fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
First Principle of NativeOrigin.
By: Kaushal Trivedi
Tags: Nativeorigin, About Us, Makingofnativeorigin, Ayurveda, Vision

And maybe it is not.

Maybe I am just forming these thoughts, but.

While writting a note on some over hyped product I had an epiphany. Brands are living entities that get created over thousands of interactions customers experience. As we build the business of NativeOrigin, there will be hundreds and thousands of small decisions made that eventually lead us into the direction intended.

There has to be an over archining principle that governs the why of all those decisions.

Just as in an earlier MakingOfNativeOrigin article I’d stated it stands for Native & Origin , I discovered an uber abstration even behind those that can be called our first principle.

In our case, it probably is the principles of Ayurveda.

In a world of jargon — sustainability, climate, carbon neutral, organic, cruelty free, responsible sourcing, fair trade and what not , for us these remain fragmented visions that can be brought together by

Ayurveda’s vision of food, health & beauty as a continum of a person living with nature, not against it.

That means every product we offer should measure against specific sutra of the ayurveda and we should be able to map it so. It can mean little things like every product label carries Rasa,Guna,Virya,Vipaka,Prabhava of the material. It could mean offering a utility where any reciepes ingredients you feed and based on your own prakriti (as per ayurveda) and current season , an indicator of how “ayurveda compliant” it is shows.

Gradually the products characteristics will also be linked with geographic characterists and season of growth untill we come to treat food & medicine interchangebly.

It’s a tall goal for an audience that often gets carried away by the faddish and often does not bother about the intricate, not to mention pricing. But in a world of short term players, just carrying on with this long term vision that’s almost a way of life, is a life well spent.
How to save on contact lenses
By: Peter Wills
Tags: Frugal, Contact Lenses, Budgeting, Money Saving Tips, Vision

A few simple tips to save $200–400

Buy your contacts online

To buy contact lenses online or in-store you have to have a valid prescription. Without a valid prescription you can’t buy contact lenses. As usual your optometrist offer you to buy contact lenses from office after eye exam but you must know that In accordance with Federal Regulation you have right to get your prescription and buy contacts anywhere you want. Buying contact lenses online is much cheaper. As usual you can save 50% on the same lenses.

Compare prices on your brand

As usual online prices on specific brand are very different as stores compete hard to gain new customer and you can use this. Always compare prices before and calculate shipping/handling fees and discounts as it can have big impact on final price. You can also use price comparison tools like Contactsprice to find the cheapest price. Then if you know the best price on you brand you can ask your optometrist to match the price or ask 1800-contacts to beat the price (they offer best price guarantee) or just buy from where you have find the cheapest price if this store have good reviews.
The “Great Resignation” reveals a question to ponder: Are you completing or quitting?
By: Pinar Yucealp
Tags: Coaching, Personal Growth, Leadership, The Great Resignation, Vision

This brings to mind an example of what I would consider good leadership: One of my friends runs a communications agency. A team member responsible for media monitoring and client reporting, tendered his resignation saying that he was fed up with the job. He said he wanted to do something more meaningful, more creative for himself. And then, his manager asked the vital questions.

What is the difference between quitting and completing for you? Which one are you more close? What is the real issue? What will make you ready for the next adventure? Tell me, what have you learned this year? What could be the possible interesting learning you have ahead? What are your options? What would you explore next?

These are some of the key questions to be asked by the leader to foster completeness.

Searching for the answers during the coaching sessions, he realized that he wanted to be a photographer. He wanted to be in the field, taking photos. The meaning of taking photos for him is ‘creating the visuals to depict the reality and raise the consciousness as to what is happening in the world’. What a great mission, I thought.

And finding that mission, he was ready to move to the next step. This was his wake-up call and he had learnt what he needed to learn. Now, he was complete.

The result: my friend offered him the exact role he wanted in her company. He continues working for the same company but in a different role. It was apparent that he completed his mission in media monitoring and followed his path towards his next adventure. My friend retained a very enthusiastic photographer which is key for her business. A win-win situation in the end. This, I felt was a truly tremendous leadership example and a learning story about ‘feeling complete’ versus ‘quitting’.
Analyst,the most valuable tool in Data analysis
By: Jaspreet Kaur
Tags: Google Analytics, Analytical, Digital Analysis, Digital Analyst, Digital Marketing

Though the use of Analytics Tool depends upon various factors like

1) Data Density

If the Data Density is high, then ENTERPRISE PACKAGE seems to be a good option.

If the Data Density is moderate , then POINT SOLUTIONS works better.

If the Data Density is low, then ANALYSIS GADGETS come into the picture.

2) Budget allocated to the Data Analysis

Depending upon the budget,we can select the best out of available number of options like

CLICKSTREAM ANALYSIS

OUTCOME ANALYSIS

VOICE OF CUSTOMER

TESTING

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

MISC EMERGING ANALYTICS

Use of available free tools like GOOGLE TRENDS,GOOGLE CORRELATE, THINK INSIGHTS AND CONSUMER SURVEYS can also be advisable in many cases.

