fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
I’m moving to Substack
By: Pan Chasinga
Tags: Newsletter, Substack, Blogging, Code, Developer

Hi, thanks a lot for following. It’s been great to know I’m in good company. However, I’ve decided to move to Substack to focus more on my writing in a way and topics that really resonate with me under the name BETA School.

If you’re wondering WTF is Beta School, should definitely check it out. It’s going to get a lot crazier, cozier, and much more content. I’d still be writing about tech and programming and all the things you’ve been reading here at Code Alpha, but in a more meta kinda way. Also, all the posts here at Code Alpha are ported there and I will be mirroring my content on Medium on Substack as I slowly sun-setting first.

So please head over and say hi. It’s so cold sitting out there on my own. If you’d like to get in touch, I’m also on Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram.

Joe, Code Zen (Alpha) editor

Subscribe to BETA School
Workaholism Is Overrated
By: Christopher Pierznik
Tags: Careers, Success, Workaholic, Business, Life

“My old man worked hard. All they did was give him more work.”

— Larry Wilson, Weekend at Bernie’s

There are people that take pride in being the last one at work, their car always in the parking lot, their light the only one on in an otherwise pitch-black office. Their career is their life. They’re still at their desk while the cleaning crew vacuums around them.

In a society in which employers hold more sway over us than even the government, is it really a surprise that so many Americans don’t use their vacation time? There’s a reason corporations and organizations give employees laptops and iPhones so that they’re available 24/7/365, working on holidays, weekends, and past midnight, all without a bonus or overtime pay.

The idea behind all this work is not only that it makes you valuable, but that it makes you invaluable. Irreplaceable, even. Only, that’s not true. No amount of work, no number of hours will make you indispensable. Everyone is disposable. If the founder of a company can be fired, then anyone can. CEOs get removed. Dictators get overthrown. Workaholics lose their jobs just like everyone else.

Everything is temporary, particularly in the gig economy.
“The Umbrella Academy” is Back!
By: Shain E. Thomas
Tags: Streaming Service, Television, The Umbrella Academy, Comics, Netflix

Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy returned Friday, 31 July 2020 with a second season. The second season, consisting of ten episodes, sees the lead characters arrive in Dallas, Texas during various points of the early 1960’s. The apocalypse we saw in the closing seconds of the first season finale was only the beginning. There is another one coming, in 1963, and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) and the team have ten days to save the world.

The source material for The Umbrella Academy was created by writer Gerard Way. With illustrations drawn by Gabriel Bá, published by Dark Horse Comics, The Umbrella Academy: Dallas was released in 2008. It seems, based merely on the first few episodes, Netflix plugged into this second season significantly more money than that seen with what was offered subscribers last year. With more money, recognising the importance of source material accuracy, comes a greater responsibility to the fans. Half measures are never appreciated.
Instagram em números
By: Redação Psc
Tags: Instagram, Estatísticas, Social Media, Mídias Sociais, Estatistica Instagram

in Both Sides of the Table
Creating Beautiful Maps with Python Beyond the defaults
Tags: GIS, Geospatial, Data Science, Data Visualization, Geopandas

Making maps with Geopandas is very easy but I have to admit the defaults are not great as any other data visualization software out there. In this tutorial, we examine ways to change and create beautiful maps. There are many different ways to customize your maps. We cover specific ways you can enhance your map-making with parameters, selecting colours and adding context and base maps to your maps.

Let us make slick and aesthetically pleases maps with few and simple code.

Data and Default maps

Let us read the data and visualize it with the defaults. We use Geopandas read_file() function to read the data. Plotting geographic data with Geopandas is also easy as just calling plot()) function.

gdf = gpd.read_file(“data/malmo-pop.shp”)

gdf.plot()

Look at that map. We have to appreciate the ease of this despite being ugly. We can enhance and customize the map with parameters. Never accept defaults.

Customizing map parameters

The map above has several drawbacks we can easily fix with taking and customizing parameters. In this section, we review some basic elements that can help us make more aesthetically pleasing maps. Let us add some basic elements and customize the map.

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(16,16)) # 1 gdf.plot(ax=ax, color=”grey”, edgecolor=”white”, linewidth=0.2) # 2 plt.title(‘Mälmo Neighbourhoods’, fontsize=40, fontname=”Palatino

Linotype”, color=”grey”) # 3 ax.axis(“off”) # 4 plt.axis('equal') # 5 plt.show() # 6

What have we done so far?. We have added a title for the map (#3) and removed the axis labels for the latitude and longitude (# 4). In (#5), we also make sure that the maps represent reality as much as possible by ensuring that scale ratio remains fixed — plt.axis("equal") . We have also increased the map size (# 1).

The actual colouring of the map is passed as parameters in plot() function. We changed the default blue colour of the map to grey and made the line edges smaller and white.

We have come a bit further to customize our map. The above map is more pleasant than the previous default map. In the next section, we get to know how to use colour effectively.

Use Colors effectively

Although the colour choice is personal, there are many tools that can help you choose colours effectively with design guides. One such tool is Palettable. These are some colour choices with some guidance from Palatable.
The Answer is 42
Tags: The Scene And Heard, Beauty, Poetry, Peace, Life

A poem should be calm and free

As a summer breeze.

As meaningful as life itself

Silent as the song night sings

Of that magic place where man has grown —

A poem should be full of treasure

As the sea.

A poem should be cherished

As the food we eat.

Long lasting, as the needles

That grow one by one on the pine trees

Calm, as the feeling of being asleep,

Feeling free by dreaming of all the mystery in life —



A poem should be a thought, a memory, a dream,

As the air we breathe is fuel for life.

A poem should be equal to:

Your will to live as to the meaning of life.

For all the words are

An empty canvas, ready to be painted on,

For every word has no meaning, until you decide what it means,

The breeze, creating waves, above the sea —

A poem should not be seen only as a remix of the dictionary,

But as a abstract painting, holding all the secrets of life, that only you can understand.
You Don’t Know CSS
By: Hizkia Juan Suryanto
Tags: HTML, Web Design, Front End Development, CSS, Web Development

A look behind the scenes…

YDKCSS

Hi! Are you now developing a website or web application? Are you a front-end guy that loves working on HTML/CSS? Have you ever known about CSS’s inheritance, specificity, or the “cascading” itself?

Well, the chance is you might don’t know CSS in depth. But, fret not, that was me too before I took this awesome Advanced CSS course taught by one of Udemy’s Top Instructors Jonas Schmedtmann.

So, this article is basically an excerpt from that course, that I believe will enrich your understanding of what’s going on underneath. Enough chit-chat, here it goes!
Open Any Public GitHub Repo in Codesandbox in 3 Seconds
By: Vikrant Bhat
Tags: Coding, Github, Codesandbox, Tricks, Web Development

If you are someone who wants to quickly just lookup some code in a GitHub repository or even fork or edit it, then this is a good handy trick to know.

Check out the steps below, for a written walkthrough

NOTE: If you are not a PRO member of codesandbox then the trick will work only on Public repositories

Steps to follow (if the GIF doesn’t sum it up 😜):

STEP 1: Open any Public GitHub repository.

STEP 2: Go to the URL and append ‘box’ to your github.com URL in-between ‘hub’ and ‘.com’ and it will redirect to CodeSandbox.

Here’s an example:

And that’s all you have to do!

Check out the Codesandbox docs to learn more
Türkiye’de CBS’nin durumu
By: Alper Dinçer
Tags: Açık Kaynak, CBS

Ordinary Geo Web and Mobile Developer working on Web, Open Source and ESRI related projects and JavaScript Fan

Follow
Daily habits every Pipedrive user should follow [VIDEO]
By: Weronika Nużyńska
Tags: Management, Pipeline, Sales, Pipedrive

This post has been written by Paul Minors, a Certified Pipedrive Partner at pickSaaS, and originally published here.

The success of a sales team comes down to building habits that support your sales goals. For example, being really diligent with following up on leads or keeping in touch with clients on an ongoing basis.

In this video, I talk about some of the daily habits every Pipedrive user should follow. When you log in to Pipedrive each day, here are the following habits you should try and adopt to ensure Pipedrive is being used effectively.

1. Start by reviewing the ‘Activities’ tab.

If you’ve been following the best practices that I’ve outlined in previous lessons, each day you should have a todo list of follow up emails, calls etc. to complete. Click on the Activities tab to review your work for the day. As you complete an activity, always be asking yourself ‘What’s next’ for that deal. Schedule another follow up if needed. Even though you may be waiting on a reply from a client, you still need to take the initiative to follow up.

2. Process your email into Pipedrive.

As you go through your main email, get into the habit of using Pipedrive to organize your next actions. i.e. create new activities for things you need to do (e.g. follow-ups, quotes), add notes from emails into relevant deals, add email attachments to relevant deals etc. The key here is to consolidate all information about a sale into a deal in Pipedrive.

3. Keep deals up to date.

As you work on deals, check that it’s in the right stage (or mark as Won/Lost if you need to) and that you have any relevant custom fields filled in. Keep Pipedrive open and up to date. If you only work in Pipedrive once a day, you’ll find it gets out of date very quickly and is, therefore, less useful. Rather than having to go through a big clean up once a day, refer to it regularly and update activities and notes as you go in real-time.

If you’d like to learn more about my Pipedrive coaching and support options, click here.
Will my story be a success story?
By: Muhammad Zunair
Tags: Life Lessons, Life Hacking, Microfiction, Midnight Thoughts, Life

Will my story be a success story?

Micro-fiction

Photo by David Gavi on Unsplash

At 1:00 A.M, while contemplating his choices, he asked himself, Will my story be a success story?

He didn’t get the answer, as expected. However, a few moments later, someone whispered in his ears, It depends on how committed and determined you’re to be a success story.

