fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Negotiating Your Next Pay Raise by Saab Magora
By: Shiela Manalo
Tags: Talent Management, Performance Appraisal, HR, Compensation, People Management

October 10, 2019 was a truly amazing day! I was able to attend and be part of the organizing committee of the FCC x MAP Women Expo and Forum 2019, “Inspired Conversations: Nothing Left Unsaid,” held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom.

Hearing amazing women CEOs from various industries share their experiences in the corporate and business world was a mind-blowing experience! It was a blast! Everything that I’ve heard from the forum totally challenged my millennial perspective. And if I may add, having to start work at exactly 5:00 AM was all worth it because of the event’s success!

One session that struck me most was Faye Corcuera’s talk, “Negotiating Your Next Pay Raise.” It is a sensitive yet very important topic everyone, especially women (who have a lot of other things to consider like taking care of kids, maintaining the household, and more), should be more aware of. Then I asked myself — “When should I ask for a pay raise? How can I get myself noticed so that I can get a pay raise?”

Aside from doing your best at work and more, you also have to find out what motivates you, what keeps you going to work, what your purpose is. Sometimes, I ask myself why I continue to work as a sales consultant, when it doesn’t really provide commissions despite bringing in revenue. But then I realized that it’s not always how much you earn that determines how valuable you are. It’s the exposure you get and the learning experiences you gain from the organization, the resiliency you develop from dealing with people from all walks of life, and knowing that you work for a purpose that measures your worth.

So don’t wait for the next appraisal season. If you think that it’s time to discuss your IDP with your superior, set that meeting and talk to him/her about how you’d want to succeed in the organization. It’s always a two-way process. Let them see how valuable you are; that way, it’s a win-win situation.
Presenting µWebSockets for Python
By: Alex Hultman
Tags: Backend, Python3, Python

Presenting µWebSockets for Python

A seamless performance boost for Python backends

The Python scripting environment is shockingly well-designed. Almost every thing I dislike about Node.js, Python does better. For one, Python does not enforce any one particular event-loop but rather employs a plug in system where you can replace the whole thing, parts of it, or only a fraction of it.

µWebSockets for Python integrates with asyncio by replacing a small part of the event-loop; the Selector. Everything else is left as is, making a minimal change while allowing seamless integration without disturbing other asyncio projects running on the same thread.

import uws

import asyncio



# Integrate with asyncio

asyncio.set_event_loop(uws.Loop())



app = uws.App({})



def getHandler(res, req):

res.end("Hello Python!")



app.get("/*", getHandler)



def listenHandler():

print("Listening to port 3000")



app.listen(3000, listenHandler)



# Run asyncio event loop

asyncio.get_event_loop().run_forever()

The extension C API is much more lightweight and portable; you can easily do 125k req/sec or 155k WebSocket messages/sec on one single CPU core on a laptop. Enable pipelining and you’re in the millions — all from within Python!

Further on, PyPI the package repository is a lot more relaxed and liberal as compared to npm, allowing the author full ownership of code published while not having to agree to any indemnification clauses. I love it — it even supports uploading different distributions based on platform.

A single pip install uws and bob’s your uncle.

While some backends run directly on asyncio, others run atop WSGI — an abstraction hiding the web server from the application. This is a possible use case here; by implementing the WSGI interface one could move Python backends atop µWebSockets with little effort. Of course this would limit the gains since Flask and Django are going to bottleneck pretty quickly but there are alternatives to those.

For people who instead want to write something new or port existing projects, directly using µWebSockets and its router would give a far better outcome performance wise.

Currently the project for Python is still under heavy development, but foundations are already laid out and working perfectly. Continued work will focus on wrapping the whole interface and cleaning up for a stable release.

Please go ahead and have a spin and tell me about how it runs or doesn’t run,

Thanks!
7 Ways to Take Your New Python Skills to the Next Level
By: Martin Andersson Aaberge
Tags: Technology, Data Science, Programming, Python, Computer Science

1. Coding Challenges

If you google “Python challenges,” there are tons of pages where you can challenge yourself. Not only do you get to use your Python skills, but you also work on your problem-solving skills — which are more important than your Python skills.

There are many ways to further develop your skills. A huge part of programming is problem-solving, and coding challenges will drill you. Not only will you practice problem-solving, but you have to get the code to run as well.

Codewars

If you create an account at codewars, you can browse a wide range of challenges.

Screenshot of codewars, by author

The Python Quiz

If you wish to test your general Python knowledge, including theory, have a look at thepythonquiz.

At The Python Quiz, you will be challenged with code and theory. (Screenshot by author)

After you input your answer, you will be prompted with the correct answer, information about the subject, and resources for further reading.

Right or wrong, you have a chance to learn more about the subject, screenshot by author

Fake (or real) coding job interviews

Another way to test your skill, which I have grown fond of over the last month, is to code along with programming interviews or mock interviews. There are many videos on YouTube walking you through interviews, and the questions are great. Your brain will thank you.

Let’s have a look at an example below:

How To: Work at Google – Example Coding/Engineering Interview

What they ask in the video is:

Given a list and a sum_number , check if any of the two items in the list equals sum_number when added together.

assert func([1,2,3,4] , 7) == True

assert func([1,1,1,1] , 9) == False

Here is my thought process before watching the solution:

And here is my code:

Then, after watching the video, you feel like a complete idiot and learn something.

Even though the Google engineer used C++, I transferred it to Python like this:

And the code:

There are always several ways to solve a problem. The important part is thinking about how you would solve it and, finally, add it to the code.

Clément Mihailescu has several videos on his YouTube channel with fake interviews, and they are very entertaining. Follow along with some of them. I like the ones he does with Tim and SecondThread.
Influence Live: How Micro-influencers are Changing the Landscape
Tags: Influencer Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Influencers

Thursday morning Julius hosted Influence Live, our ongoing series, with industry professionals and influencers, at J. Walter Thompson offices in New York. During the event, professionals from various companies had the opportunity to mingle, network, enjoy breakfast, and hear what top thought leaders have to say about how micro-influencers are changing the Landscape. The impressive panel included our own VP of Sales Bryn Sanders as the moderator, Sr. Director Content, Socialand Influencer Marketing at Group Nine Media, Shannon Truax, Social Media Agent Jessy Grossman, and Talent Relations/Partnerships, Marketing and Communications at Ad Council, Lina Renzina.

Bryn began the discussion asking when the others first discovered the potential of micro-influencers and started to strategize with them. Lina of Ad Council indicated they sort of stumbled upon it researching influencers for their program Creators for Good, which connects influencers with social causes. They began the program with influencers who had significantly large followings (over 1.0M) but then expanded to feature micro-influencers (which ranged anywhere from 10K — 100K+). It has helped them create several campaigns and increase awareness. Micro-influencers + awesome causes = lots of value and engagement.

The panelist also discussed their own experiences working with micro-influencers. Shannon’s advice: don’t assume they know how to work with brands. “You have to think about how you’re going to set them up for success and prepare them with all of these nuances to do it right.”

Jessy related Shannon’s advice to her own job as a social media agent noting the importance of vetting talent and more importantly knowing what questions to ask. Since a lot of her focus is on video, she looks for talent who can speak on camera and can conduct themselves in a a meetings. For New York Fashion Week, going on right now, Jessy vetted all of the influencers she has in town for the event and focuses on their strengths and helps them with their weaknesses.

When it comes to the creative process with micro-influencers, Lina says Ad Council likes to heavily involve the influencer since they know their audience best. “They are the creators, they’re the ones making the content…We send a brief about the campaign and about the issue, we have the do’s and don’ts. We do ask, ‘what’s your creative vision?’” They also ask the sponsors to look at the brief and the influencer’s vision or idea for the content. This is meant to ensure everyone is on the same page for the campaign.

During the audience Q&A, the panel was asked how they find micro-influencers, and #notsohumblebrag we love Shannon and Lina’s answer: “Julius!” Thanks, ladies! ;)

You can watch the entire panel on Facebook thanks to our partners at Ad Council. (Ad Council you’re the best!!). Trust us, it’s totally worth watching. You may learn a thing or two! What was your fave moment from the panel? Did you learn anything new? Make sure to stay tuned for our next Influence Live!
Least Influential Cousin Somehow An Influencer Now
By: Linnea Cooley
Tags: Humor, Social Media, Influencers, Family

Family reunions are a great way to catch up with your cousins and to hear all of the latest gossip. Your cousins are known to drop some juicy tidbits, but nothing compares to what they’ve told you this time.

Cousin Maggie is an influencer now.

Yeah, you heard that right. An influencer. Like on Instagram. Like those people who take photos on the beach as their job and make thousands of dollars while doing it. Being an influencer is pretty much every millennial’s dream, and now your least impressive cousin is living it.

How did this happen?

Being an influencer is all about branding yourself and making yourself stand out. Cousin Maggie is nice and everything, but she definitely doesn’t “stand out”. Uncle Steve literally always mixes her name up with Cousin Christine, even though Christine is like ten years older and has much larger pores.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Most influencers are really pretty, but like, is Cousin Maggie even pretty? I feel like she isn’t. She definitely wasn’t the first cousin to have a boyfriend. That was me.

Influencers make tons of money advertising for different brands because their followers trust their advice.

Um…correct me if I’m wrong, but no one has taken advice from Cousin Maggie, like ever. When Cousin Hayley was going through a break-up, she definitely did not call Cousin Maggie to ask for advice. No, she got all the advice she needed when she called me. And when Aunt Ginny was buying a whole new work wardrobe, she definitely didn’t ask Cousin Maggie to come with her to Banana Republic. Aunt Ginny would never. And when the family was picking the color scheme for Grandpa Sam’s funeral, no one even thought to ask Cousin Maggie, because she’s like, just that irrelevant!

So, I guess it’s just kind of confusing why 78.5 thousand people want to hear about Cousin Maggie’s daily life when no one in the family even opens her Christmas card.

Well, good for Cousin Maggie I guess. Maybe now she can finally afford to fix her nose.
Are You Sleeping with the Enemy?
Tags: Addiction, Healthy Lifestyle, Sleeping, Insomnia, Sleep Disorders

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

Well! needless to say the headline does take us all down the memory lane. Sleeping with the Enemy was one such thrilling and intense film of the 90s . Julia Roberts plays a woman who escapes from her abusive husband and is forced to change her looks and her identity and is on a constant run.

But here, I am talking of a different enemy- an enemy whom we love too much and is present anywhere and everywhere in our lives.

We are spending each night sleeping with our Phones. STOP! STOP! STOP!

But why? you ask. You aren’t hurting anyone or doing anything illegal.

Let’s ignore the news story about a Samsung Galaxy belonging to a girl from Texas which overheated under her pillow and woke her with a burning smell — after all, that’s a outlier we do not hear of enough in our daily lives.

But for years ,psychologists have debated the mental toll that the smartphone takes on us by encouraging a subconscious alertness.

Then there is the talk about the electromagnetic radiations. There is no definitive answer to the question of whether or not the radiation all cell phones and smartphones emit can or will give us cancer or any other ailment. However, we know that these radiations definitely harm our sleep quality and thus contribute to ever increasing stress levels.

And without giving our typing and swiping fingers time to rest, we also increase our chances of tiring our tender fingers , and giving ourselves a nasty repetitive stress injury at the most.
Acceptance
By: Jay Avery
Tags: Poetry Prompt, Poetry, Acceptance, Meditation

Thanks to Lucy (the egg girl) for including me in this challenge. You can find her poem about Simplicity here.

My prompt for you all is, Solitude. Write freely and have fun. All are welcome to join in the challenge.

This challenge is to keep The Never-Ending Poem going as long as possible. Wanna join? Write a poetic response, tag ten wondrous poets or simply invite all, add a new prompt, link this poem then publish. Done!

Peace -

May you find acceptance wherever you go.
emFATic Roundup: May 2019
By: Misty Fritz
Tags: Fat, Fat Acceptance, Fat Positive, Body Positive, Body Image

Insults, projectiles, well-intentioned fat-shaming: the perils of being a plus-size runner

It is hard enough to exercise when you are overweight, so why do people feel the need to add their judgment to the…
Taking on Drumpf in the Classroom
By: Ruben Brosbe
Tags: 2016 Election, Donald Trump, Education

Different kids are making sense of this election in different ways. It depends on their age and their social location. But regardless, I believe that all three of these anecdotes illustrate the disquieting impact Donald Drumpf is having on our youngest Americans.

This cannot be acceptable.

There is no place for Donald Drumpf’s hate speech in our schools. If a student made similar remarks they would be referred to the dean or guidance counselor. If a teacher spoke in this way they’d be placed on leave.

There is no way for us to ignore this language, as it has clearly seeped its way into our classrooms. Therefore we are obligated to name Drumpf’s words for what they are: racism, Islamophobia, misogyny, xenophobia and much more.

As teachers we are expected to be “apolitical”. I would argue this has always been an illusion and that many teachers understand that by deciding how to frame various narratives in our classrooms, our work is inherently political.

Regardless Drumpf’s words transcend “conservative” versus “liberal” dichotomies. So teachers must not silence ourselves when we hear children discussing him.

I know plenty of adults (admittedly almost all Democrats) who are genuinely fearful of a Drumpf presidency. It makes sense for his words to scare children as well.

Just as we do with other complicated and scary current events, teachers must respond to Drumpf in our classrooms. We can start by creating space for students to share their opinions and feelings. Then we can sort out the facts from the myths, and we can brainstorm ways for students to take action. Through it all we should also clearly speak out against Drumpf’s hate speech.

My school has several anti-bullying posters. In February, the whole school signed a pledge to stop bullying. In my classroom we also have an agreement, “Listen, speak and act respectfully.” I know that these kinds of agreements and pledges are common to classrooms and schools across our country. If Drumpf can’t follow these basic rules, then we as teachers must make it clear that his ideas have no place in our schools.
11월 1~2주 바이낸스 관련 한국 뉴스 모음
Tags: Binance, Blockchain, Korea, Cryptocurrency

Binance Exchange provides cryptocurrency trading for fintech and blockchain enthusiasts globally, with multilingual support over a variety of services.

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Twelve Do’s of Consistency in Aerospike
By: Neel Phadnis
Tags: NoSQL, Distributed Systems, Strong Consistency, Aerospike, Transactions

8. Choose the optimal read mode.

There are four SC read modes to choose from: Linearizable, Session, Allow-replica, and Allow-unavailable. They all guarantee no data loss and no dirty reads, but differ in “no stale” guarantees as well as performance. A Linearizable read ensures the latest version across all clients, but it involves checking with all replicas and therefore is most expensive. Also, without additional external synchronization mechanism among clients, the version is not guaranteed to be the latest when it reaches the client. A Session read is faster as it directly reads from the master replica, and therefore recommended. In a multi-site cluster, local reads are much faster than remote reads. Since the master replica may reside at another site, the Allow-replica mode offers much better performance with no-stale guarantee practically equivalent to the Session mode, and therefore is recommended in multi-site clusters. There are no staleness guarantees with Allow-unavailable mode, but the application may judiciously leverage it when it is aware of stale data but can still derive positive value from it.
Introduction to Property Based Testing
By: Nicolas Dubien
Tags: Software Development, Testing, Fast Check, Quickcheck, Property Based Testing

Another test philosophy introduced by QuickCheck

Property based testing has become quite famous in the functional world. Mainly introduced by QuickCheck framework in Haskell, it suggests another way to test software. It targets all the scope covered by example based testing: from unit tests to integration tests.

In order to introduce property based testing, this article will use fast-check — a property based testing framework for JavaScript — but examples can easily be adapted to other frameworks and languages.

Logo of “fast-check”

It is good to notice that this test framework helped me to discover bugs in famous npm packages with only a few lines of code — checkout fast-check readme for more details.
Guide: How to Deposit Your EOS Funds from Infinito Wallet to Crypto Exchanges
Tags: Binance, Guide, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Eos

Guide: How to Deposit Your EOS Funds from Infinito Wallet to Crypto Exchanges Infinito Follow Aug 24, 2018 · 4 min read

With latest version, now Infinito Wallet users can easily manage their EOS assets within the wallet. However, when users want to move their funds to crypto exchanges to trade, they need to follow certain requirement from specific exchange. New user who is not familiar with those concepts might find difficulty using two different applications.

To help these users, Infinito team has compiled this guide to instruct users to deposit their EOS funds from Infinito Wallet to exchanges. In this guide, we will use mobile app of the largest global crypto exchange, Binance, as an example.

Step 1: Go to Binance mobile app.

Step 2: Click “Funds” and choose “Show all balances”.

Step 3: Roll down to find EOS and tap “EOS” to proceed.
How to Increase Your Motivation in 2 Minutes per Day
By: Benjamin Hardy
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Lessons, Psychology, Startup, Productivity

Obstacle #2: Losing Momentum and Quitting

Once you find someone who wants the same level of accountability as you, then you need a simple and fast system.

Daily accountability is the best way to form a habit and rhythm with your partner.

If you try to do weekly, you’ll likely lose track or forget.

You don’t want to lose momentum.

Aside from getting obsessed with finding the right partner, the second biggest mistake is losing momentum before you even start.

Daily accountability is essential.

It’s how you get into a rhythm and stay on track. That’s the purpose of accountability. It’s not about friendship. It’s not about kinship. It’s not about fun. Accountability is about getting results in your life.

Do you want results? Or are you just looking for a friend?

Accountability partners will become some of your best friends, but only because you are pushing each other forward.

The purpose of the relationship isn’t to be friends.

It’s actually almost better if you choose someone who isn’t already your friend. The sole purpose of the relationship should be accountability.

That’s it.
Man. Shadow. Myth.
By: Tre L. Loadholt
Tags: Creative Writing, Poetry, 5 Words, Micropoetry

I’m more than breath & bones, I’m nectar in waiting — Owner ACG •Editor PSILY •Writing for the cosmos. •https://acorneredgurl.com

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Temperamentum
By: Abigail Siegel
Tags: Poetry, Life, Mothers And Daughters, Poem, Seasons

My earlier years were as hot and angry

as a California day in August

nowhere near the reprieve of Autumn

I was so uncomfortable in my sweltering skin

screaming at my mother to make her understand

Not until I was older did I realize she

was answering me with equal heat

not a dry heat like a normal So-Cal temperament

but the spitting of sweat on a stove

were our own bodies firing up against the other

both angry at a lack of understanding

It’s reasonable to think that we understand

now that we are older

that the heat has turned to the stillness

of a Canadian winter, slow and meditative

It would be skipping a season

for neither of us are so old now

Each of us is treading our own Autumn

different, but oh do we understand now

no screaming unless it is to hear

each other over the frigid winds we recognize

are in the control of another’s anger

Our talk is warm instead of searing

our sight is better for lack of tears and sweat

I know her days are dotted with blasts

of seething heat and blistering wind

so I keep myself cooler for when

searing summer threatens auburn days

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

©Abigail Siegel 2019
Understanding Java Sockets
By: Prafful Mehrotra
Tags: Java, Tcp, Computer Network, Socket Programming, Ftp

For data to flow across the internet, a large number of protocols have been defined to maintain uniformity and reliability. This allows data to flow across billions of possible routes from source to the destination. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) along with Internet Protocol (IP) define the crux of transmission of data across the internet through URL connections. Many a times, we require to send data locally within applications, or closely connected peers. Java Sockets are used precisely for this use case among others.

TCP is mainly used in cases where 100% reliability of connection is of utmost importance. In order to achieve the same, TCP implements a large number of protocols, like congestion control, flow control etc.. However, for a TCP connection to be established, it first requires the source and destination ports, to implement sockets at both ends and bind them throughout the process of communication. While accessing websites, all of this happens through predefined logic, however when implementing custom logics relevant to one’s use case one must use specific libraries to implement such sockets and communication logic.

In this blog, I shall demonstrate how one can use Java Sockets to achieve the same by implementing a simple FTP Server/Client application allowing multiple clients to be connected to the same server and exchange files through it.
The Air
By: Jenny Justice
Tags: India, Poetry, Social Justice, Capitalism, Climate Change

It was never like this, prior

colonialism, industrialization, capitalism, globalization

and now, the air is

unbearable,

and they are expected to just deal in Delhi

to just take it in

something about a natural consequence,

something about personal choices

nothing about, nothing about, nothing about

corporations that cut and run, drain and flee, pollute and reboot

moving on, breathing fine, being fine

luxury liners in the sky, sipping wine

while my friends have tears in their eyes and choke on

their words, bloodshot red and told to just do

business as usual, to pray, to maybe

breathe a bit less,

the logic of capitalism is illogical

the momentum of climate change is irreversible

that air is for all of us, creeping across the landscape

like a blob, like a spectre

taking up space in the sky, space in our lungs

there’s no turning away —

deal with this in Delhi

with global efforts

climate change is here,

capitalism change, come soon.
Congregation Beth El’s Unity in the Community concert set for May 3
By: Grace Maiorano
Tags: Concerts, New Jersey, Music

Congregation Beth El’s Unity in the Community concert set for May 3

Enjoy an evening from the sounds of soul singer Neshama Carlebach.

Congregation Beth El is presenting a Unity in the Community concert on Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m., featuring world-renowned soul singer, Neshama Carlebach, with The Glory to God Gospel Singers.

Carlebach, a leading superstar in Jewish entertainment, is continuing the legacy established by her father Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Like her father, Neshama’s talent and charisma captivate and endear her to people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds. Neshama has performed and taught in cities worldwide, has sung on the Broadway stage, has sold more than one million records and was a six-time entrant in the 2011 Grammy Awards.

The evening will also honor synagogue past president, Lynn Goldman Paul, with The Outstanding Community Service Award. As a Red Cross volunteer, Lynn has traveled all over the country helping people affected by disasters and assisting them to re-build their lives. In addition, Lynn works with a number of other organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of Camden County, Jewish Family and Children’s Service and Samaritan Hospice.

To honor our sense of unity for our global community, non-perishable donations will be accepted that night and distributed to local food pantries.

General admission tickets are $36, which includes a dessert reception following the concert. Sponsorships begin at $180. Sponsors receive reserved tickets and a pre-concert cocktail party. To purchase tickets, visit bethelsnj.org/neshama-carlebach/
On Wings of Hope
By: Natalie Frank
Tags: Promposity, Poetry, Psychology, Transcendence Prompt, Hope

Credit: Thampoo on Wikipemedia Commons

Nature’s own utterances were provocative

Paradoxes no distress

Rightly used and indispensable

The concentrated fire of summer

Sets alight hearts bestirred

To render words once inflammatory

Now neutralized and exiled forth

Four seasons cycle yearly lots

With weather that sometimes causes ill

To teach that endless goodness without edge

Can lead to soul and heart abused

So winter’s chill and crystal ice

Fills need of sternness, rule and boundary

Steeling backbone with flint chipped sharp

To cut away falsehood and manipulative avarice

For false spring brings unnatural hope

Which can fool a heart into shedding protective sheath

Allowing the breath of warmth filled air

To fill its cavities til trust ensues

Then turns to frozen snow filled fate

Surprise then shock at betrayal’s hard fist

Knocking air from diaphragm in visible pain

The tears cry out like a soaking rain

Falling from the thorn filled rosebuds

At love’s closed door

Yet if focus on budded beauty be

The pain will pass though not without struggle

Like blossoms blooming amidst knife-sharp defense

Careful but not closed off from the world

If never to bloom what will life hold for them

And for those destined to grasp them glorious

In sunlight passed through stained glass splendor

When learned the lesson of temperance born

On wings of hope that soar beyond despair

Response to Promposity Prompt Trascendentalism (see more below)
Analysing ERC20 activity accurately
By: Dany Majard
Tags: Blockchain, Erc20, Blockchain Development, Ethereum

Analysing ERC20 activity accurately

The hidden flaws of the standard

The fact that ERC20 is nowadays the most widely used standard for smart contracts is a blessing in disguise. It allows the economy of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain to run fairly smoothly and enables many cross-contract behavior. But in most of the analyses that I have seen, there is a definite overconfidence in the standard.

If you read the definition of the ERC20 standard you will find something well written and quite straight forward. But you will most likely also overlook one small detail that can make the world of difference in analyzing some contracts. It is in the relationship between the transfer() and transferFrom() methods and the Transfer() event. Take a look at this transaction for example.

Tools like Etherscan consider that there were 1000 tokens transferred by this message call. But upon closer inspection the method is called “MassNotify”. It doesn’t sound like a transfer to me. So what happened there? Why does it seem that 1000 tokens were issued when it is not the case?

The answer lies in this little detail that is easily overlooked: Transfer() must be triggered by token transfers, but it could be triggered for other reasons too! The wording of the standard is the following:

MUST trigger when tokens are transferred, including zero value transfers.

In the contract above what is called “virtual tokens” are issued at will and accounts are “notified” about it using the Transfer() event. That means that they are entered in a list of accounts that may transfer up to 10 tokens, provided it does not make the general supply reach the fixed limit. But until they do so, nothing in the contract ensures that they do have a token to spend. Such virtual tokens could be generated ad infinitum and completely throw off analyses of ERC20 tokens. The issue here in the etherscan analysis is that they used the Transfer() event log to get the information, which at the present state of the standard is not reliable.

You could suggest that we only count transfer() and transferFrom() message calls, but that would be a mistake again. Indeed nothing in the ERC20 standard currently suggests that these methods can only be called externally, by a message call. One could be called internally, inside another method. For example one could have an ERC20 contract with a shuffleAccounts(n) method, making n random calls to transferFrom(). That would appear in the Transfer() logs but not be seen by the method described above.

I suggest that any analysis of ERC20 token activity be preceded by a review of the contract’s code generating a list of method calls to be cross referenced with. As for virtual tokens, there is no way to know the individual state of accounts before they make their first use of their virtual tokens. I propose that in this case, counts should be capped by the total supply.
DBSCAN Algorithm: Complete Guide and Application with Python Scikit-Learn
By: Saptashwa Bhattacharyya
Tags: Machine Learning, Clustering, Data Science, Towards Data Science, Scikit Learn

1. Definitions within DBSCAN Algorithm:

To understand DBSCAN in more detail, let’s dive into it. The main concept of DBSCAN algorithm is to locate regions of high density that are separated from one another by regions of low density. So, how do we measure density of a region ? Below are the 2 steps —

Density at a point P: Number of points within a circle of Radius Eps (ϵ) from point P.

Dense Region: For each point in the cluster, the circle with radius ϵ contains at least minimum number of points (MinPts).

The Epsilon neighborhood of a point P in the database D is defined as (following the definition from Ester et.al.)

N (p) = {q ∈ D | dist(p, q) ≤ ϵ}…. (1)

Following the definition of dense region, a point can be classified as a Core Point if |N (p)|≥ MinPts. The Core Points, as the name suggests, lie usually within the interior of a cluster. A Border Point has fewer than MinPts within its ϵ-neighborhood (N), but it lies in the neighborhood of another core point. Noise is any data point that is neither core nor border point. See the picture below for better understanding.

Core and Border Points in a Database D. Green data point is Noise. (Source: Re-created by Author, Original Reference [2])

One problem of this approach could be — ϵ-neighborhood of the border points contain significantly less number of points than the core points. Since MinPts is a parameter in the algorithm, setting it to a low value to include the border points in the cluster can cause problem to eliminate the noise. Here comes the concept of density-reachable and density-connected points.

Directly Density Reachable: Data-point a is directly density reachable from a point b if —

|N (b)|≥ MinPts; i.e. b is a core point. a ∈ N(b) i.e. a is in the epsilon neighborhood of b.

Considering a border point and a core point, we can understand that notion of directly density reachable is not symmetric, because even though the core point falls in the epsilon neighborhood of border point, the border point doesn’t have enough MinPts, and thus fail to satisfy both conditions.

Density Reachable: Point a is density reachable from a point b with respect to ϵ and MinPts, if —
Zugzwang
By: Samuel Cracia
Tags: Creative Writing, Poetry, Literature, Reflections, Resistance Poetry

I can’t move.

I’m staying here.

I’ll come back

To pick up what we threw

In our stampede

I want to remember those who died

And we left into oblivion among the rubble

I’m going to give myself a chance

To think about the things we destroyed

Before taking one step forward.

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Ginero, Dash Special Panel
By: Alfa
Tags: Events

Alfa Technologies, Inc.

This Medium is the Message.
Introduction To ERC-20 Testing On Ethereum
By: Ata Tekeli
Tags: Solidity, Software Development, Ethereum, Software Testing, Blockchain

taken from blockgeeks.com

The most important phase of creating your own cryptocurrency.

Creating a token on ethereum is no easy job. But testing one is generally a hassle. Especially when it comes to functionality and security. Here, I’ll outline how the ERC20 token can be tested.

Prerequisites

A coding editor of your choice

If you start developing on ethereum, any coding editor of your choice can suffice if it supports solidity. But if you develop on different programming languages, highly streamlined and powerful text editors like VS Code definitely work even better. Especially if you have to use multiple blockchain platforms for developing an application. But don’t forget the

Full ethereum development environment

Ensure that you’ve installed all the development tools needed to create smart contracts on ethereum. The environment includes nodeJS, truffle, web3js, ganache, brew, and homebrew. If you checked with their appropriate codes, it’ll let you know its version if downloaded. You can upgrade the software if needed. But some of the tools can be directly downloaded like ganache. But if it doesn’t give you the version, you have to download them with instruction guides written on their website. You can download more dependencies if needed.

JavaScript knowledge

Before starting on being a blockchain developer, basic JavaScript knowledge is necessary to develop in ethereum and hyperledger. But, testing on ethereum requires purely JavaScript to ensure the functionality and security of the program. If all the testing is completed, then you can launch your token on the web. If not, you have to work on your code before launching on the web and test it again until all the test cases passed.

Other dependencies (if needed)

You might need to download other ethereum development packages depending on what you develop. And it can change if you’re building a Dapp, a token, or any different application built on an ethereum environment. So, testing can also require other packages to be downloaded on various grounds. But, the general ethereum development environment would suffice in most other settings.

Have you ever tested your ERC20 token? If you did, share your experiences in the comments section below.
Day 2: Inventory Management System — Advent of Code 2018
By: Code Sync Global
Tags: Programming, Elixir, Advent Of Code

I did the Advent of Code 2018 day 2 challenge in Elixir! Parts one and two are as follows:

defmodule Day2 do

def checksum(input) do

{two, three} =

input

|> read_input()

|> Enum.reduce({0, 0}, fn line, {appears_two_times, appears_three_times} ->

{two_times, three_times, _} =

line

|> String.graphemes()

|> Enum.group_by(& &1)

|> get_checksum_values()



{appears_two_times + two_times, appears_three_times + three_times}

end)



two * three

end



def differ(input) do

lines = input |> read_input()



# length(diff) == 4 # [eq: "_", del: "_", ins: "_", eq: "_"]

for line1 <- lines,

line2 <- lines,

line1 != line2,

diff = String.myers_difference(line1, line2),

length(diff) == 4 do

diff

|> Keyword.get_values(:eq)

|> Enum.join()

end

|> Enum.uniq()

end



defp read_input(input) do

input

|> File.read!()

|> String.split("

", trim: true)

end



defp get_checksum_values(groups) do

Enum.reduce(groups, {0, 0, MapSet.new()}, fn {_key, chars},

{two_times, three_times, seen} = acc ->

value = length(chars)



if MapSet.member?(seen, value) do

acc

else

new_seen = MapSet.put(seen, value)



case value do

2 -> {two_times + 1, three_times, new_seen}

3 -> {two_times, three_times + 1, new_seen}

_ -> {two_times, three_times, new_seen}

end

end

end)

end

end



:aoc2018 |> :code.priv_dir() |> Path.join("day2.txt") |> Day2.checksum()

:aoc2018 |> :code.priv_dir() |> Path.join("day2.txt") |> Day2.differ()
What I Wish I Knew About Screenwriting When I Started — Joe Wilson
Tags: Storytelling, Creative Writing, Writing, Writing Tips, Screenwriting

Film Courage: What is something about storytelling you wish you had learned earlier in your career or you wish you had stuck to your guns on something? Maybe people tried to talk you out of it?

Joe Wilson, Writer/Director/Comedian/Photographer: I guess I wished I’d knew how much more character development was to writing. I don’t think I developed the characters enough when I started writing and I think that’s where if I had known to take more time to develop the characters I think I would have had less of a challenge in either the writing or the rewriting (especially the rewriting) because I think when you’ve got a draft you are going through it…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
HomeLand At Blank Screen!
By: Vaghawan Ojha
Tags: My Homeland, Nepal, Poetry, Travel, Love

I was just prowling inside the Medium, while I discovered the HomeLand Prompt, So Quickly wrote down whatever that came in my mind. I hope to add another HomeLand Poem that would be more accurately dedicated to my Home Land Nepal. For now, it’s just a picture of my homeland in this current moment.
Reflections of a Facebook Friend
By: Emily Bracale
Tags: The Internet, Social Media, Emily Bracale, Facebook, Comics

Grand Prize winner of Winning Writers North Street Book Competition, for the creative nonfiction/ graphic memoir Our Last Six Months. ourlastsixmonthsbook.com

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#223 Mindful Moment
By: Renee Tarantowski
Tags: Mindfulness, Words, Wisdom, Personal Development, Writing

#223 Mindful Moment

this was a big aha for me

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Changing one word

When I teach meditation I explain to people how thoughts will enter their minds as we sit, walk, or move through our meditation. Thoughts are expected, what we do with them is fundamental.

As I was walking the dogs this morning, as part of my mindfulness practice, I noticed that I was both excited and a little sad about my oldest kid going off to college in a few days. To honor and acknowledge those feelings without judgment, I named them. At first just repeating the words excited, excited, excited.

Then a sadness came over me.

Without even thinking (I lost my present moment awareness) I began saying I am sad. I am sad. I am sad.

Declaration vs. Exploration

I came back to my breath (the anchor I use to get back on track) realizing that I was declaring “I am sad.” which was not accurate.

I was feeling sad.

I was feeling excited then I was feeling sad.

Do you see the difference between:

I am sad.

I am feeling sad.

One sticks like glue and the other gives me an opportunity to recognize how I’m feeling and then let it pass. Or let it stay for a while. It doesn’t feel sticky.

Lessons Learned:

In the quiet of walking the dogs, big thoughts come to me.

Words are powerful. Using the phrase “I am” can be a great declarative sentence that keeps me aligned with my soul goals.

How I am feeling is a passing moment. On this walk, I felt hot as well. Now inside I’m much cooler. I can enjoy the moments of life — even the uncomfortable one because I know they won’t last forever. The simple feeling of being hot or hungry and the bigger feelings of will I be loved? or will I make it as a mindfulness teacher?
Bring-Your-Own-Standard
By: Andries Van Humbeeck
Tags: Data Management, Governance, Standards, Hyperledger Fabric, Blockchain

An awesome collections of stories from our Blockchain experts in Belgium & The Netherlands.

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One Moment
By: Tyrone Graham
Tags: Poetry, Dying Momernt, Keen Foresight, Past Tragedies, Bitter Memory

Now,

this moment,

I know sorrow

like never before,

yet

cannot say

it was different

in the past;

though

I would gladly

choose past tragedies

instead of this agony

of

keen foresight,

intense awareness

and bitter memory.

I

am standing clear

this one dying moment,

and realize

that

one day

I may say

of today

“Things

were better then.”

God willing,

I will remember.
The Waves Were Enormous, We Were Afraid of a Tsunami Attack
By: Undp Asia-Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction Team
Tags: Tsunami, Schools, Sustainable Development, Preparedness

Without a question that was a night to remember. “I was among other kids watching a movie out in the field when the Police Officer rushed to us and instructed to run to the hill top because of a tsunami warning. I remember that children and women started to cry and men looked confused because they didn’t know what to do,” 57-year-old Rodney Gimis recounts an event that happened 47 years ago, in 1971, in Sohano island, Papua New Guinea.

Rodney Gimis ( left) and Gwen Gimis are the Ward Members for Sohano Ward under Buka Urban District, AROB. . Photo: Kim Allen / UNDP

“Later, I found out that some patients in the hospital were left behind when people ran for higher grounds after the tsunami warning was issued.” After so many years, Gimis is still disturbed.

For four following days, the community stayed on alert, running uphill every time they saw unusually high waves rushing towards the island.

The waves were king tides, a natural phenomenon, that can happen every year. But, king tides can crow from 1.5 to 11 meters and look like a tsunami.

“The waves were enormous, carrying ashore fish and other marine life that die on the beach. We were afraid,” recalls Gimis, who now works as the Ward Member for Sohano Ward under Buka Urban District, AROB.

Evacuating community members to higher grounds during the tsunami drills. Photo: Hudson Tabara / UNDP

Unfortunately for Sohano like for many other disaster-prone coastlines of Papua New Guinea (PNG), more tsunamis and king tides are expected to hit the island.

A recent multi hazard risk assessment in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville identified Sohano Island as the most vulnerable area to tsunamis in PNG.

Ward Member Gimis is concerned as Sohano is home to a lot of families. He also knows that people need to be prepared for such a disaster.

A tsunami drill, carried out by the Bougainville Regional Disaster Office, was conducted to help islanders to develop their emergency management plans and check out safe evacuation routes.
Life After
By: Lisa Sellge
Tags: Challenge, Poetry, Relationships, Love, Race

Life After

(photo by the author)

Your undoing

came in the shape

of san bernardino white trash

and an irish priest

locked in the boldest

of tangles

After the wedding party

drowned their sorrows

and those from

the old country

tipped their cups

to her chastity

She had a bit too much

soft skin for his constitution

she turned her back to

covet his cloth

where cloth was never

meant to flow

So you ducked to the

beat of the international parade

the muslim girl in your shadow

black hair flying

down the airport corridor

with you in pursuit

they cuffed her

and took her away

Your undoing

came in the shape

of an old book

with whithered pages

where you read

with indignation

the science of your breed

where you tossed

your soul to the righteous

and the dead.
John’s Village Trip
By: Ruchi Thalwal
Tags: Life Lessons, Short Story, Life, Fiction, Inspiration

Sam was a rich guy. He lived a comfortable life and had lots of people who worked for his firm. Once, he planned a trip to a nearby village and took his son, John, along with him.

He wanted to make John realize how lucky he was to be born into a wealthy family. Sam wanted John to be proud of the rich legacy he would inherit.

They stayed for a week in the house of a farmer.

Photo by Sebastian Staines on Unsplash

After returning from the village, Sam asked his son about the trip.

John replied, “It was good.”

“Do you understand how people in the village live?” Sam questioned.

The son, “Yes, I did.”

Sam was happy that John understood the value of all the luxury he enjoys.

Sam had always desired to make John realize how lucky he was to have Sam as his dad.

“So tell me, what did you learn in these seven days. Did you find any difference in the lifestyle?” Sam asked.

John answered, “I saw that we have one pet, but they have many. We have mobiles and followers, and they have family and friends.

While we escape to the theatre room, they enjoy playgrounds and hearing stories from the elders.

Photo by Nabih El Boustani on Unsplash

We have just one garden, whereas they have many farms. We pay thousands for electricity, and they use nature’s light to the best possible extent.

We buy packaged and processed food, and they grow their own food.

We keep helpers and servants, while they help each other without any maids and servants.

While we have enormous walls and CCTV cameras to protect us; they seem to need no protection.”

Sam was dumbstruck.

The boy said, “Thanks, Dad, I realized in those few days that how rich they are and how abundant life in a village is.”