack of sleep, the anxiety, or the tears. It simply wasn’t worth sacrificing my mental health (or my happiness) for pay.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

I’m telling you this because I want you to know it’s okay to make that decision. In fact, if you’re anything like me, and those around you feel the full force when you’re angry or frustrated, they will probably thank you. Make choices that are good for you and even good for those around you (you know, like your family).

If you’re having to weigh pay and job enjoyment, think about what you can sacrifice. If you can sacrifice some enjoyment, that’s totally fine. But if you absolutely can’t, and the pay is the only good thing you can see, then it’s okay to move on.

You’re the only one who can make that decision though. You’re the only one who knows you.

I can’t promise that everything is going to turn out perfectly. I still only have part-time jobs. But they are jobs I thoroughly enjoy, and I wouldn’t go back at all. I can’t promise you’ll have a new job lined up in a week. And I can’t promise the universe will suddenly make sense. But I can promise you will feel much better about yourself.
Love and The Universe
By: Brian Mboya
Tags: Poetry, Love, Ideas

universe

The nature of the universe and the doubts in my mind

Are fascinating,

I think of everything in the former to be the

Cause of understanding the latter,

My perception of the former has in doubt led me

To the latter and thereafter, provoked my way of thinking.

I know not what to make of real,

Reality has, to me, become a realm of questions

What is real?

What is love in the realm of the universe?

Is there more to the physical world, the tangible?

These inquiries and more led me to reality.

The philosophy of love,

The question of, what is it, has in fact led me

To the answers I seek,

A soul in the universe,

Within the body of the physical world.

A soul that makes the world within me real,

If happiness is real,

Doubts real,

Universe real,

Love real,

I real,

Then, she is real.

The true definition of love exists within her,

An idea which to me has been a mystery,

A mystery that a single soul with perfection,

and imperfection within, helped solve.

To both, I can now with no doubts say I understand.
Completed 2019 Sign-ups for PoetsUnlimited
Tags: Poets Unlimited, Poetry, Editors Tab

Thanks to those who discovered, waited, and then requested to sign up with PoetsUnlimited as a contributor. It’s nice to meet new contributors and read your sample poems. (Even if a few of them were ‘premium’ and I quickly used up my free views :) )

Always happy to see your pieces. Don’t forget, if you joined up as a contributor, you need to ‘submit’ pieces for them to get considered, featured in our couple-times-a-week publishing, and also added to the feed. Remember, we’re a free-to-view publication, so only submit your pieces that are open to everyone to read.

Medium has become a bit more onerous to use lately, but for now we persevere and the publication goes on. Not anticipating opening up for new contributors again this year, so we’ll embrace the 1000 or so we have now.

Our 66,000+ subscribed readers continue to keep coming back to read the wide variety of contributions to Medium’s longest-running poetry-only publication. I’m sure a few more come by linked in by your social-media posts and discover some new poets along the way.

Thanks for your continued participation as both readers and poets!

_
3 Things Most People Don’t Understand About Marketers
By: Cynthia Hill
Tags: Branding, Marketing, Public Relations, Business, Digital Marketing

3 Things Most People Don’t Understand About Marketers

But every successful marketer knows.

In the 10+ years we’ve spent connecting brands with entertainment companies through innovative marketing partnerships at the zakHill Group, we’ve learned people have a lot of misconceptions about marketers.

Here are three of the most common ones:

1. Success isn’t just based on marketing ability, it’s based on the ability to market within CONSTRAINTS.

Marketing executives can’t just execute whatever amazing idea they dream up.

They have to figure out how to succeed with limited time, money, staff and sometimes even mediocre products.

2. Marketing work is an ongoing EXPERIMENT.

The best marketing executives know what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow.

Unlike a lot of other professions, marketers must constantly experiment, analyze, and adapt their approach.

3. Marketers have to be TRANSLATORS.

Marketers not only need to be experts in their product and audience, they also need to be able to translate between the two.

They have to be able to explain to the company what customers are looking for and be able to communicate to their potential customers why they need the product.

These certainly aren’t the only things people misunderstand about marketing executives.

What would you add to the list?
4 Powerful Habits To A Better You
By: Zaid K. Dahhaj
Tags: Life Lessons, Habits, Personal Growth, Personal Development, Lifestyle

1. Sleep by 10 PM.

The number of people I see who neglect their sleep is staggering.

I’ve also experienced what it feels like to be sleep-deprived; it’s not fun at all. Studies easily show that it’s one of the worst things you could do to your body.

Everybody speaks of how important it is to get a great night of sleep, yet few are willing to stick to a disciplined schedule.

If you want to have god-like energy, get your ass in bed by 10 PM. It’s one of those rules that you must rarely compromise since sleep is the foundation of good health.

Are you in bed by that time, yet still get crappy sleep?

Follow these rules:
Need for effective Log management systems — Comparing Splunk & Elastic search
By: Sudeep Rao
Tags: Log Management, DevOps, Monitoring, Elasticsearch, Splunk

Continuous integration and Continuous Deployment have increasingly shortened the time taken to build applications that need frequent changes, while still maintaining a reliable delivery process. On the other hand, a Forrester states that Only 33% of new features have a positive impact on outcomes, 33% have no impact, and the final 33% actually have a negative impact. This makes it clear as a bell, the importance of a robust feedback process in the CI & CD process flow.

With the increasing adoption of containerization and micro services, employing the right log analysis and management platform that helps a devops team clearly analyze and take the right action on the feedback has become more important than ever. With the market being flooded with a plethora of options to choose from, we attempt to compare 2 very popular platforms Splunk & Elastic search to ease your decision-making process in choosing the one that works best for you.

While both platforms are adept for Advanced log Analytics for security systems, application monitoring & BI, Splunk was mainly built for targeting big enterprises & only recently has made inroads for smaller companies. ELK, on the other hand, has enjoyed wide adoption from the beginning.

For organizations that are dependent on the quick availability of insights for urgent decision making, Splunk is the way to go owing to a lesser time to go live.

If the IT budgets are fluid based on operations, Splunk is a good choice. Whereas if budget is more towards being fixed, (or there is a lot of existing unused infrastructure — network devices, computing power) and the company is looking at the long-term, then ELK is a better investment because after the initial complex procedures, the operations teams start streamlining the processes and things start going smoother, and costs go down significantly.

Elasticsearch is perfect for organizations that have very competent internal IT teams (separate teams that handle each aspect of the full stack) that can handle the various builds & configurations that are a part of the ELK infrastructure leveraging community help & support. It’s also ideal where data mapping is done initially can suffice for long periods of time as correcting/modifying mapping is a time-consuming process

A quick 7 point guide while evaluating between Splunk and ELK

Conclusion

There is a major shift from information seeking to predicting problems. Early detection is the mighty need of the hour from log management platforms. Probing systems in predictive ways greatly enhance readiness to mitigate if not prevent major outages and subsequently save costs.

With vast experience in managing DevOps for clients across industry verticals, Sigmoid has deep expertise in recommending and implementing the ideal log management platform considering their current needs, system infrastructure, long term vision and budget.
How the Coronavirus Will Affect Your Sales
By: Phillip Stutts
Tags: Coronaviruses, Business, Advertising, Data, Marketing

How the Coronavirus Will Affect Your Sales

And what to do about it right now

Committed vs. interested. Which are you?

Committed business owners know that smart marketing is non-negotiable, no matter what the economy looks like. They are committed, consistent, and never waver. They find an opportunity where others see fear.

I love these kinds of people.

Interested business owners are greedy (we are all greedy to some extent, so this isn’t a personal indictment), looking for a “get-rich-quick” pill. They are the type that gets super interested in an idea (like marketing) until they get distracted by another idea. They chase shiny objects until a different shiny object passes by.

This lack of focus from the “interested” is devastating when the economy has a downturn.

Which brings me to the coronavirus and what it means for your business. The signs are there — this pandemic is having a massive disruptive impact on business.

Let there be no doubt in this moment of panic, fear, and uncertainty — if you become committed to your marketing, you will grow your business.

The committed will own the market. The interested will lose.

With the markets in flux, the economy slowing down, and so much uncertainty out there, customers and clients are dying for reassurance. And therein lies an opportunity for you.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, the most common frustration I heard from clients was that everyone was spending and competing for the same customer/client, and that it’s almost impossible to distinguish themselves from their competition.

And I am here to say that this moment — this crazy uncertain moment — is the greatest, easiest chance to overcome the hurdle of distinguishing your business from your competition.

If you are “committed”, here are five things you need to know to own the market during this health and economic downturn (and some advice we are giving our own clients in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic):
Watch the 2018 Midwest Candidate Forum for the NAC Elections
By: Veronica Young
Tags: Politics

There are 4 candidates running for the Midwest region of the National Advisory Council (NAC). All four candidates were able to participate in the short-notice Midwest Candidate Forum on the evening of February 6.

To check out candidate responses and learn more about their visions, watch this recording.

Remember to vote by February 9, 11:59 pm PT.

Participating Candidates

Margeaux Spring (Civic Data Alliance)

Janet Michaelis (Code for Dayton)

Nehemiah I. Dacres (OpenSTL)

Kristi Leach (Open Uptown)
Philia
By: Joe Barca
Tags: Poetry, Love, Friendship

Philia

Friends for a Reason

Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash

we “met” in March when the trees were still naked

it was a virtual event (because of COVID-19)

but despite the two dimensional wall…..”I knew”….”I knew”

that we had been born in the same maelstrom

formed in the heat of the same crucible

as with many good friendships, we skipped bodies

and went directly to fertile minds and poetic hearts

we all need people like this in our lives

they know very little about us

but they know everything that matters

we share the same fabric of pain and the same flower bed of joy

this is the type of friend who is obsessed with our goodness

they think that we are better than we actually are

we bathe in their praise, “zie thinks that I am amazing”

“perhaps I could become that version of me someday ”

and now it’s December

and the trees have stripped their limbs

we’re still dealing with the same digital divide

but now we are friends for all seasons

Joe Barca
Breaking paradox of choice — Netflix case study
By: Anupam Pareek
Tags: UX Research, Netflix, Design, Case Study, UX Design

I kept on scrolling Netflix for hours yet I was not able to choose which show to watch. I had to read reviews on other sites to check if the show really stood upto my expectations before watching over Netflix.

