fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The Origin of Jakartan
By: Ramda Yanurzha
Tags: Jakarta, Indonesia, Data Visualization

The Deceivingly Easy Part

The only problem was that I didn’t know how to process the data easily as the entire thing was beyond what my laptop were able to. Fortunately, Google BigQuery came to the rescue! Something like:

SELECT KELURAHAN, TEMPATLAHIR, COUNT(*) AS CNT FROM DPTS GROUP BY KELURAHAN, TEMPATLAHIR WHERE PROVINSI = 'DKI JAKARTA'

gave us something like this under 15 seconds:

I don’t want to disclose how many times I screwed up the SQL query

As with any data exploration exercise, though, it’s never that easy. Fire up Rstudio or ipython notebook and you see there’s a problem on how many unique entries on the birthplace column:

For the purpose of this post, it looks fancier than R

120,000 divided for 5 parts of Jakarta should ideally yield ~24,000 unique hometown name instead of almost 80,000. The entire Indonesia only has 32 provinces, roughly 500 districts, and 80,000 villages. The data itself is sourced from the National ID database which is supposed to be the answer of Life, the Universe, and Everything. They used super expensive computerized system to build the database of every Indonesian ever in the whole Milky Way. It can’t be wrong.

But I can be wrong about them.

Sadly, opening the dataset in Open Refine and running the clustering function will give you bad, bad news. I can almost hear the program whispers softly in my ear, “I know how it feels. There’s nothing you can do. Just remember it’s part of the Plan.”

What you see, dear good people, is one of 22,000+ clusters of similarly spelled places. The typos are real. I actually checked several dozen of them in the Election Commission website just to make sure it’s not my scraper acting funny. Somewhere, somehow, an actual public official entered JQKARTA, JUAKARTA, JAKARTAT, or one of the many variation above instead of Jakarta in a citizen National ID as his/her birthplace.

You would have thought they actually have dropdown menu in the system instead of a textbox. Come on. It’s goddamn Jakarta, not a random marker on Google Map. It’s been there and called by that name for 50 YEARS.

Even worse, what constitutes of a birthplace is not always a city. The value actually ranges from the name of a village (without any other geographic indicator) to a country. Even if it’s spelled correctly, it might also spelled differently (Singapura instead of Singapore), shortened (Tanjung becomes Tjg or Tj), or ambiguous (is it X the village, the city, or the subdistrict? the one in that province or the other one?).

all hail r/HighQualityGifs

While the data is free, my time isn’t.
Assisted Living
By: Warren Justin Banks
Tags: Humor, Comedy, Short Story, Fiction, Horror

They followed bright construction paper arrows around the reception block and into the courtyard beyond. Tables were set out for stalls, labeled with the same hand-painted signage that had greeted them at the entrance. There was no one in sight, just an eerie hush, and the warm wind sighing between red-brick buildings.

“Um,” said Harry, “Shouldn’t there have been a security guard on the gate? And where are the inmates?”

“Don’t call them that. Let’s go up to Mum’s room — see what’s up,” said Erik, sounding discomfited.

A newspaper blew lazily across the concrete paving, lending a Wild West air to the desolate space. Cue ocarina wails with twanging guitar accompaniment, thought Erik. Next thing you know, John Wayne’ll saunter in, order a whisky, straight-up.

He set out across the courtyard with Harry at his heels, picking his way between the bare tables, heading for the corner staircase which led up to his mother’s small apartment. Dammit, he thought, This is what I get for trying to be a good son. His optimism withered like a three-day-old balloon.

“Look!” exclaimed Harry, “There’s someone.”

A small figure in a pink-and-green shift stood in a doorway on the far side of the courtyard. It seemed to be watching them.

“Hellooo!” shouted Harry, “Where’s the fête?” And, sotto voce, “Ugh. Polyester. You can spot it a mile off…” Erik rolled his eyes. The figure failed to reply. Or to move at all.

“Um. She’s just staring at us,” said Harry.

“Let’s find Mum and get out of here,” Erik muttered.

“Giving me the creeps too,” replied Harry.

They continued up the stairs and turned right along an open-air corridor lined with olive-green doors. The door of number 227 stood open. Cream lace curtains twirled lazily in the breeze.

“Mum!” called Erik.

“Mrs Weber!” echoed Harry, a little breathlessly.

Silence greeted them.

“Where are the fogies?” whispered Harry while Erik checked the spotless kitchen, perused an empty bathroom, all white tiles and wall-mounted steel bars.

“Not here,” Erik replied.

Harry led the way back downstairs. The woman in pink and green hadn’t moved. She seemed to be smiling. Or at least baring her teeth. They were alarmingly white, almost glinting in the distance. Halfway down the stairs, Harry paused to wave nervously at her.

“Move your ass. Something’s very wrong here,” hissed Erik.

“Alright, alright — I’m moving. Untwist those knickers.”

As they reached the courtyard, a low moaning began, as of many voices. It was accompanied by a dry, shuffling — hollow, slow, rhythmic, and menacing.

“Um,” said Harry.

“You’ve said that before,” snapped Erik, “Move!”

But it was far too late.
Yoga as Christian Spiritual Practice
By: Ani Vidrine
Tags: Spirituality, Yoga, Christianity, Love, Interfaith

Yoga, as a spiritual practice, dates back thousands of years. However, yoga, as predominantly practiced in Western cultures, has moved away from its more esoteric roots. With the introduction of yoga to the United States by Swami Vivekananda, a metamorphosis began which combined the transpersonal goal of yoga with the physical relaxation needed by modern industrialized societies.

Modern yoga is based on hatha (force) yoga, which originated from the medieval text, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and began as a rigorous discipline for developing the physical stamina necessary to withstand the expression of kundalini. Kundalini is a Sanskrit word that describes a dormant spiritual energy at the base of the spine that lies coiled and ready for activation. While not always linked to the rising of kundalini in its current practice, modern yoga is geared toward self-transcendence (joining with a higher consciousness) and creating the relaxation response, the result of the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system whereby blood pressure and heart rate decrease and digestive function normalizes. The activation of the relaxation response has demonstrated benefit as an adjunct to the medical treatment of various conditions linked to stress.

The strength of modern yoga lies in its unique combination of somatic techniques with a psycho-spiritual goal. A somatic method is defined by attunement to one’s body and its cues related to well-being. Western philosophers were highly influential in creating this synthesis through their affiliation with yoga masters who traveled to the United States. In fact, Swami Vivekananda crafted his version of yoga through the impact of writings of authors, such as William James, who described the release of tension and the transition into a state of open receptivity as a religious act. Thus, through the unification of Eastern mysticism and proprioceptive release techniques with Western philosophical influence, yoga evolved into a way to relax into the spiritual or transpersonal.

In the traditional sense, yoga means to yoke up or join with the higher consciousness of Love. The yogic tradition (Mundaka Upanishad II:10) affirms, “The Lord of Love is the one Self of all.” Christians also know God as Love and see God’s immanence as Christ. There are many routes on the spiritual journey and a variety of callings in the body of Christ. The yogic tradition describes four paths that facilitate joining with the Lord of Love: bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga, and raja yoga. Following the path that best suits your natural temperament facilitates the revelation of the glory of God in you. In the following four blogs, we will explore the essence of each path.

Blessings and gratitude to you. Namaste, Ani
Don’t Waste Anymore Time
By: Laura Mcdonell
Tags: Personal Growth, Spirituality, Faith, Brené Brown, Authenticity

Restoring authenticity is part of the plot in many books and movies. A character often spends considerable time and energy attempting to build a life that gets the recognition of friends, family and even people that he or she may not know or even really care to spend time with. Often, it is not until an event reawakens the desire to live free of imitation that the character realizes the value and strength in simply being who he or she has always been. Have the courage to be who you really are.
The Strangest Mourner
By: Daniele Ihns
Tags: Humor, Jokes, Grief, Rhymes, Poetry

A young widow visits

The old cemetery

And stands by the grave

Where her husband’s buried

For just a few minutes

But every day

She pays him her tributes

The strangest of ways:

Without much distress

For motives unknown

She lifts up her dress

And pees on his stone

The gravedigger watches

Intrigued from a distance

For days on end the

Odd ritual of grievance

Till he has to ask

With all due respect

“What’s the reason for

the novelty act?”

The widow stands up

And pulls up her thong

“Oh pardon me, mister

Please don’t get me wrong

We each have our unique

way of showing grief

I weep from the place

that gives me most relief”
I Just Lost a Bunch of Money on Bitcoin. Here’s How I’m Dealing
By: Fox Van Allen
Tags: Crypto, Bitcoin Mining, Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Investment, Bitcoin

I Just Lost a Bunch of Money on Bitcoin. Here’s How I’m Dealing

My heart says HODL. My anxiety says DEAR GOD SELL IT. SELL IT ALL.

Fox Van Allen

The current bitcoin market can only be described as a dumpster fire. And I’m definitely feeling that pain.

Like many of you, I bought into bitcoin for the first time back in December, purchasing my first hundredth of a coin when it was near its all-time high of $19,000 per. As the price continued to drop to its current rate of $7,500, I continued to make small purchases.

All told, I spent $340. That stash is now worth just $200.

That loss is small potatoes in terms of total dollars, but it still represents a 40 percent drop in a couple months. More worrying, the crypto mining rig that I built recently isn’t turning a profit anymore.

I’m drowning in the unholy trinity of crypto investing: fear, uncertainty and doubt. Here’s how I’m surviving in these trying times.
Ten Artists on What Social Practice Means to Them
Tags: Art, Social Practice, UK, Projects We Love, Kickstarter

“Can you remember the last time you woke up and didn’t think we were living through a crisis?”

R.M. Sanchez-Camus, cofounder of the UK-based social practice arts community Social Art Network (SAN), likes to ask this question at conferences and workshops. “The urgency and adrenaline [it] causes is precisely the space that socially engaged artists are inhabiting fearlessly, producing work in response to the time we are living in,” he says.

Social practice art — often defined as collaborative, community-driven work that engages with social issues — has emerged as a powerful approach for artists confronting current political and social challenges, especially in the UK. “I see this as the current avant-garde of art-making today,” says Sanchez-Camus, “working against what art has become in the era of late capitalism and market-driven economies.”

Earlier this year, Kickstarter teamed up with SAN to mentor nine artists and artist teams as they prepared to launch projects on Kickstarter. The pairing solidifies the idea that collaboration lies at the center of art-making’s future, says Sanchez-Camus. “The clear link between collaboratively made artworks and crowdfunding allows a much larger audience to participate in the making of the work and share in the incredible reward that is socially engaged art-making.”

We chatted with artists mentored by SAN, whose projects are live on Kickstarter now, about the importance of social practice art at this pivotal moment in time.
5 Myths About Having a Healthy Relationship
By: Michelle Jaqua
Tags: Self, Relationships, Life Lessons, Love, Women

Elevating your commitment to each other will save your relationship

Photo by Milan Popovic on Unsplash

I’m twice divorced with a lot of relationship mistakes. I’ve learned that a long-term commitment isn’t based on marriage or having kids. Commitment is based on two people getting to know each other very well and deciding to be together and build on their relationship.

Communication is the most important thing here because both people need to hear and be heard.

Even after a formal commitment, such as marriage, personal responsibility is an everyday action. When one person is on the fence, or outright disrespectful and creating a foundation of doubt, you have no base to build on and grow as a couple. You are pulling all the weight while the other person is skating along, feeling fine. After all, they’re in the catbird seat, with no plans to leave because they have a “relationship” and everything that comes with it without having to work for anything.

If a person isn’t committed to you, they will not be more committed if you get married and/or have children. This may bind you to them more tightly, but do you really want to be wrapped up with someone who is squirming to break free?

Of course not.

However, many women (myself included) believe that even though the relationship sucked, getting married, or having babies would bring the partners closer together. It does the exact opposite; it pushes the two further apart.

You want someone who doesn’t hesitate when you discuss your future together. You want a partner, not someone you have to lead along and hope they are as committed to you as you are to them.

You want a person who shows you that you mean the world to them, and they show you in their actions — being a solid foundation for you, being loyal to you, and including you in their life. Not someone who is there for selfish reasons, whether it’s sex, a warped image to hold up their massive ego, or even darker than that (such as power plays).

If you demand marriage or get pregnant, that isn’t going to make him love you. It’ll eventually make him resent you.
Electric Lisa
By: Background Noise Comics
Tags: Biking, Inspiration, Spring, Couples, Anxiety

Sometimes we all need a little boost in life.
REPORTE MENSUAL— Agosto 2018
Tags: Fintech, Blockchain Technology, Ethereum, Latin America, Bitcoin

Bringing financial inclusion to Latin America by accelerating the digital adoption of blockchain technology.

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Ready to drive your partner crazy?
By: Kyrie Gray
Tags: Humor, Comedy, Funny, Politics, Satire

Hey everyone!

Want to learn some moves that will break your partner’s mind? Curious why Captain Ahab’s vote didn’t count? Are you into holiday-themed coffee flavors, no matter how dark? If so, check out some of these stories from the past week. Because don’t we all need a laugh right about now?

Stories

5 moves that will drive your partner crazy (according to literature).

Why Captain Ahab’s ballot was rejected.

A word from the heroine in all those post-apocalyptic movies whose hair looks amazing.

Coffee drinks created especially for Thanksgiving 2020.

It’s a spice, not a magic wand that makes your food taste less like butter.

An old favorite

Some unusual ways to get a guy’s attention.

As always, thanks for reading and supporting this little publication!

Kyrie
How Close Are We to VR Sex?
By: Alex Metcalf
Tags: Sex, Women, Technology, Virtual Reality, Men

Actually, we are a lot closer than you might think, but we are still a few years (possibly a decade) away from the big leap that takes us there. The key to having sex in virtual reality is haptics. You might remember this term bandied about in Ready Player One. Haptics allows us to feel what is happening in our virtual world, and the closer we get haptics to simulate the real thing, the more real our virtual worlds will seem.

If you haven’t played around much with VR, it already does an amazing job of tricking the brain. You can tell this by something as simple as a game of VR ping pong. As much as you know the table doesn’t really exist, you’ll still flail about trying to keep yourself from accidentally running into it.

And people in VR? When you are staring at an almost-picture perfect representation of someone standing right in front of you — such as a behind the scenes look at a music video or a similar VR experience — you really feel as if they are in front of you. The next step is to actually feel them using haptics.

There are a few companies like TESLASUIT and bhaptics that are making big strides in the area of haptic wearables. These suits provide motion-sensing technology, biometrics to read your heartbeat and other vitals, and a haptic response that can even include sensations of hot and cold as well as touch.

