fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
sorted() and sort() : Fake twin brothers?
By: Super Albert
Tags: Python, Data Visualization, Data Science

Sorting Basics

list.sort()

As the title indicates list.sort() is a method of Python’s object list and modifies the list in-place. In order to avoid any confusion, this method was built to return the value None and the side effect is that the instance of list that it was called on will be sorted after the method has finished. Thus, it will permanently change your original list making it less convenient than sorted() but if you do not need the original, it is slightly more efficient.

Let’s take a look at the following example:

# vowels list

vowels = ['e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i'] # sort the vowels

sorting_vowels = vowels.sort() # print vowels

print('Sorted list:', vowels) #print sorting_vowels

print('Variable assigned sorted list:',sorting_vowels)

The list.sort() method sorted the elements of a given list in a specific order — Ascending (default) or Descending. However it did not return a value. If you look at this example our initial list was sorted and has now a new organisation. Nevertheless, the variable to which the sorting was assigned to returned the value None as expected. To remind you again that it operates by side effect, it does not return the sorted sequence (use sorted() to explicitly request a new sorted list instance).

sort : ascending or descending

If you would like to define a specific order, list.sort() method accepts a reverse parameter as an optional argument.

#vowels list

vowels = ['e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i'] #sort the vowels

vowels.sort(reverse=True) #print vowels

print('Sorted list (in Descending):', vowels)

sorted()

On the other hand, sorted() method returns a sorted list from the given iterable sequence (string, tuple, list), collection (set, dictionary, frozen set) or any iterator.

# vowels list

pyList = ['e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i']

pyList_sorted = sorted(pyList)

print(pyList)

print(pyList_sorted,'

') # string

pyString = 'Python'

pyString_sorted = sorted(pyString)

print(pyString)

print(pyString_sorted,'

') # vowels tuple

pyTuple = ('e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i')

pyTuple_sorted = sorted(pyTuple)

print(pyTuple)

print(pyTuple_sorted,'

')

As you can see, the original iterator remains as is after being sorted. So, the sorted() function is guaranteed to be stable because it does not change the relative order of elements of our initial iterator. Similar to list.sort() you can define a specific order, since it accepts a reverse parameter as an optional argument.

Conclusion

Despite being very similar in action these fake twins and not verb conjugation differ in the way that sort() method does not return any value and changes the original list itself.

Don’t forget, if you like it, please give it an applause!
Grammarly: Why and How to Use Grammarly Premium
By: Christopher Luxe
Tags: Writing, Creativity, Productivity, Artificial Intelligence, Technology

Grammarly: Why and How to Use Grammarly Premium

Become a better writer with this great AI tool.

Image designed by author

This article may contain affiliate links that pay me a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my Affiliate Disclaimer.

If you’re new to Grammarly and you’re wondering about the differences between Grammarly Free and Grammarly Premium, then you’re at the right place.

This article will break down the benefits of Grammarly Premium, show you how to use it, and give you tips for Grammarly Free if you’re not ready to upgrade. The importance of good proofreading and editing is undeniable.

But unfortunately, everyone doesn’t have access to a freelance proofreader and editor that will proofread every piece of content that they write. The next best thing (and likely the most efficient editing option) is an online writing assistant like Grammarly.

I know that you may be asking, “Can Grammarly improve my writing?”

Yes. For the casual writer who wants to improve their skills, Grammarly’s free version can dramatically improve their writing. For the serious writer who produces large amounts of content (blog posts, eBooks, social media content, email, reports), upgrading to Grammarly Premium provides significant value for becoming a stronger writer.
ALBUM RELEASE: FOLKLORE BY TAYLOR SWIFT
By: Urban Central
Tags: New Music, Press, Pop

Taylor Swift’s 8th Studio album “FOLKLORE” is out today. The “surprise album” announced barely hours before release, is accompanied by a Single titled Cardigan alongside a video treatment.

The 16-track album is available now across all platforms, here.

Taylor Swift took to her socials to announce the release of her 8th studio album folklore yesterday.

“Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that DID happen,” she wrote in an Instagram post announcing the album.

Written in isolation; Taylor remotely teamed up with a handful of her musical heroes — and indie legends — including The National‘s Aaron Dessner (who worked on 11 of the 16 songs), Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon (he makes the record’s only guest appearance on ‘Exile’) and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff.

Taylor had this to say about the first single, ‘cardigan’. “The song is about a lost romance and why young love is often fixed so permanently within our memories, why it leaves such an indelible mark.”

The single is accompanied by a magical music video which Taylor wrote/directed. “A million thank you’s to my brilliant, bad ass video team — cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, producer Jil Hardin, executive producer Rebecca Skinner, AD Joe ‘Oz’ Osbourne, editor Chancler Haynes, special effects wizards David Lebensfeld & Grant Miller, and set designer Ethan Tobman. The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling.”

Album tracklist

01. the 1

02. cardigan

03. the last great american dynasty

04. exile (feat. bon iver)

05. my tears ricochet

06. mirrorball

07. seven

08. august

09. this is me trying

10. illicit affairs

11. invisible string

12. mad woman

13. epiphany

14. betty

15. peace

16. hoax

NME REVIEW

‘Folklore’ feels fresh, forward-thinking and, most of all, honest. The glossy production she’s lent on for the past half-decade is cast aside for simpler, softer melodies and wistful instrumentation. It’s the sound of an artist who’s bored of calculated releases and wanted to try something different. Swift disappeared into the metaphorical woods while writing ‘Folklore’, and she’s emerged stronger than ever.
Píldoras de Metadatos 💊 Receta #8
By: Jaime Durán
Tags: Inteligencia Artificial, Tecnologia, Español, Machine Learning, Data Science

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DJ Profiles — Yakay. Interview with DJ Yakay
By: Branda Ayo
Tags: Dj, Lifestyle, LGBTQ, Music, Interview

Welcome to DJ Profiles

DJ Profiles is a brand new series from Ayo Vibes, featuring interviews with some of the best DJ’s in the world. People rarely do writeups on DJ’s and I think it’s a great way to connect with an untapped community.

I hope that these interviews will be a useful resource for aspiring DJ’s and established ones.

Our latest profile is on DJ Yakay. For the month of June, we will only be profiling black DJs who identify with the LGBTQ community.

Image courtesy of DJ Yakay

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

DJ Yakay:

My name is YAKAY. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I am an entrepreneur and I’ve been DJing professionally since late 2018.
W ostatnim tygodniu na Medium (28.01–3.02)
By: Medium Polska
Tags: Newsletter, Polish, Medium Polska

This is an email from Medium po polsku .
Dear CryptoIndex community members! We are happy to present our advisor — Austin Kimm.
Tags: Blockchain, Team, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Cix100

Experienced results proven financial services CEO with a particular focus on building insurance businesses in developing markets where he has successfully built companies with a current valuation in excess $500m, most recently in Russia (10 years), as well as other non insurance senior management roles, including CEO of Russia’s largest internet sales employment platform, Workle, and a wide range of fintech startup C level positions including Crypterium, the world’s first digital cryptobank.

Our website: http://cryptoindex.io/

You can always check the current CIX100 composition at our MVP platform: http://cryptoindex.ai/

#CryptoIndex #Index #CIX100 #Blockchain #Team #AustinKimm
How Can War be Good for GDP if it Kills People?
By: Paul Abela
Tags: Sustainability, Economy, Environment, Equality, Psychology

What’s the alternative to GDP?

A metric that could consider war as a positive has to be viewed with scepticism. But we haven’t got to the worst part yet. GDP discounts the environment we’re all dependent on for survival.

Climate change has been considered an afterthought for decades because dealing with the problem would involve reducing carbon emissions. The assumption has been this would impact on the GDP. Nevermind a crisis threatening the existence of humanity and all life on Earth. If GDP is increasing that’s all that matters. Right?

We’re hurtling towards an uncertain future, but there is hope. Other metrics are becoming ever more popular. Metrics such as the UN’s World Happiness Report ranks countries by their levels of happiness. While the OECD has created a framework for measuring wellbeing and progress.

What is still needed is a metric that encompasses three crucial factors. The health of the environment, the wellbeing of society and the development of the economy. Creating a metric that accounts for these factors could create a leverage point in inducing changes to human behaviour.

Because metrics are powerful. Dan Ariely suggests why in the Harvard Business Review:

“Human beings adjust behaviour based on the metrics they’re held against…what you measure is what you’ll get.”

If we continue to rely on GDP to measure the health of economies we’ll continue to see counter-intuitive behaviour. But, if we change the metrics we base success on, the behaviour traits induced by GDP will also change. Measuring the success of nations based on the health of the environment, the wellbeing of society and the development of the economy could have transformative results. Countries and in turn people will focus their endeavours on achieving targets based on these factors.

Any metric that considers war in a positive light shouldn’t be used to measure anything. We need a set of metrics driving human behaviour that makes the prospect of war illogical. Because war is death, war is a destroyer of cities, war tears societies apart.

Read the original article and subscribe for more articles at transformatise.com

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“Kırmızı Oda” Dizisine Dair
By: Mader Bengisu Bilgen
Tags: Dizi, Psikoloji, Kişisel Gelişim, Türkçe, Blog

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Our New Logo
By: Marcus Franke
Tags: Travel, Decision Making, Community, Design

What do YOU think?

Hello, dear travel community,

Cody and I would like to start by thanking you all very much!

Thanks for reading, writing, and supporting us with feedback and suggestions.

It’s been really fun to have you along with us!

Together we have already generated about:

2,000 minutes of reading time and over 2,000 clicks. On average, every day about 50 new users come to our homepage.

Our Traveler’s Community

Today we started a new section which we call “Traveler’s Community”.

In this section, everyone can post a question, thoughts, ideas, etc.

Let me start:

My question to you today is,

What do you think about our new logo?

Cody and I started with this publication two weeks ago and used a simple logo.

Now we have thought of something that stands more for travel.

Here are a few examples:

This is what I see once I click on my logo.

And this is our new header for the stories

And lastly how we appear on the homepage.

You decide

Darrin Atkins R. Rangan PhD Malky McEwan Josh Balerite Acol Sean Suskind Muhammad Nasrullah Khan Gina Pacelli Hello Katie Kodes Galit Birk, PhD Danielle Gibson Richa Khare Ahmad Abdullah Jax Hudur M Sakahawat Vivek Naskar ◦•●✿ Christina M. Ward ✿●•◦ Vespera Lucia Ajita Amanda Yuk Pano Giannakopoulos Barbara Radisavljevic Cody James Howell PhD (Raiden) Fatimah Alayafi Zaineb Nawaz Anne Bonfert Sutong Cathy Clarke Kaitlyn Holmgren Indubala Kachhawa Emma Comeaux Quy Ma Katharina Daun

If you like it better, it may stay. If not, it must go :)

Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Stay safe and travel safe,

Cody and Marcus
The Lone Wolf is A Lie
By: Zaid K. Dahhaj
Tags: Collaboration, Personal Development, Nature, Learning, Wisdom

“Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” Mattie Stepanek

I enjoy working alone, and many of you who identify as introverts do too.

But there’s a nasty misconception floating around that creates unnecessary suffering in your life.

What is the misconception?

It’s the idea that being a lone wolf is sustainable.

By lone wolf, I’m referring to somebody who works alone most of the time.

You enjoy doing work in solitude. It gives you space and time to connect with yourself and create work that enriches your spirit.

Yet you must understand that there is a positive and negative that comes with everything. The lone wolf mentality will get you results, but it is not a sustainable lifestyle.
The Best Christmas of My Childhood
By: Terry L. Cooper
Tags: Charity, Christianity, Peace, Love, Faith

I don’t recall how old I was at the time, but we went to church every Sunday. I always sat with mom-mom. She kept hard candy in her purse to keep us kids settled during the sermon. I can remember times falling asleep on the pew with my head in her lap. I can still remember some of her favorite hymns.

One year at Christmastime the church decided to do a charity event of sorts. The adults collected cardboard boxes. Some of the adults spoke with local businesses. We kids collected wrapping paper, tape, and bows from our parents. We all sat around decorating the boxes with pretty paper and colorful bows. The grown-ups would fill each box with a turkey or a ham and stuff to make side dishes with.

Volunteers’ cars were loaded up with the boxes and the caravan began. All of us kids? We didn’t ride in the cars with the boxes. Oh no. There was something special lined up for us. We rode behind a tractor laden with hay. We were all bundled up in coats and hats and scarves and mittens. We sang Christmas carols as we rode through the countryside. Ever so often we’d pull up to the house of a local farming family. We’d all hustle out and assemble around their front door and sing out little hearts out. At each house, we got to take turns presenting the family with one of the food boxes.

We were a small, tight-knit community even if we were spread out all of the tarnation. Everyone knew everyone else and everyone always knew who was getting by and who was struggling. No one ever made a fuss. Pride and all you see. But that still didn’t stop the community from coming together when needed.

We made our rounds and made it back to the church. There a lot of the church ladies had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies waiting for us. It was the perfect way to end a long, cold, but rewarding day.

Man, how I miss those days.

Merry Christmas one and all. May God continue to bless and keep you now and always ~ Terry
The Autosampler
By: Andrea Detlefsen
Tags: Science, Science Communication, Poetry, Poetry On Medium

From the dark there comes a stirring, listen close, a motor purring,

Frigid waters are disturbed, a single ripple rings.

Through the murky walls and waters, creeps a shadow (impending slaughter?)

Sluggish seconds slide while they await the coming sound.

Chugging towards its destination, short of any hesitation,

It proceeds with great precision, passing row by row.

Finally there is a stopping, then begins the dreaded dropping,

Even, measured, resolute, extending ceaselessly.

With a pop the needle pierces, down to where the heart of fear is,

Down to where the sample lies and liquid meets the air.

Peering upwards at the heavens of a world within a vial,

Bonds that squirmed with natural motion vibrate now in fear.

The human hair-sized radius then dips into the aqueous,

Whirling currents swirl inside the wake of its small path.

Pausing, only for an instant, it flashes with a wicked glint.

Fragments of a protein, peptides, wait in dire suspense.

Then, without any forewarning, and hardly any time for mourning,

The needle takes a greedy drink and up the peptides go.

Defenseless against this blitz, they tumble round in frenzied fits,

Panic and tumult ensue, there’s nothing they can do.

Finally it stops imbibing, and the current is subsiding,

Peptides who remain below are safe, at least for now.

But those who have been whisked away won’t live to see another day,

The needle retreats through the hole, with a swig in tow.

Those forsaken cry in chorus “Pray for those who’ve gone before us,

Where they went, we’ll never know. What horrors they’ll endure!”

Reeling, still, from the irruption, they grieve over the abduction.

Eventually they’ll settle, as there’s nothing left to do.
Solo Bowling
By: Raymond Sosa
Tags: Writing, Haruki Murakami, Bowling, Hong Kong, Fiction

They first met at the Dragon Boat Festival on one of those cloudless summer days lifted straight from a postcard. Li-min, in an effort to get a clear view of the boats racing through Victoria Harbour, tiptoed and jumped to get her eyes over the shoulders of the crowd. It had worked until an excitable American photographer with his eye pressed to the viewfinder knocked her backwards in an attempt to take an action shot. The only person to notice her on the ground was Jiwu, and he helped her up. They spoke a bit and introduced themselves, but their conversations were cut short by the races.

During a lull in the program, Li-min bought Jiwu a pork bun from a nearby cart, and they found a bench in a less populated stretch of the canal. They spoke about the weather and movies, and despite the trivial nature of the conversation, Jiwu could feel his heart beating faster. He looked at her pale white hands and listened to the odd raspiness in her voice.

“If only I were a bit taller,” Li-min said at one point, “maybe I wouldn’t get pushed around just trying to watch.” She smiled and swung her legs, as her feet didn’t even touch the ground.

Jiwu swallowed nervously and said, “I can’t help you grow, but I can be there to pick you up next time you’re knocked down.”

Li-min didn’t say anything. She just smiled and looked away.

She gave him her phone number before they parted.
The Umbilical Cord / नाळ
By: Manasi Diwakar
Tags: Polyglot, Poetry, Marathi, Love, Polyglot Poetry

The Umbilical Cord / नाळ

A polyglot poem — English and Marathi

Photo by Simon Rae on Unsplash

Marathi:

आईच्या पायाशी,

ती बसली फुलं विणत,

एकदा चुकली, दुसर्‍यांदा चुकली

तिसर्‍यांदा सुई बोटाला टोचली,

अणि आईच्या मनाला टचकन रुतली

आईने हळद लावली,

कानही पिळले,

दोन फुलं, अलगद,

विणून दाखवली

चौथ्यांदा,

पोरीने विणली एक सुंदर माळ,

आईचे डोळे आले भरून

कारण,

हलकेच तुटली होती नाळ

******************

Āaīchyā pāyāśī,

tī basalī phula viṇat,

ēkadā chukalī, dusar‍yāndā chukalī

tisar‍yāndā su’ī bōṭālā ṭōchalī,

aṇi āaīchā manālā ṭachakan rutalī

āaīnē haḷad lāvalī,

kānahī piḷalē,

dōn phula, alagad,

viṇūn dākhavalī

chauthyāndā,

pōrīnē viṇalī ēk sundar māḷ,

āaīchē ḍōḷē ālē bharūn

kāraṇ,

halakēch tuṭalī hōtī nāḷ

************************

English Translation:

At her mother’s feet,

she sat weaving flowers,

Missed once, missed the second time

the third time the needle pierced the finger,

and a mother’s heart

mother applied turmeric,

twisted her ears,

and weaved two flowers

the fourth time,

she laced a beautiful garland,

her mother’s eyes filled

because

the umbilical cord broke a little

© M.D.B.
My One Cent Advice
By: Oladayo Oladipupo
Tags: Blockchain, Investing, Money, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

10, 15% is enough

Little drop of water makes a mighty ocean. — Anon

People wait for the next X1000 or X500 coin months after months and before you know it they get fed up. Instead of waiting for so long for what might not come why not just build up and accumulate as little as 10% or 15% over time. This is not betting though but it pays off to take the little profit over time and build a strong porfolio than having to wait for what may never come.

There is always more opportunities

Running after a moving train

That there is only one opportunity is a blatant lie. There are 101 more opportunities, you just need to be patient and open yourself up to them. Over the space of 6 months I have seen BTCRed, BLUE, EQUAL, Hawala.Today, Polymath, ELTCOIN, HYDRO, NOBS just to mention a few turn people to millionaire if not more. Relax more are still coming.
Practicum Pride: Mozilla
By: Victoria Suarez
Tags: Students, Data Science

Sarah Melancon came to the MSDS program with a BS in Mathematics from the University of Utah and Brian Wright came to the MSDS program with a BS in Mathematics & Computer Science from the University of Redlands. Continue reading to learn more about their practicum experience at Mozilla!

Brian (Left) & Sarah (Right)

Can you tell us a bit about Mozilla? What is it like working there?

SARAH — We love it there! It’s a pretty big company, so I’m constantly meeting new people who are working on cool projects.

Can you describe the project that you are working on?

SARAH — We’re building a tool to help Firefox add-on developers understand how people are using their product. Currently, add-on related data lives in several different databases, and Google Analytics. We are writing code to combine all of this data into one dataset and productionizing our code to update the dataset daily. The final product will be a single dashboard that an add-on developer can visit to make informed product decisions.

How are you applying the knowledge gained from the program to your practicum?

BRIAN — I would say Distributed Computing has been the most helpful. We use a lot of Spark at Mozilla and deal with lots of data, so it is important that our code is efficient.

SARAH — I would agree with Brian, Distributed Computing has been the most helpful course. Relational databases has also been helpful because we use a lot of SQL.

What is it like working with professional data scientists?

SARAH — Everyone is really collaborative at Mozilla. Even though we are just the interns, people treat us like part of the team and data science moves really fast, so everyone is always learning.

BRIAN — It is great, the data scientists at Mozilla are helpful whenever Sarah and I need help, but they also let us work autonomously, making for a good balance of offering support, but not being too overbearing.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced at your practicum?

BRIAN — We are productionizing our code, so it’s important that it not only runs, but it also must follow code standards, and be both easily interpretable and efficient.

SARAH — Even though we have a great mentor, I think you have to be more self-sufficient in the workplace than in school. At school, if you get stuck you can usually get help from the professor. In the workplace, sometimes you are the first data scientist to work with a particular data source, so there is not always an expert to look to for help, and you have to try to become the expert. It’s really rewarding, but sometimes challenging!

Are there any cool perks?

BRIAN — Free lunch and good desserts! They also have an espresso machine, so we can stay caffeinated.
Music in 2007 to pick up where 2005 left off
By: Ben Edwards
Tags: Clinic, Music, Low

After a bit of a down year for music that you may not have noticed because you were still so happy with the great crop from 2005. The year 2007 is set to be a great year for new stuff. In the first 4 months alone there will be new albums from the following artists.

Jan

Clinic (Visitations)

Of Montreal (Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?)

The Shins (Wincing The Night Away)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Some Loud Thunder)

Feb

Apples In Stereo (New Magnetic Wonder)

Bloc Party (A Weekend In The City)

Magic Numbers (Those The Brokes)

Mar

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (Living With The Living)

Low (Drums And Guns)

Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank)

Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)

Apr

Bright Eyes (Cassadaga)

I have been listening to their single Dashboard on repeat on Modest Mouse’s site. More on the upcoming Modest Mouse album from Pitchfork

Brock doesn’t seem content to have just one star collaborator in new Modest Mouse member Johnny Marr. The Shins’ James Mercer guests on three We Were Dead tracks: “We’ve Got Everything”, “Florida”, and “Missed the Boat”. Other song titles include “Fire It Up”, “Steaming Genius”, “Parting of the Sensories”, and “Spitting Venom”.

Also the Arcade Fire is set to play some shows in New York (not all of them will be in churches either though it would be great to see them in a venue like this), if you are in the area get to the show, they are amazing live. Possibly the only band not named Radiohead that I would travel a half a day to hear. Though it appears that their reputation for live shows is really jacking up the value of their tickets. Also worth seeing in NYC: David Bowie and Daniel Johnston. [Brooklyn Vegan]
Writing for Politicoid
By: Daniel Goldman
Tags: Libertarianism, Politics, Government, Anarchy, Economics

Writing for Politicoid

While Politicoid has largely been an independent project by its lead author, we’re looking to expand, especially now that we’re publishing on Medium.

About Politicoid

We try to focus on science based approaches to politics and economics. But philosophy is also an important element in of debate in general, so we do write broader, logic based philosophical discussions too.

Politicoid supports anarchy, and takes a multi-pronged approach to supporting these views. One of these prongs is the philosophy of rights. Another approach is a scientific approach based on an analogy between the biosphere and the technosphere (technoecology). Familiarizing yourself with these topics will help in writing for the publication.

We also support ecological sustainability and economic sustainability, again with an emphasis on science. Our logo is a play on the Libertarian party logo group and the Green party logo group for this reason. Supporting environmentalism does not have to mean supporting government.

Types of Articles We Accept

Articles should be related to politics and/or economics in some way. Investment articles, so long as they’re not overly zealous and are general ideas, rather than articles giving investment advice, are also welcome, if there’s some political nature to the commentary.

You don’t have to be an anarchist, and articles do not have to promote anarchy, nor do they have to conform to any given political or economic camp, but we’re probably not going to accept articles that promote government. Articles should be well informed, follow curation guidelines, and have proper citations where appropriate.

Locked articles are preferred, and we prefer authors who are Medium subscribers. Medium authors should support the platform. And unfortunately curation, which is important for reach, requires that the article be locked. We do however understand that Medium doesn’t support the Medium Partner Program in all areas, and in such cases, we have no problem making exceptions to this rule.

Submission

We prefer articles that haven’t been submitted yet. Submitting a final draft allows us to go over the article for errors and provide feedback before accepting or rejecting the article.

We prefer that a person only submit one to two articles per day, since we don’t want to get overloaded and because we want to give each author a fair shot at visibility.

For first time submissions, email us at politicoid@gmail.com with links to your profile and draft submission.
World Building & Map Making for the Creative Writer
By: Hunter Liguore
Tags: Writing, Travel, Maps, Writing Tips, Creative Writing

Writers are creative animals. We like to jump right in when we get a new idea without taking proper steps to consider what the new world looks like. One way to get to the typing faster is to create a map. When we visually see what the story location looks like on paper, we can begin to identify what’s missing.

Let’s say you’re writing a story about a family that lives on a farm in the late 1800s. (Think O Pioneers by Willa Cather.) Your main character works in town, two miles from the farm. If you were to make a map, you would immediately mark these two locations. But what else is there? What surrounds the farm? What might your character encounter on that two mile journey?

Some questions you might ask yourself are:

· Are there government buildings, like a sheriff, court, prison, a post office?

· What natural features are present? Are there forests or lakes, rivers, hills, prairies, mountains, and so forth?

· What stores might be in the vicinity? What other services are available, like a barber, smoke shop, bank, restaurants, and so on?

· Are there places of worship?

· What does the neighborhood look like? Who are the neighbors?

· What historical events have happened in the area? Do any famous people live nearby?

· What seasonal events might take place in this area? Is there an annual fair that people come from miles to go to?

· What wildlife lives in the area?

The key is to see your world from every angle. Even if your setting is only in one room, or a single building, you might consider what is beyond the four walls.

Exercise:

Make a map of your world. Start with the most obvious features. In the above example it would be the farm and nearby town. Now look at all the open space. What can you add in those bare spots to make your town more real?

Here are some ideas:

· Library

· Water tower

· Prison

· Ball field

· Natural preserve

· Carnival

· Historic monument

Depending what you add, also determines the outcome of your world. For instance, if you add a carnival to your world, the characters will probably attend, or at the least, discuss it. The goal is not necessarily to add details randomly, but to enhance your over all setting. In doing so, you have the opportunity to create a unique world, one that you can now navigate with ease.

Creating a map every time you start a story will allow you to fully imagine and then create this new world.

When you go to lay down those details in the story, they will no longer be vague. “The library’s over the next hill,” becomes, “The library sat adjacent to the town’s water tower, next to the dirt trail that runs past the sheriff’s office.” The more detail you can provide, the better your readers will see and appreciate the world you’ve created. Now go try it!
Read This Before Sharing Another Human Trafficking Post on Facebook
By: Shannon Ashley
Tags: Equality, Society, Culture, Crime, Social Media

Every few days, a well-meaning Facebook friend shares some random post from a woman on the platform who insists that she or her children — sometimes she and her children — have been targeted by human traffickers.

The story is usually a predictable one. There’s the frazzled mother with her children in a parking lot, usually at a mall or other shopping center. She claims that some unknown person approached her and tried to lure at least one person in her family over to their car. Often, there’s a van with tinted windows involved, or at least, nearby. The mom, sensing that something is “off,” gets herself out of the situation and doesn’t comply with the sketchy stranger’s request to come closer. When it’s all over, the would-be victim tells us that she’s positive her family just dodged another tragedy in human trafficking — often claiming that local law enforcement agreed with her.

The author of the post typically finishes up her sordid tale with a warning to stay vigilant and asks everybody to share the story. And people do.

They share and then they add their own comments about how that’s “such a scary experience,” and “the danger is everywhere.” With each share, a popular urban legend gains greater ground.

Here’s one example currently circulating my newsfeed:

Facebook screenshot by Shannon Ashley. Original poster’s name intentionally omitted.

The comments are predictable too. Things like, “That’s terrifying — I have been more scared of this than anything else! I’m glad you are all safe. I am so worried about this stuff, Iike so so worried... it’s real.”

Or, “Omg I can’t believe this happened! This is one of my biggest fears, and the fact it’s happening in our own back yard... it makes me not want to go anywhere and just do homeschooling forever. We were at Capital Mall today as well! I’m just glad you are all ok...you can’t help people anymore it seems like. You just never know who to trust.”

Posts like these fill up with comments from — mostly white and well-off — moms all in agreement that this was a human trafficking plot, and that nobody is safe. It’s a seemingly natural reaction to a frightening story, sure. There’s just one problem.

It’s not a human trafficking story at all.
Change Is The Only Constant In Life
By: Tom Stevenson
Tags: Self Improvement, Science, Life, History, Life Lessons

Change Is The Only Constant In Life

The world is always changing

Photo by Shelbs Aebischer on Reshot

In 1912 a German geophysicist by the name of Alfred Wegener noticed something peculiar about the shape of the continents and the creatures that inhabited them.

Wegener noticed that Africa and South America appeared to have been joined together at some in the past. If you had a jigsaw made of the continents, it would seem that South America could join on to Africa without too much difficulty.

Wegener was also fascinated by the fossil records on the various continents. He noted that fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile, similar to a crocodile, were found in Brazil and South Africa. Fossils of the land reptile, Lystrosaurus, were found in rocks of the same age at locations in Africa, India and Antarctica.

This evidence fascinated Wegener and led him to believe that the continents had once been joined together in a landmass he dubbed ‘Urkontinent.’ His theory that at some point the continents had begun to drift apart leading to the arrangement we see today.

This was at odds with the common theory at the time, Contractionism. The theory postulated that the Earth’s mountains were created because the planet was cooling and shrinking since its formation.

To account for the discovery of similar fossils on different sides of the globe, it was believed land bridges had once connected the continents. However, they had since been consumed by the sea.

When Wegener published his theory in 1912, he was met with widespread ridicule. Most geologists considered Wegener and were resistant to changing their theories on his evidence. His work was so poorly received by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists that they organized a symposium specifically in opposition to the continental drift hypothesis.

Wegener died in 1930 during an expedition to Greenland. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to see his theory become widely accepted in the 1960s.

His story shows us that new ideas are often met with scepticism especially if they affect the perceived wisdom of the time. It also shows that most of what we know about the world are educated guesses and based on theory.

If most of what we know is just our best-educated guess, what does this mean for us in our daily lives? How do we approach life? Do we stay beholden to dogmatic theories? Or do we operate with an open mind, awake to the possibilities that what we know may not be as accurate as we think?

The answer lies somewhere in between.
How I streamlined my workflow with Indigo.Design
By: Yoanna Ivanova
Tags: UI, Design, UX Design, Sketch, Design Systems

As a UX intern, I had an assignment to get acquainted with the design system approach and understand the advantages it offers. And more precisely, I had to use Indigo.Design by Infragistics for that purpose. I have to mention I was impressed that the Infragistics design team, following the best design practices, uses a design system approach to assure consistency and a more structured way to build quality solutions.

In order to dive into the task, I had to make a sample Home page and Shipping page for a Delivery site. The web design had to be presented in desktop, tablet, and mobile responsive versions. I will lead you briefly through my process of building the sample pages. And I will explain to you what I found extremely useful through using for the very first time the Indigo.Design System for Sketch and the plugin that comes with it.
Manufactured
By: Tarek Gara
Tags: Coding, Poetry, Manufacturing, Poem, Poetry On Medium

Born, unwillingly, into a life not their own.

Do this, not that. No questions asked.

Be this, be that, graduate college with a loan.

Undeterred, they live what dictators lacked.

A beautiful template. Like an Apple phone.

Predetermined lives. Programmed and hacked.

A JavaScript void(0). Stay alert and never yawn.

“Now off you go! Be happy,” they quacked.

But never gave the liberty to the coded clone.

And now there it goes, expressions blacked.

Years pass until they’re led to the Death Zone.

“RIP,” they say, after having its dreams attacked.

Now the other clones forget, as their code’s shown.

And the cycle continues, until the end of their contract.
Behind the Counter
By: Haley Huffman
Tags: Bakery, Food, Baking

The owner of The Crooked Cup reveals his secrets about the Kolache

The Kolache is a Czech pastry that gained its popularity in America in the Czech belt in Texas. It has recently spread across the country with increasing buzz about the flaky, filled pastry. The Crooked Cup in Fort Collins, Colorado serves their version of a kolache and it is amazing. I talked to the owner of The Crooked Cup, Gabriel, about his baking process and his inventive kolaches.

Q: Is there a special process for baking at a high altitude?

A: There are no specifically general answer for this unfortunately, each item has ingredients that react differently to different changes. Higher flour content and a different temperature are suitable changes for many things that we bake, but not all.

Q: How do you make your pastries distinct from the other pastry shops in Old Town?

A: We make ours distinct both by hand crafting small batches and by the fact that we have a culinary trained pastry chef at the helm of everything. Most coffee houses do not have a full bakery, but rather they purchase par baked items and finish them off in an oven.

Q: What would you say is your most popular pastry?

A: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Kolaches. If you combine all 4 kolache flavors we are extremely close to selling our 100,000th! This will happen sometime in early October.

Q: How did you hear about the Kolache and decide to feature that in your pastry case?

A: My best friend (also a CSU alumni and now a Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and I were talking about new and interesting items that no coffee houses had upon our opening. He told me about the traditional Czech version and I tweaked the dough and fillings until we had a product that I was happy with.

Q: When did you eat your first Kolache?

A:3 days before we opened :)

Q: Are there other flavors that you are experimenting with for your Kolaches?

A: Currently we have a few on the docket: Biscuits & Gravy Kolache; Egg, Asparagus & Hollandaise Kolache; and a Cinnamon Roll/Kolache hybrid.

Q: What is your ideal customer like?

A: Smiling when they leave :)
SPOKKZ and Spuul Could Change the Media Game
Tags: Media, Tokenization, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, OTT

Media production has been an exclusive club for a long time. Until the digital age, it was hard to compete with industry-controlling studios that designed the content, production and distribution of major media outlets. The digital age has the ability to change this dynamic, but some big changes need to take place.

Spuul built a wildly successful platform on the concept that giving people access to the media they want is a good idea. Today Spuul has a direct connection with millions across Asia, and their Over-The-Top (OTT) platform is both popular and profitable. Now they are coming to their demographic with a bold new idea that could influence the direction of media production for decades to come.

SPOKKZ is About More than Tokenization

Spuul has achieved their success by doing a lot more than just delivering content to their customers. The Bollywood-led media machine leaves numerous markets out of their model. Malaysia, Indonesia and India are huge markets for media, but they are all ignored by studios that cater to the so called “first-world” demographic.

Media is like a voice, and SPOKKZ is developing a system that allows literally billions of people to vote with their money. Instead of a one-way media delivery platform, SPOKKZ wants media production to be interactive. When people are on the Spuul platform, the SPOKKZ token will let them connect directly with media producers, and support narratives that tell the stories they find meaningful.

There are, of course, financial incentives offered for all involved. The biggest gains will probably be reserved for the investors that tap into an ICO that has the potential to become widely popular. Spuul isn’t a startup, it is an established platform that is perfect for tokenization. Fans and media producers will also benefit, as there will no longer be studios separating them from making direct to market media that rewards creatives.

Media isn’t Going Anywhere

The next revolution in human technology isn’t about new hardware, it will be about how we use what we already have. Spuul is in a perfect position to take full advantage of this shift in human development, and the SPOKKZ token is an incredible tool that will allow an entirely new economy to emerge in media production.

Investors that take advantage of the upcoming SPOKKZ ICO are in a good position to be at the forefront of Spuul’s next phase of growth. The features that SPOKKZ will enable Spuul to deliver are unique, and may create a new kind of media production platform.
What I learned from Harvard’s Data Science: R basics course
By: Mounika Gali
Tags: Harvard University, R Programming, Data Visualization, Data Science, Data Analysis

Data is just a collection of numbers until you transform it to tell an impactful story. And once you make sense of the data, you can drive better decision making.

I’ve always been fascinated by the power of data, which motivated me to enroll in the online Data Science program offered by Harvard University. In order to earn this professional certificate in Data Science, you need to complete 9 courses, including a capstone project.

Recently, I successfully completed the first course in this Data Science program called Data Science : R basics. This is my first-ever certificate from an Ivy League School. So, Yay!

Course Structure

I’m sharing a high-level course overview here for those of you who might be interested in pursuing it. This course is divided into 4 sections:

Section 1: R basics, functions, and data types

Section 2: Vectors, Sorting

Section 3: Indexing, Data Wrangling, plots

Section 4: Programming basics

Section 1 introduces you to R (R is an open-source programming language, which is similar to Python). All the basics are covered in this section, including how to install R and RStudio.

Section 2 introduces you to vectors and functions such as sorting. You will learn to create numeric and character vectors, sort vectors and perform arithmetic operations between vectors.

Section 3 introduces the R commands and techniques that help you wrangle, analyze, and visualize data. You will learn how to filter datasets, create data frames, modify data tables, data wrangling with dplyr and visualizing data using box plots, histograms and scatter plots.

Section 4 focuses on basic programming concepts like ‘if-else’ and ‘for-loop’ commands. Each section has multiple assessments to make sure you understand the concepts. You need to get a passing grade in order to receive the course completion certificate.

On the whole, it was a good learning experience. I had some experience with R prior to taking this course. However, I do not think that prior programming knowledge is needed to complete this course.

I’ve taken the next step in my data journey and may be, you should too, to stay ahead of the game in an increasingly data-driven world we live in today!
10 Rules To Follow For Making Profit in The Cryptocurrency Market In 2020
By: Sylvain Saurel
Tags: Investing, Altcoins, Cryptocurrency Investment, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

The year 2019 is coming to an end and the year 2020 holds great promise for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market. The strong bull market expected for 2020 could allow you to make big profits if you follow some basic rules.

Here are 10 rules that I detail in the article “A Little Survival Guide For Making Profit With The Cryptocurrency Market In 2020” that should help you make the most of the cryptocurrency market in 2020:

Rule #1: Bitcoin Is King

Rule #2: 99 Percent Of All Cryptocurrencies Will Go To Zero In The Future

Rule #3: Make Your Own Research

Rule #4: Study Wisely Problems Solved By The Cryptocurrency You Target

Rule #5: If It Looks Like A Scam, It Is A Scam

Rule #6: Do Not Be Guided By Greed When Buying Cryptocurrencies

Rule #7: Make Your Buying Decisions Alone

Rule #8: Do Not Be Emotional When Buying Cryptocurrencies

Rule #9: Diversify Your Portfolio

Rule #10: Never Invest Money That You Can’t Afford To Lose

By following these rules, you will minimize your risks and maximize your chances of profiting from the bull market that awaits Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in 2020.

Feel free to share in comments your personal rules for surviving best in the cryptocurrency market.

Happy New Year to you all!
深夜小報 初號刊
By: Should Wang
Tags: Product Design, User Experience, Mentorship, UX, UX Design

We are four passionate UXers from Taiwan, working across Asia and the U.S. We share our insights and work experiences to the community. UX四神湯是四位臺灣清華畢業的UX海外工作者所建立的內容平台，每週定期發布文章。內容涵蓋中美的工作環境與生活體驗、互聯網巨頭與新創公司的工作內容、設計趨勢、UX實務技能分享等

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Gobaba’da listelenen altcoin’ler: Aelf (ELF) | Yeni Altcoin!
Tags: Altcoins, Aelf, Kripto Para Birimi

Buy, sell, exchange, transfer and store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies intantly & easily with 24/7 customer support. https://www.gobaba.com

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I’m a Generalist in a Specialist’s World
By: Sarah L Bromley
Tags: Work, Personal Development, Graduation, Education, Self

I’m a Generalist in a Specialist’s World

But I think I’m happier because of it

In a world of increasing specialization and the division of labor, I’m a scary thing: a generalist.

I majored in Economics and minored in Spanish. Unlike others in my cohort, I don’t consider Economics to be my Big Thing — I knew nothing about the subject before I started college, I’m not particularly mathematically minded and I have no desire to work in finance or government.

Actually, I’ve always been more of a humanities person — but now that I’m officially a Bachelor of Science and not Arts, I’ve forsaken my claim to this too.

My personal and professional interests don’t really relate to my degree. I love philosophy and psychology. My CV is focused on startups and entrepreneurship. When it comes to hobbies, I’m a true dabbler; over the last few years, I’ve tried salsa dancing, rock climbing, and photography. I’m not particularly good at any of them.

The one interest that has really remained constant throughout my life has been my love for writing — yet this is in no way related to my degree or my work experience. Sometimes I feel like a collection of loose ends I can’t tie up.