fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The Complete Developers Guide to GitHub
By: Naina Chaturvedi
Tags: Tech, Startup, Programming, Web Development, Software Development

The Complete Developers Guide to GitHub

Deep Dive into one of the most popular version control platform for developers

Gif (Source and Credits : WiffleGifs)

Are you a newbie developer? Have you recently started using GitHub? This article is for all the newbie developers who want to get started with GitHub and experienced developers who still find GitHub complex and confusing.

What is GitHub?

GitHub is a social code-hosting platform used for version control. For example, assume you and a bunch of your friends are building a new website and everyone wants to update their codes simultaneously while working on the project. In this case, GitHub helps them to build a centralized repository where everyone can upload, edit, and manage the code files.

You can find GitHub here: https://github.com/

Advantages of GitHub :

GitHub is a very versatile and collaborative tool to use. It is ideal for working on projects of any size and makes it easy to contribute to your favorite open source projects. GitHub provides developers and researchers with a dynamic and collaborative environment, that supports peer review, commenting, and discussion. It’s an amazing tool for web workflows. It’s an ideal platform for creating a backup of your work instead of saving the code on a desktop or any server. GitHub on your resume can make your profile look better than others who don’t have any experience working with GitHub. GitHub’s help section and guides have articles for almost all the topics you can think of. It has excellent documentation which is very helpful for the developers.

No coding required!

Go to https://github.com/ and create an account.

Introduction to GitHub

Once the account has been created successfully, you can do the following —

Create and use a repository

Start and manage a new branch

Commit Changes — Make changes to a file and push them to GitHub

Open and merge a pull request

Step 1: Create a repository

With a repository, you can —

Organize a single project. Repositories can contain folders and files, images, videos, spreadsheets, and data sets, etc

To create a repository —

As shown in the screenshot below, In the upper right corner, next to your avatar click + and then select New repository.

Create a new repository
It’s A Beautiful Day To Stare At The Sun
By: Silvia Killingsworth
Tags: Spaaaaace, Gustav Holst, Mercury In Transit

For the next four hours, you can watch a small, hot rock cross in front of an enormous, burning ball of plasma. It seems a lot better than whatever else you’re doing, especially if you’re stuck inside:

Some things to consider while you’re doing this:
Take Your Time
By: Mike Essig
Tags: Youth, Optimism, Poetry, Aging

Generations come and generations go…

Every generation must get its due.

To be young is to be deceived,

but only by the freshest illusions,

and only for a small interval.

Youth deserves its dream-time.

Stifling realities arrive too soon.

Revel in wonder while it lasts.

It won’t last very long at all,

before the great becomes the small.
Java: Functions, Loops, Variables, and a sock merchant
By: Abhinav Srivastava
Tags: Socks

All that said and done, let’s jump on to our first problem. But first, music recommendation for this post is a beautiful Synthwave mix I stumbled upon late one night in Mumbai.

Back to the problem:

Attached the image because the markdown from HackerRank wasn’t getting copied

Fairly simple problem, let me break it down.

A large pile of socks where each sock is represented by an integer stored in an array. Said Socks would have the same integer value if they are the same color. Find out the number of pairs of socks.

Fine, sounds like a good problem to me (Personal lifehack: Tie a pair of socks together so they don’t get mixed up.)

I’ll post the function first, and take everything from there.

First, let me explain how a function works in Java or any language.

Suppose you have to teach a robot how to pick up and object lying in front of it. How would you do it?

Of course, one method is to give the robot the exact details of picking up something. And then do it again when you need to pick something up. And again. And so on. Or you could write this into the robot’s memory and ask the robot to go refer to that memory every time you need to get something picked. Let’s say, that code you ask the robot to refer to is called pickUpStuff. So in code, we call it as pickUpStuff() and inside pick up stuff we write what needs to be done. Sometimes, a function returns a value, which means once you call it, it gives you a result. A function without a return gives a NoneType value as a result, which essentially has no value. A function can also have parameters, so say we say pickUpStuff(Object) but only pick up a pen, we pass Pen as the parameter since it is the object.

Now let’s see what pickUpStuff would look like as code;

pickUpStuff(object){ extendArm(); analyzeSituation(); goTo(object); pickedup=grabObject(); return “Picked up” + pickedup } print ( pickUpStuff(pen) ); OUTPUT: Picked up pen

Let’s go ahead with the algorithm (I have already written a somewhat messy, commented code)

Set num_pairs to 0 Define a Set called set. This is done by Set<Integer> [name of set]=new HashSet(); [As we go over OOPs, this is going to make sense. Also, we choose set because it removes duplicate values] Loop from and integer i=0 (You can declare integers as arguments) to ar.length, and increment ‘i’ by 1 every iteration. If ar[i], that is the element of the array passed in the argument, is not in the set, add it if ar[i] is in set, then increase num_pair by 1, and remove ar[i] value from set. return num_pair

This would give you the desired result and hopefully all your testcases pass.

