fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Histograms
By: Ashish Agarwal
Tags: Histograms, Data Science, Beginners Guide, Bar Graph, Statiscics

For anyone who is new to Statistics, they might find histograms slightly amusing. What are these? Are they similar to Bar-graph ? Why do we have them?

First of all, let’s build an intuition.

fig: Number line

We have learned in school about number-line where every number gets its place on the line. Here, number-line is continuous in the sense, every point in the line represents a distinct real number. Also, we know every point represent only one number i.e. numbers are not stacked on top of one another on the same point. Here, we have represented our data( An infinite real number system) as a 1-D line.

Now, consider a situation, we need to describe the data having age as the only attribute. Clearly, our above line cannot help us in this problem. Why?

Fig: Stacked points on 2D

Fig: Stacked points on 3D

As, the amount of data increases, we find ourselves stacking points( A point represent a single person in this case) on top of each other. This does not represent the data in a clear format and doesn’t help us to make any further analysis. So, we describe our data with a bar-graph. Remember, here, our problem statement deals with discrete data.

Fig: Bar Graph

Woah! This graph can be used for useful analysis.

Now, that was easy. But, how would we solve a problem which had continuous data-points. For example, let’s say, we want to analyze people’s height as an only attribute. Now, clearly, we can have infinite amount of height to consider, which is similar to our first problem on Number-line. However, we have a possibility of stacking people of same height, which is similar to our second problem on Bar-graph.

Hmm. So, this problem is a hybrid version of both our initial problems. How do we tackle this to describe the data?

Fig : Histogram

Now, comes the topic of our discussion, Histogram to the rescue!

So, histograms are basically continuous modeled bar-graph. So, here we model our continuous data as discrete data. For example, let’s say, we have minimum height as 130 c.m and maximum height as 190 c.m. Here, we can divide data on the basis of 10 c.m difference gap i.e. 130–140 c.m belongs to one bar and so on. Note : In histogram, we refer to bars as bins.

So, we can basically say, our histogram varies as we change the number of bins. There is no hard and fast rule about the number of bins. Taking bins=1 would just put all your data in a single bin which is not useful at all. Also, taking bin=(no. of data-samples) would assign every data-point a bin which is also not helpful. Hence, general rule of thumb is to hit-and-try number of bins to gain useful distribution or analysis.

Fig: Histogram with bins=1

Fig: Histogram with bins=N

Fig: Histogram with bins=2

Histogram is a very useful tool in data analytics and can infer powerful insights on continuous data. If we want to use a distribution to approximate our data, then, histogram is a very good way to justify our decision.

More about Distribution on the next blog. 😀
The way we make money — Photo story
By: Dragan Tapshanov
Tags: Photography

Creativity

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Dragan Tapshanov | Skopje, Macedonia 2019

I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist…I am a person who does those things. ― Edward Gorey
the body semantics of black femmes stretching on a beach
By: Wimpy Af
Tags: Gender, Afrofuturism, Queer, Poetry, Black Women

a couple bad witches

form spells around me

sum water, dust, and shapes

remind me

yr softness is yr strength

keep yr mental elastic

you are what you do everyday

and the art

is a garden

why treat the heart like a startup?

draw circles around

what we learned

things we'd do differently

there’s mercury in these waters

and venus is a them
Currently There Are Four Distinct Chatbot Dialog Development Approaches
By: Cobus Greyling
Tags: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational UI, NLP

Currently There Are Four Distinct Chatbot Dialog Development Approaches

Chatbot Dialog Design & Development Are Settling Into Four Main Categories

Introduction

When different vendors and platforms converge on the same basic approach & principles, it is safe to assume it is the most efficient way of doing it.

Looking at the large and emerging chatbot platforms, they all converge on two key aspects:

Intents

Entities

There are elements like form or slot filling, policies etc. which is also important. But for the purpose of this story, we will not focus on it.

Intents

Intents are usually defined with by a description and a few training or utterance examples.

Rasa Chatbot Framework: intent example with contextual entities defined.

The utterance examples are what a user is anticipated to say or state. The intent they expect to have fulfilled.

Some environments have additional features like intent conflict identification and utterance suggestions.

Entities

Entities are the nouns the user enters, often multiple entities compounded in one user utterance.

Contextual Entity Annotation In IBM Watson Assistant

The challenge here is extract the entities when first uttered by the user.

Most environments can extract compound entities and also contextual entities.

So, compound and contextual entities are being implemented by more chatbot platforms.

The option to contextually annotate entities are also on the rise.

Often entities have a finite set of values which are defined. Then there are entities which cannot be represented by a finite list; like cities in the world or names, or addresses.

These entity types have too many variations to be listed individually.

Dialog Creation: Development & Management

The area where there is a divergence rather than a convergence is that of Dialog Development and Management.

Meaning that for some the verdict is still out on what approach is ideal…

Dialog Creation

The dialog component has the responsibility of managing the state of the conversation, turn-by-turn. This is also referred to as the state machine, dialog flow (in generic terms and not Google’s platform), conversation design or dialog management.

It needs to be stated some environments have a clear separation between their NLU component and the core or dialog components. Rasa, Microsoft and AWS fall in this category.

IBM Watson Assistant has the opposite approach where the two are really merged.

Below I look at four distinct approaches currently followed in the chatbot marketplace to dialog creation and management.
5 Useful skills to learn in less than a day
By: Raghav Mittal
Tags: Work, Life Skills, Productivity, Education, Life

I recently read a post that asked the readers to mention things that could be learnt in 10 minutes but would be useful for life. The results were fascinating as people from around the world chipped in. I was curious, however, to see what the responses would be if I asked my peers (mostly in their 20s) and if I increased the time frame from 10 minutes to a day. The responses were amazing, and I’ve cherry-picked some below:

1. Changing a car tire

The most iconic tire change video available from the nicest guy on Youtube.

2. How to do taxes

I have some strong doubts on whether Einstein actually said this. And I surely wouldn’t be adding to this list of ‘things that can be learnt in 1 day’ if one of the smartest people to have ever existed found the general theory of relativity easier to understand than taxes.

Anyway, learning how to do taxes makes things much simpler not only when you’re actually filing them, but also the rest of the year. It helps you be aware of how much you are earning, any credits/deductions, and when to collect the right tax documents from your employer.

The procedures for filing income tax vary across states and countries, so be sure to check out how it is for where you are currently residing.

3. Deep Breathing

A ‘how to breath’ video with a clickbaity thumbnail image and an average climax.

4. How to cook

Helps if you’re bored of eating Doritos for all 3 meals.

5. How to do CPR

I’m kidding, please don’t be like Michael.

CPR effectively keeps blood flowing and provides oxygen to the brain and other vital organs, giving the victim a better chance for full recovery. Everyday Health reports that If CPR is given within the first two minutes of cardiac arrest, the chances of survival double.
Voices of Conquest
By: J.A. Taylor
Tags: Revolution, Science Fiction, Centina, Fiction, Short Story

Voices of Conquest

Vocalization became the language of uprising

Image public domain, courtesy of comicbookplus.com

“W-e ne-ed to-tal-k,” C7459 said, the awkward vibrations ringing in B3762’s ears. Every Centauri guardian on the ship turned their attention toward them.

Why had the other human vocalized? Since the conquest, neural communication was exclusive — and monitored by the Centauries.

Wh-at is tal-k? B3762 transmitted.

“Ver-bal co-mmuni-cat-i-on. To o-ver-thro-w the-m,” C7459 said.

Overthr — B3762 ceased transmitting. It had never occurred to him the Centauries couldn’t understand vocalization.

“Whe-re do we be-gin?” B3762 asked. It was the first four words of humanity’s uprising.
How A Chipmunk Scored The Big-time!
By: Robin Klammer
Tags: Rant, Humorous Life Lessons, Nature, Humor, Satire

HUMOR|ANIMALS

How A Chipmunk Scored The Big-time!

Why it’s important to pay attention to your nuts

Photo by Daniel Roberts on Unsplash

You know the old expression, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? Well, I need a big piece of humble pie, because my little friendly chipmunks bested me in more ways than one.

My chronic absent mindedness has been my undoing on more than a few occasions. In my defense, it was those darn cute creatures with the innate craftiness to forage.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact there was a tiny entrance for the critters to make themselves at home in my shed. Nothing to do with the fact I’d forgotten to fasten the lid securely on the jar of peanuts I’ve been using to lure the little darlings. I was trying to get them to eat from the palm of my hand, but I may as well have done as the picture below.

Photo by Sujeeth Potla on Unsplash

Not only did I forget to secure the nuts, but I also forgot to bring in the bag which they tore into and left me with a few mere crumbs. The audacity!

There were a couple other blunders, but I’ll plead the fifth to save the last morsel of my dignity.

It took a good while to get the local chipmunks to trust me enough to take the nuts from my hand. Once I gained their trust, I felt like Snow White or something. No scratch that; I relate more to Fiona in Shrek.

Of course, Fiona was more apt to eat a chipmunk. Okay, never mind. I’ll have to come up with another fairy tale character. I’m open to suggestions, by the way.

Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to get more snacks for my furry chums. They hit the mother-load, and I’m sure they have the equivalent of a mountain of food to keep them going for a while.

I’m hoping they didn’t send out a mass text to their friends. Certainly, they’d want to keep this tasty secret to themselves, right?

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” YouTube

Take it from me, paying attention is crucial. Leaving nuts unattended? Certainly not the worst tragedy, especially in the chipmunk’s perspective. Forgetting the stove or oven on? Yikes. Done both and I’m fortunate nothing happened.

Staying in the present moment isn’t always easy when there’s so much shit going on and your head is full to bursting as it is. But better safe than sorry right?

I may give them one more chance but probably not anytime soon!
Self-Care Over Achievement: Things to Do for You Before the New Year
By: Crystal Jackson
Tags: Goals, Personal Growth, Mental Health, Relationships, Self

Self-Care Over Achievement: Things to Do for You Before the New Year

Unfriend toxic people and regret nothing.

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

I am not at all prepared for New Year’s resolution season — or for taking stock of the last year for that matter. This year has been something I’ve survived, and for me, that is enough. The long list of things I thought I was going to do this year got tossed while I adapted to reality.

