fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
You Mean You’ve Never Heard of My Favorite Horror Artist?
By: Joel Eisenberg
Tags: Film, Art, Horror, Movies, Zombies

On Lee’s artistic preferences: I go through phases where it’s all “Jaws,” “Jaws,” “Jaws,” then I’ll fixate on Universal, then zombies, then “The Thing.” I love doing the “Jaws” pics because I try to show a scene from an angle that was never filmed. It’s lovely when people say, “I never saw this shot before!” And I tell them that it’s because it doesn’t exist. There’s only so much you can do with “Jaws”…until inspiration strikes and suddenly a flood of ideas takes over and I’m back to my “Jaws” folder looking for ways to make the idea happen. Like an image of Hooper looking up at Brody aiming at the shark. I was pleased with that, need to re-do it though.

That’s the thing with doing this. It’s all a learning curve and as one improves it makes one look back at a pic and think, “ Well I can do better than THAT!” The good thing about “Jaws” pics is the film has such a huge fanbase so my pics get shared everywhere and then the admin will say, “Oh! That’s one of Goatboys pics!”

It was a great day when I got an email from Greg Nicotero! My niece went to a Walker Stalker convention in London and Greg was there. I sent here some of my best pics and said if you ever get to meet him can you show him them please? She even took a pic of him on his phone emailing me. Seems he’d seen my work but didn’t know who I was or how to contact me. It’s lovely to get recognition from your heroes when you only do something as a hobby.

On the limitations of selling his work and not attaining licenses or official permission:

I’ve sold a few. For me, it’s so difficult to put a price on them. I need to look into it and see what the general going rate would be for a print. As far as licensing to Universal, for example, or getting a license from them, honestly I wouldn’t know where to start or who to talk to. I’m sure I emailed one of their representatives once or twice and never got a reply. I’d love to have some of them made official, especially the posters because they’d look lovely on a wall, even if I do say so myself!

On if he will be able to ever monetize his art: I think I could, especially with the horror pics and sculptures. I just need to learn how to cast the monster heads rather than keep making them. It’s all a learning curve. I just need a kick up the arse every now and again to supply the demand.
A Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for Polyfill.io
By: Ft Product
Tags: Project

by Alice Bartlett

We’ve just published two new legal documents to the hosted version of the polyfill service, Polyfill.io. If you’re hosting your own version of the polyfill service, these documents don’t affect you — they only apply to people using a version of the polyfill service that we host.

The privacy policy outlines what data we collect about requests to Polyfill.io and what we do with that data.

The terms of service document describes what you can expect from us when you use Polyfill.io on your site, and the actions you, as a user, might take that would cause us to revoke your access to Polyfill.io.

Why have we added these documents?

Adding a privacy policy is best practice for service providers. As users of Polyfill.io it is important that you understand what we do with your data.

As for the Terms of Service, Polyfill.io usage has been climbing since we launched it 3 years ago, and is now used by sites around the world. At the FT we both maintain the open source project and host Polyfill.io for free (and Fastly provides free global caching on their CDN). The Terms of Service help ensure we can keep doing this.

What it means for users of Polyfill.io

If you’re a user of Polyfill.io, you should read and understand the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Neither of these documents change anything about Polyfill.io or the FT’s behaviour, they just document it.

Contact us

If you have any questions about these documents, you can reach us through the usual channels: https://twitter.com/polyfillio and https://github.com/Financial-Times/polyfill-service
Alternate Reality News Headlines
By: Timothy S. Boucher
Tags: Immigration, World, News, Donald Trump, America

The year is 7102 and Frowny😦 Snowman⛄ is threatening to build a paywall between Farmville and Club Penguin to keep out new players…

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, the fight against Weight Gain continues.
Daily Bit #110: Coinbase To JPN
By: Daily Bit
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Crypto, Cryptocurrency, Fintech

Word On The Street

A Growing Empire

In Japan’s archipelago, it’s difficult to tell what’s rising faster: the Sun, or total crypto financial services firms.Recent months have seen a wave of engagement in the industry:

SBI Holdings: Recently launched VCTRADE, their exclusive digital asset exchange that will be trading only XRP.

Recently launched VCTRADE, their exclusive digital asset exchange that will be trading only XRP. GMO Internet Group: Launched a crypto lending service in April.

Launched a crypto lending service in April. Yahoo Japan: Acquired shares in BitArg Exchange Tokyo in April.

Acquired shares in BitArg Exchange Tokyo in April. Nomura Group: Created a custodial service for institutional ventures through a joint venture with CoinShares & Ledger.

Japan’s economy is a clear leader in the industry. That being said, Japan’s Financial Services Authority are all about playing by the rules. Failure to comply with government regulations can suffocate a company’s growth prospects. That’s why Binance leapfrogged their HQ from Japan to Malta after failing to receive a license from the JFSA.

Coinbase’s Ace In The Hole

Yesterday, Coinbase revealed the opening of their Japanese branch. Nao Kitazawa was also introduced as the branch CEO. He’s expected to play a major role in guiding the company over the mandated regulatory hurdles ahead during its journey towards a government license.

And boy, does his resume yell competent:

Past experience at an international law firm dealing with finance and real estate cases in Japan and NY.

Board member of the Fintech Association of Japan.

Not to mention Kitazawa’s former role as COO of Money Design, a Japan-based company that specialized in automated investment platforms.

As the race for institutional service providers heats up, superior products aren’t going to guarantee market share — that’ll need to be negotiated through talent.
Best Story of the Last 2 Weeks: Holiday Edition Winner!
By: Cody James Howell Phd, Raiden
Tags: Publication, Community, Engagement, Fun, Blogging

Best Story of the Last 2 Weeks: Holiday Edition Winner!

YOU voted for the winner, and the results are in!

Our Top 5 Stories!

Dear Travelers,

We love doing these community engagement events, and hope you all enjoy participating in them too!

A few days ago you were offered an opportunity to vote on the best story of the previous 2 weeks:

We have received a total of 16 votes and of which 14 are valid.

(the remaining 2 have clapped a little too much, maybe it was the writers themselves just happy to be in the top 5!)



Again, it’s a close result, but we have a clear winner!

World Traveler’s Blog proudly presents: The very best story from the previous two weeks, as voted by the community!

Our Next Winner! (Background photo by Liam Pozz on Unsplash)

Congratulations Liv Mello! Beautiful story, thanks for taking us along on your adventure!

Here it is again if you haven’t had a chance to read our winning article:
An Indefinite Waterfall
By: Rajesh Vairapandian
Tags: Literature, Fiction, Poem, Art, Poetry

She opens the body of

the rain;

An invisible jungle resides

inside;

She opens the body of jungle

seen a mystical torrent;

She tried to open the body

of the cascade

but fails;

Her body twirls into

a rain

a jungle

and an indefinite waterfall.

© Rajesh Vairapandian ⭐ 2019
Beginners guide to Coinbase Pro, Coinbase’s advanced Exchange to trade BTC, ETH, LTC, ZRX, BAT and BCH
By: Vamshi Vangapally
Tags: Litecoin, Ethereum, Gdax, Coinbase Pro, Bitcoin

Beginners guide to Coinbase Pro, Coinbase’s advanced Exchange to trade BTC, ETH, LTC, ZRX, BAT and BCH

Understand the asset trading exchange provided by Coinbase themselves & save your fees on buying and selling allowed top 3 cryptocurrencies

Growing Popularity

As the popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is increasing either due to an astronomical price increase of Bitcoin over past few days or so many public figures making pro comments and few against it, this is making more and more people learn and invest in Bitcoin.

For those who’s been daunted by the huge price tag of Bitcoin are looking for a next Bitcoin or alternative currencies which could do a bull run in coming days, weeks or months. People are actually exploring other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Ethereum as they have proven to be active projects with scalability and transaction handling issues of Bitcoin handled in a better way.

Follow me on Twitter for updates regarding Cryptocurrency & Blockchain.

Note to Beginners

For all of the investment needs, Coinbase has been an easy medium for people living in more than 25 countries to easily add their bank account or a credit card to purchase Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ethereum using the funds deposited. If you are a beginner, follow this link to understand the step by step process of adding funds and making your first purchase. I would recommend beginners to follow instructions and make a first purchase on Coinbase.
Siglo bounty tokens have been distributed on the testnet
Tags: Blockchain

Today tokens from the 1st phase of the Siglo bounty program were distributed on the testnet to Siglo Wallets. The 1st phase of the bounty program ran from February to August 2018. Tokens were distributed to bounty hunters who created a Siglo wallet and completed the KYC process.

These tokens can be sent to other Siglo wallets, and the Siglo team is supporting the exchange of tokens for prepaid cellphone credit. Yesterday we ran tests with several thousand beta users, and we sent top-ups to all mobile operators in Mexico and Colombia.

At the TGE, each token on the testnet will be replaced with a token on the mainnet, and at that time you will be able to export to external wallets.
Black Men Voted For Trump in Historic Numbers
By: Dr. Dion
Tags: Politics, Trump, Race Relations, BlackLivesMatter, Election 2020

He is vain; he worries about his hair, his makeup, how he is photographed and videoed. Trump is materialistic; he cares more about money and things than people and their lives. Trump is provocative; he deliberately says and does things he shouldn’t to get a hysterical response.

Trump kicks those who are weak and keeps women in their place. He runs the White House like an old, overweight, graying, and wrinkly frat house where anything — and everything — goes.

Trump is a gangsta rapper minus the bling, the Bentleys, and the b*tches.

A few days after the election, Trump took to the podium in the White House Briefing Room and bragged about his increased support from Black voters and he had a reason to. Trump did better with Black men than any Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon.

One could be forgiven for thinking that, having improved his standing with Black men by a lot — and even Black women by a little — Trump would not, within days, accuse them of committing crimes. One would be wrong, of course. Trump’s strategy to remain president after having lost the election to Joe Biden in a landslide was a simple one — get Black people’s votes thrown out.

In Michigan, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit challenging the vote totals in only one county — Wayne. Wayne is home to half of all the Black people in Michigan. Detroit, which is 78% Black, is in Wayne County.

In Wisconsin, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit challenging the vote totals in only two counties — Dane and Milwaukee. Nearly 75% of all the Black people in Wisconsin live in Dane and Milwaukee counties.

In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit challenging the vote totals in Philadelphia, where nearly one half of all Black people in Pennsylvania live. Philadelphia, which is 44% Black, is in Philadelphia County.

In each of these states and across the country, Trump has presented no evidence of voter fraud and the courts have roundly rejected his amateurish attempts to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.

However, Trump and his Republican acolytes are sowing the seeds of suspicion and distrust of Black voters and their votes — which amounts to nothing more than voter suppression.

When Black people fear that their act of voting will be questioned, investigated, or regarded with suspicion, they will simply stop voting. Not because they have necessarily done anything wrong or criminal, but because Black people understand that — in America — Black people do not have to do anything wrong or criminal to have their liberties, livelihoods, or even their lives taken away. The simple state of being Black is reason enough.
Finrazor introduces News Influence Score (NIS) and Trending Assets (Trending) services
By: Finrazor Team
Tags: Fintech, Crypto, Blockchain

We’re monitoring all the news and data from cryptoverse and calculating net statistics, and update it 24/7 on the website.

NIS reflects the number of an asset’s mentions over the period of time and helps to see if it correlates with its price. Trending shows data as for the media attention for a company, technology, influencer, etc.

We explained the NIS and Trending methodology here: https://finrazor.com/methodology

It is fully automated, but if significant changes happen, we will send a short message to the channel. You may unmute it not to miss out any changes.

P. S. Since the feature is new, should you notice any strange things — feel free to contact us!
Name the Body Parts
By: A Singular Story
Tags: Sexuality, Sex, Self, Language, Communication

I do not have a “vajayjay”.

The word makes me cringe and shudder. Instead, I have a vagina and, sometimes, I engage in penetrative intercourse which means a penis — and not a “peepee” — is involved.

As a grown woman, I’m way past the age of talking about a boy’s “zizi” and a girl’s “zézette” (as we did in French kindergarten), whatever the language. For this reason, I don’t have a “down there” or a “front bottom” either but a vulva, an anatomical term that still provides an alliterative kick without sounding prudish.

For some reason, many American adults still seem to struggle naming their body parts, and even identifying them.

How many women still cannot tell the difference between a vulva and a vagina, using them as interchangeable terms?

And if we, proud owners of both, can’t tell one from the other, how can we even expect men to? When we can’t communicate the geographical coordinates of our erogenous zones, no wonder even the boldest of explorers get lost.

Or confused. If a man has ever expressed a preference for hairless vaginas for example, you may want to ask him whether he’s been having sex with Brillo pads. As the canal that leads from the uterus to the outside orifice of female genital organs, all vaginas are hairless. We do not have pubes growing inside us, people!

The landscaping of one’s “lady garden” is another source of much consternation. If you ask a woman to shave her clitoris, prepare to get punched in the face because you’ve just described female genital mutilation. The much-hallowed clitoris aka “clit”, “pleasure button”, or “bean” is that little bean-shaped sex organ right at the front of a vulva, right above the urethra.

And when aroused, it gets engorged and sometimes looks a little penis-like, plus it also has a glans, a similarity that should help men understand how important a body part it is. Pro-tip: The clitoris is full of nerve endings, find it and your female partner will thank you.

For many women, clitoral stimulation often leads to arousal and can help us achieve orgasm, that is to say “coming” or “getting off”. And yes, female orgasm can sometimes lead to ejaculation, too, which is when a woman expels fluid right before surrendering to pleasure.

You may know this as squirting and no, we’re not urinating on you.
Walking His Human
By: Terry Mansfield
Tags: Dogs, Haiku, Walking, Humor, Poetry

Hi! I’m Terry Mansfield and I Specialize in Eclecticism

Here are some things about me you probably don’t know (and maybe don’t even care to know; sorry about that).
PRINCESAS DE DISNEY GOLPEADAS
Tags: Princesas, Saint Hoax, Ilustracion, Disney, Bien Público

in In Fitness And In Health
Night II
Tags: Meditation, Moon, Night, Poetry, Thoughts

Moonrock chipped from the

face of a glowing darkness. It

was known to you, this voice —

desolate as the wind.
Q1 2019 Summary — POS terminals, UXC expansion, IEO
By: Unifox Official
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Unifox, Unicash, Finance

Q1 2019 Summary — POS terminals, UXC expansion, IEO

UniFox development has recently focused mainly on crypto POS terminals and the stable token of UniFox ecosystem — Unicash. The UniFox team consider these two parts of the system as the biggest priority now and will do its best to succeed in the field.

Dear Foxers!

First months of 2019 have passed and we are happy to bring you all the news and work we have done during this time frame. What has happened and what is ahead of us?!

POS Terminals in Czech casinos

The very first and exciting news we want to share with you is a signed partnership with one of the famous casinos in the Capital city of the Czech Republic — Prague.

Even though we are currently under NDA and the casino has been testing the terminals to ensure smooth transactions for casino players. This partnership opens up the possibility of buying chips in casinos via cryptocurrencies thanks to UniFox POS terminals to more than 47 000 players that visit the casino every year. As you already know — all fees will be paid in FOX and Unicash will be the main currency supported within the terminals.

As soon as the testing is finished and the possibility of paying via cryptocurrencies is available we will make an announcement covering the whole details, casino name and much more.

Initial Exchange offering

Lots of you have been writing us about the main sale announcement, its details and the accurate dates. Same like you we are eyeing for the crypto market to decide when and how to run the main sale that is unavoidly coming soon for us!

One of the possibilities we have been exploring from the beginning of 2019 is Initial exchange offering which currently offers safe and comfortable way for contributors to participate in the sale. Also, as exchanges do detailed research of the applying projects, investors are well protected.

As we believe in our developlment success and all the stuff we have done from the start we are confident enough to think this offer through.

On the other hand we are still eyeing for the standart sale (ICO) which would be very similar to the presale.

Unicash (UXC)

Recent events including Tether suspicion and the explicit need of stable tokens proved us right that Unicash is a right way of expanding UniFox concept in the upcoming months. The current focus is mainly expanding UXC via online exchanges and paying platforms.

Also, we have been in touch with gambling platforms offering multiple payment methods. Our aim is to get unicash listed on the platforms and offer the players the possibility of having stable currency even on the crypto betting platforms.

Unicash expansion is well connected to the POS terminals. Therefore you will be able to spend Unicash in the already mentioned Czech casinos and we believe that online betting platforms will be added soon.

As always, if you have any questions, recommendations or feedback you are more than welcome to reach out to us here or via telegram chat!

Team UniFox
Co-dependency: A Self-imposed Jail
By: Robin Klammer
Tags: Life Lessons, Mental Health Awareness, Adversity, Relationships, Family

Looking back through my life, I realize, my childhood, youth, and adulthood were overcast by a myriad of dysfunctional relationships and friendships.

It started with my own mother who had me far too young. Indeed, it may have been wiser for her to never have had children at all. But she did, and here I am. Whether I was the result of a lovesick woman hoping to trap a man, I have no idea, but I have my suspicions.

It could have been, she craved a family she never felt a part of. She came from a home rife with alcoholism and domestic abuse. My mother was essentially love-starved according to her earliest recollections. With alcoholics for parents, she and her siblings did not have an easy family life in any sense of the word.

Like many children of dysfunctional households, she pushed her own needs aside to try and be the best at everything without any praise or validation whatsoever. She kept the house tidy after a rough night of drinking and possibly fighting. Maybe she thought if she did everything a certain way, she would finally earn the love, as any child hopes for. But from what I’ve gleaned, her efforts around the house went unnoticed. Appreciation or validation, of any sort, fell far short of what she hoped for.

She tried her best at school, as it must have felt like a respite from the chaos and cold silence at home. She longed for a place where she felt validated, where her efforts were noticed and applauded. But even in school, she felt snubbed with very few friends. Without a true sense of belonging, she sought acceptance elsewhere.
50 Cent Makes Millions in Bitcoin — Accidentally
By: Rig Saini
Tags: 50 Cent, Money, Rap, Lifestyle, Bitcoin

50 Cent Makes Millions in Bitcoin — Accidentally

The rapper accepted Bitcoin as payment for an album 4 years ago, and forgot about it

Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

According to TMZ, In 2014, 50 Cent accepted Bitcoin as payment for his album, Animal Ambition. At the time, Bitcoin was trading at around $650, and the rapper ended up acquiring about 700 Bitcoin, worth just over $450,000.

50 Cent ended up forgetting about this investment, and since then, 50 Cent had filed for bankruptcy and was in a tough financial situation. But, as luck would have it, he realized he actually had 700 Bitcoin stashed away somewhere, now worth upwards of $7 million.
Is Your Inclusion Inclusive?
By: Deneisha Franklin
Tags: Diversity In Tech, Diversity And Inclusion, Diversity, Inclusion

Inclusivity Isn’t “Tolerance”

If we truly acknowledge that inclusion isn’t just about skin colour and surface-level statistics, then we can recognize that it is about being inclusive of other individuals. You see, this is the problem with “inclusion.” While most people consider inclusion to be the act of including someone, we rarely consider what people experience after we create these “inclusive” spaces. Once we invite someone to the table, do they really feel like they belong there? This is why you see so many organizations starting to include the word belonging in their diversity and inclusion titles and communications.

The two are not synonymous, and we must recognize that tolerance does not equal inclusivity. It can actually have the opposite effect. The act of including someone does not innately imply that you are also involving them. Therefore, when you make the conscious decision to include someone, you need to dig a little deeper to embrace their perspectives, regardless of whether or not they align with your own.

If we want to pursue real inclusivity, we can check our biases: Are you referencing (whether actively or passively) norms of acceptance for different groups of people? Because this requires intentional inner reflection, these biases can be the hardest thing to admit and simultaneously the easiest to act upon. It’s inevitable that you are going to make mistakes, and it can be hard to swallow when you realize that you’ve unintentionally been using these norms — which are really microaggressions — at work.

And when you do reach this point, it is your responsibility to equip others with the same knowledge. Recognize that though you have this responsibility, that does not necessarily imply that it is your fault. What is your fault, though, is if you disregard the exclusive nature of your inclusion, especially if you are a people manager or the leader of a team. This knowledge is our tool for improving the world, transforming surface-level “inclusion” into real inclusivity. Take what you’ve learned and make it a goal to share it with anyone that you can, especially those who value your thoughts and opinions. Everyone has a platform to use for good.

Once you’ve shared the knowledge with those around you, continue your journey by modeling the behavior yourself. To truly empower others, you’ve got to actively foster an environment that is conducive to this type of learning. Once we are all equipped and empowered, we can and must hold each other accountable. These sound like big tasks, but if everyone works on small changes, together those can create large social change. You are part of that social change. Below we offer a few small changes you can make to pursue real inclusivity.

Personally, do you find yourself ignoring your own privilege because you know a diverse person or have a diverse friend? Can you acknowledge that if you are reading this, we have some sort of privilege? Can you move past feeling guilt and shame, focusing instead on responsibility?
I Long for the Nourishment of Menstrual Rituals
By: Yael Wolfe
Tags: Menstruation, Self Care, Spirituality, Feminism, Women

I Long for the Nourishment of Menstrual Rituals

Pondering the return of moon huts and red tents.

Photo by Ahmed Aqtai from Pexels

On the night of the Egg Moon, I could feel my body changing. There were familiar symptoms — roundness, heaviness, and a dark mood I was having trouble climbing out of. I thought I was probably getting my period, but who knows at this point in the early stages of perimenopause. I go from 12 day cycles to 10 day cycles to 15 day cycles to 37 day cycles, and then…back to a normal 28.

The night of the Egg Moon was Day 20. Not a normal cycle, in terms of what normal looked like for the past thirty years. But not terribly off, considering all the two-week cycles I’ve had.

Sure enough, I woke up the next morning with cramps. That’s part of the challenge of perimenopause. I’ve struggled with debilitating cramps since I got my first period at 12. The only thing that helps is to drink raspberry leaf tea every day (which I have done without fail for over ten years) and making sure to take NSAIDs a few days before my period to reduce my prostaglandin level.

But I don’t know when my period is coming anymore, and I’m not willing to take NSAIDs every day — that’s just not safe. So…I’m back to enduring some pretty intense cramps.

As I laid there in bed, I debated what to do about that day’s schedule. Should I go for my walk right away and just grit my teeth through the cramps, then take my NSAID with breakfast? Or should I eat and take my pain reliever first and then go for a walk?

I felt pressure, as I always do when I get my period and try to anticipate how bad the cramps are going to get and what I should do to minimize them as much as possible. I know I have to make lightning-fast decisions so I can adjust my schedule as quickly as possible.

Or do I?
delicious
By: Rebeca Ansar
Tags: Culture, Poet, Poem, Emotions, Poetry

affix your secrets to a pole

hoist a flag in the sand

the secrets of a private heart

shriek explosions from the mouth

before savior departs

then there is this fear-

if they find you

and they clothe you

and they feed you

do they own you?

concede your fragilities to pitying hands

ask to keep an iota of your story

do you have the right to such demand?

pass a glass of wine-the aperitif

before they taste the flesh of your misfortune

the salt seduction in wounds is a delicacy

it distracts from first-world boredom.
Automatic Feature Engineering with Driverless AI
By: Thomas Ott
Tags: Driverlessai, Feature Engineering

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Dmitry Larko, Kaggle Grandmaster, and Senior Data Scientist at H2O.ai goes into depth on how to apply feature engineering in general and in Driverless AI. This video is over a year old and the version of Driverless AI shown is in beta form. The current version is much more developed today.

This is by far one of the best videos I’ve seen on the topic of feature engineering, not because I work for H2O.ai, but because it approaches the concepts in an easy to understand manner. Plus Dmitry does an awesome job of helping watchers understand with great examples.

The question and answer part is also very good, especially the discussion on overfitting. My notes from the video are below.

Feature engineering is extremely important in model building

“Coming up with features is difficult, time-consuming, requires expert knowledge. “Applied machine learning” is basically feature engineering” — Andrew Ng

Common Machine Learning workflow (see image below)
Awakening
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: LGBTQ, Fiction, Short Fiction, Attraction, Lust

I was glad for the quiet when I got home from work. It was late, and the city lights lit up the night, making the view from my condo seem like I was looking down at the stars, instead of up. I left the lights off, I wanted the dark tonight. Needed it. Confusion filled me. Mixed with something else. Excitement? No, it couldn’t be. Shame? That sounded better but didn’t feel quite right. I blinked. Curiosity.

“What’s wrong with you?”

My reflection in the glass just glared at me without answering. I sighed. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was just overtired; this deadline was really stressing me out.

But that didn’t explain why I couldn’t get her green eyes out of my mind. I’d always had a thing for green eyes, they’d just never belonged to a woman before. And it wasn’t just her eyes, it was the sweep of her pumpkin-colored hair and how it seemed to tease her shoulders as she walked by, leaving behind her the sweetest lingering scent of oranges.

And how she’d looked at me as we’d passed on the stairs, and she’d smiled, just the one corner of her mouth going up slightly, and said “Hey.” Just that. “Hey.”

How could such a simple and common word cause my breath to catch in my throat? I hadn’t even answered her; I couldn’t. By the time my mouth had caught up to my brain, she was already gone.

And now here I stood an hour later, alone in my dark condo, staring down at a lit-up city that never slept, and wondering what the hell that was all about. I’d never seen her before, she must be one of the new hires on the fifth floor.

“Argh! Stop it, go to bed!”

Maybe sleep would help. No. Sleep had to help.
Did I Mention My Friend Jerie?
By: Jenny Jedeikin
Tags: Jenny Jedeikin, Comics, Relationships, Family, Life

Jenny Jedeikin’s work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Rolling Stone, The Advocate, The UK's Oh Comely; read more at jennyjedeikin.com.

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Commercium [CMM] is now listed on CoinMarketCap
Tags: Cryptocurrency Updates, Blockchain, Announcements, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

CoinMarketCap, through its analitics, real time reporting and huge following, inadventently became one of the most important platforms for tracking capitalization of various cryptocurrencies and their projects all around the globe.

It is a big step for the future of Commercium and marks an important milestone in what we’d like to call a very exciting journey in the evolving cryptosphere.
Where is my electric vehicle, Uber?
By: Matt Bloom
Tags: Tech, Electric Vehicles, Uber, Transportation, Climate Change

Last Sunday, I had a shower thought wondering why ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft lack an electric vehicle option. You can share a sedan, hail a luxury SUV, and call a wheelchair-accessible ride. But you can’t choose to ride in an electric vehicle. What gives?

Uber facilitates over 10,000 rides every minute. The transportation unicorn’s 3 million drivers have logged over 5 billion trips worldwide, but very few vehicles in the fleet are electric or hybrid. With this incredible reach, ride sharing companies have much more climate change power than they credit themselves. While some incentives are built in for ride sharing drivers to switch to EVs, Uber does not incentivize the customer. The hybrid, electric, and autonomous vehicle revolution may hit the U.S. eventually, but ride sharing services can do more to speed up adoption.

A few ride sharing ideas:

Offer renting and leasing options to drivers favoring electric vehicles. Uber’s EV incentive today is only for the UK, and they partner with Hertz, Getaround, and Fair for renting. Promotion of the $7,500 U.S. federal rebate on new electric vehicle purchases would be a great starting point. Invest in charging infrastructure, not renewable energy credits. Many companies, Lyft included, claim they are 100% carbon neutral via extensive investment in renewable projects or credits. In my opinion, this is a workaround to investing in on-site solar, storage, and charging infrastructure — physical proof the company is serious about being green and a signal to employees their purchase of an EV is welcome. Modify vehicle requirements for drivers. ie. Your car must be no more than 8 years old or hybrid/electric. As EVs become more popular, this rule becomes increasingly important to wean out petrol. Test an ‘Uber EV’ option. Yes, I hear you. Uber would never launch this service unless it was profitable. However, Uber is losing ~$1 billion per quarter ahead of their 2019 public offering with plans to profit from new businesses like Uber Eats. I wouldn’t underestimate the number of green ride sharing users willing to pay one or two dollars more per ride to help electric transportation adoption.

Consumers will adopt clean energy solutions once they are convenient and affordable. Solar, storage, EV chargers — these are remarkable advancements but often expensive or unattainable by the average home owner or city dweller, respectively. So, can mainstream services like ride sharing fuel clean energy adoption sooner?

(Happy to continue the conversation on Twitter)

//UPDATE//

In early June 2019, it was announced ridesharing and taxi services in India might have to achieve 40 percent electrification by 2026 via legislation. This could be a huge step towards to mainstream electrification in a developing world, and perhaps convince the largest emitters to follow suit in some fashion.
B21 Private Sale Announcement!
Tags: ICO, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Token Sale

B21 Private sale extended for two extra weeks!

Get your B21 tokens at the discounted price.

Due to popular demand, and extensive requests from the B21 Community, our Private sale will continue until Thursday, 14th June!

We now have over 8000 people on the waiting list!

JOIN HERE! FOR BIG DISCOUNTS!

If you have questions email contribute@b21.io or message on our telegram channel!

We are delighted to announce that due to high demand for our private sale and an increasing amount of requests from the B21 Community, we have decided to extend it for two extra weeks!

During our private sale we have received a tremendous response, we would like to thank each and every one of the private B21 community for your participation and continued support!

As we continue to build momentum in the crypto space, we are focused on our goal of enabling the mass market to invest in cryptoassets by creating their own portfolio of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS and others. The B21 killer app enables customers to invest using local fiat currency and has a user-friendly portfolio dashboard, the application also supports recurring investments.

We are extremely proud of the work that we have done so far and the team that we have built. As we continue to grow, we are dedicated to placing the utmost on security, legal compliance and user experience. We are focused on our mission to build the world’s largest cryptoasset investment community, and to place B21 as an attractive personal wealth management platform.

This is only the beginning — the capital that we have raised so far will allow us to continue building key relationships with prominent personalities in the crypto space, to grow our team with the brightest talent within the blockchain industry and to continue to advance our technology and killer app.

Community App

Watch out for our Community App, #B21life, which is in closed alpha now!

The community app is B21’s first step to educate our community on crypto investing and attract more members.

Our Pre-sale is set to launch on June 15. For more information visit our website http://www.b21.io/#/

If you have any questions, please join our Telegram group
The Minute Bank — Helping My Toddler Understand the Importance of Time
By: Michelle Loucadoux
Tags: Parenting, Parenting Toddlers, Parenting Advice, Home, Family

The Minute Bank — Helping My Toddler Understand the Importance of Time

An alternative reward system

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

My almost-three-year-old son never wants to take a bath. Surprise, surprise. All he wants to do is play with his cars and I’m pretty sure he would roll his Hot Wheels around the living room until he fell asleep on top of them.

When it’s time to stop playing and take his bath, I usually say something like, “You can play for one more minute while I run the bath.” Lately, he has begun to use my saying against me. I will admit that it’s pretty cute to hear him say, “Mama I play cars one more minute.” At a 33 months old, he has no idea what one minute is, but he understood that “one more minute” allowed him to play for just a little while longer.

The problem with this was that after I would say this, my “one minute” would turn into anywhere between two and five as I tried to do things around the house while my son was occupied. He also didn’t really understand that one minute was a finite amount of time, so he would insist when I returned that I had promised him one minute (even though it had inevitably been more than two). So, I decided to set a timer.

First, I added the song Splish Splash by Bobby Darin to my phone and made it the alarm sound for the timer on my phone. When my son asked to play for one more minute, I set my phone, showed him the timer and left it near him so he could watch it count down. At the end of the one minute when it played the song, he began to understand that it was time to go to the bath. And, after about three evenings, he stopped playing when the timer went off and walked to the bath himself.

So, I decided to begin to offer up extra minutes before bathtime as a reward for good behavior. When my son helped me pick up his toys, I told him he would get one extra minute before bath. I would then reiterate it when it was bath time. “It’s bath time, buddy, but you get two minutes to play today instead of one because you helped clean up your toys.” It worked!

My son was significantly more likely to help out around the house if I offered up extra time to play before bed. And, my new “minute bank” helped me to do away with rewards like candy (which I was worried would set him up for an unhealthy relationship with food) and new toys (which were beginning to break the bank).

The added bonus of our minute bank is that my son is beginning to understand and gain an appreciation for time. The importance of how we spend our time (our most important nonrenewable commodity) is something that I believe is to important to convey to young people. Our minutes are important and should be treated as such.

Not only is my son helping out more around the house, he’s also learning gratitude for the time he has to play with his cars.
Getting to Know Me
By: Tre L. Loadholt
Tags: Sisters, A Cornered Gurl, Life, Family, Poetry

2019 MTV Awards Musical Performance by Missy Elliott

An Audio Poem

My kid sister probes me

for information. She needs to

know more about me.

Our upbringing was an odd one.

I'm more of a mother-figure to her

than a big sister; with 19 years

separating us, she "ma'ams" me

rather than "Ooh, girl" or

"Child, pleases" me and it just seems weird.

She urges me to open up, to share,

but I'm not really the type to complain

more than I need to or

give more of me than I should.

I've learned who to shed skin

with and who not to and this isn't

to say that my sister isn't to

be trusted, no, that's not it.

I'm just . . . careful now.

I want to vent sometimes to her,

I want her to hear me when I'm

in distress, yet there's this overwhelming

feeling to protect her too

even if it's from me.

She assures me she's old

enough to digest what I

dole out but I’m hesitant.

I've lived a far different life

and my demons tend to follow

me along my sacred paths and

my sister is still growing,

still learning. I don't want her

to know the me that drives

people away. I'm still working

on that me.

I need her around.

I'd hate for her to be one more

person I find myself chasing

after; another heart to grip.

People want you to strip

bare, stand naked before them,

but many of them aren't ready

for the curves and folds and

two-toned skin. They just want

to see more of you even if

more of you isn't beautiful.

It's one more thing they can

hang over your head, dangle like

a dagger, cut you to the quick.

I'm trying. I swear, I am.

I ask her to be patient with me,

to understand — I have a way

and my way is comforting.

I can't be rushed.

She understands.

Thank God in heaven.

She understands.
Why Faces are the Cornerstone of Mobile Content
Tags: Ad Blocking, Content Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Advertising

What was the last thing you touched before going to bed last night? Or the first thing you reached for this morning?

Less than a decade ago the answer would likely have been a partner, a child or even an alarm clock. In a Fall 2016 BBDO study, 73% of respondents answered that they reach for their phone first thing in the morning and for 48% their phone is the last thing they touch at night[1].

Mobile phones occupy a special place in our media repertoire. One where we’re less tolerant of advertising. KPCB data suggests that desktop ad blocking has reached just over 200MM worldwide users, mobile ad blocking has reached over 400MM users in just the last two years.

If we really do have a special relationship with mobile, one which keeps them close at night and where users are less accepting of ads, then how can we create effective mobile content?

A cursory survey of popular mobile content from mobile first platforms reveals one prevalent trend that agencies might learn from — close up on faces. Many of the top content creators on From Vine to Snapchat and YouTube simply talk to camera and allow their faces to convey much of their message.

The rise of faces in mobile content isn’t a happy accident of the front facing camera. Phil Barden, the author of Decoded, suggests that “Seeing a (good-looking) face triggers the reward center in the brain[2]”.

Another reason faces have become so popular is their ability to quickly communicate emotion. It has been suggested that the “ability to communicate subtle emotions with a simple raised eyebrow or curl of the lip may be innate [3]”. This ability combined with deriving pleasure from seeing faces shows why faces have been so important in native mobile content.

This insight can be seen playing out in campaigns such as AT&T’s “It’s Our Time” app that enabled fans to upload videos of their cheers for US Olympians at the Sochi Games.

Not all campaigns will require close up of faces. However, as we continue to seek emotional connection with audiences, correctly using faces in mobile content will help us design meaningful content for a channel that we value highly.
by Martino Pietropoli
By: Martino Pietropoli
Tags: Illustration, Drawing, Thursday, Comics, Humor

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

Follow
Nerf guns and change: The power of collective action
By: Jody Britten
Tags: Empowerment, Collaboration, Leadership, Community Engagement, Change

When we think about change we often go with the “silver bullet” and “single shooter” approach where we choose our weapon of choice (usually a dreamy vision of perfection that is focused on one component of our full community).

The results of this approach to change are rather “blah.” Why? Because honestly what fun is it? And truly, how purposeful is it?

But sadly this approach is too commonplace.

When you have a bunch of single shots, change takes too long. When there’s just a few people thinking and acting you quickly learn that just when you arrive at the promise land of your dreamy vision, its outdated and lackluster.

Change (especially change that impacts a community) cannot happen effectively or expeditiously with that single shot approach. (Sorry, you grabbed the wrong Nerf gun.)

If we are going to make change meaningful and with any kind of shelf life (school change, organizational change, etc.) we have to think differently. We have to go at it with empowerment of our community at the center.

That means collective vision, collective action, and most assuredly collective celebration.

We have to go after change with the better option. That equates to a Nerf gun with multiple rounds and a few different trigger options.

Why? Because to get things done it takes a shower of actions hitting the target from all sides.

It’s like when the kids collectively attack me during a Nerf battle. I get hammered from all sides and they take me down.

By working together with a shared goal (eg. take mom down in a blaze of glory) they achieve a quick and effective win. Because they went after it from their own vantage points.

Community-engaged change is about everyone leading from where they are, giving energy in their own way, and turning actions into collective progress. It takes a collaborative and empowered spirit to do this work; because one voice doesn’t drive the outcome. It is about progress, negotiation, understanding, and above all your collective goal(s).

When I look at those Nerf guns and I think about the positive outcomes of collective action; I’m not only inspired by the sheer force of the possibilities, I am in absolute awe.

Prepare for change just like you would a Nerf battle; with as much ammunition as possible and a tribe that is as passionate and invested in the collective win as you are.

Change can be a fun experience, let it be.

And if you have forgotten how to have fun with hard change, drop by for a Nerf battle.

Get put in your place by a bunch of eight year olds with super-powered Nerf guns and you’ll remember the power of collaboration and the importance of our choices.
24hr Crypto Market Round up
By: John Fenton
Tags: Ethereum, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Investing

24hr Crypto Market Round up

Will the Crypto boat stop rocking for more than a day?

Another sea of red as only (at time of writing) 2 coins post a positive gain against the dollar

No major horror stories as only Ripple is the double digit loser!

Remember Follow me via https://medium.com/@john.l.fenton)

Bitcoin (BTC) $10745 dips 6.77 %

Ethereum (ETH) 15.93% down under the 1k mark again @ $984

Ripple (XRP) Today’s biggest loser 10.38% down @ $1.23

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) @ $1612 down 8.80%

Cardano dips 8.23% @ $0.556227

LiteCoin (LTC) @ $177 down 6.08%

NEM slips @ $0.951838 down 9.67%

EOS gatecrashes the top 10 and posts a gain up 6.63% @ $13.56

Stellar (XLM) @ $0.463971 up 1%

NEO @ $120.89 down 7.47%

Please Check Out https://carbonwallet.com/ the Wallet I Co founded, Currently supporting BTC and ZCL More coins coming soon

Note: These are my opinions and I like to think I am right all the time, but have been known on the ODD occasion to be wrong, so the here is the legal bit

My opinions on the blog do not constitute investment advice.
Link: Ava DuVernay Helped J.J. Abrams Make The Force Awakens’ Rey Vs. Ren Fight Even More Badass
By: Jon Armstrong
Tags: Film, Reading, Movie, Link, Force Awakens

Love hearing JJ Abrams talk about this edit. When I saw this in the theater, I felt this moment in Force Awakens tied the movie directly to the first Star Wars film where Luke turns off his targeting computer in the final Death Star trench run.

Also: not all reshoots are bad. In this case, it definitely helped cement a major character’s pivotal transformation.

Ava DuVernay Helped J.J. Abrams Make The Force Awakens’ Rey Vs. Ren Fight Even More Badass

by: Cheryl Eddy