fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Local Nomad Releases Brilliant “Karen”
By: Randall Radic
Tags: Synth Pop, Music Video, Music, Karen, Local Nomad

Local Nomad

Following on the heels of his recently released self-titled EP, as well as a standalone single, “Snakechild,” a song dripping with smoldering, risky energy, synth-pop artist Local Nomad drops “Karen,” a song alluding to the kitschy stereotypical, self-entitled middle-class white woman sporting a bob hairstyle and a hoity-toity attitude.

Local Nomad is the stage name of Michael Desmond, who hails from Long Island, New York. Prior to assuming the persona of Local Nomad, he fronted his orchestral indie-rock band Gabriel the Marine, which attained first regional, and then national success, sharing the stage with Taking Back Sunday, Glassjaw, Mew, Jacks Mannequin, and The Dear Hunter.

With “Karen,” Local Nomad masquerades as a band called The Karens, whose faux curriculum vitae includes formation during the Reagan administration at an IHOP, where the founding members, Kat and Kris, bonded while insisting on speaking to the manager.

Once established, The Karens released a series of hits, including the seminal “May I Speak To Your Manager,” “You Just Lost Our Business,” “Get Your Dog On A Leash (Or I’m Calling The Police),” and “I’ll Sue You.” They followed by sharing the stage with Twisted Sister, The New York Dolls, and The Talking Heads. After disbanding, The Karens came together for one final performance, an ode to the final performance of the Beatle’s final concert in 1969. The curtain call appearance was shot and recorded live on a rooftop in Brooklyn.

Local Nomad

“Karen” opens on Beatle-Esque tones flowing into a measured rhythm riding a thumping kick drum and a cavernous bassline. Topped by complementary luminous, chiming colors, the melody swells to teeming resonance on the chorus.

Local Nomad’s smooth, lush tones infuse the lyrics with imploring timbres as he deferentially presses Karen to “change your ways.”

“I know a girl that lives / On the outskirts of the burbs / She talks a lot of shit / She thinks she owns the world … So Karen won’t you / Change your ways / Change your ways / You don’t have to change your name / You just gotta change your ways.”

Subtly scathing on one level, on another level “Karen” echoes the difficulty of discovering a tentative cease-fire with hidebound people.

Follow Local Nomad Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
Salesforce Acquiring Slack Signals “SaaS 2.0”
By: Sagi Eliyahu
Tags: Software, Salesforce, Slack, SaaS, Future

Salesforce’s announcement that it was acquiring Slack for $27.7 billion in cash and stock signaled a monumental shift in terms both of the future of enterprise software and, more broadly, the future of work.

Specifically, it signaled the end of the era that Salesforce itself created — that of full-stack packaged cloud apps liberated from the limitations of on-premise software.

That era — call it SaaS 1.0 — constituted a quantum leap in mankind’s ongoing march towards full digital transformation, mostly by making software more available.

But it didn’t bring us all the way there. Software remained siloed, and as a result, its value remained limited. Specifically, two categories of software tools emerged: one for where people worked, and another for where data was stored. The two could only be bridged manually or with a lot of deep technical work.

Salesforce’s acquisition of Slack is an acknowledgment that this siloed approach is massively inadequate — that, in simple terms, you must meet people where they’re at.

Call it SaaS 2.0.

This next wave of SaaS will be less about where software is run, and more about how it is leveraged holistically, with a focus on where people work.

The difference will be stark. For example, users will be able to access data managed in Salesforce from within their preferred interface (be it Slack or any other system). This means users will be able to execute quality work without leaving their preferred interface. The integration will come not as an afterthought or as a “patch,” but as an integral part of the solution’s design.

That’s an absolute game-changer in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and usability.

It’s also an example, more broadly, of technology working for people, instead of demanding that people work for technology.

To make a difference, SaaS 2.0 software will need to be more adaptive and more flexible. Instead of an endless line of apps providing purely standalone experiences, it will give birth to platforms that are process-centric and that provide customizable and connected experiences.

Most importantly, it will feature operating systems that finally, more seamlessly bridge the divide between where data is stored / businesses are run and where people spend their time.

It’s a big, important step. It’s a step I’m especially encouraged to see, given how I’ve spent the better part of the last decade developing a platform designed precisely for this purpose of not only empowering our companies’ most valuable assets — which are our people — but of realizing software’s promise of real and complete digital transformation.

The $27.7 billion that Salesforce paid for Slack is, in this sense, an acknowledgment of this new paradigm and an investment in our future.
How to Create a Simple Django Web App With Python.
By: Bryan Dijkhuizen
Tags: Python, Programming, Python3, Software Development, Django

Getting Started With Django

Ideally, you have already installed Python on your device. If you have not yet done this, then you can go to Python’s official website to download the latest version. To check if you are running the latest version of Python, you can run the following command in your terminal/command line:

$ python

It would help if you ended up with something similar to this:

Python

[GCC 4.x] on linux

Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>>

To install Django, you need the Python package manager pip. You can download it on the PIP website. When you have a stable installation of pip on your device, you need to install Django by using the following command:

$ python -m pip install Django

Now Django will be installed to Python. To verify that you have installed Django successfully, open up the Python terminal and import Django:

$ Python

>>> import django

>>> print(django.get_version())

And as I am running version 3.1, I will get the following output:
10 Git Repositories to Help You Prepare for Your Next Technical Interview
By: Amar Desai
Tags: Work, Coding Interview, Programming, Software Development, Startup

10 Git Repositories to Help You Prepare for Your Next Technical Interview

A curated list of useful Git repos

Photo by Yancy Min on Unsplash.

This week, I will share a list of GitHub repositories that will help you prepare for your next technical/coding interview.
A Checklist Manifesto
By: Tyler Hawkins
Tags: Startup, Mindset, Software Development, Quality, Programming

Merge Request Templates

Most software companies use Git in conjunction with platforms like GitHub or GitLab to provide version control for their code.

It’s common for the production code to live on the master (or main) branch. When developers are writing new features or fixing bugs, they create a branch off of the master branch, write their code, and then create a merge request asking to merge their new code into the master branch. Another developer would then review the code, approve (assuming the code looks good), and merge the new code.

Both GitHub and GitLab allow you to configure your repository to include a merge request template, which is basically just a form that a developer fills out when creating a merge request.

Merge request templates are optional, but I’d like to argue here that they are essential! A good merge request template helps create an engineering mindset of excellence and can help keep the quality of your code high.

A merge request template might look like this:

Description: what are you changing and why Ticket Info: links to tickets in your task management system like JIRA or Workfront Test Plan: step-by-step instructions for how someone could verify that your code works QA Risk: low, medium, or high Screenshots or Videos: proof of your code working properly Additional Checklist Items:

[ ] I have written automated tests for this change

[ ] I have updated documentation as needed

[ ] The code works in all supported browsers

Your merge request template might include more or less than what I have above, but these six fields provide us with a solid foundation. Let’s examine why.
Friday Five: Aug 19, 2016
By: Mitchell J. Goldstein
Tags: Bitcoin, Newsletters, Silk Road, Gawker, Journalism

After being sold to Univison for $135 billion, while the rest of the network’s verticals will be folded into their online publication network, gawker.com will cease to update as of this coming Monday. A billionaire executed his own personal vendetta against a man and a website and won. I’d recommend looking on twitter for writers expressing their feelings much better than I can do here.

While Gawker is folding, Mother Jones is standing strong. After their incredible private prisons project was published in June, the events that unfolded sounds like the makings of a Spotlight level exposé. To that extent, the Justice Department officially declared yesterday that they intend to stop supporting private prisons. That being said, there is a very real problem with this kind of investigative journalism. It takes a lot of time, and (relatively) a lot of money. However, in the age of the internet and instant access to information, a very small percentage of the general population is willing to pay to support the journalism they read. The Mother Jones piece cost approximately $350,000 to produce and run; they made $5,000 from the ads running on the project pages.

After the DEA took down Ross Ulbricht (who is maybe) AKA DPR AKA the Dread Pirate Roberts (for that story, read Wireds two part piece [1, 2]) there was a strange loose thread that was never fully explained. What happened to the incriminating bitcoin that federal agents were extorting and paying into the Silk Road network for information or as part of their undercover ops? Ars Technica follows the tale of the two DEA agents who decided to try and get their own piece of the dark web pie.

The story of how Usain Bolt winning a race turned into a full lockdown of JFK airport and reports of a possible terrorist attack, from first hand accounts of the chaos that ensued and islamophobia that followed. Truly the only terrifying part of the whole thing is how massively inept security and police forces reacted.

An inside look at the support network that has been built up in the Wikipedia editor community. The title of the essay comes from a (somewhat outdated, possibly offensively so) page on the site WP:NOTTHERAPY, and tells the story of the man who invented the [citation needed] tag’s possible suicide attempt after being banned from the Wikipedia community.

In what is likely his most in-depth and informative interview since taking the helm of Apple about five years ago, Tim Cook talks with the Washington Post about his role there.
The Kidney Stone
By: Jon Scott
Tags: Humor, Work, Health, Failure, Life

The Kidney Stone

Things I made that Justin did not care for

A few months into my inauspicious start, I made a kidney stone. Justin did not care. I suspect he was livid that the newbie had, through a steady diet of chocolate milk, engineered a stone with a view to shirking his work responsibilities (which is caring of a sort, I suppose).

I woke up with it one day, not knowing it was a kidney stone of course, but it started as a dull ache in my left side that gradually intensified until the pain of it was all that there was.

I stumbled about for a bit wondering what I had done. In the darkest moments of my life, I’d have contemplated stabbing myself in the kidney, or chugging detergent with a bleach chaser — but after a quick recollection of the events of the night before, I’d determined that neither of those things had happened and so the pain remained unexplained and persistent.

When the ambulance arrived, I was doubled over in the garden, unable to sit still for a single moment, trying to choose between knocking myself unconscious and throwing up.

“Alright mate, what’s going on?” the paramedic asked.

“Hello there. I’ve got a pain in my side. I think I may have kidney stones,” I said awkwardly.

In truth I don’t know what anybody said — pain is a potent suppressor of memory for me. It amuses me no end though that the picture of me being in agony is basically a picture of a polite man pacing up and down with a determined grimace. I can’t even do that right.

I attempted to lie down in the ambulance, but I could no longer lie straight and no quantity of gas and air or morphine would cause the pain to abate. It was only after a second dose had been administered on the way to A&E and after a half hour of lying on a gurney having been dumped at the entrance writhing around and crying out for death, that the morphine kicked in and suddenly I no longer cared about anything.

Morphine, if you’ve never had it, is a wonderful opiate that spreads pleasant warmth and feelings of mellow contentedness throughout the body. It is like staring out into the beautiful wilderness from a heated lodge in the mountains, perhaps a single malt is tentatively sipped while observing the majesty of a buck as it strides into the clearing before you, unafraid and untamed and dropping its neck gracefully to drink at the stream. You toast the buck and raise your glass and he, he turns and nods and with that nod, you know that everything is going to be just fine.

Meanwhile, my surroundings had transmogrified to the A&E ward and the cries of bloodied individuals as they were wheeled past me rang out. I had completely forgotten about having a kidney stone. Here I was now in the ground zero of suffering and I’d been rendered docile and pain-free.
Powerful 42
By: Vlad Alex, Merzmensch
Tags: Merzfiles, Artificial Intelligence, Newsletter, Art

What have I done?

I wrote another listicles — but I bet you’ll enjoy it.

Image: Merzmensch

Have you tried my 20 Creative Things to try out with GPT-3?

For example, to write a love letter by a toaster?

Indeed, AI gets more and more creative power — but I am more than sure, that AI won’t kill the author (who is dead either way), but will rather be a creative assistant.
Opening Up Horizons
By: Greg Prince
Tags: Poetry, Racism, Society, Mindfulness, Inspiration

Throw back the covers.

He woke up this morning

On the right side of the bed

His head fell out the covers

And he discovered his sisters and brothers

Of every color

Felt the things that he felt

Saw the things that he saw

Hurt the way that he did

On a path together

Hanging by a thread

He said, “I want a new life

I want to do right

Feel for one another

But I’m only human

And I fail

Falling in a hole

The same old plight

Put away the rage before they

Put me in a cage

Put away pretenders

Fake wisdom on a stage

Same old faces

Claiming to be change

We ain't fooled

And we’re tired of being played

I want a new life

Walking in my skin

One where I can talk and just be me

One where eyes see only human

Where we all begin again free

I’m going to do right

We can be one voice

If we take away division and hate

We can all make the choice”
Why We All Need to Stop Hating on “Busyness”
By: Yeva Volkova
Tags: Honest Creative, Content Creation, Weekly Report, Weekly Digest, Creativity

Why We All Need to Stop Hating on “Busyness”

The Honest Weekly Digest, 28–3 December

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Hello, honest creatives!

This week we published three amazing articles.
Review: SqueezeNet (Image Classification)
By: Sik-Ho Tsang
Tags: Machine Learning, Image Classification, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Deep Learning

Review: SqueezeNet (Image Classification)

AlexNet-Level Accuracy with 50× Fewer Parameters

In this story, SqueezeNet, by DeepScale, UC Berkeley and Stanford University, is reviewed. With equivalent accuracy, smaller CNN architectures offer at least three advantages

Smaller Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) require less communication across servers during distributed training. Smaller CNNs require less bandwidth to export a new model from the cloud to an autonomous car. Smaller CNNs are more feasible to deploy on FPGAs and other hardware with limited memory.

This is a technical report on arXiv in 2016 with over 1100 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium)
Ultimate guide to understanding blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and the…
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Money, Cryptocurrency, Future

“On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” — Peter Steiner On the blockchain, nobody knows you’re a fridge.” — Richard Gendal Brown Blockchain technology has been called the greatest innovation since the internet. Governments and companies are rushing to implement blockchain technology in a range of areas that could impact every person on the planet within a few years. Is blockchain technology one of the greatest technological revolutions in history or is it just hype? Will blockchain technology cause governments and banking systems to change the way they process information or will it be business as usual? In this book, we’ll look at the answers to these questions along with addressing the different sides of the arguments, for and against, blockchain technology. Blockchain is not just bitcoin, blockchain technology is much bigger than bitcoin and it is predicted to change the world.

In this book you will learn :

What is the blockchain?

How blockchain works

Difference between blockchain and bitcoin

Benefits of using blockchain technology

Disadvantages / dangers of using blockchain technology

Blockchain and the finance industry

Blockchain and other industries

Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies

Impact of blockchain technology

The future of bitcoin and blockchain

And more….

“This technology is being used in ways that have implications for central banking that span all the functions that we have.” — Carolyn Wilkins, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada

Go ahead buy this book!
Why Is Becoming a Self-Taught Developer Hard?
By: Ann Adaya
Tags: Software Engineering, Software Development, Work, Programming, Web Development

Because we think that we don’t deserve to achieve something great

It’s not your fault — it is just how we were program to think.

There were selfish people in the past who made sure that our parents, grandparents, our society will remain below them, and that is where our educational system was designed making sure that we all end up working for them.

That the only way to succeed is through universities and that the people who cannot afford should stay working at the lowest rate — and that asking for more is evil, ambitious, bad and this is why whenever we try to do something that is out of our society’s definition of normal becomes unusual that usually ends with being the bad person.

Crazy right?

But this is not an excuse to blame others, just like the most popular saying — it is not our fault if we were born poor, but it is ours if we die poor.

You must change your circumstances if you are not satisfied, it is your responsibility to live the best life you can, we all have different choices and perspective — but you should not stop asking for more because you deserve the best in life.

Start thinking of what could be, what can you do, what is it that you truly want — don’t let others define your life because it is yours.

Whenever you feel like life is unfair — it is not actually, we were all given the same amount of time, and the difference we all have is how we spend it.

Let me tell you this — 5 years ago I was working on a non-tech company, and I hated that job so much that it made me question everything in my life, it was enough to make a living but it didn’t satisfy my cravings for something better — I didn’t come from a well-off family but I want so many things.

I wanted freedom, I dream of making a living and at the same time I want to live life in the present — and that is where I saw Web Development.

It is a career that can help me make my dream come true. I didn’t just try, I bet my life for it and that is probably why I succeed, my decision to just jump had left me no other choice but to build the airplane along the way if I wanted to survive.

We deserve better things, whether its a career as a developer or something else you should do your best to achieve it, make it happen not just because you wanted to prove something for other people — but because you can and you deserve it.
Winter Warmth
By: Kat Magik
Tags: Winter, Inspiration, Guilty Pleasure, Food, Health

Seeing as we’re heading into the cosy underworld that is Winter in the Northern Hemisphere I thought I’d share my favourite foods for supporting health and healing during this season (plus my ‘guilty pleasure’ as Dennett prompted us Weeds & Wildflowers followers).

My own journey with food has mirrored my life really — many phases, many paradigms, and now a complete embrace of my own instinctive wisdom!

I rebelliously became a Vegetarian at 11 in a family of rambunctious carnivores, danced with veganism in my thirties, and now follow what I really sense my body needs in the moment.

I have transformed my own health through diet consciousness and read lots on nutrition and well being. My stickler rules are non factory or fish farmed and certified organic wherever possible.

I try and shop local and prioritise a seasonal fair trade mindset.

Oh, and I love tuning into colour — letting myself being drawn to certain foods as a way of sensing what vitamins and minerals my body is needing.

Food attunement can be fun and playful.

I’m a great believer in people taking back their power and understanding how diet can radically affect their mental, emotional, and physical well being. I learnt this very strongly in my twenties when I suffered a long period of depression.

I ended up moving to a whole new place and synchronously lived with an amazing cook who healed herself (along with some deep emotional and trauma work) from Crohns disease. We used to cook for each other and friends and my self-love journey with food took off from there.
Great Software Developers Never Look at Their Hands
By: André Gillfrost
Tags: Key Binding, Keyboard Shortcuts, Software Development, Typing, Productivity

Bug #2: You’re using the mouse and/or trackpad

Yes, you are! Photo by Silje Roseneng on Unsplash

Solution: Stop using the mouse and/or trackpad.

I’m an iOS developer. Some years ago I decided to try Android Studio. After about 3 seconds, I had to comment some code out.

Easy, Cmd+/ and we’re done. Uh, no, apparently not. It turns out this shortcut won’t work with a Swedish keyboard layout.

Ok, let’s reach for the trackpad, click through the menus, find the proper action and finally select it.

Next day I walked up to my Android colleagues, determined to receive an explanation. They all looked at me like I was the crazy one, then went back to shuffling their mouses around their desks like air hockey players.

It turns out, relatively few developers are interested in this particular aspect of their work. On the bright side though; there’s a lot less competition for anyone who is ready to invest a little effort.

Squashing this bug requires a constant improvement mindset. Pay attention whenever your hands move away from the keyboard. What are they doing? Is that air hockey? Are they reaching for the trackpad, to click some button or menu? If so, pay even closer attention. Is this particular button or menu item something you click fairly often? Maybe it’s THE action you most often use the trackpad to perform. Then it’s time to move that action closer to home.

Don’t wait. Look that shortcut up right away!

Editing code and navigating your IDE are the most important areas. Learn those shortcuts first, so you’re navigating and coding with the keyboard only.

Don’t be afraid of changing shortcuts around, and adding custom shortcuts. A lot of developers have this idea that you should stay with the defaults, that you wouldn’t want to get confused if you should ever use some other computer, where you can’t change the defaults. That is 99% bullshit! Yes, it happens. No, it’s not a problem. You know best how you want things configured. Optimize for the ordinary, not for contingencies.
Because I Found Love Again
By: Valentine Nnebe
Tags: Romance, Poetry, Creativity, Couples, Love

My footsteps were led by shadows.

I followed the trail of the wind.

I listened in the direction of the unknown

and watched you enveloped by the dark.

I’ve counted your passionate kisses

sealing them in the bottle of my heart.

I’ve polished your memories

and hung them in my fondest galleries.

Tell the world I’m nowhere to be found

but kept in the cradle of your love.

Except you raise your lamp of affection

I’ll hide in the darks of your delight.

I know the taste of joy,

I’ve worn the fabric of romance,

I was the pride to admire,

because I bore the prints of your touch.

I’m sworn and driven on a mission,

my lips are wide with an announcement,

I have a broadcast for the planet

that love is here now and alive.

You’re robed with the morning,

the freshness of dawn is your covering.

Bind me with the cords of an enchanter

celebrate the strength of your spells.

I’m here to your most silly demands

so long I rest with ease in your admiration.

Feed me to the satisfaction of my senses

till I beg for no more to indulge.

I let you go on wings of the wind

but my heart always held a place for you.

Display your elegance like a peacock.

Hold my reins and govern my soul.

Let my eyes see the words you speak

and my ears taste the sounds they hear.

Mix the pleasures of my heart

so you serve me a portion I can’t resist.

You’re here to my surprise and ecstasy,

an invitation that wedding bells ring.

Now the world wears colour

only because I found love again.
“Born in the USA” was not written for July 4th
Tags: Holiday, Music, Culture, Springsteen, Perspective

Firework shows across the country are wrapped up by now. Bottle rockets, jumping jacks, roman candles and the like will still be going off for quite awhile. Some of the firework shows were probably lame (like the one I saw in Cincinnati) and some were probably awesome (like Navy Pier most likely). Most all of them are set to some type of music. I can’t imagine how many of the shows in our country will include Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”

The most unpatriotic song ever.

“Born in the USA” is about a soldier returning home from Vietnam. When you hear the version of the song that Springsteen used on the album, the music has a celebratory vibe to it. It sounds like it was made for a firework show, or for a political convention.

But when you hear the original version of the song (it was originally written for his Nebraska album) and go through the lyrics, the heart of the song comes through loud and clear. It’s not one of patriotic celebration, but of disappointment and anger.



Seeing him live once during an all acoustic tour, I heard Springsteen tell the story behind the song and how it was greatly misinterpreted. The original version comes across with a lot more heart, a lot more power. It conveys the story that was meant to be told. But, as he said before hitting the first chord, there’s big money in misinterpretation.



Not trying to ruin anyone’s firework show. It’s just one of those stories I think is interesting: how mass misunderstanding made for one of the biggest songs of his career. The album version is great, but I prefer the original.

Born down in a dead man’s town

The first kick I took was when I hit the ground

You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much

’Til you spend half your life just covering up



[chorus:]

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.



I got in a little hometown jam

And so they put a rifle in my hands

Sent me off to Vietnam

To go and kill the yellow man



[chorus]



Come back home to the refinery

Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me”

I go down to see the V.A. man

He said “Son don’t you understand”



[chorus]



I had a buddy at Khe Sahn

Fighting off the Viet Cong

They’re still there, he’s all gone

He had a little girl in Saigon

I got a picture of him in her arms



Down in the shadow of the penitentiary

Out by the gas fires of the refinery

I’m ten years down the road

Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go



I’m a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

I’m a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.
“Gavrilov’s Night”: Multiple Facebook Pages Target Protests in Georgia
Tags: Russia, Georgia, Facebook, Government, Social Media

For the people of Tbilisi, Georgia, June 20, 2019, will go down in history as “Gavrilov’s Night.”

Sergei Gavrilov, a member of the Russian Parliament closely associated with the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, paid a visit to the Georgian Parliament. While there, he addressed Georgian lawmakers from the speaker’s chair, which many Georgians saw as an affront to the nation’s sovereignty and triggered days of protest in Tbilisi. Many citizens saw the move to allow him to speak as implied support from the Georgian Parliament for his message.

As protesters flooded the streets, the government responded with a violent crackdown, using tear gas and rubber bullets against the thousands of people assembled. In response to the crackdown, the demonstrators demanded the resignation of Giorgi Gakharia, the country’s interior minister.

The event was set against the backdrop of conflict between Georgia and Russia. In August 2008, the two countries fought a five-day war over Georgia’s two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. To this day, the Russian military illegally occupies 20 percent of Georgia’s territory. The Kremlin recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states, and Gavrilov himself has publicly echoed the Kremlin’s position.

Social media plays an important role in Georgian political and social life, and the number of protests organized via Facebook, including the Gavrilov protest, demonstrate that importance. On social media, a number of Georgian pages spread photos, videos, and statistics aimed at discrediting the protests and its participants.

The DFRLab examined one such Facebook page, “მახსოვს/Makhsovs” (translated from Georgian: “I Remember”). The page name was likely a reference to the prior Georgian government’s rule from 2003–2012, which the current ruling party refers to as the “bloody nine years.”

The DFRLab identified 15 additional pages spreading the same narratives to those propagated by I Remember. Similarities in content and posting pattern across these pages indicated coordinated partisan messaging operation, but one that was most likely not inauthentic.

The “I Remember” Facebook Page

I Remember was created in 2018, as were the other pages the DFRLab studied. At the time of analysis, the page had garnered over 27,000 followers and over 24,000 likes.
How Expectations Limit Creativity and Personal Liberation
By: Darren Stehle
Tags: Expectations, Flow State, Ego, Personal Growth, Creativity

Prefer to listen to this article?

Expectations are narratives grounded in presumptions and projected into a conditional future.

This oppressive intention constricts connection to universal creativity and the natural state of flow.

Imagine stepping into a rushing river. You grab at the water rushing downstream in a vain attempt to manipulate its natural course. You cannot control a rushing river with your bare hands — your plans for water domination will come to naught!

The same is particularly true of having expectations of yourself or others. Generally speaking, expectations are the impositions we place on others which make them unrealistic.

Most expectations sound something like this:

This person had better do what I told them to do because…

Expectations limit the possibility of an organic outcome which is why they can never be perfectly met.

The conditions of expectations are rigid demands made by the ego which is seeking control and validation. This is why we have the expression that goes something like,

You will never live up to the expectations they have of you.

Expectations Are Contrivances of the Ego.

The ego is the source of disconnection from others and separation from the natural world.

When you place conditions on what you expect of others, like your dog, the economy, the election, or your partner, you are trying to control that which you cannot in an attempt to meet your selfish needs.

Like trying to control the river with your bare hands, you cannot control what another person thinks or does, just like you cannot control the weather or the stock exchange.

This is an example of going against the current. Metaphorically, this makes your life difficult, unconscious of your ego’s stubborn need to win against the odds. But it’s a losing battle and working against the current is a significant clue to what’s wrong with this approach.

Selfish needs can only be met by the self.

Your expectations are never mutual — they are always one-sided and exclusively your problem.

When you want to work with someone else to solve a mutual problem, consider an agreement. With agreement, you create a human connection allowing the other person to accomplish the outcome in their own natural and creative way.

Like goal setting, if you are too attached to an exact outcome (which is an egotistical expectation) you might be disappointed or frustrated if you don’t manifest the goal exactly as planned.

We cannot control the outcome. We can only control the choices we make for the action we are taking in this infinite, present moment.
Tech: Avoid Array Mutation in JavaScript
By: Khoi Bui
Tags: Typescript, JavaScript, UI, Arrays, Immutability

Tech: Avoid Array Mutation in JavaScript

Never have to worry about mutating arrays again with these awesome tips

If you are a JavaScript developer like me you won’t be surprised how often array data structure is being used in the code in order to store and manage lists of data. The problem with arrays in JS is that they are easily mutable due to “passing by reference” nature in JS. In addition to that, array immutability can be a challenging problem since developers usually get turned off by confusing syntax or didn’t do it properly. In this article, we will go through some common techniques to help you become familiar with how to prevent array mutation in JS.

Generate Arrays
Semantic Segmentation Using U-Net
By: Aditya Mohanty
Tags: Deep Learning, Data Science, Computer Vision

Picture By Martei Macru On Unsplash

Semantic segmentation is a computer vision problem where we try to assign a class to each pixel . Unlike the classic image classification task where only one class value is predicted(assuming single label classification), in this problem we look for class value for each pixel. The application of image segmentation is predominantly seen in the medical field. However now this is being applied in other domains also e.g self driving car.

In case of image classification we are particularly interested to know what is there in the image. Semantic segmentation comes with two wh questions which is what and where.

What Is U-net:

U-Net is the most popular model for semantic segmentation task. Though we have other models to accomplish this task U-Net is widely accepted as the de-facto standard for this task. A typical U-Net architecture has two parts: Encoder and Decoder.

Structure Of U-Net

Encoder:

The job of the encoder is same as any convolutional neural network,which is basically to determine the first wh question what. However when we downsample the image like a typical convnet we tend to lose the information regarding the localization of the segmented objects. The feature maps of the cnn would have learned what is there in the image without any idea of where it is. In the original implementation of the U-Net a 128*18*1 image is taken where the encoder is able to output a 8*8*256 shape.

Decoder:

Decoder tries to recover the lost information during the encoder’s operation on the image. To do so it applies a skip connection which provides the spatial information that was lost during the downsampling of the image. Also the decoder uses transposed convolution which converts the a small image to a larger one. In the decoder size of the image increases from 8*8*256 to 128*128 *1.

Variations In The U-Net:

We can find variety of implementation of the U-Net architecture. Instead of transposed convolution we can also apply the bilinear sampling method. Similarly if we can replace the encoder convolutional neural network by any popular network like ResNet or VGG-Net. We may or may not choose to use the pretrained weight.

This was a theoretical overview of the U-Net model using semantic segmentation. In the next blog we can use this model to do salt identification and do the practical implementation of it.
Code Smell 34 — Too Many Attributes
By: Maximiliano Contieri
Tags: Software Engineering, Clean Code, Software Development, Programming, Code Smells

Code Smell 34 — Too Many Attributes

A class defines objects with lots of attributes.

Photo by Andy Li on Unsplash

Problems

Low Cohesion

Coupling

Maintainability

Readability

Solutions

Find methods related to attributes. Cluster these methods. Break the object related to those clusters. Find real objects related to this new objects and replace existing references.

Examples

DTOs

Denormalized table rows

Sample Code

Wrong

Right

Detection

Most linters warn when you declare too many attributes. Setting a good warning threshold should be easy.

Tags

Primitive

Conclusion

Bloated objects know too much and are very difficult to change due to cohesion.

Developers change these objects a lot, so they bring merge conflicts and are a common problems source.

Relations
Why do you NOT create?
By: Robert Merrill
Tags: Maslow, Quote, Creativity

“We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created anything.” ~ Abraham Maslow
9/11 Reminds Me Why We Write
By: Sukhroop Singh
Tags: 9 11 Attacks, Writing, Art, Life, Terrorism

9/11 Reminds Me Why We Write

Not only to remember those who lost their lives, but to uphold their legacies…

I wasn’t born when 9/11 occurred, but its reach has expanded further than just that one fateful day. There’s a reason that airport security is so much tighter now, there’s a reason that Sikhs were sent in front of trains to die, there’s a reason that if your last name is Shah or Singh you need to go under extra security, there’s a reason that Muslim Americans are given the heat.

On that day, everything changed. The U.S was resilient that day, but its effects are still raging an impact across the country, and even the world. It’s the reason we now have debates about security or freedom, whether we want the government to look at our personal texts and information or not. There are valid reasons for both sides, that, if you just look at it, will make themselves apparent really quick.

Right now, just give a moment of silence for those 3,000 lives that were lost that day, and the numerous ones that were lost as a result of all the wars that succeeded afterward.

However, 9/11 also brings up some very vital and pressing questions for artists, or any influencers. As people that create things that are seen by the general public, we have a duty to the victims of 9/11. We have the tremendous but important job of living our lives not only for us but for them. We have the job to uphold their legacy and do what would make them proud. Never forget.

We as artists have an agency to create, but we also have an agency to remember. For those people are never coming back, and it is important to remember that you could have been them. However, as you were not, you have to act in their name as much as you do yours. Live your life the dignifiable way, and you will feel all the better.

Remember that your tenure on this earth is very short, and that that fact should not hold you down, it should maximize your every breathing second. Because some didn’t have as many as you will, and they need you to speak for them, to remember them, and to act for them.

Do your part.
How to use Vue Lifecycle Hooks
By: Cc Eng
Tags: Vuejs, Web Development, JavaScript, Programming, Vue

How to use Vue Lifecycle Hooks

Part 2: activated, deactivated, errorCaptured, renderTracked, renderTriggered

Introduction

Let explore Vue’s lifecycle hooks which include activated, deactivated, errorCaptured, renderTracked, and renderTriggered in this article. Vue 3 just release recently and updated some cool features for an example renderTracked and renderTriggered lifecycle hooks. The other lifecycle hooks are explained here.

activated and deactivated

activated and deactivated lifecycle hooks will be invoked accordingly when a component is wrapped by a dynamic component — keep-alive. This dynamic component is useful if want to preserve/maintain the previous state's when switching the tab or navigate to another page.
Acceptable Behavior and Captains of the World
By: Joe Bologna
Tags: Society

Part of the New Normal is a change in what is acceptable behavior. Many things that are clearly not good are now acceptable. In the New Norm, baseless statements to manipulate the populace are commonplace, tolerated and even applauded. This is not normal and not acceptable.

It seems people have forgotten that it is necessary to communicate and take action on unacceptable behavior. I personally have no tolerance for what I consider unacceptable behavior in my “world”. After an attempt to communicate what I consider acceptable, I have no problem excising the offender from my world — quickly and efficiently. This appears to be an unusual behavior. The poor behavior exhibited by our leaders gives license for bad behavior and makes enforcing some form of acceptable behavior in our worlds’ difficult.

It also seems even an attempt to enforce acceptable behavior in personal circles is out of reach for most people. I’m basically talking about allowing people to lie to you. I’m not talking about “captain of the world syndrome”.

Part of the New Norm is in regard to acceptable behavior in grocery stores. Try walking down the wrong direction in a grocery store. You’ll likely get a nasty look almost immediately or even a comment. Understandable. However, people shouting “wear your mask!”, angrily is also commonplace. These Captains of the World are trying to make the world what they want it to be, immediately. Not happening.

There are many instances of Captains of the World (COW), just look around. The guy preventing you from merging because you’d get ahead of him/her on the ramp. Trump is the epitome of a COW.

It is very easy to support a COW in a leadership position, regardless of the effectiveness or goodness of their beliefs and behaviors. A supporter just needs to reiterate a position, whether the position is verifiable or not. The COW often bases position on morality and envisions a world consistent with their view. The boisterous behavior is an attempt to make the world “the way is should be”. The COW is attempting to force the world to bend to his/her will. Supporters have the same desire and therefore aligning with a COW is an easy way for them to become a COW in their world. This is manipulation through intimidation, it’s not good, right or moral.
Love in the Time of Coronavirus
By: Steven Martinez
Tags: Virus, Society, Panic, Misinformation, Fear

Like so many aspects of American life lately, the Coronavirus outbreak exists in the fuzzy quantum state of either being a prelude to societal collapse or a really bad strain of the flu.

Reports about the sickness are unclear. Thousands have died globally, but important statistics like age or preexisting conditions are missing or under discussed. The stock market is tanking. People are buying face masks in droves.

And still we sit at home and go through the motions, maybe worried about a recent cold, but not so worried that its time to board up the windows and buy up emergency water rations.

And it hits us at a time when information itself is under attack from the virus of distrust. The President is lying, the media is lying, doctors are lying. Random websites mix together reports and hearsay and spit out incoherent information and spread it through social media.

Entire cities in China were shut off from the rest of the world. A cruise ship was quarantined just off the coast. The Iranian vice president is sick days after the country denies there is a major problem. The pope has a mysterious cold. Airline flights are cancelled and stopped at the gate. Experts argue about what could happen.

Coughing in public seems so much more noticeable now. Every public space seems both risky and mundane. Maybe give a person in the grocery store aisle a few feet of space.

Every bad end of the world movie starts like this. Somebody watching a newscast with the anchor imploring us not to panic, or to shelter indoors. The camera pans outside and you see a car being flipped over, a plane crashing, a man committing suicide.

We look outside our windows now and we see everyday life. Nothing has changed. Hopefully nothing will.
Some Adults Need to Act Like Children
By: Kurt Anderson
Tags: Awareness, Growth, Childhood, Creativity, Peace

consult your inner kid in times of need

Get a coloring book

Remembering the kid at heart and learning to remain imaginative, is far from considered being grown up. By societal standards watching cartoons, playing video games and many other outlets are considered childish. To most being grown means hating your life and filling up your time with things and folks that don’t serve your highest good. Pretending that you don’t want to partake in kick ball or board games is more desirable to those who believe they need to appear more grown up. Honestly more adults need to act like children, no this doesn’t mean acting foolish or naive. It simply means learning to communicate with your inner child and bring yourself back to this state of mind. Remembering that the world isn’t separate from you but an extension of you.

Release of the ego “I”, returns you to the realm of freedom and imagination. A place where discrimination doesn’t govern your every action. Before children are taught negative behaviors and perspectives, they are free of biased thoughts towards others and things. They play with anyone around them despite the color or sex, until it’s brought to their attention to do otherwise. Closed minded adults were taught to be closed minded children. When you close yourself to the world you close yourself to the realm of imagination. To believe in a narrow way of life, caters to the lack of imagination. Cartoons for me serve as huge inspiration to keeping myself a kid at heart. It’s those random spouts of nostalgia that always make me excited to create more worth while memories.

It’s the moments when the bills and jobs get overwhelming, that most of the adult outlets lead to a midlife crisis. Reading Harry Potter and snagging a bag of your favorite childhood candy, can really bring you to a state of peace. Acknowledging what makes the kid inside you smile and happy, is to know what truly makes you happy. I say if you’ve lost the kid inside, then you must not know who you are. Most of who we really are is present in our childhood, its those who hold on to these true self qualities who become the best versions of themselves. The best person to be is who you were from the start, although family and others may say different. Consult your inner self and ask how you feel about it, if you’re ever in doubt. Children aside from older folk tend to be the most honest, so the kid in you just may give you a good push in the right direction. Have fun, be spontaneous, be goofy and all that makes the kid inside happy and trust me you’ll be happier too! Ask yourself would the 10 year old me be proud of me today? I believe in You and so does the kid in You!