fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The Creation of Race
By: Leigh Green
Tags: Social Justice, Politics, Social Change, Culture, Race

This morning I received a message from a man I don’t know which consisted of only one quote, by another man I didn’t know.

“R acism is not dead, but it is on life support — kept alive by politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority by denouncing others as ‘racists.’” — Thomas Sowell

After several hours of sleuthing, I know far more than I’d like to about Thomas Sowell. He is an American economist who has made a career for himself by doing what many other Black individuals have done to be successful in a capitalist society designed to exploit them. He decided to exploit himself first. To be the Black man who legitimizes himself in white spaces by defaming the Black community. For a seat at the table. For-profit.

This man writes books deriding diversity, inclusion, and all other anti-racist measures. He is often invited to speak on television— Fox loves him — to discuss the folly of ideologies likes Marxism, though he claims that he himself was a communist for many years before he found the light. He points to an imaginary data set in his interviews and blames the “welfare state” for the destruction of the Black family unit, while completely ignoring the impact of the prison industrial complex and the obvious connection between racial bias and imprisonment. He’d rather vaguely gesture to problems within the black community that we need to address. However, what problems and with what resources? He neglects to say.

Sowell also asserts, shockingly, that social inequity is not something that we should aim to eliminate. In this interview, he declares that some forms of exclusion are just plain ol’ reality. That injustice and exploitation are essential systems that we entitled millennial brats should just get used to.

People in power eat this perspective up.

It takes all the responsibility off of their delicate shoulders and shifts it back onto the individuals who are used to bearing the weight. Those whose backs are perpetually bent under the pressure of keeping the world aloft for the privileged few. The white, cis, wealthy, and able.

In the above quote, Thomas Sowell was making the wild claim that race would not be a factor if we Black and Brown people just stopped asserting that it was. That if we just stopped talking about it and pulled ourselves up by our collective bootstraps then we would be living in a more equitable society.

That is a lie.

Black and Brown people did not create racism and do not in any way benefit from its existence. Race was created by people with power and resources as a way of maintaining that power and those resources.

That’s the reality.

We like to think of race and racism as relics of the past. Like growing pains. We were a younger society/culture/world before. We feel different now; better, and more mature. We assume that because we feel this way it’s the reality. That is just not the case.

The process of racialization is alive and well in our society. We need only look to our southern border to witness it in real-time.
Latest picks: In case you missed them:
By: Tds Editors
Tags: Editors Pick, Machine Learning, Data Science, The Daily Pick, Towards Data Science

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The ICONOMI Digest
Tags: Bitcoin, Iconomi, Blockchain, Update, News

Welcome to the first ICONOMI Digest. This update series is a continuation of our Weekly Update series and will be published on a biweekly basis. Our new name was chosen by the ICONOMI community in a Twitter poll.

DAA Overview

On July 5, we published an overview of DAA performance in Q2. All three of the top DAAs outperformed bitcoin.

DAA Manager Interviews

The day after publishing our Q2 DAA performance overview, we released interviews with the managers of each of the top three DAAs. Cain Ransbottyn of Trade, Elad Shtilerman of Cornucopia Index, and Sven Van de Perre of Exponential Age Array had a lot to say about their management strategies, the crypto landscape in Q2, and many other topics.

50k Twitter Followers

To celebrate the 50k Twitter followers milestone, on Wednesday, July 18 we will randomly select 20 followers of the official ICONOMI Twitter account to receive ICONOMI branded hats.

ICONOMI is Hiring

As part of our efforts to expand our marketing department, we are hiring a marketing assistant. Apply here. You can always find open positions at ICONOMI on our jobs page.

Android Activity Page

The Android app now has an Activity section, enabling users to track their platform activity directly from the app. Download the latest version from the Play Store.

New DAA: Tactical Gains Array

Our first DAA from Italy, Tactical Gains Array (TGA), is live. TGA is “a diversified DAA composed of tokens that provide liquidity and high capitalization with the aim of ensuring stability and constant growth with a long-term perspective.”

Media Highlights

Bitcoin Pizza Day 2: How A Lightning Payment Made History, by Rachel Rose O’Leary and Bailey Reutzel, CoinDesk

“Like Hanyecz’s 2010 purchase, this most recent one may be only a small blip today, but its symbolic value could prove just as far-reaching. For one, it says much about bitcoin’s technical direction, and the recent debates over this roadmap.”

Meet Oasis Labs, the blockchain startup Silicon Valley is buzzing about, by Mike Orcutt, MIT Technology Review

“The system Oasis Labs hopes to launch next year will offer both [high-performance computing and foolproof confidentiality], Song says, by separating smart-contract execution from blockchain consensus. Using the platform, she says, it will be possible to do things like assure the confidentiality of sensitive health data while using it to train a machine-learning model.”

Sneak Peek

This Sunday, Janez Kravcar, ICONOMI Head of Legal, will be speaking on a panel at the CoinAgenda Europe event in Malta, where he will be discussing managing risk, reward, and regulation in blockchain.

Follow our official channels for more updates and news:

Facebook / Twitter / Reddit / Medium

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Asp.Net Core 3.0 ile Json Web Token-Swagger-Authorize İşlemleri
By: Adem Olguner
Tags: Net Core, Authorize, Jwt Token, Json Web Token, Jwt

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Is it cowardly to refuse to be in a long distance relationship?
By: Eden Rohatensky
Tags: Advic, Dating, Relationships, Ronresponds, Love

Is it cowardly to refuse to be in a long distance relationship?

Ron Responds #12

QAm I a coward for refusing to be in a relationship with someone I have feelings for but don’t want to do a long distance relationship?

— Donny Law

AShort answer, no. You’re allowed to set boundaries for yourself and your relationships. That isn’t cowardly, so long as you communicate what your needs are to the other party.

Long distance relationships are tough. I think they’re feasible, however, if everyone involved makes the best effort to manage the insecurities that distance can call focus to. This can be a ton of emotional labour, and if you’re not able to commit to that, the relationship will likely not end up working out.

I do, however, think that completely writing off long distance relationships as a concept is perhaps short-sighted. They’re a lot more feasible than they used to be 20 years ago, and a lot less difficult. I think it might be wise to consider whether it could work, if you have feelings for this person, so that you understand why it won’t work — if that ends up being your conclusion.

It’s completely up to you. I encourage you to communicate with the person why you’re making the choice to not start a long distance relationship. Be clear about what your hang ups are. It isn’t cowardly to make that choice, but it’s responsible to communicate it well.

I wish you the best,

Ron
31 must-read blockchain & crypto-currency documents
By: Rohas Nagpal
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin

No discussion of blockchain or crytpo-currencies should begin without mention of David Chaum’s Untraceable Electronic Cash and Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments.

These are some of the most interesting blockchain and crypto-currency documents and reports that I have come across. Note: These are in chronological order (oldest to newest).
A Family Member Posted, “I Do NOT Support LGBTQ” on Social Media
By: Phoenix Huber
Tags: This Happened To Me, Politics, Social Media, Relationships, LGBTQ

A Family Member Posted, “I Do NOT Support LGBTQ” on Social Media

I’m queer but her words bother me less than some of my allies — is that bad?

Photo by Alexis Mora Angulo on Unsplash

“Let’s get some things straight.”

An interesting choice of words for my relative’s latest social media post. I’m sure she didn’t mean for it to be literal, and I’m laughing about it. Even though I know I’m not supposed to be!

I already knew she was pro-life, against the Black Lives Matter movement, and critical of social distancing — unlike my immediate family.

This time, her post shed light on police funding, the “China virus,” the 2nd amendment, and the most sensitive topic of all…

I do NOT support LGBTQ.

Uh-oh.

A few on our family tree hit block over the LGBTQ remark. Several of us are openly queer. People expressed disappointment. There was a stir in the comments section.

They hoped she would take it down, and renounce her views. She hasn’t.

I only just found out about this, weeks later. Strangely, I’m probably one of the people who feels least disturbed by what she said.

I’m a passionate activist for gender and sexual equality. I’m transgender myself. I’ve depended on people’s acceptance to feel my life is worth living.

So why do I feel nonchalant about my relative’s non-support of LGBTQ — and is it wrong for me to feel this way?

For the purposes of this story, let’s call the family member Jonna.
Foot Photos
By: Meghan Mccarthy
Tags: Feet, Memoir, Comics, Stress, Fetish

Hi! I’m a children’s book author & illustrator of over a dozen picture books for young readers. I also like creating biographical/humorous comics so stay tuned!

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DIY People Vs. The Rest Of Humanity
By: Emery Schindler
Tags: Lifestyle, Satire, DIY, Culture, Humor

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Does Meditation Make Your Skin Glow?
By: I. Trudie Palmer
Tags: Mindfulness, Meditation, Inspiration, Spirituality, Self

Does Meditation Make Your Skin Glow?

This glow didn’t come from a bottle

Photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash

Believe me when I say that meditation makes you glow.

I first noticed the changes to my skin quite by chance. I was at a conference, and while using the hotel’s bathroom mirror to reapply my lipstick, I notice a slight glow around my face.

My first thought was ‘nice lighting’ since there was nothing else I could ascribe it to.

Adequate water, exercise, proper diet, sleep, regular visits to my favorite facials were all things I’ve been doing regularly, but there was never any glow before now.

In trying to recall, the only change I had made to my lifestyle was a deepening of my meditative practice. So could it be that?

I went to google-know-it-all and there I found several stories, most based on research, that spoke about this glow that meditation provides.

Several of the articles explained the benefits of meditation from a physiological perspective and went into details about blood flow and skin and epidermal layer and capillaries; I read and smiled.
Discover the Balance of Your Imbalance
By: Francine Fallara
Tags: Haiku, Life Lessons, Culture, Poetry, Art

SPIRITUAL TREE PROMPT

Discover the Balance of Your Imbalance

Learn from your imperfections

Your imperfections Mentor tutor instructing Equilibrium

Francine Fallara, 2020

In response to Simran Kankas weekly prompt ‘Learning’ for Spiritual Tree

I am supporting the wonderful initiative of Share The Love Issue 3 by Martin Rushton #seenonstl.

For each poem I write, I will post someone else’s poem.

Listen O Soul! Spread Thy Glorious Wings And Soar High — A Poem by rtam.
How to Take the Subway
By: Devon Henry
Tags: Women, Comedy, Humor

You can tell a lot about a city by its public transit system. Switzerland’s metros are clean and orderly, and their stations have vending machines with Diet Coke, condoms, smiley face cookies and “Maybe Baby” brand pregnancy tests.

Santa Monica’s buses are clean, with easy-to-understand routes that nearly always get you where you need to go, albeit 15–20 minutes late.

Rome’s lightrail features broken pay stations as well as German tourists incredibly frustrated at their seemingly free ride.

I’m not entirely convinced that every train in Scotland isn’t the Hogwarts Express.

But there is no transit system I know better than the LA Metro.

The first time I rode the subway was with my boyfriend. The second time was also with my boyfriend and also his roommate. The third time I went by myself.

“Wait, you’re not going with me?”

“No babe, I have some work to do. You’ll be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I take it all the time. You’ll be safe.”

Cut to: A 5'4" man in a cowboy hat named Roberto trying to lick my hand.

I had forgotten that the testament to the Metro’s safety came from someone who has never traveled with lady parts and therefore wouldn’t know the kind of perils that await us. Neither my boyfriend nor his similarly male-bodied roommate had been made privvy to the ever-present risk of assault or our apparent responsibility to deter it. At worst they’d been told to buy those tacky wallet-on-chain deals your older brother wore in 1998 during his ska punk phase to deter muggers.

I yanked my hand away in shock. “Tienes un novio?” he asked, as if the presence of another man in my life would be the only reason I wouldn’t let a stranger lick my extremities. I responded in the affirmative and he shrugged, sitting in silence next to me for the rest of the trip.

It’s tough being a lady alone in the city, but that first solo ride on the LA Metro taught me a few important lessons.

Lesson 1: Don’t make eye contact.

Many people see eye contact as a invitation to talk to you about their stint as a failed actor or try to sell you $7 chocolate. Some people will still try to do this even if you don’t make eye contact. But, just to be safe, stare at the ground. Just keep staring. Even if you end up missing your stop because you can’t look up. Just. Keep. Staring.

Lesson 2: De-emphasize your figure.

If you are a lady and have a vaguely lady-ish body, people will try to touch or talk to it while you are just trying to wait for the Red Line. Try to draw as little attention to your figure as possible. Might I suggest a Hazmat suit or a garbage bag? Black Hefty of course, you can’t run around in a white Glad Forceflex like some subway tart.
HelloGold Foundation Update #22– 10th April 2019
By: Quentin Bignon
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Gold, Fintech

Highlights

AUM breaking the 20 kg milestone thanks to a 4 kg increase in March.

“Cash to Gold” feature to simplify in-app customer’s experience.

Improvement implemented following Thai market feedback survey.

Business

AUM breaking the 20kg milestone fuelled by the joint promo campaign with Boost

In conjunction with Boost, HelloGold ran a Lucky Draw and Giveaway collaboration campaign from the 18th of February to the 24th of March. Users who added cash with Boost to buy gold on our app were eligible to win a share of RM138,888 worth of gold. This promotion saw a total of over 2,000 participants over the 5 week period and recorded the highest number of gold buyers for the year during the campaign period.

AUM jumped from 18.26 kg to 22.59 kg in March.

Facebook AMA: HelloGold founders answer questions from HelloGold app users.

On March 23rd, HelloGold co-founders Robin Lee and Ridwan Abdullah hosted a Live AMA on HelloGold’s Facebook Page. Over 150 questions were collected from submissions throughout the week leading into the Facebook Live event. A multitude of different questions revolving around the business, gold, the app and even the founders were addressed during the session. The video is available on the news feed of the FB page and has now reached over 1,300 views. We are looking to continue this as a series so watch this space.

Thai early adopters feedback survey

The Thai team has been collecting feedback from users 3 months after launching the HelloGold app in the country. The customers pointed out two major pain points:
I miss having faith
By: Lucas Taylor
Tags: Faith, Spirituality, Easter, Crisis Of Faith, Religion

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash

Easter always makes me wax religious, which is an odd experience for someone who lost their faith.

I wrote about my crisis of faith and the details of my leaving the religious traditions of my family in more detail before, but today I don’t want to dwell on the past. I’m thinking about the present and future.

Maybe it’s a symptom from my upbringing, but on occasion I feel the desire to pray, or attend church, read scriptures. The problem is I wouldn’t know where to start.

This isn’t about rejecting the promptings of God for sake of my own ego, but about the fact that I simply don’t believe in the god of my family’s traditions. I haven’t for a very long time.

Even as a child, I didn’t find feelings of spirituality in the imagery of an angry god to be feared and loved, but in the serenity and beauty of the natural world I grew up around.

Photo by Bryce olsen on Unsplash

For lack of better language in this area, I feel closest to God when I’m submerged fully in the real world, the places where animals and plants live by their desires and needs, not by organization.

I feel no love or spirituality in the constructs of a society Hell-bent on its own gain. Not in churches led by men who make decisions for the lives of their congregations and expect to be obeyed.

I don’t miss Christianity, but I do miss the feeling of knowing. A confidence that you’re doing something right on a cosmic level. I miss a regular attendance to church, a place where I am surrounded by other (usually) well-meaning people in our collective journey to self-betterment.

I miss community.

Instead, I feel somewhat alone. It’s not true of course, I have my friends, the love of my life and my family even if they are far away. Still, sometimes I feel the old habits wanting to come up. I want to rest on my knees and pray to… well I really wouldn’t know.

Photo by Diana Parkhouse on Unsplash

Is it wrong to pray when you don’t even know who or what you’re praying to? Is it wrong to seek wisdom from a scripture you no longer believe in? It feels to me like seeking comfort in these things are wrong, unhealthy. The way a child clings to a blanket, or an addict clings to their high, it’s not right.

This world is full of beauty and spirituality. It’s an incredible place that, just for being, deserves respect and love if not some measure of worship.

The trick is, for me, I have no idea how to do that anymore.
Closures and Lexical Scoping in JavaScript
By: Amitav Mishra
Tags: Lexical Scope, Javascript Tips, Closure, JavaScript, Web Development

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Variables in JavaScript have two types of scoping i.e. Local and Global scope. If any variable is declared inside a function, then it is a local variable and if the variable is declared outside the function then it is global variable. The scope of variables is defined by their position in the code.

Lexical Scope

JavaScript follows Lexical scoping for functions. Lexical scope means any child’s scope has access to the variables defined in parent’s scope i.e. inner functions can access the global variables.

var a = 5; function sum() {

return a + 6;

} console.log(sum()); // 11

In the above example, function sum() is using global variable "a" to perform the addition. That means variable "a" is in scope of sum() .

Closure

var a = 5; function sum() {

return a + 6;

} console.log(sum()); // 11

A Closure is a function which has access to the parent scope variables. The above function has access to global variable “a” , so it is a closure.

If you will do console.dir(sum) , then you can see inside [[scopes]] property, the global variable “a” is present. It means function sum() has access to the variable “a” . Check the below snippet.

jscurious.com

Now let’s see another example of Closure with respect to inner function.

function sum(outerValue) {

return function(innerValue) {

return outerValue + innerValue;

}

} const findSum = sum(5); console.log(findSum(10)); // 15

When you call sum(5) , it returns a function which holds the variable outerValue . So when you call findSum(10) , it adds the outerValue value with innerValue value.

The inner function holds the outerValue even after the outer function is closed, this is called closure. If you will do console.dir(findSum) , you can see inside [[scopes]] property, the outerValue is present. It means the inner function has access to the variable outerValue .

jscurious.com

So next time if someone asks you about Closure in JavaScript, you know what to answer.
We Built This City on Bots & Trolls
By: Xristos Katsaros
Tags: Twitter, Data, Bots, Data Visualization

We Built This City on Bots & Trolls

Looking into Twitter trends found from data on Bot Sentinel

Both AI-driven bots and human trolls have been found spreading false information about really important topics, especially in the area of politics. Since 2016, social media’s influence on politics has been heavily discussed and researched.

Bot Sentinel is a site that launched in 2018 that is working to help fight against these kinds of accounts. They have trained a machine learning model, using thousands of accounts and millions of tweets, that can classify problematic accounts with 95% accuracy. On their site, you can find details on hundreds of thousands of accounts. One of the details I found interesting was the date the accounts were created; I wanted to see if there was any increase in account creation during the 2016 election and now. What I found were very distinct patterns, and a huge spike in those accounts over the past couple years.

How Bots are found and scored

Each account on Bot Sentinel has a score that indicates the level of threat it is. According to their site,

“We rate accounts based on a score from 0% to 100%, the higher the score the more likely the account engages in targeted harassment, toxic trolling, or uses deceptive tactics engineered to cause division and chaos.”

They have four categories for accounts according to their scores: normal, questionable, disruptive, and problematic. Unfortunately, there is no API yet available for Bot Sentinel, so I had to scrape a sample of their data to perform my analysis. There are 303,069 disruptive or problematic accounts (scores ≥50%), and of all 26,992 I was able to get, 15,088 (55.8%) of them fell into those categories. I wanted to narrow the scope of my analysis a little bit more though, so I cut out all the accounts that had ≤143 followers (the median), and was finally left with 11,750 accounts. Doing this makes sure the accounts I’m looking at are really engaging with other users.
Endearing
By: J.D. Harms
Tags: Distance, Relationships, Poetry, Image, Plague

Endearing

A Poem

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Muzzled this way, put inside a tiny box, grope passage for new light, any light; transforming myth into idea, a shape before disaster, holding up mirrors for greater reflection, but just catching other mirrors in the face.

Grotesque revolutions of make-up and costuming, which finally result in the sinking of the nude figure to the bed, the bed, that cosmic symbol for the touch of skin and skin.

Flying by in blue skies and black, traveling, endorsing existence before tacked to the ground somewhere, grounded, and the outlines of all the other frivolities seems endearing but just can’t quite take on the fundamental escape.

I’ve wanted you to know I was alone for so long, but never knew where to send the card, never could say where the lines would end up, but pressured by these ideas anyway, I keep track as well as I can.
5 Tips for Making a Decision When You Have Multiple Job Offers
By: Isabel Nyo
Tags: Programming, Job Hunting, Career Advice, Work, Careers

1. Evaluate Against Your Career Goal

Pros and cons of working for a startup vs. a large tech company. Photo by the author.

One of the initial steps to making the right choice when it comes to your career is to evaluate options against your midterm career goal before writing and comparing the pros and cons of each job offer. Why? Because each pro and con is subjective. Generally speaking, every choice you have is good and bad. There is no single option that is made up of all the pros.

For example, you might be faced with the option of working for a fancy small startup or a public tech company. They both have pros and cons. In this case, writing a pros and cons list is not going to help us make the right decision. But thinking about the outcome or career goal that you would like to achieve will.

Here are a few examples of what thinking about the outcome or career goal looks like. Do you want to become a generalist (someone who can wear multiple hats) because you are interested in going your own way and having your own startup one day? If so, working for a fancy small startup is more aligned with your career goal. However, if you want to deep-dive into a specific kind of technology or gain an understanding of writing enterprise software at scale, then working for a public tech company is a better fit.

Another common consideration is short-term financial impact vs. long-term investment in your career — usually in the form of the offer that pays more vs. the offer with a better career prospect. There is one right or wrong decision. Based on what outcome you would like to achieve, what stage you’re at in your career and life, and what you consider important to you, you can make the decision that is right for your career.
The Democrats Debated (some of them), I Drew Them
By: Liza Donnelly
Tags: Politics, Democrats, Trump, Election 2020, Democratic Debate

Senator Elizabeth Warren was given center stage, and the first question, because she is perceived as a front runner. She did well, but Julian Castro was the standout of the evening. Beto seemed scared, de Blasio was harsh; they both are very very tall. I think de Blasio is taller, but a twitter follower disagreed. Haven’t looked it up yet.

Of historic importance, there were three women on stage the first night, and also the second night. And it seemed very normal. At one point, one white male candidate talked about how important women’s rights advocacy is, and how much he’s done, how important it is for such work. Senator Klobuchar piped in that the three women on stage have done a lot of work in that area.

Klobuchar also had a great line about foreign diplmocy, implicating Trump and his early morning tweets.

Many of the candidates dropped the Spanish language into their responses (not so on the second night, perhaps because the first night it kind of seemed contrived because so many candidates were doing it)

Many considered Casto to a standout with his passion about immigration policy and the detained children.

Mayor Pete Buttegieg did pretty well, but there were no memorable moments for me.

Corey Booker was in top form and managed to get his message of love across, as well as his strong feelings about his neighborhood.
Monsters in Love: One With Gas
By: Carolita Johnson
Tags: Relationships, Love, Comics, Rhythmic Farts, Marriage

Cartoonist at The New Yorker, writer, illustrator, old girl and lapsed medieval anthropologist. Call me ma’am, I don’t mind! IG/twitter: carolitajohnson

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Sunrise at Angkor Wat
By: Cathy Clarke
Tags: Life, Life Lessons, Photography, Travel, Cambodia

For my Cambodian adventure, we budgeted three days to explore the Angkor Wat temple complex. For the sunrise experience, because day three of the trip fell on my birthday, I decided that starting the year with an epic sunrise was the right thing to do.

Make sure to give yourself some flexibility with planning. If you really want the “perfect” photo, you might want to give yourself some flexibility!

Tip #2: Timing and Bring a Light

The complex opens at 5 a.m., and the walk from the tuk-tuk to the photo spot was one of the darkest walks I have ever experienced! We were not in a rush as I used my iPhone to capture the moment and had no equipment to set-up. However, plan backwards with that amount of gear that you have to set-up so you’re not disappointed about what you’re experiencing (or feeling rushed/stressed).

The photo below captures many eager sunrise enthusiasts walking towards the reflection pools. Make sure to have a flashlight available to help you safely make the journey in the dark.
Dinner
By: Kae Smith
Tags: Scuzzbucket, Life, Prose, Poetry, Love

I sit cross-legged on the counter, you sit on the stool looking towards me; between us a half rack of ribs reheated from the night before, a dinner that screams giving up, giving in.

The scalding plate acts as a third opponent in this conversation, sharp, and biting our fingers as we pull apart the bones.

It’s not an argument, I could never call it that. Because it’s not.

It’s something though. A big change underfoot.

There’s something calming about the finger food, the focus. It grounds me, distracts me a little. If I look you in the eyes I know I’ll only see uncertainty, and you’re the one I always want to believe has all the answers. So my gaze stays on the plate.

You say things and I give answers. With every reach for more, my fingers are singed on the ceramic. Slow down, it tells me.

We talk about could haves and should haves, but those never help. They only make you want go back in time.

Hands greasy, fingers hot; there’s an empty plate now. The meat’s been pulled off, but so many bones remain, laying scattered across the dish.

Normally, the meat is the bulk of it, but with ribs it’s all sinew and small bites; most of it you can’t get through. That graveyard of bones screams at me like our unfinished conversation.

The parts we still need to talk about but just can’t digest yet.
Features of the Casa Node
By: Michael Borglin
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Crypto, Lightning Network

Casa Blog

Updates on Casa products, key security, Bitcoin and more
The Judgmental Analytics Professional
By: Michiko Wolcott
Tags: Statistics, Data Science, Prejudice, Data Analytics, Elitism

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Prejudice and elitism rampant everywhere. Even within the data and analytics profession, in case you were wondering. And I’m not just talking about racism.

If you think prejudice and elitism exists only in the society in general, think again. You wonder why people don’t care to do data and analytics the way it is supposed to be done? You wonder why analytics underperform so often? Professionals are creating their own problems.

I recently listened to a couple of well-trained data science panelists basically insinuate that “business analytics” was inferior and lower in quality.

There was a discussion thread that started with the original poster intending to brainstorm what statistical professionals can do to help the society. What was a call for positive change quickly turned into name calling within five posts, calling others liars rather than having a constructive discussion about challenges related to presentation of “facts.”

It is true that name calling started with a post that confounded politics with “facts.” It is true that this poster did not need to go there and could have left the political bent out of the discussion. But it is also true that the responder did not have to go personal. Are we that desperate to degrade others to elevate ourselves?

We are quick to judge and criticize, rather than foster a constructive discussion. This is not limited to the more standard social media — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. — nor is it even limited to the professional discussion boards. It’s every day, in our minds. We can’t preach rationality and objectivity to others if we aren’t practicing it ourselves. We lose credibility very quickly.

As much discussion as there is about how analytics professionals need to up their collaboration skills, we really don’t seem to get it. Somehow we’ve forgotten how to be humans. We’ve lost our will to empathize. Why so much hate and negativity?

We are not immune to any of this just because we are in a profession that supposedly advocates rationality and objectivity. We are all, first and foremost, humans, who work and interact with other humans.

We don’t have to agree or like each other, but we do have to care. Data and analytics professionals are not exempt from this basic best practice of life.
5 Things You Should Be Cleaning but Probably Aren’t
By: Chelsea Falin
Tags: Disinfection, Sanitize, Germs, Home, Cleaning

5 Things You Should Be Cleaning but Probably Aren’t

Germs hide in the most forgettable of places…

Everyone tries to keep their homes clean and as free of germs as possible. Unfortunately, germs tend to hide in the most forgettable of places. The following five things are prime examples of things you should be cleaning but probably aren’t.

1. Cell Phone

We carry our cell phones everywhere — even to the bathroom. These phones are constantly touched, breathed on, and set down on a large number of not-so-clean surfaces.

Most people don’t clean their cell phones, but you should at least be wiping it down with a damp (NOT wet) disinfectant wipe once a week. Avoid the speaker of your phone when wiping with a disinfectant wipe, and gently towel dry with a microfiber cloth.

2. Door Knobs

How many times a day does somebody touch the doorknobs in your home? The number is probably several dozen, but households with larger families may realize the number is closer to (or even more than) a hundred times. Now, consider how many germs that might spread?

You can clean doorknobs with a disinfectant wipe, or use your favorite spray cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Windex works well on metal doorknobs because it doesn’t leave streaks behind.

3. Light Switches

Your light switches might get touched more than your doorknobs — especially in well-used rooms like the living room, kitchen, or bathroom. Speaking of the bathroom, consider that anyone who uses the restroom will also use the light switch, and chances are high not all of them have washed their hands.

4. Computer’s Keyboard

Your computer’s keyboard probably hasn’t been cleaned in a long time, if ever. Yet it gets a lot of use, too.

You might be touching your keyboard as often as 60 to 100 times per minute, for (probably) an hour or more each day. That’s a lot of chances for germs and dirt to be transferred. If more than one person uses the computer, the keyboard is likely a major culprit in germ-spreading.

5. The Remote Control

The remote control is another thing everyone in your house probably touches. When was the last time you cleaned it?

Some people wipe it down every few months, but it should be done once a day. The remote is something that might end up in your dog’s mouth, your toddler’s sticky hands, and buried inside the not-so-clean couch cushions.

Conclusion

Germs have a habit of hiding in the most forgettable places. Even though you should be cleaning these five things, you probably aren’t…and that’s totally okay. But now you’ve thought about it, you can see why cleaning these five seemingly unimportant things is vital to stopping the spread of germs in your household.
Team Zero Fortnightly Newsletter
By: Zero Currency
Tags: Bitcoin, Privacy, Blockchain, Technology, Computer Science

Issue #14

Welcome to issue №14 of the Zero Newsletter, apologies for the gap in the last expected edition due to some vacation time taken from one of the team.

The most notable deliverable’s during this period have been the iOS beta through to final testing and then submitting it to the app store for processing. Upon submission to the App Store, the final cut was held back from release, not due to any technical issues, but from a small legality issue whereby a company is required to be registered and associated with the release.

At this point in time we do not have a legal entity or company that controls Zero, so need to explore this avenue further. We don’t have the answer just yet and will be able to provide more information as we continue our expedition into Apple’s realm.

When we do get around for an eventual release, we believe that we are the first ‘Z’ coin (Zerocash protocol) that has an iOS wallet. Not bad considering we’ve been grinding away for only 4 months now since community takeover 2.0.

A big thanks to all who participated in the testing of the iOS though, the feedback and journey to get there were unmeasurable in terms of learning and developing.

During this period, we also released our cross platform Arizen Wallet that complements our already existing collection of cross platform and mobile wallets!

There are also some cool new feature that are now incorporated into Zero’s ranks, namely Z-Drop & Zero-Machine, which are both realtime transaction generators integrated with graphics & audio. Check them out below:
We Need To Abandon This Piece of Relationship Advice
By: Casey A.
Tags: Relationship Advice, Relationships, Relationships Love Dating, Love, Personal Growth

We Need To Abandon This Piece of Relationship Advice

We’ve all heard it before — but is it serving us?

Photo by George Gvasalia on Unsplash

I think back to all of the advice I’ve been given over the years about love and I can’t help but feel deceived. Wisdom is passed down to us in many forms and when it comes to love, it finds its way to us in bad clichés: love means never having to say you’re sorry, love will set you free, love is blind. I learned to accept that life is not fair and that it could be hard, but for most of my life I fervently refused to accept that love would be anything but idyllic when I finally found the right person.

It frustrates me to think of how for many years I believed that when I met the right person that it would be easy. I can’t count the number of times someone gave me this advice or some variation of it. When you meet the one it will just feel right or you will be surprised how easy it all is. Looking back I can see that part of the reason I never questioned this advice — and rather clung to it with determination — is because I desperately wanted it to be true.
Review.Network announces partnership with TokenDesk
By: Kris Ristanovic
Tags: Bitcoin, Rew, Review Network, Tokendesk, Crypto

Review.Network and TokenDesk are very proud to announce a partnership that will increase the community value of both platforms.

TokenDesk is an ICO platform where users can make investments based on reviews from experts all while sitting in the comfort of their own homes.

This partnership brings Review.Network a new method of investment to purchase REW tokens which is allowing for more access to join the REWolution and be a part of the future in market research.

Up until now, if you wanted to enroll in the Review.Network Pre-Sale without buying in crypto, you previously would have had to contact our investor relations team via e-mail and then initiate a bank transfer, which added a couple extra steps.

It was of the utmost importance to eliminate any barriers to entry, this partnership with TokenDesk is key in making the process incredibly easy.

To invest, all you have to do all you have to do is register, go through the KYC process, and you are ready to dive into the Review.Network market.

Want to invest with crypto? You can. Want to invest with fiat? You can, we’ve got options for everyone!

Investing with a credit card is a feature that almost no ICO platform offers, but TokenDesk makes it ever so simple. Using their platform you can invest however you choose, with ease and security.

Our team has added a widget button to our website where you can invest in fiat currencies.

What does this really translate to? Why did we decide to integrate with TokenDesk and what is the end result for our users?

One word. Simplicity. We want our users to have the easiest possible experience when using our platform as well as when purchasing REW tokens.

Speaking of our platform, we published our User MVP and would love to hear feedback from you all.
The One Word That Made the Last 1,100 Days the Best of My Life
By: Liana Buenaventura
Tags: Self Improvement, Gratitude, Personal Development, Perspective, Personal Growth

Full disclosure: I’m one of those people whose eyes pop open before her alarm goes off, jumps out of bed like a gazelle and is buzzing to start her day — all before 5 AM or having a single ounce of coffee.

Sound like a nightmare? Try being my boyfriend.

But in all seriousness, I wasn’t always like this. For most of my career, I was a “night owl”; the one who’d get back on her laptop at 10 pm to finish a kickass presentation at 2 am. I was going to bed anxious and overstimulated, was forced to set (then snooze) multiple alarms and rarely made it to the office on time.

Each and every morning was a struggle. I knew my health (and the health of my career) couldn’t sustain this type of schedule, so I committed to making these changes:

First, I stopped opening my laptop back up at 10 pm, and I’d open up a good book instead.

Second, I moved my weightlifting training from 6 pm to 6 am so I stopped missing out on consistent physical activity because I got stuck in a meeting or had no energy at the end of the day.

Finally — and most importantly — I changed one word in the question most of us ask ourselves when we wake up.

The first and second change gave me more energy and vigour throughout the day.

But the third change is the one that transformed how I live my life.
Important KAVA Coin Update
By: Minaz Vastani
Tags: Kavacoin, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Bitcoin

Hi Kava Fam- Thank you for your loyalty and engaging in our online communities! The project is a huge success and we surpassed our goal of 25,000 people with 32,000+ joining our Facebook, Twitter and Telegram channels.

We are now ready to distribute KAVA to all our participants. To receive your 10,000 KAVA, we have partnered with LOBSTR, an official wallet for stellar-based assets (available on the Web, iOS, and Android).

Complete below steps to receive your 10,000 KAVA

Step 1: You must join LOBSTR using our unique URL: https://lobstr.co/airdrop/kava-coin/ Step 2: When signing up for LOBSTR, make sure you provide the same email address that you used in our submission form (otherwise it will not work). Step 3: Once your LOBSTR wallet is successfully created, we will deposit KAVA automatically into your wallet within 30 days. You do NOT need to provide us with anything!

Important Notes

If you already have a LOBSTR account with a different email than the email used on our submission form, please make a new LOBSTR account at https://lobstr.co/airdrop/kava-coin/.

• If you already have a LOBSTR account with the same email used on our submission form, all you need to do is add a Kava trustline.

Friend referral program update

We will announce soon how to obtain your KAVA from the friend referrals. Every referral stays Pending until we distribute the KAVA so don’t worry if your status indicates Pending. Keep in mind, every participant has the opportunity to earn up to 100,000 Kava Coins by referring friends. For every verified referral, you and your friend will get 1,000 KAVA.

Based on our most active users, here are some ways you can invite more people:

• Post about Kava Coin on Facebook and Twitter; • Post your link in communities and groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media; • Invite people using your unique referral link in WhatsApp and Telegram groups; • E-mail your friends directly and ask them to join using your unique link; • Go to kava.world and invite your friends using the invitation form.

Once you have signed up for the referral program, your personal referral link will be sent to your email and will be also available at kava.world. Share it with everyone far and wide and earn your bunch of tokens! :) The tokens earned in referral program will be distributed to you after we finish the verification process on our platform. Please understand that if some of your referrals do not sign up on the platform, you will not get a 1,000 KAVA reward. Each referral must complete the verification process for you to get the tokens. So, please remind your referrals to complete the signup process once we start the verification process, to receive the full reward. If your friends do not sign up through your referral link, they will not count towards your reward. Remind everyone to use your unique link.

Additional ways to earn KAVA

Play CasinoLife Poker, the first adopter of KAVA. Players can create, experience and monetize their own virtual worlds and games.

Thanks for your support and go #KavaCoin!

-The Kava Coin Team
BCIO Store Opening Contest: Get 50 BCIO Tokens!
Tags: Social Content, Cryptocurrency, Token, Contests, Blockchain

Dear BCIO community,

This time, we are happy to announce the opening of our online store: https://store.blockchain.io/, which has all Blockchain.io supporting goodies. We strongly believe that it would bring you a closer approach to Blockchain.io and give you a chance to spread your interest and your love with Blockchain.io to everyone.

To celebrate this special occasion, we came up with a new contest: Share a photo of Chainy to get 50 BCIO Tokens.

How to join:

Step 1: Buy a Chainy. You can buy the Chainy from our online store: https://store.blockchain.io/

Step 2: Take a photo of your Chainy in front of the interesting and beautiful place where you live or travel.

Step 3: Share your photo on your social media (Instagram/Twitter) and don’t forget to put the hashtag #chainywanderlust.

Step 4: Send us your social media accounts’ link to the email: shop@blockchain.io

NOTE: Make sure to use the email that links to your blockchain.io account. In case you do not have Blockchain.io account yet, you will have to create one here: https://trade.blockchain.io/signup, so that we can send you the BCIO Tokens.

Main contest rules:

The limited submit of each participant is 1 photo.

The photo needs to be in a high resolution and have a standard dimension of each social media channel.

The hashtag #chainywanderlust must be put in your post description.

must be put in your post description. Blockchain.io community member having won a Chainy before June 2019 can participate but are eligible for 25 BCIO Tokens .

. If the quality of your photo is not good enough or if our team does not find any special thing/place/monument… next to Chainy, you will not be eligible to receive the BCIO Tokens.

The contest will close by August 31st , so all the people participating after that date will not be eligible to receive the BCIO Tokens.

, so all the people participating after that date will not be eligible to receive the BCIO Tokens. If there will be more 10 contest participants on August 31st, we will pick the winners randomly.

REWARDS:

50 BCIO Tokens for the participant who has the Chainy photo that meets the requirements mentioned above.

Enjoy and good luck to everyone!