My focus is on self-care right now — not achievement. I began to think of what reasonable goals I could set for myself in the last month of the year — goals that are doable and don’t set me up for failure. To take better care of myself, I need to do things like firm up my boundaries, not hit a weight loss goal. With that in mind, I crafted the following list.

Say no to something that drains my energetic resources. Say yes to something I want (or want to do). Unfriend toxic people and regret nothing. Begin a new healthy habit, however small. Take a nap. Tell someone I love them. Check on a struggling friend. Do a random act of kindness. Listen without giving advice. Gift someone with my undivided attention. Spend time outside. Listen to a song I love. Buy a gift for myself. Practice self-compassion on my bad days. Hold space for myself while I grieve the myriad losses of the year — including the ones that directly impact the holiday season.

The month is half gone already, but my focus is turned to self-care. As a single parent, I’ve already selected my own gifts for the holidays. At first, I thought — why bother? But then I decided that it matters.

Did I binge on shopping over quarantine? Yes, I did. Do I still deserve a nice Christmas with a few gifts under the tree for me? Yes again. That’s exactly what I did. I bought a few small, comforting items. It might not seem like much, but it’s a reminder to me that what I want matters, too.

Next year, I’ll likely evaluate goals differently. I may make them smaller and much more personal — and far less dependent on outside circumstances. As much as I’d love to travel extensively, I’m also aware that it may need to be a wish list item rather than a fixed plan. Nothing is guaranteed.

This year is coming to an end. As it does, I’m trying to be more mindful and present — even though it’s hard to sit with the heavy sense of grief. I’m making the most of this year, even if that means I take the best care of myself that I can as this year draws to a close.

Photo by Harold Wijnholds on Unsplash

A Playlist for the Holiday Blues. I am a walking Mariah Carey song right… | by Crystal Jackson | Dec, 2020 | P.S. I Love You
Lightning Network Часть №5: Р ешение проблемы масштабирования
By: Andrey Samokhvalov
Tags: Payment Channel, Payments, Bitcoin, Lightning Network, Finance

Founded in 2017 Bitlum is a startup building products and services on top the Lightning Network. Based in US / Europe.

Follow
Shelf Life: October 2019
By: Dan Owen
Tags: Culture, Film, Feature, Shelf Life, Movies

DOCTOR WHO: The Collection (Season 23) [Blu]

The BBC’s limited edition Blu-ray collection of Classic Doctor Who continues with a jump to Colin Baker’s final season, the 23rd overall, known as “The Trial of a Time Lord”. The 14-part season is comprised of these serials: “The Mysterious Planet”, “Mindwarp”, “Terror of the Vervoids”, and “The Ultimate Foe”.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 [DVD | Blu | 4K]

Illumination’s animated sequel about what domesticated animals get up to when you’re not looking hits home video, after receiving mixed reviews and a $429M at the box office (half what the original made).

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX [DVD | Blu | 4K]

20th Century Fox’s two decades of X-Men films came to an ignominious end with Dark Phoenix this summer, although Dan Owen enjoyed a fair bit of it.
Danger in Paradise
Tags: Vote, Politics, Humor, Comics, Democracy

Written by

Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too.
These Thick Pixels
By: Alfred Cloutier
Tags: Poetry, Futurology, Art, Politics

just throw out ideas

then wait for sedimentation

as thick as a rectangle of light

wait for the thinning

that feels like meeting

for the third time

we know it sounds like mincing

across a random array of parallel needles

crushed flat on the mesa

our foot sleeved in skin

carefully crunching along

the eschato-wasteland

we are just us:

protoplasmic

daughters of endless sons

stalking with alveolate bayonet

we are thinned like pain

derived

anxious for the mesa drum to bounce with prey

anxious for the needles to jump upon the reverberating skin

we accumulate anxiety distilled from the origin held unbroken

anxiety stretched across the granite

(underneath the mesa, vaulted, veined, crumbling)

pulling from the place we met these thick pixels for the third time
Drastic Reduction in Withdrawal Fee
By: Team Coindelta
Tags: Trading, India, Crypto, Bitcoin, Announcements

Dear Community,

Thank you for your continued association with Coindelta.

We bring to your notice that we have drastically reduced the withdrawal fee of cryptocurrencies by up to 80%.

Here is the updated fee chart:

Few cryptocurrencies such as Quarkchain, Aion have seen a slight increase in the fee just enough to cover the withdrawal cost.

To check the complete chart visit: Coindelta Fees

With love for the Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies,

Coindelta Family

Stay tuned for more announcements!

Coindelta Website

Coindelta Twitter

Coindelta Telegram Group

Coindelta Announcements
Advanced EOS Series — Part 1 — Cryptographic Hashes
By: Mitch Pierias
Tags: Eos, Blockchain Development, Blockchain, Decentralization, Dapps

The Cryptographic Hash Function

Let’s begin by looking at hashes, all resources for this example can be found here on GitHub. In cryptography, a hashing algorithm takes an input and generates a fixed sized jumble known as the output digest. The digest is deterministic and irreversible, meaning the same input will always generate the same output and the output can’t be reversed to obtain the original input. A good hashing algorithm minimizes output collision by using a ‘high degree of difficulty’ in the shortest amount of computation time. Collision or clashing being the likelihood of two different inputs producing the same output.

Application of Hashes

Typically we will use a hash function for authentication and indexing data, I like to think of it as a method of compressing uniqueness. For example, comparing two arbitrarily sized files or users emails would be time intensive and expose vulnerable user data. We could instead generate a fingerprint by hashing the files contents or users email and more efficiently index and compare the data using the hash result.

This is as about as much as we need to know at this point, but if you’d like to itch your curiosity then I’d encourage some proactive Googling or take a look at Blockgeeks article on The In’s and Outs of Cryptographic Hash Functions.
Selkie Shangri-La
Tags: Literary Impulse, Poetry, Michelethetrainer, Poems On Medium, Hiraeth

Shangri-la island sunrise

Mysterious morning manifests

As a seal, she blissfully awakens in the tidal zone

Relaxed rolling over delicious sunlight dazzles

Sparkling white sand

Splashing giggling barefoot babes

Wearing fragrant frangipani leis

Sharing mangoes and lilikoi juice

Calm like a clam

Clear clean sapphire puddles

Teeming with tiny aquatics

Eagerly embracing experiencing this new heavenly feeling of gliding through warm water

Rather than her history of icy cold channels

Cozy seaweed flats

Snug memories of refreshing crisp currents

Dazzling colors of this delightful diverse azure sea

Magical welcome

Whales, dolphins, turtles, fish of all colors

Blue starfish on a rock catches her glance

Starry eyed

She smiles

Soul overflow

Ahh, the maritime loving mortal who could never understand her

Walking the path to their coastal lighthouse abode

Craggy coastal views

Songs of seagulls

Vistas of ospreys

Nautical lanterns, brisk winds, cloudy skies

Storms

Fond memories filled her

Gratitude for friends and neighbors who always tried to help her

Perched above the cliffs played the harp to the foggy shore which attracted creatives

Thalassophile artists and writers among other mellow mortals

Unrevealed therianthropy

Stealth

Slipping into the sea while they were sleeping

Untold frolicking with her seal folk kind

Unexpected invisible teardrop sliding down her face

Sadness of separation

Hiraeth

Tugging

Unresolved wondering

Maybe the artists could have understood me?

Knowing love was all.

Irresistible ocean call.

Though not longing for long

She looked down into a tidepool at all the littles

Spirited eyes of fish and crabs reciprocating adoring greetings

Met by her immeasurable consideration

Eager for her protection and friendship

Cooled by a flood of abundant compassion

Morning and eve

Moons and tides

Earth and swells

Nostalgia and contentment

Underwater rhythms defined her whether toes or tail

Intelligence placed her into perfection

Time to discover this next life aquamarine adventure

Locating her afterworld assigned grotto submerged below the reef

Inside her new digs, she found creative tools

Gifts, like form and fluke

Perhaps manifested from her treasured terrestrial moments; harp, pen, paper, tea

Liquid cobalt dimensions generously cared for her

Yet celestial periwinkle starfish cued

a deeper entangled cerulean dive into her enchanted heart’s abyss
When you don’t know where home is
By: Jess Semaan
Tags: Life Lessons, Immigration, Psychology, Poetry, Life

By: Jessica Semaan

Photo by Elle Wildhagen

Wherever you go is a foreign land

Where you live is a city of roaming strangers

Where you came from is painful and deceiving

Where you are heading to is nowhere to be found

You are too old, too jaded, or too broke to go anywhere new

So you feel stuck, stuck in the walls of your own handmade jail

You are a refugee of a home that does not exist

Then you think, in your desperation, what if home is someone

The lover you have not met, the partner you already live with, your friend from childhood

Then you cling to that someone, you surrender to their love and approval

But the moment comes where you realize they are not home

They are them and you are you

There are no home you can own

And the truth hits hard: no one is home and no where is home

You envy even more those who have it, those who found it, those who brag about it

And in your misery, you stop looking for a home

It is neither north, nor south

It is neither east, nor west

Home is no place, no people

Home is moments

Moments when you feel safe and loved

Home is a stranger you meet on a plane who pours their hearts to you

Home is the scent of your favorite dish as you were growing up

Home is drinking with your best friend, laughing and crying at your bad decisions

Home is the laugh of your new born child

Home is not a place, not a person. Home is moments. And they are at your fingertips.
Last Week in Crypto — 18 Nov 2018
By: Shrikar Ru
Tags: Cryptocurrency News, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Blockmanity, Litecoin

Last Week in Crypto — 18 Nov 2018

News on Dogecoin, Litecoin, Craig Wright, Binance and more

Taking over from Rishabh this week. Dogecoin despite the Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork drama is actually doing pretty well. Litecoin has the most ATMs after Bitcoin which hit a new low and caused a dip in Asian Crypto markets. The IMF Chief also talked about the possibilities of digital currencies.

Welcome to Blockmanity Weekly News

Dogecoin used More Than Bitcoin Cash Despite Hard Fork Drama — by Shrikar

While the Bitcoin Cash hash war is going on, Dogecoin is silently still dominating Bitcoin Cash in the number of transactions.

The Bitcoin Cash community has split into two parties the BCH SV and BCH ABC clients which is going to result in a Hard fork. There has been a lot of buying and selling activity prior to the fork in the exchanges despite which BCH is still not able to beat DOGE in the number of transactions… Read More »
It Was Not Your Fault
By: Onalenna Neo
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Healing, Justice, Recovery, Poetry

It Was Not Your Fault

A poem

Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash

These words,

A necessary lullaby now.

The sleeping pill.

These words,

knock air back into your lungs.

A ventilator.

These words,

Direct you towards healing.

A compass.

These words,

A call to the pursuit of justice.

The verdict.

These words,

A permission to carry on.

Your lifeline.

These words,

It was not your fault.

The truth.
One of Face ID’s under-appreciated perks: aging
By: David Chartier
Tags: Security, Apple, iPhone, Face Id, UX

One of Face ID’s under-appreciated perks: aging

In my experience, Face ID seems to be much more reliable than Touch ID for aging people and senior citizens.

There are plenty of pros and cons to discuss about Face ID and Touch ID. One that I rarely see mentioned, however, is aging.

A common complaint I’ve seen since Touch ID’s early days is that the sensor can eventually lose accuracy, requiring multiple attempts to unlock the device. Most of the time, Touch ID just needs to be reset and re-trained, which makes me wonder if the technology has trouble with changes to our fingerprints and environment.

While I have seen people have trouble with Face ID recognizing them, it feels to me like this occurs less frequently than Touch ID.

One group I have regularly seen have trouble with Touch ID across the board is aging people and senior citizens. As far as I can tell, Touch ID has a much higher failure rate with them, including at setup. Throw in factors like drying skin and fingers that can change significantly with age, and I suspect the tech just can’t keep up.

On the other hand, Face ID seems to have a much higher success rate with older folks. Apple touts the tech’s ability to learn as our faces change with makeup, beards, wrinkles, and hats. Whether it’s by design or an indirect perk, I wonder if Face ID is more adept at authenticating us throughout the days of our lives.

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Etheremon Game Updates (2019.03.05)
Tags: Ethereum, Art, Gaming, Blockchain, Releases

New Encyclopedia, New Game Guide released today. Etheremon World Map to be expected later this week.

As we have shared in our Roadmap blog post last month, we are focusing on features that can iron out barriers for new users to enjoy the game. Keeping that in mind, we are glad to inform the first batch of changes to Etheremon UI together with the next Rank Competition event this week. All details are as below:

New Encyclopedia

MonDex: A place that lists out all Mons in the Etheremon world. There are nearly 50,000 Mons captured as of March 2019. Filter bar also has a new look. You can filter Mons by Gen, Type, Forms, down to a more detailed level of Level and BP.

Mon Species: Here you will know which species you have owned and which you have not. Now it’s much easier for you can track your Mon Species collection to build a collection of your own. We also added some icons on top right hand corner of each card to indicate if you can find a Mon in store or in Adventure mode. Those without those icons can only be acquired in market via trading.

Adventure Sites info: List of adventure sites, rewards are now moved under Encyclopedia

New Game guide

Blockchain in particular and blockchain game is very potential but still quite novel for many users. There are some user experience challenges for blockchain game that requires a longer time to overcome. That’s reason why we build game guide to help you understand more about the Etheremon world.

Gym Mode Closing

We have informed briefly on our social media channels last week that Gym Mode would be closed down for renovation. We will have a new mode to replace it in the future.

Hongbao Reward Redeem Ending

Thank you again for joining our Lunar New Year event. The reward redemption has ended and all remaining hongbaos have been converted into Energy and credited directly to your account.

Etheremon World Map

As there are quite many updates for the product, we decided to break them into 2 batches to ensure a smooth transition. The release of the new Etheremon Map will be scheduled on this Thursday, 7 Mar 2019, 8AM UTC.

Rank Competition Event (8 Mar 2019)

The first Rank Competition event — King of the Hills will be scheduled to start this Friday, 8 March 2019. Stay tuned for the full event details in the coming days!
Silvery Moonlight
By: Tania Caan
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Relationships, Self, Feelings, Poetry

Poetry

Photo by Arun Regi Alex on Unsplash

I’m fighting through the pain

he said life will never be the same

silvery moonlight

slice my skin

I’m standing on velvety soft

rose petals —

deep vibrant red

He gave me a necklace of stone

and promised me a house of straw

My hairs stood on ends

the cold air froze my bones

But I held on —

I needed to feel the warmth

The dead can’t die —

he said

But the living,

The living experience death

everyday
The Boston View — Data, architecture and the (new?) working age
By: Paolo Ciuccarelli
Tags: Work, Data Visualization, Office, Data, Architecture

A column by Paolo Ciuccarelli

Invisible digital infrastructures are constantly mapping people’s connections and their behavior: from IP communication to the sensors that check occupancy or ensure indoor climate quality, offices and other working spaces especially are equipped with an intricate network of devices and cables. Analyzing the data they produce and visualizing them — within the boundaries of laws and norms (a.k.a. privacy) — can reveal the impact of the forced changes in working dynamics. And eventually lead to (re)consider the role and the value of space and physical-social relationships in productivity.

This was the topic of a short seminar by Carlo Ratti and Martina Mazzarello at MIT Senseable City Lab earlier in May, it’s worth reconsidering it now as we are going to be back — sooner or later — to our workplaces. Or maybe not?

The talk, available here, summarizes the first results of a broader research based on data collected from MIT students, professors, and administrators during the pandemic. The researchers built two models of the same social network, analyzing people’s interactions before access to campus was banned and during the shutdown.

One key emerging point is the (ir)reproducibility of the serendipitous encounters that randomly happen in a physical space — often leading to interesting conversations, unplanned knowledge sharing and ultimately new ideas and innovation. That’s something that seems to be hard to replicate online, where every activity is tight to a schedule, everything is — and needs to be — planned, and we usually connect for a specific purpose. Within these conditions one more luckily cultivates the closer circle of solid relationships and gets less exposed to the ‘weak ties’ of the broader unplanned network that usually grows through the random connections we build in public spaces, or in the transit between the private and the public. So depending on your business domain and the importance of leveraging on the unexpected, the decision on whether to come back to the physical working habits or not might be even more difficult. Adding competences related to analysis and visualization could help make sense of all the data produced by the sensors and the processes that silently capture indoor activities and the ‘behavior’ of buildings and spaces. That’s also where information designers can aim at having a more direct impact on people’s wellbeing and more broadly on sustainability.

Paolo Ciuccarelli

Center for Design, Northeastern University
Introduction to Safety Management for Self Driving Cars
By: Prateek Sawhney
Tags: Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Self Driving Cars, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science

Tailoring the Safety Lifecycle

Let’s look again at the steps contained in the V-model discussed in the previous medium article. I have included the image here for reference.

V Model (Image by author)

The V-model shows the entire safety life cycle, starting from the concept phase through the product development and ending in production. In general, a functional safety manager will need to coordinate and document the entire cycle. Ask yourself, is my product new or am I modifying an existing product? If we are designing a new product, we’ll have to follow and document the entire safety lifecycle. If we are modifying a product that already exist, we might not have to implement all of the steps in the safety lifecycle. New functionality perhaps only impacts certain parts of the concept phase or product development phase, so we can tailor the safety lifecycle to include only the parts impacted by the new functionality. That way, we can reuse some of the work that has already been done.

Let’s say, for example, that we are working on updating an automatic braking system that already exists. Our company has decided to use a new electronic control unit with a faster, more powerful processor. However, the break system’s functionality has not changed. Our first step is to make sure the new ECU really would not affect the braking system. If the new ECU has no effect, we might not have to change anything in the design. We could also reuse part of the original functional safety analysis. However, we would still need to run tests to make sure the new electronic control unit integrates with the rest of the system. In the safety plan, we would need to discuss if the product being developed is new or just a modification. Then we tailor the safety lifecycle and discuss what sections of the V-model need to be included. Tailoring the safety lifecycle allows us to focus on the parts of the product that are new.
6 Scientific Reasons Why Masturbation Helps Us Fall Asleep
Tags: Sleep, Science, Sex, Masturbation, Sexuality

It’s 5 am and my statistics final, which is worth 45% of my final grade, is at 8 am. This is the last class I need to transfer to Berkeley, my dream school.

Once again, I’m cursing the collegiate system. I want to study sex and gender, but the academic gods require me to pass a whole slew of math courses in order to do so. I’m dyslexic which makes math my nemesis. These thoughts swirl, unrelenting, in my brain as I try to sleep.

Finally, I have enough. I might not get some shut-eye, but I do know one way to quiet my mind. Turning to my nightstand, I slide my vibrator out from her velvet satchel.

Turns out, I was onto something. There are remarkable benefits to having partnered or solo sex before bed.
12 Books To Get You Through The Holidays.
By: Aambc Review Community
Tags: Book Recommendations, Book List, Holiday Reading, Romance Book, Christmas

At 22 years old, Blessing McCall is married to the love of her life, who is also the very first guy that she has ever dated. A recent college graduate and owner and instructor of her own dance studio, her life is straight out of a fairytale, but her story is thrown an unforeseen plot twist, changing her fairytale into an utter nightmare. Starting fresh, newly single, and refocusing her energy solely on her young black girls’ dance team, Angels, Blessing’s story is revitalized with new developments and interesting characters when she runs into a street boss, making her second chance at love an unexpected blessing of her own.

Ruthless in the streets of Chicago, the son of the plug, and has zero tolerance for non-sense, Darrius “Boss” Bryant only has a soft spot in his heart for his daughter, Arianna Bryant. Being a single father, he tries his best to be the perfect dad, but Arianna’s mom just won’t let him be great, causing him more stress than a little bit. But when his heart starts beating for someone other than his daughter, Boss is put into a position that he never thought he’ll be in. Having to make a decision that would force him to put his pride to the side, will Boss save the day? Or will he be the Grinch who stole the holidays?

Young, beautiful, and a successful schoolteacher, Melody Caston has been locked in love with the man of her dreams, Corey, since a teen and had life all figured out at one point. Even though he seems to complete her puzzle, their pieces doesn’t fit like they used to and some pieces are even missing. However, an open house meeting changes the picture for her, realizing that all of her pieces seem to fit perfectly with a man that she never would have fathom.

Second born to the infamous drug lord Dino Bryant and heir to the Bryant Cartel, Mason “Black” Bryant runs the streets of Chicago alongside his brother. Single with no kids, Black forms a close bond with his niece Arianna, leading him to an innocent open house meeting. However, the meeting is not so innocent, especially when he lays eyes on an unsuspecting and beautiful schoolteacher. Not able to get her off his mind, she becomes a challenge that he doesn’t mind taking on, especially since he always got what he wanted in the end.

This holiday season will be like no other for Blessing, Melody, Boss, and Black, especially since life will be teaching them the ins and outs of love. Two couples. Four hearts. But all love in the end. Join these couples on their jolly ride through Chicago as they discover the true meaning of love.

AAMBC’s Take: An unexpected love story? Check. Edgy? Check. A little holiday magic? Triple-check.
4 axioms for any payment system
By: Ezequiel Cura
Tags: Software Development, Payments, Full Stack, Computer Science, Software Engineering

Store all results

Let’s say we have a record in our DB indicating a user purchased product Y at $100 with 21% value added tax (VAT). How much was the VAT amount?… If you said $17.3553719008, you are right! See how confusing it could be? That $100 is actually 121% of the tag price. How would you round it? Are you considering your provider fees?

Yes, there are industry standards on how to calculate VAT, how to round, and how to handle invoices with several items that avoid these issues. The question I pose is: how reliable of a system are you building if you assume everyone in your organisation is familiar with those standards?

Finally, another very common mistake in computer science is to assume that math is perfect; it’s not. Numerical errors cost money. I propose two rules aimed to reduce those:

Store every calculation result (including intermediate results). Use integers instead of floats (floats/doubles could be affordable).

The example above will look like this: we actually store those five values separately [21%,1736, 8264, 10000, USD]. This allows us to track and correct errors (rounding, wrong VAT applied, wrong exchange rate, etc.) and debug old purchases, even when the faulty code is long gone.
The Largest House in Each State in the United States
By: Casey Botticello
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Real Estate, Business, Writing, Technology

As wealth inequality continues to grow in the United States, there are more Ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNWI) than ever before. This surge in wealth can be seen in many ways throughout society, but it is most prominently displayed through the massive homes being built across the United States.

This article uncovers the largest homes in the United States. More interestingly, it focuses on the largest home in each of the states.

Unlike many other lists, this article will focus exclusively on the largest privately owned, residential homes across America. Most lists emphasize the largest homes in America as a whole; almost none look for the largest home in each state.

Determining the largest home in each state was no easy task. I had to comb through lots of state specific tax data. It is possible I have missed homes, since the data is so decentralized, and different municipalities calculate square footage uniquely. That said, I believe this list is accurate and up to date.

The homes were picked based on total indoor square footage that was heated or air conditioned. Finished basement space was also included in the calculation.

The homes needed to be habitable (some were abandoned an in a state of disrepair with major safety issues) and construction needed to be completed on newer mansions.

This list only covers mansions that currently exist. There were a number of mansions that at some point in time would have met the above criteria, but have since been demolished or lost in fires.

Any home that is no longer privately owned (i.e. turned into a museum, or not fully utilized as a single family home) is excluded. However, since many of these homes boast resort-like amenities, and some are occasionally rented out, there will be some homes that function as a home/high end rental hybrid.
Mists and Mornings
By: Paul Maplesden
Tags: Mindfulness, Beauty, Poetry, Moments, Magic

Gathering those special moments.

It is often the simplest things in life that bring us the most pleasure: the smiling face of a loved one, nature resplendent in all of its glory, the turning of the seasons or old, familiar stories, told once again.

When we take the time to stop and truly appreciate these moments, we can come to realize and embrace the things that really matter.

Family, friendship, the world around us, history, compassion, love and hope can blend together and carry us to better places. These things inspire us to seek out new experiences, share them with others and ultimately create memories that can sustain us through life.

There’s beauty to be found in many places, sometimes unexpected, and when we take the time to be present, understand and feel joy and happiness flowing through us, that’s when we’re being the most true to ourselves. Embrace those feelings then, love the moment and let life be wonderful.

Mists and Mornings — A Poem

Mists and Mornings,

Circles of Stone,

Air of Spring Dawning,

Light of the Moon,

Wolves running free,

A Sunset of Gold,

Wise wooden trees,

And the Legends of Old,

Time as it passes,

Things come and gone,

Wind through the grasses,

A time-honored song,

Friends and things dear,

The Mood of the Night,

The magic is here,

Everything is right.

Themes, ideas and background for this poem

This poem is about appreciating the moments in life that really make it worth living. These moments don’t need to be glamorous, manufactured or overblown, in fact they are often simple, subtle and happen naturally.

The key here is taking the time to understand and appreciate those moments; it’s when we realize that they are happening to us, and that we can interact with them, that we can relish what they bring to us. This mid-length poem is comprised of 16 lines in all. The rhyming scheme in each verse is ABAB.

Themes explored in the poem include:

The natural world and the way that it can reflect our state of mind and heart back to us

The creation and appreciation of beauty in all of its myriad forms

The importance of family, friendship and having loved ones close to us

The enchantment and magic of taking a moment to cherish what life brings to us

As you read this poem, here are some ideas for further contemplation and exploration:
I Still Dream
By: Matthew Prince
Tags: Inspiration, Prose, Funny, Dreams, Motivation

Photo by Yohann Lc on Unsplash

I still dream because I can. Or perhaps it is because I should. How would life be like without it? Like a flesh without a breath- cold in summer.

When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut. Do you know what I want to be today? An astronaut. I want to leave earth and still be alive. Perhaps I would build a spaceship and travel back through time. Einstein must have known someone was going to do it, and it has to be me.

I hear becoming an astronaut arduous. A lot of maths and physics and physical stamina. But my math is rusty, and the only thing I know in science is the alphabet used to spell it. I am not even a US citizen (yet). Come to think of it, why is that a requirement? Anyway, I am sure Biden will help me with that. He looks like a nice guy.

Being an astronaut is thrilling, of course, but everything gets boring sometimes. So when I get tired of wearing spacesuits and floating in a sea of gases, I would rather be on earth and engaged in another dream profession.

I want to be a chess prodigy. There is something special about being a prodigy. Everybody loves you. All I have to do is smile at the camera when adults ask me silly questions like “When did you start to play chess?” as if they do not know I have been playing chess in my mother’s womb. There is just one problem. I am 31 already. 31 years with hope. Either I go back in time with my spaceship, or I reincarnate. I am sure one will work out. And If I reincarnate, then I will come back as a girl — Another Beth Harmon.

Yeah, I still dream because I can. You might call these mere wishes, but who cares what you call them?. I dream because everything is possible in my world and also because some things are impossible in reality. I would rather live in my world where everything is possible.

What I dream of myself is what I am.

Sometimes my mind tells me I think like a child, but I do not believe my mind. I do not believe anyone. I will be that which I dream.
This Week in Synthetic Biology #2
By: Niko Mccarty
Tags: Synthetic Biology, Science, Newsletter, News, Biotechnology

This week in research…

Controlling Engineered T-cells with Ultrasound

In the latest work from the Shapiro lab at Caltech, published in ACS Synthetic Biology, T-cells with engineered heat shock promoters were controlled “with brief pulses of heat delivered by focused ultrasound,” inducing them to release cytokines and target tumor cells.

Automated Genetic Circuit Design for Yeast

At MIT, the Voigt lab has constructed nine NOT/NOR gates, with a 400-fold dynamic range, in S. cerevisiae. With these gates in hand, they then used Cello 2.0, a software to design genetic circuits, to “build circuits with up to 11 regulatory proteins.” The study could dramatically simplify circuit design for eukaryotic synthetic biology, and was published in Nature Microbiology.

Automated Cell Culture System with DIY Hardware (Open Access)

With some printed circuit boards and off-the-shelf components, costing about $300, a team at Oxford has created a cell culture automation system with several useful features; the device can measure and record cell growth, and the seven-color LEDs can be used to measure multiple fluorescent proteins in parallel, or for optogenetics. The system, called Chi.Bio, was published in PLoS Biology.

For more on this study, check out my interview with the lead author, Dr. Harrison Steel.

Phase Separation in Human Cells with “Designer” Disordered Proteins

The Chilkoti lab at Duke University has designed a set of artificial, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) that can be used to engineer intracellular condensates in living cells. In a new study, published in Nature Chemistry, they show that the behavior of the engineered condensates are predictable, and can be tuned by controlling the mass and structure of the IDPs. Chilkoti said in a Duke press release that this study “provides very simple engineering principles to program this behavior [intracellular condensates] within a cell.”

Chemicals Stymie CRISPR Gene Drives

At Yonsei University, in Seoul, South Korea, the Kim lab has developed a chemical method to control CRISPR-based gene drives in Drosophila fruit flies. Using a site-specific recombinase induced by a chemical, called RU486, they demonstrate a gene drive removal rate of 7–12% in each generation. The work was published in ACS Synthetic Biology.
How Gardening Makes You a Better Person
By: Elsa Field
Tags: Self Care, Gardening, Garden, Self Improvement, Patience

How Gardening Makes You a Better Person

Plants reciprocate the care given to them.

Photo by Elsa Field (author)

Gardening is all the rage right now. Is it because we’re lonely in lockdown? Is it because we’re desperate for some nature in our lives? All I know is that I love my plants and I firmly believe that they reciprocate that!

So here’s how gardening makes you a better person.

1) It Teaches You Patience

Plant growth takes time. You cannot speed it up. If you shout at your tomato plant, it won’t produce tomatoes faster. There are some things, like using a greenhouse or fertilizer, that may help it a little bit, but even with those ailments: Growth takes time.

That is a lesson that translates to your achievements as well: All you can do if you want to see growth on a personal level is give it the time and resources to flourish. Personal growth takes time, persistence, and consistency. Just like plant growth does.

And maybe, just maybe, if you add enough light and water, you might soon harvest the fruit of your labor, just like the zucchini I harvested this morning.