fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
How to Make an Easy, Customizable Recipe Book
By: Ellie Daforge
Tags: Baking, Food, Guides And Tutorials, Cooking, Creativity

How to Make an Easy, Customizable Recipe Book

Photo by Deva Williamson via Unspash

For the longest time, I have been trying to compile a resource of all the recipes I use. I kept a few on my computer and printed them out, but it’s hard to keep up, because I bake a lot. I usually end up flipping through cookbooks or searching through bookmarks of online recipes — not the most efficient process.

Online recipes can be great, except for those 8,000 words and half a dozen photos you have to scroll past before you get to the recipe. And what if the site deletes it? It’s nice to have backups. I used to keep them all neatly “pinned” on a site that allows this, but eventually I found it cumbersome.

Cookbooks are great, but if I have to edit the recipe (which I do often to double or halve the amount) I have to rewrite the entire recipe or keep doing math in my head. Which is a pain, and makes it easy to make a mistake.

One day, I had a revelation. I was using Evernote to organize my college notes — why not use it to store recipes? You can also use OneNote, which many people swear by; the process is the same. Here’s how I did it.

First, name a notebook “Recipes.” Gather all the recipes you like to make. Copy and paste each of the online recipes into its own note. I keep a note with the source, such as “Budget Bytes” or “Allrecipes,” so I can share the original recipe if people ask.

Easy, right? But what about all those cookbook recipes you love? Or your grandmother’s old index cards?

Just snap a photo of them. My Android phone gives me the option to copy the text in the photo — that’s right, it will convert a photo to text. I don’t have an iPhone, but I’m sure it must do this as well.

Paste that text into a note and make any changes you need — quantity, adding notes, whatever. Copying them from a photo is much faster; you can just edit the numbers, and don’t have to rewrite the entire recipe.

The recipes are now all searchable; for instance, you can type in “blueberries,” and all the recipes that use it come up. This is the biggest plus for me; no more thinking, “Where was that great apple cake recipe?” and searching for it for twenty minutes. You can also tag recipes into categories, but I don’t, because I’m lazy.

You can use the app to easily share recipes with other people, such as for grocery shopping, meal planning, or evaluating possible allergens.

I don’t use any fancy templates for my recipes, just an ingredients list (ideally, in the order that items are used) and brief instructions. I usually simplify the recipes; “Tablespoon” becomes “T”; teaspoon becomes “tsp.” “Arrange rounded spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, place in a preheated oven and bake at 375 for 10 minutes, then place onto a wire rack to cool” can just as easily be “Bake at 375 for 10 minutes” for me.

And there you have it! Go forth and make.
HBTCCrv LP Strategy Guide
By: Terry Lam
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Guides And Tutorials, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Loser’s Guide of Being Happy, Pt. 1: It’s Just Differences.
Tags: Happy, Guides And Tutorials, Difference, Loser, Einstein

I used to feel intimidated when I see people have more or achieve more than me. Until I realized it’s just a matter of differences.

Try scrolling through your social media. You see your friend studying abroad, and somehow, you feel like they’re better than you. You see your friend get a new, well-paid job in an infamous startup company — and somehow, you feel like they’re better than you. Heck, it can be as simple as seeing your friend has clearer skin than you, and somehow, you feel like they’re better than you.

I used to feel exactly like that. I used to feel when people have more and achieve more, then they’re better than me and so I put them above me. I used to undermine my own self & achievements because it looks like I did less than my peers. Until I adjust my view to see that it’s actually just a matter of differences.

Now when I see my friends study abroad, I don’t see them as better than me — we’re just studying on different places. When I see my friends get a fancy job on a big company, I don’t see them as better than me — we’re just working different jobs. When I see someone on Instagram who looks very attractive, I don’t see them as better than me — we just happen to have different appearance.

When you see your friends make more money than you, they just make different amount of money than you. When you see your friends got higher scores than you, they just got different scores than you. When you see your friends were able to afford marriage before 25, they just married at different age than you. I can keep giving you examples. You get the idea.

My point is: just because people around you seems like doing better and having more than you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proud and happy for your achievement & possession. You achieve & possess different things from them, and there’s no reason to feel less worthy about yourself.

We all familiar with the catchphrase “you’re only competing with yourself”, and it is true. The only race journey you’re in is the one with your past self. Try to reflect on what you had been through in your journey once in awhile and recognize all the cool things you’ve had and done along the way.
Ultimate Guide For Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
By: Azio Corp
Tags: Mac, Guides And Tutorials, Mechanics, Keyboard, Gaming

Let’s first get started by knowing the mechanical gaming keyboard! But haven’t you noticed more people use mechanical gaming keyboard?

Generally, a high-quality mechanical gaming keyboard, typically spring activated key switches vary based on the keyboard’s application, providing a satisfying tactile feel and excellent typing experience.

Features like switches, framing, functionality, type print methods, key construction, PCB board, LED lighting (sharpness, brightness, adjustability), etc., are far superior compared to traditional keyboards for MAC.

Why people like mechanical keyboards?

The straightforward answer to this question is the switches. If you’ve ever compared the typing experience from a mechanical gaming keyboard to the regular one, then you’ll believe what I am going to say.

For those who type a lot, a mechanical gaming keyboard is a much better choice than a regular one. When you press down a keycap of a mechanical gaming keyboard, it activates a spring-loaded switch underneath it. Depending on the form of turn, this spring can require more or less force, and it can either make a pleasurable “clack “ sound or stay quiet. On the other side, the ordinary machine keyboard that builds with a rubber dome and membrane has no way to have such a noticeable and robust press. In any case, mechanical switches offer physical input, which lets typists realize that they have pushed the key hard enough to register and haven’t skipped a letter. Mechanical Gaming Keyboard takes much more force to actuate than the membrane counterparts, but that’s not the case. Unlike membrane buttons, mechanical switches don’t have to push down the whole way to actuate so users can prevent the awkward sensation of “bottoming out” (pressing against the base) at maximum power. In other words, you can type effortlessly and more relaxed on a mechanical gaming keyboard than on a standard keyboard.

If you are a touch typist, having a mechanical gaming keyboard will improve your typing speed and precision. As you type faster, the chances of typing the wrong key increase. By offering good physical and, in the case of clicky switches, auditory input on each actuation, keyboards for MAC help you change your strokes and produce the maximum possible amount of words per minute. You’re not going to get the same feeling of moving two bits of plastic.

Follow me back and check out more blogs of mine related to Keyboards For MAC. Thanks for reading me out!
The Graph Network launch. How to delegate?
Tags: The Graph Protocol, The Graph, Guides And Tutorials, Delegating

WHAT IS GRAPH?

‘The Graph’ is a decentralized protocol that enables the indexing and querying of data via ‘subgraphs’. The Graph optimizes data acquisition from any supported source, beginning with the Ethereum ecosystem, making it possible to efficiently query blockchain data without relying on a centralized service provider.

There are four roles in The Graph Network: Indexers, Curators, Delegators and Consumers. To ensure economic security of The Graph Network and the integrity of data being queried, participants stake and use Graph Tokens (GRT).

Indexer — and this is Ryabina’s role in Graph — is a node operator in The Graph Network. We stake GRT (Graph Tokens) to provide indexing and query processing services and earn query fees and indexers rewards. Our mission here is to select subgraphs to index based on the subgraph’s curation signal, where Curators stake GRT in order to indicate which subgraphs are worth to be indexed.

Curators are subgraph developers, data consumers or community members who signal to Indexers which subgraphs (APIs) should be indexed by The Graph Network.

Delegators in The Graph delegate stake to Indexers to contribute to securing the network. When delegating to Indexers, Delegators earn a part of query fees and rewards, earned by the Indexer they chose.

While selecting an Indexer to delegate, a Delegator should pay attention to such Indexer’s metrics as query fee rates, slashings, uptime, cut fees and rewards from indexer.

HOW TO DELEGATE RYABINA?

Ok, it is very easy.

First let’s go to the Graph UI page https://network.thegraph.com/

Connect your wallet

2. Choose the Indexer by ID (username is unavailable now)

Ryabina indexer’s addresses:

1). graph-node-1-cp0x-hosted-by-ryabina.eth: 0xbb784d9b398271b7a64f975bebde869409691915

2). graph-node-1-cp0x-hosted-by-ryabina.eth: 0x8a1729fe84c53c231c7ae53a5bec3f6e9953cb4b

3). ryabina.eth (Overdelegated): 0x9238584c74e5fa445a8f72a4d4ef4699dd783852

Indexer’s and delegators’ rewards are calculated based on the sum of Indexers self-stake and all assets delegated to the Indexer.

Ryabina uses the dynamic model of fee and rewards cuts%. This model will be changing our reward cut depending on the ratio of our own stake and quantity of delegated tokens and our actual fee will be close to 10%

You can find details about our dynamic model and calculations here:

https://ryabina.medium.com/graph-network-fee-cut-and-rewards-cut-hot-it-works-625fded9c827

To Delegate click the “Delegate” button, check all the parameters and sum of GRT you want to stake and click “Submit transaction”. Pay attention that there is a 0,5% transaction fee.

Track all the changes in your account.

Please be noted, that in The Graph network Delegators can’t be slashed, but there is a withdrawal tax on Delegators to disincentivize poor decision making that could harm the integrity of the network.

Read more about The Graph token economics.

Good luck! 🍀

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact the Rybina team via Telegram or e-mail: info@ryabina.io
A Unique Guide to Gaining Followers
By: Joseph M. Learned
Tags: Advice, Followers, Guides And Tutorials, How To, Writing

Do: Respond to every article you read

Responding to every article you read not only increases your presence in the community but also increases the total level of engagement that you are able to garner. I love to be engaged with other writers in this community (which is why I’m always trying to get a Direct Messaging system implemented on this site, but that’s for another time).

Being engaged with the community will be your best source of followers — especially if you don’t already have a following from another source.

Don’t: Try the follow-for-follow method

It doesn’t work. Trust me. Readers follow writers who inspire them. They don’t want their feed stuffed with useless articles that have nothing to do with their interests. Additionally, they may see this as spam. Just don’t do it.

Do: Post frequently and with regularity

Frequent, regular posting is a great way to build your own passionate fanbase. I have around 300 followers. And yet, I have the beginnings of my own little niche (I love, and see, all of you). These wonderful readers click on your article every time they see your name. Usually, it’s because they love your writing voice. It can also be because you give incredible advice. Everyone is different.

Don’t: Burn yourself out

Frequent writing is important, but so is your mental health. Writing with regularity is likely the most commonly given piece of advice on this site. And yet, the flip side is so often ignored. The last thing you want to do is burn yourself out.

I wrote the following article to explain this theory in depth.

Do: Engage with your readers

Readers want to feel heard (read?). They love it when their favorite writer responds to them. Think of yourself in their shoes. You love the attention from someone you respect, as do they. Don’t let them feel ignored. Value their opinions, especially their feedback.

Don’t: Harass your readers

Not everyone will like you. Many will disagree with your advice, especially if it is about politics. Responding negatively to negative comments make you look immature, volatile, and impulsive. Readers want a consistent voice, but not one that makes them uncomfortable with sharing their own opinions.

Do: Write about Medium

Writing about Medium can help you develop your own skill passively through research. It can also help gain interest from other writers which will, in turn, increase your level of community engagement. As I’ve said above, community engagement is one of the largest factors that go into determining your follower count.

Don’t: Write about Medium

That’s not how you get curated. Almost every article on this site is about this site. Don’t do what I’m doing by writing about Medium. Your article — unless it is very unique — will likely fall flat.
The Brief Beginner-Friendly Guide to Stock Investment
Tags: Stock Market, Guides And Tutorials, Finances, Investment, Financial Literacy

The Basics

Assets, Liabilities, & Bonds

Assets increase in value or adds value to your future. Most people think assets need to be tangible, but assets can be anything that will increase your wealth in the future; intangible entities. For instance, your education is an asset because it’ll provide you with life-long skills to help turn a profit. Tangible assets, such as a house or shares of a stock, can be exchanged for money immediately.

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

Liabilities decrease in value over time. Clothes, shoes, and accessories are common investments we make per year. Although it’s necessary to have clothes on your back and shoes on your feet, those clothes and shoes wear and tear after some time. Their value goes down the more we use them, and eventually, they end up recycled.

A person who owns bonds has ownership over liabilities because they’re part-lender to a company. When a company tanks, the owners are obligated to pay back all the lenders of their company. When one owns a bond, they’re issued a bond certificate. The certificate represents the amount of money to be paid back to the lender. The bond certificate is often said to “mature” because some interest will accumulate over time.

Does that sound familiar? It should!

Bonds operate like credit card loans, student loans, car loans etc. Interest accumulates with time, and eventually, the lender earns profit. In some way, liabilities all operate the same; you lose out on a lot more than you expect as a borrower but gain more than you invest as a lender.

Equity & Stocks

Liabilities take away from your assets, and the remaining amount is called equity.

To illustrate, Emily recently bought a new home in a trendy, up and coming neighborhood. Its property value is estimated at $750,000 (Emily’s home is an asset). Emily also has $140,000 in student loans and a total of $40,000 in other loans such as credit cards, line of credit, and loans from friends/family. Her total liability is $180,000. Therefore, if Emily were to sell her home, she would have $570,000 in equity.

A person who owns shares in a company has ownership over equity because they’re part-owner of a company. Shares are a fraction of a company valued at a price. When a company initially goes on the market, also known as an IPO or initial public offering, the quantity of shares up for trading and each share's value is released to the public.

Quick Fact: Companies typically consult an investment bank to crunch some numbers to derive the market value of a share. Once the company is integrated into the stock market, its market value is driven by supply and demand.

The market value or ask price is the value of the share on the market and is what you pay to own a share. The idea behind buying a share isn’t only to look at its market value but to assess the fraction of the company you’ll own at said market value.
How to wrap your hands with boxing wraps, A step-by-step guide.
By: Punch
Tags: Boxing Gloves, Learning, Guides And Tutorials, Instruction, Boxing

In this step-by-step guide, our team will run you through an easy to understand, step by step guide on how to wrap your hands for boxing or any combat sports involving the use of boxing gloves.

Full guide: https://www.punchequipment.com/hand-wrapping-guide/
My Toolbox
By: Akil Griffiths
Tags: Guides And Tutorials, React, JavaScript

My Toolbox

I’ve been using react for what I think to be a decent amount of time now. All of my latest projects were definitely in react, that got me wondering about what tools I’ve been using to make these apps. Am I using the same tools to get better practice with them or am I already starting to get set in my ways? I feel like one of those is bad, so let us look at some features and look at how I’ve been doing it to determine what I’ve been doing.

Sign-in

I remember when someone told me about localStorage, I was impressed by it immediately. When I’ve been making something that deals with people’s info like a login or register, I have been using the local storage method. If I think a user will be changing/displaying or changing their name I like to use this method. Most recently I’ve implemented it to store a users name and points. I saw it as the right way to go for now. It might be that I have to use something else when I account for all the moving parts, but right now it is working well.

CSS

Once someone told me about Flexbox I never really looked back. There are so many things I still don’t know about Flexbox, even after playing that game I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I mainly use it to structure a bunch of items I’ve gotten from a state, for example a bunch of users that I want to be styled the same.

As we can see with this picture I clearly need more practice with it. Although it is definitely way better than how a certain poem project looked before, I am allowed to appreciate and want better.

Modals

When it comes to CSS I like? I think I like trying to make my own stylings. I know for the longest(still pretty new) I’ve been trying to do it myself, not using frameworks. Once I was encouraged to use React-Bootstrap, now I haven’t used other features of bootstrap so I probably need to try those out. I have used the modals. Whenever I want something to pop up, like a login-form, I know it is time to install Bootstrap.

I feel my toolbox is missing a few items, but I believe the current tools are good ones. I don’t think I am at a point where I’m not trying to add more tools, which as a software developer, I believe that is never a point you are supposed to reach. I should always be looking forward to having a new way to solve a problem, that is one of the reasons why programming is exciting.
Tying A Tie
By: Everything Cj
Tags: Learn, Guides And Tutorials, How To, Knots, Ties

Begin the Jeff knot just like the four in hand. In this case, since the knot is a bit thicker and uses more of the tie fabric, you’ll want the thin end to be higher up (ie, the wide end will hang lower) than it did for the four in hand. Cross the wide side over the thin side, then bring the wide end up behind the thin side and over.
Do you own an Amazon Fire HD tablet, and want to use the Google Play Store app?
By: Jonathan Hawkins
Tags: Amazon, Technology, Tablets, Guides And Tutorials, Google

Do you own an Amazon Fire HD tablet, and want to use the Google Play Store app? I’ve used the below guide on 3 Kindle Fire HD 10 (9th Generation, 2019 Model) tablets this year, and everything worked out great.

It lists directions for all sizes of Fire tablets, and for older models too. So even if you don’t have the 2019 or 2020 models, you should still find what you need to unlock the potential of your tablet, and get access to many more apps than the built in Amazon App Store has to offer.

Read and follow all the steps carefully in the Android Police article link below, and you‘ll be up and running in no time.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/03/install-play-store-amazon-fire-tablet/
4-Point Guide In Creating A Startup Unicorn
By: Larry Kim
Tags: Marketing, Self Improvement, Guides And Tutorials, Startup, Entrepreneurship

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Guide to Shipping Smartphones & Gadgets Overseas
Tags: Christmas Gifts, Shipping, Electronic Devices, Guides And Tutorials

With holiday seasons approaching, presents and gifts is ideally one of the best way to show your love. Unfortunately, lots of people are forced to spend this Christmas without their loved ones because of COVID-19.

I was talking to my mom in the States the other day and she was telling me how much she wants to a new iPhone. While we couldn’t spend this Christmas together, I wanted to show my love to her and surprise her a new iPhone 12 before Christmas. Since lots of international courier services has been suspended, it wasn’t easy for me to get an express shipping from Hong Kong to the US. Especially when COVID-19 getting more serious, I didn’t really want to go out to DHL or FedEx branches and queue up for shipments.

Luckily I found Spaceship online and they offer instant quotes from various international courier services and my mom could get a new iPhone before Christmas. Spaceship also offers door-to-door pick-up service so I don’t have to go out!

Spaceship is currently doing a XMAS promotion. Get HK$50 off for Christmas Shipment!
How To Update Raspberry Pi: Just Follow These Easy Steps
By: James J. Davis
Tags: Raspberry Pi, Geeksforgeeks, Guides And Tutorials

Let’s talk a about how to update Raspberry Pi. If you’ve never updated your little computer , it’s time to try it out!

Released in September 2019, Raspbian Buster is based on Debian Buster and has been updated several times. It pre-installed Python, Scratch, Sonic Pi, Java and other programming tools.

Raspbian itself comes with a set of tools, from the Chromium browser to several useful software applications and utilities. There is also Claws Mail, the LibreOffice package, not to mention Minecraft PE!

The latest versions of Raspbian have been improved with a wizard along with a recommended software tool. Display settings have also been added, including Pixel Doubling for UHD displays. There is also support for network boot over Ethernet.

(btw, if you haven’t seen this Raspberry Pi video lessons for beginners, I highly recommend to check it)

The easiest way to update Raspbian is in Terminal. Do it via the desktop menu or by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T (I assume you have a typical keyboard)

Start by updating the list of repository packages:

sudo apt update

When this is done, run the update command:

sudo apt dist-upgrade

Follow any instructions and wait for the Pi update. When you’re done, type in:

sudo apt clean

This will delete unnecessary files that were uploaded during the update. Finish by restarting:

sudo reboot

When your Raspberry Pi is restarted, you will use the latest version of Raspbian.

Upgrade Raspbian to the latest version

As already mentioned, Raspbian is based on Debian and follows the naming conventions of the parent distribution.

To upgrade Raspbian Stretch to Raspbian Buster, start with updates and upgrades to the latest packages.

sudo apt update sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

Then you need to update the firmware:

sudo rpi-update

Updating to Raspbian Buster means switching repositories. This can be easily done in the terminal by editing the sources:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Use the arrow keys to view the list until you find it

deb http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/ stretch main contrib non-free rpi

Change this line by replacing “stretch” with “buster”:

deb http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/ buster main contrib non-free rpi

Press Ctrl + X to save and exit, then delete a large change log file:

sudo apt-get remove apt-listchanges

This will save time when updating the operating system.

After updating the sources, you can start a full package update:

sudo apt update sudo apt dist-upgrade

It will take some time, so be patient. When you’re done, use

sudo apt autoremove -y

give up old packages with changed dependencies, then

sudo apt autoclean

This clears the packet cache, removing data that is no longer available for download and saving space on your Raspberry Pi.

To complete the upgrade from Raspbian Stretch to Raspbian Buster, restart your computer.

sudo reboot

That’s all, folks! You also may be interested on my other story about RPi:
Most great writing books are memoirs too.
Tags: Guides And Tutorials, Memoirs And Histories, Creativity, Writing, Motivation

Most great writing books are memoirs too. Stephen King’s On Writing is a memoir disguised as a how to book. Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird, ditto. The story of the title is priceless. Hemingway’s Moveable Feast is a pure memoir but filled with insights from his most fertile years as a writer, written thirty years later. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic is, on the surface, a self-help book about creativity, fear, and perseverance that combines her life experiences as a writer with motivational bits for those times when you’re staring at the screen with no ideas. They should all be on your bookshelf, along with instructional classics like The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (yes, White is the guy who wrote Charlotte’s Web).
12 Deeds of Giving and Plundered Presents
By: Jeff Onan
Tags: Sea Of Thieves, Guides And Tutorials, Gaming

12 Deeds of Giving

Starting today and for the next twelve days, a new challenge will unlock each day with its own cosmetic reward to unlock. Once unlocked, challenges will remain available until January 20th so you have plenty of time to complete this festive list of singable challenges!

With each challenge, you’ll unlock a piece of the new Eastern Winds Jade cosmetic set (in parenthesis), and for completing all 12 you’ll unlock an exclusive title, the Master of Festivities. If you miss the event or don’t complete everything, the cosmetics will become earnable for Pirate Legends after the event ends with a different commendation to achieve.

All 12 Challenges are available to complete:

12: Twelve Chickens Drumming… (Drum)

You or your crew must deliver 12 cooked chickens to the Hunter’s Call

11: Eleven Cannons Cursing… (Speaking Trumpet)

Strike other ships with a total of 11 Cursed Cannonballs while flying the Reaper’s Mark Flag

10: Ten Legends Searching… (Spyglass)

Find and Interact with 10 of Umbra’s Immortalizations across the Sea of Thieves

9: Nine Skellies Slaying… (Hurdy Gurdy)

You or your crew must defeat 9 Skeleton Captains during Bounty Voyages issued by the Order of Souls

8: Eight Quests Embarking… (Compass)

Successfully complete 8 Voyages of any kind

7: Seven Outposts Outing… (Tankard)

Set foot on all the Outposts across the Sea of Thieves

6: Six Ships A-Sinking… (Bucket)

You or your crew must successfully sink 6 enemy ships

5: Five Stolen Thiiings! (Concertina)

Hand in 5 chests that have been taken from another crew

4: Four Hauling Booms (Shovel)

Successfully hand in 4 Gunpowder Barrels of any kind to the Merchant Alliance

3: Three Fresh Hens… (Timepiece)

Catch and successfully hand in 3 (living) chickens to the Merchant Alliance

2: Two Total Dives… (Lantern)

Find and hand in 2 Shipwrecked Chests to the Gold Hoarders

1: And a Monster… (Banjo)

…that rose from the sea! You or your crew must defeat either a Megalodon or a Kraken

All Deeds Defeating! (Title)

Complete all of the Goals in the 12 Deeds of Giving Challenge
THE ULTIMATE 2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
By: Elton Qualls-Harris
Tags: Gifts Ideas, Guides And Tutorials, Holiday Gift Guide, Blackownedbusiness, Black Owned

Get your hands on the hottest gifts 2020 has to offer before they sell out!

Finally 2020 is coming to a close! If your drained from the year and need some gift ideas, I got you!!!

As we go into 2021, I want to acknowledge small businesses that have quality products.

This ULTIMATE 2020 GIFT GUIDE has everything you can think of please enjoy.

Majority of the brands included in this gift guide are black-owned small businesses, please take time to support these amazing brands and products!

Thank you,

Elton Qualls-Harris

APPAREL, BAGS, ACCESSORIES & SHOES

Let Me Say It In My Customer Service Tone Hats
Gilded Voyages: Holiday 2020 Guide
By: Jeff Onan
Tags: Sea Of Thieves, Guides And Tutorials, Gaming

Gilded Voyages: Holiday 2020 Guide

The Festival of Giving update is here, and from now until January 20th, Larinna the Bilge Rat is waiting outside the tavern to give you a special present: one Gilded Voyage. If you’re new to the game you might be wondering what these are and how they work, and even Veterans should pay attention to some slight changes this year around- so read on for a complete breakdown of this set of Gilded Voyages!

What are Gilded Voyages?

Gilded Voyages are only given away to players once or twice per year, making them very special indeed. They come in four varieties, a Gold Hoarder voyage, Order of Souls bounty, Merchant Alliance cargo run, or Gilded Athena Voyage of Legends, but are faster than regular voyages, and yield a LOT more Treasure.

However, you are only allowed to claim one Gilded Voyage per pirate. Not one per day, not one per week, one voyage.

Say that again?

When you pick up one of the four Gilded Voyages from Larinna, you will never be allowed to grab another one (until the next time they bring them back, maybe not until next Holiday season).

If you start your voyage and have to leave early, you’ve wasted it. If you accidentally cancel your voyage once begun, you’ve wasted it. If you grab the wrong kind and wish you’d have grabbed another, you’re stuck with it.

You can only receive ONE of these voyages, and only ONE time, so choose it carefully, and choose when to embark on it wisely.

NOTE: Although each PLAYER can only grab one voyage, you can complete these voyages with your whole crew, so you can complete more than one voyage if you play with friends.
Quick Guide For First Night With Your Pawdler
By: Life With A Pawdler
Tags: Dogs, Guides And Tutorials, Dog Care, Night, Dog Behaviour Training

While you are excited and exhilarated to get your Pawdler home, he is rather scared and alarmed. We welcome our furry friend with immense love and affection but he surely is inquisitive and confused. He might be sniffing everything to understand where he is and trying to adapt to his new life. He might be sad and dejected because he has been separated from the warmth of his family. No preparation, no products can stop him from feeling so. At night your puppy might feel lonely and might display it by whining, scratching the door or crying. Frankly you might not be getting any sleep on the first night with your pup.

Here are a few wrinkles that you can use to make your canine feel safe and secure at their new home:

Spend Some Time Together

When you bring your pup home, don’t just dump and leave them. Put yourself in their shoes, you won’t like if someone takes you to their home and then they forget about you, engaging in personal activities. I surely will not like this kind of behavior!

Pet them a little. Take them for a tour of the house. Let them get used to their new house. Try to take the rest of the day off and start your new journey with your pooch by investing some time and love.

Create A Welcoming Space

Get ready for the arrival of your little friend with all the necessities. For a little assistance click here. Have their food ready since they might be starving. If your pup is shivering, panting or trembling, then try to keep loud noises to a minimum.

Keep Their Bed Close To Yours

At night, if your pup is crying extensively, take them out for a little walk in your house. Do not give them any treats, food or play time. Try to get them back to their bed and sleep.

Do not let your dog into your bed or it might turn into a habit for you and your puppy. You could give them a fluffy toy to snuggle with. You could also bring a sense of belongingness by giving them something that belongs to you.

Do Not Avoid Them

I would instruct you not to shut a blind eye on them while they are crying. If you ignore them, you might have a little relaxation from all the whining but it might not be healthy for them. Instead you should comfort them and take this chance to bond with them.

For any queries or suggestions, please comment below.
Canvas
By: Akil Griffiths
Tags: CSS, Introduction, Guides And Tutorials

After looking at SVG’s I became a bit more interested in CSS. When you think about all the gears that turn to make a simple app, you understand that programming is beautiful. When you start learning CSS, you understand how hard it is to make something look beautiful. As I’m slowly getting around to making that game, I wanted to know about 3-D models.

I found there was a react technology for rendering 3-d models. React Three Fiber seems to make use of hooks so that already tells me it expects to make something dynamic. When I started looking at the first example it wasn’t looking as clear as I hoped. I was too focused on the tags I haven’t seen before instead of paying attention to what I did know. I can read the hooks and the ternaries and that tells me a lot of what I need to know. I decided it might make life easier if I learned about the one called Canvas.

It wasn’t my first time hearing of canvas. I roughly knew it was a tool to draw. So far what I have learned about Canvas, is how to make 2-d shapes. I noticed that the mesh made the 3-D shapes, while the canvas element looked like a container of sorts that added to the shapes by giving shadows. So my preliminary experience leads me to believe the react Canvas and the regular Canvas aren’t too different. Also I should probably work my way up to 3-D anyways.

The beautiful examples I saw on the react-three-fiber website, made me feel like I definitely want to master this, I don’t think there are any shortcuts to mastery. I looked at some examples on the Canvas Api, and tried to make something my own. Tried to make a battle-ax, not sure why, don’t look too much into it. Just like with SVG’s it took some playing with to grasp what the numbers do in the path. Also like SVG’s I’m looking forward to the day when something that looks amazing in my mind is actually represented on the screen.

Goal

Resources
Prospector.io
By: Mustafa Ikram
Tags: Strategy Games, Blockchain, Guides And Tutorials, Prospector 706, Games

First THNG First.

The first thing any new player should do if he wants to play the game without spending a penny is make an account on both the maps i.e. Yukon and wild west. After that start doing transportation jobs on both maps and convert gold from one account and migrate it to another.

Second Thing.

After accumulating enough gold buy some tools and start doing jobs with the tools also start saving money to buy a certificate to work long hours.

Third Thing.

Try to focus on one map and transfer the earning from one map to the other to buy tools and other stuff. If you are lucky to get good jobs then you will be able to get the certificate in less than a month.

Conclusion.

I was lucky enough because when I started playing; the very next week boomtown was launched which gave me a kick start because the salaries there were too high. A new server is also expected to be launched in the near future which makes it a great time to join the game. For those interested I have given the links of both maps below.

https://prospectors.io?ref=mustafaikram
[Guide] Stream copyright-free audio while listening to your normal playlist without stream hearing it
Tags: Dmca, Guides And Tutorials, Copyright, Music, Streaming

Step 4: Split your Audio, step-by-step

In your taskbar, right-click on the Speaker icon and click on “Open sound settings”.

Under Output, choose “CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)” from the dropdown.

Under Input, choose “CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)” from the dropdown.

Output to Input, Input to Output

Make sure the music you personally want to listen to is playing, for me and in my example, I’m using Spotify for that. Scroll down a little and click on “App volume device preferences”.

Scroll down a little

The only thing we have to do here is changing the Output for Spotify (or whatever you’re using).

Click on the left dropdown and pick your audio interface/soundcard/speakers. In my case, it’s “Speaker (Audient iD4)”

Pick your audio interface or speakers from the dropdown

Now go back to the previous menu (top left) and on the right under “Related Settings” click on “Sound Control Panel” — this opens the Legacy Sound Panel. When it’s open, make sure that under the Playback tab, “CABLE Input” is set to standard.

Sound Control Panel -> Recording Tab -> CABLE Input set to standard

In the legacy Sound Panel that just opened, click on the Recording tab and make sure that “CABLE Output” is set to standard.

Then click on “Properties”.

Recording tab -> CABLE Output (set to standard) -> Properties

The CABLE Output Properties window opens up. Here, click on the “Listen tab”.

Click the checkmark for “Listen to this device”. If you forget to click the checkmark, you won’t be able to hear anything

In the dropdown, choose your audio interface or soundcard — basically the same thing you’ve been using to listen to your audio before all this.

In my case, my headphones and speakers are plugged into my audio interface which is listed as “Speakers (Audient iD4)” but should be listed as whatever name your device has. Then hit Apply and OK.

Listen tab -> Check “Listen to this device” -> Choose your speakers/audio interface/soundcard from dropdown

If you play any sound, you should be able to hear it again as normal now. If it works, feel free to close the sound menus now.

If not, then something went wrong somewhere, best to start over again. If any of this was confusing, you can try to follow this guide instead, which basically explains the same thing.
2020 Holiday Gift Guide — Direct to Consumer (DTC) Brands
By: Raj Nijjer
Tags: Christmas, Gifts, Guides And Tutorials, Holidays

Direct to Consumer Brands Holiday Gift Guide

Holidays can be a stressful time and I recently asked for help on Twitter to find holiday gift ideas from eCommerce and direct to consumer (DTC) brands. Hopefully, this holiday gift guide makes holiday shopping much easier and rewarding for your family and friends.

The outpouring of holiday gift ideas was so great that I decided to share all the replies featuring unique product ideas from the DTC hottest brands on the planet.

Tatcha - Give the gift of beautiful, glowing skin with curated sets and specialty beauty items

Riya Collective — Handmade and sustainable global fashion and home decor

Rumpl — Everyday blankets made with the same materials found in premium sleeping bags and puffy jackets

Shop Small 2020 — Hand curated gift guide featuring Woman Owned, Black Owned, Latina Owned, and Chicago Local. NOTE: the curator is an affiliate

Sook — Browse & buy the best apparel, grooming and home decor from small businesses in your city

HIGHR Collective — Lipstick, redone. Clean | Sustainable | Wearable

Snaxshot — Curator of the coolest CPG brands

Alecs Ice Cream — Organic super premium ice cream delivered to your door

Neve Apparel — Single layer, 4-way stretch, waterproof & windproof cold apparel for guys & girls

Packa Ponch — Graphic, waterproof ponchos and accessories that are produced responsibly from recycled materials

Freshly — Chef cooked, healthy meals delivered to you

Flytographer — Book hand-picked, local photographers in 350+ cities and get travel-inspired gifts

Mallama — Natural vegan skincare products

Favor — Everything from stocking stuffers to the perfect centerpiece

Cancelled Plans — Clean burning, coconut and apricot wax candles

Girls’ Night In — Hand-curated and giftable picks from the GNI team

Coop Collective — Gift guide curated from independent brands

Noowave — Flow State Coffee

Meraki Design House — Handmade artisan footwear for women

Consciously — curated collection of fashion goods with purpose

Thing Testing — 9 brands with products and services designed for gifting

Snux — Active-Thermal ski boot cover engineered to keep your feet warm in alpine winter conditions

Cheekies — Sustainable and 3D-knit using premium recycled fiber masks

Loverboy Spritz — Premium craft cocktail

Store Roulette — Discover random and independent online stores

Kinfield — Discover female- and BIPOC-owned brands for the holiday season

Haus — Apéritifs made with natural ingredients in flavors that will satisfy everyone on your list

Rozae — Hand embroidered pillows for warm and colorful interiors

The Quality Edit — Hand curated top 100+ gifts of 2020

Tecovas — Western goods and products like cowboy boots

Happy shopping and don’t forget to give time and resources to those in need this holiday season!
The Ultimate Chestnuts Roasting Experiment
By: Ehab Abdou
Tags: Chestnut, Experiment, Guides And Tutorials, Christmas, Funny

In a world divided by politics and religion, I decided to focus on the hard questions of life. It’s a pursuit to figure out the best way to prepare chestnuts for roasting.

As expected for such worthy pursuit, I had to prepare well. How you might ask? Like all the greats, I did a fast google search 5 minutes before I started the experiment.

First let’s acknowledge that chestnuts are weird and when peeling them at best there will be 20 – 80% rotten ones in the bunch.

Now, let’s get into it.

How to roast chestnuts?

This part is pretty simple and most people know it already:

Cut or make an incision in each nut.

Put them in a pan or a baking rack.

Put them in an oven preheated to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time.

Voilà.

Since this experiment was no joke, I wanted to focus even deeper on just step number one.

Incision Options

During that elaborate 5 minutes search that I did, I realized there was no consensus on the best incision to make. There was, also, a family secret incision technique that was passed through my wife’s family.

So I set out to test them all. Well, at least four because I’m pretty lazy. There was one more that my family did with no incisions at all but that causes chestnuts to pop in a very messy way. I was not allowed to test it ever again after “the incident”.

So, I split the chestnuts into four groups. Each group gets a different type of incision.

A. The Belly Cut

All you need to do here is cut one straight line through the “belly” of the chestnut. Make sure to cut through the shell skin. Don’t worry if you cut a little bit of the nut itself.

B. The Cross

As the name suggests, make two perpendicular incisions on the “belly” of the chestnut to form a cross.

C. The Fallen Butt

For this ruthless technique, all you need to do is chop off the butt of the chestnut. Yes, chop the thing right off. You can leave it dangling like I did but that is just cruel.

D. The Splits

In this one, make the incision all the way around the top of the chestnut. This made up technique is truly dangerous. I almost cut my fingers a few times in the process.
The Community Playbook Cheat Sheet
By: Lolita Taub
Tags: Tech, Guides And Tutorials, Startup, Community, Venture Capital

This week, The Community Fund’s LP, Flybridge Capital, released The Community Playbook, a guide to help founders set up their communities and leverage community as their differentiation moat. It’s an awesome playbook (Jesse and I edited it 😉). You can check it out here.

To complement the playbook, in this The Community Playbook Cheat Sheet post, I share a short Q&A + a check-list + my notes to get you started on building your company’s community.

Q&A

Before you launch a community you need to answer a few questions.

Why — Why do you want to build a community? Do you see the community as your product or does the community add to your product development and your company’s growth? What? — What mission/values will bring your community together? Who — Who is the target persona for your community? In other words, what kinds of people will it bring together? Where? — Where will your community come together? Are you planning to leverage a proprietary platform, Slack, Facebook groups, WhatsApp?

Check-list

After you answer the questions above, make sure you check off the check-list below for a smooth sailing community. A solid community has:

1) A community foundation that includes…

a clear purpose + values members align with

+ members align with a community that’s easily accessible to members

to members incentives and rewards for participation

2) A community manager with the following skills…

Customer support

Content generation

Social media marketing

PR and branding

Internal navigation

3) A community manager that works with her/his principal to…

be intentional about building community (see Q&A section above)

looks for opportunities to leverage and integrate community into product/service with feedback loops

designs a self-sustaining community that supports itself and where members can create/share value with one another

4) A community manager that measures community return on investment (CROI)

Why do it? To justify spend and lean into the community efforts that are working (and lean out of those that are not)

To justify spend and lean into the community efforts that are working (and lean out of those that are not) What are the community benefits to expect? Increase in sales pipeline + deal size, increase in product adoption, product improvement, lowering CAC, developing a differentiation moat, and more

Increase in sales pipeline + deal size, increase in product adoption, product improvement, lowering CAC, developing a differentiation moat, and more How to measure Community Return On Investment (CROI)? Use this formula: CROI = (value gained — cost) / cost. For details and examples of how to use this formula, visit The Community Playbook, Chapter 4.

CROI = (value gained — cost) / cost

Notes on Community Dynamics