In the next article, I will take another problem, talk arrays, classes, methods and more. Stay tuned.
Never Say Die
By: Terry Barr
Tags: Cult, Hypocrisy, Politics, Religion, Nonfiction

I was reading about a poor Liberty grad today who said,

“I’m also not leaving the evangelical church because prominent leaders are still supporting a president who is unashamed of his racist commentary or lewd boasts of sexual assault. Instead, I will fight to change that, and in this case, advocate the removal of those leaders from positions of power” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/opinion/liberty-university-jerry-falwell.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article).

I feel her pain, wish her Godspeed, and understand that her degrees from Liberty are precious to her.

But I wonder why so many are surprised at a leader who likes to watch; a leader of faith who thinks the orange plague is the “end all/be all?”

What would Jesus do? To quote a character in Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters,

“He’d never stop throwing up if he could hear what’s being said in his name.”

Is he here? Is he listening?

When Falwell Jr. hid in a corner and watched his wife having sex with a 20-year old man, what was Jesus thinking?

What does “he sees everything we do” even mean?

Would you please weigh in here, Mike Pence?

Would someone stop the insanity — and I don’t mean in an apocalyptic sort of way.

I think of “Elaine” in her wonderful Seinfeld moment when she screams at The English Patient:

“Just DIE already. DIE DIE DIEEEEEEE.”

Trumpism, that is.

Not Liberty.

They have already lost so much, and so have we. Maybe even enough.

I am not surprised by Falwell. And I am no prophet.

Just a post 17-year old who, if he had been asked or had looked clearly, would have surely seen this particular shame coming.

As it was in the beginning, has and ever shall be. Or so it seems.
7 Ways to Not Get the Writing Gig
By: Dan Brotzel
Tags: Copywriting, Content Marketing, Cv Writing, Digital Marketing, Content Writing

Bad Example 2: One Size Fits All

Dear content director/creative director/head of copy

Or

To whom it may concern…

So now you’ve gone from over-familiarity (pretending to know someone you don’t) to a hopelessly generic approach (not even bothering to find out the name of the person you’re applying to).

This sort of one-size-fits-all approach just comes over as lazy and unprofessional. Great content makes the recipient think and feel it was written for them.

Takeaway: Personalise every job application.

Bad Example 3: Can I Borrow Your Career?

I’ve recently undergone a career change and, following a creativity workshop, digital looks like an interesting avenue for me. OK, so my 20 years in estate agency and HR consultancy, plus the odd spot of acting aren’t the natural progression, but sometimes the brightest lights hide under the most unlikely bushels…

The thing about copywriting or content strategy is that it’s a career, like acting or HR. It takes time and aptitude and experience to be any good at it.

So candidates who imply that they can just pick it up, or that this digital stuff is an easy game to play till their real work picks up again, tend not to be well received.

Takeaway: If you want to change careers, you have to be prepared to do the legwork. Get some work experience, build up your contacts, study the market. Don’t expect to get much work off people whose jobs you don’t take seriously.
Ordinary Tales From Average Hotels
By: Sarah Grant
Tags: Memories, Work, Travel, Photography, Hotel

Back in 2010, I hit the business trip jackpot.

10 days of training in Los Angeles, fully paid by the company.

And it was even interesting subject matter, I enjoyed the training quite a bit.

But more than that, I enjoyed the trip.

Having never been south of Portland in my life, Los Angeles was a mystical fantasy land. Or Anaheim, to be more specific.

A coworker met me at the airport, we rented a brand new, jet black Charger. Immediately after that I saw the ocean for the first time, at Santa Monica beach.

(Seriously, I was 26 & had never seen the ocean once.)

We went to the La Brea Tar Pits. We drove past the Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame & Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (traffic was insane, driving by was good enough for me…)

We had dinner at Downtown Disney.

The hotel was amazing too.

The grounds were incredible, palm tress & tropical flowers everywhere. Cabana bar, swimming pool, food like I had never tasted in my life.

My room backed onto a parkade. Early one morning I woke up to the sounds of an argument… From what I could tell, a man had attempted to be intimate with a prostitute, but his little man had failed to participate…. He felt that this meant he was no longer obligated to hold up his financial end of the deal.

A chorus of boisterous sounding female voices rose up, and told him exactly why his “tiny little dinky not working” was not a valid excuse. I was laughing to myself about it all day.

I’ve been trying to plan a vacation around staying there ever since that trip.
My Elephant Butt and Some Other Embarrassing Facts
By: Tree Langdon
Tags: Stories, Readers, Writing, Trust, Relationships

Back in early June, it feels like years ago, Tim Maudlin proposed a way to build rapport with readers by using his template.

He suggested that we use our stories to reveal information about ourselves, instead of simply writing a bio. I thought it was a great idea and then proceeded to put it on the back burner.

I guess that reveals my tendency to procrastinate.

I finally got around to it.

People have always loved stories.

Cave drawings and sign language were early attempts to communicate, to tell each other stories about where to find food, and how to stay away from predators.

The act of story telling breathes life into an experience and makes a connection with the reader.

Here are my Know, Like, and Trust-You stories.

Something personal

In my early thirties, I found myself a single mom of two small boys. One thing I missed was the quiet moments in the evening, marveling at the events of the day. Then I met the love of my life and this is how it happened.
“5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, with Suze Yalof Schwartz and Beau Henderson
By: Beau Henderson
Tags: Meditation

Thank you for joining us, Suze! Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

My most interesting story is definitely when there was a bank robbery happening next door to our Unplug Meditation studio in Santa Monica. When the studio manager and I heard loud noises outside, we went to take a peek to see what was happening and there were two police officers yelling at us, with guns in hand pointed in our direction and toward the direction of the bank. They told us to go back inside, lock the door, and get everyone away from the windows since there was a bank robbery happening next door and the robbers had guns. We ran back into Unplug panicked, with hearts beating and red faces. I looked at my manager and said, “We need to breathe.” So we did the 16-second breath exercise and it totally calmed us down. Then we went into the meditation room, calmly stopped the class, and told everyone to follow us to our back loft, where we sat in lockdown for two hours. We ended up really connecting with each other, and because we remained calm, all the other 28 meditators remained calm, too. When we were finally told the coast was clear, I not only was calm enough to turn the camera crews covering the robbery into press coverage for Unplug, but I even turned a few of the police officers onto meditation since they were upset that the robbers got away with the money!

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

It wasn’t funny at the time, but I waited six months to get Unplug Meditation LLC trademarked, and when it finally came through, “Meditation” was misspelled as “Mediation.” Moral of the story: watch that spellcheck!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many, but one of my favorites was Steve Ross, who was such an influential teacher. Without even a question, he said he would teach at Unplug when I first opened, even though he had his own studio. He gave me advice on how to create the perfect atmosphere for meditation, and he even loaned me his studio manager, who helped me with everything!

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Meditate every day, first thing in the morning, no questions asked. It will help you focus, follow through, and feel peaceful everyday. I also suggest getting comfortable with the fact that you will learn everything as you go. Don’t worry about not knowing what you are doing — that’s the fun part!

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

You have to walk the walk. Be clear and remember that your team is there to help you. Be appreciative of them and let them know. You are nothing without your team.
“You WILL have the terror spawn!”
By: Jen Sorensen
Tags: Eat More Comics

Sign up for Taking Stock of COVID: New comics from The Nib

By The Nib

New comics from Matt Lubchansky, Keith Knight, and Niccolo Pizarro. Plus How Seniors Are Living With COVID-19. Take a look
Announcing: Perineum Sunning Workshop
By: Simon Black
Tags: Humor, Satire, Bunny Blog, Funny, Wellness

Announcing: Perineum Sunning Workshop

Coming soon to your area

Photo by Waranya Mooldee on Unsplash

Look, bunnies have been sunbathing their derrieres for ages, long before this latest wellness trend they are calling perineum sunning.

Apparently, wellness fanatics on Instagram have made quite a splash posting shots of them naked with their asses exposed to the sun, claiming that this is some new trick that will help their health.

I can tell you, it does feel good to lie on your back and point your bottom up to the sun. It sort of hypnotizes us bunnies.

But let's not pretend we do it because we’re spiritual or organic or hippies or anything important. We do it for the same reason we eat our own poop — because it feels good.

If it feels good do it, that is a bunny’s motto.

That’s why we try to spend most of our time having sex because everyone knows that is the once activity that makes you feel really, really good.

But if you can’t have sex, letting the sun shine up your ass is a close second.

So sign up for the weekend workshop in ass sunbathing that is coming to your area. I will be leading it. I know, I’m a bunny. But I can talk and if the microphone is not up too high, you will be able to hear me and understand everything I say.

I’ve also made some powerpoint slides about different positions that you can take to get the sun up your bum.

Some of the positions are face down. Some of them are face up. Some are sideways. There are so many different ways to expose your rear to the sun.

So come to my workshop. Lets moon the sun together!
LoDev S76S Is an STM32 LoRa-Based Development Platform for the IoT
By: Cabe Atwell
Tags: Hardware, Lora, Technology, IoT

Ronoth’s LoDev LoRa development board is designed around AcSIP’s LoRaWAN S76S SiP and created for IoT applications where low-power and long-range data transmission are a factor. The board packs RF matching components in a compact 11mm x 13mm form factor and comes with FCC modular certification.

Ronoth’s LoDev S76S features an STM32L073 MCU, has a receiver sensitivity down to -146dBm, and adjustable signal strength of up to +20dBm. (📷: Ronoth)

“LoDev is open source and made by a hardware enthusiast for hardware enthusiasts. It is breadboard friendly and comes with a ton of software examples to get you started. It was built with the Mbed IDE and community in mind, but will work with any IDE supporting Arm Cortex.”

Under the hood, the LoDev packs AcSIP’s S76S SiP with integrated STM322L073 Arm Cortex-M0 MCU, with a built-in Semtech SX1276 LoRa radio module rolling at 48MHz. The module has a receiver sensitivity down to -146dBm, an adjustable signal strength of up to +20dBm, and a range of up to 15km in rural areas, and 5km in urban areas. The board also features a micro USB port, reset button, and SMA connector for an external antenna.

On the software end, the LoDev S76S can take advantage of any IDE that supports the Arm Cortex architecture, as well as Mbed IDE, which provides an OS, cloud services and tools for IoT applications.