Not able to choose suitable content over Netflix is a common issue among users which is more of a psychological problem but might become Netflix’s major problem later on.

Why this happens at the first place and what this case study will be trying to solve is:

Paradox of choice Analysis paralysis

Defining “Paradox of choice.”

Though we humans have a very advanced brain, we are still susceptive to the likes of “choice paradox “ when too many options are given to choose from.

If I am still not making any sense to you, here is a study demonstrated in the Columbia University known as “jam study”.

In this study supermarket shoppers were given the option of choosing from a table offering six samples of jam or one displaying 24 varieties. While more people stopped at the table with 24 choices, only 3 per cent went on to purchase a jar, compared to a third of all shoppers who stopped at the table with just six varieties.

When we are given too many options, it becomes tough for our brain to choose from it, also might end up choosing nothing at all.

Having too many options also lead us to our second problem which is

Analysis paralysis

Analysis paralysis refers to a situation in which an individual or group is unable to move forward with a decision as a result of overanalyzing data or overthinking a problem.

On Netflix when you have 12+ options on your mobile screen that also without any straightforward parameter to compare each other, it takes a lot of active analysis and time to make a decision which then leads to analysis paralysis, resulting into 2 effects :

Diminished satisfaction, even if you have made your choice. Suppressed decision making.

Why are these psychological problems even worth of any attention?

90 sec or Bust. “Consumer research suggests that a typical Netflix member loses interest after perhaps 60 to 90 seconds of choosing, having reviewed 10 to 20 titles (perhaps 3 in detail) on one or two screens,” they write. “The user either finds something of interest or the risk of the user abandoning our service increases substantially.”

To tackle 90 sec or Bust, Netflix built Billion dollars of algorithm engine to provide interesting content to its users in minimum time, yet smallest research such as mine speaks differently. According to my research (in detail below) users trust their friends recommendations 3x more than going with what Netflix suggests.

So, faster & longer you engage a user, more you earn profits from them. In this scenario both of these psychological problems directly impact the decision making time of the user hence loosing on money.
Data Analysis with the Institute for Economics and Peace
By: Fsi Student Programs
Tags: Mexico, Internships, Fsi Students, Stanford

About the author: Michelle Howard’20 is an FSI Global Policy Intern at the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in Sydney, Australia. Michelle is currently studying Bioengineering at Stanford University.

My time with IEP ended with many hugs, Oreo cheesecake, and a toast goodbye. Working for IEP in Sydney was everything I could have asked for from a summer-turned-winter. In only 10 weeks, I transformed from a victim of CS106A scarred from the freshman year struggles of Java, to a data analyzing, R sorceress and proud member of R Ladies. R Ladies is a city-wide club of women from all backgrounds who meet monthly to learn about new R packages, hear from guest speakers, and bond with each other over the trials, tribulations, and joys of code. It should come as absolutely no surprise that last month’s R Ladies guest speaker was Talia, my IEP mentor. I leave forever thankful to her for each 9-to-5, coffee-filled day she spent inspiring me with her cleverness, persistence, and female ferocity in the pursuit of world peace.

Another bullet in the “Computer Skills” section of the resume is a great value-add, but IEP’s greater gift to me was insight. This internship taught me the process and challenges of data analysis and report writing, the mechanics and politics of an office, and the idiosyncrasies of nonprofit peace research, both general and specific to Mexico. There are few projects in my life that have infused me with as much passion as the one I engaged in at IEP on the underreporting of crime in Mexico. As a citizen of this country, I was emotionally rocked by the shocking statistics representing the lives of Mexican residents, including my aunts, uncles, cousins, and abuelita. Upon learning that 93% of all crimes are never reported to the police because public systems are perceived as corrupt or useless, I was flooded with my and my family’s testaments to this high number: the robbery of my aunt’s dentistry practice in Durango, the kidnapping of my mother in a taxi in Mexico City, the bribes I pay to Mexican border patrol to avoid harassment when I cross are silent wrongs with no access to justice. The stats I found and calculated at a standing desk in Sydney, Australia were not just digits on a screen; they were the pain caused to family, the injustices occurring in a second home, and the motivating call to someday change those numbers.

I leave happily drunk off feminism, data analysis, and inside-jokes, the ingredients of a perfect Australian winter cocktail, IEP-style.