But WHAT, WHEN AND WHY a specific tool should be picked up, is the decision in the hands of Analyst. Web Analyst hold the valuable position to take care of the success of Marketing Decisions. So,the tools can be of great importance for best marketing strategies but the Analyst holds the most crucial place for their actual success.
How Much Should I Spend On Google Ads?
By: Prasenjit Chowdhury
Tags: Google Analytics, Google Adwords, PPC Marketing, Google Ads, Google

It is difficult to give you a specific number when you wonder how much to spend on Google Ads.

The expense varies widely depending on your selling goals, how broad of a geographic area you are targeting, search volume, and the competitiveness in your sector.

The positive thing is that you can customize your campaign and choose precisely how much to spend on Google Ads a day. The negative aspect is that you can’t guess how much to spend.

Spending too little won’t generate any leads. On the other hand, spending a lot will mean wasting your resources. Rather than wasting money on Google Ads, you can use these resources for proper SEO and content marketing.

The less you spend, the more you limit your ROI.

The wider your goals are, the more money you need to spend.

To achieve the goal, you need to use the trial and error method, as there’s no specific way to have it. Still, try it out!

Steps to follow to try out the trial and error method:

We have to follow a trial and error method to determine how much to spend on Google Ads. So, let’s see how you can find the right answer to how much to spend on Google Ads.

Create a test budget first. You have to keep in mind that you are investing in market research. With testing, you can recognize what ad messages are targeting the audience and converting the clicks into leads. Then make a new budget. If your last budget helped generate leads, then abandon it and create a new one with the improved strategy and higher goals. It would be best if you focused on ROI, not cost. If you want to dominate your marketing sector, you can’t think about the expenses. But you must remember to analyze your marketing strategies to maximize the ROI. It would be best if you focused on EPC, not PPC. Many advertisers focus on lowering their PPC. They improve their Google Ads quality scores to cheaper their click rate. But the main focus should be on increasing your earnings per click (EPC). If you manage to get the highest EPC in the market, you can gain more clicks, more leads, and more customers, leaving your competitors far behind.

Therefore, you need to follow some tactics to strategically plan your budget and minimize the expense to win the Google Ads battle. Hopefully, you will be able to determine how much to spend on Google Ads once you try out the above method.
Different Types of Cookies in Google Analytics
By: Venu Gopal
Tags: Googleanalyticscookies, Ga Cookies, Google Analytics

Ga will process the user journey by using cookies.

_utma: this cookie usually expires after two years. However, if your visitors come back to your website, the cookie will be refreshed and the countdown will start over.

Default Expiration Time:2 years from set/update

Where we can find _utma cookies related data in GA?

we can find _utma cookies data on GA → Audience — >Userexplorer (Client ID), IDs associated with different users. The IDs were assigned to the __utma cookie.

_utmb: This cookie keeps track of timeouts and the number of page views your website gets. _utmb cookes also records the start time of each visit.This cookie expires at the end of 30 minutes of inactivity on the site. However, if your visitor goes to a new page, then it will be refreshed and the 30 minutes countdown will start over.

Default Expiration Time: 30 mins from set/update

_utmc: This cookie will manage the track of your website sessions. Once as soon as a visit ends, and the browser closes by not performing any other interactions, __utmc will record this as one session.

Default Expiration Time: End of browser session

_utmz: This cookie will identify traffic analysis and shorts from which channel traffic came to your website.

Default Expiration Time: 6 months from set/update

Where we can find _utmz cookies-related data in GA?

You can get this data in GA → Audience →Userexplorer [Aquistion channel]

__utmv: This cookie used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor-level custom variable.

The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

Default Expiration Time: 2 years from set/update
The Thing Between My Two Ears
By: Justina Ogodo
Tags: Google Analytics, Twitter, Gｏｏｇｌｅ, Facebook, Academia

The Thing Between My Two Ears

All-Free-download.com

I recently read a children’s book title, “If You Give A Moose A Muffin” by Laura Numeroff. I found this book to be very interesting because if what I read about the Moose's brain was correct, I believe my brain is wired like that of a Moose.

I don’t know about you, but it seems like my brain is ALWAYS, actively making connections from one thing to the other, linking common insignificant things in life, in an attempt to make sense of them. So, in this short piece, I introduce myself, as Tinko Eclectic. Why? You may ask. Because for one, Tinko, culturally means “seasoned meat” where I came from. So yes, I am not a spring chicken. This means I have experienced a lot of Christmases. Eclectic, I am like the Moose in that story. I see stories, research material, and social issues that can spur public discourse in everything and anything. Not surprising, if your brain is like mine, restless, right?

Okay, let’s walk through some of my Moose moments.

Have you ever had half-baths because you had an epiphany while taking a bath and knew you had to jump out immediately and write down the thought before it disappears the way it appeared, in your brain? Yes, me too. Or, have you woken up in the middle of the night to take a piss (excuse my french) and quickly turned on your night lamp to jot down an idea or information that finally made sense, that seems so creative or imaginative? Yes, that too. How about you are driving and suddenly a tune you have never heard before, or some sense-making conclusion to a storyline you have been contemplating suddenly floated through and you grab your phone and start voice-recording, thinking this is going to be epic? I double-second that too. I can go on but I think you get the gist.

Where have all these moments led to?

I am so glad you asked. You and your curious mind wanting to know where this story ends. Yes, you just confirm it, you are like me. Fact is, all these momentous ideas and thoughts are chilling either as sticky notes on my vision board — yes, I have one too, with uncountable voice recordings on my phone, songs that may never be heard outside my phone, or papers and articles that will continue to be in the “under-preparation” folder(s). The sad thing is I never pursued most of these rabbit holes to a conclusive end. I wonder why? Are you here with me too, let me know, what’s your story?
TV-TWO Payout Proof
Tags: Transparency, Rewards, Blockchain, Apps, Cryptocurrency

TV-TWO is a crypto-first application, where blockchain delivers transparency to all participants of the ecosystem. As a user looking to earn money on your smartphone, your time is limited and you must make sure that you are getting paid. At TV-TWO, we value your time and engagement. Therefore, we decided to pass on advertising revenue to you as a user and take transparency to the next level. While traditional reward apps always carry some payout uncertainty, crypto guarantees full transparency.

Crypto is the solution!

On TV-TWO, users are rewarded with TTV Ethereum Tokens (ERC20) for their attention. Users collect rewards and receive cryptocurrency payouts. Thanks to the Ethereum blockchain, you as a user can always make sure that TV-TWO is paying out rewards by looking at the TTV token transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

Where can I find the payout proof?

Feel free to have a look at the crypto payouts on Etherscan. Every 3 days, large numbers of payouts are being performed through the Ethereum blockchain— in an immutable, fully transparent fashion. You find a list of all the token transactions ever processed. We are happy to welcome you back frequently to show you that our users are continuously getting paid!
100% impact plastic cleanups (and that is for real)
By: Wilhelm Myrer
Tags: Recycling, Transparency, Plastic Pollution, Blockchain, Donations

Plastic Credits with 100% IMPACT → 0% to Empower

EMPOWER is happy to have announced that we are providing Plastic Credits as a FREE SERVICE for all collectors and cleanup-organisations on our platform immediately.

100% of your donations goes directly to the waste collectors and your impact is beyond what you can find anywhere else — Let’s push for transparency & traceability that can change the world for real!

What does this mean:

100% of any donations for plastic cleanups goes directly to the organisations and people on the ground doing the work. The main purpose is to fund cleanups and help kick-start waste management infrastructure where it is needed the most. We want to empower local entrepreneurs and give them the tools to grow.

0% goes to Empower for facilitating and documenting the impact, we take this cost on us and still make sure money goes directly where it should go — we still provide the (blockchain secured) proof of and trust. The only costs are 3rd party costs (like banks) who still charge for their part of this service.

So when we say 100% — does it mean that money go to Empowers local orgs, infrastructure, software?

NO! 0% is 0%! We don’t fund our own operations, own collection points or plastic banks with this it all goes to local entrepreneurs and waste pickers.

WE WANT REAL IMPACT that improves the life of people everywhere, also on the ground, and we believe by kickstarting waste management infrastructure everywhere, there will be enough opportunities for Empower to grow.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? To boost the cleanup of plastic waste around the world we need funding that goes where it has the most impact, we are looking for partners and supporters who want to help fund these collectors and their work on the ground. Partners that want to help create change and real impact, empowering people around the world to take real action in the fight against plastic pollution with awareness and concrete solutions.

JOIN US HERE: www.plastic-positive.com or hi@empower.eco

Read about Plastic Credits here:
Published: Our First Proof of Funds by Ernst & Young
By: Shalini Wood
Tags: Blockchain, Audit, Fintech, Transparency

We are fully committed to transparency and compliance and are pleased to publish our very first proof of funds audit report by Ernst & Young. The published report reiterates how e-Money’s European stablecoins are fully collateralized, backed with actual bank deposits held at commercial banks. e-Money stablecoin adoption is at a very nascent stage and such is reflected in the stablecoin reserves of the past quarter. We expect our stablecoin reserves to grow rapidly in the coming months as we launch liquidity mining campaigns and increase the number of connected networks.

About E-Money

The e-Money protocol is built for the issuance of a range of interest-bearing currency-backed stablecoins reflecting various world currencies. Each token is backed by a reserve of assets denominated in its underlying currency. e-Money currently supports the Euro (EUR), Swiss Franc (CHF), Swedish Krona (SEK), Norwegian Krone (NOK), and the Danish Krone (DKK) with a host of additional currencies pegged for release throughout the year. The project is dedicated to total transparency with quarterly reserve audits performed by Ernst & Young.

Unlike most existing stablecoins which aim to maintain a static 1:1 peg with their underlying assets, the value of e-Money’s currency-backed tokens continually shifts in line with the interest accrued on the reserve assets. This means that holders benefit from the interest accrued on their assets while they sit securely in your wallet. The e-Money blockchain supports instant payments at scale and includes a DEX for easy conversion between currencies. e-Money has already integrated with Ethereum and expects to integrate with Binance Smart Chain, Cosmos Hub, Avalanche, Polygon, and Elrond in 2021.

Telegram I Twitter I LinkedIn I GitHub
Secret Contracts Hurt Consumers, Citizens, and Climate
By: Todd Moss
Tags: Contracts, Energy, Transparency, Finance, Government Transparency

Todd Moss and Charles Kenny

In 2019, Ghana paid an estimated $620 million for electricity that the country did not need or use. That’s a sign of the damage done by secret deals for power.

When President Nana Akufo-Addo came to power in 2016, his government inherited 43 electricity contracts that the previous administration had signed, guaranteed, or both. The new team quickly cancelled 11 contracts and set about delaying or renegotiating many of the rest. The US Securities and Exchange Commission successfully prosecuted a bribery case over one power project. Meanwhile, electricity outages continued. Aiming for financial solvency in the face of commitments to buy expensive power, Ghana’s industrial tariffs were raised to $0.22/kWh, among the highest in the world. And the country’s plans to expand renewable energy are stalling, in part because of too many questionable projects already in the pipeline.

How did this happen? Mostly in the dark. That means Ghana’s public still doesn’t know exactly what occurred, who was involved, and what obligations may still be lingering. Unlike oil contracts or most sovereign borrowing, the legal document at the heart of most private electricity generation projects — the power purchase agreement or PPA — is shielded from the public. Although hidden contracts are common across emerging markets, there is no benefit to secrecy — and, as Ghana’s story suggests, huge risks.

That’s why we, along with Penn State law professor and PPA guru Mohamed Rali Badissy, are proposing greater transparency around electricity contracts. Specifically, we argue for publishing PPAs as a first step.

We make the case that establishing norms of PPA disclosure will help to reduce the risks that Ghana and many other countries face from backdoor dealings, overpayment, mounting debt, and unnecessary overcapacity that all conspire to delay the provision of low cost reliable power for everyone.

There’s urgency too for clean energy advocates who hope that emerging markets will rapidly accelerate utility-scale wind and solar: if every contract has to be customized and negotiated in secrecy over many years, we will never deploy fast enough. Transparency allows for standardization, scaling and learning what works, reducing the time and cost of reaching agreements, and helping to ensure they deliver for both climate and customers.

Our paper is the first salvo in a wider campaign for much-needed transparency across the power sector. Read the full paper here and watch for more here. For Ghanaians and for the 3 billion-plus people worldwide currently living without cheap, reliable, sustainable power, sunlight is a must.
Understanding Engagement with (Mis)Information News Sources on Facebook
By: Cybersecurity For Democracy
Tags: Disinformation, Transparency, Facebook, News, Misinformation Research

Understanding Engagement with (Mis)Information News Sources on Facebook

Posts from misinformation news sources got six times more engagement than factual information in lead up to 2020 elections Cybersecurity for Democracy Follow Sep 14 · 7 min read

by Laura Edelson, Minh-Kha Nguyen, Ian Goldstein, Oana Goga, Tobias Lauinger, and Damon McCoy.

This summary is based on an upcoming paper which has been accepted by the ACM Internet Measurement Conference 2021, November 2–4, 2021.

Background

Researchers from New York University, the Université Grenoble Alpes, and French the National Centre for Scientific Research conducted a system-level analysis of user engagement with misinformation from news sources on Facebook, in a new peer-reviewed study covering a five month period in 2021, August 10, 2020 — January 11, 2021. The researchers evaluate how Facebook users interact with content from 2,551 news sources, which have been evaluated for their reputation for misinformation and partisanship. They do this by studying user engagement from a number of angles to build a holistic picture of how news (mis)information content performs on Facebook.

Top findings

Across the political spectrum, posts from news sources that regularly traffic in misinformation have a statistically significant and large engagement advantage–by a factor of six–-over posts from news sources that have a record of factualness.

In absolute terms however, engagement with misinformation sources only makes up a majority of overall engagement in the Far Right category, where engagement with misinformation sources made up 68% of overall engagement. This is because in other partisan categories, misinformation sources make up a much smaller share of the number of publishers.

The researchers found no evidence that Facebook’s algorithms reward partisanship or bias by news sources.

Data sources: The study relies on two third-party data providers, NewsGuard and Media Bias/Fact Check, to evaluate news sources by partisanship and by misinformation and factualness. For data on Facebook user engagement, data was drawn from CrowdTangle, a Facebook business analytics tool made available to researchers.

Misinformation: This study defines misinformation as any information that is false or misleading, regardless of the intent of the author or distributor of the information. They consider misinformation to include disinformation which refers to false or misleading content that is communicated with the intent to deceive. False information communicated in error or by ignorance also falls under the umbrella of misinformation.
Digging into Delivery: Minimizing the Cost and Environmental Impact of Mail
By: Stephen Tracy
Tags: Transparency, Small Business, B Corp, Climate Change, Logistics

The Practical Price of Delight

Shipping and fulfillment constitute one of the largest expenses for many online businesses (the Cost of Goods Sold). This is certainly true for Keap, where the costs of shipping materials and postage average about 21% of our monthly sales.

In simple shipping parlance, shipping rates are determined by weight and by zone. As of 2021, USPS Priority mail charges us $7.79 to ship a single candle from Kingston to New York City, while charging $11.69 to ship from Kingston to California. This doesn’t take into account the costs of preparing packages for shipment; the costs of shipping materials like shipping boxes, labels and tape, which runs about $2 per candle; or the price inflation we tend to see over time on all costs.

Shipping costs account for 21% of our costs running Keap. Data, 2021 Year-to-Date (Aug, 21).

This is also why we have had to ask customers to cover a $5 shipping cost on any orders under $60. The economics of paying $8–$11 shipping on a single candle, alongside further costs such as potential replacements or returns, simply does not add up.

For most companies, the best way to minimize shipping costs is to ship more items at a time. There is a high fixed price for shipping any package but smaller incremental increases as a package gets heavier. In Keap candle terms, shipping a single candle package to New York costs $7.79 in postage, but shipping four candles costs only $8.31. That is to say, we can ship three more candles for only $0.52 more in postage. This is why we’ve always offered a large, year-round discount on our multi-packs of candles, as we’re able to pass these savings on to our customers.

Toward Our Vision

Alongside the practical steps noted above, many resources go into the process of fulfilling a package — from human care and effort, to the use of fuel in transportation, to the amount of packaging used for shipping. As a Certified B Corporation we exist to prioritize connection to the world around us and create net benefit, so we constantly look for ways to make our impact a positive one.

This means paying our team living wages to ensure they thrive inside and outside of work (our current starting wage is $24.50 per hour for full-time Keapees, and $20 for seasonal associates who join us at busy times of year). It means working toward zero waste packaging. And it means considering the impact of the shipping methods we use. This is a long-term journey, and our goals and plans around getting to net benefit are something we will continue to share in years to come.
Wear it Three Ways — Versatile Necklaces
By: Scarlett Sinclaire
Tags: Featured

Whenever we buy an item for our closet, we hope we can put it to good use. Everyone has their go-to necklace, blazer, earrings or blouse. These items are our favorites because we can endlessly mix and match them. We can create a variety of outfits with them, and each look is different from the last. One of our many favorite pieces of jewelry to mix and match are black spinel necklaces! It’s a great necklace to add to your collection because it is effortless to mix, match, and layer! In this blog, we’re going to show you a variety of ways to style black spinel necklaces.

For the first look, we’ve paired a black spinel strand with a turquoise abalone shell necklace. These necklaces are a great match for layering because of the varying lengths. We also love pairing a black spinel necklace with a silver pendant because it really allows the darker colors to pop!

The second look is all about lengths and textures. The first piece is a chunky black spinel necklace that sits close to the neck. We’ve paired it with a freshwater pearl, labradorite and agate necklace which adds a variety of earth tones to this layered look. This look is completed with a sparkly black spinel strand!

Another effortless way to style a black spinel necklace is pairing it with a gemstone pendant. This yellow Brazilian citrine pendant pairs brilliantly with the long spinel strands, and allows the yellow gemstone to shine.

A few versatile pieces of jewelry are essential in everyone’s jewelry box! A necklace, band ring or bangle bracelet that can be paired with a variety of pieces are what you will find yourself reaching for when adding last-minute touches to your outfit!

-Allie
Yona Elig © is our featured Instagram artist of the day
By: Eye Photomagazine
Tags: Featured, Magazine, Art, Photography, Publishing

Yona Elig: I first discovered the pleasure of sitting and observing people in a café years ago, when I lived in Paris. I have to admit that smoking was allowed in those days, that smokey atmosphere of the cafes gave my images a soft, dark, foggy effect. Now smoking is no longer allowed I decided to create my own effects in post-processing, to preserve that Cafe Culture feeling.

There is a certain ambience in Cafes, a game of lights and shadows that plays with the people, the cups, the newspapers and more…this is what I try to capture. People usually mind their own business, share with friends, read the news or nowadays scroll on their phones or laptops. It makes them easy subjects. Simple to catch without disturbing them. I like to respect their privacy even if I am stealing a moment of their lives. (text from Yona Elig’s website: https://www.yonaelig.com

Check out and follow the artist on Instagram: @yona.elig

Visit the artist’s website: www.clemono.com

The artist is also present on Medium Yona Elig

EYE-PHOTO MAGAZINE is an independent non-profit online publisher, promoting photography since 2013 — you can find us on all popular social media platforms.

If you are interested in publishing your work in our magazine or in cooperation with us, don’t hesitate to get in touch:

office@eye-photomagazine.com

>>>> Check out our monthly publications here!

Links:

Website: www.eyephotomagazine.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/eye.photomagazine

Tumblr: eyephotomagazine.tumblr.com

Twitter: @eyephotomag

Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/eyephotomagazine

Yona Elig ©

Yona Elig ©

Yona Elig ©

#photooftheday #instagood #capturestreets #picoftheday #streetclassics #streetart #streetphotography #streetphoto #life_is_street #dreamstreets #streetphotographer #streetstyle #urbanstories #streetphotographerscommunity #everybodystreet #urbanstyle #streets_storytelling #streetlife #bnw #streetphotography_color #streetleaks #colorstreet #street_photo #thinkverylittle #street_vision #spicollective #zonestreet #fujifilm_street #streetizm
New Google Cloud Tau VM Benchmarks
By: Sam Andaluri
Tags: Featured, Google Cloud Platform

Overview

Recently DoiT International obtained access to pre-release versions of the newest Tau VMs (T2D instance type) from Google Compute Engine. The T2D family of instances are based on 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors and offers significant performance improvements over similar instances from other cloud providers. DoiT’s Customer Reliability Engineers conducted a side-by-side comparison testing compute instances on Google Cloud and AWS platforms.

Benchmarking Google Tau instances

Summary

Tests were conducted using the PerfKitBenchmarker tool, with a T2D GCE instance with 16 vCPUs on Google Cloud Platform and an equivalent Amazon EC2 Gravitron m6g.4xlarge. CoreMark was used as the benchmark to test the CPU cores in both cloud providers. The T2D instance scored 469318 whereas the Amazon Graviton2 m6g.4xlarge scored 311939 where the Google Compute Engine T2D instance proved to be 50% better than the equivalent Amazon Gravitron 2 based EC2 M6G instance. See below for the results:

Test Procedure

Since the tests on Google Cloud Platform were performed with a pre-release compute instance class, PerfKitBenchmarker required several modifications to make it work. The command line below is expected to work when the machines are publicly available. For the AWS test, the PerfKitBenchmarker was used as-is. An example command is shown below:

Google Cloud

python3 pkb.py --cloud=GCP --benchmarks=coremark --coremark_parallelism_method=SOCKET --machine_type=t2d-standard-16 --os_type=ubuntu1804 --run_stage_iterations=50 --zone=us-central1-f

AWS

python3 pkb.py --cloud=AWS --benchmarks=coremark --coremark_parallelism_method=SOCKET --machine_type=m6g.4xlarge --os_type=ubuntu1804 --run_stage_iterations=50 --region=us-east-1a

Results

GCE Tau t2d-standard-16

CoreMark 1.0 : 469318.315147 / GCC7.5.0 -O2 -g -O2 -DMULTITHREAD=16 -DUSE_SOCKET -DPERFORMANCE_RUN=1 -DPERFORMANCE_RUN=1 -lrt / Heap / 16:Sockets

Amazon EC2 Gravitron m6g.4xlarge instance

CoreMark 1.0 : 311939.483740 / GCC7.5.0 -O2 -g -O2 -DMULTITHREAD=16 -DUSE_SOCKET -DPERFORMANCE_RUN=1 -DPERFORMANCE_RUN=1 -lrt / Heap / 16:Sockets

Given an exact test with equivalent cores of an equivalent system, GCE Tau family instances are 50% better than Amazon Gravitron2 based EC2 M6G instances. This enables customers to optimize their workloads for performance and cost on T2D Google Compute Engine instances.

Learn more about DoiT’s cloud engineering expertise here. Read more about the Tau VM benchmarks in the Google Cloud Introduces Tau VMs | Google Cloud Blog.
DID 101: A Brief Introduction to What Makes Ontology Special
By: The Ontology Team
Tags: Featured, Oscore, Did, Decentralized Identity, Ont Id

DID 101: A Brief Introduction to What Makes Ontology Special

DID, ONT ID, OScore…you might have heard us use these words, before.

Yet, you’re still unsure what they all mean.

Here’s an overview of the key features that make Ontology special.

Decentralized Identity & ONT ID

With traditional ID systems, a central authority or tech platform controls the data (e.g. phone numbers, email addresses) provided to it by users.

The users (i.e. the data providers), therefore, have very little control over how their personal data is stored and who has access to it.

Ontology’s decentralized identity (DID) framework, ONT ID, is different. By providing a self-sovereign system of data authorization and ownership confirmation, ONT ID puts the power in the hands of users.

With ONT ID, ID generation, storage, and other critical operations, are fully automated and decentralized, allowing users operating within the ecosystem full control and ownership over any data associated with them.

Discrete IDs linked across various ecosystems can have multiple delegates and attributes. With verifiable credentials, entities (i.e. individuals, enterprises, institutions, devices) can make and verify claims related to data ownership, access rights, and validation.

Verifying Credentials with ONT ID

ONT ID allows you to verify credentials, whilst protecting your data and privacy.

You can verify many different kinds of credentials such as passports, national IDs, and social media accounts. Verifying credentials is one way to boost your OScore (more on this later).

The beauty of ONT ID is that you, the user, decide who has access to your verified data.

For example, imagine a third party required you to verify an aspect of your identity, such as your nationality. With ONT ID, you could share this single data point whilst keeping your name, date of birth, home address, and any other sensitive information, completely private.

You can create an ONT ID now by downloading ONTO Wallet, Ontology’s decentralized cross-chain wallet.

OScore

OScore is an independent on-chain reputation system, generated using on-chain data including your ONT ID, engagements, assets, and credentials.

Your OScore is based on data authorized by you and is updated to reflect changes in behavior and lending practices.

OScore is not associated with your off-chain identities. In other words, it respects user privacy and supports full anonymity.

Your OScore increases as you add more decentralized data to your ONT ID.

A higher OScore brings with it certain benefits such as better lending rates on platforms like Wing Finance, Ontology’s credit-based DeFi platform.

OScore also benefits credit grantors, helping them decide whether to open a credit line and how much credit to extend to a particular borrower.

Summary

Let’s put together everything we’ve learned so far.
I Love You 3000 Guitar Chords by Stephanie Poetri @ tabsnation
By: Tabs Nation
Tags: Featured

Chords Used — Gm7, A#, D7, C7, Am7 F, Dm

Song Key — G#m

BPM — 91

Singer — Stephanie Poetri

Songwriter — Stephanie Poetri

Capo on — 1st Fret

Strumming Pattern — DU Chuck D-U Chuck

(Gm) Baby, take my hand

(A#) I want you to be my husband

(Am) Cause you’re my Iron Man

And (D7) I love you 3000

(A#) Baby, take a chance

Cause © I want this to be something

(F) Straight out of a Hollywood movie

(Gm7) I see you standing there

© In your hulk outerwear

(Am) And all I can think

(D7) Is where is the ring

(Gm7) Cause I know you wanna ask

(C7) Scared the moment will pass

(F) I can see it in your eyes

(D7) Just take me by surprise

(Gm7) And all my friends they

(A#) Tell me they see

(Am7) You’re planning to get on (D7) one knee

But (Gm7) I want it to be (A#) out of the blue

(Am7) So make sure I have no clue

(D7) When you ask

Verse 2

(Gm7) Baby, take my hand

(C7) I want you to be my husband

(Am7) Cause you’re my Iron Man

And (D7) I love you 3000

(Gm7) Baby, take a chance

Cause (A#) I want this to be something

(F) Straight out of a Hollywood (D7) movie

(Gm7) Now we’re having dinner

And © baby you’re my winner

(Am7) I see the way you smile

(D7) You’re thinking about the aisle

(Gm7) You reach in your pocket

© Emotion unlocking

And (F) before you could ask

(D7) I answer too fast

(Gm7) And all my friends © they tell me they see

(Am7) You’re planning to get (D7) on one knee

So (Gm7) now I can’t stop thinking (C7) about you

(Am7) figured out all the clues

So (D7) now I ask

Verse 3

(Gm7) Baby, take my hand

© I want you to be my husband

(Am7) Cause you’re my Iron Man

And I (D7) love you 3000

(Gm7) Baby, take a chance

Cause (C7) I want this to be something

(F) Straight out of a Hollywood (D7) movie

Chorus

Pa da da da da (Dm) dam

No spoilers (D7) please

Pa da da da da (Dm) dam

No spoilers (D7) please

(Gm7) Baby, take my hand

© I want you to be my husband

(Am7) Cause you’re my Iron Man

And I (D7) love you 3000

Verse 4

(Gm7) Baby, take a chance

Cause (C7) I want this to be something

(F) Straight out of a Hollywood (Dm) movie (D7) Babyy

Pa da da da da (Dm) dam

No spoilers (D7) please

Pa da da da da (Dm) dam

No spoilers (D7) please

Pa da da da da (Gm7) dam

No spoilers © please

Pa da da da da (Dm) dam

And I (D7) love you 3000

Also, Checkout — Bright Eyes Guitar Chords Anoushka Shankar
Paga hits 3 trillion Naira in transactions value
By: Esq Legal Practice Blog
Tags: Featured, Paga

On June 7, 2021, the Founder & CEO of Paga Group Limited announced that the financial services firm has reached a big milestone by crossing three trillion Naira in the value of transactions processed since the start of its business operations in 2012.

He added that the company hit the two trillion Naira threshold in March 2020 and by May 2021, only 15 months later, the company had reached the three million Naira milestone.

Earlier, Paga announced its partnership with Visa, a move the two companies believe will enable businesses to earn more as they sell more.

“Paga, has partnered with Visa to create a way for these smaller merchants to raise their digital game quickly, called the Busniess, Connect & Grow.”

The partnership seeks to combine Visa’s payment acceptance and Paga’s merchant tools on a single app which will help businesses to develop their credit history, receive micro loans and ultimately help to grow their business capital.

Paga is a mobile payments company. We are building an ecosystem to enable people to digitally send & receive money, & creating simple financial services. Our company is focused on serving emerging markets. Nigeria is our first market, we are launching Mexico and Ethiopia next.

READ ALSO: Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS): What it is, What its Not and The Nigerian Context
Bandits kill three kidnapped students from Kaduna University
By: Newsville Post
Tags: Featured, Kaduna, Greenfield

Three of the kidnapped students from Greenfield University in Kaduna state were killed …

Three of the kidnapped students from Greenfield University in Kaduna state were killed.

In a statement Friday, Kaduna Homeland Security and Internal Affairs Commissioner Samuel Aruwan said the remains of the three students were found in the village of Kwanar Bature. , a place near the university, on Friday.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Shooters Assault Green Field College, Kidnap Understudies

“In an act of senseless evil and pure evil, the gunmen who kidnapped students from the University of Greenfield shot dead three of the kidnapped students.”

The armed bandits kidnapped an unknown number of students Tuesday evening at the facility in Kasarami village on Kaduna-Abuja street in Chikun LGA.

“The remains of three students were found today on (Friday) in the village of Kwanan Bature near the university and evacuated to a morgue by the Internal Security and Internal Affairs Commissioner and the Armed Forces Commander, Operation Thunderbolt, Lieutenant Colonel.MH Abdullahi.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the murder of three students as pure evil, inhumanity and total desecration of human life by hideous beings.

He went on to say that armed bandits represent the worst of humanity and must be fought at all costs for the violent evil they represent.

“Evil, he said, the governor would not triumph over God-given humanity. He appealed to citizens to unite against the forces of darkness that are calling into question national security and the existence of the Nigerian state.”

The government and people of Kaduna State have expressed their condolences and condolences to the families of the students and the university community and prayed for the rest of their souls.

“The government will keep citizens informed of the new developments.

Of the 39 students kidnapped from the forest school in Afaka, Kaduna, they are still in custody.

They were kidnapped in March but 10 of them were released after her parents had conversations with the gunmen.
Suspected IPOB assailants murder warriors, cops in Rivers
By: Newsville Post
Tags: Featured, Riversstate, Wike, Ipob

Suspected IPOB aggressors on Saturday night killed two troopers and three cops at Omagwa, Ikwerre Neighborhood Government Space of Rivers State.

The episode happened two days after Governor Nyesom Wike complimented the meeting Head of Guard Staff, General Leo Irabor, on the pretended by troopers in revoking the invasion of obscure shooters and IPOB individuals in the state.

Sources disclosed to Day by day Believe that the shooters who were in military uniform assaulted the warriors and cops who were careful along the Air terminal street.

READ ALSO: IPOB Responds To Assault On Imo Jail, Reports Of ESN Connects To South-East Emergency

Both the State Police Order Public Connection Official, Nnamdi Omoni and 6 Division of the Nigerian Armed force , Public Connection Official, Significant Charles Ekeocha, couldn’t affirm the story at press time.

Despite the fact that no gathering has guaranteed obligation, IPOB has been censured for comparative episodes around there.

After the killing of some IPOB assailants in Imo on Saturday, the gathering pledged counter.
Using WorkManager on Android 12
By: Caren Chang
Tags: Latest, Featured

In WorkManager 2.6, we implemented the ability for Workers to run in any designated processes and as of today, WorkManager 2.6 is now stable!

However, WorkManager 2.6 is not compatible with apps targeting Android 12 (API level 31). So once your app is targeting Android 12, you should instead switch to using WorkManager 2.7. Changes in WorkManager 2.7 are backwards compatible, so you could also skip 2.6 right away.

To take into account the foreground Service restrictions in Android 12, WorkManager 2.7 adds support for expedited jobs. Starting in Android 12, if your app calls setForegroundAsync() when it’s subject to foreground service restrictions, a ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException will be thrown. Thus, we recommend using WorkRequest.Builder.setExpedited(…) when possible. There are a few exceptions for when an app is not subject to foreground service restrictions, and you can read more about the exceptions here.

To see WorkManager’s setExpedited() API in action, check out our official WorkManager Sample.

You can see a detailed list of changes and improvements made in each WorkManager release in the official release notes, along with specific release notes for Workmanager 2.6 and WorkManager 2.7.

Lastly, if you have any feature requests or issues related to WorkManager, feel free to file an issue in our public tracker.
Krystal Announces Collaboration with SIPHER
By: Felicia Phua
Tags: Featured, Features, News

Krystal, a multi-chain DeFi Management Platform, is thrilled to announce that it has entered a collaboration with SIPHER, a blockchain-based game with an end-game goal of creating an Open World Social Game.

In conjunction, both projects will launch a series of joint activities exclusive to users from both communities. This collaboration aims to open up new avenues of growth for both Krystal and SIPHER.

To celebrate this collaboration, the SIPHER team will be gifting Krystal users exclusive access to purchase SIPHER NFTs in their upcoming NFT Drop on September 9th (09:00AM GMT+7). More details will be released soon.

With Krystal on track to launch its NFT management feature soon, users will be able to view, transfer and receive their purchased SIPHER NFTs on Krystal’s platform.

Both teams see mutual growth potential and look forward to a successful cooperation.

About SIPHER:

SIPHER is a casual MOBA and Exploration Game with an end-game goal of creating an Open World Social Game. Built as ERC-721 Blockchain, the 1st collection of 10,000 characters (namely Sipherian Surge) will see NFT drop on September 9th, and they belong to SIPHER INU race.

Website | Telegram | Twitter | Discord | Facebook | Medium | YouTube

About Krystal:

Krystal is a multi-chain platform to easily access popular DeFi services. With an intuitive user interface, Krystal acts as a single point of access to transact with multiple protocols such as KyberDMM, Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Venus Protocol, PancakeSwap, SushiSwap, QuickSwap, ApeSwap and Kyber Network.

Krystal aims to be every user’s go-to venue for swapping tokens, earning passive income, portfolio management and market insights. Topping it off, Krystal’s one-of-a-kind rewards program earns users bonus incentives when they trade or successfully refer friends.

Krystal currently supports DeFi services on Ethereum mainnet, Binance Smart Chain and Polygon chain. It will soon expand to other networks such as Solana, Polkadot and Cronos to cater to more users.

Website | Telegram | Twitter | Medium | YouTube