fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Blogging Guide
By: Casey Botticello
Tags: Url, Medium, Format, Story Link, Writing

Research has shown that people make decisions about the sites they click through based on the relevance of keywords present in the URL. Including pertinent keywords improves the likelihood they’ll choose your site among their options when you fill their need best.

When they encounter your link through social media, email, or a website, they’ll get a clearer picture of what your link offers. This can build enough trust and engagement that they click through.

In websites where your link is not included with anchor text, the URL itself becomes the anchor text. A readable, keyword-focused URL can drive traffic to your site by both boosting your rankings and encouraging a higher click through rate.

Luckily, Medium allows users to customize the URL link for individual stories.

How to Edit Your Medium Article URL

When you are editing your story draft click on the ⋯ (three dots) icon in the upper right hand corner. Select “more settings” from the drop down menu. Select advanced settings, and check the box that says custom. Enter your custom link.

An example of this process is shown below:

Additional Notes on Custom Medium Article URLS:
Change Is The Only Constant
Tags: Call For Submissions, Creative Writing, News, Art, Thesceneandheard

Heraclitus By By Johannes Moreelse

“No news is good news” and in this case explains my elusive nature over the last weeks. Without making too much of a grand re-entrance, I’d like you all to see and hear what has been going on at the SNH homestead.

Salutatory Issue- **Now a Limited Edition**

Weighing in at a whopping 780 grams or 1.72 pounds is 132 pages bursting with colour and word-smithery. The Salutatory Issue has reached anticipating hands and eyes — —we are receiving a steady flow of messages, expressing gratitude, connection, encouragement, warmth, kudos & props, as well as suggestions and proposals.

Taking homes by storm in:

USA, Jamaica, Canada, India, Australia,Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Bosnia, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, South Africa, Kenya, & Tanzania…

SNH is on a steady and sturdy path, gaining the momentum and the reception we had anticipated for it. We are pleased. Equally pleased, are our readers, writers and artists.

Sign up to be tagged to goat your hands on the Salutatory Issue with a discount code! Click here to get on my “Tagged Team”

If you happen to have been tagged in this letter-comment or reply “Tagged and loaded” <grins>.
Trump: “I’d love to have the country opened up and raring to go by Easter’’
By: Joseph Serwach
Tags: Economy, Culture, Business, Trump, Coronavirus

When will the national lockdown of the U.S. economy end? President Trump, in a virtual town hall on Fox News today, said his goal is April 12, Easter Sunday.

“I’d love to have the country opened up and raring to go by Easter,’’ Trump said, calling Easter “a very significant date.’’

Returning to normal in 19 days?

“I think it’s absolutely possible.’’ Trump said. “Now we’ll have to practice social distancing and all that...We have to get our country back to work. This cure is worse than the problem… Our people want to go back to work… Whether we’re locked in a room or practicing all the things we’re supposed to be practicing in an office at work.’’

More than 100 million Americans are currently in home lockdown

The Centers for Disease Control “15-Day Pause” runs through Tuesday, March 31. His previously announced 30-day halt on non-essential travel to Europe was scheduled to end by Easter as well.

Trump has previously hesistated to pick a date but has increasingly said he doesn’t want “the cure to be worse than the disease.’’

Easter, the most significant day on the Christian calendar, honors the date Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, and Trump and Fox host Bill Hemmer said a resurrection of the economy would be an equally momentous day for beginning to return to normal.

370,000 U.S. tests in eight days

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said the country is using “21st century solutions’’ to tackle Covid-19 the way America should have tackled the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, getting all the data to see what’s really working, adding “every American needs to follow the president’s guidelines.’’

“In the last eight days, we’ve done more tests than South Korea did eight weeks,’’ she said, saying the United States could do as well as South Korea, the acknowledged leader for confronting the pandemic better than other nations.

James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, said to expect the GDP to be cut in half (around 1.5 percent growth) and it would be inaccurate to call this a recession. He said a $2 trillion stimulus package would help the country “get back to where we were’’ or higher.

The second quarter begins April 1 with most of the “restart’’ planning focusing on the second quarter. Bullard said this is actually a “planned temporary shutdown of the U.S economy.’’

“It’s not built to shut down,’’ Trump said of the economy. “Our people are full of vim and vigor and energy. They don’t want to be locked in a house or an apartment or some space… “You can destroy a country this way by closing it down where it literally goes from being the most prosperous.”

In a follow-up, one-on-one interview with Hemmer after the town hall, Trump said “We have to be what’s right ultimately for the people… They want to get back to work… Our people are just truly amazing people…
👀Huobi x CoinMarketCal👀A Coin To Keep An Eye On -ZEN!
By: Huobi Global
Tags: Horizen, Huobi, Zen, Halving

🔹What is ZEN?

Horizen (ZEN) is an inclusive ecosystem built on its massively scalable blockchain platform where everyone is empowered and rewarded for their contributions.

📅 Upcoming Event:

🔹Halving ETA date: 12/2/2020 from coinmarketcal.com!

📈 Analysis

After blasting through August’s significant swing high, it comes as no surprise that ZEN is consolidating at the end of its 330% move. The price is presently chopping through the level formed by February 2020’s swing high.

However, bulls quickly bought each drop toward support at $10.72. Another test of this support level, which also shows an inefficient gap on the daily chart, could give bulls a reasonable entry.

More aggressive bulls could anticipate a bounce from the previous swing high at $11.63. However, the next support is far below and near the monthly open — making risk management especially important for recent entries.

Fresh or holding bulls could look for a first target near the current resistance at $18.54. A second target could be the old highs near $23.41, potentially reaching up to the next significant resistance at $28.94.

🔹Trade ZEN

👀Follow Us On Twitter @HuobiGlobal + @CoinMarketCal

👀www.huobi.com; coinmarketcal.com

Risk Reminder:

1. Trading in digital assets comes with high risks due to huge price fluctuations. Users should be fully aware of the risks associated with digital asset trading and make prudent trading decisions.

2. Huobi Global’s announcements and information do not constitute investment advice, and Huobi will not bear responsibility or provide compensation for direct or indirect losses arising from trading decisions whilst relying on this information.
The RoboTraders versus Blake Ross
By: Irving Rivera
Tags: Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Investing, Design Thinking, Articles

Image Credit: epicrapbattlesofhistory.com

First thing first @Wealthfront and @Betterment are amazing services at market price. However, @blakeross (Intuit’s @turbotax flat-pricing business module (we are going to use a $25/month subscription for this example) could offer the same amazing services at an outstanding price.

Image Credit: wsj.com, wealthfront.com, bettermet.com, vanguard.com

Second, the unique value position of robot investing services like these is that you pay for convenience — the advantage of having them do everything for you automatically. Assuming it would take you one hour a month to implement this strategy yourself, you would be saving money as long as your hourly wage was higher than $75.27. Well, I know — $7.25 is the federal minimum wage, and we are assuming you have the $100K to invest (according to a 2012 report by @PitneyBowes, the average savings account balance in the United States in 2011 was $5,923) so you can get that direct indexing discount, and have the actual skills of knowing what you are doing.

We should not forget that they also claim they can beat the market by more than a few basis points. This is thanks to the added value of strategies such as tax-loss harvesting, which could make you break even or better by covering the cost of those monthly exponential fees. So they claim. But right now we can only assume we could achieve these results in the long run since they are based on simulations. It is not like they offer a J.P. Morgan Funds — Guide to the Markets with actual history performance.

Image Credit: jpmorganfunds.com

@danielcarroll, @jonstein, and @blakeross: let’s take a look at the numbers and some back of the envelope simulations.

Investing only $100,000 . . . maxing out your IRA contributions . . . maxing out your 401k contributions; with the condition of paying for all fees out of pocket and discarding the free management of the first $10,000.

Then again, let’s be fair. They do run a for-profit corporation, meaning that after twenty years of world-class service, they take away only 1.56% from your portfolio (of course, they could take less — anywhere from 42% to 63% less). To put this in perspective, think of the following analogy: it is like having a credit card with a 1.56% interest rate.

Imagine that one of these robot traders can corner the Exchange-Traded Fund market from Vanguard ($451 billion in ETF assets under management) at a 0.25% fee. That is only $1,127,500,000.00.

Full Disclosure

I think the argument here should be to know whether these founders are clients of their own services like @Shpigford of Baremetrics.

Image Credit: baremetrics.com

“Because no one should talk about investing if they are not willing to show their actual holdings and performance.” — @riveranomics

@blakeross and VCs out there: if you really believe this is a problem the world needs to solve, feel free to invest $2 million for 19% (because we are @PledgeOne together) of the #startup to solve this issue under my leadership.
a daydream
By: Linda Adams
Tags: Imagination, Poetry, Life, Dreams, Blue Insights

Sign up for Everyone deserves to be heard...

By Blue Insights

Creating emotions — Spark plugs to ignite your virtual humanity! Take a look
§67 Donald Trump: American Businessman!
Tags: Politics, America First, Babbett, Behold America, American Dream

Sarah Churchwell’s Behold America: A History of America First and the American Dream (2018) provides a genealogical account of two expressions that were mobilised by Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign. The work reveals that his promise of putting ‘America First’ was not merely a gesture towards economic protectionism and “American jobs for American workers” but was the conscious use of an expression that occurs throughout American history in discourses of white supremacy and nationalism.

Trump’s claim that he would resuscitate the American Dream (which he declared as ‘dead’) and “Make American Great Again” by putting ‘America First’ was as much a cultural gesture as it was an economic one.

In Note §62 I considered why the term “fascist” is being so easily applied to the democratically elected leader of the free-world. I suggested that his detractors are not claiming he is a fascist as such, but that he represents a fascist potential — a ‘latent fascism’ — which has a tradition of concern and treatment in American literary fiction. As with Note §62 I find myself returning to the work of Sinclair Lewis. In Babbitt (1922) one will find the title-character regularly espousing a want for his ‘republican candidate’ to be ‘from business’:

“What the country needs — just at this present juncture — is neither a college president nor a lot of monkeying with foreign affairs, but a good — sound economical — business — administration, that will give us a chance to have something like a decent turnover.”

Reflecting on these words in our age of Trump, the notion of ‘turnover’ here becomes twofold, signifying both a period of growing GDP and a ‘turning over’ of the current political order (a subtler way of saying ‘drain the swamp’ and ‘take back control’*). Therefore, contained in this short passage is a kernel of a tension that is being played out in the post-2016 dialectics between nationalists and globalists, populists and technocrats, and intellectuals and the masses.

The question these particularly astute philistine words allow us to consider is whether the first iteration of American fascism will be based on an extension of the objective and bourgeois values of business administration.

/Pete Watt

See also Churchwell’s recent interview with Spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/09/28/behold-fascist-america/ (accessed 25/10/2018)

* An expression more associated with the UK campaign to leave the European Union, which is often contrasted with the election of Trump.
Which voters does Jeremy Corbyn appeal to?
By: Philip Mattocks
Tags: Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, Data Science, Labour Party, Elections

In the plots each point represents a constituency, and a linear line of best fit is shown. The steepness of slope of the line indicates how strong an effect the demographic characteristic has on the Labour swing.

The plots on the left hand side have a positive slope, i.e.constituencies that had higher proportions of that population characteristic generally had an increased Labour swing. The reverse is true of those on the right hand side.

Below is a bar chart where the height of the bars correspond to the slopes for each of the above eight plots. The colour corresponds to the Pearson correlation coefficient, a measure of how far on average each point is away from the line of best fit, with zero being no fit, and -1 and 1 being perfect negative and positive fits respectively.

Slope of linear regression for demographic characteristics of constituencies. The colour corresponds to how good a fit the regressions is (i.e. how close to the regression line each point is on average).

Looking at the chart, age has a biggest effect on Labour swing. Constituencies with younger voters showed larger positive swings, while those with older voters showed larger negative swings (although interestingly voters aged 45–64 gave a larger negative Labour swing than 65+). Commuting by bicycle also seemed to have a relatively strong positive effect on Labour swing. Having a GCSE level or lower qualifications had a reasonably strong negative effect on Labour swing. Having a university degree and self identifying as white had respectively positive and negative effects on Labour swing, although these were fairly weak.

Conclusion

Jeremy Corbyn seemed to have a polarising effect; he increased Labour vote share among young voters but decreased it among older voters. Having a higher percentage of people commuting by bike had a positive effect on Labour swing, while having an educational level of GCSE or lower had a negative effect.
3 Reasons why you Shouldn’t become a Data Scientist
By: Dario Radečić
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Programming, Python

Note from the author: This is an opinion piece, so it’s probably biased to a degree. Jobs in your country and with your skillset may vary. We don’t see the world through the same eyes. Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.

After being in the industry for a while now, spending 10–12 hours a day exploring the field, and writing close to 100 articles about data science, I feel qualified enough to speak about things that were quite disappointing but also never mentioned during my studies.

For me, practical data science is one of the most interesting fields — especially with the advancements in deep learning.

So what? What’s the point of doing data science just for the sake of data science? Well, if you’re not a researcher, there’s almost no point in being in the field full time.

What’s the reason you’re spending hours and hours training a model? Is it because you’re planning to deploy it in a web and/or mobile app? Is it going to solve some real problems? Or will it just sit idle in the notebook?

For a while now I’ve been feeling like data science is becoming yet another branch of software development. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because model training and optimization are nowadays pretty much automated (with access to the right tools), and the only task you have to do as a “data scientist” is to prepare the data in the right way and also to present your work to superiors.

And for me, that’s great because I can spend more time doing interesting stuff — like app development — hence delivering the whole package and actually solving problems, and not leaving models sitting idle on my laptop.

But if you plan to work from 9–5 for someone else, then make sure to read this article, as it will speak about some aspects which aren’t so peachy. Also, as stated in one of my previous articles, you should know what are the benefits of enrolling in the field and want to learn about the possible drawbacks.

Okay, so without much ado, let’s get to the reason number one.
“Heavy Metal Drummer,” Wilco
By: Nicole Cliffe
Tags: Nostalgia, Music

“I miss the innocence I’ve known / playing Kiss covers beautiful and stoned”
Binance Official Stance On Listings & Partnerships
Tags: Binance, News, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Blockchain

The following is Binance’s official stance on listings and partnerships.

No advanced disclosure of listing or partnerships Unofficial claims are always false Strict policy against unauthorized use of Binance name Binance Application in Progress logo Only one valid way to apply

Binance does not allow teams to disclose if they will get listed on our cryptocurrency exchange until the respective announcement is released in our official channels. The same applies to partnerships.

If any information about a potential listing or partnership leaks out beforehand, we will put the listing or partnership on hold; possibly indefinitely.

Any reports of listings or partnerships that do not originate from Binance should be considered false.

We do not accept teams using the Binance name for their gains without our consent.

This includes individuals or teams who claim they “will list on,” “aim to be on,” or “are a partner of” Binance in the hope to boost their credibility and coin price, without our explicit consent.

If you are eager to tell your community you have applied to be listed on Binance, we permit the use of a “Binance Application in Progress” image. This image is provided during the application process.

Community members must be aware that this image does not imply any response, listing progress, or endorsement whatsoever.

If your project is not listed on Binance, use of the Binance logo or name in any other format than the aforementioned “Binance Application in Progress” image is forbidden.

There is only one way to apply to list on Binance: The Official Application Form.

Any other applications will be ignored, and any direct communication from persons claiming to be a representative of Binance, if it does not originate from an application you have made via this form, should be treated with extreme caution.

For more detailed tips for getting your project listed on Binance, please refer to Binance CEO CZ’s post here.

To apply to list on Binance, please submit an application here.
Deploying the Play 2.0 application on Heroku
By: Knoldus Inc.
Tags: Play, Web, Scala, Cloud, Heroku

We are working on a project using Play freamework with Scala programming language. Here we’ll discuss about the deployment of the play application on Heroku. This is a very straightforward process. You just have need to follow some simple steps and your application will be on Heroku in minutes.









1. Heroku needs a file named ‘Procfile’ for each application to be deployed on it. Procfile is a mechanism for declaring what commands are run when your web or worker dynos are run on the Heroku platform. Find more about Procfile here. Create a file Procfile and put it in the root of your project directory.

2. Add the following line to your Procfile that you had just created:

[code language=”scala”]

web: target/start -Dhttp.port=$PORT -DapplyEvolutions.default=true

[/code]

3.Now Initiate the git session for your project and add files to git as

[code language=”scala”]

git init

git add .

[/code]

4. Commit the changes for the project to git as:

[code language=”scala”]

git commit -m init

[/code]

5. On the command line create a new application using the “cedar” stack:

[code language=”scala”]

heroku create -s cedar

[/code]

Celedon Cedar is Heroku’s most recent runtime stack.

6.The application is ready to be deployed to the cloud. push the project files to heroku as:

[code language=”scala”]

git push heroku master

[/code]

7. Go to your heroku account -> MyApps and you’ll find a new application that you had just created. Launch the URL and have a look to your running application on heroku. You can also rename your application as well.
Just How Robust Are Tree-Based Classifiers In Handling Missing Data As Is?
By: Thom Su
Tags: Machine Learning, Logistic Regression, Tree Ensemble, Data Science, Missing Data

First and foremost, this is not a scientific experiment to determine how one should preprocess data with missing values or which tree ensemble excels in giving the most accurate predictions when fitted to data with missing values. My main motivation is to examine how the predictions of different models change as the amount of missing values in the dataset increases. The results of this experiment may probably not be indicative of a result from using a different dataset to fitting the same models. However, I am hoping that it may offer some insights into the tipping point where the deterioration of the prediction accuracy starts to accelerate.

Data Source and Description

The credit approval dataset is downloaded from UCI Machine Learning Repository. It consists of 690 entries with 9 categorical and 6 continuous feature attributes. The names and values of the features have been altered to indiscernible types in an afford to preserve confidentiality of sensitive information. There are 37 row entries with one of more missing values but it only constitutes less than 1% of the total data. The two target classes, approved and rejected, are almost balanced, making it simpler to evaluate the different models.

Model Training and Testing

The dataset is split into 80% for train and 20% for testing. Of the 552 entries in training and 138 entries in test set, there are only 29 and 8 missing values respectively. Each model is fitted to a pipeline where processes such as imputing missing values, scaler transformation and model training are streamlined. As the setup for this experiment, I decided to impute the mean and mode for the dataset to train on logistic regression and to impute an empty field and ‘-999,999,999’ (seems silly, but like I said, this is only a fun experiment) for the dataset to train on Extra Trees, Random Forest, Adaboost and Gradient Boosting.

Pipeline for Logistic Regression

Pipeline for Tree Based Classifiers

The results of each model and the amount of missing data are then recorded in a Pandas DataFrame.
Haze
By: Asia Bradlee
Tags: Life Lessons, People, Poetry, Poem, Love

You only see in black and white.

What is or isn’t.

You leave no space

For the in-between.

The pillow of white between each word

Or the delicate pause after the words we speak

Have no place in your mind.

You don’t search for the blurred lines

Or enjoy the feeling of feeling lost.

You shun the idea of exploring

The little things we don’t know.

I feel empowered by this subtle difference,

Yet I mourn.

I mourn for your inability to see the subtleties & complexities

That make feelings so intricate

And thoughts so vast.
BOERSE STUTTGART GROUP CREATES END-TO-END INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DIGITAL ASSETS
By: Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures
Tags: Bison, Stock Exchange, ICO, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

In addition to BISON, there will be an ICO platform, a trading venue and custody for cryptocurrencies // services along the value chain are offered under one roof

Boerse Stuttgart Group

Boerse Stuttgart Group is creating an end-to-end infrastructure for digital assets. After the start of cryptocurrency trading via BISON, there will soon be a platform for initial coin offerings (ICOs), a multilateral trading venue for cryptocurrencies as well as solutions for safe custody. Boerse Stuttgart Group thus continues to pursue its digitisation strategy and is becoming a pioneer for the digital transformation of financial markets and financial products.

As an established market player, Boerse Stuttgart Group has extensive know-how in the fields of technology, regulation and trading models.

‘On this basis we can offer central services along the value chain for digital assets, all under one roof. Investors and market participants know that Boerse Stuttgart Group stands for quality, transparency and reliability. As a Germany-based provider we want to transpose this standard into the digital world. We will help to promote acceptance of digital assets,’ says Alexander Höptner, CEO at Boerse Stuttgart GmbH

With BISON, a trading application is being developed that facilitates market access and allows the free, uncomplicated and secure trading of cryptocurrencies. After the launch of BISON in the autumn, Boerse Stuttgart Group will be extending its activities to the primary and secondary markets. An ICO platform will allow the issuance of digital tokens, for corporate financing or to represent rights and assets, for instance. The platform will also make it possible to carry out ICOs with standardised and transparent processes.

At the same time, Boerse Stuttgart Group is establishing a multilateral and regulated trading venue for cryptocurrencies.

‘At the trading venue tokens issued via our ICO platform can be traded on the secondary market. This is an important success factor for ICOs. At the same time we are responding to demand from both retail and institutional investors for a regulated and reliable environment for trading with cryptocurrencies,’ explains Alexander Höptner.

Furthermore, established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum will also be traded.

‘In designing the strategic projects we closely cooperate with all competent boards and committees, and especially with the supervisory authorities,’ says Höptner.

The infrastructure of Boerse Stuttgart Group for digital assets is complemented by solutions for safe custody. The services will include differentiated safety concepts for digital assets and will already be available for the start of BISON. Later on it will be possible to use the custody service along the entire value chain.
Navigating the Cryptonomos Website to Create an Account and Purchase Giga Watt WTT Tokens
By: Cryptonomos Team
Tags: Blockchain

In order to buy WTT tokens, users have to first create an account on Cyprtonomos, the platform which conducts Giga Watt token launch. Please follow these easy steps:

1.Go to https://cryptonomos.com/signup

2. Sign in to your account and add funds in BTC, ETH, or USD.

If you are adding BTC or ETH to your account, go to the corresponding section of your Cryptonomos account (on top of the screen), copy the wallet address and pay the desired amount.

Hint: If you want to make sure your BTC/ETH transfer transaction goes quickly, we suggest you set the commission fee 2–3 greater than standard. For instance, for BTC it is 0.001 BTC or more. Otherwise there is risk that your transaction will get stuck in line for hours or even days.

If you are paying by Wire Transfer:

a. Go to USD link at the top of your Cryptonomos account, set the desired deposit amount

b. Fill in the popup form fields and generate an invoice

c. Download the invoice and make a payment.

3. Purchase tokens.

Important: Adding funds to your account does not mean that the tokens will be automatically paid for.

You need to log into your account, decide to buy the WTT tokens, and pay for them with the funds you deposited into your Cryptonomos account.

Pay, enjoy and happy shopping!
The Best JavaScript Starter Kits for Your Next Project
By: Indrek Lasn
Tags: Technology, JavaScript, Software Development, Startup, Programming

The Best JavaScript Starter Kits for Your Next Project

Save time and reduce the amount of boilerplate you have to write every time you start a new project

Photo by Tekton on Unsplash.

Starter kits, also known as code templates, help you speed up the development of your projects. The more time you save by automating the mundane tasks, the more efficient and productive your development cycle is.

In a nutshell, starter kits are usually some form of pre-existing code that you can use as a launching pad for new projects. Want an ORM? You got it. Want user authentication included? No problem.

Instead of spending a couple of hours setting up a new project, use that time to build the features that actually matter the most.

Without further ado, here’s a list of starter kits you can start using today.

Note: The list includes JavaScript-related starter kits.
Something Good Will Come
By: Precious Moments
Tags: Christ, Good, Family, Precious Moments, Youth

Something Good Will Come

30th DECEMBER 2020

Christ for Youth International

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. [John 1:46 NIV]

People tend to write a thing off or consider it unworthy because of its appearance. We often judge things based on the classification given by society.

However, we (believers) belong to an upside-down Kingdom. In the Kingdom of God, the value or classification of a thing or person has little to do with their outward appearance and more to do with their inner appearance and God’s intention for them.

We see this perfectly illustrated in Matthew 23:25–27, where Jesus admonishes the scribes and Pharisees for focusing solely on keeping the outside clean, rather than focusing on the inward appearance.

For us as members of God’s Kingdom, this is great news because it means that no matter how the world judges a person, event or circumstance as worthless, bleak or hopeless, we are not in despair. For we have a God who knows the inner details of our lives till the very end.

Are any widowed and left childless like Naomi? Cast into prison by your master like Joseph? Struggling with a temptation you cannot seem to overcome like David? Scorned by society because of some difficult choices you have had to make like the woman who washed the feet of Jesus?

You name it and God turned it around!

The saviour of all human souls came out of Nazareth. This year is not over yet. Even as we look with hope toward the next year. Trust and believe that the year 2020 is still your year! Even though this year, that has been fraught with various difficulties, the biggest miracle in your life can occur.

Believe it, pray it, proclaim it and own it!

Lord Jesus, thank You for every good thing that You have prepared for me. Please grant me a heart that always hopes for the good and also believes that You are more than able to do it. Amen.

Further Reading: Matthew 19:26

Prophetic Declaration: Psalm 91
Why is the demand for XR engineers growing ?
By: Rahel Demant
Tags: Jobs, Virtual Reality, Career, Augmented Reality, Xr Bootcamp

Rahel Demant, cofounder at VR First, XR Bootcamp and writer/editor at VR World, VR First and Haptical

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Girl Power
By: Jackie Ann
Tags: Divine Feminine, Poem, Photography, Womanhood, Poems On Medium

Passionate writer who enjoys using the creative process as a means of self expression and self reflection. instagram.com/jacquelineann06

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NEM New Zealand University Takeover | Canterbury
By: Dalaney Nem New Zealand
Tags: Events, Nem, Xem, Blockchain, New Zealand

On the 11th September 2018, Dalaney Davis, our NEM New Zealand Lead, gave a guest lecture at the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch New Zealand.

Dalaneys NEM Lecture

After the NEM lecture, Dalaney answered questions from the Q&A and all participating students were offered the Devslopes course for free and sent some XEM tokens to those who downloaded the wallet.

Later that evening, Dalaney facilitated an in-depth nano wallet workshop to help the students identify blockchain opportunities and conduct ideation sessions for business opportunities.

Group of Students in the Nano Wallet Workshop
Californians Support Local Health Departments
By: Tracy Delaney
Tags: California, Public Health, Public Health Departments

In the past few weeks, a vocal minority has shown up to protest local public health orders requiring face coverings in public. Intimidation and threats even led to some public health officials resigning as COVID-19 cases are surging in California. However, a new survey commissioned by The California Endowment shows that Californians strongly approve of the job public health officials are doing in addressing the pandemic.

The survey included 1,240 voters, including a focused oversample of independent and moderate Republican voters. The results showed that voters are broadly concerned about the pandemic, are supportive of public health officials, and are willing to comply with contract tracing. Results also show that voters recognize the disproportionate impact of the virus on low-income communities and communities of color and that government should be active in supporting positive change in our communities.

There is strong approval at the California and local level for how public health officials are handling the pandemic response in contrast to the Federal government, with 68% of voters stating that they totally approve of the way public health officials are handling the pandemic.

Voters are also highly aware of contact tracing and willing to comply if exposed to someone infected.

Voters recognize broad inequities in the impacts the virus has on communities of color and low-income Californians. Voters also acknowledge a collective responsibility to address these inequities and to expand opportunities for Californians more broadly.

More than nine in ten (93%) agree that “all Californians have a shared responsibility to prevent the spread of the coronavirus;”

Two-thirds agree that people of color are disproportionately harmed by the health (70%) and economic (67%) impacts of the coronavirus;

More than three-quarters agree that low-income Californians are disproportionately harmed by the health (78%) and economic (82%) impacts of the coronavirus;

Fully 77% agree that “we need a more active government that supports more positive change in our communities (77%); and

Over four in five (82%) say that “it is the responsibility of all Californians to ensure that all people living in the state have the opportunity to live healthy, safe, and economically secure lives.”

You can read the full results from the survey here.

We want to continue to uplift and acknowledge the heroic effort of our public health departments during this time of crisis. Because of their efforts, Californians are aware of their recommendations, the inequities facing certain communities, and are willing to do their part to ensure all Californians can live a healthy life.
Philly Based Entertainment Company to Team up with South Korean Esports Giant
By: East-West Center In Washington
Tags: South Korea, Entertainment, Esport, Asia, Videogames

Stadium Audience Watching Esports game [Image: Blizzard Entertainment]

After a successful first season, the Overwatch League kicked off its second season in February, 2019. Overwatch is a popular first person shooter (FPS) game developed by Blizzard Entertainment, which also oversees the esports league of the same name. For the current season, the league has added eight more teams to its roster reflecting the rise in popularity not only in the game but also esports as an industry. Now with 20 teams, a total of 193 athletes compete in the Atlantic and Pacific divisions.

The Philadelphia Fusion, which placed second in the previous inaugural Overwatch League, is owned and operated by Comcast Spectacor, a Pennsylvania-based sports and entertainment company which also owns traditional sports teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Maine Mariners. And with the esports industry experiencing a period of explosive growth, Comcast is poised to tap into the expanding market by joining hands with South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, SK Telecom. In the same month that the Overwatch League season two kicked off, the two companies announced that they will form a joint venture to create T1 Entertainment & Sports, a company dedicated to everything esports. While Comcast Spectacor currently only owns an Overwatch gaming team, the new venture is expected to expand its portfolio by supporting teams playing other games such as League of Legends, Fortnite, and Super Smash Bros.

Comcast’s decision to collaborate with SK telecom, owner of the League of Legends gaming team T1, signals more than a simple international joint venture. The Western esports industry has been looking East for growth opportunities, as Asia region is projected to account for 57% of global esports enthusiasts this year. Furthermore, teaming up with SK telecom from South Korea, home of esports, will help Comcast and the Western esports industry boost market presence in the lucrative Asian market.

The United States is the world leader in esports revenue, being responsible for 37% of global total revenue. The annual revenue for esports in North America in 2017 was $345 million, and the industry is projected to reach near $1.8 billion globally by 2022. The momentum of growth in esports is backed by robust viewership from younger generations. Three-quarters of teens and young adults aged between 14 and 21 identify as gamers in the United States, and 58% of young Americans reported that they have watched a live or recorded video of other people playing video games. Furthermore, 38% of respondents identified as a fan of esports, not dissimilar to the 40% who responded they were fans of the NFL.

Brian Kim is participant of the Young Professionals Program at the East-West Center in Washington. He holds a master’s degree in Korean Language and Asian Studies from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
How to Change the Search Icon in a UISearchBar
By: Mukesh Mandora
Tags: iOS, Xcode, Swift, Programming, Mobile

Now, with just single line of code, you can change UISearchBar right view icon.

Note: This call doesn’t work in viewDidLoad ; call this above method in viewDidAppear .

// Set Custom Right View

searchBar.setRightImage(normalImage: UIImage(named: “filter”)!,

highLightedImage: UIImage(named: “filter_selected”)!)

To invoke your method, on click of Right View of UISearchBar , override the following method of UISearchBarDelegate :
Business Strategy During Crisis
By: Eric Kish
Tags: Strategy, Leadership, Business Management

There is a significant difference between having a strategy, which suggests a plan (such as in a Strategic Plan) and acting strategically, which requires flexibility in response to events. This is why we utilize Strategic Intent rather than a Strategic Plan to communicate direction.

Strategic Intent allows strategy to be dynamic to engage with fast changing circumstances.

Strategy may need to be improvised under the pressure of urgent events, this is especially true during a crisis. In these scenarios intuition will play as important a role as deliberation. Maintaining situational awareness and alignment then becomes critical for this to be successful.

Crisis can either be a major threat or a huge opportunity. If it can severely affect competitors or accelerate changes in potential customer base, the opportunity in that can be massive. However, it is important to remain situationally aware during these fleeting opportunities.

If you have a decentralized organization you have a huge competitive advantage during a crisis. A decentralized organization has a culture to act independently, making decisions guided by the organization’s Strategic Intent.

Note that Strategic Intent does not act alone. For an organization to absorb these changes they will need an adaptive process. Here is an academic explanation of how the adaptive process is guided by Strategic Intent.
Hidden Link between Michelle Obama and Meghan Markle in Jonesboro, Georgia
By: Megan Smolenyak
Tags: Genealogy, Obama, Womens History Month, History, African American

Damn, Jonesboro, Georgia! What’s in your water?

I used to be impressed with the sprawling and highly intertwined French-Canadian family tree that leads to all those one-name women — Hillary, Madonna, Celine, Alanis, and Angelina, among others. But you, Jonesboro — you gave us Michelle and Meghan!

In 1870, just slightly post-Emancipation, Michelle Obama’s 3rd great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, was living in Jonesboro with her children. Residing in that same town was 10-year-old Martha “Mattie” Henderson, who would eventually become Meghan Markle’s 3rd great-grandmother.

All told, about 4,677 people lived in Jonesboro at the time, and while it’s not possible to say exactly where Melvinia and Martha lived, the census record provides a clue. If you look at the two entries above, you’ll notice that they’re both in the same handwriting — that of enumerator William C. Leak. So they were close enough that the same census taker visited both of their households to note their names for posterity. We’ll never know for sure, but I’d like to think that Martha played with Melvinia’s children.

Fast forward a little less than a 150 years, and their remarkable descendants include First Lady Michelle Obama and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. That’s what you call a legacy.
Winter Weather Considerations for Runners
By: Thomas O'Grady
Tags: Running, Running Tips, Motivation, Inspiration, Training

Wow — This weather is horrible and I can’t wait for this mess to be over with.

Some runners, from the beginner-to-elite, dislike running in inclement weather or specific weather conditions. The cold and snow are definitely conditions that runners either don’t care about or try to avoid at all costs. If this is your reaction to fresh snow, it’s likely that in addition to the cold and safety concerns discussed above, you will need to find some motivation and adjust your expectations for the day’s training session.

If you had a specific workout in mind, then a venue change is likely going to be required. The best defense against the weather, therefore, may be avoiding it altogether. If a treadmill or indoor track is available, then it’s possible you can still get in the time and pace you had originally planned for. There is also some common sense in this approach because it can be disadvantageous to force yourself to train in weather you either dislike or consider dangerous. If neither of those options is available, then it’s likely a pace and distance adjustment is necessary, it’s a cross-training day (do you have an indoor cycle, or do you like other snow activities such as snowshoeing and skiing), or today is a rest day from running. Adjusting your expectations for the day can be a powerful motivational booster to get a workout in and find alternative options to training.

Adjust your course to match your motivation. If you have the option, use your location to your advantage. Break your target distance into a manageable increment of say a half-mile and run a loop around your neighborhood if possible. These shorter loops will allow you to focus on smaller goals and also allow you to duck inside to warm up if necessary before braving the weather again. Another thing to keep in mind is with the weather and your desire to avoid it, you will need to respect your personal limits. Staying calm and avoiding getting frustrated if you do go outside will help you keep alert and avoid falling, getting injured by running too quickly, or any number of negative side effects that can happen when heading out in cold-snowy inclement weather.

Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash

Whether you are excited or appalled by the cold temperatures and fresh snow, the one thing runners have in common is the desire to not let the weather impact their training plans. Depending on your response to when the winter weather is worse, you will likely have one of two approaches to how you handle the day's training. Whether you love it or hate it, you will want to respect the weather, dress accordingly, pick an appropriate training venue, and adjust your expectations for the time and effort of your session.
Ocular coin — soft launch party
By: Ronny Iversen
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ocular, Aml, Kyc

We had a great soft launch for Ocular coin in Bangkok. Thanks to all our great guests and investors. If you weren’t there, we hope you can make it to our main party that will be launched in the near future and will be MUCH LARGER! We just had a small celebration of the minting of our coin and for the project moving to phase 2!! Keywords are cards, e-wallet, digital identity and bank!!!!! This will be HUGE!! Anyways more about that later, here are some shots from the event.
A New Way to Handle Back Press in Fragments
By: Siva Ganesh Kantamani
Tags: Software Development, AndroidDev, Android, Programming, Mobile

A New Way to Handle Back Press in Fragments

Using the new ’OnBackPressedDispatcher’ in Android fragments

If you’ve been an Android developer for a while, the chances are you’ve handled back-press events using the onBackPressed function in activities. That was fine until the introduction of architectural components and a single source of truth patterns.

In this modern Android development era, developers adapt to single-activity patterns, and the rest of the screens are implemented using fragments. This approach brings many advantages — one that I especially appreciate is that every outsource interaction should be done through that particular activity.

With such high-quality development ideas, developers tend to move from traditional activities to effective fragments. This puts many developers in a tricky position (myself included in some cases) regarding the usage of back press in fragments.