fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Dear Uncaring Business Establishment, This is My Official Break-Up Letter
By: Elle C.
Tags: Health, Business, Covid 19 Crisis, Covid 19, Coronavirus

Unfortunately, it’s not just the establishment I visited yesterday, but a vast number of businesses across the nation who have failed their community. We see some of those poor choices reflected in soaring new cases and healthcare surges in at least seven states today. Florida and Texas, in particular, are swelling to capacity with new hospitalizations.

Certainly, the public has a responsibility in this.

But in part, this is caused by bars and restaurants packed full to capacity without social distancing. According to a new JPMorgan study, surges in restaurant spending appears to predict an increase in coronavirus cases weeks later. Adding to community spread are retail businesses that are lacking the right and protective actions. In many businesses, employees aren’t trained on monitoring symptoms or allowed to stay home if ill.

If you, the business owner, can enforce a “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” policy or refuse to allow smoking on the premises, I’m certain you can enforce pressing public health matters to save lives.

It is not just what we see, it’s what else may be occurring behind the scenes that’s even more unsettling.

In those same devil-may-care businesses, I’d doubt they abide by the CDC guidelines (which almost all local and state health departments are following). Those guidelines include sending a sick worker home until his or her test results are returned. If those results are positive, that worker must stay home 10 days from the onset of symptoms, plus 3 more days, in which the individual is symptom-free.

And CDC guidelines, also include sending home any coworkers who had close contact (usually defined as 6 feet of contact for 15 minutes or more) with the positive-tested sick worker and waiting for their test results. If negative, they can come back to work. If positive, they must self-isolate the same 10 days + 3. (Or have 2 negative tests, each 24 hours apart, to be released to go back to work.)

Business owner, if you aren’t following something as simple as abiding by social distancing or requiring employees to wear a cloth mask in your air conditioned and comfortable establishments, (which aren’t hot, or difficult environments to wear a mask) — I doubt you’d follow through on the other areas.
0–1 Knapsack problem: Top solutions explained
By: The Educative Team
Tags: Dynamic Programming, Coding Interviews, Programming, Interview Questions, Startup

What Skills Does It Test?

This problem is so popular because it tests many desired skills at once and can be altered to throw interviewees off balance. In other words, you have to really understand the logic of the problem and code. Simple memorization won’t take you far.

The optimal solution for the knapsack problem is always a dynamic programming solution. The interviewer can use this question to test your dynamic programming skills and see if you work for an optimized solution.

Another popular solution to the knapsack problem uses recursion. Interviewers may ask you to produce both a recursive and dynamic solution if they value both skill sets. This is a popular choice because interviewers can see how well you shift from a recursive to a dynamic solution.

The knapsack problem also tests how well you approach combinatorial optimization problems. This has many practical applications in the workplace, as all combinatorial optimization problems seek maximum benefit within constraints.

For example, combinatorial optimization is used in solutions like:

Determine the best programs to run on a limited resource cloud system

Optimize water distribution across a fixed pipe network

Automatically plan the best package delivery route

Optimize the company’s supply chain

You can expect this question to be asked for any role that manages or creates automated optimization software.
Improving Marketing Efficiency with Machine Learning
By: Melissa Thorne
Tags: Machine Learning, STEM, Zulily, Data Science

Here at Zulily, we offer thousands of new products to our customers at a great value every day. These products are available for about 72 hours; to inform existing and potential customers about our ever-changing offerings, the Marketing team launches new ads daily for these offerings on Facebook.

To get the biggest impact, we only run the best-performing ads. When done manually, choosing the best ads is time-consuming and doesn’t scale. Moreover, the optimization lags behind the continuously changing spend and customer activation data, which means wasted marketing dollars. Our solution to this problem is an automated, real-time ad pause mechanism powered by Machine Learning.

Marketing uses various metrics to measure ad efficiency. One of them is CpTA or Cost per Total Activation (see this blog post for a deeper dive on how we calculate this metric). Lower CpTA means spending less money to get new customers so lower is better.

To pause ads with high CpTA, we trained a Machine Learning model to predict the next-hour CpTA using the historical performance data we have for ads running on Facebook. If the model predicts that the next-hour CpTA of an ad will exceed a certain threshold, that ad will be paused automatically. The marketing team is empowered to change the threshold at any time.

We host the next-hour CpTA model as a service and have other wrapper microservices deployed to gather and pass along the real-time predictor data to the model. These predictors include both relatively static attributes about the ad and dynamic data such as the ad’s performance for the last hour. This microservice architecture allows us to iterate quickly when doing model improvements and allows for tight monitoring of the entire pipeline.

The end-to-end flow works as follows. We receive spend data from Facebook for every ad hourly. We combine that with activation and revenue data from the Zulily web site and mobile apps to calculate the current CpTA. Then we use CpTA threshold values set by Marketing and our next-hour CpTA prediction to evaluate and act on the ad. This automatic flow helps manage the large number of continuously changing ads.

The automatic ad pause system has increased our efficiency through the Facebook channel and gave Marketing more time to do what they do best: getting people excited about fresh and unique products offered by Zulily. Stay tuned for our next post where we take a deeper dive into the ML models.
3 práticas do marketing digital para aumentar a visibilidade de salões de beleza
By: Agência Bang
Tags: Marketing Digital, Marketing, Mídias Sociais, Estratégias, Salão De Beleza

in Both Sides of the Table
As We Intersect
By: Lilac India
Tags: Poetry, Love, Romance, Relationships, Poem

I caught a glimpse of the

secrets of the universe.

Collapsed, unmoving,

I lay on the floor a throbbing,

pulsing pain so excruciating

seizing my whole being.



Chaos ensues as darkness

plagues my thoughts.

A cloud of anguish hovers.

Drizzling droplets sting

when they land upon my skin.



The sizzle of frenetic

anxious nerves

hums beneath the surface.

Shifting between

joy and sorrow

when lightning strikes,

I bend and morph

letting experience shape me.

Like a lonely wanderer

of city streets at night,

I purposefully take

every possible

twist and turn

to avoid getting lost,

but I only further

myself off the correct path.



And my existence

depends upon you.

This tiny universe of

you and me traps us.

Sometimes we veer away

from each other deliberately.

Two daydreaming

lost souls avoiding

a mirage of each other

while chasing

unending illusions.

Sometimes we miss and

crash into each other.

These times we meet so you can

mend my broken bones

and twisted limbs.



Our love is something

that burns brightly.

Every time I think it dims,

every time I challenge you,

every time I break down,

you wrestle with it,

my broken heart,

a pulpy mess,

undoing the fallacy

of my thinking.



However old we become and

whatever new takes hold,

this is more than mere words.

Joined at the heart we are

more than just water.

We are glowing pockets of light,

opening, releasing, and

exploding across the night sky.



Guiding bright, we are in orbit

around each other.

My love, I’m true,

I’m forever devoted to you.

Let this be my proof.

Let this be my declaration of life.

Let this be my space age love song.
SevenSeas Wallet Guide
Tags: Privacy, Piratechain, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Wallet

If you are reading this guide, You probably heard about PirateChain (ARRR) the most private cryptocurrency to date.

To keep your coins safe and make transactions, you will need to run a full node wallet on your computer (Windows, Linux or MacOS).

In this guide I will show You how to download, and start a Pirate wallet with the SevenSeas GUI.

First, head over to GitHub where you can find the wallet source code, and executable files.

https://github.com/radix42/SevenSeas/releases

Now based on your technical knowledge, you either compile it yourself from source, or you can download one of the pre-compiled releases.

Always choose the latest one, unless instructed otherwise.

As of now, the latest releases are the following:

Windows:

https://github.com/radix42/SevenSeas/releases/download/0.7.8/sevenseas-v0.7.8-windows.zip

Linux:

https://github.com/radix42/SevenSeas/releases/download/0.7.8/sevenseas-v0.7.8-linux-x86_64.zip

MacOS:

https://github.com/radix42/SevenSeas/releases/download/0.7.8/macOS-sevenseas-v0.7.8.dmg

Once you downloaded the file extract it into a folder (on OSX just open the .dmg)

MacOS:
ICO review from TEOZ RESEARCH: EDENCHAIN
By: Teoz Fund. Smart Crypto Fund
Tags: ICO, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Initial Coin Offering, Ico Review

EDENCHAIN is a technological platform with blockchain, which can capitalize and trade all types of assets with the help of economy platform programmed technology. Using smart contract block, you can capitalize all material and intangible value of assets in token (tokenization).

Website: edenchain.io

Overall assessment: 3 out of 10.

Review: There is no project. there are no experts on blockchain-no mentions about participation in conferences or activity in specialized groups in social networks. The basic idea is not clear. the role of the token is unknown. Preliminary date of ICO was changed due to the change of the concept of the project. the team approves that the community will get access to all the necessary information when the site will be transferred, but they do not report when this happens. Marketing is absent as a fact.

Full report

English version

Russian version
Octopus Salad from Dalmatia
By: Lana Kiossovski
Tags: Salad, Homecooking, Recipes For Cooking, Food, European

Octopus salad is one of the most famous Dalmatian dishes along the Adriatic coast. Although typically ordered as a starter, this salad is hearty enough to eat as a meal and perfectly pairs with Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. There are countless variations of this dish, and every family treasures their heirloom recipe. You can personalize this salad by adding capers, olives, lettuce, or arugula. Whatever you do, do not add fruit as this is borders on local sacrilege.

Ingredients

2 lbs octopus, remove head and beak

1/2 lb waxy potatoes (new potatoes, red bliss, fingerlings)

Two bay leaves

Ten peppercorns

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 English cucumber, cubed

Two garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

First, you will need to tenderize the octopus. If you plan to tenderize it yourself, freeze the octopus for 2–3 days, defrost thoroughly, and pound the octopus with a mallet to break down the muscle tissue.

Cook the unpeeled potatoes in boiling salted water until fork-tender. Once cooled, peel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

Bring 8 cups of water, the bay leaves, and peppercorns to a boil (do not salt the water). Put the octopus into the boiling water and cook for 12 minutes. Strain the water and let the octopus cool for 5 minutes.

Remove the octopus skin and cut the tentacles into 1/2 inch cubes. Transfer to a serving bowl. While the octopus is still warm, add the olive oil, vinegar, potato, onion, tomato, cucumber, garlic, parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and serve.
Ktor: POST request with parameters
By: Max Großmann
Tags: Web Server, Coding, Kotlin, Ktor, Software Development

In this tutorial we will create another POST-Route. Special in this case is that we want to specify parameters and use them then in the reponse.

This is a follow up tutorial on simple POST requests. You can find the basics how to create a POST route in the following article.

Photo by Marc Reichelt on Unsplash

What we build

We want to pass two parameters param1 and param2 to the server on the POST route /test2 .

This is the curl command for our needs:

In the -X paramter we specify that want to execute a POST request

We use -F Parameters to specify our dynamic paramters. These will be in the Content-Type multipart/form-data

ktor server will listens on localhost at port 8081. This can be different in your setup

The output should we want to get from the server should be:

This is a test POST request with parameter values value1 and value2

Note that value2 and value2 are dynamic parameters passed by the -F flag in curl.

Start coding

This is the code we have to add to the routing block:

post("/test2") {

val parameters = call.receiveParameters()



val paramVal1 = parameters["param1"]

val paramVal2 = parameters["param2"]



call.respondText("This is a test POST request with parameter values $paramVal1 and $paramVal2")

}

With call.receiveParameters() you can access all passed parameters

you can access all passed parameters Via parameters["<paramname>"] you get the parameter value for the specified parameter name. In the snippet above we create two variables and store the parameter values in it

you get the parameter value for the specified parameter name. In the snippet above we create two variables and store the parameter values in it In this call.respondText() you specify what will be returned to the executor. You can add the dynamic parameters to the string via string interpolation ( $paramVal1 )

Test it out

Just start the application, open the command line and execute the following command:

You will see that the parameters are added to the response text.

When you change the parameters also the response text will be different.

Don’t specify all parameters

What does happen if we don’t specify all parameters?

For example only specify param1 an NOT param2 ?

Well. Then the variable paramVal2 Variable above will be null and null is passed to the response message.

So this is the output then:

If we don’t want that behaviour we have to specify a default value. We can do this with the elvis operator:
Did ‘Parasite’ Deserve to Win the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar?
By: Ashutosh Bakre
Tags: Film, Culture, Features, Movies, Oscars

The cinematography of “1917” © Universal Pictures

As a way to end, and this argument is debatable but will suffice, if the exact same film had been made in English, yes, it would’ve been critically acclaimed, but I don’t think it would have won ‘Best Picture’. It felt more like one of those very intriguing films that only earns a ‘Best (Original or Adapted) Screenplay’ nomination like Knives Out or The Lobster that may, in some cases, get a ‘Best Picture’ nod more out of courtesy than an actual chance of winning, like Get Out or possibly Jojo Rabbit.

The Best Picture award should go to the film in which the various cinematic elements (the different categories, so to say) synergise to the greatest extent, where they all complement and augment each other to create the final film, not necessarily the most thought-provoking or original. This wasn’t the case for Parasite. As I said above, the most original and thought-provoking films tend to be the nominees and winners of the ‘Best Screenplay’ categories.

Altogether, I feel as though Parasite simply lacked several of the characteristics of not just the ‘Best Picture’ winner, but even a nominee. Characteristics like being culturally or socially or historically significant (Moonlight, Spotlight, Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood), exceedingly well or interestingly made (The Shape of Water, Birdman, 1917) or very moving (Green Book, The King’s Speech, Little Women) in ways that have a profound impact on the audience were not present. Most nominees contain several of these characteristics, if not all. What I’m trying to say is that because Parasite thrives on implicit metaphors and layered symbolism, it lacks in having as direct and emotional an effect on the audience as other films. Frankly, it is the ‘Best Original Screenplay’ category that captures what was awesome about Parasite.

Finally, here is my hypothesis for why Parasite won ‘Best Picture’.

I think the majority of Academy voters were split between Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood and 1917 for the first choice, but Parasite dominated in second and third preference votes, which also carry a lot of weight, and that proved to be enough to tip the result in its favour. There also tends to be a lot of admiration for South Korean culture, so that may have contributed too.

I do want to reiterate what I started with: I loved Parasite and definitely recommend people watch it. Nevertheless, considering the calibre of the other nominees, it wasn’t ‘Best Picture’ worthy for me. I expected Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood to win (but my favourite film of the year was Little Women). Then again, I’m not an Academy voter, so this is just my two cents.
9 Reasons Why You Frequently, Yet Unconsciously, Procrastinate
By: Katie Weisz
Tags: Productivity, Self Improvement, Education, Self, Life

Procrastination is real.

There’s conscious procrastination, whereby you don’t want to do a task, simply because you don’t want to do it. Something most of us do every day. “I don’t want to put the dishes away” “I don’t want to go to the post office” “I don’t want to make that phone call”, “I don’t have time to do that today” etc. — everyday tasks that are simply too easy to put off without any known major repercussions.

And then there’s unconscious procrastination. Where there are deeper mental blockers that are preventing you from taking the steps forward to completion.

It can quickly spiral into self-sabotage if not addressed as the repercussions of chronic procrastination can severely impact your productivity and output, preventing you from getting from a to b. B, perhaps potentially unlocking a new level in your career.

The first step to overcoming it is to learn why you’re doing it. Once you understand the cause, you can tackle it and prevent it from causing the inevitable effects.

You don’t always have to feel stuck in this cycle of feeling productive in the unknown, there are simple tricks that will get you through.
Product Matching — A Visual Tribute
By: Govind Chandrasekhar
Tags: API, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Ecommerce

Product matching is a challenging data-science problem that we’ve been battling for several years at Semantics3. The variety of concepts and nuances that need to be taken into consideration to tame this problem has reduced our data-scientists to tears on more than one occasion.

