fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Remote work: Cases of Bright Box’s Firmware, Technical Support, Product Development, and Project Management teams
By: Darya Knyazeva
Tags: Connected Cars, Productivity, Remote Working, Business, Remote Work

Team leader of Firmware:

Problems

Even before the pandemic, Bright Box employees were able to work from home two days a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, when the home became a full-time office due to the pandemic, psychological difficulties began. Many people found it difficult to recreate the working experience at home, and family relationships and habits interfered with work.

First of all, as a team, we faced the problem that the daily routine was down, which in its extreme form became insomnia. To address this problem, we introduced a “day schedule” where we strictly defined work start, end, and break times. The team also decided that it was necessary to separate work and non-work spaces. Some workers turned a room into an office; others used a balcony. HR and office managers provided employees with everything they needed to be comfortable: ottomans, desk lamps, office chairs. Everything for work was put in a specific place; entering this space meant that employees could focus on work tasks, and exiting this space meant employees could switch to home affairs or relaxation.

In terms of positive changes, we noticed that the absence of office noise increased the speed of task completion. And even though additional meetings and organization of new workflows partially restored the office environment, the productivity of employees increased at home compared with the office.

But, the synergy between team members suffered most when moving to remote work. The synergy is crucial for efficient execution of complex tasks and finding solutions to fix them.

Bright Box office

Technical equipment

The developers took telematics devices home with them in order to provide remote support and develop new functionalities. An approximate set of devices for each developer was as follows: nine telematics devices of the last three versions, four controllers, a tourniquet to connect the emulator, transmitters with harnesses, a laboratory power supply, three tachographs, and a USB-port extender.

Communications

Our team conducts research on cars, so it is important for us to have cars physically present near the office or to be able to work on clients’ premises. Writing and debugging code and functional tests are also performed on real cars.

But, due to the pandemic, we have mostly shifted our focus to remote research. In local offices or on client premises, one employee conducts work. With the remote assistance of our engineer, he performs research work, collects and transmits information for analysis, and performs minimal tests. He relays this information to the team, and they provide a solution. This approach is subject to limitations, but in the current situation, it allows us to continue some of our planned work without traveling. Employees also carry out work on personal vehicles or vehicles of colleagues.
In Pictures: British troops hone skills in Georgia
By: Ministry Of Defence
Tags: Georgia, UK, Photo Essay, United States, Military

In Pictures: British troops hone skills in Georgia

British troops recently returned from a multinational exercise with the Georgian Defence Force and US Army. Here they are in action

In it’s fifth year, held under the leadership of the Georgian Defence Force and US Army Europe at Vaziani and Camp Norio training areas, the exercise strengthens defence partnerships.

This exercise, known as Exercise Noble Partner 2020 and it seeks to improve battle readiness and the ability for the nations to work together.

In addition to Georgia and the UK, military forces from France, Poland and the United States will participate in the exercise.

📸Here’s the deployment in pictures:
Soporific Somnambulism
By: David Rudder
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Lake, Swans, Poetry, Dreams

Where were you last night

when I reached out you were gone

in soporific somnambulism

I don’t know what’s going on.

Was that you that drifted by

like a black swan on the lake

enraptured by the night gods

that caused me a double take.

Is it the other side of you

or the nectar you imbibe

that march you off into the night

tuned to another vibe?

Is Orpheus out there waiting

to scoop you in his arms

have your nighttime wanderings

succumbed to other’s charms.

Smooth poets and musicians

kneel and espouse temptation

with soporific rhymes

into a seductive predisposition.

Daylight filters in the room

where you once lay is empty

who has stolen you away

your fragrance and your beauty.

Will the dream now drift apart?

and will you ere return

or has the soporific somnambulism

now turned to new concern.

©

David Rudder

4th December 2020

Thanks for reading.
The Lilac Breasted Rollers
By: Sylvia Clare Msc. Psychol
Tags: Travel, Nature, Memories, Wildlife, Love

This is possibly the prettiest bird I have ever seen, certainly it’s colours are amazing and it totally flashes as it flies under the African sun.

I can’t remember exactly which year I went there but I was about 33/4, newly divorced, a single mum working full time. I had just had some back pay and wanted to do something spectacular with it.

So I went to Africa.

It was the first time I had ever done anything so adventurous alone, for two weeks, to live with total strangers on the back of a lorry travelling through the great rift valley of Tanzania, the territory of Masai, lion, flamingos and huge herds of elephants.

We had just climbed up the side of one of the rift cliffs, onto the higher plains. the truck had only just made it up and had to do many sifts back and forth on each hairpin bend, many times wondering if the lorry would go over the edge or not. We were standing around watching as our driver expertly manipulated each turn. A small group of Masai warriors, young men, were watching us and running up the hillside each time, keeping ahead of us and making a mockery of our heavy duty travelling compared to their light weight movement across the land, barefooted, lightly clad and completely part of the landscape. They clearly belonged and we did not. We finally reached the top, waved good bye to our companions, and drove a short way across the top of the rift valley sides.

Photo by Justin Porter on Unsplash

As we drove towards our next destination we came across a ribbon fire, just a thin twist of smoke running across the ground, taking out the dried grasses and burning the soil clean. This is a natural occurrence which helps regeneration of the ground plants and regularly occurs in the dry seasons.

Along the edge of the fire, a lot of small lizards and insects were just keeping ahead of the flames, running for their lives. Above them the air was full of birds, picking this bounty off. We stopped and watched the rollers and the small white storks, flashing their astonishing colours as they dived hopped down and then took off again, also keeping ahead of the flames.

Our driver stopped the truck and our party of about 20 travellers on this safari trip around east Africa feasted our eyes on the feasting birds. I can still close my eyes and see it clearly, it was such a fantastic moment. Take another look at the photo at the top and the imagine a flock of several hundred, mingled with small white storks, imagine the colours flashing around us, the luminescent feathers, the burr of wings the thin wisps of smoke travelling pretty quickly across the ground. I hope I have painted the picture brightly enough to share it.
Why I Pivoted Away From Everyone Else’s ‘Money Dream’ — A Different Way Of Living And Working.
By: Tim Denning
Tags: Self Improvement, Money, Life, Entrepreneurship, Productivity

Recently I’ve told a lot of people about my career change. Whether we like it or not, our career is tied to our money dream.

Money dream definition:

What we’d do if we had lots of money How we associate the work we do with the money we earn

Society has a pretty clear money dream for us all. That’s what many of us follow.

Here are some examples:

Get a good job that has a 6-figure salary

Buy a big house with lots of rooms (including a Theatre Room)

Once you have your first house, start saving for investment properties on interest only loans

Once you have equity in your home, buy another property

If things go well, buy a second home by the sea as a holiday house

When you can afford to, trade in your modest car (like a Toyota) for a luxury car like a Mercedes

Buy a boat, or a caravan, or a jet ski, or a motorbike

Many of these examples above form part of the majority of people’s money dream.

We’re told that this is the dream we should aim for. Somehow money will make us feel amazing. All we need is another house, another object, another job promotion.
Domino visualisation in a column chart
By: Jan Schultink
Tags: Data Visualization

This visualisation is brilliant. I have never thought about using columns in a column chart as domino pieces. One to add to your repertoire of visual tricks and let’s hoop that this doom’s day scenario does not play out.
You Need to Stop Running Away From Your Difficulties
By: Jyoti Meena
Tags: Self Improvement, Personal Growth, Self Development, Motivation, Psychology

You Need to Stop Running Away From Your Difficulties

#3: When nothing works, draw a plan

Photo by Jenny Hill on Unsplash

The class presentation was in a week’s time.

It was the initiation of a week’s long ceremony of assignments, tests, and other presentations. In short, it was a tiny part of long and busy finals. Every day there was some or another deadline. I truly wanted to get done with work as soon as possible and relax for a short while before entering another, even more, busier week.

But the kids from my class wanted the presentation to be postponed.

They chose it to be shifted to the next week when the work was double in quantity. They decided to avoid the difficult presentation for as long as they could, even if it meant that they would have greater work on their plate later on. They went with fun at the expense of much greater pain later, instead of equally distributed dull pain over a period of two weeks.

They ran away from their problem even if getting away entirely was impossible.
by Martino Pietropoli
By: Martino Pietropoli
Tags: Monday, Humor, Illustration

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

Follow
A Colorful Selection of Birds
By: Anne Bonfert
Tags: Travel, Nature, Birds, Wildlife, Photography

But I stood for a few minutes in front of them. Watching their behavior, listening to their sounds, and songs. Realizing not one of them was the same. They are all unique in their own kind of way.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

Throughout the park, I repeatedly walked past a group of chicken or a single cock walking around. They were not restricted in their territory and were seen in between many other species of birds.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

Other inspiring species are the owls. They barely ever move when I watch them. Pretending like they are sleeping or simply staring out in the world. Yet they do appear to be self-confident and very intelligent.

I took this shot when both of them had their eyes closed and only realized later how the one owl was sneaking a glance onto the other one. I first wanted to delete the shot but then deciding that it actually made it more unique.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

This lovely peacock was walking around between a group of tourists and a few other free-roaming birds. He wasn’t interested in showing off his wonderful feather dress yet he still impressed me with his appearance.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

I must have hit the big pond during feeding time. There were mussels, fish, and whatever else food all around the area. Every bird was either eating or feeding its young ones.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

It was an area with the densest population of birds throughout the park. Some pelicans were actually outside on top of the net. Not sure if they found a hole to fly through or if there is actually a group of birds living outside this netting construction.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

A few other ones were found in a much calmer area showing off their hairstyle.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

I enjoyed walking through the park seeing all these different types of birds yet I am not sure if I would go to visit such a bird park again. I still prefer seeing them in the wild. But not everyone has the chance to go travel and explore the world, so this is definitely a great alternative.

© Bonfert — Malaysia 2019

I must admit the city of Kuala Lumpur has given me something special. Despite not being a city person I traveled twice within a short period of time to the city. And I would go back there anytime even if I would probably explore the rest of the country more the next time.
Flattering oneself
By: George Shuklin
Tags: Multithreading, Rust, Generics, Closure, Programming

My Rust skills are slowly crawls out of nothing, and I start to feel pleasure out of crazy things I do with types. I suspect I will reject all that complexity as I mature, but to reject complexity one need to embrace it fully at first. I done this with Python and Ansible (mostly with Ansible, Python is more of a beast), where I claim myself to be a guru (I can do crazy tricks, I know when to do them right and I know how to avoid situations where I need to do them). I really hope to achieve the same level of enlightening with Rust.

So, here is my petty yield I’m proud of:

impl Thread { pub fn new<C, T>(x: u32, y: u32, closure: C) -> Self

where

C: FnOnce(SyncSender<Buffer>,Receiver<Command>) -> T,

C: Send + 'static,

T: Send + 'static

{

let (control_tx, control_rx): (SyncSender<Command>, Receiver<Command>) = sync_channel(1); let (draw_tx, draw_rx): (SyncSender<Buffer>, Receiver<Buffer>) = sync_channel(1); spawn(||{closure(draw_tx, control_rx);}); Self{

control_tx: Some(control_tx),

draw_rx: Some(draw_rx),

buf:Some(Buffer::new(x, y))

} }

}

What’s here? I want to create a thread and an associated channels to communicate with a thread. Thread executes a closure (with no arguments).

I want to pass the closure to my function (new), and it need to accept arguments about two channels. So I create a second closure, which takes that closure with two arguments and make it a closure with no arguments (placing arguments as ‘captured’ values in closure). The value for those arguments are passed from this function. Basically, someone gives me a function accepting two arguments, I put two values there to be used as arguments and run that function in a thread (passing whole package into spawn function):

spawn(||{closure(draw_tx, control_rx);});

Two big ugly lines with let — they are trivial, I just make two channels.

The function signature is less of my invention than it looks. I’ve mostly copied signature of spawn function adding two additional arguments to Fn trait.

Lastly, when I construct return value I used type ‘ Self ’ with is the type the my method is written for. Basically, Self here is just a name for Thread type.

The call to this function looks like this:

for cpu in 0..cpus{

control[cpu] = Thread::new(

x,

y/cpus as u32,

move |draw_tx, control_rx|{

println!("Spawning thread for cpu {}", cpu);

calc(draw_tx, control_rx, x, y/cpus as u32);

}

);

I need those ‘ draw_tx ’ and ‘ control_rx ’ in my calc function to communicate with the main thread.

The most funny thing here is this:

T: Send + 'static
Just for Kicks
By: Bradon Matthews
Tags: Growing Up, Poetry, Scrittura, Love, Nostalgia

Just for Kicks

Poem

Photo by Andriyko Podilnyk on Unsplash

I bloomed late and into

Frigid winter, petals of

Disdain and years of

Longing

On my lips,

I Kiss too much and

Don’t reflect the me

I found on

Lonely moon-washed

Walks, and

Inside I am still the

Shovel and the

Sand, inside I am

Still unsure of

What I mean when I say

Love but I am

Getting closer every time

I fall or at least

Each time they

Do

I

Can’t help but hold

The fragile parts of

People

They feel

Just like

Home,

Like sipping gin

From glasses made of my

Own breaks, and I

Have learned that we all

Live at least half

Shattered, and

I have learned to listen

Not to speak and when

The time comes I cut

Through my fingers just

For kicks,

Bleed the same

Nostalgic red

Along the newly-unfurled

Leaves

Bradon Matthews
Declaring our independence via the blockchain, with Nick Spanos
By: Ryan E. Dennis
Tags: Nick Spanos, News, Cryptocurrency, Independence, Blockchain

Declaring our independence via the blockchain, with Nick Spanos

Wise words from Nick Spanos of Zap.org always remind me why I love our industry.

When I sat down with Nick, I knew I had to cover two things. One, his awesome oracle-based blockchain project which is allowing people to stake and bond their subtokens to another token.

The other topic I had to cover was his great speech at World Blockchain Forum on “fighting the good fight” where he expanded upon our industry’s social responsibility with sharp dexterity and a call to action for us all:

“Hopefully we use the blockchain for good. If we don’t embrace the blockchain and use it for liberty,, others are going to use it for imprisonment and enslavement so we have to bust our ass, be very vocal, and bring in as many people as possible so they understand this is here for us to declare our monetary independence.” — Nick Spanos, Zap.org

His projects are allowing the Oracle market, as well as decentralized data, to trigger financial events on the blockchain so that real-world ideas turn into impact.

Check out more of our conversation on our YouTube page below:
In Response to Public Sector Digital Trends
By: Hannah Hietala
Tags: Social Media, Digital Marketing

I’d like to start by saying that I found the articles from Granicus to be very engaging. The format, particularly, was appealing to me. The content was so straightforward and easy to understand and it was paired with visuals that illustrated its points quite clearly.

http://www.granicus.com/wp-content/uploads/application/pdf/checklist_GC_7stepsEngagement.pdf

In my position, we do not currently utilize new media to engage with government. However, especially since I serve a state agency, it would not necessarily be out of the realm of possibility for me. Specifically, my workplace offers professional development programs for employers and organizations in our region. Those programs can be open enrollment or customized and there really are no limits as to what we could offer so we could easily branch out and plan programs based on the needs of government employees in our area. In fact, we have actually hosted a workshop that includes police officers, first responders and other government employees involved in school safety and security. That said, the interaction with this particular group is almost completely via e-mail or phone call.

I am looking forward to hearing from our guest lecturer this week. I am hopeful that it could open up a new horizon for my team and we may find a way to expand our client base. I felt that the tips from the readings were beneficial to anyone with a focus on digital marketing, regardless of being government-related.

Questions for Guest Lecturer:

1. As it pertains to government, is there a particular social media platform that is most prominent? For example, I’ve noticed that many of my local representatives are much more active on Twitter than any other outlet. Does this hold true across the public sector? Is there a reason to be more engaged on one platform versus another? Does any risk come from being engaged on a certain platform?

2. In the 2017 Public Sector Digital Communications Trends Report, it discusses the use of various communication channels to reach the target audience. The article says that only 23% of organizations use text messaging as a platform and only 21% utilize blogs. Moving forward, do you think more government organizations will begin using either of these tools to reach out? Should they be using these tools to reach out? Personally, I’ve become a fan of blogs, but I’m not sure I that I would enjoy receiving text messages. What do you think?
Vision 2020: The Well
By: Oasis Church Birmingham
Tags: Christianity, Spirituality, Life, Faith, Resources

Vision 2020: The Well

Recordings, talk notes and application questions

Each week, we produce notes, discussion points and application questions for the Sunday talks — helping you go deeper into everything we’re looking at together and resourcing our Small Groups during the week. Use the embedded player to listen to the talk, or click here to visit Soundcloud and download it on a PC. You can also subscribe to Oasis podcasts on Spotify, iTunes or Podbean for listening on the go, and you can find the accompanying Powerpoint presentation for this week’s talk here.

Key Passages

John 4: 6–42

John 7:37–39

Notes

Are we just running, caught up in a crowd, or are we running centred on the one who brings life?

“There is an old tradition on large Australian ranches located on often-dry land that there are two ways of keeping cattle on the ranch. One is to build a fence; the other is to dig a well. What a gift it might be to a world that has become increasingly polarised and politicised if the church would be utterly committed to Jesus as our centre. No fences to keep others out, just the life-giving water of Jesus, drawing people ever closer to his presence.” John Ortberg

Jesus invites all to come to him and receive life-bringing water (The Spirit). All who are thirsty may come to him and receive this life-giving water (John 7:37–39)…. It is an overflow of His unlimited grace. (John 1:16). Christ has opened up the way for us to come to the Father and share in His Sonship, through the Spirit. This life-giving love is to be a well within that empowers everything.

Not a one-off stop. Rather a continuous looking to Jesus and adopting the posture of receiving Him in all His sufficiency for us (that is what faith is), resting and rejoicing in Him.

Like a fire that needs to be white hot at the centre in order to keep giving out light and heat, our need is continuously to turn to Jesus and live with Him at the centre, sustaining us.

This is to fuel and motivate the good works and spoken words that reveal Christ to those around us. It is a well to enjoy and a well to share.

Application Questions
Make Yoga Even Better
By: Mark Salamon
Tags: Satire, Health, Humor, Yoga, Medicine

Make Yoga Even Better

Let’s Just Goat On With It…

Part of my job as a physical therapist is to keep abreast of various exercise regimes so that I can properly advise my patients. So I recently decided that it was high time I tried yoga. I have researched yoga, observed yoga, treated patients who were injured doing yoga, even written articles about yoga. But I had never tried it until now.

The experience was pretty much what I expected. The calmness. The serenity. The pain. Apparently, not everyone experiences pain during yoga, but as someone with the natural flexibility of oak, I have pain getting into a basic sitting position on my recliner. So I had to modify some of the yoga positions so that it would be possible to extract myself from them without the aid of the fire department.

After my yoga experience, I did feel a bit more flexible and lighter on my feet. But I have to say that as far as workouts go, I felt like something was missing. It wasn’t terrible, but I couldn’t help feeling that it fell just a little short. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the one thing that would have made it a perfect workout, and then it dawned on me: farm animals.

Of course! How could I not have thought of this sooner? When it finally hit me, the rest just fell into place. Goats, obviously, would be the farm animal of choice to truly complete just about any workout routine, especially yoga. It makes perfect sense. Think about a room full of people doing yoga. Now think about that same group of people doing yoga with a bunch of goats milling around stepping on people, snuggling, head butting, urinating, etc. Now that’s a workout.

My mind started racing as I imagined how I could take this idea and turn it into the latest health craze. But I knew deep down that there was no way that I was the first person to ever think of this idea, and a quick google search confirmed this hunch. It turns out that a woman named Lainey Morse, who owns a farm called “No Regrets” in Albany, Oregon, already invented goat-yoga, and teaches classes that draw thousands of customers. (1)

So I missed the boat on that one. But it occurred to me that as a healthcare professional, I am in a unique position to take advantage of the medical benefits of goats milling about, and apply them to other settings besides yoga. And what better place to start than my place of employment, a squeaky clean outpatient physical therapy clinic. The only obstacle I foresee is the Department of Health. The last time they came through our clinic, they informed us that we are no longer allowed to have cardboard boxes because, apparently, cardboard boxes have been shown to have germs on them. So it might take a little doing to get them to agree to goats. But once I clear that hurdle, it will be smooth sailing. And if goat-physical therapy takes off the way I think it will, I’ll move on to the next logical step: operating rooms.
Mindfulness Capitalism
By: Jessica Lee Mcmillan
Tags: Humanity, Poetry, Capitalism, Corporate Culture, Wellness

Welcome to the ugly details:

the hot yoga micro-climate

of mindfulness capitalism

where the wellness webinar

projects sleek graphic scripture,

where the anesthetized Powerpoint

preaches resilience in listicles

and similarly ashen hijackings

commiserating our burdens

from privilege in HVAC offices

and strip-mall ashrams.

It’s part of the indenture package

when tranquility is for purchase,

when corporate simulacrum

doesn’t make eye contact

with the burning world.

With pretty blood money,

there are no heavenly rewards

for captives of shiny noise,

for lights already burned out.
Paper Reading Group | User Clustering and Churn Prediction
By: Emily Zhao
Tags: Data Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science

For our paper reading group this week, we will be reading and discussing this paper on “Interpretable New User Clustering and Churn Prediction on a Mobile Social App.” Checkout their preview video below.

DS3 is starting a new paper reading group, which will meet regularly to collectively discuss and dissect research papers covering topics related to data science, AI, and ML. Anyone can join and participate, and we encourage you to sign up to share a paper which you find interesting. The technicalities of the paper are expected to be discussed, but in a digestible and easily accessible way. Join here!
The Plastic Player Makes Digital Music More Physical
By: Hackster Staff
Tags: Vinyl, Raspberry Pi, Makers, Music, Arduino

UK-based designer and artist Brendan Dawes is a big fan of digital music, especially Spotify. However, this modern-day medium lacks the physicality of vintage turntables and vinyl.

(📷 Brendan Dawes)

In an effort to bring both new and old-school tech together, he has built the “Plastic Player,” a playful analog interface for digital music. The system consists of two main parts: a Raspberry Pi running Pi MusicBox connected to his 50-year-old stereo, and an Arduino Yun with an NFC shield.

The “records” are created from a box of slide mounts with tiny NFC stickers on the back to identify each album or playlist. When Dawes drops one in place, the Arduino identifies the tag, matches it to a specific album, turns on a backlight, and then begins to play the tunes over Wi-Fi via the Pi MusicBox API.

(📷 Brendan Dawes)

Taking out the album pauses that track and placing it back on the device resumes play. There also three buttons along the side to control next and previous song, as well as an additional stop function.
Empathy in beauty
By: Yossi Lipsker
Tags: Beauty, Empathy, Judaism

As the week of Tiferet energy winds down and we begin the transition into the world of Netzach, the combination of Hod of Tiferet gives us an opportunity to reflect, and ensure that our definition of beauty continues to vibrate from our highest selves- rejecting, for example the way our society objectifies women, by ascribing beauty to them only in terms of their physical attractiveness.

The notion of “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” is both an inaccurate and demeaning gauge of beauty.

The energy of Hod- empathy helps to elevate us as we search for appropriate ways to siphon off from the beauty that floats around us, and direct it into the flow our own lives, by reminding us, that joy to be found in outer beauty is short-lived and is akin to stealing something that doesn’t belong to you.

To look at a person without seeing them through the tinted windows of ones own persona is to learn to let go, and see them as they see themselves.

This is not just the rule for discovering true Beauty in each other. It holds true for the discovery, and experiencing of the beauty lurking in the corners of our lives, and in the nooks and crannies, in the “cleft of the rock” of all our human and planetary experience.

Hod of Tiferet — helps us understand that the light of all the beauty in this world begins to shine in us when we stop seeing everything that happens to us, from our limited human eyes- liberating us from the need to view our lives solely, from the one dimensional narrow straits of our perspective.

The step away from narcissism toward the genuine seeing of another, is also a leap of faith in the goodness to be found even in challenging times, and the goodness and true beauty to be found in the heart of the other, and the world around us.

An empathetic faithful hod step toward truly seeing an other is also a giant faithful step toward G-d as well.

A step toward the faith that we can and will be held, and warmly embraced by the goodness of the universe, a good that will be given, surrendering our fearful need to violently seize and take.

On the wings of Hod we soar from the earthly perspective of “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” upward to a heavenly perspective of “beauty is in the eyes of the beheld!”
KiwiQA Assures Quality Software Testing Services
By: Niranjan Limbachiya
Tags: Software Development, QA, Software Architecture, Software Testing, DevOps

Some developers attempt to do as little QA and testing as possible to reduce costs, but we assure you that QA is worth every penny — in fact, QA can save you money, time, and, ultimately, your product.

KiwiQA Services is a one-stop QA shop, and we’re committed to perfecting the end user experience. We take a proactive approach to making sure software doesn’t have any defects or bugs. No matter how time-consuming or seemingly minute the problem is, we’ll find it and we’ll fix it.

Courtesy of Medium

The glowing testimonials provided by our loyal clients is what sets us apart. We’re excited to have collected 3 reviews on Clutch, a respected authority in the B2B space.

How We Helped The Loop Inc?

Our most recent review came from The Loop Inc., a UK developer of apps for events, conferences, meetings, and trade shows. They hired us to do a vulnerability assessment and penetration testing of their platform.

After we tested their system and carefully analyzed their apps, we found more than a dozen vulnerabilities! However, we didn’t just send a report listing the vulnerabilities; we also provided advice on how to resolve the issues. The client was so pleased with our performance that they left us an overall rating of 5 stars on Clutch.

How We Helped Gameforge?

Gameforge, a German provider of free-to-play multiplayer online games, left us another positive review on Clutch. In order to find potential security vulnerabilities, Gameforge hired us to do a security audit of one of their web platforms. After performing the audit, we delivered a risk assessment and suggestions for fixing the problems.

“Thanks to KiwiQA Services’ excellent reporting and risk assessment, we were able to fix existing vulnerabilities effectively. I’m happy with the quality of their evaluation.” — Team Lead of QA, Gameforge

Gameforge praised how responsive and flexible we were, and they appreciated the many progress reports we provided throughout the project. We also received a 5-star review from CyberIT AS, a Norwegian technology firm.

They approached us to implement an effective, robust, and automated testing process. Within less than a month, we delivered just that!

KiwiQA on Clutch

On Clutch, we’re ranked among the best software testing companies in India — in fact, we’re fourth on the list of more than 300 vendors! KiwiQA is also deemed a top 50 software testing company on The Manifest, an approachable business guide that navigates the ins and outs of the buyer journey.

As you can surmise, we service a wide gamut of testing and QA needs for clients who come from around the world. Please don’t hesitate to contact us today!
Ta dose crypto du vendredi 30 mars — Direction la suisse pour Bitfinex
Tags: Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Bitfinex

Bank of Montreal Now Blocking Cryptocurrency Transactions | Finance Magnates

The Bank of Montreal has begun blocking cryptocurrency transactions on its credit and debit cards, according to an…
Distress
By: J.D. Harms
Tags: Image, Poetry, Anxiety, Pain

Distress

A Poem

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Holes in the legs

little windows with bars

to see through

Hair not quite sliding

through the fingers

Rank anger at a few

words

and new ones come to

crush them

This cornering

a belligerent tax

on the head

There was no time

to sterilize this chamber

before being forced

into it again

Frozen while moving

each interstitial

offset by just

another suffering

Barely

The purported

impermanence feature

of this state

has yet to make itself

felt
Let’s remember when the first US case of mad cow disease was reported near Yakima, on this day in 2003 (December 23)
By: Chris Burlingame
Tags: Mad Cow Disease, Health, Yakima County, On This Day

Let’s remember when the first US case of mad cow disease was reported near Yakima, on this day in 2003 (December 23) Chris Burlingame Follow Dec 23, 2019 · 2 min read

They do look pretty angry! From Stijn te Strake on Unsplash.

The outbreak of mad cow disease was both a very big deal in 2003, and the subject of way too many late night talk show jokes. But the US outbreak began in a town I hadn’t heard of, Mabton, in Yakima County.

According to Kit Oldham at HistoryLink:

On December 23, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announces that a Holstein cow from a dairy herd in Mabton, a small farming town in southeast Yakima County, has tested positive for mad cow disease. It is the first time the invariably fatal degenerative brain disease, which can spread to humans who eat infected cow parts, is detected in the United States. The discovery heightens concern about food safety and has immediate impacts on the cattle industry and on Mabton. Mabton is a town of about 2,000 residents in the Yakima valley some 33 miles southeast of the city of Yakima. Agriculture is the main industry in the area, as it has been from the time the town was first settled in the late 1800s. The Holstein cow that tested positive for mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was part of a 4,000-cow dairy herd at the Sunny Dene Ranch located about a mile south of Mabton’s Main Street. The cow was slaughtered at Vern’s Moses Lake Meats on December 9, 2003, after becoming paralyzed apparently while giving birth.

Source:
Stop Your Pointless Quest for the Best Productivity System
By: K.C. Healy
Tags: Creativity, Life Lessons, Productivity, Work, Procrastination

Are you a productivity junkie? Are you constantly on the lookout for the latest productivity system or app?

Getting Things Done, the Bullet Journal, the Hipster PDA. Trello, Wunderlist, Todoist. There are waaay too many to name.

If you’ve said to yourself, “I’ll start writing when I figure out a better way to organize all of my ideas,” you’ve got a problem.

But the problem isn’t the system you’re using — it’s you.
Why Design for Emotion
By: James Castro-Griffiths
Tags: Psychology, Product, Emotions, User Experience, Design

How Do You Create Engaging Experiences?

You are doing amazing work. What you do should fill you with pride. Assured that you are creating a service that gives people confidence. Work that you’re proud to tell others about and look back on.

At times, traditional business pressures make that difficult. The focus on ‘speed of output’ over ‘quality of experience’ for one. Knowing if we focussed on the experience of the user, we could create something that will benefit their life.

When we measure success as ‘speed of output’, what we create becomes functional. An experience that succeeds in ‘function’ alone, doesn’t always mean people want to use it.

I understand that getting products rapidly to market keeps us competitive. I also know that creating emotive experiences is what makes an impact and sets a business apart.

I have seen this play-out in various industries throughout my career. After two years of training and working with experts: I understand why.

I’ve created a way to engage at an emotional level, which leaves an impact, regardless of: age, gender or ethnicity. An outcome of ‘quality’ that’s measurable, testable and repeatable.

With Emotive Design we can create experiences that lead to user engagement and loyalty. Regardless of how much the competition can offer them to switch.
ECOMI Collect Part 1: What is ECOMI Collect?
Tags: Future Technology, Collectibles, Collection, Augmented Reality, Collecting

Collectibles have existed throughout human history and today they come in many forms, such as trading cards, figurines, comics, and toys. In fact, some of the world’s tops grossing brands, such as Pokémon and Star Wars have seen a majority of their sales come from their collectible counterparts. Now, with the virtual goods market/revenue expected to reach more than $100bn in the next 5 years, the collectibles industry is poised to change for the better, and through ECOMI Collect, collectibles are about to go digital!

What is ECOMI Collect?

ECOMI Collect is a smartphone application that allows users to buy, sell and trade premium licensed, digital collectibles and other related virtual goods.

With 15 of the world’s top brands and licenses already confirmed, and bigger names being added all the time, ECOMI Collect is primed to create an entirely new, digital experience and serve the next generation of collect-o-mania.

Moreover, thanks to the experience and acumen of ECOMI CEO David Yu, and Head of Licensing acquisition Al Kahn, ECOMI will continue to capture the premium end of the digital collectibles market, covering television series, movies, animation, gaming, evergreen characters, and digital art.
Wikileaks — Charge com Julian Assange e Tio Sam
By: Roberson Carlos
Tags: Outros, Wikileaks, Notícias

in In Fitness And In Health
Speed of The Cycle — Part 2. Why differences in the speed of light…
By: Kieran D. Kelly
Tags: Special Relativity, Relativity, Physics, Neoclassical Relativity, Neoclassical Physics

Theoretically, however, there is a way to identify a difference in speed. If two photons of different frequencies were emitted from the same source (at the same time) and travelled for say 10 billion years, there would be a measurable time difference in their arrival.

Let’s examine what would happen, if we could compare a photon of frequency one oscillation per second (i.e. 10⁰), with a photon of frequency one million trillion trillion oscillations per second (i.e. 10³⁰).

At the speed of light (c) the total distance travelled in one second is 2.99792458 x 10⁸ meters. This means that, at the speed of light (c) the total distance travelled in ten billion years is ( 31,556,952 x 10¹⁰ seconds) = 9.46 x 10²⁵ meters.

Using this total distance, we can now calculate the linear distance travelled by both photons.

For the low-frequency photon: the oscillation distance travelled in ten billion years is (λ-min)(f)(t seconds) which is (1.0155 x 10⁻³⁴ meters)(1 cycle/second)( 31,556,952 x 10¹⁰ seconds) = 3.20 x 10⁻¹⁶ meters. Thus the square of the linear distanced travelled is

__________________ (λ-v ft)² = (λ-c ft)² - (λ-min ft)²

________ (λ-v ft)² = (9.46 x 10²⁵ meters)² - (3.20 x 10⁻¹⁶ meters)²

________ (λ-v ft)² = (89.49 x 10⁵⁰ meters²) - (10.24 x 10⁻³² meters²)

Which means that the linear distance travelled is

________ (λ-v ft) = 9.46 x 10²⁵ meters (correct to 82 Decimal Places)

Thus

________ (λ-v ft) = (λ-c ft) (correct to 82 Decimal Places)

Thus the linear distance travelled (by the photon) is virtually identical to the total distance travelled.

For the high-frequency photon: the oscillation distance travelled in ten billion years is (λ-min)(f)(t seconds) which is (1.0155 x 10⁻³⁴ meters)(1 x 10³⁰ cycles/second)( 31,556,952 x 10¹⁰ seconds) = 3.20 x 10⁺¹⁴ meters. Thus the square of the linear distanced travelled is

__________________ (λ-v ft)² = (λ-c ft)² - (λ-min ft)²

________ (λ-v ft)² = (9.46 x 10²⁵ meters)² - (3.20 x 10¹⁴ meters)²

________ (λ-v ft)² = (89.49 x 10⁵⁰ meters²) - (10.24 x 10²⁸ meters²)

Which means that the linear distance travelled is

________ (λ-v ft) = 9.46 x 10²⁵ meters (correct to 22 Decimal Places)

Thus

________ (λ-v ft) = (λ-c ft) (correct to 22 Decimal Places)

Thus the linear distance travelled (by the photon) is not quite identical to the total distance travelled (by the photon). After ten billion years of travel, the high-frequency photon will be lagging behind the low-frequency by approximately 1,024 meters; which is a large enough gap to register a measurable time delay .

Unfortunately, to date, the highest frequency photons that we have witnessed have had frequencies in the region of 10 to the power of 25, and as such we should expect a lag distance of approximately 102.4 nanometers; which is NOT a large enough gap to register a measurable time delay (between it and a photon travelling infinitesimally close to the total speed of light).
Poor Writing Costs More Than You Realise (and How to Fix it)
By: Sarah Mitchell
Tags: Content Creation, Content Writing, Business Writing Skills, Writing, Writing Tips

Doing the Writing Arithmetic

The average annual salary in Australia for adult, full-time employment is roughly $89,000. (According to the Average Weekly Earnings figures for May 2020 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.) That comes out to about $44 an hour.

Let’s look at very basic costs for writing, based on the average hourly rate:

$7.33 — If you bang out an email in 10 minutes.

$44 — If you spend an hour writing a memo to your staff, or a status report to your manager.

$176 — The average blog post takes close to four hours to write, according to 2020 blogging research from Orbit Media.

Those big multi-person projects like answering bids, writing grants, or pulling together a proposal can easily cost your company hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

It’s a simplistic view, for sure. I haven’t taken into account the cost of employee benefits, office space, or equipment. I haven’t considered all the people involved in getting an email, memo, or blog post ready to print. The time required by subject matter experts hasn’t been added in. And I haven’t considered the time it takes for quality control.

And I bet you haven’t either, at least on the point about quality control.

It’s hard to put a cost on reputation damage, on a tarnishing of your professional image, or the erosion of trust experienced when your readers encounter errors in your writing. If you’re depending on yourself, or your writers, or an online tool to find errors for you, those costs might be accumulating more rapidly than you realise.
Episode 6: The Blockchain Revolution with Don Tapscott and Tom Serres
By: Tom Serres
Tags: Don Tapscott, Tom Serres, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Podcast

The second generation of the Internet is here. As the rise of the Internet of value and blockchain increases, it’s on course to radically change the structure of businesses, democracies, and politics. In this Episode 6: The Blockchain Revolution, Tom chats to Don Tapscott, a leading thinker on the social and economic impact of tech.

Right now, society is experiencing a crisis of legitimacy, which has created a period of many opportunities but also great danger. From Brexit in the UK to the new Trump administration in the US, the electorate are now displaying great mistrust in the political system. Previously, people believed that the system was good, even though they didn’t agree with who was in power. These days, that isn’t the case. Our model of democracy, which was once ideal for an industrial age, is no longer viable and citizens are fed up of being passive recipients of mass distribution and mass marketing.

And this crisis of legitimacy isn’t just affecting our politics. It is apparent in most global problems, from climate change to poverty to the music industry. Don explains how multi-stakeholder networks could go on to govern these issues, much in the way that they have now turned the Internet into a self-governing ecosystem. Using the same idea of self-governing stewardship, we could see blockchain move from its infancy to become a highly Internet of Value.

Would you like to learn more about Blockchain technology? We’ve launched an education course “The Basics of Blockchain”. Discover the fundamentals and terminology basics of Blockchain, explore Blockchain from an economic perspective and get the lowdown on how this changes how we exchange value. We also will teach you the technology behind Blockchain — from infrastructure to application — and we will deep-dive with further use cases and discover just how Blockchain is being used in today’s business climate.
I’m Not Ready To Give Up On The Electoral College
By: J. Brandon Lowry
Tags: Politics, Electoral College, Elections

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Simon Says

Now, it’s fair to ask whether or not states should hold the power of election. Personally, I think they should, and the reason has to do with influence. Even with the electoral college, those states that are wealthier and more populous have a larger impact on how candidates shape their campaigns, and what they’re likely to do while in office. Moving to a national public vote will magnify this effect.

California is currently the biggest prize on the electoral map with 55 votes. Starting with Alaska and counting eastward, California alone is equivalent to Alaska (3), Hawaii (4), Washington (12), Oregon (7), Nevada (6), Idaho (4), Utah (6), and Arizona (11). Those of you willing to do a little math will see that these states combined have 53 votes, so CA still comes out on top. If you do this exercise using population values for each state, you can add in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and almost all of North Dakota.

Population of California = 39,512,223

Population of all those other states = 39,597,107

I realize this is very much an oversimplification. Restricting the numbers to only those eligible to vote would certainly shift the numbers quite a bit; hell, we might be able to take North Dakota off the list. Still, my point stands that the list of states required to equal one California is much higher without the electoral college.

It’s also ridiculous to assume that any state will vote as a single block. But what about a city? The Los Angeles metropolitan area has an estimated population of 13,310,447. That’s more than the twelve least populous states* and D.C. combined. Now, imagine you’re a presidential candidate. Which strategy is more likely to lead to victory — one that appeals to numerous states that are spread all over the country, each with different priorities/issues/concerns; or one that makes the residents of LA happy? Seems a pretty easy choice to me.

*Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Rhode Island, Montana, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii