fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The demon within
Tags: Self, Devil, Self Help, Ramzan, Reflections

Each year, for the month of Ramzan, the devil is chained. What’s not chained, however, is the devil within.

The best thing about developing an intellectual, emotional and spiritual connection with your faith, religion…God, is that everything comes to mean more than it is. The ‘why’s’ begin to have a direction. Reflection becomes a habit. Time becomes valuable.

For those looking to be better humans (may that be all of us), reflection becomes a part of the thought process. There are some matters you learn to correct on the go, there are some realizations that stem from acquiring knowledge and every once in a while, life pushes you in deep waters to find more about yourself. In this struggle, the month of Ramzan comes as a bonus. Every good deed comes to mean more, and every bad deed comes to feel more. Allah opens all doors for you to accumulate as much of the eternal wealth as you can. On top of this, yet another favour He does for us is that He chains the root of all problems — the devil.

This can either mean that the attacks and distractions posed on you from the outside come to a halt, or it can mean that the unkindness and dirt you carry within yourself come to the surface. If the devil is not whispering to your conscience, then why are you still astray?

The devil isn't your enemy, you are.

Anything and everything you do in this month is your choice entirely. What a fantastic way to isolate the dirt that was coming from the outside from the dirt that is generating from the inside. What a brilliant way for you to pinpoint your problems to the core. What a hack into identifying all your weaknesses within 30 days. What a way to realize how much evil you carry within. An evil that supposedly just started from a single whisper.

Open your eyes, look beyond. The human mind is very much capable of generating evil, of generating bad things in this world — that is the test of ‘thought’. That is the responsibility you and I were to cultivate each day of our lives. But, one slip, one tiny mistake and we are on a long, twisted detour. Not that we can’t come back from it, but that we lose on precious time.

Pause, take a step back, stop, reflect. Think of every thought, word and action you think, say and do in this month. This is your true self, free from any attacks from the unseen, any whispers, any temptations. Worry for the wrong you commit in this month, for that is of your own doing. That is a habit your mind has picked for itself. The mind is bare, exposed, naked in this month. If it is ugly, make it beautiful. If it is beautiful, fill it with the love of The Almighty, and one can never have enough love for The Almighty.

What even is evil, bad, wrong? It’s the ‘imbalance’. That’s it. Don’t complicate it.

Restore your balance, redeem yourself.
[筆記] 從零開始製作 Chrome 套件到上架商店
By: Mike Huang
Tags: Chrome Extension, Coding, Side Project, Notes, Web Development

點擊查看詳細專案程式碼和使用方式

A functional Google Extension to help you readily generate placeholder image and find the right royalty free images…
ELI5: I just don’t get the DEMs on “Court-packing”
Tags: Harris, Biden, Court Packing

I rarely yell at my TV. I did so during the debate last night. Vice-President Pence taunted Senator Harris as Trump had taunted Biden — are you “going to pack the court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed?”

Harris responded as Biden had responded: the people should have a voice. She added an interesting nugget of history — Lincoln, in 1864, even with his own party in control in the Senate, believed it wrong to appoint a justice with less than a month before the election.

But Harris didn’t even mention a little-bit-more recent snippet of history: Merrick Garland. The argument that she didn’t make, just like Biden before her, was that the Republicans denied President Obama his moderate pick 9 months before the 2016 election because of the “principle,” as the McConnell put it, that the people should speak first. It is utter hypocrisy now to ignore that same principle. That hypocrisy is what’s packing this Court — giving a man who didn’t even win a plurality in 2016 the chance to appoint 1/3 of the Supreme Court. And if — as I believe the Democrats should say—the Republicans stop that hypocrisy, and let the people’s choice determine this next appointment, then the Democrats should openly commit that they won’t pack the Court.

I say that knowing that I don’t know whether this is in fact an effective answer for the audience being targetted. I’ve seen enough campaign polling to know that the question right now is not what feels good to a committed supporter, but what helps persuade the persuadable. Nothing could weaken my support for Biden. I’m not the target audience.

But I would love to understand why a focus on hypocrisy here would not be effective on the persuadable. I’ve got to believe that the omission is intentional. I’ve got to believe it is supported by data. But what is the data? How could it possibly make sense to cede the high ground here to Trump and Pence?

Data mavens (and seriously, only if you have data), what is the argument?
Weekly Update WC 27 August 2018
By: Aaron Mcdonald
Tags: Blockchain Ecosystem, Blockchain, Decentralized Apps, Decentralization, Bitcoin

Here’s what some of the teams in the Centrality ecosystem are working on this week. To stay up-to-date on the progress of our technology, follow us on Twitter and our Telegram Announcements channel, plus join our community on Centrality’s Official Telegram, Instagram, Reddit and Facebook.

We’re coming to the end of another month and I’m counting down the weeks until my moonboots come off. Last week I gave my first presentation in a cast at the Google for Entrepreneurs powered Startup Grind Auckland. It was awesome to share and to meet such a cool community of people interested in blockchain. The audience was highly engaged with the technology being built within the Centrality ecosystem — here’s how it’s coming together this week:

Centrality

Coincast TV has named Centrality as one of the ICOs to watch this week. Great to be mentioned alongside other projects doing exciting things in the blockchain space.

CentraPay

The team has proven a wallet-to-wallet communication protocol via Sylo’s decentralised infrastructure. This week CentraPay is implementing support within wallet for assets indirectly controlled via an authorization framework.

Sylo

The team have their heads down and ears close to the ground this week, implementing their closed alpha release for Android and iOS. Sylo’s one step closer to bringing their decentralized messaging app to life and into the hands of everyday users.

Neighborhood

The development of Neighborhood’s workflow solution, The Orchestrator, is making good progress and the team is on track to deliver the first build. This release will demonstrate how a multi-party transaction can be automated and managed during the offer stage of a property purchase.

Real estate agents, banks and conveyancing lawyers are being engaged at the moment, to ensure Neighborhood is being shaped into a solution that truly meets customer needs.

Mainstage

Mainstage is an event management and ticketing platform that is currently participating in the Centrality Ventures Innovation Hub, our incubator programme. The team have landed their first real gig — and it’s a headliner. This week tickets for New Zealand’s premier blockchain conference, Blockworks, went on sale using Mainstage’s platform. We’re really proud to see more secure ticketing in the market and support this application go to market.

More to follow in my monthly update next week, stay tuned!
Bitcoin Plummets, Is It Time To Short Or A Great Buy Opportunity?
By: Ibillionaire Capital
Tags: Bitcoin

Bitcoin plummets as its value fell by more than 6% today to reach less than $6,000 for the first time since June. Other crypto-currencies followed suit with Ethereum sinking as much as 13%. Alarms are raised among crypto investors and catastrophic headlines abound, with Cramer stating “the tide has turned” against Bitcoin on CNBC, and Forbes compiling horror stories from the crash.

However, despite the current downturn and high volatility of these virtual assets, the crypto-market has proven itself resilient to similar crashes in the past. With Willy Woo, a recognized crypto analyst, claiming the current situation as a great buy opportunity.

Crypto supporters trust that the inherent value of Bitcoin as a centralized universal ledger will be realized eventually. While, crypto detractors see little long-term potential in such volatile asset and deny its inherent value.

Check out CNBC’s Meltem Demirors, Coinshares Chief Strategy Officer analysis:

But wait, I’m new to this whole thing, what is Bitcoin, Blockchain, and why should I care?

Blockchain are a bunch of distributed ledgers that safely encrypt and store information. Bitcoin takes advantage of this technology to store monetary value. Not there yet, well, it is a tricky subject and it is hard to come up with a satisfying explanation, so we found a video that does it for us:

Thanks to Simply Explaind — Savjee for such great content!

What are my options?

So, the question remains, is this the beginning of the end for crypto-currencies or are we riding the down-cycle of an upward long-term trend?

In iBillionaire we provide a variety of options so you can decide for yourself. If you’re new to the crypto-market and believe the digital currency revolution is just starting, download our app and buy stock via Bitcoin Investment Trust Fund or Ethereum Classic Investment Trust Fund. If, on the contrary, you do not trust the Bitcoin craze and want to invest in corporate stocks or diversified ETFs, we also have you covered with strategies that invest on the SPY ETF or Big Tech Companies.
A Bump In The Road
By: Fọlábòmí Àmọ Ó
Tags: A Cornered Gurl, Walking, Love, Strangers, Poetry

I go right

you do the same

I go left,

still;

it happens again

We pause

for a bit

to look the other

in the eyes

A moment

to catch a glimpse

A moment

to decide,

We don’t say

any words

We each

pick a side

Yet

the results

are the same

We stand still

again

we both apologise

Our lips,

parting

to give a smile

Then again

it’s time;

to choose a path

to go by

But this time,

we talk

to each other

And we both choose

the right path.
You’re Being Watched!
By: Jason Mcbride
Tags: Life Lessons, Short Story, Fiction, Horror, Ghosts

Do you ever feel like someone is watching you?

Have you ever felt the presence of someone reading over your shoulder while you were texting, only to turn around and find nothing but a strange feeling waiting for you?

If you are a rational person, the kind that believes in science, always takes their vitamins, and laughs at haunted houses — you probably dismiss these feelings as tricks of the brain.

You would also be wrong.

Even if you don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, you need to hear three things.

There will come a day when you will experience something beyond the small curiosities and oddities you have thus far encountered. When that day comes, all three of these things will come roaring back into your consciousness.

Ready?

Here they are:

1. We have learned that ghosts are either bound to a particular piece of space-time or that they are free-roaming. Through mechanisms we don’t yet understand, a spirit may be forced to haunt a house, or a mailbox, or even a passing comet. Their ethereal existence is tethered to a time and place until certain conditions are met. 2. Ghosts that are free to roam are untethered to place or time. You might think of them as itinerant spirits. They come and go as they please, and through the application of complex quantum mechanics, they can travel to any time that they once existed in. 3. The thing these itinerant spirits most want to do is to alter their past.

If you understand these three things, then it must be clear to you what is happening when you hear a whisper with no source or a strange compulsion enters your mind to change your plans.

You are being haunted by your future self — hoping to help you avoid the terrible fate that your future self has already suffered.

The horrible dilemma is that you cannot know if listening to your future self will avoid the terrible fate you have yet to suffer, or if following the ghostly advice is what precipitates your doom.

Pleasant dreams.
Partnership: Vite Labs and Ferrum Network Co-Listing
By: Khun Sir
Tags: Vite, Blockchain, Announcements, Partnerships, Crytocurrency

New York, NY/San Francisco, CA , December 9 , 2019 — Vite — a high performance decentralized ecosystem — and Ferrum Network — a high-speed interoperability network for real-world financial applications — have announced partnership to support each other’s products and utility tokens.

FRM on ViteX and Vite Wallet

The ERC-20 version of FRM will be listed on Vite’s decentralized exchange ViteX and Vite’s Multi-Token Wallet. Listing pairs and timing of listing will be announced shortly.

VITE on the UniFyre Wallet and Infinity DEX

VITE will be listed on Ferrum Network’s forthcoming non-custodial wallet UniFyre Wallet.

Later in 2020, Vite will also be listed in Ferrum Network’s high-speed cross-chain Infinity DEX.

What’s Next

Ferrum Network and Vite will continue to explore mutually beneficials ways to work together, particularly as both projects make inroads in emerging markets in Africa.

“We are thrilled to work with Vite — which also share a desire to bring the gap between the world of blockchain and the real world — like with their token initiative with the town of Syracuse, NY”, said Ian Friend, COO of Ferrum Network.

“Ferrum Network and their African fiat gateway and payments app have made tremendous progress in 2019. We are excited to add their utility token to our product line as the first step in our partnership, and will continue to work with them as both projects progress forward,” said Chris Li, CSO of Vite.

Ferrum Network Links:

Website: https://ferrum.network/

Telegram: http://telegram.ferrum.network

Twitter: http://twitter.ferrum.network

Github: https://github.com/ferrumnet/
What we learned from creating a viral map
Tags: Stories, Mapbox, Data Visualization, Lottery, Maps

It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek exercise, to visualise how many jackpot and group 2 (snowballed amount if nobody wins the jackpot) winners there are in each outlet. We did not consider factors such as the frequency of winners relative to the area’s population, how long each outlet have been active, and other variables which would have skewed the frequency of the winners.

What we didn’t expect was that it became viral, thanks to a local news site called Mothership.sg which featured the map.

The responses were mostly positive, with the majority using the map to decide which “lucky outlets” they should hedge their bets.

The outlet with the highest frequency of winner is actually online (see the big purple blob on the map?) with a total of 80 winners so far.

Some adopt a more zen-like approach to the whole situation, leaving it up to the higher beings to decide on their fate.

Roughly translated as “life and death are fated, wealth depends on heaven”.

In Singapore, there is a long association of lottery buying with religion, specifically Taoism. People pray to deities like the “God of Wealth” to ask for lucky numbers, buy offerings to deities to increase their odds of winning the lottery, and may consult spirit mediums (tangki in Hokkein dialect) for advice. Locals also tend to buy lottery numbers of car plates (during accidents and purchase of a new car), house addresses, birthdays, and mobile numbers.

There were also comments who rightfully pointed out the limitations of the map:

While our purpose was to visualise this dataset from Singapore Pools without additional analysis, we understand that translating the information into a map has the consequence of making it an unquestioned fact regardless of our intentions. As this interview has pointed out, maps have the unique power of persuasion.

People tend to believe them. You put something on a map and it looks true. It feels true. There’s an idea that maps are trying to display some reality.

As a data visualisation company which focuses on using maps to tell stories, we understand how useful maps can be.

Storytelling is about navigating from point to point, keeping its readers or listeners entranced to find out “what happens next?” A map visualisation allows us to take the reader on a literal journey from one location to another, and situate our stories in the countries that were mentioned.

Maps bring in context as well. In our story on Rohingya, we have a map that shows the different ethnic groups in Myanmar, and where they are located. It allows us to contextualise the extent of this “crisis”, which more conventional reports that may unwittingly inflate with their choice of words.

We could extoll on the virtues of maps till the cows come home (in a separate post perhaps!), but this incident is a reminder to us that maps are a powerful tool that can change perceptions. And so we will use this power responsibly, to rephrase our favourite neighbourhood superhero:
Dear Pokhara, You Were Almost Home
By: Aaron Nichols
Tags: Happiness, Perspective, Travel, Show Your City, Mindfulness

Six weeks into my time in Nepal, my cohort and I traveled to Pokhara. We were going to meet our permanent host families the next day when we traveled to our permanent sites. We spent the night eating at a restaurant that overlooked Phewa Lake, into which the Himalayas reflected their divinity.

That night, we walked past shop after shop hocking gaudy goods for tourists, completely uncertain of what would happen next. We were excited to meet our families but anxious that covid-19 Might cause a full-scale evacuation.

The whole time, the Himalayas smiled down on us. No matter where you are in Pokhara, the Himalayas demand your attention. They stand on the edges, protecting themselves, warning those who would build “here you can go no further.” We headed back to the hotel after a long walk and went to bed, nervous and excited for the future.

The next morning, as we were getting ready to visit our sites, we received the news. All of the Peace Corps posts were evacuating worldwide. We would not be allowed to serve. We were going to be sent home.

Home. That word has been a shifting, ever-evolving concept for me. I’ve been a vagabond for years, never fully letting myself fall for a place or a person. I went to Nepal seeking community, hoping to finally find something like a home, to let myself fall for a place.

Before I ever set foot in Nepal, I knew that I would end up getting “घर” tattooed on my body. It was beautifully symmetrical.

The day we found out we were getting evacuated, my cohorts and I took a hike to “World Peace Pagoda” (picture above), a stupa on a hill that overlooks Pokhara and Annapurna. We circled this stupa and grieved our loss.

The certainty of our futures had stretched before us for two years, and now it was being yanked away from us. We stood on the precipice of being evacuated into the world’s biggest covid-19 outbreak, unemployed. We walked around it, afraid. We meditated, cried, and held each other. The world had become so uncertain.

Then I heard the message. As I looked out over the city to the Himalayas beyond, I listened to what the mountains were trying to tell me:

“We were here before this city,” they said. We’ll be here after it. We’ve seen plagues, wars, and kings come and go. This? This is nothing. Your life will go on.”

Pokhara would have been our home base. We would have met there for holidays, gatherings, and birthdays. But it was not to be. Life had other plans for us.

We spent a few days in Kathmandu before the final evacuation. I knew that it would be a long time before I felt at home. The world was going to be unrecognizable for a long time. I got the tattoo anyway.

Home is what we make it.
Control.
Tags: Politics, Life, Comics, Control, Life Lessons

Written by

Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too.
Walking Into The Desert Dawn
By: Kevin Doberstein
Tags: Poetry, Philosophy, Spirituality, Life Lessons, Meditation

Tao of Meditation

Walking Into The Desert Dawn

Wakening of the mind

Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay

Deep colors ignite the twilight dawn,

like a fire in the sky my soul glows.

As I wander on the rigid path,

my thoughts sink in deep contemplation.

With each step I clarify,

my thoughts are on this moment in time.

The warmth of compassion overtakes,

a calm breath melts away strife.

A mourning dove starts their song,

singing praise for the morning light.

My mind is on one thing,

the beauty of this morning.

Along the path of being in the present,

my breathing soul is soaring.
Grief and the Real Girl
By: Leia Clancy
Tags: Childhood, This Happened To Me, Death

We know that experiencing the death of a loved one is supposed to be hard. When considering the hypothetical death of a hypothetical person, we know that we will be sad. We expect sleep to elude us, to cry a lot, to neglect to eat or get out of bed. Until it actually happens, that is. Then we find out it is all of these things and much more.

When my father died, grief revealed itself to be an entirely shattering experience. It unmoors your life, setting you violently adrift.

Nobody ever explains to you what it feels like to be in shock, real shock. You cannot comprehend how you could wake up so happily one Sunday morning, not for a moment anticipating the horror of the day ahead. You wouldn't believe it had happened at all if it weren't for the fact you are in the office at 5am, manically arranging a handover and somehow wearing the wedding band that was on his finger for 27 years.

You’re not warned about what responses to expect from other people when you tell them what has happened. Some are wonderful, sincere and do brilliant, thoughtful things like bring you food or groceries. Others are well-meaning but have nothing to say that isn’t cliché. You have to bite your tongue when they wheel out the phrase ‘your father in a better place’ or talk about how good it is that he isn’t suffering anymore. There is no silver lining here.

You have a vague idea of the paperwork that comes after a death, but you don’t expect it to be this insurmountable or maddening. When the girl in the Coroner’s Office nervously tells you that oh gosh, she can’t seem to find any paperwork about your father, you lay into her viciously, relentlessly and with little regret. You accompany your mother to the bank, you write to your sister’s school, you visit the funeral director and make choices you didn’t think you’d have to at 22.

You’re never cautioned against visiting your father for the last time. Naively, you think that seeing him in a coffin can’t possibly be worse than watching him die, but you quickly realise that actually, it is. It gives you the first nightmare you've had in years.

Nobody warns you how breathtakingly terrifying it is to think that someone will only exist in photographs and memories now. You desperately seek signs of life. You read through your emails and texts voraciously, trying to commit the way he talked to memory. You pore over his beloved iTunes and look for meaning in his most played songs. You shamefully hack into his iCloud, trying to find out if he managed to do the last thing on the to-do list hidden in his wallet: ‘Write letter to the girls’. He didn't and you struggle to find peace with that.
開発部の新人がQAをやってみた
By: Yoshifumi Takeshima
Tags: Japanese, Software Development, Software Testing, Leadership, Quality Assurance

Our mission as a data empowerment company. Dramatically expands data utilization possibilities, from operational reforms to social issue solutions.

Follow
Bugün Yaptığın En İyi Şey Ne?
By: Mücahit Muhammet Karakuş
Tags: Kişisel Gelişim, Türkçe, Edebiyat, Kitap

Get this newsletter By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.

Check your inbox

Medium sent you an email at to complete your subscription.
How do skills learned as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy translate to Dropbox? Eric Wittig fills us in
Tags: Diversity In Tech, Diversity, Us Navy, Veterans, Dropbox

How do skills learned as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy translate to Dropbox? Eric Wittig fills us in Dropbox Follow Nov 6 · 5 min read

At Dropbox, we believe in celebrating our veterans all year long. And every November, in recognition of Veteran’s Day, we put a special emphasis on honoring their service to their country and learning about their unique journeys to Dropbox with our Veteran’s Appreciation Month. We spoke with Eric Wittig about his service as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, how he has applied those skills to his role at Dropbox, and what he’s most excited about for the future of Virtual First work.

How long have you been working at Dropbox?

I’ve been working for Dropbox for almost three years as a Technical Program Manager (TPM) on the Core Systems team.

Where are you located?

Seattle, WA.

Can you tell us a little about your military service?

I was in the U.S. Navy for five years, and spent about four of those as a submarine officer on the USS Pennsylvania, stationed in Bangor, Washington. I was kind of a jack of all trades — I worked as the Electrical Officer, Main Propulsion Assistant, and Tactical Systems Officer. When I got to the sub, we were in the last year of a 2.5 year operation to refuel the reactor; you do this only once at the 20-year mark of a submarine’s life, so it’s a big evolution. We also updated the weapons system, and got to launch a Trident D-5 missile with telemetry warheads on it to test that the system worked, which is basically like launching a space shuttle off your sub. I was standing like 5 feet away from the missile tube when we launched, which is something not a lot of people get to do!

Why should other military veterans apply to Dropbox?

It’s a place where you can have a pretty big impact. You can take your skills from the military and directly apply them to how we’re running the business. There’s not a lot of structure to hold you back; people at Dropbox are very willing to listen to good ideas regardless of where they come from. Military veterans have a different way of looking at things that is uniquely valuable to running a business.

How have you seen your military experience support the skills you’ve needed to succeed at Dropbox?

The TPM role is pretty ambiguous; there are a lot of different roles you have to play, and that’s how the Navy was as well. You get thrown headfirst into the deep end and have to figure out what’s going on and how to make your team more efficient, so my military experience has been pretty relevant.

What was the biggest learning you took away from your military service?

My time in the Navy gave me a pretty good perspective on what is important. You’re just a small part of this amazing team, and it’s usually not life and death. This isn’t a submarine; we’re building software to help people work efficiently, and if we make a mistake, people aren’t going to die. It’s definitely given me a sense of calm under pressure.
Run
By: Hannah Whiteoak
Tags: Microfiction, Short Story, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Running

Photo by Zac Ong on Unsplash

Run until your heart races, breath wheezes, January air grazes your throat, feet are on fire, a stitch gnaws at your side, legs burn and buckle as you sprint across the finish line and stagger to a stop. Bend at the waist, hands on your thighs, nauseous, gasping as you reach for your watch to check your time. Plan to run again tomorrow, despite aching calves and quads; set the alarm, plaster blisters, gulp coffee and go, because you remember when the black dog was gnashing at your heels and you know it is never far behind.
Unveiled: Women, Misogyny, the Bible, and Church
By: Joe Forrest
Tags: Women, Spirituality, Bible, Feminism, Christianity

The Talmud — a vast collection of ancient Jewish laws and traditions — said it’s better to “burn the Torah [the first five books of the Bible] than it was to teach it to a woman.”

Saint Clement, considered to be the first Apostolic father of the Church, said, “Every woman ought to be overcome with shame at the thought that she is a woman.”

Tertullian, the 2nd-century theologian who developed the doctrine of the Trinity, said of women: “You are the devil’s gateway; you are she who first violated the forbidden tree and broke the law of God…Woman, you are the gate of hell.”

Saint Augustine, the 4th-century theologian who formulated the doctrine of original sin, said, “Woman was merely man’s helpmate, a function which pertains to her alone. She is not the image of God.”

And Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, wrote, “The word and works of God are quite clear, that women were made either to be wives or prostitutes.”

We shouldn’t dismiss the theological contributions of the early Church fathers, and while it’s (apparently) easy to wave off their misogynistic views as a “product of their environments,” that becomes more difficult the more we dial forward the clock.

In 2006, a former high-profile megachurch pastor said that women “who let themselves go” are partially at fault for their husband’s infidelity and “Jesus Christ commands” wives to service their husbands with oral sex.

A few months ago, John Piper, a well-respected theologian and pastor, said that he believed male seminary students studying to be pastors shouldn’t have women professors.

Paige Patterson, the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently drew the ire of the evangelical community when it was revealed he encouraged a woman to remain in a physically abusive marriage for the sake of her husband’s salvation.

And the Southern Baptist Convention — an interconnected network of Baptist churches that represents the largest Protestant denomination in the United States — passed a resolution in the 1980s that states: “The Sciptures teach that women are not in public worship to assume a role of authority over men lest confusion reign in the local church.” The resolution stands today.

And so you crack open the Bible, looking for a reprieve from this insanity, and you find yourself rifling through Paul’s letters that make up a bulk of the New Testament.

In a letter to Timothy, Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man; she must be quiet” because “it was the woman [Eve] who was deceived and became a sinner.”

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes “like in all the churches of God’s people, women should keep silent” because it’s “shameful for a woman to speak in church.”

And, “man was not created for woman, but woman for man.”

Cue the awkward silence.

What are we suppose to do with all of that?

Well, first of all, we can look at Jesus.
Love, Loss, And The London Bridge
By: Greyson Ferguson
Tags: Life Lessons, Spring Break, Love, Travel, Life

Love, Loss, And The London Bridge

Take the opportunity now before the opportunity is gone.

Photo by Alex Martinez on Unsplash

Sometimes it takes leaving a place to fully discover it.

I called Arizona home for five years. Aside from my birth state of Michigan, I haven’t called any other location home for as long. And yet, in many ways, I feel like I never truly connected. The days rolled into weeks and into months, but the world around me never showed itself. Or, more accurately, I never went searching.

Perhaps that’s the problem. Why search near when there are so many far off destinations at the top of lists? It’s always possible to take a drive in the state. To turn over a rock just a few hours away. I told myself that countless times, all the way up to the day I left. Then, suddenly, I couldn’t just drive a few hours. I couldn’t easily visit the nearby city. I couldn’t go exploring.

In ways, that’s not just with travel. That’s with life. The conversations with my dad I told myself I’d have. Some day. And then one day I cried myself to sleep because he passed on. All without having our conversations. All because I told myself there would be another day. Another chance. So why rush it? He’d always be there.

I’ve seen more of Arizona with my most recent drive than I ever did during five years of calling it my home. I didn’t know the London Bridge sat a few hours to the west. I didn’t know Lake Havasu City existed. I’m sure I saw it as nothing more than a dot on a map.

Most dots on maps have something to share. Have something to reveal. I just didn’t realize it until I’d moved away.

The rediscovery of Arizona has opened me up to a state I felt very much closed off to. A state I often felt like an alien in. More so than those coming in for refuge and for work. I’ve discovered not only more of what my one-time-home has to offer, but I’ve given myself a second chance at taking in what I should have taken in while here.

It’s easy to say someday. It’s easy to say maybe next week. Another time. Someday soon. Some day soon just as easily turns into someday never. A missed opportunity. A missed conversation.

If there’s one thing this trip has taught me it’s to take the opportunity when it’s there. Whether it’s in travel or it’s in life.

It’s better to do it now than to look back and wish it had been done when there was still a chance.

(Watch the accompanying video here:)
Why I Say ‘Black Lives Matter’
By: D Abboh
Tags: Personal, Political, BlackLivesMatter, Self Love, Life

Black lives do matter

Words do matter. These three words Black Lives Matter have displayed this tenfold. The ability to catch fire, evoking such powerful energy world-wide. Such a simple statement of affirmation, both a personal revolution and a political one.

Consider these three words if you will — within the context of another infamous three words — I Love You. Can you allow yourself to hear both sets of these three words, and receive them just as they are — a celebration of life?

I’ve been accused of being ‘Pro Black’ by Black friends many times, yes I used the word accused deliberately because it has been said to me accusingly — as if it was a bad thing. For me I find it hilarious, but also a good opportunity for healthy discussion on why I am ‘Pro Black’ and perhaps why they are not *shrugs shoulders*.

Simply put, to me — being ‘Pro Black’ is not mutually exclusive to being ‘Pro Human’. I am both, there is no me without the other. I am an advocate for myself and humanity. It has nothing to do with superiority, it has everything to do with positive affirmation of being Black — particularly in the face of ongoing negative connotations and violent subjugation. The time will come, when one need only concern themselves with being ‘Pro Human’, until then — this is the world as we know it.
Under Pressure
By: Mark Starlin
Tags: Microfiction, Siri, Sports, Fiction, Humor

“The odds of getting a spare on a 7 10 split are 0.7 percent.

Factoring in the realization that missing the split will cost your team the league championship—resulting in the increased heart rate you are currently experiencing—the odds drop to approximately 0.3 percent.”

“Hey, Siri… Shut up.”
Why We Invested: Insurdata
By: Ruth Foxe Blader
Tags: Data Science, Insurance, Insurtech, Data Visualization, Data

My interest in remote sensing data and its potential impact on insurance dates back to a series of serendipitous meetings five years ago, culminating in a moment in a corporate café, when a cat modeling expert from a top tier insurance company leaned across the table and whispered, “We don’t even know where our insured objects are!”

Huh? What? Why not? On my phone, I can map out any address, get directions to it from wherever I am, look at it from above, look at it from the street…certainly if you insure commercial properties, you can (and want to) do the same.

But to understand insurance as the original big-data industry is also to understand big data before advanced, ubiquitous data science technology was democratized by the digital revolution. Policies penned on paper, faxed, bound and rebound, information passed from brokers—who are seeking the most competitive prices, to insurers, who don’t always have accurate information in the first place. Contract-level insurance data exists in silos. It degrades when it leaves its silo, passed from broker to insurer to broker to reinsurer.

Quite simply, we cannot apply modern data science to such datasets. Something needs to change.

Insurdata was launched in 2017 to address the lack of property-specific data available to the insurance and reinsurance markets. Insurdata’s platform enables insurers and reinsurers to generate high-resolution, accurate, risk-specific data globally in real-time at all points in the underwriting workflow. This includes accurate geocode information, building attributes, first-floor elevation data and much more.

Taking advantage of new data and new data science techniques is daunting for an industry mired in legacy tech. That’s why Insurdata’s awesome self-service platform can be such a boon to underwriters. Simply upload a portfolio of assets and understand building attributes as needed, without tying in existing systems.

Jason, Jeremy and the team have done a great job building a robust product and underwriting platform. By providing access to precise data, Insurdata aims to give underwriters greater confidence in modelled loss estimates and accumulation analyses, resulting in better risk selection and improved portfolio management. This in turn supports better, more accurately priced products, more resilient balance sheets and, ultimately, reduces volatility.
Community is a journey, not a destination
By: Fabian Pfortmüller
Tags: Community Engagement, Network, Community, Community Design, Community Strategy

I recently spoke with a UN agency who is building a global community of practitioners. In our conversations I was reminded of a particular image of “community” that I come across often in my client work:

Community = an annual gathering

Community = a digital social network

And often the intersection of the two: Community = an annual gathering and a social network

This perspective then drives resource allocation conversations: if we want to improve the community, we should create a better gathering or increase the features of our social network.

I find this perspective limiting. I think nurturing a community is not about one or two singular key pillars, but really about a member journey (that will include these pillars). That journey starts somewhere, has different phases and seasons (often marked by recurring experiences and rituals) and then at some point ends.

The analogy that comes to mind is the US college experience. Yes at the center of a university experience is taking classes. But that’s only the most functional element of it. Attending college ideally is a well-designed experience that starts with a selection process, an onboarding and welcoming process, a first initiation and then several steps as one moves from being a Freshman to being a Sophomore etc until one finally wears a cape and a hat and graduates. In the end, it’s that whole journey that makes up my time of being a student, not just the classes.

How does that resonate with your own experience?
Vulnerability found in Electrum wallet, upgrade to version 3.0.4
Tags: Trading, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Electrum

Bitcoin’s popular wallet Electrum identified a vulnerability in its software. It potentially allows random websites to steal your wallet via JavaScript. The bug presumably also affects altcoin derivatives of Electrum such as Electron Cash.

What to do?

Users are advised to stop using the older version of the software and upgrade to Electrum 3.0.4 before accessing the wallet. This is a security update and it fixes a vulnerability that was reported earlier today. If you don’t use Electrum or a derivative, then you are not affected.

According to bitcointalk,

Update 1: If you had no wallet password set, then theft is trivial. If you had a somewhat-decent wallet password set, then it seems that an attacker could “only” get address/transaction info from your wallet and change your Electrum settings, the latter of which seems to me to have a high chance of being exploitable further. So if you had a wallet password set, you can reduce your panic by a few notches, but you should still treat this very seriously.

This is fixed now, see the release notes for details.

What is Electrum?

Electrum is one of the most popular Bitcoin wallets securing Bitcoin payments since 2011.It is fast, secure and easy to use free software released under the MIT License. It suits the needs of a wide spectrum of users. It’s focus is speed, with low resource usage and simplifying Bitcoin. No single entity controls the network. Anyone can run an Electrum server. It supports hardware wallets — Ledger, Trezor, Keepkey.

Follow us at Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Steemit and Medium. For weekly newsletter, subscribe here. For publishing Press Release and free listing of ICO at our website, email at contact@etherworld.co.
Attracting Top Data Science Talent
By: Eva-Maria Locusteanu
Tags: Consulting, Data Science, Careers

Business

As a data science student, one of the topics that often comes up in discussions is the ideal future working environment. Is it at a big firm that has resources and established protocols, or at a start-up? During my board year at Pattern I had the chance to catch a glimpse of both worlds, and — to be honest — the answer still remains somewhat unclear to me. That’s why I asked the Pipple founders to share their personal views on this topic.

According to Jeroen, the young generation does not necessarily want to work for the traditional corporates of today. “They are looking for challenges, variety — they want to learn, grow and discover multiple industries to widen their knowledge.” Adding with a wink he concludes: “Such corporates will therefore have a big problem attracting new top talent like Thijs.”

[The young generation] is looking for challenges, variety — they want to learn, grow and discover multiple industries to widen their knowledge

Except for the variety that keeps things interesting, Thijs and Jeroen share another benefit of working for an external consultancy firm: transferring knowledge and lessons learned from one client to another. For example, the internal knowledge they have about cluster algorithms for 3D scans can be used for multiple clients. So their clients do not need to have this specific skill set in-house, but do reap the benefits of (external) expertise.

According to Thijs, the two perspectives actually complement each other. They often work together with data analysts from the client side to introduce new tooling after their team had experienced the limitations of Excel. Efficient collaboration is therefore crucial to any project. Admittedly sharing know-how between the two parties is not always easy: “This part, figuring out what the client really wants and needs, is most challenging”, Thijs says.

Creating business impact is done by making people feel involved and getting them enthusiastic.

About the interaction with clients, Jeroen remarks: “It’s not as much about what you do, but more about how you do it.” Thijs makes sure to note that although the underlying assumption is to deliver high-quality service, creating business impact is done by making people feel involved and getting them enthusiastic. Confirming his claim, he reminisces about how in the previous week, the analytics team engaged in a 30-minutes football game after a 2-hour meeting with the clients. At Pipple they try to incorporate fun not only in meetings, but in anything else. An example of the company’s ongoing goal to change the status quo can also be seen in the way they designed their website in a non-traditional manner. As they say at Pipple: ‘why not do it differently’?
Local Digital Fund Networks
By: Liam Mcconnachie
Tags: Digital Government, Government, Culture Change, Network Analysis, Data

In an effort to beef up on network analysis skills, we’re hoping to map the UK government ecosystem into a network to see what we can learn from it. The MHCLG’s Local Digital Fund aims to “help local authorities break their dependence on inflexible technology, adopt the best digital ways of working, and ultimately offer excellent local services for less”. The initial stage of applicants helps to identify potential projects with shared ideas to help councils partner up on bids.

We have been building a data set including all the UK local government entities, central government organisations and companies involved in digital projects linked with these. This has been compiled from various different sources including a list of local authorities and details about them (taken from registers and gss codes) and the list of government organisations at gov.uk.

The initial application digital fund data was made available at https://localdigital.gov.uk/fund/projects-submitted/

We took these applications, mined them for relational data and turned this into a network using our new government data set. The relationships are based on applicants to projects and partners to projects. We are aware that these relationships are going to be constantly changing and evolving as the projects move on and want to keep the network up to date with more data from MHCLG.

The data was messy and took a lot of cleaning before we were able to create relationships. Government departments do not have a code that commonly identifies them so we created our own. This is a stand alone issue that Ben from Satori briefly mentions here. When we pull in data like this, we would love to be able to process it automatically. If the project data had linked to registers with these organisations in, or if the initial application form could link to these registers, it would make processing the data much easier. This is something for future projects to consider.

An initial representation of the network can be found here with nodes coloured by type (organisation or project) and sized by degree (how many other nodes they link to). We can already see a few councils with links to many projects, either as an applicant or a partner. We’re going to keep adding attributes to the network to get a better picture of how this relationships work and any outcomes from them.

We’re currently building a multi purpose network visualisation tool so anyone can filter the data themselves and we can add in all the attributes from the data set. Please keep in touch and let us know what useful things you would like to know from this data or if you have other data that you think would benefit from being visualised as a network.

https://thesatorilab.com/contact-us/

Our digital fund relational data is available here