Although he couldn’t grasp the very essence of it yet he got his answer; being successful has a lot to do with how hard one tries or to which limits one is ready to go for achieving his goals because, in the end, life is an act of doing, not merely thinking or planning.
How to Pursue Successfully Through the Path of Digital Marketing
Tags: SEO, Marketing, Business Strategy, Digital Marketing

In the words of Seth Godin, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell”. He’s probably right considering how in today’s digital marketing landscape, it’s the story that gets people to talk about your product. Since the dawn of digital marketing, mobile advertising has remained an important subset of the whole ecosystem. It helps the marketers by adding to their profits.

With the evolution in the technology, digital marketing is growing really big today. There are top-notch approaches that help marketers add value to their strategies to get the best output. These strategies have also played an important role in bringing more engagement and traffic to the businesses, making it an exceptional online marketing approach.

Why Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for a number of strategies join together. The strategies including SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SMM (social media marketing), content marketing, video marketing, and graphic designing to mention a few. It also includes a number of mobile advertising techniques in order to attract the users towards a specific service or the product (may be a website).

Key Elements of Digital Marketing

# Branding

Branding is the trailer shown to the customers prior to the actual picture. A great branding creates an exceptional impact on the users. Branding involves mobile advertising, campaigns, promotional activities, and more. These activities are targetted to create a lasting impact on the customers. Such strategies also engage the client’s attention.

The Measures of branding:

Evaluating the business outcomes.

Defining the accurate KPI to measure.

Aligning the team to act strategically on the predefined strategies.

#SEO

Search engine optimization is a technique to get extended visibility for your website. With the right usages of keywords, meta tags, keyword-rich content, PRs, and Infographics, the job of getting traffic to the website becomes much easier.

The Measures of SEO:

Identifying most trending keywords.

Using trending tools to analyze the keywords and keyphrases.

Analyzing the metrics to get the required ranking.

# Content Marketing

Content marketing is all about enticing the customers towards a portal with different strategies that include video, blog, social media posting, and content creation in order to stimulate the interest of the readers.

The Measures of Content Marketing

Analyzing consumer behavior.

Improving user experience.

Increasing content readability and audience engagement.

This Article is Originally Published here.
Online Sugar Daddy
By: Reuben Salsa
Tags: Cheating, Relationships, Marriage, Salsa, Sex

Welcome to the lonely world of the online Sugar Daddy. The marriage had died a decade ago when the kids arrived. The wife no longer wants sex. The husband is bored with life and resents his other half. He never realized that marriage meant an eternity of depression and passive aggressive behavior. He feels trapped. He’s sure the wife feels exactly the same way. Both are scared of ending their relationship.

Fear of failure is preventing a better future.

Meanwhile, hubby has rediscovered his joy for life. He has a dirty little secret. He doesn’t believe he’s cheating. He’s paying a young nubile woman to love him. He feels worshipped. He feels alive. He feels he is the centre of her universe. Every month he would send her a gift. They exchange images. Highly charged erotic photos. Each image more graphic then the last. He insists he’s not cheating. She lives a million miles away. They’ve never met or even had a video conference. She lives in his fantasies.

Annie wants to be loved too and Daddy knows how to spoil her. Flowers for her birthday. Some jewelry. A new dress. A kinky outfit. Annie loves to dress up for her Daddy. Each exchange is getting larger. Every monetary gift increases in size. Annie is struggling to pay her tuition. She’s struggling to get to class. She desperately needs transport.

He cares too much. Hubby is her savior. He’s her white knight. He would never let her down.
What Does A Biden Presidency Mean For The Rest of The World?
By: Tom Stevenson
Tags: Joe Biden, USA, Politics, Election 2020, World

What Does A Biden Presidency Mean For The Rest of The World?

It’s not only America where things will change

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

After days that felt like they would turn into weeks, Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election and will become the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

The landslide that pools predicted may not have happened, but with Biden winning the electoral college by 306 votes, the same number that Trump won four years ago, it’s a convincing victory nonetheless.

Biden’s task will not be easy. He takes over a country that is arguably more divided than at any point since the end of the Civil War. On his own side, he has progressives who want him to push ahead with plans to tackle the climate crisis and beef up medical insurance for millions of people. While his vanquished opponents will simmer over the defeat of their man, Trump.

The task he faces is monumental. One that could be more complicated if the Democrats’ do not have control of the Senate, which is a distinct possibility. The two Senate races in Georgia will go to a runoff and if the Democrat’s win them both, no mean feat, then the Senate will be tied at 50–50, with Kamala Harris being the tiebreaker.

The outpouring of emotion after the confirmation of Biden's victory reflects the relief many felt about Trump’s defeat. Four years of his presidency have dumbfounded and demoralised many. His defeat was a sweet moment for a lot of people.

Not only does Biden's victory affect America, but it also impacts the rest of the world. His policies on climate change and international co-operation will impact the rest of the world.

Under Trump, America wavered from its position as the foremost democracy in the world. His doctrine of America First threatened to remove their influence from the global stage and embolden autocrats across the world.

That will change under Biden. Here’s how:
A Step By Step Guide to Install TensorFlow
By: Sahiti Kappagantula
Tags: Tensorspace, Deep Learning, TensorFlow, Installation

Deep Learning is one of the Hottest topics of 2020 and for a good reason. The advancements in the Industry has made it possible for Machines/Computer Programs to actually replace Humans. Artificial Intelligence is going to create 2.3 million Jobs by 2020 and a lot of this is being made possible by TensorFlow. So, in this Install TensorFlow article, I’ll be covering the following topics:

What is TensorFlow?

TensorFlow Applications

TensorFlow Installation Process

What is TensorFlow?

TensorFlow is Google’s Open Source Machine Learning Framework for dataflow programming across a range of tasks. Nodes in the graph represent mathematical operations, while the graph edges represent the multidimensional data arrays ( tensors) communicated between them.

Tensors are just multidimensional arrays, an extension of 2-dimensional tables to data with a higher dimension. There are many features of TensorFlow which makes it appropriate for Deep Learning.

TensorFlow Applications

Now TensorFlow has helped a lot of companies built world-class models to solve real problems. So, before we install TensorFlow, let’s have a look at some of the applications of it.

Airbnb: It improves the guest experience by using TensorFlow to classify images and detect objects at scale.

Coca-Cola: The advancements in Tensorflow enabled Coco-Cola to finally achieve a long-sought frictionless proof-of-purchase capability.

GE Healthcare: GE trained a Neural Network using TensorFlow to identify specific anatomy during brain MRIs to help improve speed and reliability.

Twitter: Twitter used TensorFlow to build their “Ranked Timeline”, allowing users to not miss any tweets even if they follow a thousand other users.

Install TensorFlow: Steps

There are few Pre-requisites before we install Tensorflow:

Pip is already there in python 3.5.x onwards.

Set up Virtual Environment

To set up the Virtual environment:

After this use the command

And, you’re done. Go ahead, after you install TensorFlow, just import it and start using it’s amazing deep learning capabilities and create something new.

With this, we come to the end of this blog on Data Science vs Machine Learning. With this, we come to the end of this article. If you have any queries regarding this topic, please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you. If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies like Python, DevOps, Ethical Hacking, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site.

Do look out for other articles in this series that will explain the various other aspects of Data Science.
Hope
Tags: One Line, Advent, Hurt, Chalkboard, Hope

The heart — now

wounded by a sudden

unbelievable loss,

waits for something to

Light up the abyss —

A tiny hope

For the tides to turn.

~ The year 2020 has brought a lot of sorrow to so many of us, and just when I was hoping that there are only a few days left for this ordeal of a year to be over, an irreparable loss stormed in and made me realize that my life, here onwards, will never be the same again. Still, Kathy’s incredibly timely prompt makes me hold on to that hope of the advent of good times.

Read Kathy’s poem here:

~I also was very inspired and could relate a lot to the beautiful weaving of poignance and hope in this poem on the same prompt by Georgia Lewitt:

~Many thanks to Kathy Jacobs, Harper Thorpe, and the entire Chalkboard team.
¿Qué es Bitcoin?
Tags: Inversion, Bitcoin, Criptomonedas, Peru, Blockchain

in Both Sides of the Table
Why Gremlins is One of the Most Important Christmas Movies Ever Made
By: Jamie Logie
Tags: Culture, History, Christmas, Movies, Marketing

Gremlins is About the Dangers of Commercialism at Christmas

This is the major theme to take away. Again, the basic plot of the movie is about a father buying a present for his son. But it’s an important present. Billy’s father has been so absent with his business travels that Billy has become very neglected.

His father realizes this, too, and needs to find the greatest gift possible to make up for it. But affection and love can’t be bought with commercial goods. This is a major problem that has emerged in our society over the decades.

The Gremlins also represent the chaos that happens when consumerism takes over the heart and soul of a holiday.

The Gremlins run amuck the same way capitalism and commercialism has during the holiday season. The Gremlins represent the damage that happens when the focus shifts from joy, love, peace, and family to greed and want.

Parents think they need to buy the latest and greatest to show they love their children. Maybe they just need to focus on actual love and more quality time. Your acts will always show someone you love them more than a gift.

The Gremlins grow in numbers and spread out of control. This represents how our greed and commercialism at Christmas have also spread out of control.

I believe this is why Silent Night plays through the score in the last parts of the movie. People need to slow things down and quiet their hearts instead of succumbing to the chaos the season has evolved into.

Gremlins is also a pretty wacky comedy — and this is used to illustrate the absurdness that the holidays have become. The Gremlins turn into caricatures and go through very cartoony circumstances, again, to show our own absurdness of pursuing possessions — and breaking someone's arm to get said possessions during Black Friday.
What is the right way to clean earwax?
By: Amin Shah
Tags: Cleaning Ears, Health Tips, Ear Wax, Syringing, Candling

More importantly, you should know when to remove wax, though I will briefly tell you all about earwax! Been there done that experience :D

A huge unbelievable slug of wax popped of my ear to the kidney tray as the technician squirted lukewarm water into my ear via the scary wax removal syringe.

During my medical school, I got this dry ache/pain behind my ear. I was lucky to have immediate access to the ENT doctors.

By using the otoscope huge ear wax was confirmed as the culprit of my suffering, I was advised to use the wax aid drops for 3 days and then they popped out the ugly glob.

Steps to remove ear wax;

First thing first, use ear wax aid drops to soften your hard ear wax. You can also use baby/olive/mineral oil or glycerine 2–3 drops for 3 days. This makes the hard wax soft and moisture to easily detach from the ear walls causing no pain or injury to the soft skin on removal.

2. Then you can use any of the following methods to remove wax; Ear wax removal kit, ear lavage by washing your ears out with lukewarm water with a needle-less syringe, or the suction tool used by doctors (Do read or watch recommended instructions/youtube videos before trying any procedure)

When to remove Ear wax?

Almost never :D

Only if; Symptoms are caused due to the accumulation of earwax. It can occur in one or both ears, called cerumen impaction.

Symptoms;

Ear fullness feeling

Pain

Hearing difficulty

An interesting point you rarely read in books, is that you can suggest ear checkup (kindly/anonymously) if someone’s talking loud (might be due to ear plugged that they can’t hear their voice as normal so they are loud)

Tinnitus, ringing in your ears

Smell, discharge, or itching of the ears

Cough (can be ear wax), throat irritation

Earwax noticed frequently coming out (cosmetic reason)

These symptoms are not always caused by earwax, so don’t blame earwax every-time you have these issues, but better to exclude it first :)

Ear Wax benefits;

Earwax is normal for your ears to produce as it helps in lubrication & protection, while the continuous washing or cleaning of the ears will irritate the soft ear walls & imbalance the perfect lubrication thus making it more dry and itchy.

It has antibacterial properties & also works as a filter trapping the dust & harmful particles going deep into the ear.

An important point, “Don’t remove wax unless you have any of the above symptoms”.

2 Wrong but common practices:

Q-tips/Cotton buds are never the best practice, especially cleaning deep with it, as it hardens the wax by accumulating and pushing it against the tympanic membrane or eardrum, it also dries up the ear normal smoothness & lubrication. Candling: risk of getting burnt, ash coating & perforation of the eardrum, ear canal blockages & infections

See your doctor if you have any kind of concerns/complications.

Comments are appreciated!
BentoBox News September 2019
Tags: Restaurant, Startup, Design, News

October 3, 2019

Check out the latest news from BentoBox HQ

Welcome back to BentoBox News, a monthly recap of all the happenings here at BentoBox HQ. This series is where we highlight our website and product launches, awards and share press. August was a good month for us. We’re excited to share all the news from September.

In The News

BentoBox was mentioned in Crain’s New York Business article on new restaurant software options for online ordering.

Our design team took a trip out west to Portland, Oregon this past Spring. They recently reviewed everything that they ate. The article was shared by Medium’s daily, “Most insightful stories about Food” list.

Launched Websites

In September we launched 160 new websites. Here are few: Kickstand Brewing Co. (Commerce Township, MI), Wildseed (San Francisco, CA) and Caffe Panna (NYC)

Events

BentoBox sponsored the Welcome Conference in Chicago this month. The Welcome Conference is a place where people passionate about hospitality come together, network and share ideas. Speakers included: Danny Meyer, Andrew Zimmern, Missy Robbins, Sean Feeney, Mindy Segal and many more. BentoBox and the Boka Group served a co-branded snack and five lucky guests found a BentoBox gift card hidden in their snack box.

Awards

Blue Smoke, Union Square Hospitality Group’s BBQ staple, was given a special kudos nod during the CSS Design Awards — a web design & development award platform for digital folk, UI/UX peeps and inspiring leaders of the web.

That’s it for September, check back in October to find out what’s new at BentoBox HQ.
Engineer’s Toy Box
By: William Nuttle
Tags: History Of Technology, Engineer, History Of Science, Engineering, Eiffel Tower

I visited the Musée des Arts et Métiers when I returned to Paris in 2007 on a quest. Three years earlier, my son Rupert and I had discovered that there are 72 names displayed on the four sides of the Eiffel Tower. I recognized enough of them to guess that these were all scientists and engineers. Cauchy, Laplace, and Lagrange were mathematicians I had encountered in my engineering studies. Five more I recognized as physicists — Fresnel, Coulomb, Coriolis, Navier, and Foucault. Poisson had something to do with statistics, and Cuvier was a biologist.

Why did Gustave Eiffel inscribe the names of these men on his tower? In 2004, it took me several months and a visit to the rare book room at the Carleton University library to identify them all. Today, of course, there is a Wikipedia page on the topic. Eiffel built his tower in 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. These men contributed to the advance of science and technology in France during that 100-year period.

My quest to find out what motivated Eiffel to inscribed these names on his tower has taken me to the origins of the modern-day engineering profession. Through this quest I have discovered the story of “le Plan Mediterranean,” the French engineers’ campaign of peaceful conquest, and much more, which I share at Eiffel’s Paris — an Engineer’s Guide on Facebook and Medium.com. The 72 scientists and engineers named on the Eiffel Tower were leaders of a revolution that transformed Paris and created the modern world.
Talented Steel Pannist Jovanka Williams
By: Khadija Benn
Tags: Music, Steel Pan, Performing Arts, Jovanka Williams, Guyana

When Steel Talks’ exclusive interview with accomplished Guyanese pannist Jovanka Williams.

Jovanka Williams playing in the National Steel Orchestra.

WST — “Tell us about Jovanka Williams?”

Jovanka W. — “Jovanka Williams is a 26-year-old Double Second player, 5-time duet champion, 4-time senior solo champion, steelpan teacher and mentor. A member of three bands: Parkside Steel Orchestra, Kunjaz Ensemble and the National Steel Orchestra. Finally, a University of Guyana graduate with a Diploma in Marketing and a Degree in Business Management.”

WST — “When and how did you first become aware of the steelpan instrument?”

Jovanka W. — “I was about six years old when I first discovered the instrument. My mother took me with her to a Church Seminar in Trinidad, and a woman from the Church suggested to her that I learn to play pan while she was in her daily sessions. It’s history from that point on because luckily for me when I returned to Guyana, there was a Steelband housed in my Primary school, and they were looking for students to start a Junior band. Of course I was excited to be able to continue to learn more about this wonderful instrument.”

WST — “Talk a bit about steelband in Guyana in general.”

Jovanka W. — “In Guyana, Steelpan had its ups and downs. Currently, we’re at our strongest ever with over fifteen school bands and three large bands. Every year we have our Panorama competition which sees an increase in support and in participation.”

WST — “You are a member of the Guyana National Steel Orchestra. How did that come about and talk about your experiences and travels with the orchestra?”

Jovanka W. — “Guyana hosted Carifesta 10; with that the National Steel Orchestra (NSO) was formed and members from all bands in the country were asked to come together to form the one-hundred-piece band. I was elated to be a part of something so monumental in Guyana. Since joining NSO, we have travelled to Suriname, French Guiana, Haiti, Barbados, and of course many regions in Guyana.

I love performing overseas because of the reactions and love we get from our audiences. In most cases, many people have never seen the instrument before and are very curious as to how the unique sound is produced. So that first look of amazement on their faces always makes me smile. For others, they would get up and dance to our music and encourage others to.”

WST — “In your opinion, what is the greatest challenge Pan faces in Guyana?”

Jovanka W. — “Availability of pan tutors and builders may be one of Guyana’s greatest challenges to date. Many tutors cater to two schools at a time while builders are limited and overwhelmed with large projects to complete in short time frames.”

Read the entire interview at When Steel Talks.
The Robot Uprising is Already Here
By: The Nib
Tags: Robotics, Economy, Robots, Labor

Sign up for Taking Stock of COVID: New comics from The Nib

By The Nib

New comics from Matt Lubchansky, Keith Knight, and Niccolo Pizarro. Plus How Seniors Are Living With COVID-19. Take a look
A guy is wary of “worship” and “surrender.” I explain.
By: Ken Blackman
Tags: Relationships, Emotions, Men, Love, Power

Guy on Facebook: I am not sure if I want to worship a woman, then it will be the same thing as man being owned by a woman, that probably is just reversal of roles.

[Several other guys also objected to the word “worship.”]

Me: How do you feel about her desire to surrender to you?

Guy: I don’t really know what that means .. sounds also like a lot of responsibility

Me: One example would be you overpower her in a way that feels good to her. In the bedroom or elsewhere.

Another example would be, when she’s struggling and battling her own internal demons, you’re capable of being her steadfast beacon of clarity and sanity, even in those moments when she thinks you’re the enemy and starts fighting you. You can fucking HANDLE her crazy ass. And I mean that in a good way. You have benevolent strength and rightness that serves her, even in a moment where she doesn’t trust you. Afterward she’s extremely grateful, because no one else could do it.

Another example would be, she’s so happy with you, and the relationship is so good, she has an upwelling of gratitude and reverence and a moment of thinking, I would do anything this man asked of me. And instead of worrying that she’s losing her sovereignty — because that’s just not something you ever have to worry about with this woman — or that it’s some kind of burden, you accept the role and allow her to experience it as an expression of her extreme happiness.

Powerful people sometimes crave the experience of something or someone they can relinquish control to, surrender to… in a good way.

All of these could go both directions. There may be times you worship her, in the sense of experiencing reverent devotion that has no hint of self-diminishment or loss of power on your part. (It’s the difference between surrender vs. acquiescence.)

There may be times when you’re the one who’s lost, struggling and distrustful, and all you have is faith and a fundamental belief in her as reason to submit to her lead.

Guy: okay .. I think I understand. thanks

Copyright © 2018 by Ken Blackman. All rights reserved.
How the Happiness of Strangers Can Make Your Day
By: Samantha Mccormick
Tags: Life Lessons, Awareness, Self Improvement, Love, Happiness

Travelling is often tiring, navigating your way through a packed airport terminal or train station with your luggage, trying to work out where you need to be whilst you continually watch the clock. And then, when you arrive at your destination, there’s the rush to get out and away from transport, towards the tranquility and excitement of wherever you are visiting.

But have you ever stopped to notice what is going on around you?

Who are all of these people, where might they be going, and where have they come from?

What happens if you slow down for a few seconds and take in your surroundings?

These moments are happening around us all of the time. If only we got out of our heads more often to notice them.

I can remember a friend of mine saying that whenever she travels on the tube in London, she passes the time by imagining who the person opposite her might be – their family, where they live, where they’re travelling to, what job they do.

She never finds out the real answers to any of her questions (heaven forbid someone might talk to a stranger on the tube!) but instead of shutting out the world with her headphones on, she enjoys paying attention to her fellow humans and in the process creates her own short stories that give vibrancy and creativity to her day.

Sometimes a few seconds can change your day.

Witnessing the joy between two people as I walked past them reminded me of the love and hope in this world. Something that I think we all need reminding of at times, particularly with all of the political turmoil that surrounds us.

Witnessing genuine happiness, that comes from love, is reassuring and beautiful.

Taking time to notice gives us perspective too.

It can get you out of your head and open your mind to the world more. I find this helps me to think more clearly about what’s important to me, and on a daily basis it helps me feel more grounded.

Striking up a conversation with a stranger can also be particularly beneficial, as explained in this BBC article:

“…we may often underestimate the positive impact of connecting with others for both our own and others’ wellbeing. For example, having a conversation with a stranger on your way to work may leave you both feeling happier than you would think.”

This might be more tricky when traveling on the tube in London (us Brits are too polite to talk to each other!) but why not give it a go some time? Even just smiling at a stranger can help you (and them) feel happier.

Hugs are also incredibly good for our health — they’re scientifically proven to reduce stress and make us happier— and so witnessing others in an embrace can help us connect to this too. The next time you hug a loved one, remember that you might also be helping those around you feel happier too.
Black and Latinx Legislative Caucus- Listening Session
By: Ariana O Rourke
Tags: Legislation, Events, Student Loans, Massachusetts, Student Debt Crisis

This November, Hildreth Institute joined Zero Debt Massachusetts, in attending the community listening session hosted by the Massachusetts Black and Latinx legislative caucus. Before opening up the session for comments, the caucus made everyone aware of the bills that they considered a “priority.” To our astonishment, the Student Loan Bill of Rights was not mentioned. Despite the known racial disparities between student loan borrowers and the alarming trend in which the federal government is systematically failing at overseeing student loan servicing agencies and protecting student loan borrowers.

Black and brown borrowers, despite similar income levels, are borrowing nearly $8000 more on average than white borrowers to finance their education. That inequality only widens after graduation; it is detrimental to ignore that those predatory loan servicers (who are known to steer borrowers in the wrong direction) have a part to play in that increase. As it is also a fact that Black and Latinx borrowers are more often the victims of predatory actions done onto them from both their colleges and their loan servicers.

Student loan servicers have “openly admitted that they feel no obligation to act in the interest of the consumer.” In essence, student loan borrowers do not have adequate customer services nor do they have strong consumer protections, instead, they are exploited, and the federal government is refusing to take action against them; what are states to do? Many have responded with passing protection bills; those states include Rhode Island, New York, Maine, Maryland, Colorado, and Nevada. Others are fighting hard for a state-wide student loan bill of rights.

Currently, the student loan bill of rights- H.3977. is stuck in the house ways and means. Almost half of the members of the Black and Latinx legislative caucus hold positions on this committee those include: Russell E. Holmes, Carlos González, Andres X. Vargas, Bud L. Williams, Chynah Tyler, José F. Tosado.

Our own Student Loan Bill of Rights would ensure that every Massachusetts borrower receives robust consumer protection and effective assistance. It is creating adequate oversight to ensure that the student loan industry is helping borrowers, not its profit margins. Help Massachusetts pass a student loan bill of rights, let’s ensure that borrowers have the protections that every other consumer group has. To urge your representative to support this important bill: click here.

To learn more about why Massachusetts needs a Student Loan Bill of Rights click here.
When I’m No Longer Inspired
By: Jean Carfantan
Tags: Writing Tips, Nature, Writing, Poetry, History

When I’m No Longer Inspired

I just write on paper

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I take my notebook and write

It seems so simple but we need

to dig up our real speech

Under layers of abstractions.

Long time ago words were sounds,

Then a new invention came from

Middle East with conventional and

Abstract signs. For the first time

Our expression separated from Nature

Then machines added another abstract

Layer with our keyboard separated keys.

Our writing is no more a thread.

While writing, you spin the wool

Of your consciousness in a thread.
14 Non-Sexual Ways to Turn Your Lover On
By: The Good Men Project
Tags: Dating, Relationships, Love, Relationships Love Dating, Intimacy

14 Non-Sexual Ways to Turn Your Lover On

Even in a busy world, foreplay should never be a task. It also doesn’t have to wait for the bedroom.

Photo credit: istockphoto

By Rashika Roberts

Most of the time we are so busy that foreplay can feel like another task. Believe it or not, there are some pretty simple ways to be turned on without even touching. The hardest part is remembering to make them a priority and a part of your routine. It will depend on how often you’ll want sparks to fly in the bedroom!

◊♦◊

I love you is expected. Saying I like you makes her feel like she’s with her best friend and you enjoy her companionship.

Invite him out to lunch. Pick him up instead of meeting him. It shows that you’re going the extra mile to show how much you care.

Smile when she walks into the room. This makes her feel like you’re happy to see her, you’re still attracted to her and missed your time apart, whether short or long.

Offer him a compliment just before he leaves for work. It makes him feel confident about how he looks. Opinions matter in relationships when referencing to attire.

Watch a film on your laptop with her, this is a great time to reconnect after a busy afternoon or week. The closeness and silence speak volumes.

Compete with him in an outdoor activity and be very competitive. Your endurance reminds him of your strength and power.

◊♦◊

When you go on a business trip, bring her something back. She’ll be happy you thought of her although you had a busy schedule.

When out with your girlfriends, send him a sweet text saying when you’ll be returning. Then return a few minutes earlier. It shows him that you value your time together.

Say something nice about her in a group. It shows you’re not afraid to show how much you love her in front of friends or family.

This one may be a little tricky because ego may get in the way a little. Fix something he said he would get around to. I’ve been told this makes them feel proud of you for getting it done and knocking something off of the to-do list.

Plan a dinner date with her and take care of everything including the kids. This shows her that you understand and acknowledge that she needs some downtime.

Learn to make his favorite mixed drink. He’ll request it from time to time. The rest is history!

Randomly play one of her favorite songs while relaxing at home. She’ll appreciate you for paying attention to what she likes.

Wear his team gear during the season. Trust me; he’ll love to see you supporting him and his team. No matter what the results are for the team, you’ll always win!
Designing for the user’s emotional journey
By: Aahel Iyer
Tags: Design Thinking, Customer Experience, Design Process, UX, Product Design

Designing for the user’s emotional journey

A valuable tool to help guide design decisions while building thoughtful products.

An emotional journey is the visualization of a user’s emotional experience when interacting with a product or service.

People go through a range of conscious and subconscious emotional reactions when interacting with products. An experience becomes truly valuable to us when it hits the right notes at the right time. That is when an experience truly feels human. In other words, our reaction to things is heavily dependent on how we feel at that particular moment. Products and services that consider this are able to truly create an enriching, connected experience. Therefore, in the design process, it is important not only to consider the ‘what’, but also the ‘when’, in order to create a powerful experience. The key to this is figuring out the ‘design timing’. Let’s take a look at a few examples that illustrate this concept.

Lyft bikes and scooters

A good example of design timing done right. Traditionally we see flows beginning with onboarding screens. In this case, the onboarding flow is triggered as the scooter is unlocking after being scanned. This does two very important things.

By providing contextual information right before the action, the app feels more intuitive and helpful. The well-timed onboarding flow during the unlocking stage makes an otherwise dull moment refreshing and enjoyable.

Robinhood

Let’s take a look at the cryptocurrency buying experience in Robinhood. For the first time buyer, this process could be very exciting yet intimidating. The app uses a progressive flow that does a great job of informing and engaging the user. Here’s how it really taps into the emotional experience to build a really successful solution.
About our Features
By: John Byron Kuhner
Tags: Essays, Long Form, Features, Classics

This is our place for longer-form, more involved essays. Here you will find pieces not just about the Classics per se, but about culture in general, with a classical slant. We’re always looking for thoughtful, in-depth pieces: send pitches to inmediasres@gmail.com.
อยากประสบความสำเร็จในการทำงานต้องทำยังไง ?
By: Benrisa Thammakuntharee
Tags: Work, Success, Team

in Both Sides of the Table
Who is Dogu?
By: David Smith
Tags: Startup Life, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Startup, SaaS

So, what sets us apart and what makes us special?

Aside from our finesse at the most important of startup sports, such as foosball, pingpong and beer pong, we do a LOT of activities together. We have a monthly budget for team building, which can be used for anything from Friday lunches at a restaurant to GoKarts and Lazer Tag to buying a new BBQ grill or Playstation 4 to play. But it’s not the STUFF that’s important, it’s the PEOPLE. Every day, we talk about the importance of building great culture. We invest in our people, in a BIG way!

Professional development and growth is hugely important to us and we place a premium on face-to-face time and team building activities. We serve as groomsmen in each other’s weddings, we enjoy hanging out together on the weekends, and we plan each other’s bachelor parties. As cliche’ as it may sound, we really are best friends… and at the end of the day, that commitment that we have to each other pours out in our passion for building great products.

We have a very horizontal leadership structure and do things not because we have to but because we want to. This company is 100% employee owned and we all care about the growth and success because we are invested in it… I’m not talking financially, I’m talking emotionally. We care about what we do and while one of our product mottos is “Never stop at “good enough” when you can be GREAT!”, we strive to go beyond great. We want to be known as entrepreneurs who dream big, plan well and dare to do the impossible.

In addition to what sets us apart as people, there are some unique traits that set us apart as a company: