fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Why escrow, arbitration, real recommendations (and workcoin) are needed.
By: Fred Krueger
Tags: Blockchain, Workcoin

I was sent the above on Linkedin today. If you are in the ICO world, I think you would agree that these are interesting services, and the price is not terrible. Getting put on 40 ICO Trackers for $800 makes a lot of sense, as does the article placement…AS LONG AS THE SERVICE IS NOT A SCAM.

Do I trust it as is? No. Because if I just send the BTC, and I get nothing, I feel like a complete idiot. On the other hand if there is an escrow and arbitration system, that gives me 100% of my money back if I am put on 0 ICO trackers, and 50% back if I am put on 20 Trackers, then I am in. And if I see that somebody else (that I know of) has used the service and recommends it — I am doubly in.
Free BitMari Bitcoin Course — Chapter 5
By: I Love Black People Billmari
Tags: Home, Bitmari Bitcoin Course, Bitcoin Course, Bitcoin, Bitmari

We are building a global network to help protect Black people from racism & xenophobia using technology.

Follow
New Maker Rebates for ETH Trades on itBit
Tags: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Itbit

We’re excited to share that on itBit, the Paxos exchange, itBit customers will now begin receiving 3.5 bps rebates of the notional value on all confirmed ETH maker trades. We are thrilled to offer even more to our customers on top of the most competitive taker rates available and plan to continue providing the highest quality services in the industry.

All ETH maker rebates will be credited to the customer’s fiat balance(non-ETH maker orders will remain free and not receive any rebate). Our industry-leading, low taker rates will remain the same, structured in tiers based on 30-day rolling volumes.

At itBit, user trading volume is aggregated by fiat base currency, BTC/USD and ETH/USD trades count towards the aggregated USD tier, and BTC/EUR and ETH/EUR count separately towards the aggregated EUR tier. Click here to learn more about itBit’s fee structure.
Announcing Broadcaster Royale — General Registration is Open
By: Emily Halpin
Tags: Pubg, Gaming, Esport, Twitch

$300,000, the biggest names on Twitch, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, and YOU. Register now to compete in Broadcaster Royale, a game-changing tournament series coming only to Twitch.

The two-season global event starts on July 21 and will feature hundreds of your favorite Twitch streamers competing against thousands of community players, vying for a $300,000 prize pool — and one of them can be you! Registration closes at 11:59PM PDT on July 16, so sign up now!

Following the special Unboxing Prime Day event today (featuring a PUBG Squad Showdown with popular streamers Shroud, DrDisRespectLIVE and AnneMunition), join more of your favorite Twitch streamers to kick off Broadcaster Royale Season 1 on July 21. Twitch Partners and Affiliates as well as selected members of the general public will compete in teams of two in regional qualifiers for North America, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Oceania.

As the first event of its kind, Broadcaster Royale isn’t just bucking the trend of “pros only” competitions; we’re knocking it down with a cast-iron pan. Whether you’re a superstar streamer or even a newcomer who’s never gone live before, if you love competing in PUBG and have the skills to match, this is the competition for you. Prove that you’re a skilled tactician who’s quick on the draw, and set the record straight by throwing down the gauntlet and silencing any and all critics. Not only that, but you’ll also get access to awesome new in-game items — some of which are free to Twitch Prime members! (More details on this coming soon!)

Ready to get started? Fantastic! Here are some important details you’ll need to know: Season 1 of Broadcaster Royale will consist of two paths for competitors: Invitational & Open. Don’t worry, both paths ultimately lead to the same place, so you’ll get your shot to topple the giants… Make it count.

What You Need to Know

All competitors must stream their POV via Twitch. Not streaming will result in disqualification.

Team Size: 2. Both players must register together

Regions: Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania*, & South America*

You must compete in one of the two qualifiers (schedule below). If your team places in one of the top spots, you advance to the Regional Finals. Regional champions move on to the Live Finals.

Registration closes on July 16th at 11:59 PDT.

For more information on the tournament structure and rules, click here.

Schedule

July 6 — Registration Open

July 16 — Registration Closes

July 21 — Invitational Qualifier #1

July 22 — Open Qualifier #1

August 4 — Invitational Qualifier #2

August 5 — Open Qualifier #2

August 11 — Invitational Regional Final

August 12 — Open Regional Final

August 31 — Grand Finals Day 1

September 1 — Grand Finals Day 2

September 2 — Grand Finals Day 3

*South America will only have an Invitational Path. Oceania will only have an Open Path. All other regions will have both an Open & Invitational Path.
Bait
By: Tre L. Loadholt
Tags: Poetry, Pandemic, Work, Love, A Cornered Gurl

An Audio Poem

They dangle me out for

the masses, I am bait,

luring money from a vast

demographic keeping the

market wide open.

Exposed to positive COVID-19

patients, advised to self-monitor,

while still working because

yes, money needs to

be made. My life is

Russian roulette, Poker,

Spades, a game to be played.

The highest bidder gets a

new home in Charlotte and

a fifteen percent increase in pay.

My coworker says, "They need

to give you a raise. I feel safe

with you out there screening

patients that enter this building"

and I shake my head at her.

I am empty.

I am hollow.

I am lacking

something that was once

there and I don't know

how to get it back.

A burly man glowers in

my direction, angry at me

for being made to

put on a mask. He shouts

every foul word my way

and I stand my ground, "Sir . . .

In this building, you will

wear a mask or you will

be asked to leave."

I am a fixture in a place

that only wants me around

to keep the doors open,

the crowd happy, and the

team safe. My life, a worm

looped around a hook,

waiting for the biggest fish.

Luckily,

I breathe well underwater.

After all, isn't this

what you do when you

love your job?

Isn't it?
In With the Old, In With the New
By: Isaac Levy-Rubinett
Tags: Programming, History, Data Visualization, Data Science, Visual Design

What does the phrase “Data Visualization” sound like to the uninitiated? “Data” conjures up images of computers and statistical analysis, whereas Visualization is more accessible but vague enough so as to be unclear. They may wonder: Is Data Visualization new, overflowing with cutting edge tools and technology, or is it as old as human communication itself?

Well, yes.

This week on Nightingale, we covered some of Data Viz’s exciting new developments and revisited the work of some early practitioners.

Looking backward, Paul Kahn continued his series on cosmology and global information design with his piece, “Cosmology in the Small,” which considers the design techniques of early migration maps and historic theological texts.

Jason Forrest also looked back in time, though not quite as far, in his piece “The Greatest Library You’ve Never Heard Of.” He visited with Chris Mullen, the creator of The Visual Telling of Stories, an expansive, online visual archive brimming with design artifacts from throughout the 20th century. Mullen’s library includes the largest collection of Fortune magazine, the oft-overlooked design and business magazine. Come to get to know Mullen and what inspired him to undertake such a project; stay for hours perusing this wonderful, strange corner of the internet.

Data Visualization may be rooted in ancient times and have a rich history over the last couple centuries, but the field is transforming in the technological age, and transforming the world along with it. We cover that too!

In his piece, “Beyond the Goal: Visualizing Expected Assists in Soccer,” Benoit Pimpaud put the newest data viz techniques to use in his analysis of expected assists and passing in soccer. Since soccer is so low-scoring, the final scoreboard doesn’t convey the entire picture. And since spacing and positioning are critical to the beautiful game, data visualization is a highly effective tool for analysis.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to make fully responsive D3 charts inside of React, you are in luck, because Dave O’Donovan has taken us on a journey to “D3-Land” and “React-Land.” Read Part 1 and Part 2 today, and be on the lookout for Part 3 next week.

And, as always, please get in touch if you are interested in writing for Nightingale. Whether you have a draft ready or just the earliest stages of an idea, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Student Stories: Desislava Genova
By: Altcademy Team
Tags: Learning To Code, Web Development, Learning, Student Stories, Codingbootcamp

Student Stories: Desislava Genova

Desislava is currently studying Full-stack Web Development Program

Q: About yourself

Hi everyone, I am Desislava from Bulgaria. I currently live in Madrid, Spain. I am a designer. I began learning how to code by myself because one of my clients wanted an HTML signature design. Back then, I had no idea how to do it, so I began learning some HTML and CSS on my own to get it done.

The whole experience got me very interested in web development. I began playing around with Wordpress using some templates. Later on, I wanted to customize my own templates. I started to fall in love with web development.

“Most people would tell you that they found web development interesting. But, in my case, I think it’s completely opposite. It found me!”

I felt that there’s some gap between what I know and what I want to accomplish, so I wanted to learn more.

Q: Why Altcademy?

I actually saw many learning resources online. Ultimately, I liked Altcademy for being realistic. There are no high hopes or fake promises. Altcademy’s motto really resonates with me — “Learn enough to learn more”. I want to truly understand the fundamentals and expand my knowledge. Altcademy gave me confidence in that. Things kinda clicked!

I want to complement whatever I am doing with coding. Altcademy doesn’t require me to change my career, but I can still keep improving myself. In-person bootcamp is usually time-demanding, and I want to work full-time. Altcademy is extremely well-structured with logical exercises. I want to fill up basic knowledge first. I also get very excited about getting things to work.

Q: What are you working on now?

I am working on my portfolio website. I am familiar with graphic design with motions, so it was natural for me to add animations on my portfolio website. Check it out here!

Q: What’s your long-term goal?

Well, maybe it’s not long-term. I like to get into new things with incremental steps. I want to turn building websites into my core workload and competency. I think having a designer background gives me an edge and advantage too.

I am beginning to learn JavaScript now, and it’s very interesting. I want to learn more and continue to learn. Build something and get it out in the real world. Freelance more websites and get clients! Anything towards the these directions would be cool!
August Sun
Tags: Poem, Summer, Poetry, August

Northern hemisphere bathed in sun

Thirty degrees skies of blue

Rippling streams reflecting light

S. Ramjee

Blackberries burst wild and juicy

The bigger they are the better for picking

Among brambles stinging nettles pair in sight

S. Ramjee

Make hay farmer while it shines

For darkness comes when no man can work

The thought of winter makes me shudder now

Photo: S Ramjee

The days slowly shrink and grow darker

Yet the night is cool musky and warm

Angles terra still too can bask and how
著名建築家が設計！景観やエコにも配慮したデザイナーズ・ワイナリー
By: Kumiko Nakayama
Tags: 日本語, 建築, デザイン

in Eudaimonia and Co
MITH Staking and Earning Revamped｜ 全新的秘銀鎖倉與秘銀定存
Tags: Partnerships, Ecosystem, Staking, Mine, Mithril

Dear MITH Community,

We are revamping MITH staking by providing MITH holders a simple and direct way to stake and earn MITH, without having to make social posts. Just deposit MITH to start earning — it’s that simple! Furthermore, we are expanding how MITH holders can better earn cryptos by enabling access to decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities without the headaches of managing DeFi yourself. Many of you in the community have provided valuable feedback — we thank you for your support as always, and hope you like these changes.

Announcing Steaker

Steaker is a digital assets management service platform. Utilizing professional risk diversification, Steaker assists clients in investing their digital assets in well-known DeFi/CeFi/Staking projects to earn interest. Starting late December 2019, MITH holders will only need to deposit their MITH into their Steaker account to start earning MITH. You can also access DeFi opportunities on Steaker. Steaker is a MITH-forged company, led by our newest MITH Foundation Council Member, Wilson Huang. We’re proud of what Wilson and the Steaker team have built, and look forward to the contributions that Steaker will bring to the MITH Ecosystem. This new plan will go into effect in the coming weeks — please be sure to follow Steaker official website or Medium for details.

As part of this change, we are terminating our partnerships with PiePie and Yeemos effective November 15th, 2019. Users who have earned MITH via social mining from these partners can continue to access VAULT to spend and manage their MITH.

Thank you for your support,

Jeffrey Huang
Ball Of Confusion
By: Mike Essig
Tags: Poetry, Politics, Culture, Resistance Poetry, Patriotism

False flags and panic. Fear the other. Hate.

Be a Patriot. Act. As you are told.

When the people are frightened, they obey.

These are the times that few men try. At all.

No one can own you unless you want them to.

Gun in hand worth ten senators. Boom.

Gay Straight Male Female Black White Muslim Jew.

Exactly the opposite of E Puribus Unum.

Stir and stir, yet the pot does not melt.

Too many soups antagonize the cook.

The fires of discord sizzle and fry.

Dare not to think, just buy and buy.
Ultrabus
Tags: Poem, Poetry, Poetry On Medium

They were all over the place:

homeless people who played by the rules. The advice

leaked out of their pants onto attendants’ shoes, appropriately.

They clumped into a plot of data points

with perfectly vectored boundaries

with the textbook layers (in the right order) of expensive

markers with rhombus angles and edges.

“They can control the weather by tickling rats,”

an Amish train rider crossing the street said in a clear deadpan.

Lightning quietly woke up an Aryan baby in shortalls;

there was no thunder, but we kept waiting for it.
Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom
By: Sebastian Ciro
Tags: Matlupbchronicles, Matlupb, First Post

Photo by Mahdiar Mahmoodi on Unsplash

I could not imagine how comics will be a good way to make a class, but it had a reason: I had never read a comic or a graphic novel in my life. I did not know why, perhaps I was focused on other kinds of texts. So, the day when Dr. Mora (my teacher) said “if you have any comic, please bring it for the next class” I did not have an idea about what to expect or what we were going to do during the session, but as always, the class exceeded my expectations and it made me read my first graphic novel once I was at home.

The teacher presented the comics and graphic novels. It caught my attention instantaneously due to the way he talked about them and how priceless they are. Every one of them has a story in his life and I consider it is very important because integrating in the classroom some of your passions, hobbies or interests is a significant method to teach a purpose which in this case was to create our own comic with essential rules that a class should have.

There is where the value of teaching is. To demonstrate how passions can be an instrument to teach about something. In this case, comics have characters and plots that can make the class more enjoyable, dynamic and interesting meanwhile you are learning about something in a critical way. They are good resources to transmit knowledge or to tell historical issues as the case of “Mause” the Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel that presents a story about the Holocaust represented with mice for the Jews and cats for the Nazis.

Definitely, having the experience of creating our own comic was an unforgettable moment. The information flows easier while you are learning something. You enjoy drawing, painting and thinking up the idea you want to tell. It motivates the students to continue reading in and outside the classroom. Thus, comics and graphic novels will be a part of my teaching process once I finish my professional career. In the meantime, I will continue reading some of them, and probably some of them will be priceless for me.
Why I Took a Machine Learning Course as a Software Engineer
By: Brilian Firdaus
Tags: Mooc, Learn, Software Engineering, Data, Data Science

Why I took a MOOC

So, as a software engineer that is not interested in becoming data scientist, what are my reasons to study machine learning?

Here are the reasons.

Machine Learning is very popular right now

Machine Learning is very popular in technology industry, everyone is talking about it, many companies have started if not already implementing it in their system. It’s a growing topic that there is new research, article, and code added into it every day.

Learning about it will make my career more future proof. If I ever need to specialize in it for an opportunity, then I would already have the basics.

Artificial Intelligence seems to be the future

The use case and possibility for Artificial Intelligence is increasing day by day. I’ve heard people talking that artificial intelligence would be the next industry revolution.

Since machine learning is a subset of AI, learning it would introduce me to it.

Good for portfolio

Finishing the course will show the employer you have a determination and consistency to finish a long and expensive course. The certificate you got from finishing the course won’t instantly land you a job, but at least it will help you.

I’m craving for the knowledge

I’ve been interested in machine learning for many years. I learned a bit in college, but I’m interested in knowing more about how and how should they work.

There is a possibility that I will take a master degree

I’m considering taking a Master Degree, and I took one, I’ll probably focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Knowing the basics about them before starting a master degree will help me a lot later on if I ever pursued a master degree.
Fall Wildlife Spectacles
By: U.S. Fish, Wildlife Service
Tags: Birds, Autumn, Travel, Animals, Environment

See it firsthand:

Bugling Elk

Video: USFWS

Male elk announce fall breeding season by throwing back their heads and letting out piercing, high-pitched calls. To female elk, the otherworldly sound is a summons. To human ears, it’s a reminder of nature’s majesty. Male elk bugle to attract females, defend territory and assert dominance over would-be competitors. See and hear bugling elks on such refuges as Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, National Bison Range and San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in California.

Photo: Erwin and Peggy Bauer/USFWS

Tip: Peak bugling season is late August to mid-October.

Fun Fact: Elk bugles can range three octaves.

Audio clip: AlexTriceratops123

Sandhill Crane Migration

Photo: Marvin De Jong

If you’ve never seen thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese lift off in unison from the mudflats and beat more wings than you can count as they head out to feed at sunrise, you’re in for a treat. Groups of birders and photographers huddle in November’s pre-dawn cold at picturesque Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico to await the sight. For migrating cranes, the refuge is a favorite wintering ground. The birds’ numbers grow steadily starting in October. Dawn fly-outs and dusk fly-ins are well-attended highlights of the annual Festival of the Cranes in November.

GIPHY

Tip: Plan to arrive at least a half hour before sunrise. Take a winter jacket and gloves.

Fun Fact: Sandhill cranes are among Earth’s oldest living birds. Other fun facts.

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine falcon flying over the Everglades. Photo: Barry Davis

At the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, birders and friends scan autumn skies for a glimpse of migrating peregrine falcons. Flying as fast as 200 miles per hour, these incredible birds make their way to South America as fall hits, pit-stopping in South Florida before crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Experienced volunteers can help you spot the migration path. “It’s like learning how to read,” says Rafael Galvez, director of the Florida Keys HawkWatch. Early to mid-October is generally prime time to watch these navigators zip through the sky at National Key Deer Refuge.
Tackling ‘terror in the home’
By: Andre Vornic
Tags: Women, Gender Equality, Humanitarian, Feminism

Sitting on the edge of my desk, this senior adviser has an easy relationship with advice. Happy to proffer it, happy to seek it. The informality might be simply Australian. Or else a carryover from a past career as a union organizer. And if the latter job is one you associate with burly men — well, that’s just another stereotype Paul is out to slay.

Paul is a she. Sporty and skirted.

Paul is the surname.

The given name’s Jacqueline.

She is WFP’s in-house gender specialist, here to scrape back layers of inference and assumption. But mostly to hammer home this point: unless WFP concentrates on gender equality, any hope it might have of delivering on its mandate is doomed.

The idea goes down well in principle; perhaps less so in fact. And while Paul smiles frequently, the smile swings from mirth to exasperation.

“There are countries, among the world’s least developed, where the same programmes have been implemented for thirty years. Thirty years! Now that we’re talking about the link between food security, security and peace — it’s by working with women that you build peace. Studies have been showing this for well over a decade.”
Taboo is when …
By: Jay Krasnow
Tags: Poetry, Haiku, Parenting, Children, Family

Sign up for American Haiku Steamship To Writing History

By American Haiku

Writing takes practice. American Haiku is a great way to put your words from your fingers to your piece of paper. Don't quit, you can do it. Take a look
Take Surveys & Get Paid: Over 1 million BELA is up for grabs
By: Tyler Marx
Tags: Surveys, Make Money Online, Earning Money, Crypto, Bitcoin

A month ago, we unveiled a new earning opportunity on Belacam.com/surveys where users could take surveys for brands and research firms and get paid in BELA. After some initial success, we are dedicating over 1,000,000 BELA to survey payouts.

Want some of that? Here’s how it can be yours.

Register for Belacam.com. You’ll need an account to withdraw your BELA earnings! Go to Belacam.com/surveys and take the intro demographic survey. This makes sure we can connect you with the companies and firms that want to hear from people just like you. We also check to make sure you are located in one of the 54 countries where we can serve surveys. Once past the intro demographic survey, you will see our survey offerwall. This shows all the available surveys at the current time. If you complete a survey, the BELA will show in your account balance after you refresh the page. Once you run out of surveys to take, check back in an hour because we will have more!

From my account, I see surveys that pay as much as 500 BELA

Take surveys and earn BELA at https://Belacam.com/surveys
my friend is teaching her 8 year old (poem)
By: Kate Holly-Clark
Tags: Feminism, Poetry, Robert Frost, Resistance Poetry, Setting Boundaries

Loose stone wall, Liz West, Flickr, CC0

about boundaries, that it is ok to say no

when it comes to your body or your heart

and she is taking to it like a robin to air

or a carp to water

which seems both magical and strange

to a woman of my generation

come give uncle a hug

now, sweetie, give grandpa a kiss

don’t you want to give auntie a squeeze

when she pinches your cheeks it’s just because she loves you

he’s only mean to you in class because he likes you

give it a little more time

because men are different than women sweetie

I’m sure he didn’t mean to

I’m sure he won’t do it again

he’s got good intentions and a good heart you know

they taught us in school in New England, at least

that good fences make good neighbors

without telling us that Frost held a gun

to his daughter’s head until she said

she loved him.

Good fences make good neighbors

unless you’re a woman, then you’re not allowed

so much as a single picket

I wonder a bit what it will be like

when my friend’s daughter is grown

and she is very much a child of her generation

they teach them now

that not hugging is ok

that bodies belong to the person living in them

that love isn’t supposed to hurt you

I wonder if by the time they are done

good fences will make good neighbors

even if you’re a woman

even if there is no gun.
VueJS Cheat Sheet Part 1
By: Christopher Agnus
Tags: Frontend, Web Development, JavaScript, Software Engineering, Vuejs

Here’s a quick summary of the concepts in VueJS:

Expressions:

Directives:

List Rendering:

Binding:

Actions / Events:
How NASA Reinvented The Wheel
By: Alessandro Bazzi
Tags: Mars, Future Technology, Technology, NASA, Space

Nickel-Titanium

Nitinol is a memory shape alloy made of Nickel and Titanium. What is special about this material is that it has two rare properties:

Shape memory

Superelasticity

Shape memory

Shape memory is the property of a material of undergoing deformation and then be able to return to its original shape when the heat is applied to it. An object made of Nitinol can be bend and deformed at room temperature, but as soon as you apply some heat it returns to its previous shape. It remembers its original shape.

The secret of this material lays in its crystal structure.

When Nitinol is under a certain temperature, its crystal structure is called martensite. The atoms in this structure are organized in a way that allows it to offer an easy path for the deformation. When stress is applied the atoms move and align to absorb it. This is different from the traditional materials where, when a stress is applied what happens is that the bonds of the atomic structure are stretched.

When we release the stress the object maintains that shape until heat is applied. When we apply heat to Nickel-Titanium its crystal structure change again and becomes austenite. This structure is the most stable at high temperature but as soon as the material cools down it returns to a martensitic structure.

This property means that the shape of the object made of Nitinol can return to its original one by absorbing energy from the heat we apply to it.

And that is not all. By modifying the percentage of the two elements we can tailor the temperature at which the transformation happens. More specifically, by increasing the percentage of Titanium we also increase the transformation temperature.

This is a property really unique that has already found many uses.

As an example, in the medical field, Nitinol is used to produce stents. Before the use of this material, they were made of other metals. After being inserted in the blood vessel they have to be plastically deformed into the shape wanted. To do that a small balloon is inflated inside the stent. This a complicated and dangerous procedure because the pressure can damage the tissue of the artery

When used in stents, Nitinol transformation temperature is set to human body temperature. In this way, when the stand is inserted in the artery, it returns to its original shape and doesn’t put any excessive pressure on the blood vessel.
Mystery Woman
By: Anna Rozwadowska
Tags: Women, Poetry, Love, Relationships, Mysterious

- Avril Art Painter

………………………..

Who are you, mystery woman?

……………………………

Your presence, your stare, your whole being,

mesmerized me into a nervous little boy,

scared and longing for the slightest of your touch.

………………………………

Anna Rozwadowska 2018
When English Is Your Writing Language, Not Your Native Language
By: Daniella Mini
Tags: Writing, ESL, Language, Venezuela, Education

When English Is Your Writing Language, Not Your Native Language

Some details are suddenly significant

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

I began to learn English at school when I was 4 years old, in Caracas, Venezuela. My school had a really strong English language curriculum that emphasized, above all else, grammar.

Still, my life took place in Spanish and I didn’t have to write anything longer than a couple of paragraphs in English until I went away to college in the US.

Oh, except for my college essay, which my father, who’d lived in the US through his high school and college years, helped me with.

I soon discovered how utterly unprepared I was for all the writing college required. The first essay I wrote was for a first-year seminar called War, and I procrastinated (out of fear?) until the night before it was due to tackle it.

That night, I learned the term all nighter.

I actually wrote the essay long hand, if you can believe it. The year being 1987, it was probably one of the last times any professor at my college had a student turn in a handwritten essay.

A guy who lived down the hallway in my dorm, and whom I would fall in love with and date two years later, helped me out. I could tell he thought it was both stupid and hilarious that I’d put off starting my first real essay the night before it was due.
The Isolation You Experience When You Have a Mental Illness
By: Scott Ninneman
Tags: Mental Health, Mental Illness, Isolation, Bipolar, Self

What it feels like

I can’t tell you what living with bipolar disorder feels like, at least not in every case. I can tell you what it feels like for me, but even then you may not fully understand without being inside my head. Trust me, that’s a scary place you don’t want to be.

This inability to explain your mental illness makes you feel isolated. Part of it is the surrounding stigma, and part is the reality that if you don’t have a mental illness, it’s impossible to understand fully just how debilitating it can be.

Parts of my mental illness have stabilized with time. Now that I’m on the right combination of medications, I seldom have the extreme highs or lows that got me into trouble in the past. Yet, with my passing age, other symptoms have gotten worse.

My anxiety seems to increase from year to year. That’s only compounded as I see the scary things happening in the world. Social anxiety often keeps me home and causes me to cancel plans or decline invitations. It’s not that I don’t want to be with my friends, but the thought of being in a social setting can cause so much anxiety that I may be physically sick for days.

Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash

Driving is also a struggle. The closest grocery store to my house is less than three miles away, yet there are days I can’t make the drive. You can imagine the fun I have on the days when I have to go to my second office, which is a 40-mile drive. It’s amazing I make it there in one piece.

I’ve also tend to isolate myself more as I get older. That’s partially because I know how many people I’ve hurt over the years by the things I’ve said or done in a fit of bipolar anger. Even though I may not have meant the words, they still cut just as deep, and the people I hurt still bear those scars.

While I try my best not to be that person, there are times I avoid people just to be safe. It’s another way that mental illness can isolate you.
The Red Sea
By: Curious Inkfish
Tags: Diving, Photography, Egypt, Travel, Travel Photography

In early June of 2014, I was able to spend some time in Egypt. While I was not able to see the ancient city of Thebes or the pyramids at Giza, the diving off the coast of Hurgada is a gem that Egypt holds beneath the surface. While Aqaba, Jordan has one of the best wrecks I have been able to explore, Egypt by far had the most spectacular coral formations I have ever seen.

One interesting aspect of underwater photography is that often times the photographs (when using a strobe and/or shooting in RAW) show a more vibrant world than you actually see during the dive because of the loss of red light underwater.
Drowning
By: Daniel Roxas
Tags: Tanka, Poetry, Haiku, Literature, Love

Drowning

Tanka

You dived into her

Courageously faced it all

Your eyes closed, praying

You realize you’re drowning

In her world full of strangers.
Yes, the unhinged lure of the freedom to exploit without restraint has morally crippled the…
By: Mike Meyer
Tags: Diversity, Future, Culture, Racism, America

Yes, the unhinged lure of the freedom to exploit without restraint has morally crippled the national culture. This was fixed as a stereotype by the conquest of the west and the publicized freedom to take the lands of the indigenous population who were declared savages with no rights. Millions were able to gain wealth by militarily subsidized theft. After the native populations and cultures were decimated immigrants, who had came drawn by the same lure, became objects of exploitation until their turn came with newer immigrants. But the Civil War against slavery allowed the poorest whites to claim and tenaciously lock a choke hold on African Americans within their reach. They demand that right still and the dogma of freedom as the right to exploit someone, even if it produces nothing but permanent poverty for all, is at the core of the national consciousness.

The cherished memory of small town honor, respect, and patriotism was always a thin veneer covering hatred justified by ever coarser religion with festering racism under that. Generation after generation indoctrinated with exploitation as the object of freedom and greed, finally, as the only virtue has lost all connection to anyone but immediate family. Everyone else is a threat to their right to steal or has already taken plunder they don’t deserve. The logical failure of this has forced logic to be hated and denounced.

This is a minority and only a minority but that minority is a cancer surrounding the heart of America. Trump shows that the facade has been stripped away and no hint of shame remains. I don’t think there is any real chance for change but that distortion of freedom, producing all consuming greed, must be removed. If it can’t be removed it needs to be isolated and abandoned. It has already consumed the executive and legislative federal structures and the judicial is being eaten. Only the sanctuary states and cities remain as places of hope.

Let’s not wait too long to close the gates.
The Birds and the Bees do it, why not you?
By: Mark Groulx
Tags: Team Building, Manufacturing, Small Business, Leadership Development, Teamwork

While I was out running recently I saw a flock of Canadian geese heading for northern Michigan (an early March mistake).

The geese got me thinking about flocking theory (something I learned years ago while at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert — — a fun story for another day).

I was at Fort Irwin with a BYU professor (whose name I no longer remember) focused on the idea of self-organizing units in nature, like birds and bees. Her goal was to determine if self-organizing principles that occur in nature could be applied to human organizations (must have gotten a grant).

In any case, her work did raise a good question for any business leader — — is my team flocking?

To answer this question we must first ask how birds flock and why birds flock.

How Do Birds Flock?

They all fly in the same direction. They all fly at the same speed. They stay close together.

Why Do Birds Flock?
Doing Business in a Data-Driven World
By: Eric Vanderburg
Tags: Data, Business, Privacy, Cybersecurity

The modern company thrives on data, yet some are also drowning in it. The data that we find so precious could be holding us back rather than driving us forward for data must be managed and interpreted for it to be turned into actionable insights. Data management complexity increases as data sizes grow and as data is distributed across a multitude of devices and platforms.

The cloud and the mobility of work have created a data diaspora. Data is created and exists across a myriad of platforms, some on the corporate network, but increasingly, in the cloud. This makes it difficult for companies to understand what data they have and how to use it properly. Pockets of valuable data may not be on the corporate radar or copies of data may reside in places that no longer meet organizational security standards. The former presents a risk of operating with incomplete data while the later a risk of a data breach.

Those that do utilize their data may be stymied when trying to make decisions based on ever-changing data sets. Each moment provides new data for machine learning systems or complex data algorithms, which can potentially provide more accurate insights. However, there is a time to collect data and a time to act and business leaders need to know when to do both in order to succeed.

So how do we get from collecting data and organizing data to the point where it can be used for business success? Naturally, there are management concerns, but there is also a concern about trust. Companies must be able to trust the data that they have. Is the data being applied correctly to the task at hand? Was it collected properly and from trusted sources? We have seen the problems that fake news has created over social media and in election systems. Such is the same for businesses.

It so happens that I will be speaking on this with Neil McGovern, Senior Director of Marketing, at SAP America, Inc. in our webinar titled, “Creating Trust in the Age of Data Driven Business.” In our data-driven world data privacy, security, and management couldn’t be more imperative for corporate success and a thriving digital economy. Join us in the discussion so that you can begin to harness your data with confidence.
Announcing Bolt Cryptocurrency
By: Lightning Network
Tags: Blockchain, Ethereum, Lightning Network, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

The New Bitcoin and World Currency

Announcing Bolt Cryptocurrency. Bolt is the new Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for the world, built on top of Lightning Network, world’s fastest blockchain platform.

Natively implementing Bitcoin Lightning Network Protocol and Ethereum Plasma Framework, Lightning Network is capable of supporting millions of transactions per second and set to overtake Visa/Mastercard.

Architecture

Lightning Root Blockchain supports Ethereum Smart Contract, which holds Bolt tokens for its Plasma chains. Plasma chains support unlimited sharding, and users can have accounts on either Root chain or Plasma chains.

Transferring Bolt tokens between accounts on Root chain or same Plasma chain is business as usual, which involves validators validating the transactions and generating new blocks. Plasma validators are also full validators on Root chain which store hashes of Plasma blockchain headers on Root chain.

Transferring Bolt tokens from accounts on Root chain to Plasma chain involves generating a single new Plasma block with the single transaction. Transferring Bolt tokens from accounts on Plasma chain to Root chain or other Plasma chains involves executing Smart Contracts on Root chain and generating new Root Block and Plasma blocks with the transaction.

Scalability

Bitcoin Lightning Network Protocol is implemented on top of Plasma chains and allow instant off-chain peer-to-peer transfer of Bolt tokens. Combined with Plasma Framework, this allows virtually unlimited amount of transactions to be supported by the network in very short time frame.

Development

Lightning Network LLC is currently in the process of developing and building the network and infrastructure for Bolt cryptocurrency. The source code repositories are hosted on Github:

Stay tuned for white paper, latest news and updates on incoming Bolt ICO.

#Bolt #cryptocurrency #Lightning #LightningNetwork #Bitcoin #Ethereum #Litecoin #ICO
Grizzlies Capture More National, Conference Championships
By: Gwinnett Magazine
Tags: Summer 2016, Education, Ggc, Lifestyle

In only three seasons of post-season eligibility, Georgia Gwinnett College has proven itself to be a dominating force in intercollegiate athletics. Five of Georgia Gwinnett’s six teams competed for national titles this year.

Men’s Soccer: The Grizzlies hit No. 13 nationally.

Women’s Soccer: The women’s squad earned its first-ever berth into the NAIA national tournament.

Softball: The Grizzlies reached a record high No. 9 national ranking and were only one hit away from playing in the World Series.

Baseball: The No. 1-ranked baseball squad captured its second Association of Independent Institutions conference tournament title, finishing with a record-high

57 wins.

Women’s Tennis: Earned a No. 1 national ranking and its second NAIA national championship in three seasons.

Men’s Tennis: Ranking No. 1 in the nation the entire season, the men’s tennis team brought home a third-straight NAIA national title with a perfect 26–0 record in 2016. No other team has achieved an NAIA national title three-peat in its first three years of eligibility, permanently placing the GGC Grizzlies in the record books.
Colors of Love
By: Ivette Cruz
Tags: Self Improvement, Poetry, Love, Life Lessons, Motivation

I am a warrior of life, striving to be a better person every day. Finding my voice on writing.

Follow
Learn You a ClojureScript for Great Good!
By: Francesco Sardo
Tags: Clojure, React, Reframe, Clojurescript, Recoil

What’s the problem with it? Well, nothing really. A strong selling point of React is how well it adapts to different styles, whether functional or more object oriented. Here we just want to throw something together and seeing that it works, and the problem is simple enough that we don’t need anything more complex that a few stateful components.

But let’s imagine for a moment that we’re working on a bigger app, and, while still using the same example for simplicity’s sake, we want to scale things up a bit. Let’s hear what advice we can take from cljs.

🗃️ (1) Keep the state all in one place

That is probably the first thing you’re going to hear from any Clojure developer. Stateful components are notoriously harder to understand, debug and scale, precisely because they hide complexity inside them.

Here’s David Nolen, author of the hugely influential library om.

David Nolen, author of om — March 2014, talking about global vs local state and modularity

And if you’re not convinced yet, please do watch Rich Hickey’s The value of values.

Imagining the application state as one big “memory database” is what allowed concepts like Pure Components, Global Undo, and Time Travel Debugging to become popular.

Centralising app states greatly simplify things. Think about it: would you prefer to connect to one database or a hundred different databases?

We also start to see the idea of your components being nothing more than a function that maps data to UI .

Component(data) => UI

In many React circles this idea quickly became popular and that’s how Redux came to be (inspired by Flux and The Elm Architecture) and is now part of React itself with the useReducer hook.

We can rewrite our simple example like so:
Limitless Thinking vs. Limited Thinking; The Choice is Always Yours
By: Carla D. Wilson Laskey
Tags: Choices, Life, Life Lessons, Limitless, Empowerment

Photo by Tai's Captures on Unsplash

Choice is a great equalizer in all of our lives. Each day we are graced to awaken from our slumber. We are automatically positioned to choose in what way we will live our lives.

Even if we are not living in the best of circumstances. Or, if we are experiencing circumstances beyond our control. We still have the liberty to choose how we respond. Even if it is only initially in our mind’s view.

Considering such. There is something important which we should always be aware of. It is essentially one of the most powerful tools in our personal arsenal.

It’s the power of our own individual choice.
Moses Lake Development Site, Part II
By: Giga Watt
Tags: Crypto Mining, Mining, ICO, Gigawatt, Cryptocurrency

An ongoing, inside look at our Moses Lake facility

January 16
Crissey’s Love
By: Patrick M. Ohana
Tags: Poetry, Words, Love, Muse, Illumination

Crissey’s Love

A sonnet-like how-to

Free pic from Pickpik

Whether you live in the clouds or with both

feet on the ground you surely know that life

is better lived inside below the sheets

with your muse by your side holding your love

by the balls and if lucky by the sword

since clouds are far away unless you fly

and the ground can shake you off into dust

Thus we are made to suffer everything

under the Sun and the Moon and the stars

even when the pain is goodish somehow

with strings attached to unrequited love

tunnelling throughout the maze of your mind

while allowing your heart to be flooded

with her words smile and all sexual parts

Patrick M. Ohana
Install and configure OpenCV-4.2.0 in Windows 10 — VC++
By: Aymane Hachcham
Tags: Image Processing, Visual Studio, Opencv

OpenCV-4.2.0 for Visual Studio 2019

All the required steps for setting up OpenCV for a Visual C++ development.

Step1: Install the C++ Desktop development Workload

Open your Visual Studio Installer tool and add C++ for desktop development as a workload to your current Visual Studio IDE version. This step is essential since you can not use OpenCV in VS without all the C++ required libraries.

Visual Studio Installer Wizard

Step 2: Download and Install OpenCV-4.2.0

Download OpenCV 4.2.0 latest stable release (opencv-4.2.0-vc14_vc15.exe) for Windows platform. Go to the official OpenCV website: https://opencv.org/ -> Resources -> Releases and click on the Windows platform. You will be redirected to SourceForge and download will automatically start.

Before running the download .exe file, go to your C:\ folder and add a new folder named opencv-4.2.0. Run the installer and extract the zip file to the opencv-4.2.0 folder newly created.

Extract the zip file containing the builds for OpenCV to your folder

Step 3: Add OpenCV binaries to your System path

Once OpenCV is correctly installed in your folder, you now have to add the binaries C:\OpenCV-4.2.0\opencv\build\x64\vc15\bin to your system path, so you can have access to OpenCV executables easily through your command line.

Editing the system path

Step 4: Configure a Visual Studio project to run OpenCV

Open Visual Studio 2019, choose to create a new project and go for the C++ Console App template.
The Power of Compassion: The Secret Gift You Never Knew You Had
By: Perry Arca
Tags: Self Improvement, Inspiration, Self Development, Life, Life Lessons

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

There is a place inside your heart where compassion lies, waiting to be manifested.

Its power is all-encompassing, never limited by race, culture, or creed. When awakened, it connects us to the most powerful aspect of our humanity — loving kindness.

It’s the gift we’ve had our entire lives.

The gift that keeps on giving.

However, the deep jungle of life can be a harrowing place. The thorny vines of our inner struggles bind us to the jungle floor. Our boots become soiled, muddied, and we may find ourselves lost inside the thick tangle of life.

Our feelings of compassion diminish.

How can we use this gift of ours if we are the ones suffering? Have we lost our way inside the jungle of life?

We find a torch and begin to traverse life’s complex path, all of its twists and turns, rights and wrongs. We eventually stumble upon a doorway in the center of the life’s jungle. We find a glistening signpost that reads: