fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The Masterful Images
By: Bassey Elimian
Tags: Self Improvement, Relationships, Self, Life, Inspiration

©BY

Bassey is a lifestyle consultant and a health/recovery coach. She has two decades of mental health and addiction recovery experience, holds NYS social work license, and is currently in private practice. She enjoys organizing and writing.

More stories for your reading pleasure:
Colliders. This is the fifth post on the series we…
By: Bruno Gonçalves
Tags: Machine Learning, Probability, Causal Inference, Data Science, Causality

In the previous post V, we started on Chapter II of the book where Pearl starts to build up the machinery of Causal Inference. In this post we look at Colliders, one of the most powerful ideas in the analysis of graphical models.

2.3 Colliders

The third, and perhaps the most important, graph motif that we will cover is known as the Collider and is illustrated in this figure:

Fig. 2.3 — A simple collider

Collider nodes are nodes that receive inputs from 2 or more other variables. Applying the rules we are already familiar with, we can immediately conclude:

X and Z are dependent — P(X|Z) ≠ P(X) Y and Z are dependent — P(Y|Z) ≠ P(Y) X and Y are independent — P(X|Y) =P(X) X and Y are dependent conditional on Z — P(X|Y, Z) ≠ P(X|Z)

Points 1 and 2 follow directly from Rule 0: Any two variables with a directed edge between them are dependent. Point 3 is obvious from the fact that there is no directed path between X and Y (neither is an ancestor or a descendent of the other).

Point 4 is the most interesting case, but it can be understood with a simple algebraic example. Consider the mathematical expression:

This relationship determines the value of Z and is valid for any possible value of X and Y, but as soon as I fix the value of Z, say Z=10 that immediately limits the possible values of X and Y that are now constrained such that, Y = 10-Z (or, graphically, lie on the intersection of the two Z=X+Y and Z=10 planes):

The effect of conditioning on a collider node, Z

This is a simple illustration of the most fundamental definition of conditioning: filtering by the value of the conditioning variable.

The book further illustrates this idea using the example of the well known Monty-Hall problem. For this game, our probability table would be:

Where the 0.0555 values correspond to the fact that we give Monty a 50/50 chance of choosing either goat if I happen to choose the door where the car is.

From this table, it’s easy to see that P(Choice|Car)=P(Car), or, in other words:

Essentially, I’m choosing one of the three doors at random. Now, let’s take a look at P(Choice | Car, Monty):

Where it is now clear that depending on the door that Monty has chosen, the value of P(Choice | Car) will change.

This is also a clear example of a non-causal dependency between two variables, illustrating the point that correlation does not imply causation. Here the relationship between the two variables (Car and Choice) comes about just due to the fact that we limited our space of possibilities by adding the extra information about Monty’s choice. An event that is already familiar to us from our discussion of Bayes Theorem.

From these examples, it is easy to extract a new general rule:
The Uncovered Head
By: Jonathan Poletti
Tags: Bible, Sexuality, Christianity, Feminism, Religion

Following Shoemaker’s suggested markings, I re-approached the head covering passage? And it suddenly became . . . a story.

First of all, the first two verses of the chapter, 11:1–2, are probably wrapping up the previous discussion. The tone shifts from Paul’s kind tone (“Now I praise you, brothers,” etc.) to . . . the other one?

A Jewish convert is writing to Paul, lecturing him — undressing him!

“But I would have you know . . .”

The quoted passage spans 11:3–10. It is a rousing paean to male authority and female subservience, in a traditional Jewish style. It is a rant.

It is not citing or relying on the Jesus teachings. This is a lawyer speaking? He reminds me of the ‘teacher of the law’ that Jesus speaks to in Luke 10:29. He sees categories, hierarchies, definitions.

“A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.”

The Jewish references may be unfamiliar to Christians. As Michael J. Broyde details in “Head Coverings and Jewish Law,” a rabbinic requirement that Jewish women cover their heads in public has remained, in many communities, a requirement to this day.

The lone scriptural foothold is Numbers 5:18, where a woman suspected of cheating on her husband could be put through an ordeal that begins with the priest “uncovering” her head.

There you see!—many rabbis extrapolated. A good Jewish lady keeps her head covered up.

Even among Jews, this was extensively debated. It’s not really a biblical law. Could this ‘covering’ require the context of the Temple?—where the Numbers 5:18 scene occurs, after all.

And, as Broyde notes, this practice would only refer to “the practice of modest Jewish women who are Torah-observant.”

In “Under Cover: Demystification of Women’s Head Covering in Jewish Law,” a feminist critique, Susan Weiss notes the basic assumption: “women as the chattel of their husbands.”

These head coverings, she notes, mark “the institutionalized class distinctions among women on the basis of their sexuality, and the accompanying property rights of men in that sexuality.”

In New Testament teachings, however, the woman is not owned, and neither is the man (cf. Gal 5:1, etc.).

There is to be no effort to follow Jewish law (cf. Heb 8:13; Luke 16:16; Rom 10:4, etc.). And remember: to follow one part means you have to follow it all (cf. James 2:10; Gal 5:3).

To enforce rules about head-coverings, if believing it’s a continuation of Old Testament law, would, for a Christian person, be to enter a very problematic theological state.
Running for a Lifetime
By: Daniel Sauble
Tags: Running, Fitness, UX

So what does a better running app experience look like? Let’s start by considering why you run.

Do you run to get off your butt? Perhaps you want to use running as a substitute for other things. Do you want to watch less TV? Get away from your desk? Be outside more? Feel alive? Not every goal has to be a long-term thing. Short-term goals are just as valuable.

Do you run to become a better person? That implies you have longer-term goals. Do you want to run an ultramarathon? Thru-hike the PCT? Climb all of the Fourteeners in the lower 48? Have energy to go out and do stuff when you’re in your 60’s and 70’s?

Do you run to feel good about yourself? Think about how you run. Do you feel best when you’re at a casual lope? When you’re cooling down after a hard interval workout? When you run past a familiar viewpoint? When you achieve another milestone in your training?

Do you run to be alone with your thoughts? Consider what environment suits you best. Do you enjoy pounding the pavement downtown? Do you prefer wooded trails in the mountains? Do you want to explore your part of the world, or stick with the old and familiar?

When we understand why people run, only then can we create an experience that will truly satisfy.
074 | 在比特派躺著賺
Tags: 被動收入, Passive Income, 區塊鏈, Bitpie, Usdt

in In Fitness And In Health
How To Naturally Get Your Desired Body Shape In 1month.
By: Akhaine Jesuoboh Precious
Tags: Personal Development, Gym, Exercise, Motivational, Inspirational

How To Naturally Get Your Desired Body Shape In 1month.

My Personal Story.

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Well it all began towards the ending June when the COVID 19 kept rising up in figures and activities still yet to kick in. This meant I had ample time to myself and I wasn’t really exercising. Yeah I definitely put on weight and was bloated, for months now even in the lock down, I had lost track of my work out routine.

The need to get back to shape was really pressing but the will to go back was the issue as I felt I needed a push as I didn’t see my self doing it alone. To further compound the issue, gyms weren’t working. However, a colleague of mine had a few gyming equipment we could use but like I said beginning was the issue.

I confess my prayers were heard and lo came a colleague of mine who also felt the need to work out. He was by far more experienced than me when it comes to working out as he already had the physique of a body builder or a party bouncer. Alas, here came my motivation and I definitely had no choice than to begin. We talked about it and he assured me of his consistency. I had always seen him as a guy who is keen on his business, quiet, sincere and a goal getter. At least I can say this about him cause we’ve been in Medical school for the past 5years now.

Here are some of the life changing tips I picked up from him:
Evening
By: Martino Pietropoli
Tags: Drawing, Graphic Design, Humanity, Illustration

Did you find this article interesting?

If you liked it and if you feel like it, leave some claps to help whoever wrote it to pay his Lamborghini Urus.

Thank you!
WAVES listed on OKEX
By: Waves Tech
Tags: Trading, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Waves, Bitcoin

The world’s second-largest exchange by trading volume now offers WAVES trading against BTC, ETH, USDT and OKB.

The Waves Platform is thrilled to announce its token will be listed on OKEX, one of the world’s foremost cryptocurrency exchanges. WAVES will join the extensive list of coins and tokens offered by the platform, with four trading pairs: Bitcoin, Ether, Tether and OKB, the exchange’s global utility and loyalty token.

According to OKEX, the schedule for the listing is as follows:

1. WAVES deposit — 08:00 Jun 14 (UTC +0)

2. WAVES spot trading (BTC, ETH, USDT, OKB Market) — 08:00 Jun 15 (UTC +0)

3. WAVES withdrawal — 10:00 Jun 18 (UTC +0)

“We’re really pleased to be able to announce this partnership with OKEX, which has established itself as a gold standard for crypto trading,” comments Sasha Ivanov, CEO of Waves. “The ability to trade WAVES against multiple different cryptos within such a large market is tremendously valuable in terms of liquidity, and the USDT market allows traders to park funds in a stable currency while keeping them within the crypto economy. Listing on OKEX will open the Waves Platform to a completely new audience.”

Founded in 2014, OKEX has received investments from VenturesLab (co-founded by Tim Draper), Ceyuan Ventures, Giant Network Group, Longling Capital (founded by the Chairman of Meitu), Qianhe Capital Management, and eLong Inc. This solid foundation has drawn experts in technology and business from the world’s top organisations, allowing OKEX to offer safe, stable and reliable trading services through internet and mobile solutions.
6 Reminders To Read When Others Try To Invalidate Your Feelings
By: Thought Catalog
Tags: Personal Growth, Emotions, Life Lessons, Feelings, Life

6 Reminders To Read When Others Try To Invalidate Your Feelings Thought Catalog Follow Nov 24 · 3 min read

1. Calling you crazy is a way for them to ignore your voice. You shouldn’t feel bad when someone accuses you of overreacting because it says more about them than it says about you. It means they aren’t interested in hearing what you have to say. It means they aren’t able to show empathy for your situation. It means they don’t want to be bothered by your emotions and would rather pretend they don’t exist than take the time to talk to you about them. When someone invalidates the way you’re feeling, remember, it reflects poorly on them, not on you.

2. You don’t need permission from others to feel the way you feel. You’re allowed to be upset or angry or frustrated, no matter what the people around you have to say. Maybe they don’t think your emotions are warranted, but everyone’s hearts and brains work differently. You’re allowed to feel whatever it is you’re feeling. You shouldn’t let someone convince you you aren’t allowed to be upset because other people have it worse or you aren’t allowed to be proud of yourself because other people have done better. Your feelings are valid. No one needs to give you permission to feel the way you feel.

3. Their opinions don’t matter in the long run. Even though it’s always nice to have someone on your side to comfort you when you’re down, you have to remind yourself that it’s okay if other people don’t understand you. It’s okay if they have a different way of looking at the world than you do. And it’s also okay for you to walk away from them. It’s okay for you to decide you only want to surround yourself with people who will take your emotions seriously and distance yourself from the people who make you feel bad about having a heart. They can live life their way — and you can live life your way.

4. You shouldn’t hide away your feelings to put others at ease. You shouldn’t feel pressured to pretend you’re fine when you’re falling apart on the inside. You shouldn’t tiptoe around someone else’s feelings because you’re worried about how they’ll react when they learn about yours. You have a right to say how you feel. You’re allowed to speak your truth.

5. You shouldn’t let someone toxic turn you into a cynic. Just because one person invalidates your feelings doesn’t mean everyone else will do the same. Don’t assume everyone is going to behave how they’re behaving. Don’t assume wearing your heart on your sleeve is a bad thing when it’s a beautiful thing.

6. The right people will want you to express your emotions, even when they’re uncomfortable. You shouldn’t feel pressured to keep your problems to yourself. You shouldn’t feel like you aren’t allowed to speak your mind. Once you find the right people, people who understand you, you will feel comfortable spilling your heart out. You won’t think it’s a flaw you have such strong emotions. You’ll realize it’s a strength.
Shut it down
By: Joseph Emmi
Tags: Habits, Goals, Focus, Commitment, Discipline

My main goal at the moment is to shut down everything at certain time so I can go to bed no later that 10:30pm.

The main thing I’m noticing while writing this, is that that certain time has not been properly defined, but also, prompted I am to always willing to squeeze something else to do before bed, because or I was meant to do it during the way or just want to get it done before the following day.

Just as top performers and elite athletes focus on few things and say no many more, the same principle needs to apply here.

Focus on what really matters based on what I want to achieve and just say no to the rest, at the set time.
Help Wanted
By: Background Noise Comics
Tags: Jobs, Humor, Cartoon, Comics, Job Hunting

Doing a job and getting a job are two completely different skills.
I Was Lost
By: Ivette Cruz
Tags: Poetry, Spirituality, Spiritual Secrets, Self Improvement, Life Lessons

I have found

My self

Not knowing

I was lost

In the process

I have learned

About my self

And my spirit

Has awake
Adding Tokens to Metamask
By: Dave Appleton
Tags: Metamask, Token, Ethereum, Erc20

Adding Tokens to Metamask

We have a PR in but it could take a while

Metamask is a really cool wallet built as a chrome extension.

Metamask “sent ether” tab

You will notice when you see your balance that there is also a tab for tokens.

MetaMask try to keep up with the incessant release of new tokens. They make it easy for token developers to inform them of new tokens but some tokens still get missed.

Naturally people want to know how to add new tokens.

It is really simple as long as you have the token contract address. You can get this from the token provider, or possibly from etherscan. Let’s try to add HelloGold’s Gold Backed Tokens :

Let’s ask etherscan…

Select HelloGold-GBT

If the team at Etherscan have done their usual fantastic job you will not only see the token in the drop down but also on the page:

Copy the address. Return to Metamask. Just click on ‘ADD TOKEN’.

Paste the address into the address field. Notice that the other fields populate automatically.

Symbol and provision provided by Metamask

Simply entering the token address causes Metamask to access the contract and extract the name and precision from the token contract. After that you simply click on “Add”

If you have any GBT you will now see them listed alongside the HGT and STORJ.

HGT Address : 0xba2184520A1cC49a6159c57e61E1844E085615B6

GBT Address : 0x7585F835ae2d522722d2684323a0ba83401f32f5

Since I am writing this in early September and no allocation of GBT to HGT holders has happened yet, I can’t show you — but this was how I added the HGT that you can see in the pictures above.

Notes :
Sweethearts
By: Sydney J. Shipp
Tags: Romance, Poetry, Love Poems, Heartwork, A Cornered Gurl

Sweethearts

A Poem

by Flora Westbrook on Pexels

From deep down and red

it rises

up and out,

dislodging butterflies from a cage

Free, they flutter

between ribs turned to powder—

the dust that coats their wings

Explosions in the chest

Confetti sticks to sweet heart

Salt sucked off of skin

with mouths

licking like laughter

rolling off of the tongue —

peals that ring like a bell

placed between swaying hips

on their way

to meet the perfect placement

of hands

Bottoms of feet

brushed with feathers

that up through the soles

reach the peach

pit of stomach

Grazing the peel

along the path

are soft fingers

that dip in the confection

From warm and wrapped

around each waist

it rises

up and out,

propelling hearts to beat

right out of the body —

a flight then a dive

deep down

to find another’s
Coming Home
Tags: Poetry, Home, Love, Family, A Cornered Gurl

Photo by Ben Blennerhassett on Unsplash

The first step is usually the most difficult:

It has nothing to do with waiting for sunrise

nor deciding the right outfit after many tries.

Convincing yourself over many talks isn’t a biggie.

It is the walking in that takes everything you have,

it requires courage, plenty of it!



You would expect a rush, emotions coming

at you from all angles. You would expect

to feel at ease and to fit in, right away.

But you have been gone for so long,

your breath has to adjust to the air level,

and your heart needs to halt and not fight

the Stranger syndrome it loathes.



Sometimes it takes a few hours or longer

Then the pieces fit! Like a song long

forgotten: some lyrics come to you.

First a line, a bridge then you are

dancing and roaring every word.

The exact moment you became a part

of the whole you can’t tell yet

you are at home and your heart is giddy.
WILDCARD: RYAN
By: Policy Innovation Hub
Tags: Elections, Politics, Policy, Government, Australian Politics

In most federal elections Ryan would not be listed as a seat to watch. Held by the Liberal Party since 1949 with one brief exemption following a by-election in 2001, Ryan is one of the most blue-ribbon seats that Queensland produces. The LNP currently hold the seat on a margin of 9%.

The Ryan electorate includes suburbs that house the University of Queensland, includes Mount Coot-tha, Enoggera and Bardon, as well as acreage suburbs of Moggill and Brookfield. Comparatively, Ryan more closely resembles Wentworth or Warringah than most Queensland seats.

Economically conservative, yet socially progressive, it is the type of seat that might change hands if the right candidate appeared. While there is no such independent of the ilk of Kerryn Phelps or Zali Steggall contesting Ryan in 2019, the primary vote for the Greens increased at both the federal and state level in previous elections. In 2017 the state seat of Maiwar (which forms part of the Ryan electorate) was won by the Greens. For all these reasons, Ryan is of interest this time around.

Jane Prentice, a three-term member and an assistant minister, who in 2016 won the seat with an increased majority, was dumped and replaced with a man who in her valedictory speech to Parliament she alluded to as being part of the new breed of politicians who are ‘impatient[ly] ambitious’. Julian Simmonds, former Chair of the Brisbane City Council planning committee thus fronts the election with some baggage. Jane Prentice was regarded as a moderate Liberal and was one of the few women on the front bench of the federal Liberal Party. Outsiders might consider her ousting as a further sign that the Liberal Party has trouble with women and punishes those with moderate views.

Information taken from Hansard via They Vote for You

It is unlikely that a percentage of voters in Ryan would favour the economic re-distributive policies espoused by Labor and the Greens, yet it is also clear that Ryan voters are concerned with broader issues to do with climate change and refugee policies. Close to 1000 young people registered to vote for the Same Sex Marriage Plebiscite in 2017. With no incumbency advantage this time around, and a growing awareness for environmental issues (perhaps part of the reason why the Mt Coot-tha zipline was suddenly cancelled after the election was called) Ryan may produce some unexpected shocks to the Liberal Party.

Full list of candidates for the seat of Ryan
A Muslin Dress In December
By: Shalini C
Tags: Poetry, Women, Seasons, Brooding, Change

Leave me a trail of her lonely evenings

cleft between the drowse of parted lips

in a husky song she dares not hum

not to herself nor to the west wind that strums

the arrival of a new leaf curled in the space

between her toes, cracks of sheer light trace

an all-too-familiar restlessness droning

hums of cicadas out of skin pining

for the last of summer’s sweet nectar

dew-frosted into the lap of a long winter

Wearing a muslin dress

she comes up for air again

filling the hollows stitched between loose hems

The tug between being enough and never-enough ripping

a camisole of silence she always wore within.
A Grief in Progress
By: Erica Spelman
Tags: Mothers, Grief And Loss, Death, Loss, Grief

“I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process.”

― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

The first time I wrote about grief — my grief — was in college, several years after my mother’s passing. I still catch myself pausing at what word to use. Passing. Not death. Passing. Verbal window dressing, a word with a softer landing than death. It is a more comforting word than death, isn’t it though? A verb that denotes movement and travel, of going somewhere beyond. So the thought of a loved one’s passing, of their journey continuing on in another plane of existence is far more comforting than the thought of them simply ceasing to exist. So I look at the word death and I look at the word passing, and I choose passing. Every time.

I dread this week every year. And whether I try to ignore it or reluctantly face it head on, it comes every year just the same. It feels like a tragedy happening in slow motion that I can’t stop and can’t escape: I know the outcome, I’ve watched this scene before, but I can’t stop it from playing. So I wait and watch it approach.

This week will be 29 years since she died. How is that possible? Time heals all wounds, they say. But time doesn’t feel relevant when it comes to grief. It’s an empty promise that time will act as a buffer, giving us distance and respite from the pain of our loss. It doesn’t account for the power of memory, a tool so powerful that when our mind replays a memory, it cannot distinguish the difference between the memory and the event itself. So it’s no wonder the hold that grief can have on us, the immediacy with which it can come rushing back. It was 29 years ago, and it was yesterday.

Photo by Monica Silva on Unsplash

Grief is a kind of time travel, immersing our emotions into the now of the past, the feelings just as raw, the wound just as deep. The past becomes present. We stretch out our hand and say not yet. And yet the grief still comes. It is unrelenting.

I was 14 when my mother died. A hard age, people still say to me. Now living this far on the other side of it, I think any age is a hard age to lose a mother because we will always need them. There will always be moments when we instinctively reach for them, no matter how old we are.
When An Opportunity For Honesty Requires A Dose Of PR
By: Barbara L. Ciccarelli
Tags: Self Improvement, Work, Honesty, Public Relations, Self Development

Career Transition

My stay with this company was very short after that. Now my memory is sketchy, but I have no bad feelings so to be honest I must have left on good terms, probably because my future teaching job coincided with leaving the company job. If the two things were connected then I might have had a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude and just spoke my truth, but this goes against everything you are told about making yourself indispensable to your employer to ensure retention.

Now I’m not saying I should have lied in the performance review and said things that weren’t true. But I could have been more creative and thought through ways in which I was useful to my manager and to the CEO as well and, more importantly, ways in which I could be more useful in the future. The sky would have been the limit as this was a budding competitor on the market domestically, and I could have speculated, would soon be internationally (and it was later). Having some staff already in place for this expansion would come in handy I could have argued.

I can only guess that I was distracted — my mind wasn’t focused on the opportunities available at this company because the job was just a side hustle to my real career pursuit — teaching.
Wrong Move
By: Tima Loku
Tags: Relationships, LGBTQ, Sex, BDSM, Poetry

Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

I know, I used to fight for my place

never gave you the crown to my kingdom

I swear then, I didn’t mean to spoil our game

but

in the hazy hours of the dark

deep in the frozen sea

of a treacherous subconscious

my instincts have rearranged

bent out of shape

creating wrong moves

so when your fingers found my throat

breath released its hold on life

how can you stop the will of breath?

the hands, too, betrayed

stretched above

reaching for nothing less

than infinite joy

then we knew

somewhere between our first and our last

I have crowned you queen and king

master, savior, mistress, goddess

accepted your reign

bowed to your needs

before facing the truth of dawn

wrong move

we were lost for a moment

no war to fight

no starvation or disease

there is nothing to conquer

in someone who has surrendered
Don’t I Get a Say in Whether My Son Has a Vasectomy?
By: Danika Bloom
Tags: This Happened To Me, Parenting, Humor, Sexuality, Family

William, my 23-year-old son, has decided to have a vasectomy. He’s laid out sound arguments that include the fact that his long-term girlfriend has no interest in becoming a mom. He’s very clear: he does not want to be a dad. Ever, he says.

Before I could gather my thoughts to say anything, he complained that the small handful of people he’s told, people my age, have challenged his decision with questions like,

“How can you be sure you’ll never want kids? You’re still so young.”

Damn! Now I couldn’t ask the obvious since then he’d put me in the “Annoying Old Person” box.

But I am concerned that he’s not really sure because at this stage of his life—working for minimum wage, paying 50% of his take-home on rent, and eating KD like a Kraft shareholder—he’s making the big V decision based on fear.

He promised me grandchildren

When William was little he spoke about having a huge family, lots of kids. He hated being an only child and once step-brothers were a possibility (after his dad and I split) he sat on the edge of my bath one night and said with so much longing,

“Mommy, I hate to be rude, but do can the next man you date please have a son. You know I’ve always wanted a younger brother.”

He got that wish — a step-brother five years younger than him. They’re as close as blood brothers. And, since his dad remarried a woman quite a bit younger, he also got two half-brothers who are 18 and 20 years younger than he is — young enough to actually be his kids. And he loves them.

So, how could he go from wanting to have a school bus filled with his children to wanting to ensure he never has even one little, itty, bitty baby? I know I have to let the kid make his own decision about his own damn life, but it has a direct impact on me.

If my son does not have kids, the odds of him actually inviting me to live with him and his wife when I get old and need my feet rubbed every night — something he’s been agreeing to do since he could speak — become slim to none since what value would I bring if not to be a live-in babysitter?

I didn’t get to fulfill my dream of having ten children. Part of what made that okay, once I’d birthed my lonely-only, was knowing that my one sweet son could give me a few of those babies I so desperately wanted, to love, and squeeze and call George.

And now the little bastard is threatening to take that all away from me — the woman who spent more minutes post-delivery having my vagina stitched back together than I did in actual labor since he came into this world with so much enthusiasm — and a freakishly giant head.

William and I made a pact. He’s made promises. And now he’s making an appointment to break my heart.

Of course, I haven’t said any of this to him since…what kind of a mother would I be to pull the “If you loved me, you’d let me be a grandma” card?

Oh, I know.. I’d be a grandma kind of mother. If I don’t pull that card, I’ll be a lonely old woman with sore feet and a very dirty litter box.
Arguable Distance
By: J.D. Harms
Tags: Love, Image, Illumination Curated, Musing, Poetry

Arguable Distance

A Poem

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

You’re not coming any closer, but you’ve still closed the gap, you laid flowers between us; heavy on the accent, you rearranged the decor

put up the old atlas: those routes haven’t changed. When the white of the sky is just the snow on the ground, you’ll come

see what I’ve done to the place, maybe adjust the bed, scuff the table for new marks, for gouges where the pen lay

ignored for long enough to write a song about it. The yellowed brick house that lurches just as well as me

comes hunting for the celebration of the moment; scowling when I took away this hope, because I was still

fixed on you, and overcoming this distance, the words we keep having to define in order to edge a little closer

to not leave everything in total disarray; but I missed it, then, I missed something on the way; I have to make my way back.
Casino Ballroom Counts Massive Returns with ToneDen’s Dynamic Event Ads
By: Joanna Novak
Tags: Venue, Facebook Advertising, Event Marketing, Case Study, Dynamic Event Ads

Save your nickels and dimes — you won’t find any slot machines at the Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach. Named in the nineteenth century, when the word “casino” still meant ‘gathering place’ (it’s the Italian diminutive for “house”), the oceanside building dates back to 1899; it’s hosted musical acts since 1927, “everyone from Duke Ellington to Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, U2,” says Andy Herrick, Director of Marketing at the Casino Ballroom since 2004.

With an idyllic location, an ideal size (2000 cap), and all that history, it’s no surprise that the Casino Ballroom fits a lot of programming into a limited season. Herrick advertises around 70 shows in the Ballroom’s barely-eight-month season. That’s an average of 2–3 shows a week.

Let’s not forget that the Director of Marketing has more on his plate than running campaigns for events. “We’re a small business, I’m the person buying all of the advertising for our shows,” Herrick says, whose responsibilities also include sponsorship analysis, experiential delivery, and all the other Casino Ballroom brand touch points. “I have to make sure that I have time to do everything else I’m responsible for. And as the years progressed, Facebook and Instagram ads started to take up more and more of my daily time. ToneDen was a solution to cut that back.”
How Should We Define “Systemic Racism?”
By: Yonason Goldson
Tags: Religion, Theology, Racism, Life, Philosophy

Leave the Past in the Past?

But what effect does all that history have on the life of a typical Jew today? What does any of it have to do with me? The isolated outbreaks of anti-Semitic violence are hideous and deeply disturbing. But they are isolated. Most Western Jews go about their lives feeling secure and comfortable with their place in the modern world.

Nevertheless, remembering the exodus remains of paramount importance. Because if we don’t learn the lessons of the past, we won’t find our way from the present into the future.

This is a mindset deeply embedded in Jewish tradition. It is part of the prophecy revealed to Abraham, the first Jew, and revisited by generations of prophets across the centuries:

Your descendants will be small in number, scattered to the four corners of the world, despised and persecuted among the nations.

In other words, it was foretold from the earliest times that the Jews would suffer at the hands of systemic anti-Semitism. Which has led countless observers, historians, and social scientists to ask:

How have the Jews survived for over 3000 years?

It’s not by dwelling on the persecution of the past. It’s by retaining a knowledge and understanding of history that produces an awareness of identity, an awareness that has empowered Jews throughout the generations with a sense of purpose and mission. We only look backward so that we can find our way forward.

Except when we don’t.

During his run for president, Senator Bernie Sanders was asked what his Jewish identity meant to him. He answered with one word — the Holocaust. And the sad irony is that there’s a term for exactly that: Holocaust Jew.

It’s not a compliment. It means a Jew who has forgotten everything about who he is except the most recent episode in a seemingly endless history of attempted genocides. It means a Jew who has accepted upon himself the status of victim. And that’s exactly the opposite of the outlook Judaism teaches.

What is freedom? Freedom means empowerment and responsibility. It calls on us to reject slave mentality and victim mentality. Yes, the Almighty saved us from oppressors. But now it is our job to save ourselves. It’s a job we have to face every day of our lives. And If we continue to think of ourselves as victims, we will never succeed in our pursuit of a higher calling.
Lenny Dykstra claims he hired PI’s and blackmailed umpires
By: Paul Dughi
Tags: Dykstra, Colin Cowherd, Blackmail

Former ballplayer Lenny Dykstra dropped a bombshell on Colin Cowherd’s show on FOX Sports 1. Dykstra claims he spent half a million dollars during his playing days to hire private investigators to dig up dirt on umpires, which he use to his advantage.

He said it explains why he suddenly start dreading the league in walks. Dykstra said some umpires were into women, some into men, and some into gambling. He said he would turn to an umpire and ask them if they covered the spread last night… And suddenly the strike zone would shrink.
“DEX” Bar is Added on ThunderCore Hub
Tags: Dex, Tt, Thundercore, Project Updates, Defi

“DEX” Bar is Added on ThunderCore Hub ThunderCore Follow Sep 8 · 2 min read

Dear Users,

DEX (decentralized exchange) is a dream of allowing people around the world to carry out cross-border trade instantaneously at the lowest cost, thus realizing parallel financial network without censorship. Now, the concept of DeFi is reviving DEX. To meet the strong appeal of users for participating in ThunderCore’s DeFi ecology, we have optimized ThuderCore Hub while deploying DeFi products overall. So far, ThuderCore Hub has been upgraded to version 1.3.2 (5334w, r14).

The bottom main menu on the home page of ThunderCore Hub has added a “DEX” bar to facilitate users to experience ThuderCore’s DeFi project; The DEX bar is (currently) directly connected to TTSwap, so that users can experience free convertibility among tokens like TT, TT-USDT, TT-SAI and NICER.

TTSwap is an AMM (Automatic Market-Making) decentralized exchange built on ThuderCore. TTSwap allows anyone to exchange tokens, provide liquidity, and participate in trading markets inside ThunderCore ecology in a really decentralized and unauthorized manner.

ThuderCore Hub is a primary port for community users to experience DApps on ThuderCore. It integrates wallet, game, browser and other modules, and provides users with functions like deposit and trade of ThuderCore ecological tokens, news browsing, game entertainment and information retrieval. We will keep upgrading ThuderCore Hub according to actual demand to improve its practicability. Thank you for your attention!

ThunderCore Team

2020/09/08

[ Website] Thundercore.com

[ Telegram ]

T.me/thundercore_china

T.me/thunder_official

[ Reddit ] Reddit.com/r/thunder_official/

[ Medium ] Medium.com/thundercore

[ Twitter ] Twitter.com/ThunderProtocol

[ Linkedin ] Linkedin.com/company/thundercore
Make a Phone Call using Flutter App
By: Himanshu Ranjan
Tags: Android, App Development, Flutter, iOS, Dart

Today we are going to talk about how easy it is to call someone directly from your flutter app so that it can be implemented in a real-time working application.

For this implementation, you will need url_launcher package:

Let’s code it now:

Declare this string url at the top.

String url= 'tel:+91224578781';

Replace the number with the number you want to call to.

Let’s define a function to make it work.

Future<void> callnow() async{

if(await canLaunch(url))

{

await launch(url);

}else

{

throw 'call not possible';

}

}

Now run this function on a button press and you’ll be up and calling.

That’s it for this article,See you guys in the next one.
Android w/o DI — Update. All about the Flow
By: Bob Dahlberg
Tags: Android, Architecture, Kotlin

Android w/o DI — Update

All about the Flow

Photo by Fabio Bracht on Unsplash

In the original post, I used a BroadcastChannel in my AppStream to send messages between different parts of the application. Since Kotlin 1.4, I would suggest that you use the SharedFlow instead.

I’ve done the switch in my applications due to two reasons.

It is designed to replace the BroadcastChannel completely. Simplifying the code so that everything is a Flow. not forcing developers to know the Channel API.

If you want more reasons, I’d suggest you take a look at this link: https://kotlin.github.io/kotlinx.coroutines/kotlinx-coroutines-core/kotlinx.coroutines.flow/-shared-flow/.

I’ve also updated the example code to use this in a branch named “feat/sharedflow” to reflect those changes.

Here is the updated AppStream, which is the only piece that needs updating for the switch to happen.
How Bitcoin is buying up real estate
By: Hip Property
Tags: Property, Bitcoin, Property Development, Real Estate, Cryptocurrency

Real estate is entering a new age, where buildings are being bought with Bitcoin as well as fiat currency.

Go Homes, a property development company based in Essex, UK sold two luxury homes using Bitcoin at the end of 2017.

The company have said that they will roll out Bitcoin payments on any of their 250 homes due to be completed this year.

Due diligence was required to confirm the source of the currency, and both vendor and buyer were involved in meetings with legal representatives in the run up to the sale.

Despite working out the best way of processing crypto payments, Ed Casson, group sales director for Go Homes has said Bitcoin will be commonplace in the buying and selling of homes in the next five years.

“We are investing money next year into smart contracts on blockchain technology to speed the home buying and selling process up,” confirms Casson.

So why is buying property with Bitcoin a good idea?

Speaking to the LA Times, Neerah Agrawal, director of communications at cryptocurrency-focused think tank Coin Center, explains that Bitcoin has huge benefits in property buying in terms of speed and ease.

“Within the context of real estate, it makes sense to use cryptocurrency in those types of transactions. Cryptocurrency is a way to send large amounts of money pretty easily with relatively low fees and little interference from middlemen.”

And what of the fluctuating price of crypto? In December, Bitcoin reached over £14,000. In February, it had fallen to just over £5,000.

Andrew Canter is a chief executive of real estate brokerage and investment firm Canter Cos, based in San Diego. He is selling his house and accepting Bitcoin offers. But Canter is realistic on the state of the market.

“It’s a personal preference when it comes down to it,” Canter said. “I don’t think we can speak to a financial benefit here or there. Obviously, the chance [bitcoin’s value] goes up is just as much as it goes down right now.”

If payment is done via Bitcoin, Canter plans on managing the potential risk by using an investment bank to write a futures contract, which will freeze the value of the Bitcoin at the point of sale for a number of months.

And don’t expend any swerves when it comes to tax matters. Bitcoin holds no advantages for anyone looking to get one over on the taxman, according to Vincenzo Villamena, an expert in digital currency talking to the LA Times. “If the seller then resells the bitcoin, he or she may have to pay capital gains taxes so it cuts into money earned on the sale. Anyone involved in the transaction looking for secrecy would have trouble because home sales are rigorously documented.”
Dependency Injection in Javascript with no Libraries
By: Emmanuel Sunday
Tags: Programming Tips, Dependency Injection, Nodejs, Programming, JavaScript

Hey there, This is the second of many more stories to come.

Dependency Injection is one of those concepts, (just like the bitwise operations) which has been neglected by most developer folks. “It brings a lot of complications to the codebase” is one of the famous responses you’d get from a developer who clearly doesn’t understand DI.

What is Dependency Injection?

First, a dependency in software engineering is an object, instance or any data construct that is needed by a function or process. An example is demonstrated below.

Fabric is a dependency in the Cloth object. The Fabric object is created inside the Cloth object and doesn’t let us easily test or even use the Fabric object outside the Cloth class. This limitation is further tackled by a concept, Inversion of Control — the concept behind Dependency Injection. Inversion of Control suggests that dependencies be passed to dependents as arguments, thus injecting them into their dependents.

Thus dependency injection is a technique in which an object receives other objects that it depends on.

Thank you for reading, see ya some other time.
The Perfect Place
By: Katie Kastner
Tags: Flash Fiction, Motherhood, Short Fiction, Fiction, Parenting

The Perfect Place

A Very Short Work of Fiction

Based on the Write, Play, Draw image prompt below. Check them out for weekly creative inspiration.

Image by Ceslovas Cesnakevicius

She’d finally found the perfect place. A place she could find peace and take a deep breath and hear her thoughts a bit.

She liked to imagined all the lifestyle vignettes that will happen in her perfect place; quiet coffee on the covered front porch as the sun peeked above the distant hills, a solitary walk through the forest surrounded by spindly old evergreens and the feel of soft, cushioned ground beneath her feet.

She would walk out the back door and tumble down the sloping lawn to land in a pile of comfort and peace. The noise would stop and the chaos would cease and she’d inhale and lay still. She would be unseen and alone. She would have the space to explore and try new things. She would have the freedom to be her truest self.

It is her heaven … and she couldn’t wait to get back.
X8X — Key to Crypto Safe Haven
Tags: Bitcoin, ICO, Finance, Cryptocurrency, Fintech

X8X — Key to Crypto Safe Haven

How safe are your Crypto Assets? Do you have a proper exit strategy to avoid potential losses? X8 Project developed a double token model for preservation of your value.

Remember the Dot-Com and USA Housing Bubbles? When you notice investors with little to no trading skills buying an asset, not for its fundamental value, but only because they plan to (quickly) sell it later, at a much higher price, you are probably looking at an investment bubble in progress. Sounds familiar? Similar patterns can be observed on current Crypto markets, that show a great similarity to overheated economies from the past.

What does it mean for your crypto investments? If you are a Bitcoin, Ether or some Coin/Token holder, you are probably well aware of their volatility — the value of your crypto-portfolio can change rapidly. When the markets start to crash, the most straightforward exit strategy is a conversion of your crypto assets to fiat currency (USD, EUR) on some Online Exchange. The X8 Project is proposing an alternative, a conversion to the X8Currency Token, the closest thing to fiat on the crypto market.

X8Currency is not only representing one fiat currency at a 1:1 exchange ratio, but is composed of and 100% backed with 8 fiat currencies and physical gold. X8C is exchangeable for each of the 8 fiat currencies directly at the issuer, X8 Capital AG, a Swiss based company that safeguard all backing assets under the supervision of Swiss regulators. Fiat assets and gold funds are actively managed by Automatic Reserve Management, a proven and tested software designed to minimize risk and to preserve value.

What does it means for you? Converting to X8Currency gives you:

● stability of value due to dispersion of backing fiat assets,

● security as X8C Tokens are exchangeable on demand to any of 8 fiat currencies at the issuer and

● portability, as X8C Tokens will be tradeable on Online Exchanges and easily transacted from one Exchange to another. You can build your own fiat exit for the Exchanges, that do not offer fiat conversions or withdrawals,

● liquidity, as all the underlying assets are 100% convertible.

X8Currency minting and conversion to fiat at the issuer will only be available to holders of the utility token X8X, which acts as a ticket for X8 Capital AG services. X8X Tokens will be available on a crowdsale, enabling owners to convert their crypto assets and fiat to X8Currency and back without fees.
How Do I Remember the Good?
By: Bassey Elimian
Tags: Advice, Inspiration, Self Improvement, Self, Poetry On Medium

Focus on you

Study people you admire

Stay away from gossipers.

Say aloud the good

Do your best and do what you can

Listen to yourself more.

Learn from the bad

Help to eradicate the bad.

Do more good — for yourself and show others how.