Ronoth is currently crowdfunding their LoDev S76S on Crowd Supply, with pledges starting at $35, which gets you the board, a pair of headers, and a 2dBi antenna. The board has an expected delivery date of May, with free shipping in the U.S.
Tradition
By: Leonard Ng
Tags: Lean, Agile, Restaurant, Lifestyle, Product Management

In order to keep the tradition of posting one blog a day, I am going to write about tradition towards the end of my day today.

Of course, I have only started this “tradition” since 2 days ago. It is a bit far-fetched to call it a true tradition. After all, it is like how this Gold & Jade Restaurant calling out their “Famous Beijing Duck” as a NEW RESTAURANT. I guess they must have earned their fame in some other lifetime before this new life.

For me, I truely want to keep up with this tradition (to blog about something once a day). It is a very meaningful retrospective and reflection time for me, as the Agile / Test & Learn lifestyle that I am truly embracing.

If I want to leave a legacy for something, or like how that Beijing Duck was put, famous for something as a new born person, I would choose to demonstrate my Agile life by living day in day out with the Agile mindset and philosophy. Will spend a bit more time to log these ideas and examples here.
The One and Only Ivan (2020) • Disney+
By: Jeffrey Bricker
Tags: Film, Culture, Review, Disney, Movies

The One and Only Ivan (2020) • Disney+

A gorilla named Ivan tries to piece together his past with the help of an elephant named Ruby as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.

The One and Only Ivan is the heartwarming tale of a gorilla, a baby elephant, and the sacrifices that can only be made by true friends. Based on Katherine Applegate’s award-winning 2012 children’s book, Disney’s latest family-friendly feature may not be an instant classic, but it has plenty of feels to distract us from present-day gloom.

The story is based on the true tale of a silverback gorilla who grew up in captivity and became the main attraction of a strip mall circus in the Pacific Northwest. But when the ageing ape began demonstrating an extraordinary talent (no spoilers), animal rights advocates marched to see Ivan moved to a better habitat.

The separation of fact and fiction is a blurred line in The One and Only Ivan, despite obviously now involving talking animals, but that’s of little concern. Embellishments to the story are welcome for the sake of following a good narrative.

Those who’ve read Applegate’s book might be somewhat put off by a few liberties taken with Thea Sharrock’s film adaptation, however. Most notably with the portrayal of Mack (Bryan Cranston), as his character’s morality is murkier in the book, as he makes many questionable actions and decisions. In the film, Mack’s bad decision-making is chalked up as innocent or ignorant mistakes, rather than acts of real malice. Disney clearly didn’t want to have Mack portrayed as too much of a villain.

Consequently, The One and Only Ivan has no villainous figure, only conflicts revolving around whether our furry friends can overcome a variety of obstacles — from saving a dying circus to questioning if it’s even worth saving.

As with any VFX-heavy feature, the voice talent is critical to bringing the story to life. The One and Only Ivan has plenty of famous folk lending their vocal talents, with Sam Rockwell headlining as the eponymous ape, Danny DeVito playing his loveable doggy friend Bob, and Angelina Jolie as a baby elephant called Stella who’s thrust into the limelight. But while Devito’s scruffy pooch is a real show-stealer, Jolie’s character lacks any real dramatic curve, and Rockwell is merely okay as Ivan.

In the end, I couldn’t help connecting my level of enjoyment to how the film’s being seen. As yet another theatrical casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was satisfied to enjoy The One and Only Ivan in the company of my wife and two young children in the comfort of our home. It suited being on Disney+, as I would have regretted the added expense of a trip to the cinema for something of this quality. So that alone makes The One and Only Ivan one of the best viewing choices a family could make the year.
You’ll never look at London the same way again after playing Pokemon GO
By: Tomo Taka
Tags: London, Pokemon Go, Pokemon, Gaming

Hold the phone. Pokemon Go has finally dropped in the UK.

With the excitement of a kid with a shiny new toy, we discovered a whole different side to London when we got our hands on the app.

Here’s what we learnt about Pokemon GO after taking to the streets of central London this morning. Going for a walk will never be the same again…

London’s blue plaques make it unique to the capital
Kid Gone, Eyes Leaky
By: Phil Johnson
Tags: Humor, Cartoon, College, Parenting, Comics

Sending our daughter off to college was a harder transition than I figured on.
INFOGRAPHIC — Over 50 brokers have signed up on Black Insurance platform worldwide already
By: Triinu Murumäe
Tags: ICO, Crowdfunding, Innovation, Insurance, Insurance Brokers

We are pleased to share a visual status update on broker sign-up on Black Insurance platform — over 50 brokers with current gross written premiums (GWP) reaching 324 M USD have signed up (by August 31, 2018). Check out the infographic for their geographic distribution across the globe.

The TOP5 sign-ups by countries and GWP:

USA, 15 brokers, GWP $112 300 000

Canada, 3 brokers, GWP $75 000 000

Kenya, 4 brokers, GWP $32 900 000

UAE, 2 brokers, GWP $25 000 000

New Zealand, 2 brokers, GWP $23 000 000

Brokers can already get a live glimpse of the platform prototype. Check the prototype

Short video tutorial of the platform prototype is also available:

The Black Platform enables brokers to start their own insurance products with underwriting capacity from the Syndicates. There are limited spots to the first Black Syndicate when we launch the platform.
Breaking Bad Over the American Dream
By: Tre L. Loadholt
Tags: Poetry, Pain, Election 2020, Politics, Life

Each day post-election day will probably

feel like we’re breaking bad over the

American Dream. How many times

can one say they’re anxious without

falling out from sheer exhaustion?

The polls are what’s trending and we

are losing our damn minds waiting

for a truthful announcement.

Abolish the Electoral College comes to mind

as I check different forms of media

for updates and fact-check as much

as I possibly can during a selected time

of my day. There’s only so much

bad news I can take without removing

myself from the cushion of

comfort or forcing myself to

watch animated films to keep

my spirits uplifted.

The waiting of it all is the hardest part —

we’ve held on and we’re holding on,

but the sword we’ve had hanging over

us is inching closer to our livers.

If you sliced us open, we’d bleed

centuries of blood stained on the tips of

tongues owned by the descendants

of slaveowners who bark and wail

they’re not like their ancestors

and beg you to believe them.

Fighting used to have a purpose,

we could use our intelligence to

fence and maneuver our way into

becoming, yet 2020 has shown us

truer colors and fighting leads to

fires ignited for years to come.

We’ve no more tears.

We are doused in pain.

Every move we make are calculated steps

toward bereavement or advancement —

we don’t get any other choices.

So when you fight for America,

make sure you have an army

of strength and eons of patience

because “American” is not the same

as “America,” but no one tells you this.

No, you’re brutally shown it

when you want something more

than the dream they pitched for you —

the dream, they never intended

you to think you deserved.
Don’t let the hype over “social media scores” distract you.
By: Aaron Rieke
Tags: Connections, Social Media, Fintech, Finance

These headlines probably get lots of clicks. But the picture they paint is just plain wrong.

I work at Upturn, where we’re constantly thinking about how technology shapes opportunity and inequality. (This year, for example, our team helped advocates work with Google to ban payday loan ads and rated police body camera policies on civil rights.) I used to enforce consumer protection laws, and, before that, I was a privacy advocate.

The idea that a person could be automatically denied credit or housing based on their social media footprint is exactly the kind of “big data” redlining that I try to guard against.

There’s just one problem: Social media scores — scores designed to be used for important decisions beyond marketing — are pretty much a myth. Facebook is not giving out credit scores based on its users’ profiles and friends, and it doesn’t want anyone else to, either. Any company that claims to be doing so is probably full of it.

Why do I say that? We’ll get there. But first, here’s why we should care:

This hype distracts from real problems.

I see it firsthand. I sit on panels about access to credit that get derailed by rumors of these “secret scores.” I field questions from puzzled journalists. I read concerned e-mails and Facebook posts from family and friends (“is this real?!”). (No. It’s not real.)

In the meantime, important issues have to compete for attention. Three examples: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says 35 million people in the United States — many of them poor and minorities — face substantially reduced access to credit because they lack a credit record sufficient to produce a credit score. The laws that govern debt collection — a frequently abusive practice — haven’t been revamped in 40 years. And there are still far too few safe, short-term loans for people who need them.

I want everyone who cares about inequality in the digital age to think more about real, unsolved problems, and less about the smoke-and-mirrors world of big data scores.
NYU Center for Data Science’s PhD student selected as an AdeptMind Scholar
By: Nyu Center For Data Science
Tags: Press Release, Students, Science, Data Science, Education

November 13, 2017

New York, NY — Phu Mon Htut, a Ph.D. student at the NYU Center for Data Science (CDS), has been selected as an AdeptMind Scholar.

“We’re thrilled that AdeptMind has agreed to fund students CDS to work on natural language processing, machine learning, and information retrieval,” says Sam Bowman, assistant professor of linguistics and data science. “For me, Phu Mon Htut was an obvious choice for a nominee — she comes to CDS with an ambitious goal for her research that places her at the border of all three fields, and this fellowship will give her total freedom to pursue it.”

Originally from Burma, Htut earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore with first class honors, where she worked with Professor Bingsheng He on text mining. She also worked as a Research Engineer at the Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore for a couple of years before joining CDS.

At CDS, Htut is a part of the Center’s inaugural cohort of Ph.D. students, and a member of the Machine Learning for Language (ML²) group where she is co-advised by Bowman and Professor Kyunghyun Cho, assistant professor of computer science and data science.

“The greatest advances in science are made when scientists are given as much freedom as possible. The AdeptMind Scholar Fellowship provides such an opportunity to the recipients at NYU Center for Data Science, greatly facilitating advances in data science,” Cho added.

Htut is currently working on Open Domain Question Answering Systems and neural Information Retrieval. “I had worked on Question Answering in the past as well, though I mainly used a more “traditional” approach that involves building knowledge bases and retrieving the answers from knowledge bases using keywords in questions,” she explained. “Now, I’m focusing on how to apply deep learning and reinforcement learning to automate this tedious process end of end.”

“I thank NYU CDS and AdeptMind for offering the AdeptMind scholarship and supporting my research,” she added. “I feel very honored to be offered this scholarship.”
Photo Hunting: April 17th, 2011
Tags: Android, Hunting, Flickr, Photos

in Both Sides of the Table
How We Can Turn Fossil Fuel Money Into Climate Solution Money
By: Aldís Elfarsdóttir
Tags: Climate Change, Activism, Climate Solutions, Politics, Investing

Where I’m coming from: Njál’s Saga and the Polluters Pay Principle

I recently read a translation of Njál’s Saga, widely esteemed to be one of the best Icelandic sagas from the thirteenth century. Bear with me as I start with a striking connection between Njál’s Saga and climate politics.

The old saga recounts cycles of fighting and reconciliation. In the saga, farmers come to blows. Blows over insulting comments; blows over theft; blows over family feuds. In a predictable turn of events, each brawny fight leads to a council meeting at the Althing, the ancient version of Icelandic Parliament.

These meetings tend to be civilized, but sometimes break into fights. During reconciliations, witnesses testify to injuries and slayings, juries weigh in on fair recompense, and people pay for injuries inflicted and lives taken. People sometimes transfer some or all of their assets to the other party’s surviving family members for particularly massive losses.

Here’s the connection: in modern times, we face a drawn-out fight between industry and environment, and a major opportunity for reconciliation. If there existed an environmental Althing today, we would have fossil fuel companies pay for their damages in accordance with the Polluter Pays principle.

Some of you jurors may raise the point that fossil fuels have done good for our society as a whole. We have satisfied human needs of food, water, and shelter with incredible rates of growth and development around the globe. But in the old court, all damages and deaths were paid in full, regardless of gifts or bribes given or received.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people die from coal mining each year, and Indigenous People’s territories and livelihoods are ruined by oil extraction, natural gas pipelines, and leaks. Ongoing and impending climate changes due to fossil fuel emissions bode ill for all 7.8 billion of us and our environment as we know it. It’s time for fossil fuel companies and their representatives to pay up. Some of them are already willing to do so.
No New Year’s Resolution
By: Calvin Lassiter
Tags: Now, Manifestation, Inspiration, 2021, New Year

Photo by Hope Warshaw

Let the New Year Resolution Games begin.

Me: (Walks into the room) (Nobody): I’m gonna make a list of things I want to improve about myself in 2021 Me: (Sits down at table and stares at Nobody) (Nobody): I’m gonna tell everyone what I’m gonna do in 2021 that I didn’t do in 2020. Me: (right eyebrow raised) (Nobody): Also, if this happens or if that happens in 2021, I’m gonna do this, or I probably do that. Me: (Flips table and leaves rooms) (Nobody): What. What did I say wrong?

So, what was wrong with this scenario?

Everything! Even me flipping the table. But that is the typical New Years Resolution mumbo jumbo talk.

However, this is where the problem lies.

A bunch of mumbo jumbo talk.

If you did not go for it in 2020, what makes 2021 different? Yeah, it may be a new year with new opportunities in the wake, but does that changes one mentality behind the new year resolution?

If you miss the opportunities in 2020, then 2021 will be no different.

Yeah, 2020 was a challenging year, frustrating even, but it either made you or kept you stagnant. Preaching those shoulda, woulda, coulda will not help you advance with the ideas, goals, or simple things you want to accomplish, NOW.

How many people have made New Year's Resolutions, year after year, and by the end of January, their New Year Resolution is right out the window?

I was guilty of this and did not realize that I had failed before starting. I was always waiting for the right opportunity or that perfect moment. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I would convince myself that this new year would be different from last year.

A fresh start.

Boy, was I wrong? I still had to bring me, myself, and I.
Wittgenstein’s Poker: The Ten-Minute Philosophy Argument that Went Down In History
By: Gavin Lamb
Tags: Linguistics, Language, Philosophy, History, Books

The Ten-Minute Argument that Went Down In History

At around 8:30 in the evening on October 25, 1946, the philosophers Karl Popper (1902–1994) and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) got into a heated argument involving a red-hot fireplace poker.

They were attending a gathering of the Cambridge Moral Science Club. The event was held at King’s College, and in attendance were famous philosophical figures of the day, like Bertrand Russel. The room was packed with about 30 or so other students and professors.

Popper and Wittgenstein had never been together in the same room before, and they would never be in the same room again.

The two philosophers couldn’t be more different. Popper, unassuming and soft-spoken; Wittgenstein loudly eccentric and charismatic.

Wittgenstein left an impression on people wherever he went. The economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) once said, “Wittgenstein was regarded as a sort of deity, at least in Cambridge.” When Keynes met Wittgenstein for the first time, he recalled “God has arrived…I met him on the 5:15 train.”

Despite their radical philosophical differences, Wittgenstein and Popper shared a lot in common: they both had a similar academic background having lived in Vienna at the same time during the famous Vienna circle. Both came from wealthy families. And both Jewish academics escaped Vienna during World War II, fleeing from the Nazis.

That evening, Wittgenstein, the chair of the speaker series, asked Popper to present on an interesting philosophical puzzle. But Popper, wanted to raise the stakes that evening to confront Wittgenstein’s philosophy. ‘’I admit that I went to Cambridge hoping to provoke Wittgenstein . . . and to fight him on this issue,’’ Popper wrote.

Popper’s talk was entitled: “Are There Philosophical Problems?” And for about ten minutes, a battle of philosophical perspectives raged in that small room.

In ‘Wittgenstein’s Poker,’ the authors David Edmonds and John Eidinow attempt to uncover exactly what happened that night:

“What is clear is that there were vehement exchanges between Popper and Wittgenstein over the fundamental nature of philosophy — whether there were indeed philosophical problems (Popper) or merely puzzles (Wittgenstein).”

“Vehement exchanges” is one way to put it.
XCode Projesini Github’a Nasıl Yükleriz?
By: Hatice Nur Okur
Tags: Türkçe, Kodlama, Xcode, Yazılım, Github

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin

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Pengembangan Spiritual bagi Anak-anak
By: Obed Nugroho
Tags: Gereja, Spiritual, Iman, Education, Anak

in Both Sides of the Table
Baratunde Thurston
By: Medium Staff
Tags: Writing, Activism, Noteworthy, Medium, Creativity

It’s D.C. in the 80s, and young Baratunde is doing tae kwon do. Or maybe it’s karate. Or Boy Scouts. Or tinkering with one of the first personal computers on the block. As he remembers it, family friends would say he had the face of a young Muhammad Ali. Never one to settle on a single path, Baratunde was already beginning to form a worldview that’s best encapsulated in a few sentences from The Greatest: “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.”

Baratunde is writing and narrating a new column, exclusively for Medium members. Upgrade to unlock his first two stories, and stay tuned for more coming soon.

Today, Baratunde is nothing if not himself. “First and foremost,” he declares, “I’m Baratunde. It’s a unique job title.” Flip through his stories and you’ll find a few alternative vocations: vigilante pundit, love-letter writer, media critic, your personal tour guide through Black Mirror IRL. Offline, he performs stand-up. He boxes (or practices yoga, depending on the day). He tries to be an informed, engaged citizen at a time when doing so is… challenging, if we’re into euphemisms. It all falls somewhere under the “comedy” umbrella — Baratunde calls it “pro-justice comic expression.”

But humor is a many-edged sword. It cuts as it heals. With internet credentials including former Digital Director at The Onion and co-founder of Jack and Jill Politics, Baratunde knows how to make us laugh — but also how to make us think (often, about why we’re laughing). His bestselling book, How to Be Black, satirizes identity politics and narrates his childhood. With chapters on “How to Be The Black Friend” and “How to Speak for All Black People,” it interrogates the media’s increasingly glib way of talking about race.
Insomnia
By: Arron Fornasetti
Tags: Haiku, Sleep, Poetry, Insomnia, Self

Haiku is a form of poetry usually inspired by nature, which embraces simplicity. We invite all poetry lovers to have a go at composing Haiku. Be warned. You could become addicted.

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Why is Ascendant so important in Astrology?
Tags: Natal Chart, Kundali, Vedic Astrologer, Ascendant, Vedic Astrology

First impressions are the most lasting. ~Proverbs

The first impressions matter a lot. Although, I admit that they do change over time but yes when it comes to little schemes of life, they do matter a lot.

There is a concept in Astrology that strives to determine the first impression that we make on people and it is known as Ascendant.

What is an Ascendant?

An ascendant refers to any zodiac sign that is rising on the Eastern Horizon at the time of the native’s birth. The Lagna or the rising sign reflects the first impression of the individual that he/she leaves on others. Ascendant has a profound effect on the native. The outer persona of the native, the mask that they wear is what the Ascendant or the rising sign strives to define.

How is the Ascendant ascertained in Vedic Astrology?

To ascertain the ascendant, the astrologers refer to the kundali or as it is most commonly called ‘Natal Chart’. There are 12 houses in the kundali or the natal chart of an individual. Out of these 12 houses, the first house is the house of ascendant or Lagna.

This particular zodiac sign which is situated at the eastern point is considered as the ascendant or lagna of an individual. One zodiac sign stays for 2 hours at an eastern point. The house of the ascendant is the first house in the birth chart and is considered important than other houses. The ruling planet of the rising sign is also the ruling planet of the entire kundali birth chart.

The earth takes 24 hrs to complete rotation. During this duration, it passes through all the zodiac signs. It remains in one zodiac sign for 2 hours. The first house of the kundali is called ascendant and if the house of ascendant has number 1 written on it then this determines the ascendant is Aries, if there is number 2 written on it then the ascendant is Taurus and so on and so forth.
Why are you so obnoxious?
By: Dr John Rose
Tags: Friends, Poetry, Ethics, Philosophy, Self

Poetry Self Philosophy Ethics.

Why are you so obnoxious?

Reflection on Good Client Management Techniques.

Why? Contemplating a blank screen and memories of “her”. Picture by John Rose.

Why are you so obnoxious?

My usual reply followed automatically.

Why are you so dumb?

I guess upon reflection

there were better ways for

professional interactions between

client and obnoxious self.

My client was beautiful

with black piercing eyes,

intelligent, witty and

utterly ruthless.

When I first met her,

she had been busy,

vivisecting hapless underlings.

In those far-gone days

I wore a suit with

paisley shirt and

random tie.

On that day

I hadn’t noticed the

coffee stains.

Looking at me

ready to pounce

hungry for the next victim

the tigress purred

“Hello, Handsome”.

I must admit not

being ready for that,

particularly after hearing

previous excoriation.

My lame reply,

“You look nice”.

The explosion was spectacular,

I was overwhelmed.

Love at first bite.

We exchanged insults for

several wonderful minutes,

she was grinning,

I think I was smiling.

Such are my memories

on this New Year’s Day.

We worked together for,

many productive years.

We only traded our insults

in private.

To rest of the

blouses and suits

we were just weird

which suited us just fine.

She always made

black rich delicious pungent coffee

for our morning meeting.

Memories.

Time and tide wait for no insult

she moved on as did I

Occasionally I would get

an email of one line

“Why are you so obnoxious?”,

to which I replied

“Why are you so dumb?”.

Received her latest email

this new year’s morning

Time for happy memories and

black rich delicious pungent coffee.

Memories.

Blessed be.

People like my dear friend

Give me hope for the future.
Surviving the Subsequent Pandemic of Sadness
By: Richard Lebeau
Tags: Culture, Health, Media, Mental Health, News

To say that these are wild and uncertain times we are living in would be a gross understatement. At the time of writing this, there are 145,339 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) across 137 countries. The confirmed death toll stands at 5,416. Given the huge dearth of testing kits in countries (like here in the U.S.) and the lack of streamlined screening and central reporting mechanisms in other countries, these numbers are almost certainly a vast underestimation. Understandably, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic earlier this week and the White House just declared a National Emergency.

I truly believe that the overarching goal for everyone at this moment must be containment. Although the vast majority of cases are and will be mild, there is a significant minority of people for whom contracting the virus will be fatal. Additionally, if we don’t “flatten the curve” our health care system will become quickly oversaturated, likely leading to a host of other health problems. The two recommendations are consistent, frequent, and thorough hand-washing and social distancing. The former is no problem for most of us, but the latter is causing major upheaval to the daily lives of people all over the world. Schools are closing. Major industries are closing up shop or mandating employees to work from home for the foreseeable future. A plunging stock market is wreaking havoc on people’s retirement accounts and investment portfolios. Major events that bring immeasurable joy to people and are essential to the economic prosperity of many have been canceled.

Given all of this, it is unsurprising that acute anxiety abounds. Research shows that perceptions of uncertainty and uncontrollability fuel worry and fear. And there are few things more uncertain or uncontrollable than a global pandemic. And the uncertainty is certainly not helped by the fact that we can’t rely on even our own government to give us accurate information about what is going on, let alone a sound plan to contain things.

Although panicking is almost never productive, the anxiety we are experiencing is normal and healthy. It makes sense that we are worried about our own health and the health of our loved ones. It makes sense that people are scared of economic ruin. And it makes sense that not knowing whether schools will be open, grocery stores and drug stores will be stocked, travel will be canceled, or how long this will all go on for provides major daily stress that accumulates quickly.

I believe that the steps we are taking with social distancing are absolutely essential and, in fact, I think that many people are not taking the recommendations seriously enough. But these measures are hardly without cost. Certainly economists, CEOs, and journalists will continue to churn out regular analyses of the financial costs, but I am almost certain that far less attention will be paid to the emotional costs.
Sun Editorial: New Jersey can learn if a raise in the minimum wage is good for people or not
By: Stephen Finn
Tags: New Jersey, State Laws, Minimum Wage, Wages

Sun Editorial: New Jersey can learn if a raise in the minimum wage is good for people or not

We shouldn’t waste this opportunity to take a hard look at an important issue.

By Alan Bauer

The Sun

Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff is a former state treasurer who recently penned an intriguing column for njspotlight.com. He tackles the recent move in the state to raise the minimum wage to, eventually, $15 an hour. Instead of jumping up and down for one side of the argument or the other, he makes a valid point: Maybe we ought to actually take a look at the move’s impact to see if it’s a good one or a bad one.

New Jersey’s minimum wage jumps to $10 an hour in June for most workers. Then it goes up $1 an hour every January until it reaches $15.

Sidamon-Eristoff recognizes the political debate in the state is over, but also correctly notes a couple of pretty big questions: Will the move be good or bad for New Jersey and how will we know if it’s good or bad?

We won’t detail all of his questions here — there are many, they are good ones and you should check out the column yourself. But we will highlight some of the bigger issues at hand.

Among the most important: How will we know if the minimum wage boost really is helping lower-income individuals? Will they keep their jobs and all their hours, or will businesses downsize due to the added labor costs?

Who is impacted the most — for better or worse — with the increase? Are breadwinners now better able to take care of their families? Are younger people being pushed out of the entry-level job market?

What happens on the broader job market? Will wages across all spectrums increase as the minimum wage goes up? If so, will that lead to inflation? If not, how does that affect companies’ abilities to hire qualified workers?

Also, who could take on such a study? Government? A university? How can such a study remain independent and credible?

Sidamon-Eristoff points out New Jersey has a chance to really figure out if a significant raise in the minimum wage — over time — is good for the people of the state or not. We shouldn’t waste this opportunity to take a hard look at an important issue.