fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Boot camp — it’s a way of life at Bisk!
Tags: Employee Benefits, Tampa, Employee Engagement, Bisk Healthy U, Company Culture

Throughout the year, Bisk Healthy U offers onsite fitness classes for employees. It’s a chance for everyone to get outside and get active after work. And did I mention the classes are completely free? Who doesn’t love that?

Boot camp isn’t new at Bisk but this season we tried something new. We encouraged employees to form teams and gave gift cards to all team members if their group attended four out of six weeks. This created a little motivation: We had our largest class ever, with about 40 employees consistently coming to class.

Our instructor had a lot of pep, maybe too much as we struggled through each push-up, jumping jack, burpee and squat. Ouch! Each week, our boot camp guru had a new workout and encouraged us to give it our all. We worked hard but had fun doing it.

It was awesome to see new participants at boot camp. Sometimes we need a little nudge to start a new fitness routine. Employees shared some great stories. Here are a few comments about the class:

It was a very challenging course! The instructor was amazing at sharing modifiers so that everyone could work out and help their team.

- Claribel It is nice to have a lot of participants in the class. It definitely gives more motivation to everyone.

- Anonymous

When the weather gets cool (ha!) we will get back out there. I can’t wait to start up again in October.

Get ready Bisk, boot camp is coming back!

Written by Wendy
Automate the Publishing Process of Your Podcast With GitHub Actions
By: Miki Lombardi
Tags: Github Actions, Podcast, Automation, Programming, JavaScript

Automate the Publishing Process of Your Podcast With GitHub Actions

Send your podcast from YouTube to Anchor.fm

The repository cover image

The Context

During the quarantine period, I started an Italian tech live show on YouTube and a podcast on Spotify and Anchor.fm with some of my friends. The show is called Schrödinger Hat.

We are enjoying creating this content on the web, but we have encountered some technical issues. Some of them were minor issues that we managed easily during the time, but then there was the major issue.
Week 249: At the Cottage Again
By: Aaron Charles
Tags: Rest, Travel, Short Story, Marriage, Life

We had to backtrack. I was the one driving, and I thought I saw some parking up and to the right. When we came to a fork, I went right. We passed some parking spots, but they were in an awkward location to pull back out. So I kept going. But we quickly realized that I had driven us into an employee-only parking area. So we had to backtrack. Past the impressive mansion-style house in the middle of the park. Past the parking we had seen before. Finally, through the fork and to the back parking lot, where there were spaces aplenty.

We were back in the Louisville area. Just one month prior, we had come to a little AirBnB cottage rental for a long weekend. Our holiday travel plans had been affected by COVID-19, so we ended up back at the same place one month later for another long weekend. No sightseeing. No sit-down dinners. Just Sarah and I finding some rest and relaxation. Those pursuits brought us to this park just down the road from the cottage. We had driven past it when we were here before. Today, we came for a walk.

The park had a large hill right in the middle of it. At the top of the hill was the stately mansion. There were playgrounds and tennis courts. We just went for a walk. We had parked at the top of the hill, so the first part of our walk was downhill. The wind was at our backs and, despite the sun, there was a bit of a chill on the air.

A family passed us on the way. They were all running — together. Good for them, I thought. We walked on.

More houses on the top of a nearby ridge. Cars passed by on the busy street to the south. This was a place I had never been before. Instead of nerves, there was calm. Calm because Sarah was walking in this new place too, right beside me. We talked about the day, life back home, the weekend before us. We walked on.

After a short while, we came back to the point where the hill began. This time we’d be walking back up the hill towards where we parked. I was starting to get colder. I hadn’t brought my jacket because of the sun. I had been deceived. It was then I noticed I family again. They were still running. Up the hill, down the hill, and back up again. We walked on.

Not long after, we were back at the car. We got in a drove off. I almost made a wrong turn, but I just got back to the road we came in on. And then we were back at the cottage.
Lucid Dream
By: Melanie J.
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Lucid Dreaming, Love, Poetry, Consciousness

Love said goodbye

In my dreams

He kissed my lips gently

Brought tears to my eyes.

Broken memories

Filled my consciousness

Of a life we once knew,

He spread his wings

Glanced back at me

And off to eternity he flew,

Alone I cried

In my lucid dream where

Love came to say goodbye to me.
Our Last Six Months
By: Emily Bracale
Tags: Emily Bracale, Family, Comics, Cancer, Death

The full version of Emily Bracale’s Our Last Six Months is available on her website.
PANEL: Data and Circular Cities. Last month, Stefaan Verhulst…
By: Andrew J. Zahuranec
Tags: Data Responsibility, Circular Cities, Events, Interview, Data Collaborative

Last month, Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder, and chief research and development officer at The GovLab, sat down for a virtual panel discussion on the value of the circular city at the Collision Conference.

Led by WIRED staff writer Daniel Oberhaus, Greg Morrisett (Cornell Tech), Tara Pham (Numina), Shaun Stewart, (New Lab), and Stefaan discussed the value of collecting and analyzing data from an area to improve the lives of the people who live there. The participants talked at length about the various ways circular data can provide value to issues such as transportation and the risks and challenges in achieving this potential.

“One of the key challenges, but also opportunities, of the current data age is how we set up processes to reuse data that is already collected,” said Stefaan. ‘Some of those datasets often reside in the public sector and so, for the last few years, we have looked at how we unlock datasets that the government is collecting in order to use it for other purposes than originally intended in a responsible manner.”

The group discussed different applications of data, the urgent and complex challenges facing cities, and the value of policies in promoting responsible data use. You can watch the full discussion in the video above.
The AirPod Connect Sound Is Beautiful
By: Siobhan O'Connor
Tags: Self, Airpods, Digital Life, Technology, Culture

I spend a lot of my time in Google hangouts. This confers a number of benefits, connecting me with my boss and other members of the Medium team, which is largely based in San Francisco. I live in New York and have colleagues and direct reports in many U.S. cities. This technology brings us closer, but it also introduces friction. Shitty AV is a daily frustration, and the sound of people’s voices coming out of a laptop speaker is the actual soundtrack in hell. Wired earphones are a drag. Those gigantic wireless ones take up too much room in the handbag and they mess up your hair. You know where this is going.

I am told I am a Xennial (’78) but I identify firmly as a Gen Xer, mainly because I like talking on the phone for hours at a time. I stopped talking on the phone several years ago. We all did, because of smartphones and texting and the other ways we waste our time. (Also, we dislike the humid, slippery sensation that comes from holding up a phone to our cheek for more than a few minutes at a go.)

So I text, but I prefer talking. I have text-tone misunderstandings, we all do. I connect less with friends who suck at text, we all do. I try to strengthen my emoji game. You know where this is going.

The first iPod came out a month after I moved to New York. I was a big music lover, working at a music magazine, and my boyfriend at the time got me the white one. I remember walking around New York alone, listening to music, feeling powerful and free, and like anything could happen. It was like I was sharing stolen moments with some other part of myself that emerged only in these conditions. The world felt gigantic.

Over time, I would lose earbuds with more frequency than a deli umbrella, or the cord would become too tangled to reach my back pocket and so fuck it. Later, I’d hear there was a new Dreamville record and I would wonder how it was. I didn’t know who Post Malone was (maybe for the best). It took me forever to listen to Lemonade. You know where this is going.
“The contortions of principle required by evangelical church leaders to justify Donald Trump in…
By: Sarah Stankorb
Tags: Trump, Religion, Evangelism

“The contortions of principle required by evangelical church leaders to justify Donald Trump in the name of political power revealed not a broken, sinful nation — but what was broken within their churches.” Sarah Stankorb · Aug 10

—“These Evangelical Women Are Abandoning Trump and Their Churches.” The #MeToo movement, pandemic, and protests for racial justice have divided the evangelical community from their presidential strongman.
I Am A Feminist
By: Zara Everly
Tags: Essay, Women, Feminism, Womens Rights, Sexuality

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

I am a feminist and I say that asserting my sexual preference makes me feel powerful as a woman. I am the only owner of my sexuality.

I am a feminist and I am sex-positive. I am a woman and I adore being fucked into oblivion.

I am a feminist and I believe in autonomy. I have the right to choose the sex I want, how I want it, and who I want it with.

I am a feminist and I like it rough. A little bit of the spank-y, choke-y. Throw in a name or two. I like it that way; it turns me on.

I am a feminist and I turn traditional values on their head. I use them and abuse them to cum.

I am a feminist and I reject the repressive notions of being a traditional "lady." I rebel. I AM a lady and I don't hide my humanity much less my sexuality.

I am a feminist and I very much am of my own mind. I don't want a man to overrule me. I won't allow it.

I am a feminist and I would love to meet a man whose opinion I respect. That is a man I could worship and cherish.

I am a feminist and I advocate for the legalization of prostitution and I watch pornography. I also want to see a crackdown on the abuse of workers in these industries.

I am a feminist and I am capable of all manner of thought. Women can do that, you know. Even feminists.

I am a feminist and I do not need to be confined by anyone's definitions of what that means. See... that is what being a feminist means to me.
Coding News Summary — React 16, major language releases, Chrome 61, and Yarn
By: Trey Huffine
Tags: Programming, JavaScript, Web Development, Technology, News

This is a Coding Digest summary. We make them available in audio format as well! Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Play Music.

React 16

The biggest news this week is the release of React 16, a release that has been in the making for a long time. But what made this release big is not the new features it has, but rather the shiny new MIT license that the project was relicensed to. Along with a few other projects, including Flow and GraphQL, Facebook finally gave up their BSD+Patent license because of what seems to be some community pressure. No matter how it happened though, these Facebook open source projects are better-loved today under the MIT license.

Major Language Releases

We recently saw a wave of major version releases including Java 9, C++ 17, Swift 4, CoffeeScript 2, and Postgres 10. In addition, Nodejs had 2 releases this month (8.5.0 and 8.6.0) with the highlight of adding experimental support for ES modules.

Chrome 61

Chrome 61 added support for ES modules as well. This means the browser now natively allows a developer to the use the import keyword that previously needed to be transpiled with build tools. In addition, Chrome 61 allows you to use navigator.share to trigger the native Android share dialog, and offers a new USB API to access storage devices.

Yarn 1.0

Yarn reached its 1.0 release. The package manager has made a huge impact on the JavaScript community, and 175,000 projects on GitHub now contain a yarn.lock file. Yarn is responsible for nearly 3 billion package downloads per month and is used in all of Facebook’s major applications. The 1.0 release includes Yarn workspaces, auto-merging of lock files, and selective version resolutions.

Sublime Text 3.0

The competition for text editors has heated up with many new open source ones entering the market. Sublime, the long time front runner, has now released version 3 in hopes to regain some of its market share. The company boasts that almost every aspect of the text editor has improved in some way, with a focus on performance.

Vagrant 2

Vagrant, the tool for building and distributing development environments, has released version 2. Vagrant 2 supports provisioning development environments on VirtualBox, VMware, Hyper-V, Docker, AWS, GCP, and more. Vagrant has come a long way since version 1 which only supported VirtualBox.

gitconnected

gitconnected launched the community for developers. The platform offers the only social network dedicated to software engineers. Join now at gitconnected.com.
Hey Soul,…
By: Anthi Psomiadou
Tags: Soul, Self, Body, Life

Hey soul, can you stay in this body until I completely erase

the fear of losing it?

As you may notice, I’ve done a lot of progress in that.

What am I saying? You noticed.

You know everything, having mingled with all kinds of souls,

within a kind of souls-socializing through eternity.

Exchanging, interacting, giving-receiving.

Co-flowing…

Oh, you experienced invisible …something!

How does it feel to have seen everything?

How does it feel to exist “since” (for)ever without the weight of aging,

just containing the wisdom of having been everything there is?

It must be really …whole.

I have “tasted” it many times during the last three earthly years.

A moment here, a moment (t)here.

Minutes here, minutes (t)here.

Hours here, hours (t)here…

— Yeah, yeah… that co-swirling of past, present, and future

made me put that “t” within parenthesis.

T, t, oh time, you are not a line, just a spiral reprise…

OK, enough with the (non-)sense.

And the parenthesis — .

So, when we coordinate, it’s like my body doesn’t exist at all.

I am just weight-less conscience within the space between

the ground and the sky.

I am nothing and everything at the same time.

I’m the emptiness and the fullness simultaneously.

I am me, and not-me in parallel.

I am, and I am not.

Back to the body then,…

Hmm, I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing to ask anymore.

I remembered that you do your part of the job, by being present,

transmitting signals all the time.

I just have to keep showing up for my part of the job.

And, I’ll do that.

Thanks for “listening” and “responding”.

PS. Don’t take my initial question seriously, because I know that you’ll stay in this body as long as needed for its purpose to be fulfilled. If it is the last “fleshy embracement” of yours, it is. If it’s not the means of transportation that will take “me” to the final destination, it’s not. I let wisdom be manifested, as it does every day, even when I — temporarily — see something as unpleasant.
The Light That Lingers
By: Joanne De Róiste
Tags: Self, Creative Writing, Poetry, Poem, Life

Lingering light,

Neither day nor night,

A paralyzing sight,

Stirring me from plight

To feel all is right

In the universe of life.

Lingering light,

Salve for my bones,

Soul’s repose,

Reconciles me whole,

Shushing the air

In this lullaby lair.

Lingering softly

For the light that lingers

Lingers for me,

Linger longer,

Make me stronger,

Linger in me.
Brazil to Crypto: We’re Watching You
By: The Public Key
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Brazil, Ethereum, Bitcoin

Things are heating up down south. The Brazilian government is looking to track and potentially tax crypto transactions. Specifically, Brazil’s Department of Federal Revenue published a document that states that all Brazil based exchanges have to now share reports every month on their operations. Furthermore, both exchanges and individuals have to declare any crypto transactions over 10,000 Brazilian Reals ($2,700).

This is fascinating, seeing how the same government had allegedly warmed to blockchain earlier this year, having sought to build a blockchain platform to increase communication between government agencies. That said, Brazilians may have other things to worry about. It’s not like a far right leader just got elected there or anything. With rising authoritarianism, it could go either way — Brazil’s new Finance Minister wants Brazil to mirror the right-wing policies of Chile’s 1980’s dictatorship — so in the long run there may either be an embrace or a crackdown on the more libertarian world of digital currencies. Just don’t criticize the government.

For more articles like these and crypto-related events in the SF Bay Area, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter at thepublickey.io.

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That’s Existential Dread, baby!
Tags: Humor, Philosophy, Pets, Comics, Cats

More from rstevens Follow

I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans.
FinanceX — How To Register Your Account
Tags: Exchange, Cryptocurrency, ICO, Bitcoin, Trading

FinanceX crypto-exchange is a convenient, reliable and secure platform focusing on providing fiat-to-coin and coin-to-fiat trading on a real-time automatic trading platform.

To find out more information about FinanceX exchange click here.

Registering your account

First, you need to visit our trading website at: https://financex.io

Click “Sign Up” at the top-right of the screen.
Bisk Volunteers Help Brighten Last Days of School for Young Students
Tags: Employee Engagement, Bisk For The Better, Education, Company Culture, Employee Experience

I’m sure we all remember those days of sitting in elementary class as summer break inches nearer. Your teacher has become the real-life version of Charlie Brown’s teacher. You know, her mouth is moving and you hear some noise, but you are too busy thinking about something more important, like not being at school all summer.

As the years have passed, I have learned that teachers look forward to summer break with similar exuberance. The only difference is in how the adults channel this anticipatory energy.

At Bisk, we are working to play a greater role in improving local and national education experiences year-round.

One small part of this effort was the volunteer opportunity we organized in May to read with students at Limona Elementary School in Brandon. Knowing the 2015–16 school year was nearing a close, teachers and students alike were grateful for this activity.

Our Bisk team worked with Hillsborough County Public Schools for volunteer approval and Assistant Principal Ms. Crim to coordinate logistics to have seven team members spend 30 minutes reading to various individual classes from kindergarten to 5th grade. Our group also prepared a short presentation about Bisk’s history and how we help student accomplish their higher education goals.

We also prepared a fun marketing activity where the students worked in small teams to create a marketing ad to tell people why Limona is such a great school. They were then given a few minutes to present their marketing message. The kids enjoyed the activity and the teachers certainly appreciated seeing the creativity used to describe their school.



At the end of the experience, we walked away from Limona with a deeper appreciation for teachers and certainly fond memories of these wonderful kids; and just a few days later, the kids and teachers alike were able to jump head first into summer break.

Written by Ryan
White Flowers with Golden Smile
By: Era Garg
Tags: Father And Daughter, Scrittura, Smile, Prompt, Flowers

White Flowers with Golden Smile

A Poem

photo by the writer

Years passed since you were around

in glory of health, bespectacled, agile,

redolent of white flowers with golden smile,

with unwavering courage how to spindle

weaving an eloquence in every pixel of life,

you dotingly taught tender hands to write,

the fonts, inks, brushes, crumpled papers

scrambled crosswords, mosaic of phrases,

silhouetted forms of past, sprinting images

saved up proudly in the locker for ages,

The minute you shrouded in a white sheet

alighted from the hospital van, frail;fragile

put to the floor ready for final goodbye,

all white flowers in the garden

of my childhood drooped for a while,

you gave your daughter the gift

of unveiling her heartstrings in a melody;

to deliquesce every scented petal of mind,

I see your face beyond fences of death

among stars so close as warming my eyes,

you lifted me upto placid spheres of sky,

I keep posting you my words infused into

posy of white flowers with golden smile,

overlooking torrents of turbulent times

in my secret garden perennially they thrive.
High School Reunion
Tags: Art, Life, Relationships, Comics, Humor

Written by

Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too.
How I Doubled My Salary as an Engineer in My 30s
By: James Williams
Tags: Leadership, Technology, Careers, Programming, Software Development

How I Doubled My Salary as an Engineer in My 30s

And how you can make it happen for yourself

The abridged answer is I learned how to deliver value.

I’ve read oodles of articles about growing careers that, frankly, sound cliche. As a connoisseur of stuff that helps me strive toward excellence, I consume an impressive amount of articles. Sadly, I am unimpressed with the litany of unoriginal ideas. It’s easy to be bludgeoned by one-liners such as “be all you can be” for modest gains — at best. Many engineers wonder why they have colossal work-loads but remain on a financial treadmill.

Most engineers rise quickly and then plateau.

Earlier in my career, I valued the work. Coding was my dream job; it was existence itself. If you asked me in my 30s if I wanted to manage, I would have declared, “Management is for those who can’t code!”

Obviously, my perspective was juvenile and reflected in my stagnant salary growth. Not surprisingly, I was at the bottom of the cap table — or not on it at all.

I was lucky to learn from exceptional mentors who encouraged me to stop focusing on the aesthetics of being an engineer. Enthralled with the idea of coding, I neglected to spend time thinking about business — I romanticized coding. It’s kind of like those people who you know don’t drink coffee at the office, but they do it to look the part.

Notwithstanding, I was proud of being an engineer. After all, my first coding job was my “I made it” moment. Most importantly, my parents could say their son made it; however, I felt something was missing. What was it?

I honestly couldn’t figure out the missing link until a colleague asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks. It was a question that reshaped my thinking and changed my view.
Change Track of Egyptian Budget in 6 Years
By: Amr Eleraqi
Tags: Infotimes Stories, Budget, Egypt

Change Track of Egyptian Budget in 6 Years

More Debts.. Less Subsidy

Due to the political changes during the last five years, Egypt has witnessed a notable change in government management ways of public expenditure. The government has tended more to debt more and more in an attempt to fill the gap between its revenues and expenditures, which increases the government’s debt and makes it at the top of government’s expenditures in 2015–2016, while it was in the third rank between 2010–2014.

And while the government calls Egyptian citizens for more austerity, public wages are increasing year after year in the public budget.
The biggest ETH bounty ever! 120 ETH for 7 days!
Tags: Bounty Program, Cryptocurrency, Airdrop, Ethereum, Blockchain

Download ABCC app on Google Play

Since the launch of Bounty Global, we’ve worked with different projects to host lots of crypto bounties. Among them, ABCC is always one of the most popular ones.

After the QTUM bounty and AT bounty, the 3rd round of ABCC bounty has just come back with 120 ETH.

Join the bounty at https://abcc.bounty.global Time: September 7 — September 13 Total reward pool: 120 ETH

How to join the bounty?

Telegram:

1. Download ABCC app on Google Play and write a 5-star review for the app. Take a screenshot of your 5-star review and send it to the ABCC Official group and tag admins to give you likes. (ABCC app on Google Play: http://bit.ly/2NTwjOU)

2. Or take a screenshot of your first deposit or your first reward and send it to ABCC Official group. Tag admins to give you likes.

3. The more likes you get, the more content points you earn.

4. The proportion of points you earn determine your rewards from the pool at the end of campaign.

Twitter:

1. Create high-quality replies and tweets of your user experience about ABCC app. Plus, your tweet must mention ABCC official Twitter account.

2. The more retweets and comments you get, the more points you earn. (No readers, no meaning.)

3. Deleting tweet will cancel your reward for the campaign.

4. The proportion of points you earn determine your rewards from the pool at the end of campaign.

Reddit:

1. Submit high-quality articles related to your user experience about ABCC app in ABCC subreddit or other crypto subreddits.

2. The more popular your articles are, the more points you earn. (No readers, no meaning.)

3. Deleting post will cancel your reward for the campaign.

4. The proportion of points you earn determine your rewards from the pool at the end of campaign.

YouTube:

1. Create high-quality video to introduce how to download, features or your user experience about ABCC app. (You must use it yourself and give comments on it.)

2. The more views, likes, and comments your video gets, the more points you earn.

3. Deleting video will cancel your reward for the campaign.

4. The proportion of points you earn determine your rewards from the pool at the end of campaign.

Hope you’ll enjoy the bounty! Feel free to share it to any ETH or crypto community that you like! Because if people join the bounty joins the bounty through your referral link, you’ll get 30% of whatever they win in addition to your own bounty rewards.
I’m Afraid, He’s Afraid. I met a guy while traveling, and I…
By: Ask Olive
Tags: Comics, Relationships, Ask Olive, Advice, Travel

Dear Olive,

I met a guy traveling and don’t know what to do.

I’ll give you the short version of my problem:

I met a guy while traveling in Europe. We ended up living and co-working together for four weeks and had the most incredible time together. We both knew our time was coming to an end, as I had plans to travel on and he had to move to San Francisco for work. We kept in touch every day and he invited me to visit him in San Francisco when he moved there. After two months apart, I flew over and spent almost four weeks living and traveling around the country with him. That time has now come to an end, as he needed to go back to San Francisco, and I had plans to go to Texas to see friends.

I’m crazy about this guy. I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a very long time, and I know he feels the same way. I’m British so I can’t stay in the States past a couple of weeks at a time. The problem we face now is that the time we are apart is too painful, and from his perspective, he doesn’t see a future for us, because I can’t be with him in San Francisco. We both want to see each other again. We both miss each other and he fears that the more we see each other the more attached we’re getting and the more painful it is when we’re apart…

I only had one solution: we carry on seeing each other when possible ( I said lets meet for New Year’s, in his home city of Toronto), or we stop altogether and forget each other. But that seems so crazy when we have such an amazing connection. He’s scared, and I’m scared, too, but I’m willing to just let it fall in place if it’s meant to be.

I’m a freelancer and can live and travel freely.

Any advice would be great.

Sincerely,

Help a Girl Out
Five life-changing paintings everyone should see before dying
By: Beatriz Freitas
Tags: Art, Painting, Museums, Artist, Culture

Guernica (1937) — Pablo Picasso, The Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid

Guernica by Picasso — Oil paints on canvas

Maybe one of the most memorable and symbolic pieces Picasso has ever created, Guernica, is a masterpiece, both in size and in content. The cubist style of the 3,5 by 7,7m canvas brings a different dimension to the meaning and consequences of war, portraited as a brutal, inhuman, chaotic, and painful event that affects militaries and civilians.

This painting is heavily inspired after the bombing of the city of Guernica by Nazi forces in 1937. The magnitude of this tragedy incited Pablo to denounce what had happened to the Spanish people during and after the attack. Through the simultaneous composition of different elements, Picasso was capable of capturing, in a complex layout, the falling out of one of the most agonizing genocides in Spanish history.

At the upper left corner and the middle of the canvas, we can see respectively a bull and a horse, which are both elements of national significance to the Spanish culture. The drawing of these animals with deformed bodies and distorted expressions reverberates with the feeling Picasso had that the military caste was sinking Spain in an ocean of pain and death.

However, Guernica managed to extrapolate the barrier of one country and became in the following years an international declaration of war against war and a manifesto against violence. The soldier lay dead on the floor, reinforces this message by holding a broken sword in one hand and a white poppy in the other. Universally flowers are known for representing a peace offering, translating the painter’s desire of the end of war and brutality.

Fun fact: Dora Maar, Pablo’s girlfriend at the time, photographed the progress of the painting, which allow us today to have an insight into the thought process behind one of the most elaborate artistic protest of the century. In case you are interested, the site of the Museo Reina Sofía has a timeline of the entire painting and its repercussion around the world, along with the photos mentioned before.
XinFin, Black Tier Solutions Partners With W3BT.
By: Xinfin Xdc Hybrid Blockchain Network
Tags: W3bt, Xinfin, Blockchain, Blacktiersolution, Partnerships

XinFin, Black Tier Solutions Partners With W3BT.

Black Tier Solutions will be responsible for assisting W3BT in developing a transition strategy, tokenization and blockchain application for their clients built upon Hybrid Blockchain technology.

XinFin, Black Tier Solutions Partners With W3BT.

Black Tier Solutions has announced a partnership with Web 3.0 Blockchain Transition (W3BT).

As the primary technology partner, Black Tier Solutions will be responsible for assisting W3BT in developing a transition strategy, tokenization and blockchain application for their clients built upon Hybrid Blockchain technology.

“It’s not like blockchain is simple. It’s still very new to anyone not in the space and the technology is constantly evolving. It’s encouraging to see organizations like W3BT who are helping traditional companies in the transition process. This is an exciting time and we are ready to do our part” said Chris Neill, founder of Black Tier Solutions.

Reese Irish founder and CEO at W3BT said; “Our goal is to give exposure to the best technology in the blockchain space that can make a real difference in the future. We want to offer the best solutions to our clients and we are honored to work with such great people at Black Tier and XinFin. This partnership is believed to be a true blessing for not only us but also for everyone involved in our future projects.”

About W3BT

The Web 3.0 Blockchain Transition is the process of increasing the adoption of blockchain technology. There are many brilliant blockchain developers out there. W3BT’s function is the educate and connect people to the knowledge of the importance of utilizing blockchain technology. Many do not understand how businesses can benefit from this technology yet and W3BT’s goal is to close that gap.

XinFin is an open-source enterprise-ready hybrid blockchain for global trade and finance. It combines the power of public and private blockchains with interoperable smart contracts and is fully EVM compatible. For more information on XinFin, please visit XinFin.org.
“JavaScriptmas” challenges with Scrimba
By: Rafał Bogacz
Tags: Scrimba, Challenge, JavaScript, Javascriptmas, Programming

8. Rolling Dice

This challenge is quite different because it involving also HTML and CSS.

DESCRIPTION: In this challenge a casino has asked you to make an online dice that works just like it would in real life. Using the pre-made dice face that represents ‘one’, make the faces for ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four’, ‘five’ and ‘six’. Now when the users clicks the dice on the screen the dice is expected to show one of the faces randomly. DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS: 1. pick out the neccesary elements from the HTML

2. Create other 5 dice faces in CSS

3. use eventlisteners on the appropriate div

4. Display dice faces randomly on click STRETCH GOALS: - Can you show the number you rolled as a integer along-side the dice face?

- Can you improve the overall design?

My explanation

You have plenty of solutions for this. I will be focused on why I decided to do it in this way.

CSS:

For dice, I decided to use the grid layout. Each dot is in a 3x3 grid and has its own coordinates described in classes: dot-a , dot-b … dot-i To center the dots inside fields I used align-self: center and justify-self: center

HTML:

For the proper displaying starting face I added class dot-e to the existing dot.

I also added two div blocks with information about how to reroll and the placeholder for information about the number of drawn dots.

JS:

DICE_FACE_CONFIG represent information about which dots need to be displayed. In index 0 we have information about one-dot-face, in index 4 about five-dots-face, etc.

Our main function is diceRoll inside it we will:

* drew the number from 1 to 6,

* get dice-face config from DICE_FACE_CONFIG based on drawn number

* clear the previous dice-face by removing all dice child nodes from DOM

* set new face based on config by adding dots with proper “dot-char” classes

* set information about drawn dots number
I am Kino
By: Kino Mcfarland
Tags: Poem, Self Love, Poetry, I Like, Self Apprecitation

Self-appreciation is a rebellious act | Photo by Kino McFarland

I am Kino

I like poetry and novels told in verse

I like lots of black paired with neon splashes

I love horses and dogs

And I don’t understand why I should kill a living, screaming being to get the nutrition that I can get from anywhere else.

I like the stories of your behavior even when I don’t like your behavior

I like the stories of my behavior even when I don’t like my behavior

I love how animals look to me for guidance

And I don’t understand how anyone could hurt someone just because they don’t understand them.

I like movies and books

I like entertainment, escapism, and education

I love caffeine and a productive day with a journal that reflects it

And I always forget that it’s okay to give myself the same compassion that I give others.

I am Kino

Not because Kino is my name,

But because Kino is who I like.
Saturating Love
By: Ani Vidrine
Tags: Gratitude, Love, Poetry, Personal Growth, Mindfulness

Saturating Love

Poems From The Porch

photo by SHAH Shah on Unsplash.com

Love is raining,

like a marching band on the tin roof,

a lively parade of exultant bliss.

It is a Saturating Love,

nourishing and cleansing,

generously requiring nothing in return.

Yet the plants and the trees will respond in kind

when Love has done the work of renewal.

There will be blossoms and greening,

displays quite audacious,

spreading Love in joyful exuberance.

And my own fertile heart

will bloom in appreciation

for Love giving Life

giving Love.
Christmas Star
By: Thalia Dunn
Tags: Poetry, Stars, Poetry On Medium, Weekly Prompts, Nature

Sign up for Reflective Vibes

By Know Thyself, Heal Thyself

Reflection, reflection and more reflection. Each Sunday* we'll be sending out an inspirational quote followed by a short commentary, either in written form, video or link. Enjoy! Take a look
Disappointment and Compulsions v1
By: Kerim A. Altuncu
Tags: Art, Spirituality, Abstract, Enlightenment, Life

Photo by Stock Photography on Unsplash

Disappointment and Compulsions

I have a friend. I keep his name a secret. I believe he wants to stay anonymous. He thinks he has got a beef with himself. He thinks he needs to be in the moment. He is about to get ulcers; he pushes himself too hard; he is looking for the Zen.

My friend loves going to places. Botanical Gardens are the first place. Libraries and river-sides are without ranking are either second or third. I see in him a confusion; he is someone; he believes he can see himself. There is always a window for misinterpretation. He is looking for the nay-sayer inside him.

I believe he is blind to himself. I am blind to myself. I am blind. I lost my eyes at the age of 14. I got ran over by an automobile (das automobile) and -spinal damage- dark…

His mother lives in a mountain house. The driveway; covered in pine-leaves. She is a tailoress for a local manufacturer. I see her wear a diamond earring. I think she is old and lovely. In her hause, I can cook tea and pasta with chicken. I find it cozy; her house is making sense to me. This friend is angry.

Come child cross paths child cross carry cans.

Cherry cokes churn chooses child chooses to choke.

Charizards… Questionnaires… Maybe future white rock giants.
IDAP(BFX) IEO on ProBit Exchange. IDAP’s rebranded token, BFX will be…
By: Bitfex Exchange
Tags: Altcoins, Announcements, Cryptocurrency, Initial Exchange Offering, Bitcoin

BFX sale details and why you should participate

Quarter 3 of 2019 will be packed with many important events for IDAP. For those who may have missed out on earlier announcements, the IDAP token has been rebranded as BFX and the IDAP derivatives exchange will go live on the domain bitfex.com. We will be conducting an IEO for BFX on ProBit Exchange. The price during IEO will be $0.03/BFX. The IEO page on ProBit is live here. To participate in the IEO, click on the link and follow the instructions given.

About BFX

BFX is an ERC20 token that powers IDAP Ecosystem’s exchange, Bitfex. The tokenomics of BFX have been designed to transfer maximum value from the business to the token holders.

There are several benefits of holding BFX:

For Retail Traders: HODL a minimum number of BFX and get rewarded with Zero-Fee Trading

a minimum number of BFX and get rewarded with For Institutional Clients: HODL BFX and get rewarded with Free Master Account

BFX and get rewarded with USE BFX to pay trading fees and get 50% discount

BFX to pay trading fees and get HODL BFX and get free access to the desktop trading application

BFX and get to the desktop trading application HODL BFX and get early access to various exchange events, referral programs and more

BFX additional features:

Dis-inflationary in nature : BFX equivalent to 20% of revenue will be burnt till supply reaches 500 million BFX

: BFX equivalent to 20% of revenue will be burnt till supply reaches 500 million BFX BFX priced at a minimum of $0.03 while calculating trading fees

Benefits for IEO Participants

BUY & HODL 100,000 BFX and get commission-free trading

42% Bonus for participants buying using PROB

40% Bonus for participants buying using USDT, BTC, ETH or XRP

About IDAP

IDAP is the first complete crypto derivatives ecosystem, whose exchange Bitfex will go live on bitfex.com, introducing users to low-risk trading instruments like crypto spreads and butterfly, along with a highly advanced desktop trading platform that sports the revolutionary point-and-click ladder trading interface. Through its institutional grade infrastructure, diverse product line and trader-friendly platform features, the IDAP ecosystem will attract traders and investors of all kinds to its exchange.

About ProBit

ProBit is a global exchange that offers fast and reliable trading engine and hardware security keys that match more than 1. 5 million orders per second and only provides the users with promising, qualified, and worthy investment cryptocurrency projects.

ProBit recently established the Korean branch to support KRW transaction.

ProBit Global: www.probit.com

ProBit Korea: www.probit.kr
Serpent Rock: the Marines at their peak
By: Ministry Of Defence
Tags: Gibraltar, Military, Royal Marines, Training, Photo Essay

Serpent Rock: the Marines at their peak

Royal Marines of 43 Commando test their grit in the harsh landscape of Gibraltar: across cliff faces, dark oceans and cold tunnels.

Once a year, the Royal Marines visit Gibraltar for a month of training. A round-the-clock schedule includes beach landings, abseiling down cliffs and trekking through the tunnels inside Gibraltar Rock.

On cliffs
How I Explained Sexual Assault to My 8-Year-Old Daughter
By: Estrella Ramirez
Tags: Healing, Relationships, Parenting, Feminism, Women

This year has been hard for everyone, even our smallest members of society. As a mother, it’s given me an opportunity to have very important conversations with my daughters.

We’ve talked about the responsibility we have to our community to wear our masks to protect our friends and neighbors. We’ve talked about social injustice, what racism is, where it all began, and how we can support our brothers and sisters of every race and ethnicity. We’ve talked about how inspiring it is to see the first woman of color on the ballot for the vice presidency.

None of these conversations prepared me for the most difficult conversation I’ve had since I became a Mom. Last night, while I was cooking dinner, the 5 o’clock news was on. One of the major headlines of the day focused on the survivors of the Golden State Killer, confronting him.

During their statements, the women described what he had done to them when he attacked and assaulted them. These recounts of their experiences are what facilitated this hard conversation.
Forecasting Demand for Bike Sharing System with Python — Part 3
By: Cheer Hung
Tags: Forecasting, Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Data Science

This is the distribution of errors(Actual — Predicted) and we can also infer that as we started fitting more complex models with tuned hyper-parameters the errors started reducing to 0.

Conclusion

Here is the result after we run all the models:

As it can be seen the best R-Squared we achieved is very high and the RMSE comes close to the top predictions that could be found online which we attribute to the steps we have undertaken in the feature engineering section. However, there are improvement opportunities which can be tackled in future researches.

Recommendation

The recommendations for futures researches can split in broadly 3 categories:

1. Deploying other techniques to predict bike demand

To treat this problem as a time series problem and fit an ARIMA model or a linear regression of which the error terms would be predicted with a time series model.

As we noticed that the rental behaviour of registered and casual renters differs greatly, it might make sense to train two different models, one for registered users and one for casual users. Finally adding the predictions to get an idea of what the day would look like in terms of total rentals.

2. Enriching the data and clarify anomalies

It could further be investigated which other variables proof to be helpful in predicting the demand of bikes and either enriching the dataset with these variables or starting to gather those variables in the future. Moreover, it is recommended that future researchers get in contact with the owners of these data to clarify the origin (e.g. downtime of the system, measuring error, etc.) of the anomalies of the data in order to make more informed decisions how to handle those outliers.

3. Employ more feature engineering and validation techniques
Industry Expert on Semantics of Blockchain
By: Finrazor Team
Tags: Fintech, Blockchain, Crypto

Nic Carter, a co-founder of Coinmetrics.io, says that the meaning of ‘blockchain’ has been diluted to the extent that the word now defies the English grammar itself by refusing to have an article. It is not theblockchain, neither is it a blockchain. It is just capitalized Blockchain.

‘Blockchain’, Nic explains, is now a marketing tool for countless ICOs and IBMs of the world that have little to nothing to do with actual ‘chains of hash-based proof-of-works’, which is the precise term Nakamoto used in the whitepaper.

With that said, the Bitcoin data structure is in fact a chain of blocks in that it is a linear collection of data elements each referencing its predecessor. But this is not the only defining criterion of a blockchain. The more important aspect of a blockchain is the proof-of-work network consensus that makes such architecture resistant to any unilateral attempt to change or censor it, whereas enterprise, private and permissioned ledgers fail meet this criterion.

Dive deeper into the semantics of ‘blockchain’ by reading Nic’s full article on Medium.

Earlier Finrazor brought clarifications on the definition of a blockchain by collecting industry experts’ opinions.
You’re The Only Thing On My Christmas List This Year
By: Jj West
Tags: Christmas, Love, Poetry, Family, Haiku

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