fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
HOW TO: Find your social media sweet spot
By: Arié Moyal
Tags: Employee Engagement, Branding, Brand Identity, Content Strategy, Brand Engagement

We all know that social media is a big deal in terms of how brands interact with their communities, generate revenue, and gain insight.

So how does a brand make that social media magic happen?

The first thing to understand is how to reach the right people with useful, relevant content in the correct context(s). Let’s call this your social media “sweet spot.”

There are four elements involved in reaching that sweet spot: brand identity, goals for social media and business, the expertise and passions that exist within your organisation, and the needs and interests of the people you are trying to reach.

Let’s look at each element in turn.

Brand Identity

Your brand is a representation of your organisation as a whole, with which people create a relationship in their minds.

Your brand is the lens through which all communication should be filtered, and it’s crucial that your brand be represented accurately.

Imagine your brand is a person. Understanding who this person is makes it easier to define the “tone of voice” and boundaries of the brand. This ensures that communications sound authentic and deliver on your brand promise.

Goals

Understanding what your organisation’s goals are will help you understand why you’re in business and what you’ve come to social media to achieve.

Using these two elements to frame your social media activity, you can define what your interactions look like. Examine the people involved: your employees and your customers.

Employee Expertise and Passions

When you understand what your employees (from the C-level on down) know and are passionate about, not only do you know who to go to when you need information for your customers (as well as content and stories to share), but it also helps you understand your employees’ motivations and work to make them happier. After all, they’re your most important assets, right?

Needs and Interests of Your Target Communities

The most important part of using social media business (and engagement overall) is understanding the people you are trying to reach. Knowing which needs you are fulfilling and what is of interest to them informs which parts of your employees’ passions and expertise to share with them and which partnerships you should form in order to fill the gaps in your content and expertise because, in the end, the first rule of social media is be helpful.

So that’s how you find your social media sweet spot. Does this make sense? I’d love to hear what you think.
Huobi Pro World Premiere of Odyssey (OCN) on January 29
By: Huobi Global
Tags: Announcements, Huobi, Odyssey, Blockchain, Bitcoin

Dear users,

Odyssey (OCN) will be launched on Huobi Pro on January 29, 2018 (GMT+8). Deposits will be available from 17:30, January 29, 2018(GMT+8). OCN/BTC and OCN/ETH trading will be available at New Zone from 17:00, January 30, 2018(GMT+8). Withdrawals will be available from 17:30, January 31, 2018 (GMT+8).

What is Odyssey? Click here: https://www.huobipro.com/en-us/assetintro/#ocn

Risk Reminder:

Investing in digital assets comes with high risks due to huge price fluctuations. Before investing, please have a full understanding of all the risks of investing in digital assets and be prudent of your own investment decisions.

Huobi.pro-Official (Telegram Group): https://t.me/huobiproofficial

Enjoy your trading on Huobi Pro!

Huobi Pro

January 29, 2018
“The Grind”
By: The Hairpin
Tags: Poetry, Ange Mlinko, Featured Poet

by Ange Mlinko

Three mini ciabattini for breakfast

where demand for persnickety bread

is small, hence its expense, hence my steadfast

recalculation of my overhead,

which soars, and as you might expect

the ciabattini stand in for my fantasy

of myself in a sea-limned prospect,

on a terrace, with a lemon tree…

Not: Assessed a fee for rent sent a day late.

Not: Fines accrued for a lost library book.

Better never lose track of the date.

Oversleep, and you’re on the hook.

It’s the margin for error: shrinking.

It’s life ground down to recurrence.

It’s fewer books read for the thinking

the hospital didn’t rebill the insurance;

the school misplaced the kids’ paperwork.

Here’s our sweet pup, a rescue

which we nonetheless paid for, and look:

he gets more grooming than I do.

When I turn my hand mill, I think of the dowager

who ground gems on ham for her guests;

the queen who ground out two cups of flour

on the pregnant abdomen of her husband’s mistress;

I think of a “great rock-eating bird”

grinding out a sandy beach,

the foam said to be particulate matter

of minute crustaceans, each

brilliantly spooning up Aphrodite

to Greek porticoes, and our potatoes,

and plain living which might be

shaken by infinitesimal tattoos.

— Poetry, September 2012

Ange Mlinko is the author of three books, “Shoulder Season” (Coffee House Press, 2010), “Starred Wire” (Coffee House Press, 2005), which was a National Poetry Series winner in 2004 and a finalist for the James Laughlin Award, and “Matinees” (Zoland Books, 1999).
How to Deploy (for Free) an Angular App to GitHub Pages Without Using Any Libraries (Step-by-Step Guide)
By: Andreas Hadjithoma
Tags: Deployment, Angular, Github Pages, Github, Angular2

Step 3: Push the code to GitHub and configure the repository

The code is now ready to be pushed to the repository. You can push the the docs folder only, or you can push the whole application (including the docs folder).

$ git add .

$ git commit -m "Init app"

$ git push

Now that the code is pushed on GitHub, you have to configure the repository to use the “docs” folder to build the page.

Navigate to the settings for your repository or enter the url https://github.com/username/username.github.io/settings

Scroll down to the GitHub pages section and change the build source to docs.

Wait a few seconds until your site is built and published. You should see the message “Your site is published at https://username.github.io” in the green box as it is in the above screenshot. If you don’t, try refreshing the site.

You can also view the deployments at https://github.com/username/username.github.io/deployments or at the right side of the repository, press github-pages under environments.
Will this be History?
By: Andrei Tapalaga
Tags: Europe, Politics, History, Brexit, World

Will this be History?

Near the end of Brexit

The picture was taken from the Dunkirk border

As I was approaching the Dunkirk port from the end of my Holiday I see the French, European Union and the United Kingdom flags one next to another. This whole trip was a discussion of what will happen to this once beloved nation.

Are we near the end of what is known as a full circle of stars that form the European Union?

Are we near the segregation of all the countries in the United Kingdom?

Are we gonna get our old friends the French to become our even older enemies?

So many questions that still do not have an answer and will not until the 31st of December when all of this will presumably end in a positive or negative manner. There are so many factors that are influencing Brexit however, we need to take a step back to see how huge this event is and how history is written right in front of our eyes. As I am speaking the British parliament has been suspended and the Liberal Democrats, as well as the Conservatives, are trying to put a stop at the reign of Boris Johnson. This new Priminister has proven to be even worst and crazier than Theresa May (Previous British Priminister). It is sad to say that from their behaviour and course of action chosen it goes to show that they did not care much about their nation. Many people think that this may be some sort of move in order for them to gain financial power however I no think so. However, I do not see what there is to gain from this apart from a very bad reputation from the nation and its citizens who have their mind open to the reality of things.

There have been quite a few stories written by Ivan Yong Wei Kit to represent Brexit from different historical events. Lately, the media is even representing the Brexit pro commit as a nazi regime. It was quite something that was surprising for the rest of the world, however, for those that do live in the United Kingdom and know the type of lifestyle that is going on which is very different from what is portrayed on the media.

You should see the way that the police at the British border treats the police at the French border or vice versa, it is something as “it is not our responsibility”. In order for the whole world to develope we must unite and work together as one, this has been thaught throughout history so many times.

From the winds of Brexit, it is a sunny day that arrises hope that Brexit will not happen, to understand the hopes of Brexit I will leave a link to the specific article.

Brexit is a political like phenomenon that should throw the world around as it will be one of the biggest events in the history of Europe.
Financial Literacy
By: Christian Soschner
Tags: Financial Freedom, Financial Literacy, Money Management, Money, Wealth

If you like the article, follow me on my other channels for more content.

Since 1999 I am an executive, advisor, and coach for companies in various industries. I am specialized in Corporate Development and Finance. From seed rounds to IPO level. I am focused on life science since 2006.
Radar Chart in R
By: Irfan Alghani Khalid
Tags: Programming, Towards Data Science, Data Science, Data Visualization, R

The Process

To create the bar chart, we have to prepare the dataset first. At first, the dataset looks like this,

The dataset consists of 664 rows and 12 columns where each row consists of the year, the animal type, the state, and what is the outcome after the RSPCA takes care of them whether it’s reclaimed or currently in care.

We want to have the dataset that looks like this,

To make the dataset looks like that, we have to preprocess the data using the code like this,

Here is the explanation. First, we have to remove the total column that describes the sum of each condition for an animal at each state. Then, we have to filter only to use Cats as our animal type. Then, we have to pivot the 4th until the 11th column. Then, we have to summarize the numbers on each state, outcome, and animal_type by sum the number throughout the year. Then, we spread the column to make the dataset longer. And finally, we rake out the first and second column and set the states name to become the name of the row.

To be honest, we can use the data as the input for the radar chart, but the result is not that good. It looks like this,

That’s not the graph that we want. To fix that, we can normalize each column, so it has the 0–1 range to it. We can use the min-max scaling for it, and the code looks like this,

After we scale each column, we have to do one more task before we can use the graph function. We have to add each column the minimum and the maximum value for our graph. We can set the minimum value to 0, and the maximum value with the maximum value that exists on our data which is 1. The code looks like this,

After we do that, we can use the data to create our graph. To build it, We can use the radarchart function from fmsb library. The parameters that the function needs is the data, how many axis segments which is based on our column, the color, and how much the width for the line. The code looks like this,

The result will look like this,

Finally, we’ve finished building our radar chart. I hope that useful to you. If you have some questions or some advice, you can comment down below. Thank you for reading my article. If you want to read my other articles, you can check down below,

References

https://www.r-graph-gallery.com/spider-or-radar-chart.html
Lightcash Project’s Latest News: New Gold Deposit and Token Listing
By: Viacheslav Vokin
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, ICO, Ethereum, Bitcoin

Lightcash project team members are working hard to change the crypto industry and eliminate main obstacles to its growth. Today we have some great news to share with our community members. To cut a long story short…

We have bought a new gold deposit in Canada

The LBS Corp, a parent company of the Lightcash project, has closed a deal with Canadian gold mining company SUZ Ltd. to buy mixed gold-bearing land in British Columbia, Canada, 28 km from the city of Atlin.

Our experts carried out geomorphological surveying, profile geophysical works by GPR method, and testing. According to the results of preliminary prospecting works, the gold deposits are considered to be promising for ore and alluvial gold. In 2018, boring, geochemical research, and a set of laboratory and analytical studies will be carried out. Right now this area is a zone of active extraction of gold and other metals. There is a dirt road leading to the sites. Also, there is enough water for use in industrial production.

This gold-bearing land will be purchased using only Lightcash project founders’ money. We believe that this investment is perfectly aligned with the Lightcash philosophy. This is our first step towards international expansion which will also result in rising capitalization of Lightcash services and an increased cost of LCCT tokens when listing on crypto-exchanges, which is good news for token holders.

And speaking of listings and exchanges, we have some more news to share…

LCCT token will be listed at HitBTC exchange

Our community members frequently ask about the listing of the Lightcash Crypto Token (LCCT) on external exchanges. Today, we have great news! Lightcash has finalized an agreement with one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, HitBTC. It means that LCCT tokens will be listed on the HitBTC exchange this week.

HitBTC homepage

HitBTC is a Hong Kong-based global trading platform with multi-currency support, and has been operating since 2013. The exchange has markets for trading digital assets, tokens, and ICOs. Having our token listed there reassures Lightcash community members that they will be able to easily exchange their LCCT tokens.

We will soon update you on the dates of the LCCT listing and provide more information about token trading on HitBTC. Stay tuned!
Why We Protest
By: Daniel Passapera
Tags: Photojournalism, Connecticut, Black Lives Mater, Photography, Chance Encounters

Protestors take a knee in solidarity in front of the West Haven Police Department.

‘CT Against Brutality’ is a student-led group responsible for organizing many protests across the state.

Little did the group know that their first organized protest would be one of the largest in Connecticut thus far.

Their media campaign began on May 29 starting with Instagram posts promoting their protest in West Haven at the city hall on June 6. Their second post attracted over 2,500 likes and countless reposts across multiple platforms.

Three days following the post ‘CT Against Brutality’ moved the protest to the West Haven Green, due to the influx of potential attendees.

Thousands gathered on the green as local politicians, students and more provided speeches.

A protestor on the green holding a sign labeled “Who Do You Call When The Murderer Is Wearing The Badge?”.

Protesting means exercising our freedom of speech and taking a stand in injustices, especially for those who don’t have enough of a voice. We want to amplify everyone’s voices because everyone deserves to be heard and protesting is a good way to do so. — A member of the CT Against Brutality team.

Protestors take the streets as they make their way towards the West Haven Police Department.

Protestors nearly took up the entirety of this section of Saw Mill Rd. in West Haven.

“We weren’t even expecting 500 people to show up. We were so glad to see that so many people were fed up and wanted to see change,” said a member of ‘CT Against Brutality’ who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “We would like West Haven to be more cognizant of the world around us. People often keep themselves in a bubble here, leading to insensitivity and discrimination.”

‘CT Against Brutality’ has given those within the movement the platform to speak out, especially students. However, the group isn’t shy to stand up and advocate for others as well.

Family members of Mubarak Soulemane, (a West Haven local, who was killed by Connecticut State Police in January) were able to use the platform provided by ‘CT Against Brutality’ to speak on behalf of the late 19-year-old.

Recently, a protest in coordination with the Soluemane family was met with violence after a driver drove through the peaceful demonstration.

“We stand in solidarity with Justice for Mubarak and the people who went to the WHPD to demand answers. We will not let our voices go unheard,” responded CT Against Brutality in an Instagram post.

CT Against Brutality will hold a protest in Branford on July 12th, and an art protest celebrating black excellence on July 26th. For more check out their Instagram here.
What’s Next for Cryptocurrency?
By: Shane Moser
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Crypto, Trading

We all have our strategies when it comes to crypto, some are rapid buyer/seller types, others are perpetual bag holders, others are investors. No matter what you’re doing with your crypto it seems like everywhere you look there’s nothing but bad news.

The good news, however, is that necessity is the mother of invention, and there are many people and companies out there working hard to make cryptocurrency a necessity, in one form or another. These people aren’t necessarily saying that cryptocurrency will replace money entirely, but are arguing that it has a function in the world that fiat money simply cannot compare to.

One aspect of cryptocurrency that seems to appeal to people, on the whole, is the circumvention of the banking system in sending mass amounts of cryptocurrency from one end of the globe to another. Decentralization showed banks that sending money can be free, or at least significantly cheaper than what they offer. That simple fact cannot be erased once realized.

Banks profit infinitely by forcing the needs of day to day life through their business. Their hands are in everything the world does, both in the personal world and the business world. Couple this with numerous financial collapses, fees, slow transfer times, and the word bank has a “four letter word”.

Banks then tend to leave a sour taste in the mouths of people, whether those people support crypto or not. Crypto showed us a new way of doing things, that there isn’t just one option, that there is a means by which we can do things differently when it comes to our money.

While of course cryptocurrency will not replace fiat, or even come close to having as many uses, there still are plenty of ways to utilize cryptocurrency, especially day to day, that is more simple.

While the world may be seeing drops in crypto values and further push for regulation, the idea, and concept of crypto will still be extremely difficult to eradicate.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the value of an asset plummet only to recover in the future. Mati Greenspan, a Senior Analyst at eToro, remains optimistic about the future of crypto suggesting things could change for the better, and in a big way.

While stocks and cryptocurrency radically differ from one another the message is clear, things can recover.

Since the concept of cryptocurrency doesn’t belong to a particular company or individual it’s future may not unfold in the way we have seen stocks recover in the past. Cryptocurrency is in uncharted territory, blazing its own trail, and in doing so may create a future for itself, unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Pythagoras and the Search for Truth
By: Amy Pierovich
Tags: Mathematics, Pythagoras, Philosophy, Soul, Poetry

Pythagoras and the Search for Truth

A tribute to the Ionian Greek philosopher

Photo by Michael Baccin on Unsplash

Pythagoras,

philosopher, mathematician, vegetarian, and friend:

“Friends have all things in common,”

a saying attributed to you,

a quality of humanity emanated from deep inside of you.

Born on the isle of Samos,

your father Mnesarchus,

your mother Pythais,

born circa 570 B.C.,

an age of wisdom, learning, and discovery.

I picture you in your white linen garb,

eating honeycomb,

as you enjoyed a harmonious tune played upon the lyre.

Piety, reason, generosity,

all valued by you.

You coined the term “catartysis,”

an elegance of manners,

for all who aspired.

You had many followers,

at your school in Croton, Magna Graecia,

all ascetics and admirers,

who believed in universal brotherhood,

equality of women and men,

sharing every possession,

“All living things are kin.”

Great orator,

you charmed the crowds,

and left enduring messages:

do not to take the public roads,

take the road less travelled,

to find one’s own mode of being-in-the-world.

You left the Pythagorean Theorem,

for us to use and behold.

“Harmony of the spheres,”

all things made up of numbers,

in your cosmic world.

One signified the origin of all things;

two represented matter;

three the beginning, middle, and end.

Ten was the “perfect number” of stability,

you invented the “tetraktys,”

a pyramid of sorts, representing ten.

You said the soul is immortal,

influenced Plato, Aristotle, Western philosophy.

You left behind much to contemplate.

Pythagoras,

forever an enigma,

you reside amidst the stars.
How to Start Having 1-on-1s Out of Nowhere
By: William Anderson
Tags: Management, Leadership, Mentorship, Work, Programming

How to Start Having 1-on-1s Out of Nowhere

It’s never too late to start connecting with your team

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.

A senior manager and peer of mine (from another organization) wanted to know how to start having one-on-one meetings with his direct reports despite having never had them before.

His team wasn’t that big and his direct reports were managers. Even though they had been on his team for years, he had not had a single one-on-one with any of them.

Their communication was limited to meetings for projects, emails, technical documents, and so forth, as well as asking for updates on Slack. The only time performance or careers were discussed was in December for the company’s year-end reviews.

This senior manager genuinely wanted to change this and had wanted to for a while.

But how do you start having candid and frequent performance and coaching sessions when you have neglected them for so long? Will that make you seem weak or indecisive as a leader?

The good news is that it is not too late to start. If anything, you will look even stronger depending on how you position yourself. Here are the key ways to break that ice even if it is years overdue.
Tips to index backlinks in 2017
By: Shweta Koul
Tags: Google Webmasters, Backlinks, SEO

Backlinks are the main backbone in ranking and gaining organic traffic of our website on the search engines. We mainly create backlinks to optimize our website, but we are unaware of this fact that it is very important to index the backlinks also. If our backlinks are indexed properly then only we can get benefits. Without indexing backlinks, a website cannot get full profit.

So keeping this thing in mind we have created some major tips and tricks so that you can easily index your backlinks and gain a huge popularity on the search engines.

Tips for Indexing Backlinks

Following are some basic yet useful steps to index the backlinks fast and get great benefits from it.

1.Submit link to Google:

Most of us are aware of this fact that Google fetch is the tool that is used by Google to fetch new and old url of our website but there is another role of this tool that many of us don’t know. Another function of this tool is to index those links that aren’t related to our website. It means that we can easily submit our backlinks on the Google, no matter we are we are registered with it or not. Google will index the URL in minutes. Read More…
How to enable search synonyms in AEM with Lucene?
By: Albin Issac
Tags: Programming, Search, CMS, Software Development, Aem

This tutorial explains how to enable search synonyms in AEM with Lucene.

Search Synonyms

Synonyms are used to inform the search engine that searching for one word should also search for others e.g searching for gigabyte should also consider gigabytes, gib, and gb, etc

The analyzer should be configured for the custom oak index to support the search synonyms.

Refer the following tutorial to configure custom oak index and analyzers

I have a data node with id property value as “gigabyte”, the node will be returned while searching with the value “gigabyte” but not returned while searching with “gigabytes”, “gib” or “gb”.

Configure Analyzer

Let us now configure the Analyzer to support the search synonyms.

Create a node “Synonym” with the primary type of “nt:unstructured” under analyzers\default\filters (refer the sample configuration package from the git link posted in the bottom of the tutorial)

Add the following properties to synonyms node

format — solr or wordnet

synonyms — synonyms.txt, file with synonyms definitions

There are two possible formats for the dictionary, I am using solr format for the demo

wordnet: based on the popular Wordnet community. This required the synonyms configuration in specific format

solr: it’s more plain text. Comma-separated values

The synonym.txt file is a simple comma-separated list of synonyms. All matching terms should exist in a single row. Any word that is searched in the row will match all other words in that same row. Common uses for Synonyms are matching on variations of a word.

GB,gib,gigabyte,gigabytes

MB,mib,megabyte,megabytes

Television, Televisions, TV, TVs

The configurations are ready now, let us re-index the data. Change the value of reindex property under the custom index to true — this will initiate the re-indexing, the property value will be changed to false once the re-indexing is initiated

Wait for a few minutes to the index to complete

Let us now search with “gib” — there is no node with value “gib” for id property under /content/sampledata but “gib” is configured as a synonym for “gigabyte” so the node with id property value “gigabyte” will be returned as a result.

Synonyms Configuration — https://github.com/techforum-repo/youttubedata/tree/master/lucene

Define a custom index with synonyms and configure all the possible synonyms to the synonyms.txt file. The configured data can be used to search the data with different synonyms.
Rid Blurring Abstracts
By: Francine Fallara
Tags: Art, Self Improvement, Inspiration, Blue Insights, Inkling

Year after year, the goal is to rid ourselves of any kind of negativity. I never really was a true defeatist. My exceeding tough resilient charm has helped me to cultivate genuine optimism. Nevertheless, both pessimistic and optimistic worlds sit oppositely separated by a grey zone.

Yes, there is a mean line. Ironically, I chose the word mean here wanting to express its arithmetic definition. The mathematical mean illustrates an assessed mid tendency for a set of random life lessons. I could have chosen to use the psychological definition of the word mean by representing behavioral characteristics of life lessons.

Distorted hypothesis are not allowed to drive my life. Offering their stem to grow causes only highly self-toxic pollution. Letting darkness flow rapidly through my veins give rise to my heart rate, disturbs my grey brain cells and adds unwanted extra pounds of unnecessary grief.

Ridding myself of life’s adversities has given me invaluable vitality to focus on nothing but concrete and tangible in my entourage. Forbidding never ending blurring abstracts opened my world to nothing but beauty. Recycle your environment’s pausing negativity by using this fuel as a fast forward positivity motion!

Francine Fallara, 2020
3 Additional Reasons Why You Should Be More Like Bamboo
By: Akshad Singi
Tags: Life, Self, Self Improvement, Advice, Life Lessons

Bamboo Springs Back

In winters, as the snow keeps falling on the bamboo, the bamboo bends progressively. However, a point comes when the bamboo takes it no more and springs back up to stand tall, brushing aside the snow in the process. It’s as if the bamboo is proclaiming that it will not be defeated.

This is a metaphorical lesson for us to build emotional resilience. Life can get pretty hard at times. And even more, at times everything seems to go wrong. In such situations, we must bend but not break, like the bamboo. We must also harness the power to spring back by building emotional resilience.

Psychologists suggest that to build emotional resilience, we must be optimistic and see failures as a kind of helpful feedback. It also helps to remember that such setbacks are a part of life. If life were full of ups, it would lose meaning. Highs and successes give life peaks. But we must also remember that it’s the setbacks that give life depth and meaning.

You can also take it one step further by trying to be antifragile. In his book of the same name, Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes that things that gain from the disorder are antifragile. To be fragile is to break due to failure. To be resilient is to recover from failure. But to be antifragile is to go beyond resilience and to actually gain from failure to be stronger than ever.

Adopting an emotional resilience and to top it off, the mindset of antifragility will help us see failures and setbacks in a new light. Even though they may feel undesirable, we will be able to recognise and utilise the blessings within them.
Not all gold bars are created equal…
By: Dave Appleton
Tags: Bitcoin, Hellogold, Gold

Many people like buying 1 g gold bars, it is easy to see why. PAMP are one of the London Bullion Market Association’s accredited suppliers.

A 1 g bar is a lovely work in miniature. A beautifully moulded and polished bar, accurately weighed and stamped with its own serial number. This bar is then packed in an impressive packaging:

A clear plastic insert in a cardboard holder.

Product details individually printed.

compare that to the 1 kg bar

A 1 kg CAST gold bar

The 1 Kg bar is CAST not moulded. It is not burnished to make it look pretty nor does if come with a fancy cardboard packet — just a certificate.

For display, 1g, 10g and 100g bars look really nice but they are not very good for savings because a fair proportion of the cost is tied up not in the value of the gold but in the cost of production and handling.

Whether you produce a 1g bar or a 1 Kg bar, you still need to weigh it and certify it. But adding these costs (plus the expense of moulding, packaging and handling) drives the costs up for the smaller bars. This leads to a huge price difference — at the time of writing a 1Kg bar costs S$56,830.70 while a 1g bar costs S$81.14. So one thousand 1g gold bars would cost a whopping S$24,309 more than the single 1 kg bar.
Being in a Heterosexual Relationship Does Not Make Me Any Less Queer
By: Alexandra Tsuneta
Tags: Relationships, LGBTQ, Feminism, Intersectionality, Queer

Being in a Heterosexual Relationship Does Not Make Me Any Less Queer

How to navigate your intersectionality when part of it feels like it is being erased.

Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash

I am very happily married to a cis-gendered, straight man, but before I was married I would date anybody. I’m pansexual, which means that I am romantically and emotionally attracted to people regardless of their gender identity. I’ve dated so many different kinds of human beings since I came out, and I’ve never really thought about gender as a defining motive for me dating somebody. Whatever you’ve got, I’m into it. However, being in a heterosexual relationship often makes me feel like part of my intersectionality is being erased, like my voice somehow matters less, and like I am not exactly welcome into queer spaces.

I guess I would say that sometimes I feel like I am “straight-passing”, a term that I just made up.

The thing is that even though I am married to a straight man, I am still very much a queer person. I am still attracted to people all over the gender and non-gender conforming spectrum, I still very much feel like a queer person, and it is still a part of my identity. However, I’m not a “scream my intersectionality” out loud, every second of the day, kind of person. I’m not that person on the internet with their Instagram bio that states every part of them:

Queer, non-binary, polyamorous, femme, etc. etc.

That’s just not me; I’m a private person and I also just don’t feel the need to say who and what I am constantly. I would like to be included in queer events and in queer spaces despite my outwardly heterosexual relationship. It’s difficult juggling your intersectionality in a world where if you’re not constantly waving your proverbial intersectional-flag, you are not often considered welcome in those spaces. The same goes for people who are “white-passing”; we’re often not Asian enough, brown enough, Black enough, Latinx enough, Jewish enough, etc. to fit into spaces that are designated for us. It truly feels like a double-edged sword.
Tired
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: Poetry, Depression, Tired, Sadness, Darkness

Tired

A poem

( Photo by Keenan Constance from Pexels)

Written during a very dark time in my life, nearly 20 years ago.

I’m tired

Tired of going nowhere

Tired of doing nothing

Tired of this pathetic little life

I’m tired

Tired of feeling insignificant

Tired of feeling left out

Tired of not fitting in where I should

I’m tired

Tired of having nothing

Tired of wanting everything

Tired of being too weak to get it

I’m tired

Tired of being here

Tired of being there

Tired of being anywhere at all

I’m tired

Tired of pretending

Tired of being real

Tired of being me, I guess

But who else can I be, but me

And where else can I be, but here

And what else can I do, but this

Nothing, I’m just tired of it all
Netflix’s ‘Love Is Blind’ Calls Attention to the Difficulty of Being Bisexual
By: James Woods
Tags: Sexuality, Love, Sex, Netflix, LGBTQ

The show is a dating reality television series where thirty men and women hope to find love blindly. They do so by dating each other in different pods where they can talk to each other, but cannot see the other. After several dates, the hope is that two of the pairs will fall in love and risk it all by proposing to each other. They then go to a resort where they make their emotional connection become physical and come back to Atlanta to live/prepare for a wedding they will have in 30 days.

In the first season, we are introduced to two characters, Diamond and Carlton, who ultimately end up going through with the proposal and trip to Mexico. However, Carlton has a secret that he has kept from Diamond. She doesn’t find out that he is bisexual until they arrive in Mexico and it causes a falling out between the two. The two ultimately get into a major argument because Carlton feels like he is being judged for being bisexual while Diamond feels like he wasn’t being honest about his sexuality.

The conversation brings up many issues that revolve around being bisexual and how one is to handle the hard truth of living in a world that so often believes you can only be sexually attracted to a man or woman.
Dwell
By: Jessica Lee Mcmillan
Tags: Meditation, Cities, Nature, Beauty, Poetry

century clawfoot grips

hill carved stark,

a fulcrum of riverbed

traipsed by bridge,

the vascular brace

for sponged city grit

— industry arteries

and sirens undertow —

deepens the view

in dew clad moss

and silt-soaked roots,

commits the sky

to dwell in breadth

of stakeholding limbs,

commits commuting soul

to dwell in breath

of looking up
My Sex Bucket List
By: Ena Dahl
Tags: BDSM, Sex Tips, Short Story, Sex, Sex Bucket List

Another challenge was what to put on my list. After becoming single for the first time since high school, less than three years ago, I launched like a space rocket into my sexual exploration, taking me to 2.0 and beyond at lightning speed. But there’s ALWAYS more to be explored. While I expect this list to change and morph with time, I’m jumping on this recent fad and serving you a handful of my naughtiest fantasies. And after all, Christmas is around the corner, and I’ve been a veeery good girl!

1 ¯

I’ll have both, thank you! (DP)

My first threesome was with two men, but there was no double penetration involved. In hindsight, this was for the best as it all went down in a sex-club, and I was in no way prepared or ready for that.

I’ve experienced the ‘feeling’ of a DP, with a partner, adding a dildo, so I know that the sensation itself is unparalleled, but I’ve yet to experience this with two of the ‘the real thing’.

Hot tip | For those of you who are into that filled feeling, I can highly recommend trying one of those inflatable latex dildos—it’s hard to describe any other way than, Wooaaahh!!!

I’d love to combine the two experiences and have an MFM threesome involving DP.

A juicy fantasy | Someone I knew used to handpick a secret guy to join him and his girlfriend. She wouldn't know who he was and would wait, blindfolded for the mysterious Mr. X to come and lend a hand…or more accurately, a cock. Mr. X is basically just a human dildo, carefully selected and screened for the job.

Risk factor| While this scenario is top spank-bank material, my over-thinking brain often gets caught up in logistics: How do we all move in synch? Where do our bodies go in relation to each other? If I picture specific people, who goes in front and who’s behind? Finding the participants and making sure the dynamic is right also sounds like a major challenge. Lots to consider here, and I foresee a share of awkwardness—but something tells me it will be worth it!
Freedom for Women has not changed in Sunni Islam
By: Virtual Mosque
Tags: Islam, Change, Home

Kerala’s prominent Muslim cleric Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliyar has observed that Islam has not changed its obstinate approach with regard to the freedom for Muslim women and their relation with men on the reason that the women were educated.

In an interview with latest issue of Malayalam weekly Mathrubhumi, the influential Sunni leader said the modern times require education for Muslim women. “But that did not mean the Islam has changed its decrees regarding the life of women. Muslim women should not work in a place where only a woman and a man are present. They should go for job only in a place where there are enough number of women and trustworthy men. About 90 per cent of jobs do not require man-women mingling. These rules cannot be changed. The obstinacy still continues,” said Musaliyar, the general secretary of All India Sunni Jam-Iyyathul Ulema.

On women’s mobility, Musaliyar said they should travel only in unavoidable circumstances. These journeys should be for the purposes ratified by Islam. The Islam could not accept the argument that women have to travel extensively these days. If they go out, it should be in the company of male family members or of large group of women.
Weekly Stock Spotlight
By: Ibillionaire Capital
Tags: Stock Spotlight, Gaming, Business, Money, Finance

iBillionaire Capital LLC is an SEC registered investment advisor. See sipc.org for more details. By using this website, you accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Before investing, consider your investment objectives and iBillionaire’s charges and expenses. Historical performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Any historical returns, expected returns, or probability projections may not reflect actual future performance. All securities involve risk and may result in loss. Not endorsed by, affiliated with, sponsored by, or fully reflective of the “billionaires” or their companies. The information contained on and used by our site and in our apps includes the names, brief biographical information, and references the companies of certain persons whom iBillionaire has identified from publicly available information as high net worth and financially sophisticated personal investors, most of whom are public figures. iBillionaire does not communicate with and is not supported or endorsed by or affiliated or associated with any of these individuals or their companies. To the extent these individuals use their names or the names of their companies as trademarks, such trademarks belong to their respective holders, and iBillionaire’s use of the same does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. Information about the investments of the listed billionaires is limited to that which is publicly available in regulatory filings and may not provide a complete picture of each of their personal investment strategies. Daily and annual performance rates for the billionaires are calculated based on this limited information and will not accurately reflect each billionaire’s personal investment return. In addition, certain information is gleaned from filings made by companies substantially owned or controlled by one of the billionaires, which we have attributed to the billionaire personally.
A Poem on Leaving the Junk Behind
By: Jane Tawel
Tags: Philosophy, Spirituality, Self Love, Poetry, Poem

If You Can’t Get Your Body Out, At Least Get Your Head Out

A Poem on Leaving the Junk Behind

By Jane Tawel

December 19, 2020

*

For several years I have been longing,

To flee my country, that’s been wronging

The little ones, the poor, the weak,

The different-hued, the hurt, the meek.

And while I wish I could just run

To somewhere that would be more fun

And somewhere that the rulers rule

By being kind, not being cruel;

Well, I have realized I am stuck

And so, I have to fight this muck.

*

The thing is that the people helming

Are far too often overwhelming

In getting in my craw and mind,

And making me feel raw, unkind

To others and to my own self.

So, I decided to now shelve,

The crud, and junk, and just plain meanness

And I will find some light and cleanness

by taking a long holiday,

from reports of the ones who prey

on peace of mind and care of heart.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll do my part,

To care for others and be strong,

To fight for rights, and right the wrongs

And I’ll stay here right next to you,

But if I can’t escape in true,

At least I hope that I will find,

That I can go elsewhere in mind.

*

And so, I recommend today,

If you are feeling evil’s sway,

Or just can’t listen to more fools,

Or watch as people worship ghouls;

If you wish you could run away,

As I have wished day after day,

If you, like I, believe you’re done

And feel you will be overcome

By all the hate and all the scum;

Why — won’t you run away with me?

At least our minds away can flee.

To better places, we can be.

Yes, Be! Cause life is more than space,

Or against time an unfair race.

Life is about our here and now,

And from inside, we find our Tao.

If we’re stuck here, there’s still The Way,

To rise above the muddling fray.

Let’s run away and go AWOL.

For most important, above all,

Is finding that small place inside,

That in Love’s shelter we can abide.

*

From worry and from grief, depart;

If not in body, at least in heart.

I hope that we can practice presence

And obviate bile and excrescence.

I seek to make this moment whole,

By living elsewhere in my soul.

Oh, won’t you come along with me?

Just think how lovely that would be.

Because together, we can beget,

A loving, caring, whole planet.

We’ll start with just a change that’s wee,

By going there, just you and me.

And we will bid dark days adieu,

By souls in flight, just me and you.

*

So, here’s to you, I give a shout,

If you can’t get your body out,

Then give your mind and heart some rest,

And look in others for what’s best.

To find The Good is just the start,

To free your mind, and soul and heart.

So won’t you run away with me?

We’ll stay right here, our best to Be.

© Jane Tawel 2020
Reality Bites
Tags: Humor, Aging, Funny, Comics, Cartoon

Written by

Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too.
Mass customization
By: Alok Tyagi
Tags: Blogging, Accounting Solutions, Erp

Joseph Pine was a keynote speaker during Insights. He eloquently described how various companies are tapping into Customer Experience as a way to differentiate and grow the businesses. He calls this “Experience economy” — an evolution as manufacturing and services are increasingly getting commoditized.

This thought process is parallel to what we experience in the enterprise business. Every enterprise customer needs and their business is unique. They operate differently, and have different business process needs. This drives customers to have unique implementation. They deploy enterprise products differently; customize it to meet their unique needs; integrate to their own home grown, or legacy or other niche applications; additionally deploy 3rd party modules from ISVs, etc. thus resulting in an environment unique to run their business. In such scenario, usually, no two customers are alike in their implementation. Their experience with the infrastructure is tailored to their business needs.

Also, as technology landscape continues to evolve it will further improve delivery of the platforms and architecture necessary to provide unique experience and interaction rather easily. Much has already been touted how Web 2.0 and other Social networks based progression enhances user interaction and overall experience.

Companies are investing a lot in the usability studies and interaction design to understand user experiences. TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and ease of use remains the mantra for much of the product organizations to deliver ultimate customer experience in whatever they do.

This talk also added 2 books to my reading list.
Status será pre-instalado en FINNEY por SIRIN LABS, el teléfono inteligente de blockchain más seguro del mundo
Tags: Privacy, Blockchain, Partnerships, Ethereum, Bitcoin

in In Fitness And In Health
What No One Tells You About Mentoring
By: Matthew Royse
Tags: Self Improvement, Leadership, Business, Mentor, Mentorship

What No One Tells You About Mentoring

Mentoring is easier than you think.

Photo by NEXT Academy on Unsplash

Most us of hesitate to become a mentor.

Mentoring can be a scary word. It has the perception that it’s hard and you won’t benefit from it. As a potential mentor, you can easily come up with excuses for not being a mentor like:

I don’t have anything to offer a mentee

I haven’t accomplished anything incredible

I don’t have time to be a mentor

We all think that in a mentoring relationship, a mentee benefits the most. That’s a myth. I’ll debunk that myth in this story.

First, let’s define mentorship.
When the Darkness Becomes Day
By: Vincent Van Patten
Tags: Self, Inspiration, Growth, Poetry, Poem

In our ever-changing world

Every spirit’s individual,

The earth’s all-seeing eyes

Only know us by one name;

A shift in perspective to open up the mind,

One name — human, one soul — I;

Enhancement of another’s day,

Just by being kind.

Connected to the past is the man I want to be,

The reason we’re here, open eyes that long to see.

Where I’m headed, don’t know yet,

Although it’s becoming clear,

That whatever land I call my home,

I’m already here.

A destination I’m proud of,

Sunny day of inner peace,

Walking tall, standing strong

Atop this mountain of trials,

Each thrilling step takes me higher,

Miles, and miles.

Between us all a bridge of light spanning heart to heart,

Takes bravery to dance through life,

An essential art.

The first move is all that it takes,

Embrace the dark unknown,

’Cause when the darkness becomes day,

You’ll see how much you’ve grown.