And bigger inventions are still to come. (Or cum.) Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne are working on an artificial skin created from a stretchy silicone material that could take haptic technology far beyond what is possible right now.

Of course, haptic suits alone won’t seal the deal. We’ll need a company willing to put a decidedly sexual slant to it. You know what I’m talking about. Vibrator included. Anal plug adapter available. Compatible with the following remote sleeves. Etc. Somehow, I don’t think we’ll see much of a delay in someone providing the sex version of the haptic suit. After all, that’s where the real money is going to be.
Netflix is already a global phenomenon; where does it go from here?
By: Enrique Dans
Tags: Culture, Netflix, Data, TV Series, Machine Learning

IMAGE: Tumisu — Pixabay (CC0)

This is a good year to think about the impressive power of Netflix, the first truly global television channel, with some 167 million subscriptions worldwide and that has a far greater reach based on the number of people per household, and even bigger if you take into account subscribers who share their password with friends and family. In the United States, even before the pandemic, Netflix was broadcasting more than 100 million hours of content per day, giving it 10% of the time Americans dedicate to watching television, and some of its series are already household names.

Over the course of a year we spent most of locked down in our homes, during which we watched a lot of Netflix, the company has recorded some impressive numbers: in the first two quarters it attracted 15.77 and 10.09 million subscribers respectively, and although that dropped to 2.2 million in the third quarter, its share value rose by 60%, giving it a capitalization of almost $235 billion dollars. Some analysts are predicting that its share price of $529 could reach $670, putting its worth at $295 billion.

But beyond the numbers, Netflix is increasingly a cultural phenomenon: in 2018, I was struck by an article that linked the appearance of an actor or actress in a Netflix series to their increased popularity on the social networks, pointing to the company as the factory of a whole new generation of global icons. Now, it seems that there’s an increased interest in chess following the success of Queen’s Gambit, an upsurge in online searches about Michael Jordan following The Last Dance, or the rise in discussions and searches related to the problems related to social networks after the release of The Social Dilemma, to name just a few.

How does one estimate the value of a company with a presence in every country in the world except China, North Korea, Crimea and Syria, which consumes almost 15% of the global bandwidth, and which now produces its own cultural phenomena? Netflix’s success lies not only in creating and distributing content: it is to have done so through a system of machine learning algorithms capable not only of recommending the most appropriate content for each of its user, but of using them as a guide for planning its productions.

In addition, there are the consumption patterns created by the company: encouraging binge watching by making all the chapters of a series available to users at once, has turned many of us into junkies, in many cases, when we watch a series on Netflix, we devote a good part of an evening to it. Its strategy of data analysis and its long-term vision has created economies of scale and increased knowledge, as well as garnering more nominations for industry awards than any other company, and all underpinned by a healthy bottom line.

In short, Netflix’s criteria for producing and delivering content has made it a global phenomenon; one can only wonder what the future holds.
O Turner of the hearts!
By: The Niqabi Coder Mum
Tags: Islam, Quran, Al Baqara

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Arabic term for heart is Qalb, which means to change. When we study tajweed, we learn that when we change the sound of one letter into another letter it is call iqlab. Qalb is something which changes, which is not a constant.

If there is one word which could describe the heart, it would be “change”. How many times have we experienced our feelings, our emotions and our inclinations change. Our desires, our wishes, our passions, everything is in a continuous rollercoaster of change.

And Imaan which originates in the qalb, changes like everything else.

One day we may experience a spiritual bliss in our tahajjud, we may cry while reciting Quran and yet on other days we may have to drag ourselves to offer a fardh salaah. We may have to force ourselves to open the Quran.

But its ok. The creator of our hearts, the one who made it the way it is, knows it and He understands our struggles better than we do.

“Alif, Lam, Meem. This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah — Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them, And who believe in what has been revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you, and of the Hereafter they are certain [in faith]. Those are upon [right] guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful.” [Al Baqara: 1–5]

When Allah talks about the those who believe, Allah chooses a verb, and a present tense verb at that, to describe it. Yuminoon as opposed to muminoon. The present tense (or imperfect verb as it is called in Arabic) implies a meaning of continuity, a deed which hasn’t finished yet. An Imaan which is still a work in progress. Which is not perfect yet.

So the people of Imaan are not only those who hear Quran with rapt attention, those who have to force themselves to open it are also people of Imaan, as far as they open it. And the person who has to exert him/herself to keep their mind from wandering in salaah is as much beloved to Allah as a person who has perfect khushu, as far as they are trying hard.

So rejoice in the mercy of our Rabb and strive harder. And ask the the Turner of the hearts to make our heart firm on His deen.

سبحانك اللهم و بحمدك نشهد ان لااله الّا انت نستغفرك و نتوب اليك
I’m a Lesbian and I Would Never Choose to Be Straight Instead
By: Auriane Alix
Tags: Self, Relationships, LGBTQ, Love, Lesbian

“Auriane, would you turn straight if you could?”

I was asked this question once. I can’t describe the context in which it happened, nor who asked the question because all I remember is how strongly and loudly my answer came out:

“HELL, of course not!”

I was surprised myself. A lot of queer people would change this if only they could. And yet, it is one of the few things I am sure of, and it hasn’t wavered since that day.

Being a lesbian is not the easiest path. Being part of the LGBTQ+ community often rhymes with verbal and sometimes physical aggression, mental struggles, courage, and determination to come out of the closet. Even meeting potential lovers is more complicated. It’s a statistic: there are fewer potential matches around us! This makes app and gay bars all too often unavoidable.

The truth is that it’s not a choice. Gays are born that way, just as straight people are born that way too. There has never been a time in my life when I’ve sat down on the beach, dramatically looking at the sea, asking myself, “What if tomorrow I tried to be a lesbian just to see what it feels like?” No, it was obvious, and in me, from the very beginning.

Looking back, I even see clues in my childhood. I remember finding myself trying to look confident and ‘cool’ when I walked past groups of girls as if I was trying to please them, whereas when it was boys I didn’t give a damn.

Why wouldn’t I turn straight if I could? This is my attempt to answer.
5 Ways To Join The Revolution Of Money Today
By: Lucien Lecarme
Tags: Finance, Money, Blockchain, Investing, Bitcoin

When you look closely at the world today, you probably noticed we are in a movement of decentralization.

It is an almost invisible undercurrent in our society, powered by Bitcoin and fueled by blockchain technology. And it is gaining more visibility every day.

There are now 28 million cryptocurrency owners worldwide. A drop in the financial world that can become an ocean itself.

Potential results of this movement are a massive redistribution of wealth, the cutting out of expensive and inefficient middlemen in almost all industries and more financial empowerment of billions of people without a bank account.

You might ask yourself; Why should I join? And How?

To get an idea of the why you should be looking at the cause of most of the problems in our world today. You will find that on ground level they are caused by our pyramidal financial and monetary system that is serving the interest of a few by squeezing out the lifelong debt of many.

Here is the good news; Centralization is reaching its expiry date.

The movement of decentralization propels the momentum for humanity to get rid of the old pyramid design of our economy and the architecture of money. It will eternally disrupt the cartels of banks, corporations, and multinationals.

When you are happy with how things are going, stay where you are. But when you see the importance of change on a system-level, take action.

The Bitcoin, Crypto and Blockchain movement is growing every day, answering a need for more freedom, less control and inclusion of many over the exclusivity for a few.

Now, when we have agreed on the importance, legitimacy and why of this movement, lets move over to the how.
Erik Voorhees Argues that Bitcoin is the Currency of the Future
Tags: Crypto, Market, Bears, Bulls, Bitcoin

Erik Voorhees and Peter Schiff debated Bitcoin’s potential.

The potential for cryptocurrency to eventually replace fiat currency has become a major point of contention in the financial community. To unpack the arguments for and against, Soho Forum organized a debate on crypto’s future in New York on July 02, 2018 pitting Erik Voorhees against Peter Schiff.

Voorhees, the Coinapult cofounder, supported the argument that cryptocurrency will replace fiat as a primary source of payment while Schiff, a known Bitcoin critic, and the Euro Pacific Capital CEO, rejected the notion.

After moderator Gene Epstein introduced the two speakers to the audience, Voorhees was invited to speak first. He began his speech by stating,

Bitcoin or a similar form of cryptocurrency will eventually replace government fiat as the preferred means of exchange.

Voorhees described cryptocurrency as “good money” while calling fiat currency “bad money”. He went on to argue that fiat currency will soon become irrelevant. Bitcoin, he stated, can be subdivided into 100 million smaller units and is also more durable. Digital currencies exist on a blockchain and are more secure than paper currency.

Voorhees also made light-hearted jabs at critics who argue that digital currencies lack any intrinsic value, saying, “Fiat is backed by paper and can be burned in winter. There is intrinsic value. Try that with gold.”

Schiff’s Rebuttal

During his rebuttal speech, Peter Schiff replied by calling Bitcoin a “fool’s gold”, which lacks any real intrinsic value. He pointed out that more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies have been launched so far, each basically the “same as Bitcoin but with just a different name.”

Schiff also pointed to the fact that cryptocurrency transaction costs are very high, making it useless for making payments and better suited to speculation.

It costs $60 in transaction fee to buy $5 of coffee. People are buying Bitcoin because they think they are going to get rich as the price goes up because they believe one day it is going to be money. It is not money now. It is being used as a speculative asset.

An audience poll conducted after the debate revealed that 55 percent sided with Voorhees in the belief that a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin will eventually replace fiat currency.
One Potato, Two
Tags: Humor, Comics, Relationships, Diversity, Cartoon

Written by

Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too.
❤️ Bonus 1 000 UBC inside the Ubcoin Market app — hurry up!
By: Ubcoin. Cryptocurrency Reimagined
Tags: Android, Ubcoin Promos

Ubcoin Market app is in an advanced stage of development now — we have made important iOS and Android releases recently and now you can buy and sell things and digital files for UBC or ETH with chats inside the app, push notifications and an escrow service that protects your deals.

🔥 Now we are dong active marketing in Asia and say welcome to thousands of new users of the app!

💎 To make this welcome process even more pleasing we offer 1000 UBC to all new users — after they buy or sell something in Ubcoin Market app.

To receive bonus 1 000 UBC on your Ubcoin Market wallet (inside the app) you need to register in the Ubcoin Market app after 25 March 2019, then buy or sell something. You will receive 1000 UBC after the deal is completed (buyer confirmed that item/file is OK). The bonus ends on 1 June 2019.

Try Ubcoin Market app now:

🔥 Download Android App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubcoin

💥 Download Ubcoin Market iOS app: https://itunes.apple.com/ru/app/ubcoin-market-cryptocurrency/id1410295111?mt=8
Islamism on display: Maulvi calling for converting all Hindus to Muslims
By: Hindavi Swarajya
Tags: Islam, Islamism, Hate Speech, Religion

This is not the sentiment of a tiny fringe; this is mainstream political Islam. How do you ever justify this? Is the purpose of your religion deepening spiritual values or is to create more and more Islamic ‘Borgs’ (Star Terk) who question nothing and submit to diktats of a book.

If you do not reform and take this shit out of your religion, you and the religion is going to get more and more backlash globally.

Reform your religion now! And let the world live in peace!
Does God wink?
By: Joseph Serwach
Tags: Religion, Spirituality, Poetry, Sun, Photography

I’m always snapping photos of the sky because it’s always unique and sends out emotions. As if God is saying something.

Beautiful. Typically, it’s a beautiful moment you’ve never seen before. Sometimes the sky looks dark and angry. Or sad.

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I actually thought I saw God wink. Is that possible? Does God wink at us?

I was driving north on U.S. 23 (clouds in front of me) when I spotted a stunning sunshine to my right. Then it was gone. So I grabbed My iPhone, clicked on the camera app and waited for another chance.

There it was: a beautiful shining sun shooting extra burst of lighting in every direction.

So I aimed the iPhone toward the passenger window, kept driving and started clicking, noticing over the next several seconds that the sunshine would be there and then it wasn’t.

Then back.

Then gone.

Like a wink.

Eyes wide open, eyes shut, eyes wide open.
recorded love
By: Haiku Love Bites
Tags: Haiku, Relationships, Love, Poetry, Life

Written by

#Writer — #Haiku #poetry & #love #poems — Big feelings and emotions packed into seventeen tiny syllables of mystery and adventure one Haiku at a time -
A worldwide competition winner (Facebook Data Science competition) still considered a Junior (meme)
Tags: Fun

Laurae: the full post can be found on Kaggle.

Tom Van de Wiele wrote:

So… I went from having no rank to being placed at the 50th global rank to not having a global rank again in the time span of five days. Now THAT is a serious decay function :-)

In sports I’d like to be a Junior and get #1 place on an international tournament by Facebook and being top 1% but remaining a Junior:
A Beginners Guide to Scikit-Learn
By: Rebecca Vickery
Tags: Machine Learning, Data Science, Technology, Education, Getting Started

Estimators

The Scitkit-learn library provides a very large variety of pre-built algorithms to perform both supervised and unsupervised machine learning. They are generally referred to as estimators.

The estimator you choose for your project will depend on the data set you have and the problem that you are trying to solve. The Scikit-learn documentation helpfully provides this diagram, shown below, to help you to determine which algorithm is right for your task.

What makes Scikit-learn so straight forward to use is that regardless of the model or algorithm you are using, the code structure for model training and prediction is the same.

To illustrate this let’s run through an example.

Let’s say you are working on a regression problem and want to train a linear regression algorithm and use the resulting model to make predictions. The first step, with Scikit-learn, is to call the logistic regression estimator and save it as an object. The example below calls the algorithm and saves it as an object called lr.

The next step is to fit the model to some training data. This is performed using the fit() method. We call lr.fit() on the features and target data and save the resulting model as an object called model. In the example below I am also using the train_test_split() method to split the dataset into test and train data.

Next, we use the model and the predict() method to predict on previously unseen data.

If we were to now use Scitkit-learn to perform a different task, say for example, we wanted to train a random forest classifier. The code would look very similar and have the same number of steps.

This consistent code structure makes developing machine learning models extremely straight forward and also produces code that is highly readable and reproducible.
WE ARE ONE
Tags: Anniversary, Membersonly, Community, Conversations, Dalai Lama

December 1st 2018

A year ago in December, our Founding Members stepped into 1880 for the first time.

Since we opened our doors, we’ve debated the issues dearest to your hearts, re-imagined the world in technicolour, traded ideas, traded bitcoins. We did it with grace, elegance, and a sense of humour. We’ve shared meals and drinks, we’ve celebrated and commiserated. We are truly one, and we thank you for being on this insane journey with us.

December 1st 2018

We are looking ahead to the next year — the terrible twos and a possible sibling for 1880 in Southeast Asia.

In 2019, we’re inviting every member of 1880 to a private conversation with His Holiness The Dalai Lama in India on March 27th. We will be making an 1880 documentary about Matthew Spacie’s Magic Bus Foundation — that will be the first project that 1880NE, our 1880 Impact Foundation, will be funding. 1880NE is all about giving back to the community, helping people, and pushing forward. We believe that one person, one conversation, and one club can change the world.

We’re expectant.
Lodging Services
By: Manasi Diwakar
Tags: Li Wotm Aug20, Hope, Poetry, Life, Literary Impulse

Lodging Services

A poem

Photo by Martin Castro on Unsplash

The linoleum floor and a wet towel

were having a gossip when she skimmed over the room,

they sneered as a debutante would

at a commoner



the watching eyes of the walls mocked her

with scuffs from yesterday-

the Mrs. Grundy of this house

had been waiting for her to get moving



the curtains tapped her shoulders

to show the stains of Sunday, from two weeks ago,

they pointed a finger to the soiled windows

which rattled for her attention



the sheets on the bed sprawled lazily

from the binge-watch of yester-eve,

they could not be bothered to straighten

their evening wear in her company



Wary of the expectations

from entrenched medieval idiosyncrasies,

she felt akin to providing lodging services,



and, resigned to it with nary a hope,

she heaved her sleeves up,

to tidy her home before rushing to work

©M.D.B.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful poems and tagging me-

Martine Weber, Chirag, Sumera Rizwan, Suryatapa.

Readers, please do check out their awesome work.

Thank you!

Manasi :)
Cloud Firestore — Collection Group Queries สิ่งที่จะเข้ามาเปลี่ยนการออกแบบฐานข้อมูลไปตลอดกาล
By: Thanongkiat Tamtai
Tags: Cloud Firestore, Firebase, Firestore

CTO @ Flagfrog # Full-stack Developer # Everything i can do , but it maybe not cool

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Like Dust
By: Uchechi Obasi
Tags: Heartbreak, Love, Poetry, Dating, Life

Like Dust

Micropoetry

Photo by Igor Lepilin on Unsplash

Our love settles like dust,

Inexistent until the light comes on

And I am burnt out from holding the torch,

What’s love if it doesn’t dance in the dark?
Media news: article by Today's Gazette about Ubcoin Market
By: Ubcoin. Cryptocurrency Reimagined
Tags: Ubcoin Media, Bitcoin

Ubcoin Market is global peer-to-peer Ebay-like marketplace for exchanging real goods (laptops, art objects, etc) to cryptocurrency and back. The easiest way to buy or sell something you own without fiat money involved. UBC is token used on marketplace as a means of payment .

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Prometheum, creating an SEC-compliant distributed ledger technology
By: Kevin Hart
Tags: Token Sale, Tokenization, Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, Bitcoin

Prometheum has raised $12M in total. We talked with Aaron Kaplan, its founder and Co-CEO.

How would you describe Prometheum in a single tweet?

Prometheum is creating an SEC-compliant distributed ledger technology based infrastructure to service the entire security token life cycle.

Issuance + Trading + Settlement + Custody all on a blockchain = Wall Street 2.0 = Prometheum

How did it all start and why?

Our team always believed that tokens were securities, and after the DAO Report came out in July 2017, it was confirmed. The issue became that there was no infrastructure to service the security token market in a compliant manner, so we formed the company in September 2017, and began developing the market infrastructure to allow for the issuance, transaction, clearance/settlement and custody of security tokens, fully compliant under the Federal Securities Law.

What have you achieved so far?

We’ve built out a strong team that combines the regulatory, financial services and blockchain skills that are essential to building our DLT-based market infrastructure. While building our products we’ve been working through the required regulatory processes to ensure that our proposed architecture complies with all relevant SEC and FINRA rules and regulations. We’ve raised capital from HashKey Capital and formed the key partnerships, including with Wanxiang Blockchain, required to establish ourselves in the emerging blockchain securities landscape.

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

Prometheum plans to launch an integrated digital asset ecosystem where the general public can buy or sell a variety of regulated digital assets. Our focus is on security tokens, but we believe that our architecture is appropriate for all categories of compliant digital assets and will play a significant role in the future of markets.
Color Platform Registration and KYC Guide
By: Color Platform
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Color Platform, Bitcoin

The Color Platform has KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements for everyone who participates in the TGE (Token Generation Event) to ensure tokens are distributed fairly and to protect our contributors legally.

*KYC (Know Your Customer) is a system that verifies the identity of the actual parties involved in a transaction and its purpose. KYC screening also ensures that TGE accounts are not connected to illegal activities such as money laundering and financing of public threats.

1. Registration Process

2. KYC Process

Congratulations! You have successfully submitted the KYC application. It may take up to 24 hours for verification.

Please contact hello@colors.org if you have trouble with the KYC Process.

▶Go to Color Platform Official Website

Have a Colorful Day :)

Join the Chatroom to Learn More!
How I Survived a Three Month Sex Marathon With European Strangers
By: Ms. Part Time Wino
Tags: Humor, Tinder, Sexuality, This Happened To Me, Self Improvement

In the span of three months, I traveled to ten different countries.

In the span of three months, I traveled by plane, train, and bicycle around Copenhagen, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, and finally Spain.

And in that span of three months, I slept with over 15 different men.

I understand that to many readers, this number will probably come as a shock. Sometimes, I still look back on that year and think, “Geez, how did I survive all those months without getting pregnant or murdered?”

And more importantly, I question, “How did I not develop feelings for any of these men?”

Well, it’s pretty simple.

After coming out of a divorce, the last thing on my mind was a romantic relationship. My body was exhausted from all the crying and the fighting and the emotional pain that comes from cutting ties with someone you supposedly love. But on the other hand, my body was craving something it desperately lacked.

Sex. Lots and lots of dirty, gross sex.

I approached each date like a curious newborn. No expectations. No pressure.

It wasn’t worth my time or energy to freak out about meeting complete strangers who spoke different languages in a foreign country I’ve never been to.

Surprisingly, most of the men were attracted to that mindset. Well, maybe it wasn’t that surprising. I’m fully aware of the reputation that American girls have while traveling through Europe on Tinder.

But this newfound feeling of freedom allowed me to simply let go.

I didn’t care if I told a bad joke or embarrassed myself pronouncing cocktail names in Swedish or Italian. I didn’t mind telling them I was unemployed and that I felt alone, lost, and unfulfilled in my life back in America. I had no problem telling them I was a 28-year old divorced woman.

And most importantly, I didn’t care that they knew I only wanted sex.

My dates responded in ways I would never expect.

Several of the men took me for second or third dates while I was still in town. One of them brought me to meet his family. Three of the men told me they loved me. Two of them traveled to meet me in other countries during my trip. One of them called me a whore.

And one of them I’m currently engaged to marry.

So I guess a passion-filled sex marathon can indeed lead to love.

Opening your heart and soul to complete strangers can be a weird, uncomfortable feeling. It’s nerve-wracking to let others see you at your most vulnerable. And it’s even scarier to admit something others might chastise you for — like your desire for carefree casual sex.

While this approach to dating may not be revolutionary, it’s still not the norm. At least not in America.

We should all feel like we can express our deepest and darkest desires. We should all be open to sharing our failures, no matter how painful or depressing they may be.

And most importantly, we should all feel like we can have unattached sex-fueled marathons with gorgeous foreigners whenever we want.
Trends in Semantic Parsing — Part 2
By: Desh Raj
Tags: Naturallanguageprocessing, Deep Learning, Parsing, Text Mining, Machine Learning

An unsupervised Bayesian model

This paper was published in ACL 2011 [1], back when statistical methods were still being used for NLP tasks. But with the recent forays into generative models, I feel it has again become relevant to understand how such methods worked. The task of frame semantic parsing can be broken down into 3 independent steps:

Decompose the sentence into lexical items. Divide these items into clusters and assign a label to each cluster. Predict argument-predicate relations between clusters.

Frames essentially refer to a semantic representation of predicates (such as verbs), and their arguments are represented as clusters. For sake of convenience, we refer both of these structures as semantic classes. For example, in the sentences:

[India] defeated [England].

[England]. [The Indian team] secured a victory over the [English cricket team].

Here, ‘defeated’ and ‘secured a victory’ both belong to the frame WINNING, while ‘India’ and ‘Indian team’ are grouped into the cluster labeled WINNER.

The authors proposed a generative algorithm which makes use of statistical processes to model semantic parsing. We can summarize the model as follows, for a particular sentence:

The distribution of semantic classes is given by a hierarchical Pitman-Yor process, i.e.,

We start with obtaining the semantic class for the root of the tree from the probability distribution which is a sample drawn from the above Pitman-Yor process.

Once the root is obtained, we call the function GenSemClass on this root.

Since the current root only has a semantic class, we obtain its syntactic realization from a distribution over all possible syntactic realizations, which is given as a Dirichlet Process with the arguments as the base word and a prior.

Essentially, the base word w is obtained from a geometric distribution, and the subsequent words are obtained by computing the conditional probability of dependency relation r given w, and the next word p given r.

For each argument type t, if the probability of having at least 1 argument of type t is non-zero, we generate an argument of that type using function GenArgument, until that probability becomes 0.

The GenArgument function again computes the base argument from the distribution of syntactic realizations, and then obtains the next semantic class again from the hierarchical PY process.

We then recursively call the GenSemClass function on this new class.

This is the essence of the algorithm. Basically we get a semantic frame from the PY process, and then generate the corresponding syntax from a Dirichlet process. This is done recursively, hence the need for a hierarchical PY process. For the details of the stochastic processes, you can look at their Wikipedia pages. For the root level parameters, a stick-breaking construction is used, but I am yet to look into the details of this method. However, I suppose this is similar to the broken-stick technique used to estimate the number of eigenvalues to retain in a principal component analysis.