fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Easy sentence similarity with BERT Sentence Embeddings using John Snow Labs NLU
By: Christian Kasim Loan
Tags: Sentence Similarity, Deep Learning, NLP, Nlu, Data Science

What will we cover

This tutorial shows you how easy it is to get the latest Bert Sentence Embeddings using John Snow Labs NLU in just 1 line of code.

With these Embeddings, we will compare every sentence pair in a Stack Overflow Question dataset and find the most similar ones. We will also see how simple it is, to find the most similar sentence in our dataset, to a new given sentence.

In addition, we will also show how to leverage 3 Sentence Embeddings at The same time, BERT, Universal Sentence Encoder, and Electra Embeddings to tune our similarity results, it does not take more than 10 lines, promise!

With all these tools, it is surprisingly simple to build question answering systems and similar applications

More precisely, we will see how you can implement the following things with NLU :

How to get sentence Bert, USE, Electra sentence embeddings using BERT How to find N most similar sentences in a dataset for a given sentence in the dataset using BERT How to calculate the similarity matrix and visualize it for a dataset using BERT How to find the N most similar sentences in a dataset for a new sentence using BERT How to find the N most similar sentences in a dataset for a new sentence using BERT, USE, Electra at the same time!

0 . What is Sentence similarity and why is it useful?

Sentences are made up of words and raw words are difficult to compare to each other. Various research has been made to create meaningful numerical vector representations of words. With the most recent breakthroughs in deep learning, especially in the Transformer area with models like BERT incredible tools have developed to solve the problem of creating these vectors and they encode incredible amounts of meaning and context in them.

This can be leveraged to build various kinds of NLP applications, like question-answering systems, and can be applied to many domains.

0.1 Install NLU

To run NLU you need Java 8 and Spark NLP installed. The following script will setup everything you need to get started with Spark NLP on Google Collab or Kaggle. Follow the Docs for further info

import os

! apt-get update -qq > /dev/null

# Install java

! apt-get install -y openjdk-8-jdk-headless -qq > /dev/null os.environ["JAVA_HOME"] = "/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64" os.environ["PATH"] = os.environ["JAVA_HOME"] + "/bin:" + os.environ["PATH"]

! pip install nlu import nlu

0.2 Get some data

We will download a dataset from the “60k Stack Overflow Questions with Quality Rating” Kaggle dataset. This simple wget command downloads the dataset to our /tmp dir and in the next line, we read it to a pandas df.
Will Adobe XD kill Sketch and InVision?
By: Shane P Williams
Tags: Visual Design, UX, UI, Prototyping, Ts

Adobe’s answer to Sketch and InVision is Adobe XD. Sketch has been the leading tool for UX/UI designers for some years now, enhanced further by its community, plugins and integration with InVision.

If you couldn’t care less for Adobe XD, or don’t want to know what XD has to offer, do yourself a favour and scroll down and read the section “Why Adobe XD will dominate, regardless of features” before crossing XD off your list.

There are many other UX/UI design tools outside of Sketch and InVision. Figma, Framer and Protopie to name a few, but Sketch and InVision seem to be dominating the field. The question we need to ask is, is their reign about to come to an end?

I am in no way affiliated with Adobe and the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

A brief history to date

Traditionally, designers used Photoshop to mockup apps and websites, but Photoshop as a tool, was never created for the purpose of designing websites and apps. Photoshop, being a very heavy pro tool, began its days with a focus on photography, and was later picked up by graphic designers enabling them to bring their creations to the next level.

The big problem with Photoshop is that the tool is clunky, its native PSD format left designers managing large files and the majority of tools within the software are useless to most digital designers.

Sketch came to the rescue and addressed these issues and has now evolved into the market leader. Sketch allowed for reusable symbols and much faster workflows, enabling designers to work smarter and more efficiently. Sketch’s real power comes to light with the addition of plugins, allowing very specific, custom functionality to be added to the software, not available through the native application.
The solution: blockchain
By: Jure Soklic
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, ICO, Ethereum, Cryptocurrency

Blockchain is a relatively new technology which is set to revolutionize the way we do almost everything. Although it has become popularly associated with bitcoin, it has a much wider range of applications.

What is blockchain?

To explain, as a distributed database, a blockchain maintains a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are secured from tampering and revision. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchains are inherently resistant to data modification — once recorded, the data in a block cannot be amended retroactively. A blockchain database is managed autonomously through a peer-to-peer network and a distributed timestamping server. Blockchains serve as open, distributed ledgers that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. Decentralized consensus can therefore be achieved with a blockchain. This makes blockchains suitable for many purposes, including the invoice financing process.

Hive Project uses blockchain technology to link all payments made to tokenized invoices. Using tokenisation as a form of cryptography, which gives only those with the required permissions the ability to access information, ensures that transparency and 100% consensus is constantly maintained. Everything on Hive Project’s blockchain system is denominated in XBT and backed on a one-to-one basis in order to eliminate any volatility or fluctuations.

Why use blockchain?

There are several benefits to using blockchain for invoice financing:

· Trust and accountability

· Improved funding access to SMEs

· Compliance with government regulations

· Compliance with internal rules and processes.

· Significant savings in terms of costs and time

· Elimination of documentation fraud

· Mitigating risk and improving standards.

· All values are transferred completely accurately and securely.

· Smart contracts ensure that matters proceed flawlessly once terms and conditions are agreed.

The beauty of the concept is that the transparency involved does not depend on the integrity of the counter party. This high level of integrity is actually inherent and fundamental to the blockchain technology used. The Hive Project Platform lets businesses connect, encrypt and upload received and issued encrypted invoices, which can then be traded or used to build a transparent financial track record.

It is clear now that seismic changes are afoot in the financial industry. Critical advances in technology now mean that the world is transitioning to a new economy, where the benefits are abundant. So, why Hive Project?

It is simple:

We want to help SMEs get liquidity by leveraging blockchain technology and giving them financing options previously available only to big companies.

Interested? More infos available on our website: https://www.hive-project.net/
Doggone World Bingo: Enjoy your dog adventures
By: Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Tags: Dogs, Pets, Dog Owners, Dog Training, Board Games

Doggone World Bingo: Enjoy your dog adventures

The Bingo game that will make your dog mishaps more fun

Photo credit: Samson Katt/Unsplash

The holidays will come and go. If you’re lucky, maybe you got a new puppy in your collection of gifts. Or, maybe you were one of the social isolating families who decided to foster a dog or adopt a dog earlier in the year to make being at home a little more fun. But now that you have this new pup at home, you realize there’s more to dog ownership than playing Fetch and snuggling up against all that fur.

Click here for more Doggone World Bingo cards and the Caller Card.

No matter how much dog trainers tell you about positive reinforcement, the importance of dog crates and crate training, and regular exercise, there will be days that your dog will just be plain exhausting. Training won’t happen immediately. Every dog food or dog toy you buy won’t be a hit. You’re dealing with an additional personality who wants to be loved, but (s)he also has a wee bit of a rebellious streak. So the next time your dog does something that leaves you stumped or makes you just want to scream and storm out of the door, consider this Doggone World Bingo game.

If you’re a betting (wo)man, make a game of it with the rest of your family. The first one to spot your dog doing this — without cheating — gets you a point. When you declare “Bingo!” (from real-life experiences, or the traditional way to play Bingo by getting a full row horizontally, vertically or diagonally), the winner doesn’t have to pick up the poop on walks, at home and/or the backyard for the rest of the month. Good luck!
Her Favorite Taste
By: Niharika Gursahani
Tags: Community, Pain, Tanka, Challenge, A Cornered Gurl

Photo by Majid Rangraz on Unsplash

she walked in with my

soul in her hands and ripped me

till my flesh sank in

the pool of my blood below —

Torture was her temptation
Identification: Kindness
By: Annelise Lords
Tags: Qualities, Fiction, Illumination, Kindness, Identity

Identification: Kindness

Kindness can Identify You.

A Kind Heart. Image by Annelise Lords

Noah and Nigel Benet were 28 years old inseparable identical twins. Even though they have different tastes, likes, and dislikes, few people could tell the difference between them. In primary school, they were never separated, creating problems for teachers. In high school, it was different. Teachers would have problems telling who was in her class. As they grow, they chose the same profession as criminal attorneys. That’s when the difference between them became more visible. As criminal attorneys, they both had their share of losses and winnings, but both were different. According to the New York Gazette, along with several other major newspapers, the men whose acquittal Nigel won, were guilty of the crimes they were acquitted for. Noah, however, set the innocent free.

According to the reviews he got, he attracts the devil, while his twin Noah attracts angels. Nigel sat in his brother’s office complaining, “for the past six months, 95% of our clients chose you. Why? We always do things together.”

Noah stares into his brother’s eyes and saw something he had never seen before. Then said, “I can’t answer that, but there are four of your former clients outside waiting to see me. Let’s ask them.”

There were two women and two men. Each client came in one by one and chose Noah to represent them. They were asked to step back outside. Noah and Nigel switch clothes. They repeat the process and each client chose Noah again. Both brothers were mystified by the ability of these people to be able to identify them.

Before each client leave, they were asks, “How did you know the difference between both of us? No one has been able to do that.”

“It’s easy,” each client said pointing to Noah, “He is kinder, and it shows in his smile, by his actions, choices, and decisions too. The way he talks, his choice of words, and the positive energy that flows from him. Plus, he is happier and calmer than you. You,” each one of them said pointing to Nigel, “are the opposite. And I thank God, that those qualities, cannot be faked.”

Many of us can be identified by our kindness. A heart filled with kindness shows on the outside in many ways.

What identifies you?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it. Please enjoy more from other writers on this platform.

https://mediumauthor.com/@thisisanneliselords

https://mediumauthor.com/podcast

medium.com/illumination/interview-with-annelise-lords-421238e49b9f

https://twitter.com/ThisisAnneliseL

https://medium.com/authors-peeps/authors-peeps-interview-d43e38e53898

https://vocal.media/authors/annelise-lords
Creating a GraphQL database service with Kotlin, Ktor and Postgres
By: Chris Hinshaw
Tags: Postgres, Ktor, GraphQL, Kotlin, Graphql Schema

I was playing around with creating a simple GraphQL project that could connect to a Postgres database and build a schema automagically from the database metadata. Technically this example should work out of the box with any JDBC available database but milage may vary. This is not yet production ready but if you are looking to get started with Ktor, or GraphQL maybe this article can help you out.

Everything starts with Gradle

Here is the all important build.gradle.kts. I kept the dependencies as minimal as possible using Ktor, graphql-java and Postgres libs. You could substitute whatever JDBC libraries to fit your needs but I tested the code specifically with Postgres version 12. If you checkout the github repository you will notice that I also added a fatjar task in order to dockerize the project and throw the container it into my Kubernetes environment.

Ktor Configuration

Here we bootstrap the Ktor application module, install base functionality and register our routing handler for GraphiQL and GraphQL post handler. I also make a call to getSchema that will introspect the tables and columns configured in the database and programatically generate a GraphQL schema.

Ktor Configuration

This file goes in your resources directory and by default should be named application.conf. I added the db stanza which Ktor ignores by default but when the application starts I can use this configuration to initialize my data base connection provider. Any tables created in my gql_db will automatically be added to my GraphQL schema for queries or mutations.

Database Introspection

This is the most intense code for the project but what it accomplishes is inspecting a JDBC connected database to map the tables and columns into GraphQL types and queries programatically.

GraphQL DataFetchers

In GraphQL you need to provide an implementation of a data fetcher for queries and mutations. I am using JDBC queries but you could substitute JPQL with Hibernate for example.

Summary

This is not a full fledged application and it is missing quite a few core features including authentication and sql joins but maybe you can find a useful code sample to help you along the path of building your GraphQL or Ktor application. If you are looking for a feature rich GraphQL database solution you should check out Hasura or DGraph.

You can check out the code repository on github. It contains some extra features to dockerize the project and the GraphiQL implementation.
Bet On Chart, making football ⚽ more involving than ever!
Tags: Betonchart, Football, Soccer, Worldcup, FIFA

Did you ever imagine that a football match ⚽ could be translated into a chart like this? And now imagine that you could make multiple bets during the match (yes, just like on a stock exchange). Wouldn’t you make a bet, that your team will be better than its opponent in the next 15 seconds? This would make any football match much more interesting and involving!

Good news is that all that will become possible in Bet On Chart very (very!) soon! And, by the way, that’s the chart from the World Cup match between Sweden 🇸🇪 and Germany 🇩🇪.

🥅 Wanna see other games of these teams with our chart? Welcome to our Vimeo channel: vimeo.com/betonchart
Ruby Internals
By: Pito Salas
Tags: Programming, Ruby

Here’s an interesting article about how Ruby (the programming language not the gem) is interpretted or compiled. (It’s funny to contemplate what that question might mean to someone who thinks we are talking about a gem and not a programming language. ‘Is Ruby Interpretted or Compiled’ ? Say what??)

Anyway, to whoever is left reading this, I thought this article was quite interesting: Is Ruby interpreted or compiled? — Pat Shaughnessy. Here’s a quote to give you a taste:
He Won Because …
By: Joe Váradi
Tags: Poetry, Satire, Humor, Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter

by Donald J. Trump

He won because Election Booths were Rigged

NO VOTE WATCHERS, OBSERVERS WERE ALLOWED

My loyal Red State fans are super ticked

On this alone, Joe is DISQUALIFIED!!

The Lamestream Media wants me to croak

They won’t report on hordes of evil dead

Unearthed just long enough to cast their vote

Recall, without them I was WAY AHEAD!!

That shady firm Dominion is to blame

Bad reputation, tallies gone awry —

In the pockets of the Left — NO SHAME

Without them, I won Texas by a mile!!

Don’t hold your breath, I’ve only just begun

Concessions are for pussies — I still WON!!
Adding Custom Activity in UIActivityViewController
By: Sonal Bellani
Tags: iOS, Uiactivityviewcontroller, Swift, Custom Activity, iOS App Development

Almost every iOS app developer knows about UIActivityViewController, in our iOS apps we often need to share content to external apps for which we use UIActivityViewController. But do you know, you can easily share content within your app through UIActivityViewController just by adding a custom activity to it. You can also add custom activity to have other functionalities as well apart from sharing such as archive content, reverse string, etc.

Basic code of UIActivityViewController:

let text = “Share Achievement”

let image = UIImage(named:”shareImg”)

let activityC = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [image, text], applicationActivities:nil)

The initializer method of UIActivityViewController has two arguments named activityItems: and applicationActivities: . In the first parameter we must pass the array of items to share. Have you ever thought, what to pass inside applicationActivities in the above code?

So, this applicationActivities: is the place where we pass our custom activity. First let’s talk about how to create custom activity.

To create an application activity we subclass the UIActivity and override the methods and properties of UIActivity class.

To use this in UIActivityViewController pass the instance of CustomActivity to the applicationActivities parameter of the initializer method of UIActivityViewController.

let activityC = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [image, text], applicationActivities:CustomActivity())

Congratulations, you have created your first custom activity. That was so easy, isn’t it?

In HealthifyMe iOS app, we have used custom activity to add “HealthifyMe Groups” option which let user to share their achievements within the app in different groups.
An Introduction to Atomic CSS
By: Joan Saum
Tags: Programming, CSS, HTML, Atomic Css, Css3

An Introduction to Atomic CSS

Let’s explore Atomic CSS and how you can apply it to your project today

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

In the past few years, Atomic CSS, also known as Functional CSS, has gained in popularity but its concept is not clear to everybody. Let's try to explain it.

Atomic refers to the atom, the smallest thing possible. The definition of Atomic CSS is:

Atomic CSS is the approach to CSS architecture that favors small, single-purpose classes with names based on visual function.

Applying Atomic CSS in Practice

Atomic CSS is really easy to use.

Basically, it’s about defining classes with only one attribute inside, as shown below:

An example of Atomic CSS

You can see how easy it is to name these class names depending on the attributes it contains.
Weekly Wisdom from Karen
By: Karen Madej
Tags: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Novel Excerpt, Resolutions, Depression

Thanks for joining me for the last Weekly Wisdom of 2020. I won’t be sad to see the back of this year, that’s for sure. My wish is for 2021 to be a year of recuperation and rejuvenation for our planet and its inhabitants. To see justice and liberty for all, especially the needlessly hungry and poor.

On a more positive note, let’s start with this upbeat piece.

I like the way Anushka Choudhary approaches her resolutions for 2021. She is practical in the way she suggests making improvements in our lives instead of breaking impossible to keep resolutions we have made in previous years.

To end this cycle of determination, optimism, failure and disappointment, this year let us do something different. Instead of making resolutions, that we all know won’t even last till February, we should make simple promises to ourselves that we can keep at least till June.

Phil Truman is an author and what he writes reads well. His characters are entertaining and believable plus his descriptions are fun. I liked the first chapter. The dialogue is great too.

Author’s note: I post a lot of fiction on this platform, which probably explains why I’m not too popular. But no matter, because that’s what I do — write novels and short fiction. My aim is to entertain; not instruct, give advice, opinionate/pontificate, and, apparently, rake in the moolah I keep hearing about. I’ll leave that to those more qualified.

A brilliantly penned story from Chetna Jai. The black cloud or dog hovers above or around many of us a one time or another. Chetna’s tale explains how it feels with grace and empathy.

She had spent the past few months in melancholy. By her lonesome looking after the baby. It was another run-of-the-mill day. Make a routine for yourself, was the advice she got from family and friends. It will make it easy on you and the baby. Day in; day out. She committed. She heeded. While it worked, it was ho-hum. No-one said take advice with a pinch of salt. She wasn’t naive or ignorant, although she did seem to suffer from brain fog after having the baby.

An intriguing question and story from Carel Kolchinski. Particularly the number 45 …

He had been thinking a lot about his mortality. In fact, it had become something of an obsession; the meaning of life, death and what came afterwards — if anything.

We’ll finish off with a hilarious flash fiction story. I’m still smiling now, minutes after reading it!
The Girl With Grey Eyes [Miniature]
By: Ana Mikatadze
Tags: Short Story, Blue Insights, Fiction, Life, Children

The Girl With Grey Eyes [Miniature]

Hope is immortal in children

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

The clock is ticking while she’s sitting. Tense but unmoved, she quietly observes the black needle’s dance on the wall. The senile windows’ greying frames cannot detain the sounds of the world any longer, but the girl is too far away to hear anything anyway. Just the ticking of the clock rhyming with the beat of her heart. Now that’s a shot that does not need to be captured inside a camera film. It still won’t ever change… The girl is frozen while the clock is not. Mercilessly, with threatening arrogance it hits the frightened black lines squeezed to the edges of the clock.

There is a kind of elegance in the girl’s slow, almost unnoticeable breathing. She knows deep down that he won’t come, she knows he left them for good, but she’s still waiting. Hope is immortal in children. So what if he hasn’t come yesterday or the day before that or the day before that? He will come today. He will. It’s a true wonder how much energy the empty space between the clock and the girl’s heart can hold. Come, look from here. Do you see it? Do you see how the sunlight transforms her teardrops on the floor into a colorful rainbow?
Serenity Now!
By: Jat Thompson
Tags: Coaching, Leadership, Leadership Development

Dealing with stress is part of the job of being a coach, there is no avoiding it. When you accepted the role of leading a team in the highly competitive world of collegiate athletics you also accepted the pressure and demanding lifestyle that comes with this profession. These factors are an inherent part of the job and as a result, you will experience psychological stress.

Psychological stress is how our bodies respond to EXCESSIVE emotional or mental tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

What I want to highlight in this blog is the distinction between psychological stress caused by current circumstances and stress caused by anticipated problems. To illustrate, picture this situation: Your starting quarterback is injured and your backup quarterback just entered the transfer portal leaving you with a true freshman to start next week’s game. This is a known and understood problem based on your current circumstances that will drastically increase your stress level. If, however, you feel as though your job could be on the line based on how your team performs this coming week then another type of stressor emerges known as ANXIETY. Anxiety is the feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease of things that haven’t happened and are outside of our control, unknown, poorly defined, or don’t exist in reality.

Being able to anticipate events that have yet to occur is a uniquely human cognitive phenomenon that is designed to protect us against potential dangers that might occur in the future. This is a good thing that has allowed our species to not only survive but to thrive. The downside to being able to anticipate future events is that we can expend enormous amounts of energy dealing with imaginary problems or issues that never actually occur.

I would contend that the key to a healthy, long-lasting career in collegiate sports is not to dismiss or ignore the stress that comes with this job but rather to embrace it. Focus your energy on problems you can actually solve and try to minimize the time and energy you spend on future anticipated problems that are outside of your control. Let’s face it, you are going to experience stress — it’s part of the job. Just choose to stress over problems that are real and within your control.

Let me leave you with Reinhold Niebuhr’s serenity prayer because I believe he sums it up best…
Something In The Wind
By: Sabine B.
Tags: Childhood, Short Story, Memories, Poetry On Medium, Poetry

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Something in the wind reminds me of

that place,

that girl,

that garden,

the house we grew in,

the berries black as ink,

and flowers wilted grey —

all rotten,

their beauty turned to foul flesh;

us playing hide and seek

amidst the emerald of trees —

now look at us, forever lost,

and cuffed to scariest of our dreams;

the freezing air just before sunrise

and snow in early May,

our granddad picking apples,

and our grandma baking bread,

us laughing,

making up the fairytales for ourselves;

now look at us, nowhere,

just like those stories — came to an end;

those children,

and that garden,

that place so blessed with love,

and nothing as destructing

as home with nothing in but dust…

These memories will soon fall silent to the wind,

be gone forever,

just like the house we grew in.
Transportation Analytics Can Help Manage the New Hours-of-Service Rules
By: Opex Analytics
Tags: Trucking, Supply Chain, Logistics, Optimization, Transportation

Transportation Analytics Can Help Manage the New Hours-of-Service Rules

by Michael Watson

New hours-of-service rules went into effect on July 1st. These new rules decrease the amount of time a trucker can drive during a week.

For more information on the impact, The Wall Street Journal wrote a nice article and Dan Gilmore at SupplyChainDigest wrote an interesting article suggesting that the impact may not be as large as forecasted. I also commented on Dan Gilmore’s article in my blog post at SupplyChain Digest.

But, what is true is that these hours-of-service rules will increase rates. If you are a shipper (or 3PL trying to compete), you need to figure out what you will do. This is where transportation analytics comes into play. As rates increase, you need to take a look at your shipments to determine if you can reduce costs by shifting modes, building better routes, or shipping fuller trucks.

If you have thousands or even hundreds of thousands of shipments, you need to be able to quickly analyze these shipments to look for savings. That is, you need to figure out which shipments can be consolidated, what kind of impact will mode shifts have, and how will rate increases drive total cost.

You also need to be able to incorporate what kind of impact a change will have to your inventory. For example, if your shipment quantity increases, how much more inventory will you have in the system and how much will this inventory cost.

Finally, a project like this may require you to analyze your customer requirements. Which customers would be willing to change their shipment frequency? Or, which customers would likely change their delivery windows.

You will likely need a variety of tools to help. But, we’ve found that with a little effort, you can mitigate the impact of a rate increase.

___________________________________________________________________

If you liked this blog post, check out more of our work, follow us on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook), or join us for our free monthly Academy webinars.
Things You Can Do with JavaScript
Tags: Technology, Coding, JavaScript, Programming, Web Development

1. Machine Learning

Machine learning is a trending subject these days.

You can add cool machine learning features to your next app using JavaScript.

Since web browsers have access to webcams and mics, you have access to visual and sound inputs which can lead to some interesting machine learning features such as Face Recognition.

Using the TensorFlow library for JavaScript you can build truly amazing projects that leverage machine learning such as real-time piano performance.

It allows you to run as well as retain existing trained models, besides building new models from scratch.

There are a variety of other libraries as well such as Brain.js and deeplearn.

ml5.js is another friendly machine learning library to create and explore artificial intelligence in the browser.

It provides access to algorithms and is built on top of TensorFlow.js.
SIREN News July 2017
Tags: Advertising

Welcome to SIREN news for July 2017 where you can catch up on all the action from the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and latest news from across Dentsu Aegis Network.
I Did It, Mom
By: Salma Alaa
Tags: Short Story, Fiction, Parenting, Humor, Salma Alaa

“Meg, you have to take your cough syrup to get better. Otherwise, you’ll get the needle.”

“I’m not scared mom. I don’t like the taste of it and it has no color— so ugly,” answered a sassy 3-year-old.
Grateful
By: Ramalingam Monisha
Tags: Gratefulness, Poetry On Medium, Poem, Life, Poetry

#grateful

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

I broke my arm one day

I stayed grateful

At least I had arms

I lost my arms one day

I stayed grateful

At least I had the rest of me

I lost my job one day

I stayed grateful

At least I still had a home

I lost my home one day

I stayed grateful

At least I had a friend

I lost my friend one day

I stayed grateful

At least I had me

I lost myself one day

I stayed grateful

Wait, what am I grateful for?

Oh yes, at least I’m alive

Alive and nothing to be grateful for.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

you don't have to be #grateful all the time. Thanks for reading!
All the things which are wrong with this blog..
By: Christopher Marks
Tags: Irony, Life Lessons, Parenting, Passion, Philosophy

Isn’t it ironic.. The things I wish to achieve with this publication are in a way witholding you from learning those lessons in the first place.

Today, I saw a ted talk which was discussion the question: “ Why do we do what we do?”.

It got me thinking..

We have our routine. We have our hobbies, go to university, have a job and if you are following the list of my last post, you’re having a sh!tload to think about. Even nowadays, I see a lot of kids checking a lot of boxes parents create for them. Learn an instrument, have a social life, do their homework, start a side business, learn a 3rd language, be funny, be honest, look amazing. Blahblahblah…

All to live the perfect life.

But why?

Why did I even create this blog?

Why must you follow the list of all these impossible things to do?

Do you live a better life by doing so?

And if you are, how would you know?

In fact, what must you do?

To be honest Lucas. My believe is that the purpose to life is what you give to it. I hope I’ve inspired you by now to be a good human. To give more than you take and do a lot of things which I’ve written (or will still) write about. But always remember that you’re the architect of your life. It belongs to no one else than you.

There is however one thing in life what (I think) you owe for being on this world. The only thing you owe life itself. Is to live it deliberately.

Go left, but only if you feel that’s the way. Move to Spain if you think that’s where you future lays. Open a lemonade stand business if that’s where your passion is. But always ask why, be comfortable with your decisions and give it a 100%. I guess you have your youth to discover a lot of these questions. To understand what makes you tick and to learn what really drives you. I’d advice to use that time, so you’re able to live it deliberately.

I realise that most lessons I learned, I learned by experiencing them.

By literally going through terror. Feeling the pain of my mistakes and making sure that never happens again. And since we often want to avoid terror for ourselves and the ones we love, I try to write to share my €0.02 and help you prepare for stuff.

So please don’t take these lessons as the100% truth. They’re literally just my thoughts and experiences to helping you make most out of life.

Love,

Dad.
Another Kind of List for This New Year’s Eve
By: Bettina Villegas
Tags: Gratefulness, Advice, Love, Awareness, New Years Eve

Another Kind of List for This New Year’s Eve

A more realistic and possible one

Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

New Year’s Eve is usually a day to say goodbye to the old year — be it in a grateful manner, or in a bitter one looking forward to the end of a bad year — and to welcome the new one hopefully, full of plans, dreams, expectations, goals, even resolutions.

This December 31st will be a particular one because we cannot wait to see the end of this 2020, but we should welcome 2021 with care and precaution. This new year will not automatically bring us peace and recovery. It will not automatically be different, much less better.

Regardless of the wishful thinking we want to feel and experience and transmit, the truth is 2021 will also be tough. Not 2020 tough, but it will not be a haven. Not just yet, not immediately. I think we should be aware of it beforehand because we should be reasonable with what we wish for, to not be terribly disappointed and heart-broken.

So my suggestion, dear reader, is that we are cautious about our New Year’s expectations. We may be wary to think about the ‘resolutions’ list, but even the ‘expectations’ one is fragile. To make both resolutions and expectations lists, one needs some degree of certainty. One needs some control to say: ‘I’ll go back to the swimming pool’, or ‘I’ll change jobs’, or ‘This thing will be over and we’ll forget about it and we’ll resume our lives’.

No, it’s not that simple and no, it’s not in our hands alone. Not by simply wishing will bad things go away or cease to exist, nor will good ones simply come to be and manifest.

The moment the countdown reaches the end of 2020 and the clock of 2021 begins ticking, that moment alone does not mean we’re over 2020, no. And I’m not saying it out of anger, despair, negativity, pessimism, or depression, but out of acceptance and realism: we are starting a new year with the highest levels of direness in decades, like no other one in our lives. And that’s just an objectively provable fact.
What the Success of Shadowlands Means for the Future of Warcraft
By: Fergus Halliday
Tags: Videogames, Mmorpg, Gaming, Features, Business

The third factor here is that Blizzard themselves undertook a pretty significant rework of what modern World of Warcraft looks like ahead in 2020. The pre-patch for Shadowlands reduced the level cap from 120 to 50, introduced the new Exile’s Reach starting area and recalibrated the relationship between the content introduced by each of the game’s seven major expansions.

Rather than pressure new or returning players to play through everything to catch up, Blizzard gave them a newfound degree of choice of which region they wanted to experience. New players were fast-forwarded into the latest and greatest Battle for Azeroth quest-line. Older players got the option of reliving older eras of the game through their alts.

These recent changes have made World of Warcraft a much more approachable game than it previously was and the role that this likely played in the success of Shadowlands shouldn’t be discounted because it is so clearly reflected in the data we have about the game’s present popularity.

Ahead of the launch of Shadowlands, Activison-Blizzard says that total player time in game this year to date has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year and that players have spent more time in Azeroth this year to date than in the same period of any of the last 10 years. According to the company:

In the months leading up to the expansion’s release and the time since launch, the game reached and has sustained its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions compared to the same period ahead of and following any WoW expansion in the past decade, in both the West and the East.

None of the above trends can individually explain the resurgence of popularity around World of Warcraft. Nevertheless, together they provide an explanation of sorts for why Shadowlands has been as popular as it is.

What does this mean?

Well, the most basic takeaway here is that World of Warcraft still has an audience. As old as it is, it’s probably not going away any time soon.

The high sales of Shadowlands validate Blizzard’s strategy of providing not only ongoing support for the 14-year old MMORPG but also continuing to invest resources into developing new content for it. At this stage, it is extremely likely that this will continue. It’s probably safe to predict that there will be a ninth expansion for World of Warcraft in about 18–24 months time.

The other thing that’s being validated here is the specific direction that Blizzard have taken the game with Shadowlands. As opposed to the last few expansions for the game, it represents an injection of genuinely new lore, characters and locations for the wider Warcraft franchise.
ประเทศไทยเผยรายละเอียดของกฏหมายคริปโต อนุมัติ 7 สกุลเงินดิจิตอลให้ถูกกฏหมาย
By: P P
Tags: Bitcoin, Thailand, News, Cryptocurrency, Articles

Thailand Unveils Details of Crypto Regulations, Legalizing 7 Cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin News

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has unveiled the details of the country's regulatory framework for…
Integrating BPM and RPA — From strategy to practice
By: Kali Richter
Tags: Bpm, Rpa Tools, Webinar

Announcing our joint webinar with RST Software Masters

With the release 7.14 of Camunda’s BPM platform, their boffins managed to take a huge step towards seamless integration of process-engine based orchestration — aka. BPM — and Robotic Process Automation — aka. RPA. Perfect timing to take a non-vendor look at the technical aspects of integration and failure handling. Alongside that, in our upcoming webinar “Integrating BPM & RPA — From Strategy to Practice” we will discuss BPM, RPA and their combination from a strategic point of view whilst also providing our ideas for a methodical approach.

Full speed ahead: Our friends from the Polish RST Software Masters are also on board for this joint webinar to share their expertise with us!

When? 25th Nov, 4 pm

Want to learn more? For information and to register, visit: https://www.holisticon.de/en/event/webinar-bpm-rpa/
The Illustrated Interview: Jett Allen
By: Edith Zimmerman
Tags: Jetti Allen, Comics, Illustrated Interview, Spiralbound

Every week (or so) on Spiralbound, we ask one of our featured artists: How do you make comics? This week we spoke (emailed) with Jett Allen, most recently of “My Very Brief Career as an E-Scooter Charger.” (Check it out if you haven’t already! And see here for our full interview archive.)

So, Jett, how do you make comics? (Text from Jett, drawings by Edith Z.)
[Release Notes] uPrism.io Meetings V1.3.2👏
Tags: 화상회의, Release N Updates, Uprism, 유프리즘아이오, WebRTC

in In Fitness And In Health
Bars & Pies! That can only mean one thing: 1.11 with Portfolio Analytics is here!
By: Nicolas Van Hoorde
Tags: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, Crypto

A new update for your Delta app is ready to download on iOS & Android. Delta 1.11 brings two major new features to the app. Let’s get to it straight away! 😬

📊 Portfolio Analytics

The eye-catcher of this release, portfolio analytics, brings you beautiful & useful insights into your portfolio(s). There are ten different analytics modules with more to be added in the future.

You’ll also instantly notice that the portfolio history graph got re-styled a bit. With extra information being the ‘High’ and ‘Low’ of the selected period, it’s now easier than ever to glance at your past performance. Other modules include: the split of your coin holdings, the source of your holdings, the most used exchanges, where your coins are located, a full fees breakdown, an overview of your best & worst decisions and an ICO investment analysis.

⚒ Data Source 2.0

Changing the data source for a specific coin was a multiple step process, with the need to first select the exchange and then the pair. We improved this UI & even went a step further. The data source screen now shows all pairs, sorted by exchange and instantly shows the prices and delta next to it, making it easier to spot potential arbitrage opportunities.

🚗 Improved Performance

We spent a lot of time on improving the performance and the speed of the application. Mostly on Android and most noteworthy on start-up of the application. We’ll keep on working on this continuously as we fully realise that there are still further enhancements to be made.
Profit Report 2018: What’s inside?
By: Jason Cameron
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, ICO, Ethereum, Crypto

All cryptocurrencies mentioned in my posts go through my initial analysis process which you can find in my free guide: ‘7 Step Analysis To Quickly Spot High-Quality ICOs & Cryptocurrencies’. Get My Free Guide Here.

Today here in the UK, is the royal wedding. The dashing, Meghan Markle becomes a princess marrying Prince Harry.

I happy and sad about this at the same time. I’m happy for the couple and it’s great news, especially for UK culture to accept someone multiracial (this is not a politically correct blog) into the royal family, even though soon after they announced their relationship there was a slew of racism voiced against her and the couple. But they pressed on and here they are — congrats guys.

I’m sad because I’m a Suits fan, a TV show Meghan stars in as Rachel Zane. Even if they did go for one more season, which I doubt they will, the story would have to change a lot because I don’t think Meghan will be in it…they won’t be able to afford a Princess.

Anyway, as happy as I am, I won’t be watching. I’ll be hustling. Researching cryptos and putting together some more content for you guys.

In this post I wanted to share something a bit different, a new series. I want to give you (another) reason to follow me. Something tangible and something that I hope you will find valuable.

As you know I research ICOs and Cryptocurrencies and share my opinions on them with you. Not just that, I personally place bets and put skin in the game in the ones I think are ones to watch, so you know I’m for real…I want to take this to the next level.

Not only do I want share with you the ones I like and don’t like, I want to show you how they perform in the long run. Giving you a live track record on the profitability of picks this year. For me, with cryptocurrency investing, it’s not about being right all time, it’s about being profitable and I want to share the journey of my profitability this year with you.

So for now, the best name I came up for this is my ‘2018 Profitability Report’, this may change but all good for now. Each week, I will share my profitability report with you, whether here or in my network on telegram or somewhere else, so we can keep track of profitability of the crypto picks I invest in this year and you can judge for yourself if my content is something you want to keep following.

Here’s this week’s snapshot:
Best-Ever Garlic Bread
By: Mary Andino
Tags: American, Food, Recipe, Foodies, Cooking

Garlic bread is an essential part of any Italian meal. It might seem silly to put any effort into it- all you’re using it for is for mopping up extra sauce from pasta. However, bland bread plus flavorful sauce equals bland. I always try to make each element of my meal is packed with flavor. Great garlic bread is only an extra ten minutes of effort and is absolutely worth it.

Many people have been making bread during the pandemic; if you’ve become a baking pro, use the results of your hard work for the bread in this recipe. I am not one of those all-star bread makers, so I buy great bread from my local bakery instead. Why go through the effort of making garlic bread if I’m just going to use sad, old bread? Visiting a local bakery accomplishes two things: using delicious bread and supporting small businesses during this tough time. A baguette, Ciabatta, or any chewy, crusty bread is a good choice.

I live by the Italian motto that there is no such thing as too much garlic. If you’re more of an acquaintance of garlic and less of a garlic lover, feel free to use fewer cloves. When broiling the bread at the end of the recipe, make sure to watch it like a hawk. The bread can go from perfectly crisp to burn in 30 seconds. As a child, when I was in charge of making the garlic bread, I often got distracted by something and subsequently ruined the side dish. After many burnt pieces of bread, I’ve learned the hard way to pay close attention! Perfectly crispy, flavorful bread is my reward for learning my lesson. May your holiday tables be blessed with bountiful amounts of buttery, delicious garlic bread.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 12 inch loaf of good quality crusty, chewy bread

4 garlic cloves finely minced

2.5 tbs unsalted butter

1/4 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp rubbed sage

1/8 tsp thyme

1/8 tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp black pepper

1.5 tbs Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
Jihadi ISIS burns ciggies and booze in Syria
By: Afeef Nessouli
Tags: Jihad, Law, Culture, Politics, Syria

A jihadi group known as ISIS, or rather, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria torched cigarette and alcohol stockpiles in Raqq, Syria on April 2nd. ISIS is growing in its presence in northern and middle Syria. They’ve even instilled Sharia law. Drinking and smoking, for instance, is banned in these areas. Read more at VICE News. It is important to understand that Sharia law is plural and the legal schools have to be interpreted. That means it can be easily applied as law, but there is a flexibility that leaves space for personal choice. Read more about Sharia at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
Favoured Positions
By: Nicola Davison
Tags: Writing Life, 100 Naked Words, Poetry, Weird Humor

I won’t do it in bed anymore

as tempting as it sounds

nor the couch

or any soft piece of furniture

For me, it’s best on a wooden chair

Maybe in the dining room

Better yet,

standing up in the kitchen

with the granite countertop chilling my wrists

and the tiles hard against the soles of my feet

Bent to my task

Mind in another world

Fingers birthing words

to a blank screen
Southwest
By: Mark Alden
Tags: Illumination Curated, Poetry On Medium, Poems And Stories, Poems On Medium, Poetry

Dark and frigid before dawn,

Glazed sidewalks shimmer

Like jagged glass under the streetlights.

Her bags are packed and loaded into the trunk.

Soon we’re off and rolling –

1–87 southbound,

Hands laced together in my lap.

Forty minutes later

We arrive at our points of departure.

Flight 557 now boarding!

Hot exhalations coil in the air

Above us like smoke –

Inappropriate goodbyes.

Thanks for reading.