In this week’s post, we decided to pay a visual tribute to product matching by showcasing some of the particularly difficult examples that we’ve come across over the years. Enjoy!
My Five-Year-Old Daughter’s Guide To Bugs
By: Jl Matthews
Tags: Humor, Lists, Satire, Parenting, Outdoors

My Five-Year-Old Daughter’s Guide To Bugs

Completed with the help of her eight-year-old sister

Image by Nimrod Oren from Pixabay

Fire Ants — Fearsome monsters that prey on any living creature with their horrible flesh-eating bites. They can also randomly conjure fireballs. Their nests are located on playgrounds, in our yard, and potentially under beds.

Red Ants — Fire Ants (see above)

Black Ants — Fire Ants (see above)

Gnats, Fruit Flies, Mosquitos — Winged Fire Ants

Yellow Jackets — Terrible demonic bugs. They live only to seek out children and sting them. Dad had an allergic reaction after being stung when he was ten. Nana still remembers and repeats the tale often. Dad has to carry an EpiPen to this day — proof of their evil.

Honeybees — Yellow Jackets (see above)

Bumblebees — Large Yellow Jackets (see above)

Wasps — Not Yellow Jackets, but still awful.

Moths — Harmless…unless you touch them (unclear as to why).

Large Mosquitos — Wasps (see above)

Red Ladybugs — Small, red beetles that feed on aphids. Harmless.

Orange Ladybugs — Same as Red Ladybugs except deadly poisonous — according to next-door-neighbor Gabby. Do not touch.

Houseflies — Generic ‘bug’. Terror increases with quantity and proximity. They can cause freak-outs if one is trapped in the car.

Worms — Gross ‘bug’. No redeeming value, no matter how many times Mom and Dad explain their role in the ecosystem.

Millipedes — Same as Worms, but ‘poisonous.’

Cicada Larvae Shells — Obviously not of this world. Should be fed to the dogs for the cool crunching sound they make.

Ticks — Not sure what they are, but they must be poisonous. Nana insists on checking for them whenever I play near even a single tree.

Roly Polies — Fun, harmless creatures that should be collected en masse into a plastic bucket. Their ensuing starvation is both regrettable and unavoidable.

(Mating) DragonFlies — These long, winged creatures love ‘riding piggy-back’ with their friends at the nearby pond. Unclear why Mom and Dad snicker every time I mention that.
Set up a wallet on CasinoLife Poker
By: Minaz Vastani
Tags: Tech, Crypto, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

There is a KAVA wallet built into our mobile game.

❗️Apple iOS App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/casinolife-poker/id1216035750?mt=8

❗️Google Play App Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Kava.PokerLife

❗️Facebook (PC/Mac): https://apps.facebook.com/kavapokerlife/?ref=br_rs
021 | なぜほとんどTokenはICO価格より下回った
Tags: 日本語, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Erc20

in Both Sides of the Table
Modular Report — October 2018.. The DigitalBits project will provide…
By: Rajiv Naidoo
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Report, Bitcoin, Innovation

The DigitalBits project will provide monthly updates in the form of modular reports

Here’s the latest from the DigitalBits team!

Key Highlights & Milestones

Title Sponsors — Blockchain Futurist Conference

DigitalBits took center stage as a title sponsor of the Blockchain Futurist Conference, Canada’s largest blockchain event to date. In addition to sponsorship, DigitalBits CEO, Al Burgio was a keynote speaker. He also joined blockchain heavyweights Charles Hoskinson (CEO of IOHK, Matthew Roszak (co-founder of Bloq), Justin Wu (co-founder of Blocknauts) in a keynote panel discussion moderated by media legend Larry King, titled “Mass Influence & Adoption of Blockchain Technology.”

Media legend Larry King takes the stage with blockchain heavyweights

Host Sponsors — Loyalty Live

DigitalBits was the host sponsor at Loyalty Live 2018. Loyalty Live is the first conference in the world to focus solely on bridging the gap between the loyalty rewards and blockchain technology. The conference showcased thought leaders, loyalty executives, blockchain startups — bringing some of the biggest names from both sides to help simplify and better educate each other on these multi-billion dollar industries.

Learn more>

Click here to check out some event highlights

Asia Roadshow

The DigitalBits team conducted a successful month-long roadshow in Asia. Key events included:

Lobstr announces launch of XDB Wallet

LOBSTR, the leading wallet in the Stellar ecosystem, announced the launch of XDB Labs LLC, and will soon launch the XDB Wallet, to support custodial and wallet solutions for digital assets on the DigitalBits blockchain.

Read more>

Active Campaigns

WeStart Airdrop Launch

DigitalBits initiated an airdrop promotion with WeStart. Each participant will get 500 XDB coin tokens for signing up, and another 500 XDB for referring a friend who goes on to participate. There’s no limit on the number of friends you can refer!

Learn more>

DigitalBits SmartDrop

Digitalbits launched a smartdrop campaign with an offer of 500 XDB tokens to community members. Entrants that complete any of the three required task and answer some survey questions, will receive tokens.

Full contest details>
NEM Listed on Bitbns—India’s Only Exchange to Trade 35 Digital Assets
Tags: Nem, Listing, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

We are excited to announce our 35th digital asset today. NEM (token symbol: XEM) is among the top 15 cryptocurrencies in the world.

Deposit for XEM will start at 6:55 pm on 3rd May 2018. Trading time for XEM will be announced via our telegram group.

Contest Rules for XEM

Trader of the Day

Highest trade in terms of volume will win ₹ 5K worth of XEM.

Contest Eligibility: You must trade a minimum ₹ 50K worth of XEM on the first day

Depositor of the Day

Largest depositor of XEM wins ₹ 5K worth of XEM.

Contest Eligibility: You must deposit at least ₹ 100K worth of XEM

You need to sell at least 40% of the XEM on the first day

What is NEM?

New Economy Movement (NEM) is an enterprise-grade solution to power the impending blockchain economy. Originally intended to be a fork of NXT, the community decided to go with a completely new codebase with an alpha version released June 25, 2014, and the first stable release March 31, 2015. The platform is currently being rewritten in C++ and will be released as the “Catapult” update sometime in early 2018.

The NEM blockchain powers what they call the Smart Asset System. This system is intended to be an open, customisable blockchain solution for any number of use cases built on top of simple, powerful API calls.

NEM Market Updates

Coinmarketcap Rank : 14

: 14 Token Symbol: XEM

XEM Market Cap (Last 24hrs): ₹249,591,585,288

₹249,591,585,288 NEM / INR (last 24hr): ₹ 27.73

₹ Current Circulation: 8,999,999,999 XEM

Read the NEM Catapult Whitepaper

Read more about NEM

Follow the latest NEM Updates
How to pick the right data chart
By: Jan Schultink
Tags: Data Visualization, PowerPoint, Presentation Design

PowerPoint offers a vaste number of options for designing a data chart. Which one should you choose? Here are some of the guidelines I use:

A ranking by size: horizontal bar

Development over time with a handful of data points: column, if there are many data points a (fat) line

Decomposition of something in its parts: a waterfall (see a post on how to make waterfalls charts ), waterfalls also work great to visualize 1 year of a Profit & Loss statement

), waterfalls also work great to visualize 1 year of a Profit & Loss statement Showing something as a % of the total: a pie chart if it is one year/period, a series of 100% columns if it is a trend over time.

Data has multiple messages. In the analysis phase of your work, you need to study all of them. But when you are ready to present conclusions, you pick the one and only message that is worth emphasizing. If you cannot settle on one, make 2 charts and present them quickly after each other: the market grew [click], our market share increased.

If things get really complex, for example when there are 3 or more factors driving change going into difference directions, you might have to resort to a source-of-change waterfall chart, followed by a data chart that highlights each of the trends individually.
The True Value of Social Media
Tags: Marketing, Credit Linked Note, Content Marketing, Audience, Digital Marketing

Over the past ten years, social media has gone from “probably a passing fad” to a strategic imperative. Brands are dedicating significant resources to cultivating a rich online presence and every year, marketers invest more and more in their overall social strategy. The hotel industry has been particularly active in the social media space, using this digital channel to not only engage with existing customers but also capture the attention of prospective guests.

Yet despite its growing popularity in marketing strategies, social media — or rather the value of social media — remains elusive. Unlike traditional media that, for the most part, delivers quantifiable ROI, social media’s effectiveness is correlative at best. What metric is most effective? Should brands count “likes,” “tweets,” or “posts?” Do these actions translate into sales? How do marketers know that their investment is actually growing their bottom line? Even independent surveys and studies on the subject seem to contradict each other. In a 2013 study, Forrester Consulting found that people who engaged daily with a brand on social media were likely to make twice as many purchases with that brand as someone who only engages monthly. Yet according to a Gallup survey, 62% of U.S. adults who use social media say these sites have no influence on purchasing decisions.

Source: The True Value of Social Media, by Stevi McCoy
Grace and speed
By: David Hope
Tags: Earth, Haiku, Intelligence, Oceans, Orcas

I think therefore I write. I have an MA in Creative Writing. I write fiction and short thought pieces. There is more about me and my other work on LinkedIn.

Follow
The Fantastic City: The Importance of Setting Becoming a Character in Writing
By: E.E.W. Christman
Tags: Science Fiction, Writing, Fiction Writing, Fantasy, Writing Tips

“A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times.” -Terry Pratchett, Night Watch.

The greatest fiction is built upon scene and setting. When the landscape has a personality that the reader can feel, it breathes life into the story. Personally, when I think about some of the fantasy and science fiction I grew up with, I have a hard time remembering characters’ names and traits. But I can easily remember the towering colossus of Gondor from Lord of the Rings, or the technological hellscape of the Sprawl from Neuromancer. Why do these places draw us in so completely, and how do they come to life? And more importantly, how can we as writers create settings that inspire these feelings in our readers?

Fernweh & Anemoia: Feelings of Longing

The German word fernweh means wanderlust, and refers to a feeling of nostalgia for a place you’ve never been or can never go to. It is also called farsickness; it is a yearning to explore the world. When we read about such fantastical places as Earthsea or Westeros, we are filled with a similar longing. Places we cannot go to represent adventure, a release from boredom or responsibility. And perhaps the fact that these places do not exist and will forever be away from our grasp only makes us long for them even more. Like the bittersweet feeling you get from a love never realized, it’s only more tantalizing when you cannot have it.

Anemoia is a word invented by John Koenig, a filmmaker and graphic designer from Minnesota. His blog, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, assigns names to difficult feelings. Anemoia is nostalgia for a time you’ve never known. Koenig specifically refers to the feeling you get when you look at an old photograph and feeling a longing for that time period. It is a romanticizing of the past. Although anemoia is a newly invented word, this is not a new feeling. It can apply to the past, or even an imagined future. One example is a general longing for the imagined future of the eighties, realized in classics such as Bladerunner or Ghost in the Shell. These future cityscapes inspire a yearning that can never be satisfied.

Humans obviously experience a desire to explore places and times that are out of their reach. Fernweh and anemoia capture these hard-to-describe emotions well, but how do they apply to the notion of a setting becoming a character? Writer Donald Maass emphasizes the importance of linking feelings to setting in order to bring them to life. If we as readers are already connecting feelings of impossible nostalgia to places, we are actually participating in that process by adding our own feelings to the ones the writer chooses to emphasize. Maybe humans are hardwired to personify places. We do it every day with sports teams and localized stereotypes (Seattleites love coffee, New Yorkers are rude, Californians are easy-going, etc.).

Writing a Living Place

So how do you, as a writer, make your setting a character in its own right?
AidCoin token supply decrease: what Kate Moss and deforestation have to do with it?
Tags: Fundraising, Blockchain, Charity, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

AidCoin token supply decrease: what Kate Moss and deforestation have to do with it? AidCoin Follow Nov 13, 2018 · 4 min read

Following our posts about the current use of AID and DAI on AIDChain, we decided to tell you how we decrease the AID token supply with the help of CharityStars —AidCoin’s founding company, which has been arranging charitable auctions with 200+ international celebrities in support of 500+ non-profits for the past 5 years.

There’s still a lot of work to be done to make crypto donations a mainstream practice, despite the long list of their benefits, e.g. taxation, as opposed to fiat donations. But CharityStars’ vast network of celebrities is our trump card on this rather long journey and we use it whenever possible.

Recently, CharityStars has launched a charitable T-shirt campaign in collaboration with the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, which proved to be a great chance to spread the word about AidCoin and crypto charity: multiple world-class celebrities such as Kate Moss, Celine Dion, and others shared it on their social media. Moreover, it’s also become the first CharityStars campaign to affect the AID token supply and here’s how.
Facebook Censors Kashmir Struggle
By: Minhaaj Rehman
Tags: Kashmir, Pakistan, Islam, Colonialism, Politics

In 1948, United Nations passed resolution 47, giving people of Kashmir the right of self-determination through a plebiscite. 60 Years later, it remains victim of brutal occupation by Indian Army. Surprisingly it has found a new accomplice. Facebook.

Arundathi Roy wrote a seething piece on Kashmir’s freedom fight from Indian occupation that left many in tears. Man Booker Prize-winning author for her novel ‘God of Small things’ and human rights activist, slashes the myth of Indian-held Kashmir, portrayed as an integral part of India. The article was passionate, tempestuous and raging with emotions. Her message was vivid. Silencing of voices with blinding pellets and maiming bullets does the opposite.

Kashmir movement rekindled earlier this month when Burhanuddin Wani, a 21-year-old freedom fighter from Tral, Srinagar, in Indian-held Kashmir was shot by Indian Armed Forces. The official narrative of Indian army remained the same. A separatist, a terrorist and a rebel was taken out.

Kashmir’s population see it the other way. Burhanuddin Wani, was a bright student who topped his region in High School. After Indian Army officers beat him and his brother to death, only he survived to join the resistance movement in snowy mountains.

With no constitutional means to express his agony over his beloved brethren and creative ways to vent out his disenfranchisement, juvenile depression turned into a violent struggle against the foe.

On 8th July, he was shot after a siege. This should have closed the Pandora box. Turns out, they had just opened it. Hundreds of people from the whole valley turned up for his funeral. He became everyone’s son, everybody’s brother and his name became a brand for freedom.

Shutters of the shops were painted with ‘Burhan’ on it. Streets flooded with people, protesters took public squares and social media inundated with photos of protesting youth, blinded by Indian Army’s pellet guns, a weapon that disables people for life. Leaders of the freedom struggle are being detained in the aftermath and facilities in hospitals are abysmal. Disturbing videos of pellets being shot at stone-throwing protesters are heart-wrenching.

Leaders of the freedom struggle are being detained and facilities in hospitals are abysmal. Disturbing videos of pellets being shot at stone throwing protesters is heart-wrenching.
Basic R Graph
By: Luca Chuang
Tags: Data Visualization

If you are not familiar with the preparation of R please read BA using R — Preparation before start graphing!

Check our Data
The Lighthouse
By: Joanne Troppello
Tags: Poetry, Poems On Medium, Poetry On Medium, Lighthouse, Poem

Built on the mount, plain yet regal to sight.

The house of light guards rough night waters,

eyes bright with anticipation, beams white,

sending word of homage to lost sailors.

Hard stone rounding the structure cementing

in place solid white brick walls of this safe house,

a solemn structure of truth rescuing

unfortunates lost in the crashing waves.

Inside the lantern room in the tower he stands,

a lighthouse tender directing and guiding the light,

gently illuminating the way to and from port.

Protecting from rocks, reefs, and treacherous shoals,

the lighthouse guides the ships home.

© Joanne Troppello
Frost Flower
By: Jessica Lee Mcmillan
Tags: Birth, Nature, Prompt, Winter, Solstice

emerged from lunar reign

of darkening days

you are a flower of frost

I celebrate

your birth at winter’s edge

and delivery of light,

sculpts the elements

melts waterfalls

with your fire,

a Rowan berry in white

your garden glints crystals

in a chorus of wind

your spirit etches patterns,

frozen lake to tide,

in stasis gestate

you are the inimitable

weilding icy fog

in body of skeins

you dream

in jutting glaciers

you’ve seized

the solstice for palette

and I celebrate your force,

your voice

and the end of long nights
Cybersecurity Company Cyberbit Raises $30 Million
Tags: Jef, Cybersecurity, Cyber, Focus, Investment

Cyberbit, a subsidiary of Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, raised $30 million from private equity investor Claridge Israel L.P., as reported by Ctech.

Cyberbit develops cyber training and simulation platform. It also markets detection and response platform against cyber threats.

Cyberbit will use the investment to expand in North America and other markets.

Cyberbit was established in 2015 as an Elbit subsidiary. Its original name was Cyberbit Commercial Solutions Ltd. Also in the same year, Elbit launched another company, Cyberbit Ltd. — later renamed Cyberbit Solutions Ltd.

The company decided to change its name in June 2017 to Cyberbit Ltd.
Good cop, bad cop, carrots and sticks
By: Bora Kwon
Tags: European Union, Europe, Brexit, Politics, UK Politics

The EU dangle trade talks in front of Britain

Theresa May tries to blend into the colour scheme (Picture by Getty Images)

Come dine with me

With Brexit talks stalled and her big Florence speech not having punched through the deadlock as hoped, Theresa May went to dinner. Flanked by her Brexit man David Davis, the prime minister flew into Brussels to meet with the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Although billed as a formerly arranged private dinner, the timing of the meeting — days before a crucial summit of the EU 27 leaders — was widely interpreted as an attempt to push things along.

The outcome? Hugs, smiles but no real resolutions. Both May and Juncker said that negotiations ‘should accelerate’ but neither gave any indications as to how that could happen.

Mixed messages

The climax of the week was the crunch Brussels pow-wow. Addressing the leaders of the 27 EU countries at the start of the summit, the prime minister’s message seemed to be ‘give me something to work with here’.

And thus began a hectic two days of mixed messages. With 27 heads of state all wanting to get their point across, things started to get confusing.

Dangling the carrot 🥕…

But flexing the stick❗️…

Good cop from Germany 🙂….

Stern cop from France 😠….

The summit was not a total waste 👍🏼…

But we’ve only got eight weeks to sort it out 🗓….

Back at home

After all that, the prime minister also has to deal with the rebellious kids on the backbenches. The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill , AKA the ‘breathtaking power grab’ / ‘an orderly Brexit’, is on hold and will not be debated next week as originally planned.

Don’t worry prime minister, it’ll stop hurting after a while

Follow upday UK on Twitter and Facebook 👍

You can follow Bora Kwon on Twitter, here 😳

Questions or suggestions? Write to us at hello@upday.com 👋
Join Me In Holding Each Other & This Great Nation in the Light
By: Dr. Audrey
Tags: Society, Mindfulness, Family, Love, Relationships

Join Me In Holding Each Other & This Great Nation in the Light

It’s a stunningly simple Quaker idea that’s easy, simple, and profound

Photo by Samuel Schneider on Unsplash

I sank into bed.

It had been a long week, followed by a beautiful, difficult weekend. My brother-in-law died suddenly last Tuesday— and the shock continues. On Saturday, we gathered in a small group to celebrate his life, to recall his handsome smile, and to comfort those closest to him.

In bed that night, I closed my eyes. I thought of my sister and her children. I gathered them in my mind. I saw them suspended in a giant open hand bathed in the golden light of love. I kept them there, holding them in the light.

I held them there even as I succumbed to sleep.

Crash course

Holding in the Light is a practice that comes from the Quakers. I stumbled on this spiritual practice in a roundabout way.

During my first group meeting for my doctoral studies, our cohort of thirty gathered for orientation weekend. We met, gathered, listened, and were introduced to faculty and to each other. We also took a crash course in Quakerism.

My graduate program was at George Fox University, a Quaker school. I knew George Fox was a small private Christian school with a reputation for personalized instruction and strong teaching. I’d attended both private and public schools my entire life, and didn’t really give the denominational status a huge amount of thought. It’s a Christian school, I thought. It will have good people.

And it did. Quakers have strong faith — and unique practices. That orientation weekend, we were divided into small groups to learn a bit about Quakerism. Dr. Barrett handed out articles, one to each person in our group of five. She smiled as she handed me mine. I glanced down. Immediately, the title intrigued me: “Holding in the Light.” I began to read.
Journeys to Pilsen
Tags: Brunch, Food, Chicago, Reviews

On Sunday, April 17, M and I ventured to Pilsen, the heavily Mexican-influenced neighborhood southwest of the Loop. This week’s brunch spot was my pick, and my lab partner kindly recommended a place called Dusek’s. Fun tidbit: Dusek’s slogan is “board and beer,” the latter heavily emphasized on the weekly menus as well (quite a choice selection, despite the fact that I don’t really know much about beer!). While neither M nor I are very fond of beer, we set off with high hopes and expectations for a yummy brunch.

Pilsen is a neighborhood that I’ve visited (for Chicago Art District’s Second Fridays, where multiple art galleries and performance centers open their doors to the public for free), but have not yet explored to my heart’s content. I suppose one could argue that the Chicago Art District is not really Pilsen, but let’s not get bogged down by semantics, shall we? I would like to explore Pilsen on a lazy Saturday, and really understand and see the neighborhood and all of its nooks and crannies. I’d also like to try its Mexican restaurants, as on multiple occasions delicious aromas have wafted out of restaurants as I walked by.

On this particular day, M and I depart for Dusek’s with the intention of making brunch a quick pre-library-hibernation boost. The restaurant is quiet and we are seated at a hightop table with a very attentive server who eagerly refills our water. To our server: thank you for keeping us hydrated!

I order the omelet, with truffled ricotta, wild mushroom, and asparagus, and accompanied by house potatoes. M decides on a danish pastry and a side of potatoes as well. The omelet is an interesting consistency when it arrives, almost a spongy texture, but let me tell you — the potatoes were absolutely heavenly. Just incredible. Perfectly flavored, not too chewy, not too dry, you name a desirable potato quality, I guarantee Dusek’s potatoes had it. (In fact, I’m coming back to edit this post as M has just declared Dusek’s potatoes the best ones she’s tasted so far in our Freshman Fifteen adventures. -W, June 2016)

Blurry picture of my omelet and potatoes.

Overall, Dusek’s did not excite me to the degree where I foresee returning here for brunch, for two reasons: I prefer my omelets to be more hefty in texture, and I’d like the food options to be more expansive (quite a lot of menu space is taken up by beverage choices, a tradeoff I don’t favor). However, if someone were to ask where the best brunch potatoes are, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell them immediately about Dusek’s.
Usability study: moderator cheat sheet
Tags: UX Research, Ux Strategy, UX Design, Product Design, User Research

Usability study: moderator cheat sheet

Quick reminders before moderating a usability study.

TL;DR, I made a TL;DR cheat sheet for when you have to moderate your next usability study. Let me know what you think and how you would add/change anything to it. Feel free to save a copy and use it at your workplace! A printable PDF version is also available here.
Grandma Nudnich Reviews Oscar Nominees
By: R.J. Kushner
Tags: Humor, Satire, Review, Movies, Oscars

Grandma Nudnich Reviews Oscar Nominees

‘Bring me strong Russian grandbabies.’

Black Panther

All the day I sit alone, wait by phone. Why? Who calls Grandma Nudnich? No one. I am alone. Why you send film and not big, strong Russian grandbabies? Why you not find good Russian man who knows what it is to suffer?

Grandma Nudnich

Green Book

I go to store. They say “How are you today, Grandma Nudnich?” I say, “How you think I am? I sit all the day in agony and wait for death.” Then I buy cabbage, onion. Where are all the Russian grandbabies to feed? When you bring them to me?

Grandma Nudnich

Bohemian Rhapsody

Big, fat squirrel sits on porch, eating chair stuffing. Who will shoo this creature? Who can, when no one visits Grandma Nudnich? I take broom, say “GEET GEET!” Who listens? Not this squirrel. It knows. It knows Grandma Nudnich has no strong Russian grandbabies with taste for meat. Why?

Grandma Nudnich

The Favourite

Mailman comes to door with package, says “Beautiful day today, Grandma Nudnich!” I say nothing to this man, who has evil eyes like a snake. Will I die before I have big, iron Russian grandbabies who chop logs? Is this what you want?

Grandma Nudnich

BlacKkKlansman

Yesterday, Grandma Nudnich falls off roof while fixing. Does she complain? No, she climbs back up roof, falls off again, waits for death. Doctor says, “Slow down, Grandma Nudnich! Why you work so hard?” I say, What choice does Grandma Nudnich have? Who will change lightbulb, wash duck? Russian grandbabies? None. She suffers.

Grandma Nudnich

A Star Is Born

The nights are long. I sit in dark. Hear knock at door. I open, see Death. It speaks. Says, “Where are the big, strong Russian grandbabies?” I say, “Why you ask Grandma Nudnich for? If only she knew!”

Grandma Nudnich

Vice

All is blur since Grandma Nudnich lose glasses while sweeping chimney (who else will?). In morning, I wake, see bright light. Is this God? No. Only aching and still no hulking Russian grandbabies who eat goat. Where are they? Not here. Why? Why you not bring them? Why, why?

Grandma Nudnich

Roma

This, I like.
[Paper] Mixup: Beyond Empirical Risk Minimization (Image Classification)
By: Sik-Ho Tsang
Tags: Deep Learning, Convolutional Network, Artificial Intelligence, Image Classification, Data Augmentation

[Paper] Mixup: Beyond Empirical Risk Minimization (Image Classification)

mixup (Image from https://blog.airlab.re.kr/2019/11/mixup)

In this story, mixup: Beyond Empirical Risk Minimization, by MIT and FAIR, is shortly presented. In this paper:

mixup trains a neural network on convex combinations of pairs of examples and their labels .

. By doing so, mixup regularizes the neural network to favor simple linear behavior in-between training examples.

This is a paper in 2018 ICLR with over 1000 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium)