fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Use Word Clouds to up your Profile Design Game and Articles
By: Rahul Banerjee
Tags: Design, Profile, Tips, Tips And Tricks, Word Cloud

Benefits of having a Word Cloud Image as your cover photo

It looks more appealing than the plain old ‘About Me’ section

If done right, it’s usually the first thing the reader will look at when viewing your profile and this is a great opportunity to tell the reader topics you are interested in and write about

How to create a Word Cloud

Although a quick google search of the query ‘Generate Word Clouds Online’ will result in hundreds of results, I personally recommend this website

The image used for the word cloud is also known as the mask

Step 1

Chose a good image mask for your word cloud, ideally a picture with a distinct shape outline and a few colours

Example 1 of Word Cloud Mask

Example 2 of Word Cloud Mask

Example 3 of Word Clous Mask

Example 4 of a Word Cloud

Although not necessary try to choose something with a white/transparent background.

Step 2

Click on Shapes> Add Image to upload your image

Screenshot

Step 3

Click on Words to chose the list of words to be used for your word cloud. These could be your interests and the things you frequently write about

Screenshot

You can customize the Size, Color, Angle and Font as you wish or you could let the website randomize it for you

Step 4

Click on Style and play around with the colour of the background and transparency

Screenshot

Step 5

You will need to sign up and log in to save your image. However, you can also use the snipping tool to take a screenshot. Below is the keyboard shortcut for a mac

Screenshot

On Windows, you can search for the ‘Snipping Tool’ in your start menu and use the default snipping tool provided by Windows

A nd that’s it! You are done 👏

Some Word Clouds from the Internet

WordCloud 1

WordCloud 2

WordCloud 3

Thank You for reading my article :)
10 Amazing Tips For Using Adobe Photoshop in 2020
By: Kushal Singh
Tags: Useful Tips, Adobe Photoshop, Tips And Tricks, Adobe, Photoshop

Like a brush is to a painter an important talent within the field of graphic style in Adobe Photoshop. The code offers redoubled productivity further as flexibility. The options embrace aspects like file browser, vanishing purpose tool, sensible sharpen filter, noise reduction filter, sensible objects, further as camera progress enhancements. adobe Photoshop offers skilled pic writing options, digital imaging, further non-damaging writing.

There are such a big amount of hidden options and insights to code, that it’s typically not possible to understand all of them.

1. There’s the hidden possibility of mistreatment that you’ll be able to simulate daring and italic information designs for fonts that don’t have these choices. Click the button on the kind tool choice to say the character palette. Then choose the text and click on the arrow within the higher paw corner of the palette menu wherever fake daring and italics are gifts. but you’ll not be able to warp sort once information has been applied.

2. One will quickly flip through mix modes whereas attempting out effects by mistreatment the keys shift+ to vary to next mode and shift- to travel to the previous model. once a painting tool is active this route can modification the mix mode of the painting tool. However, if something is highlighted then the route won’t work. you’ll have to press ESC and so use the route keys once more.

3. The photo merge feature is wont to seamlessly mix multiple pictures to form a panorama. This feature is accessed from the alter menu. you’ll be able to even refine the composition mistreatment tools like rotate, zoom, pan, and set vanishing purpose.
How To Change Birthday In Gmail
Tags: Tips And Tricks, Google Account, Gmail, Google, Account Settings

How To Change Birthday In Gmail

How to change birthday in Gmail — If you want to change your own personal date of birth on your Google account and don’t know how to change this, then read this post completely I will show step by step guide to change your date of birth in Gmail.

Why did you need to add your birthdate to your Google account? the answer is very simple but there are many benefits to its’ like when you forgot your password or you are trying to recover your Google account then if you already added birthday in security questions you can easily recover your account by answering the security questions.

Another benefit like Google assistant will remind your birthday, very small but very cool stuff you will get by adding the date of birth on your Gmail account.

The main reason to use of date of birth is ensuring you are 13 years old to create an account on Google and many other websites using this rule to accept new accounts on their platform.

These are the main reason behind demanding a date of birth while creating an account on Google or anywhere, and let’s talk about how you can change your birthday in Gmail or Google account.

How To Change Birthday In Gmail Within A Few Minutes

To change your birthday in Gmail the first step is login to your Google account firstly, If you are using Chrome browser then you no need to log in with your Gmail id and password, you already logged in, if you did not log in with your Google account then just type on your browsers search bar “ https://myaccount.google.com/" or directly visit the website,

and login to your Google account by entering your Gmail id and password and when you inside your account then follow the next steps below -

1. Click on the personal info option

The next step is to click on the personal info option in your Google account

personal info option in Google account

personal info option in Google account

2. Click on your birthday option

When you click on the personal info you can see your name, birthday, and password options below, the next step is to go to the birthday option

a birthday option in Google account

The final and last step is to update your new birth date on your Google account by entering the date, month, and year on the given boxes and click confirm, that’s it your date is now changed on your Google account.

update the date of birth

Date of birth option in Google account

How To Change Date Of Birth In Gmail From Phone

On your phone just open your browser and search for a Google account then click on the first results, sign in with your Gmail id and password and, go to the personal information option and now you can see your old date of birth, just change it to a new one.

update the date of birth

Conclusion

Changing birthday in Gmail account is very easy and you can change your birth date by following the step that I already share in this post, If you think this post helps you then give me feedback through the comment section and if you have any suggestions or queries then mail me at [email protected]
Tips And Tricks To Be A Good Discord Server Owner
By: God Titan
Tags: Discord, Ownership, Tips And Tricks, Tips, Discordapp

Being a discord server owner comes with necessities.
How to Get Started on your First Sketch Document
By: Emily Shaindlin
Tags: Flatiron School, UI Design, Tips And Tricks

Opening up a new project in Sketch (or any creatively oriented program for that matter) can be intimidating, especially for the first time. Opening up your very first project for UX/UI can be terrifying. Well here are a couple pointers to get you started.

When you first open up Sketch, the interface can be intimidating, especially if you’re new to design, but don’t fear. Sketch’s interface is actually very easy to grasp quickly.

Once the blank document is created, you can zoom in and out on the workspace infinitely, allowing you to create as many iterations of your design as needed and keep them all together, or far apart depending on your organization style.

The easiest way to begin is to use the keyboard shortcut A for Artboard and drag it out to your desired size. As this can be adjusted later, don’t worry too much about specific sizes. The keyboard shortcuts for shapes (R for rectangle, U for a rounded rectangle, O for Oval, L for line and T for text) would be the next logical step. Depending on where you want to start, you can use these shortcuts to quickly formulate your first shapes and get your design up quickly. The shapes all operate on a click and drag mechanic to get you to your desired size, similar to most design softwares.

If keyboard shortcuts are not your thing yet (learn them soon, they will change your life) the insert menu will be your friend. There you can insert the same shapes I’ve described above as well as use the pencil tool (P on keyboard shortcuts) and insert images and other artboards.

That should be enough to get you started. I must admit that I myself am not completely well versed in all the ins and outs of Sketch yet, but I do know how to start your first document and begin your first designs. As I learn how to do more things I will be sure to pass along tips and tricks.

Happy Sketching!
What is Being An Er. ??
By: Saif Khatri
Tags: Tips And Tools, Tips And Tricks, Engineering, Development

Hyy my name is Saif Khatri. I am studying in mechanical engineering. In our class we get some projects which choose by us. Personally my project is Mini Belt Grinder.

MINI BELT GRINDER :

Belt grinding is an abrasive machining process used on metals and other

materials. It is typically used as a finishing process in industry. A belt, coated in abrasive material, is run over the surface to be processed in order to remove

material or produce the desired finish.

I know its very simle Project everyone can make it. But i do something special to it.

MY PROJECT SPECIALLITY:

I found everycan this porject but as an engineer we havent know how its designs come for that purpose i do researches and all stuff but i don’t get the direct design.

so what i do I apply my calculations theory that i learned so far in engineering. For that i breakdown the individuall parts of the project.

For detail study or you say my collage project report i given below.

SOFTWARE :

Hope You read the project report. It has just basic introduction of project and where its use, plograsim report,days require for complete and little calculation of the Belt (its just the one calculation regard some refrence and calculation learn from engineering).

In this porject I will make my calculation to Excel sheet. There is reason for chosing it because we get more flexibility inside it. so we change the no. or calculation and get Full design report ready.

By this design report we can make CAD Model of the project. Also we can do CAE an many other thing on CAD model.

I personally love to opensoure because its free. software list is given below

Google Sheet (FOR CALCULATIONS)

FreeCAD ( FOR CAD AND CAE )

FreeCAD has one feture that its work with sheet workbench. so make our design on google sheet then apply it to the FreeCAD. FreeCAD is parametric software so we with just change of calculations its change whole design.

HOW IT GOES

First step for our project is the get calculations and make it more dyanamics with sheet.

I carried out all calculations for individual parts. I will give it to you in next Issue for suggestions and learn from it.

Now I am putting all calculation to google sheet. I know how to work eith excel little bit so dont worry about me we will complete it.

WHAT I DONE SO FAR

Project Calculations

I just put simple calculations with cell no. and also INDEX MATCH for the refrencing and finding Correct Value.

Index And Match Function

Convert Function used for convert Inches to mm diamensions.

WHATS IN BEING AN ER.

Now you personally thinking why i start this thing and what inside this publication.

I startet this because i have new energy inside me to share people what i do and from my thing youcan impliment to your project or any other stuff.

In Being An Er. I share my thoughts and what i complete so far on the project. Its come in issue system means Issue #1 ,Issue #2 like that. every Issue has something leraning thing.

it will be a short posts and some of formulas and function that i do in my project inside it for implement it in your project.
3 Lockdown-Friendly Adventures near Montreal
By: Lori Noel
Tags: Things To Do, Street Art, Montreal, Tips And Tricks, Top 5

3 Lockdown-Friendly Adventures near Montreal

The bars and museums may be closed, but there are still plenty of things to do in and around Montreal while respecting physical distancing and travel restrictions.

St. Laurent River Park

If you’re taking the metro, get off at de l’eglise and walk down to Lasalle Blvd. Past the Hospital / McDonalds is the best park in the city. There is plenty of open space for physical distancing, an open-air dog park, a bike path, views of the famous Lasalle rapids, and a dirt-path nature walking trail further down at the water.

For summer months, at one end there is a public beach and at the other end there is kayak and SUP rentals. There are even lots of spots to hide away and read a book on the banks or try your hand at hobby fishing.

Street Art Scavenger Hunt

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montreal

The museums and galleries may be a no go but that doesn't mean you can’t take in the amazing talent and colours of the city. Every borough of Montreal is home to at least a few incredible pieces of street art. A fun way to make this into a day activity is to walk around your neighbourhood and take pictures of every piece of art you see.

Frida by Elisa Rank in Ville-Emard

La Danse des Esprits Libre by Carlito Dalceggio (2015) — https://artpublicmontreal.ca/en/oeuvre/la-danse-des-esprits-libres/

Les Toits du Monde

Les Toits du Monde, Nominingue QC

Ready for a drive? A drive out of the city is always a great way to break a suffocating routine. Les Toits du Monde is located in Nominingue, Quebec and features some genius year round tree-house / tiny house accommodations. Just don’t forget to bring your mask in case you need to stop for gas along the way.

Located in a currently Orange-Zone region, This pet-friendly glamping experience is 100% non contact and physical distancing friendly. There’s also a beautiful walking trail (Sentier Rocher Capitaine) on the property with a perfect view. Be aware, some of the tiny houses are equipped with an indoor dry toilet while others have an outhouse. Hygiene and cleaning is kept up well by the owners!

Sentier Rocher Capitaine, Nominingue QC

Let me know in the comments if you’ve visited any of these spots and what your favorite thing to around Montreal has been while physical distancing and respecting Covid restrictions in the province.

Should I keep this series going with more lockdown friendly activities?

~ Lo
Guidelines for achieving Zero Inbox — 15 Outlook Tips for Increased Productivity
By: Lashmi Bai Ravindrapandian
Tags: Email Management Tips, Outlook, Program Management Office, Tips And Tricks

Have you heard about Inbox Zero?

It is a productivity philosophy about dealing with a constant, life-long stream of email. It was first expressed by Merlin Mann on his 43Folders site, which is currently (and hopefully temporarily) unavailable but is mirrored by the Internet Archive (Source: Google).

In this current pandemic, it is evident that people are spending more than 28% of the time in a day in checking & replying to the emails.

Being in PMO, you will have more when compared to the other roles depending upon the projects and stakeholders you handle right. So it’s important to know the features in Outlook. Below are the summarized features which I thought worth sharing for increased productivity. Of course, you might be knowing a few, I’m sure this helps you to recall it.
Writer’s Block? No Thanks!
By: Dru C. Alba
Tags: Writing, Self Improvement, Writing Tips, Writers Block, Tips And Tricks

Writer’s Block? No Thanks!

Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash

Everyone gets stuck, eventually. It’s one of those universal truths every creative person has to abide by.

I got stuck plenty of times while writing, especially in my fictional projects. However, through the years I picked up a few tips and tricks that can help you avoid writer’s block and keep going.

Here they are.
Instagram Ambassador Scams…
By: Jazi-Freelance Writer
Tags: Tips And Tricks

Now I have no problem with being contacted and working with legit brands, however, 99% of the time, these 'Brand Ambassador Offers', are just fakes.

-Firstly, let me tell you how to figure out if they are scams.

Most of the time, I'd receive messages along the lines of the example above. But, I don't post pictures of myself, so when I'm sent DM or comments with the phrase, 'You are so beautiful', I'm automatically aware of this being a scam and a very lazy one.

If you aren't sure again and they offer what seems to be a great deal, be sure to do your research quickly. Many of these 'Brands' use the guise of saving the planet or donating to some cause. Not saying that legit companies which do these things are scams. Just make sure that you are safe and smart online. Make sure to check when they've been established.

-Then there's the trap, where they offer to work once you send or order something from their 'Brand' to advertise. Again, research comes into play here. I've looked up many of these so called brands to find hundreds of complaints, but within these complaints, there's always a few "good", robotic reviews.

-Lastly, the recruitment. These people, hidden behind social media are making money off the poor souls that fall for their tricks. And the recruiters are the worst. I've one that told me to take my mother's credit card to make the down payment and I could tell that they were getting quite frustrated. These people are obviously selfish and inconsiderate of other people's lives or money.

As someone that previously thought that these deals where the best thing to happen to my naive heart, I just want others to never get hurt from these scams. When I first got asked to become a 'Brand Ambassador', I thought it was such an honor and it would definitely help out my current situation. Instead, I was disappointed and crushed when I found out they were a scam. Now I think twice to anyone that offers any 'deals' online.
The Learner Mentality
By: Augusto Kiniama Rosa
Tags: Learner, Tips And Tricks

A learner’s mentality is someone curious, a listener, shares knowledge, and asks and wonders about the why of things.

I have gotten in trouble throughout my career more than once for asking why this and why that.

I recently found time to learn and use the early mornings as my quiet period to learn. I consider sharing information with others as learning as well.

Learning is everything one does to improve himself or others. Improving and teaching require that you learn techniques to teach.
Email Marketing Tips and Tricks
Tags: Email Marketing, Marketing, Email, Tips And Tricks, Cannabis Marketing

Everyone has an email these days. In fact, many people will have multiple emails for different purposes. According to Review 42, the average person has 1.75 email accounts. Based on that statistic alone, it makes sense to have some sort of email marketing plan for your business.

Why email marketing?

According to Hubspot, “59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.” There are a million and one various types of marketing campaigns that you can choose from, but hardly any are as easy to get in front of your customer as email marketing. Depending on how you utilize your email marketing strategy, you could very easily turn those email notifications into dollar signs.

Optimize for mobile usage

What this tells us is that our emails should look just as good on our phones as they do on a desktop. After all, a bad email can have just as strong an impact as a well laid out one.

Consider keeping your subject lines to 30 characters or less. On a mobile device, the first 30 characters are visible, the rest is only visible after the user has clicked on the email. By keeping your subject lines short, it sends a clear message and increases click-through rates.

Another thing to consider is avoiding all caps. This is reminiscent of spam emails that advertise bedroom enhancement products and winning lottery tickets.

Also, consider responsive vs fixed layouts. How your email (or any content) will appear varies from device to device. If you use a web host like Wix or WordPress, then this will be a piece of cake. And just like cake, the more well put together, the better your audience will think of it.

Grow your subscriber list naturally

Never never never (never never) pay for an email list. One of the worst things a person can get is emails that they never subscribed to. It actually comes across as very spammy. The unique thing about email marketing is that users consent to receive your marketing campaign and if there is one thing we all know in 2020, it’s that consent is queen. In fact, many people will automatically unsubscribe or report your emails as spam. Long story short, it’s spammy. Don’t do it.

Make Your Content Count

Finally, consider this. Is your email really necessary? Sending out too many emails can actually have a negative effect. If you are familiar with Wix or WordPress, then you know that a blog you subscribe to will often send out an automated email when the blog has a new post. This feature can be turned off (it can be tricky to find though!). I adopted a 3 email a month system, sending out a summary of the latest blog articles to my email subscribers. By adopting this method, my subscribers know my emails won’t fill up their inbox with nonsense.
Steps to open Bank Account for foreigners in Japan
By: Vedant Kekan
Tags: Japan, Banking, Helping Others, Tips And Tricks

If you plan to work, earn, and live in Japan, it's necessary to have your bank account in a Japanese Bank. In my other article have given a simple step-by-step guide to getting your first credit card in Japan.

My Recommendation:

Shinsei Bank (新生銀行): Foreigner friendly bank, they have English service.

Check Eligibility: Need to fulfill the below criteria before you plan to apply for a Shinsei Bank account.

High-Level Flow:

Step 1: Download the application form or request a Starter Kit. Visit this Link

The application form is a PDF that you can download, print, and use.

Starter Kit is basically a form and guide sent by post to your address. You will also receive a return envelope. Just fill in the details in the form and drop this envelope in the nearest post box.

Step 2: Fill in Application Form

As mentioned before, you need to have a Japanese phone number as a requirement to open an account. The address should match with the address on your ID card (Residence card, Japanese driving license,etc)

Step 3: Prepare application form and IDs

You need to submit 2 Ids, Make sure to prepare a copy of your residence card and the second document can be either a Japanese driving license or an original copy of the Electricity, Water, Gas bill.

Finally, use return envelopes to send back documents to the bank. Simply drop this envelope in a nearby post box. Use this official post box finder.

Step 4: Finally Receive your cash card and PIN.

Once you receive this card, your bank account is opened and ready to use.

I hope this article helps you open the first bank account in Japan as a foreigner.

Other Important Helpful Links

1. Step by Step guide to get a credit card as a foreigner in Japan
Display date & time in Linux history command
By: Shashank Srivastava
Tags: Bash, How To, Tips And Tricks, Linux, Shell

When you enter the history command on a Linux server or macOS terminal, you only see the list of commands but not the date &/or time when those commands were executed. It looks similar to this.

shashank-mbp:~ admin$ history

4 sudo su

5 sudo su

6 sudo su

7 sudo su

8 clear

9 sudo su

10 fish
10 Tips Sederhana Untuk Cegah Bisnis Startup Gagal
Tags: Startup, Advice and Opinion, Tips And Tricks, Startup Lessons, Pendiri Startup

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Enterprise Architecture
Tags: Governance, Cybersecurity

We can define Enterprise architecture as to how the large structure determines your business, shape the steps to capture values throughout the production process, to offer the greatest possible perceived value to the end customer.

It helps an organization to align strategy to business process without losing speed, the board of director can count on (EA) which promote: Alignment between the company and IT convenience by allowing fast response to market development and business needs.

Reducing the risks in any transformation and the benefits of (EA) on achieving goals.

In many organizations, the information system has become an integral part of the business strategy.

(TOGAF) The Open Group Architecture Framework is the business-centric, it has seven parts. It is a method to develop the (EA), by using a set of tools, is an approach to fast architectural development and effective governance, it guides process during the creation of architecture, it can be used for government or big organization.

(NAF) NATO Architecture Framework is a structure that helps the military to make a decision and support the share of information between NATO and its partners.

(UML) Unified Modeling Language is a tool of (EA) for modeling language, analyzing, and visualize the way the system has been designed for.

(SABSA) The Sherwood Applied Business Security Architecture is a structure that helps an organization for managing and developing risk enterprise, information security architecture, and management.

It offers solutions that help support critical business initiatives and governance in IT management infrastructure.

(FEAF) Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework is a tool (CRM) the agency uses to apply strategy, technology management and facilitate shared information.

It can be fragmented into domains example: Data, Application, Strategy, Business, Infrastructure and Security.

From my standpoint (TOGAF) is the most efficient or propose many options, it helps to build and develop the architecture of a framework, it can be useful to guide the organization when they are building a structure and is a fast process to develop governance.

It gives business vision-driven and capability through the process on how to reach your goals and objectives.

The advantages of applying EA framework, offer strategies developed to meet the overall goals, and succeed with the minimum cost and it is more productive and flexible.

Helps you to analyze the business model and understand enterprise architecture and that leads to a better approach to meet the organization’s expectations.
英國飛台灣航班將全員隔離
By: C Y S
Tags: Taiwan, Governance

A columnist in political development in Greater China region, technology and gadgets, media industry, parenting and other interesting topics.
The Dreaded Meeting Package
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Productivity, Meetings, Preparation, Goals

If you have ever served on a board, you would be familiar with the board package. This is sometimes an actual pile of paper, sent to you a week before the meeting. Or it could be a digital package that is made available on a Google drive or part of a website, that only the board members actually get to see.

If the board package contains confidential information then it is important that good security is in place over the package whether it is sent on paper or in a digital form. If there is no confidential information then it really does not matter how the package is handled, you could post it all on the website for everyone, including the meeting participants to review.

A board member who is satisfying their duty of care will take the time to read the package and consider their feelings about the decisions to be made at the upcoming meeting. They would also consider if there are any questions that they would like to ask before they would make a decision about the issues in the package. Do they want any additional information before they are ready to make a decision?

Most discussions benefit from people having taken the time to think about the decisions that need to be made at the meeting. How many times have you heard a sentence start with “I have been thinking about that…” Snap decisions may not always be the best decisions.

A board is composed of a number of people with different skills and different viewpoints. In theory then, a group should make a better decision than an individual, just because more viewpoints have been considered and more people have done the analysis. Board decisions are better when there is more time to consider. The considering begins when the board member gets the package and begins to read it and to understand the decisions that need to be made.

Care should be taken with the meeting package to include the correct amount of information. A participant may be discouraged to see a package that contains many pages and might be reluctant to even open it. Perhaps you have heard the saying TL: DR. This stands for too long, didn’t read, which is a summary of how many people feel about reading longer information. The attention span of the general public is shrinking, and board members are a part of the general public.

A standard index of the information which is being included in the package can be very helpful for people reading the package. If the information is presented in the same way each time the package is prepared then a board member will waste no time getting to the material that needs to be reviewed.

Keeping in mind that a board is providing oversight, may assist when considering what information the board needs. Can some lengthy documents be summarized? A board member will always be able to ask for more information, and anything that a board member wants will be provided to them.

The board package should strike a balance between providing all of the information that a board member needs to provide oversight to the organization without running to hundreds of pages.
The most read blogs of 2020 are about…(surprise!) Covid-19
By: Undp Eurasia
Tags: Governance, Climate Change, Covid 19, Coronavirus, Blog

From gender equality to human rights, climate change to economic empowerment, we covered a lot of ground this year. But of course one topic was on everyone’s mind: the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s a clear indicator of how the pandemic and its impacts spread across all of our work here at UNDP.

Here’s a look back at our thoughts on Covid-19 and its relationship to everything from biodiversity to innovation.

12. The coronavirus pandemic has created a “perfect storm” for core government functions

by Irakli Kotetishvili, Anti-corruption and public administration policy specialist

11. Is the climate crisis partly responsible for the coronavirus outbreak?

Armen Grigoryan, Team Leader, Climate change and disaster risk reduction; Cansu Demir, Climate change and disaster risk reduction consultant
Board Duty to Manage is Confusing
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Strategic Planning, Productivity, Meetings, Roles

The duty of a board to manage can be confusing. We know that the board and management carry out separate functions. A board provides strategic direction and management implements this direction. Boards do not actually do the work. So, what do we mean when we say there is a duty to manage?

Essentially a board has to make sure that management is taking place. The board members do not answer the phone, but they make sure that the phone gets answered. Typically, the board supervises the executive director, and the executive director takes care of the rest of the hiring and supervises the remainder of the employees.

Each board will find their own balance between what the board handles and what the Executive Director takes care of — keeping in mind the idea about the boards’ role to set direction and management’s role to implement. A board should give the executive director enough responsibility to manage the day to day operations of the organization. The board should stay out of implementation decisions. “Nose in — hands off” is a popular way to describe this.

There are examples of board members who would like to be more involved. One person even asked if they could have an office at the organization. There are also examples of management who would like to be in charge of all aspects of the organization, including setting the strategic direction. These types of managers do not enjoy reporting to the board and on some occasions even believe that the board should simply rubber stamp whatever decisions they make.

A long serving executive director may have more experience than some of the board members and as such could provide more direction on the issues that the board is considering. An experienced board with a new executive director might provide advice on some operational issues. Adjustments can be made in the division of duties, as long as the board and management understand that their roles are fundamentally different.

The executive director reports to the board and serves in that role only if the board members are happy with their performance. This is the balance.

Another facet of the duty to manage is making sure that staff and board members understand the role of the executive director (ED). The board does not provide direction to any other employee but the ED. It is not appropriate for a board member to give orders to an employee who reports to the ED. Employees should be instructed that they interact with the board through the ED not directly. The organizational chart should be clear.

If an employee is experiencing some issues with the executive director then they contact the Human Resources committee, who will bring any concerns about the issue to the board. Employees should know that there is an avenue for them to explain their concerns to the board but that in general they do not contact the board directly.

The duty to manage can be misunderstood by both board, management and employees. It is worth the time to clarify this duty with the interested parties.
Conflict of Interests — تضارب المصالح
By: Mike Masoud
Tags: Governance, الفساد, Corruption, Fraud, Conflicts Of Interest

CPA, CACM, CFE, MBA. Senior Director in the Middle East and Africa of The American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI)
The Duty of Care
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Board, Productivity, Meetings, Committee

The duty of care should be the first thing that is discussed during new board member onboarding.

The duty of care applies to many aspects of life but it is particularly important for someone who serves on a board. The reason for this is because as a board member you are accepting responsibility for the organization on whose board you sit.

Individuals are responsible for their own actions, as long as they are legally an adult. In Canada that is the age of 18. Parents or legal guardians are responsible for the kids until they are of legal age. Parenting is a concept very similar to being a director.

When you serve on a board, you accept responsibility for the organization. The organization, whether it is a society, a business corporation or a not-for-profit organization is not a natural person. Because it is not a person, human beings must fill this role, the directors exist to accept responsibility — sometimes known as taking the blame.

If you have become a board member, then your new job is to set the strategic direction of the organization, supervise management so that you can be sure that they are following your direction and accept accountability for the results.

All of this ties into the duty of care — which says that a board member must conduct themselves in the manner that a reasonable person would, with a view to the best interests of the organization.

This opens the door to interpretation. What activities define reasonable? In the court of law the arguments are made that due diligence is the opposite of negligence and negligence occurs in the absence of due diligence. A board must be careful in making their decisions so that due diligence has been met, but each situation is different.

When I attended university, students and professors were allowed to smoke cigarettes in class. This behaviour was accepted at that time. People carried around their own ashtrays. If you look back on those years now, you might think that the board of governors was clearly negligent when they allowed smoking in class. Judging those people using the lenses of 2021 gives different results than if they were being judged in the 70’s. At the present time if you lit a cigarette in a classroom anywhere in Canada you would be breaking a law, but not then.

Boards should give a thought to the fact that often they will be judged after a certain amount of time will have gone by. Perhaps a couple of years, maybe longer. If you take care to be sure that you have documented the facts and assumptions at the time the decision was actually made, then the decision about whether you were negligent at the time, can be made in context.

Remember if you are acting in the best interests of the organization in a manner that a reasonable person would act, then you are not negligent.
When Should You Resign From the Board?
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Resignation, Meetings, Rules, Board Members

The decision to resign from a board should not be made lightly. Generally, there are two reasons why a person might want to get off a board — to reduce their personal liability and when they do not agree with the direction that an organization is going.

Let’s talk about the first one first — why not? Board members being held personally liable for actions that have been made by an organization does actually occur. I will use the example that I personally are the most familiar with, which is when Canada Revenue Agency collects money from an individual director for a corporation’s bills. A typical example is source deductions. These are the amounts that are withheld from an employee for items such as Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance contributions. These amounts are withheld from the employee and then sent to CRA if everything is working properly. Organizations that experience cash flow problems can fall behind in these payments. Penalties for late payment and interest on the source deductions are charged. The penalties and the interest continue to grow each day. Board members can be held liable to pay these amounts. There is a defense which is the due diligence defense which is that you asked about the source deductions and were told that the payments were being made. This is why you see the question about source deductions, sales tax and any other government payments included on many groups’ agendas each month. The board wants to be told that all the payments are up to date.

I am struggling to get to the point here — which is — when a board member is told that the source deductions have not been paid they could be tempted to resign. This will work to reduce any future liability, but the board member will still be liable for any of the source deductions for the time period when they were a board member. The board members who hear that their organization is now in arrears with CRA may act to figure out how to raise the money to get the arrears paid or they may panic, and all resign. This is a decision that should only be made after consultation with tax professionals.

The second reason why a board member would consider resignation is when they no longer agree with the organization’s goals. Over time organizations will grow and change. The board members are the ones who set the strategic direction of the organization and as members come and go the views of the board will change. It is possible that a particular board member might start to feel like the board’s views are now quite different from his or her views. It is acceptable to resign for this reason.

The decision to resign from the board should not be a “If you guys pass this resolution then I am going to resign” type of threat. The resignation should be carefully considered, not made in the heat of the moment. A board member needs to work diligently towards helping the organization achieve their goals. If the board member does not agree with the goals and cannot bring themselves to work in that direction, then the board member should resign.
Enter Edo — Why it’s Significant. A dive into the nature and significance…
By: William Mckenzie
Tags: Proof Of Stake, Governance, Edo, Blockchain, Tezos

Enter Edo

I find it astounding that there has not been much discussion around the significance of this potential upgrade — beyond one of the expected features. Currently, Edo is still undergoing voting, so it hasn’t been implemented yet to the core protocol — but the proposed changes represent a significant natural progression for the Tezos ecosystem.

For starters, Tezos was designed under the notion of being able to evolve and address the hard fork issue which plagues other major blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The initial whitepaper was actually released around the same time as the Ethereum ICO. One could opine that some foreshadowing of these future issues were made.

Most importantly, Tezos supports meta upgrades: the protocols can evolve by amending their own code. To achieve this, Tezos begins with a seed protocol defining a procedure for stakeholders to approve amendments to the protocol, including amendments to the voting procedure itself.

In order to upgrade the native blockchain, blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin have to split (hard fork) in order to incorporate those changes to the main protocol.

Tezos, on the other hand, does not succumb to this dilemma. In fact, within one of the many proposed features of the Edo proposal is that of upgrading the governance and amendment process itself — which represents the first time in history a decentralized and permission-less Proof of Stake blockchain has ever attempted to do so. The idea behind this governance change is to have a shorter voting period with an extra period called “adoption”, which gives bakers, developers, and stakeholders extra time to make any changes needed in anticipation of the coming upgrade.

In other words, we’re beginning to see one of the items from the abstract of the white paper start to play out and begin to plant the seeds for the natural progression of the core protocol and arguably, Proof of Stake in general.
How to Attract, Develop, and Keep Top Cybersecurity Talent
By: Christian Hyatt
Tags: Governance, Cybersecurity, Information Security, Leadership, Business

Attracting and keeping cybersecurity talent is a important challenge facing organizations. In this webcast Shane and Christian discuss risk3sixty’s philosophy of recruiting, developing, engaging, and keeping team members for the long haul.

#leadership #cybersecurity
How Much Time Will It Take to Serve on This Board?
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Board, Meetings, Productivity, Goals

This is the question that all prospective board members ask. If I agree to join this board how much of my life will vanish at meetings? How many meetings are there a year, are there other events I will have to attend, do I have to fundraise, will I have to serve on other committees. How much preparation will be required prior to the meetings?

A well-organized group has standard answers to these questions. This is ideal, because you don’t want different board members giving different answers to your board prospects. If a person is told that the board time commitment is four meetings a year each one about two hours with minimal preparation then they are more likely to agree to join the board. If they are told that the likely time commitment is board meetings, plus a committee and an event or two with the time commitment being closer to 100 hours a year, then you might not get them to commit to joining the board. You can see the temptation for the recruiting board member to lie! Every group wants members and some groups are prepared to lie to reel them in.

If a prospective board member was told that the board commitment was about 12 hours a year and they then find out that the commitment is closer to 100 hours a year, odds are that they are going to be unhappy. They might resign and tell others that the group is not transparent in their board recruitment.

The nominating committee should set aside a little time to figure out how many hours the typical board member is spending on board business. Another calculation should be done to determine the additional time required to serve as the chair of the board, or the treasurer. Each committee should also come up with some time estimates for their members. Ask board members to start tracking their time outside of the actual meetings. Ask how long does it take to review the board package? What else do you do? Do you attend other meetings on behalf of the organization? Do you spend time with other activities because of your board involvement? If the group hosts events, then the board members involved in those events could be spending a lot of time organizing and attending that type of event.

The good part about doing some research on what the board members are spending time on, will be to figure out if there are any easy fixes. Once we have the data some decisions could be made. Such as how could we reduce the board time commitment so that we could attract more board members.

Could we find more people so the workload is spread out over more people? Could we form a couple more committees so that the board meetings are shorter because the committees are dealing with the work? Could we improve the board package so that it does not take as long to review?

Your organization could take a look at the board members time commitment and see if there are any changes that could easily be made to reduce the time commitment for the board members.