fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Global Business Week: The Fintech 2020 Year in Review
By: Faisal Khan
Tags: Finance, Economics, Investing, Bitcoin, Business

WEEKLY BUSINESS ROUNDUP

Global Business Week: The Fintech 2020 Year in Review

The state of Financial markets & Economies, Weekly Charts, Business Trends & Statistics

After progressing for three days straight last week, the U.S equities finally faltered on Friday to closer lower, mainly due to the failure of U.S lawmakers to agree on a new stimulus deal to prop up the economy. The Dow gained 0.4% for the week, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.3% for its fourth positive week in five. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed with a 3.1% gain for the week with a lot of contribution coming from Tesla, which has been on a rip lately.

Despite the quadruple witching, which usually stokes volatility, the market remained relatively stable, and the general optimism about an eventual passing of a new stimulus package along with vaccine deployment remained intact. The latter half of December is usually a hallmark for the Santa clause rally, but who knows we might be in for another surprise which is the only normal in 2020.

Although the Greenback has posted another weekly low, some support needs to be emerging at this oversold level. The current price level below the 90-mark was last seen in Apr. 2018. Having said that, there is no indication of a reversal yet or for that matter, or even a significant correction. Any gains, for now, should be capped below the short term resistance zone of 91.80–92.20.

Cash machines are ringing for Bitcoin investors and the premier digital asset continues to propel higher. At the time of writing, BTC has charted a new high of $24,180 and trending just below that. The long-term resistance of $20k has now become the immediate support for Bitcoin. Big money investors coupled with low liquidity is pushing the crypto kingpin deeper into the unchartered price territory.

Today’s featured infographic from CB Insights, highlights key investment trends, funding activities, and projections for 2020 (as of 12/12/20) in the Fintech industry. Although deals and dollars could see a decline from 2019 despite deals bouncing back in Q4’20, 2020 YTD has set a record for mega-rounds. 97 mega-rounds YTD in 2020 has surpassed 2019’s total by 5.

Before moving on to some key statistics for the week, here are the weekly & YTD numbers (Figure 1).
Network Visualization and Dynamic Diagrams
By: Orhan Ergun
Tags: Network Visualization, Data Visualization, Computer Networking

The Law of Simplicity

The Law of Familiarity

The Law of Similarity

The Law of Good Continuation

The Law of Proximity

The Law of Common Fate

The Law of Connectedness

Also, as another example, other basic rules which can be good to consider, are:

Overview first

Zoom and filter

Then do details-on-demand

These rules was given by given by Ben Shneiderman (an American computer scientist).

With the use of network visualization, the network is more understandable comparing to data alone. Reports can be generated in more simple ways and will be more effective. More number of network engineers can analyze their network and understand the status of their network per node, link, and etc. These types of analysis provides intelligence for monitoring, troubleshooting and gathering reports of the network.

Network visualization tools also can help network security engineers in handling security issues and viewing the status of the system.

Actually the monitoring software’s will visualize the complex network, so network engineers can see the visual patterns. With the combination of using software’s to visualize the network and engineers to recognize the visualization, faster troubleshooting and decision making will be the seen. In this way, correct actions can be taken at critical times. This network visualization can be done as offline or as online/real time. In the real time case, problems will be discovered as they occur, which will result in much faster response time.

As one of the best network visualization software’s that I have seen, and I would like to introduce to you is IPBABRIC NIMPEE. I hope it can help you in visualizing your network and building your networks dynamic diagrams.

IP FABRIC NIMPEE provides detailed technology visibility and drilldowns in dynamic network maps, visualizing individual technology and protocols, which enables network engineers to plan changes, troubleshoot connectivity issues, and document the network.

Mapping and verifying end to end paths, from switching trough balancing to firewall and cluster policies, enables network engineers to troubleshoot issues much quicker, and to communicate with other engineers about the network.

End to End Paths

NIMPEE Visualizes complete active network path between any two endpoints. You can see all routing and switching forwarding decisions, including the results of all security decisions of all active path filters for the specific source-destination pair.

Site Connectivity

As a network engineer, can see your site-to site connectivity’s or individual sites, including all managed and unmanaged devices. You can display wired and wireless users, or IP phones. Visualize details of individual protocols or aggregate links and topologies into representative view.

Protocols & features

Display active QoS, applied Access Control Lists, or transmission issues on any of the diagrams. Verify link and device redundancy, or visually analyze specific protocol topology.
Iraqi politicians awarded ‘degrees’ by unrecognised university
By: Brian Whitaker
Tags: Universities, Iraq, Fake Degree

Iraq’s former interior minister Araji at his ‘degree’ ceremony

Two Iraqi politicians have been awarded bogus degrees by a self-proclaimed university in Denmark, it has emerged.

● Former interior minister Qasim al-Araji received a worthless MA certificate from the unrecognised Aalborg Academy of Science in February 2019.

● Ahmad al-Ubaidi, the current minister of youth and sports, received a doctorate from the same organisation in December 2018.

The Aalborg Academy in Frederikshavn purports to be a university though under Danish law it is not allowed to include the word “university” in its name. It has no physical campus and is owned by a company originally registered as a pizza restaurant business.

The academy has a lot of Iraqi connections and at the time of the awards to politicians it was lobbying for official recognition from Iraq’s ministry of higher education. It had two meetings with the ministry in 2018 and a further one in March 2019. On that occasion, according to the academy, the minister promised to assist with providing accreditation in Iraq.

So far, the accreditation doesn’t appear to have been forthcoming but the academy says it has secured “cooperation” agreements with three recognised universities in Iraq: the University of Baghdad, the University of Babylon and Al-Mustansiriya University.

The academy has also been opening “branches” in Iraq. These appear to use different names but offer the academy’s degrees to their customers.

A photo on Aalborg’s website shows a sign above a doorway. Aalborg’s logo is in the top left corner.

The sign reads:

The High Academy

For Scientific and Humanitarian Studies

Master’s and Doctorate

In participation with the Aalborg Academy of Science in Denmark

Dispute over Saddam’s doctor

Meanwhile, there’s a bizarre dispute over the alleged involvement of Saddam Hussein’s former doctor in Aalborg’s activities. The academy publishes a medical journal and claims on its website that the editorial director is Dr Ala Hussein Bashir who for many years was one of the Iraqi dictator’s personal physicians.

The website has a photo of Dr Bashir with an email address. When contacted by al-bab.com at the given email address earlier this month, Dr Bashir denied involvement with Aalborg and suggested it was a case of mistaken identity.

On Saturday, however, a statement circulated in the name of Jia Abd al-Karim Zangana — described as the director of Aalborg’s legal department — insisted that Dr Bashir is the journal’s “general supervisor”.
Do Not Quit Before They Reject You
Tags: Loss, Success, Failure, Opportunity, Promotion

Do Not Quit Before They Reject You

Failure is Part of the Journey of Success, Not the Opposite of Success

“This is mortifying; I cannot fathom to go into work tomorrow, I think I’m going to quit,” Sarah said as she nervously played with her coffee mug.

“What are you talking about?” I shot back, “I do not care how bad you think it went, there is no way that it was nearly as bad as you claim it to be.”

“I completely froze and they were all staring at me, it was horrifying,” Sarah said as she covered her face with her hands.

Sarah had just had an interview for an internal promotion and she felt it had not gone well. She had not been told it had not gone well, this was simply her perception of her performance.

“Perhaps your perception of the situation is the problem,” I said slowly.

We tend to view ourselves with a much harsher lens than others, especially when it has to do with our abilities.

“No,” Sarah responded confidently, “I totally fell flat on my face in that interview…it was so embarrassing. I do not even want to go back into work; I regret even applying for the job.”

The fear of failure is so much greater than an actual failure. Putting yourself out there and trying to better one’s life is nothing one should be ashamed or embarrassed about, but rather, something you should be inherently proud of.

“You could ask your supervisor for areas of improvement for your next interview,” I said slowly, hoping to instill some sense of hope for the future. “What would the point of that be?” Sarah fired back at me, “to just get humiliated again? No thank you, I am done.”

Sarah was true to her word. She never asked for feedback on her interview, so she was never given a real answer as to why she was not the successful candidate for the position. Everything at work ticked forward, but Sarah remained stagnant, mentally and in her position within the department.

“I’m never applying for another promotion again,” Sarah said defiantly and that seemed to be the closing sentence of the conversation.

Sarah never did apply for another opportunity in her department. She watched as others, who were much less qualified than her, receive opportunities she never threw her name in the hat for. She became moody and negative about her workplace and loathed the start of each week. Her performance at work started to deteriorate and she could not muster the energy to do anything to correct this problem.

Any person who achieves success also achieves a lot of failures. Success and failure go hand and in hand. One who is successful must also experience failures because it is part of the journey towards success.

The next time you fall flat on your face, no matter how mortifying it may feel in the moment, remember to try and find the lesson in the pain. There is no one who is extremely successful who has not failed at least as much, if not more than they have succeeded.
JavaScript.Linked Lists. Remove First Element. Remove Last Element.
By: Yuriy Berezskyy
Tags: JavaScript, Algorithms, Linked Lists, Data Structures, Programming

Welcome back to the long blog session about Linked Lists and its features. I am honestly happy to share my experience and knowledge of new methods. I hope you like it too and share this blogs with your friends and other people you might know. Of course, I would like to mention my previous blog and the first blog about Linked Lists.

Previous:

The first:

Let’s start with a new method which is called “removeFirst”

Remove first node from the list

Function → “removeFirst()”

Directions

Removes only the first node of the linked list. The list’s head should now be the second element.

Example
Notes on Deep Learning — Linear regression in PyTorch way
By: Venali Sonone
Tags: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Technology, Data Science

Concepts:

a) Model Class

Previously we defined our own weights (something similar to perceptron). We also defined loss and forward functions.

That’s tedious….

If we code everything and write all the functions as and when required, over a period of time we will be writing TensorFlow/PyTorch itself…

That is not our motive I believe :P

Writing numeric optimization libraries is always great, but building on top of prewritten libraries(like PyTorch) to get things done generates business value.

So if we are convinced by the fact, let’s use the implementation of nn package of PyTorch. Here let’s first create a single layer. We can stack sequence of layers in similar fashion or stack computational graph mentioned in previous posts.

We use linear layer:

Each Linear Module computes output from input using a linear function, and holds internal Tensors for its weight and bias.

Also note there are several other standard modules which we can adopt.

Let’s use a Model Class format which has:

a) __init__: defining linear module

b) forward: The forward is replacement, using the model layer defined in init instead of our custom-built forward pass.

b) Optimizer

Considering we are using the nn package and modules in it, The modules usually have several hyper-parameters which are usually randomly predefined. This also points out to fact that the Pytorch module is user friendly, yet it also gives flexibility to configure underlying functioning.

The optim package in PyTorch abstracts the idea of an optimization algorithm and provides implementations of commonly used optimization algorithms.

c) Criterion

Remember loss function we wrote. Criterion is our loss function which now can be used from torch nn module too.

If you want to get a gist in details please take a look at related technical guide:

LEARNING PYTORCH WITH EXAMPLES
Amorous Affections
By: Estrella Ramirez
Tags: Poetry, Second Chances, Relationships, Love, Desire

Desire for you

overwhelms all logic — my

breathing quickens, with

just one look into your eyes,

unveils the depths of passion

Action without thought,

no regard — consequences

may come to pass but

you are worthy of peril

that befalls me — I am yours

Take my body, lest

I forget your gentle touch

Take my mind and soul,

lest I fail to remember

you brought out the light in me

Take my whole heart, lest

someone else breaks it in two,

for how could they not?

As they will never be you

Touch me — I am yours, Amor
Apache pilot: what’s in my kit?
By: Ministry Of Defence
Tags: Aviation, Case Study, Nato, Military, Apache

My name is Jonny. I’m a Warrant Officer 2. I’m a British Army Apache pilot on Operations CABRIT in Estonia. The Apache’s speed, mobility and weight make it invaluable to ground operations all over the world.

The Apache attack helicopter can operate in all weathers, day or night and detect, classify and prioritise up to 256 potential targets in a matter of seconds. It carries a mix of weapons including rockets, Hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun.

Here is the kit that we carry inside the aircraft. 🚁👇

First I have my Apache helmet. It’s got a dark visor and a microphone that comes down to cover your mouth.

The helmet also holds the helmet-mounted display system that we have inside the Apache cockpit. The helmet is linked to the aircraft system on the Apache, meaning that the cameras and guns on the aircraft follow your head movement.

The helmet also has Helmet Mounted Display, which displays flight information such as height, speed and location.

Next, we’ve got our personal weapons system. In the army, we’re all soldiers first before we’re aircrew.

This is our SA80 carbine variant. It’s much shorter than a standard rifle and that’s purely so we can fit it inside the cockpit.
Email Marketing Shouldn’t Be a Waste of Words
By: John W Hayes
Tags: Email Marketing

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Long before I worked in email marketing, I worked in the newspaper industry. When you write for a newspaper you become very efficient with words. When an increased page count costs money, words are rarely wasted.

Great news writers understand how to pack a punch without wasting words. The same is true with great email marketers. While lengthy email marketing copy won’t cost you any extra in newsprint, it may cost you dearly in terms of engagement.

Short and sweet works a treat

Unfortunately, this isn’t a skill that is taught in school. Educational establishments want word count, often equating the length of submission with the level of the student’s understanding on a topic. This results in a lot of wasted words.

Cub journalists and rookie email marketers need this desire to write long knocked out of them.

A journalist’s first job on a paper might be writing briefs (the short articles that appear in a single column on the inside/outside edge of a page). An editor might request 35 words on a factory fire or a charity appeal. That’s 35 words to tell an entire story — not easy.

In email marketing, we need to think more like the cub reporter. Subject lines should tell great stories in less than 60 characters (again not easy). Body text needs to be quickly and easily consumed across a variety of hardware. Long emails will be given short shrift on a mobile device. A good call-to-action should have the recipient clicking within seconds, not pondering their next move.

Five Tips for Writing Short Email Marketing Copy
Grieving in Acrostics
By: Renata Pavrey
Tags: Poetry, Animal Lover, Acrostic, Pet Parents, Loss Of A Pet

Poetry

Grieving in Acrostics

A broken heart, a broken word

Hopelessly resigned beneath a cloud of gloom

Elegiac emotions over lives taken away too soon

Alone I lament through losses that pass unnoticed

Rallying love for all species by a votist

Torenia fournieri is a wishbone no more

Blighted by mildew, plenty worse than an eyesore

Rounding up the miseries ushered into this day

Of a plant and pet parent trapped in sentimental swordplay

Kitty died after two months of life

Egregious pneumonia that caused her much strife

No one to witness grief cut through like a knife!
Part Four of ‘High School Big Shot’ (1959)
By: Debbi Mack
Tags: Teen Movies, The Fifties, B Movies, Public Domain, Bmoviemaniacs

Hi, everyone! I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that this is the fourth and final part of High School Big Shot! 🙂

So … prepare to be amazed, astonished, and done with this thing.
From PHP to Golang or Rust? As Long You Are Using Raw SQL Calls…
By: Italo Baeza Cabrera
Tags: Rust, Golang, Software Development, PHP, Laravel

Wow, again Rust and Golang frameworks perform very well. Note that using Actix with ORM objects is just as the same as using raw PHP and raw connections, something you would do… two decades ago?

Let’s be honest. It’s very difficult to make 20 queries in a single request for a microservice. Unless there is a complex scenario, the one I did doesn’t go over 3 at best, including a single row insert when everything goes alright.

Seems like Rust and Go should become my prefered choices. Rust is a more close-to-the-metal language, while Golang is aimed to microservices. I put both under my radar and started to dig what I could find. What you need to accomplish that top performance?

The ORM way, or the performance way

After checking how the applications performed on the top of the charts, it was clear that these instances were directly connecting to the database. It’s not something you should worry about in the microservices area — if you’re using complex JOIN queries then your microservice may be not as “micro” as you want.

Noting that the “ORM” column was full of raw connections to a PostgreSQL instance.

The problem with going for raw SQL calls is that you become dependant on the database engine itself. There is no way to swap a DB engine, like going from SQLite to Microsoft SQL Server, in a transparent way. Most of ORM offer a way to add drivers for each RDBMS, so you can safely switch from one to another.

I consider the Database Layer something apart from the Application, so these should be interchangeable anytime and keep the same behaviour. It makes our lives easier, and also allows both of them testable and easy to migrate if for some reason we need to change them. For example, you can test the application against SQLite before pushing a new revision that uses a real PostgreSQL database.

This is the part where ORM comes, and where most of the performance gains of any language are lost. ORMs are basically a layer between the framework and the database itself. One of the most easy ways to pick up are those who offer the ActiveRecord pattern: each record is an object that can be created, updated or deleted. This is one of the reasons why I choose Lumen/Laravel, since it’s brain dead easy to understand and quick to build from. When I need performance I can always instance a query builder to push a SQL statement to the database.
LinkedIn Broke My Heart
By: Cristina Juesas
Tags: Social Media Strategy, Social Network Analysis, LinkedIn, Social Network, Social Media

As I was reading the new IAB Report on Social Media, I was thinking to myself, “LinkedIn has a problem.” This is not something that I didn’t already know. But now that I have confirmation, maybe it’s time they think about getting back to the basics that made them the most powerful online tool — creating profiles and connections that represented real-world professional relationships.

But let’s start from the beginning.

I created my LinkedIn account back in 2007, my first account in a social network as we know them today. Before LinkedIn, I used to wander around the net using a nickname. After LinkedIn, I became me. During these early times, I remember feeling awkward about telling everybody everything about my working life (now I can’t avoid a smile thinking about it, and seeing how things online have changed.)

We started creating our networks there as we were supposed to, by contacting our ex-colleagues, and colleagues from work, fellow university classmates, or any other connection that we had had.

It used to be the reference network where we all went back to announce our acknowledgements at work, our promotions, the changes in our positions. Everything!

At some point, it also became the reference network for job hunting, and for any kind of exchange between professionals. Good for HR staff. Good for job seekers. Good for salespeople. Everybody was happy with what LinkedIn was offering.

And then, I don’t know exactly at what point, it started to be unfriendly. It didn’t happen in the same way as with the overuse of other networks, such as Facebook, or WhatsApp and its annoying groups, though I must say that the annoyance of groups isn’t exactly because of the network itself. It’s been gradual. They started changing the settings and overloading you with unrequested emails, which we can consider spam.

It was also then that the [12k] appeared, LinkedIn experts specializing in amassing contacts, as if they were growing mushrooms. Experts in leadership. Experts that ask for your contact, and when you give it to them, they automatically send you their last e-book, or a link to their blog, or to their whatever that doesn’t interest you at all!

At the same time, they changed the feed, so you stopped seeing the things you really wanted to see and you started seeing just posts from influencers, or from people whom LinkedIn considers might be influencers, or might interest you, which is not always the case.

LinkedIn’s wall today is a mix of nonsensical chatter, spam (unwanted publications of all kinds), and a sort of competition to see who’s the CEOest CEO of all CEOs. Can everybody be a CEO? Apparently, yes. And thus, LinkedIn is not useful or trustworthy anymore.

Comments about the network are unanimous, and reports seem to reinforce it. People spend less time there. And I can foretell that they will spend even less in the near future. Maybe it’s about time to search and find a good networking professional network, now that LinkedIn has broken our hearts. Don’t you think?
codeSpark, turns programming into play for kids ages 5–9
By: Kevin Hart
Tags: Kids And Tech, Coding, Education, Codingbootcamp, Programming

codeSpark has raised $5.5M in total. We talk with Grant Hosford, its CEO.

PetaCrunch: How would you describe codeSpark in a single tweet?

Grant Hosford: codeSpark turns programming into play for kids ages 5–9

PC: How did it all start and why?

GH: I started working on the company when my young daughters (then ages 4 & 6) wanted to know how computers work. I thought their questions were super cool and was surprised when I couldn’t find an “ABC’s of computer science” for them.

That seemed crazy in a world that is increasingly run by software.

I imagined a platform with a visual interface that could be used by pre-readers and speakers of any language. The platform would teach foundational computer science concepts while letting kids get creative with code. So I found an amazing co-founder (Joe Shochet) and we built exactly that, our award winning app codeSpark Academy. Kids can access our platform in two ways. Public schools get free access and parents can subscribe for home use.

PC: What have you achieved so far?

GH: Our team of 10 is small but mighty. I’d put our team up against anyone when it comes to product development, subscription marketing and K-5 educational expertise. Over 30 Million kids in 190 countries have used codeSpark Academy to create their own video games and interactive stories. They are now making 1.1M games and stories every month! We’ve also been successfully working with schools and now have over 60,000 teachers using codeSpark Academy. We are profitable, we’re growing and we just won $1.3M in research grants from the Department of Education and IES. My favorite new partnership is with the Girl Scouts. In July we launched 9 new merit badges, 3 for the Daisies, 3 for the Brownies and 3 for the Juniors.

PC: How will you use your recent funding round?

GH: The new funding will allow us to accelerate growth, both with parent subscriptions and teacher adoption.

PC: What do you plan to achieve in the next 2–3 years?

GH: We expect to grow revenue by 3–4x and will be used by over 50% of all elementary schools in the United States. We’ll also have the biggest community of kid creators ages 5–9 in the world!
Marketing Pessoal: Dicas para Turbinar Sua Estratégia!
By: Alaska Marketing Digital
Tags: Marketing Social, Marketing Digital, Marketing Pessoal, Marketing De Conteúdo, Inbound Marketing

in In Fitness And In Health
The Great Library
By: Cheryl Corbin
Tags: Flash Fiction, Short Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Story

A flash fiction fantasy story

The Great Library

“Paradise will be a kind of library.” — Jorge Luis Borges

Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

Paula stared in shock and delight at the room the angel escorted her into. No, it wasn’t a room; it was a warehouse. A warehouse big enough to hold a planet.

And it was filled with books. Shelves upon rows upon stacks, stretching before her, farther than her eyes could see and above her, disappearing into darkness. Hardback, paperbacks, all shapes, sizes and colors. She stretched out a hand to a shelf and her fingers caressed the leather binding of one, moving on to the paper cover of another.

“How many are there?” She whispered her question, unwilling to disturb the awesome silence that so many printed words seemed to demand.

“I’m afraid that is impossible to say — the exact number changes constantly.” The angel gestured at a nearby shelf and Paula saw a new book appear in between two others. The other books on the shelf slid aside to accommodate it as it gently wedged its way in. “Every book that was ever printed is here. As new books are published, they are added to the collection.”

The new book was titled The Cheetah in the Grass by Lindsey Spade. It had shelved itself between a dictionary of Latin words and an engine repair manual. It seemed like an odd place to locate it. She wondered what organizational system they used. It didn’t matter, she decided. All the books in the world from all the centuries of literature? She could spend forever happily browsing through the volumes.

She stared down the seemingly infinite row of books and her stomach held a flutter of heady anticipation. This room, this library was a reader’s dream.

“I have always dreamed that Heaven would be a library.”

“Oh, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. This isn’t Heaven.”

“What?”

He consulted a clipboard, one she hadn’t noticed him carrying before. “You are Paula Inspiro, death by car accident? It says here that you checked out a book from the Danforth Public Library on May 7, 1988, entitled To Love a Pirate.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “The book was never returned.”

Paula searched her memory. “I lost that book. Couldn’t ever find it. But that was years ago. I was just a kid.”

“Books get misplaced all the time. Did you report the loss and make restitution to the library?”

Her face bloomed with color. “No. I didn’t want to admit to anyone that I was reading it. It was hard enough just checking it out.”

“Then that is why you are here. Your job is to find that book and bring it to this door for verification that your sentence has been served.”

“Find it? Among all of these? That’s impossible!” As she watched, three new books appeared on shelves nearby and randomly inserted themselves between the existing books. If she looked closely down the rows, she could see constant movement along the shelves and dread filled her stomach.

He smiled, but no kindness reached his eyes. Instead she saw a sinister glee in the depths.

“As I said, this isn’t Heaven.”
XOX Launches “Anti-Theft” Campaign
Tags: Higher Education, News

by Nadiv Rahman

Chi Theta Chi is arguably Stanford’s most unique form of housing.

If you’ve been to Chi Theta Chi (or “XOX,” as it is more commonly known), you’ve probably been able to walk in easily and roam around without anyone raising an eyebrow at you. In fact, I doubt you would face much opposition if you picked up one of the lonely pool cues in the corner and walked off with it. So what’s this “Anti-Theft” business? Well, earlier this week the University announced that XOX would be under review for two years, during which time it’s lease will be discontinued (with the possibility of a renewed lease if the XOX alumni board and residents prove themselves capable of handling their own management).

In response, XOX is going full-on against the University, calling this a theft of a near century-old tradition of autonomy. From organizing a campus-wide coalition meeting, to a vigil in front of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs’ office (scheduled for May 14, 9:30 am), residents are doing their utmost to keep their house. Earlier in the year, the Review published a more detailed report on the initial proceedings of the University takeover.

While Stanford has offered to observe XOX’s behavior for the next two years, residents and alumni argue that unwanted changes are already being advanced. For example, the University has attempted to cut down on the number of staff members in XOX, a structure which, according to residents, is crucial to the community’s unique management.

Furthermore, the University will have significant to complete control over the finances of the house, which is in direct conflict with its previous system of having a board of trustees supervising financial management through a student liaison.

These are among many changes about which XOX residents are complaining. Should you wish to join their cause, or casually observe the blinding display of color that is any XOX rally, you will find them outside the Vice Provost’s office on the morning of May 14.
Monday Muscle: Make a Difference Through Mentorship
Tags: Mentorship, Education, Monday Muscle

Monday Muscle: Make a Difference Through Mentorship

The weekly tip/tool/inspiration to start your week strong

Photo credit: Tim Barber, Times Free Press

Could mentorship be your first step in making a difference in Chattanooga?

Last week an official call to action was made across Hamilton County for people to serve as mentors to help reduce violence, increase high school graduation rates, and prepare students for college, work and a successful life.

With over 350 youth on the waiting list, there’s a huge need for mentors in Chatt. To sign up, visit connect.chattanooga.gov/mentor/
5 Historical Figures Who Died Following Their Crazy Principles
By: J.J. Pryor
Tags: Life Lessons, Death, Lessons Learned, History, Politics

The Other Theorem of Pythagoras

Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

Does that bowl of beans look scrumptious to you? It wouldn’t to the famous Pythagoras (think back to math class).

One of the tenets of his life was to never eat animals, fish — or beans as he considered them extremely unclean.

Towards the end of his life, Pythagoras ran a school of followers which might be considered a cult in today’s world. And just like many cult leaders, his teachings didn’t quite gel with everyone in society at the time.

His school was founded in the city of Croton and the townspeople generally loved him. That is until they decided they wanted to institute a form of democracy as a new basis of governing.

And Pythy was no fan of that.

The Crotonians turned on all of his followers and proceeded to murder most of them.

Just how Python died, in the end, is disputed. But one of the more interesting stories is that he fled the village and almost escaped with his life.

Until he came across a bean field — oh the terror.

Rather than violating his own teachings and coming in contact with the vile beanstalks, he decided to stop and stand in place. And was promptly murdered.²
เว็บโหลดไวขึ้นด้วย ​DNS Prefetch
By: Suranart Niamcome
Tags: Highlight, Coding, DNS, Asynchronous, HTML

SiamHTML

The collection of articles for front-end developers
How Do Spurs Play?
By: Ricardo Tavares
Tags: Sports, Tottenham Hotspur, Soccer

Granted, I don’t think I saw a complete Spurs match last season, so mistakes like that are expected. But can I learn how Spurs play just by looking at stats?

That looks like a cool challenge.

We already know the most common passing sequences for Spurs. What we don’t know is the patterns it uses to attack. So we looked at the passes that directly lead to shots and goals, using Manchester City and Arsenal as benchmarks (the teams that finished directly below and above them).

Categorizing plays

Using a simple clustering technique, we took all passes and crosses made within 10 seconds of a shot — let’s call those “a play ”— and classified all plays as one of four types:
A List of Fully Funded MFA Creative Writing Programs
By: Kern Carter
Tags: Creative Writing, Education, MFA

Big thanks to The Workshop for putting this list together. They’ve done an incredible amount of research and due diligence to provide a list of MFA Creative Writing Programs that fully fund its students.

Fully funded means that the program costs are covered by the institution. It’s such a helpful list for writers who would otherwise not be able to afford these opportunities.

If you’re a writer and thinking of entering into an MFA, you must visit The Workshop to check out what they’ve put together.
Ask Addi
By: Addison Smith
Tags: Transgender, Consulting, Aşk, LGBTQ

Ask Addi

How to Know What Pronouns to Use with Transgender People

“Ask Addi” is Join the Gender Revolution’s weekly advice column for questions about gender, transitioning or general LGBTQ+ issues. Click here if you’d like to Ask Addi a question, or find them on social media, #ASKADDI. Questions are answered anonymously so provide a pseudonym if you’d like.

When meeting a new person (let’s say at work, church, gym…) how and when in a conversation would you like to be asked (if you want to be asked!) about your pronoun preference? I struggle with knowing whether it’s respectful to ask and then asking in a way that feels natural to the conversation. — Jess M., USA

Dear Jess,

If you’re unsure what pronouns someone might want, ask. You don’t have to be elaborate or cautious. Just a straightforward “What are your pronouns?” If you want to seem a bit more woke, introduce yourself along with your pronouns, “Hi, I’m Addison, they/them.” This sends the signal that you would like to know their pronouns but avoids feeling like you’re interrogating someone.

It is always OK to ask for a person’s pronouns even with cis people. This is a sign of respect, always. It shows that you understand that this person may or may not be using pronouns that would typically be assigned to them and you want to make sure you get it right. What could be more respectful?

For many trans people, when you spend your day being misgendered by people using the wrong pronouns or honorific (personally, I hate to be called “Sir”), someone confirming your pronouns with you feels like an affirmation of your identity and that is a great feeling. Asking for someone’s pronouns might just make their day.

Another aspect that many people overlook is that asking for pronouns shows that you’re not afraid of that person. Many people react with fear or suspicion toward trans people since we are the mythical “other.” A simple act like asking for pronouns can show your acceptance of them.

Now, of course, there are exceptions to this. If you’re with someone who is presenting in a hyper-feminine manner, use she. He for someone presenting as hyper-masculine. Even if they turn out to be a transfeminine non-binary person who uses neutral pronouns like me, they’ll often appreciate the effort. I know I do.

Two caveats. First, you will screw up, accept that and own it. Correct yourself, continue and try to do better in the future. Many trans people will understand that you’re fighting against years of linguistic conditioning. It only becomes an issue if you keep doing it without trying to correct it. Second, I can’t speak for everyone so some people will react badly to this question but I believe it is still better to have asked. If your intent is to be respectful and accepting, I hope that they will eventually understand that.

Check out the first article in the series if you’d like to know more about Addi’s background.
ARTIS now listed on OctaEx
By: Artis Turba
Tags: Altcoins, Blockchain, Ethereum, Ethereum Wallet, Bitcoin

Hi Everyone, we are excited to announce that ARTIS has officially been listed on @octaex with ARTIS/BTC, ARTIS/LTC and ARTIS/USD pairs available. OctaEx is a new and growing exchange and we are excited to gain increasing exposure of ARTIS into new Markets.

ARTIS/BTC: https://octaex.com/trade/depth/market/artis_btc

ARTIS/LTC: https://octaex.com/trade/index/market/artis_ltc

ARTIS/USD: https://octaex.com/trade/depth/market/artis_usd
有適合新創4人團隊的微型辦公室嗎？多普林商務中心評價又如何？
By: Tony Zeng
Tags: 工作, Work, 上班族, 人生, 商務中心

in In Fitness And In Health
Web Components คืออะไร? + สอนวิธีใช้
By: Suranart Niamcome
Tags: Highlight, Coding, Custom Elements, HTML, JavaScript

SiamHTML

The collection of articles for front-end developers
Differences and Being Different.
By: The Blessed Hub
Tags: Growth, Islam, Muslim, Personal Growth, Difference

If you’ve ever shared a taxi with a stranger, nothing happens when the stranger is different to you. You make small talk. It doesn’t matter if he/she is taller or shorter, Mancunian or non-Mancunian, black haired or not blacked haired.

At some point, some people reach a moment of discomfort. A different race, accent, madh-hab, sect to yours. For as long as we’ve been keeping records, human beings have been on alert for the differences that divide us. Then we fixate on those differences, amplifying them, ascribing all sorts of irrelevant behaviours to them. Until, the next thing you know, we start referring to, “those people”.

Action: Education and contribution. It seems as though it’s a lot more productive to look for something in common. Attitudes and expectations. The common good and forward motion. A desire to make something that matters. Because there’s always more in common than different. The right moment is now, the world needs your unique contribution.
Why crypto-exchangers attract investors
By: Ico, Crypto News
Tags: Blockchain, Technology, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Bitcoin

According to rumors, the South Korean investors bought crypto-exchanger Bitstamp for $ 400 million. Crypto-exchanger is at the 14th place at the daily trading volumes ($ 122,369,567). Judging by Bloomberg’s research, Bitstamp’s daily profit is about $ 400,000. The goals of new investors for the asset are still unknown, but if one leaves it as it is, the return on investment will take about three years.

Earlier in late February 2018, American payment company Circle bought the crypto-exchanger Poloniex. The purchase amount is unknown. According to Bloomberg, the daily profit of Poloniex is about $ 60 thousand. Circle has big plans for buying: the company wants to make crypto-exchanger part of the global cryptocurrency infrastructure.

A lot of large investors did not have time to enter the crypto-market on a low start. Today, cryptocurrencies have become a more understandable tool, and their legalization is not far off. But investing in mining or even coins for the purpose of growth is meaningless. The main profit potential is the infrastructure. And the crypto-exchanger is here — the main objects for purchase. So new deals are just around the corner.

Subscribe to be the first to read news of blockchain and crypto industries & join our Telegram channel.
Love, On My Lips
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: Poetry, Coffee Lovers, Coffee, Morning, Love

Love, On My Lips

My weakness

( Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash)

I lay in bed, my eyes are still closed

Thoughts of you dance in my head

And I smile in anticipation

I remember how you fill my senses

And I can almost taste you on my lips

And feel your energy course through my veins

I slide out of bed, without a word

Quietly go in search of you

You’re like a magnet, I can’t resist

You lure me out of slumber

Knowing your power over me

The addiction is all-consuming

Your sweet bitterness on my tongue

You’ve got all my attention now

Good morning, coffee
How I make OTP Service which works like Facebook Account Kit
By: Arif Ul Islam, Ron
Tags: Otp Gateway, Facebook Account Kit, Facebook Otp Replica, Login Otp Service, Login Through Otp

If you ever used OTP gateway of Facebook Account Kit, you already know that Facebook shut down this service. It is sad news for all developers. Because we were getting this flawless service for free. In September 2019 Facebook announced this,

During that time, our client of Esho Sikhi wants us to develop the same OTP mechanism. I was thinking about how can I design such a system!! Then I realized before starting to make this, I should know how the OTP system of Facebook Account Kit works. In this post, I will show you how I have developed the OTP gateway for my that project (Esho Shikhi) which works as same as Facebook’s OTP kit.

What I used —

Process of Facebook Account Kit SSL SMS Gateway Database

OTP Request

OTP Request from Mobile Application

At first, from Application user enters his phone number and submits. The request is sent to the backend server. The server generates a 4 digit OTP and sends a request to SMS Gateway to deliver the OTP to the user. Next, the user gets OTP on his mobile. Meanwhile, server stores 4 digit OTP, phone number, time limit of OTP and the status of OTP (used or not used). Based on the phone number and time (in milliseconds), a unique hashed code is generated and stored in the Database.

OTP Validation

OTP Validation in Backend

To validate the OTP, the user enters the OTP in the second form and submits it. The server validates the OTP based on the information stored in the Database (for validating OTP — 4 digit OTP must be matched, must be unused, must be less than or equal to the time OTP expires). If the OTP is valid, the hashed code is sent to the mobile application.

Login Service

Final Login after OTP Validation

In the last part, the user logins by providing his phone number and the code which was given in the last step. After a successful login, the user gets the JWT token in response.

Later, the user uses the JWT token to call the authenticated API of the backend server.
Experimental Experience
By: Lilac India
Tags: Poetry, Dreaming, Poetry On Medium, Psychedelics, Surreal

I reach upwards

into the onyx sky

plucking the

mushroom clouds off

on their merry way,

pushing the swimming

moon made of bone

off its course

and into the path

of the amethyst light.



With diamond eyes

and a thirsty heart,

I feast upon your energy.

I capture and consume

opening my mind

wide to trap you.



Be it delusion or illusion,

a false belief versus a mirage,

the world deceives

while substances elucidate.



A creature scampers off

in the distance

aimless in the twilight

of the night.

As the psychedelics

absorb into

my bloodstream,

I bathe in a trance

beneath willow trees,

my grasp on

reality absent.



Visions of the dying

bleed into my memories.

I disintegrate from

hallucination and

sink deep into the ground

enriching the soil.

Rooted six feet under,

I’ve planted myself.

I sprout and bloom

undressing in the moonlight.

Feel my curves

as I move in rhythm

with the wind of the night.



In darkness,

I dream of

glitter all around.

Lead the way,

it sparkles a path,

a sprinkle of fairy dust

illuminates me

amongst the stars.



Your tired eyes

hypnotize me

as I crash from

a high I cannot sustain.



Held captive by the

stupor that follows,

I welcome the relief

of when I finally

close my eyes

and blackness

devours me,

the warmth surrounds.

A restless slumber

cocoons around me

as I fade into dreams.
Weekly Project Report : Week 26–2018
By: Dr. Michael J. Garbade
Tags: Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Bitcoin

Welcome to the Education Ecosystem Weekly Report. Here we will recap some of the things we’ve been working on recently. We will also provide updates on some of the most important upcoming things related to our project.

Recap

New Exchanges

LEDU is now available for trading on two more exchanges: Livecoin and Mercatox. Both exchanges have LEDU/ETH and LEDU/BTC pairs. You can read more about this here.

TokenClub Livestream

Last Thursday our advisor Chandler Guo was part of a livestream on TokenClub. He answered questions about his interest in the LEDU project and why he decided to come on board as an advisor. Participants in the livestream were eligible for a LEDU coin airdrop.

Partnership with Decentraland University

We recently partnered with Decentraland University to create more virtual reality projects for learners and developers. Find out more about this partnership here.

New Team Members

Steven Fetterly has joined us as an e-learning curriculum designer. Take a look at this interview with him as he explains about learning theories and the work he’s doing in the ecosystem.

Get LEDU Coin

Get LEDU coins now with ETH or BTC on Livecoin, Mercatox and Exrates. Read more about LEDU coins on our project page and ask any questions you might have in our Telegram group chat.
by Martino Pietropoli
By: Martino Pietropoli
Tags: Italy, Humor, Cartoon, Comics, Monday

First thing in the morning: a glass of water and a cartoon by The Fluxus.

Follow
Hurricane
By: Adina Dincă
Tags: Poetry, Dogs, Haiku Hub, Haiku This, Hurricane

I have seen a pup

Poor soul, looking quite frightened

Wish I could save her

Inspired by S Lynn Knight’s Haiku This prompt, “Flood”.
Still Waiting to Matter
By: Sherry Kappel
Tags: Poetry, Chalkboard Espresso, Police Shooting, BlackLivesMatter, Breonna Taylor

She dreamed in color but

Died in the black and white

of American justice