fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Speech-enhancement with Deep learning
By: Vincent Belz
Tags: Towards Data Science, Deep Learning, Speech, Cnn, Unet

Prepare the data

To create the datasets for training, I gathered English speech examples with clean voices and environmental noises from different sources.

The clean voices were mainly gathered from LibriSpeech: an ASR corpus based on public domain audiobooks. I used as well some data from SiSec. The environmental noises were gathered from ESC-50 dataset or https://www.ee.columbia.edu/~dpwe/sounds/.

For this project, I focused on 10 classes of environmental noise: ticking clock, footsteps, bells, handsaw, alarm, fireworks, insects, brushing teeth, vacuum cleaner and snoring. These classes are illustrated in the image below (I created this image using pictures from https://unsplash.com.)

To create the datasets for training/validation/testing, audios were sampled at 8kHz and I extracted windows slightly above 1 second. I performed some data augmentation for the environmental noises (taking the windows at different times creates different noise windows). Noises have been blended to clean voices with randomization of the noise level (between 20% and 80%). In the end, training data consisted of 10h of noisy voice & clean voices and validation data of 1h of sound.

To prepare the data, I recommend creating data/Train and data/Test folders in a location separate from your code folder. Then create the following structure seen in the image below:

You would modify the noise_dir , voice_dir , path_save_spectrogram , path_save_time_serie , and path_save_sound paths name accordingly into the args.py file that takes the default parameters for the program.

Place your noise audio files into noise_dir directory and your clean voice files into voice_dir .

Specify how many frames you want to create as nb_samples in args.py (or pass it as an argument from the terminal) I let nb_samples=50 by default for the demo but for production, I would recommend having 40 000 or more.

Then run python main.py --mode='data_creation' . This will randomly blend some clean voices from voice_dir with some noises from noise_dir and save the spectrograms of noisy voices, noises and clean voices to disk as well as complex phases, time series and sounds (for QC or to test other networks). It takes the inputs parameters defined in args.py . Parameters for STFT, frame length, hop_length can be modified in args.py (or pass it as arguments from the terminal), but with the default parameters, each window will be converted into spectrogram matrix of size 128 x 128.

Datasets to be used for training will be magnitude spectrograms of noisy voices and magnitude spectrograms of clean voices.
Making the world a better place — for dummies
By: Ben Edwards
Tags: Terrorism, General

Yesterday’s post mentioned 3 things that the U.S. and the rest of the world could do to stop terrorism and some bigger global issues. Today I would like to present some ideas for how we could go about doing these 3 things:

1. Focus on and solve the problem (i.e.. the hatred of the U.S.)

We as Americans have to be more conscious of how we act on the world stage. We are that 500 pound gorilla, always showing our strength and imposing our ideas. We need to deal with ourselves — make us better neighbors.

2. Find & punish the perpetrators of terrorism (all of them)

The U.S., its allies, and every other nation on earth should come to an agreement on terrorism and terrorists. Every nation should be vigilant in its efforts to root out and put down any terrorists within their borders. Failing to do this will result in strict penalties for the negligent countries. Privileges like the opportunity to fly planes into the “rule abiding” countries and economic sanctions are just a couple of the ways that we could put pressure on countries that are more friendly to terrorists types.

3. Solidify the alliances (and even unify) with the governments of the world

Finally, the most difficult task is to begin to make strides towards diminishing national and cultural borders. Much like how the European Union hopes to diminish economic borders in Europe, we must all work to reduce the misunderstandings and misinformation that causes tension today; create a new vision of a more unified and cooperative world for the near future; and actually start building the framework for a new world organization (can the United Nations ever be effective the way it stands now?) that will aid in governing and maintaining the world’s population, ecosystem, and lasting peace.

Are these ideas utopian. They may appear that way. But they really aren’t all that far-fetched. We may even see all three of these things begin to take shape in the next 20 years.

— — — — — -

I know others have linked to this site. These infographics are just too darn good at conveying complex info concisely. I had to offer it up for all of you.
Inside the Dry Well
By: Arvindh Shyam
Tags: Poetry, Poem, Writers Block, Writer, Thoughts

Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash

Every time my thoughts run dry

And my pen stays frighteningly still

I wonder if that is all there is to it

That what I had to share has stopped

And the gift that all envied had ended

While I stand on the side with a plaque

For people to see what I had once been

But the world will move on with indifference

And a cold shiver goes up my naked spine

I realize suddenly in that dark silent room

I never did write for the world nor for it’s eyes

But only for me to share what I had to say

I murmur my gratitude for the given chance

And stay still just to be alone with the room

After how long I never will know

But I hear that trickling sound again

I jump up in joy and take up my pen

And the words start to flow once more…
The Anthropology of Us
By: Trisha Traughber
Tags: Scribe, Pandemic, Cave Art, Anthropology, Fiction

I‘ve knocked on Anwar’s door and now I’m panicking and fumbling with the tangle on my face. Earbuds, wires, mask, glasses, hoodie.

It really hasn’t taken me long to become a hot mess. I only wear clean shirts if I will see someone ‘in person.’ Which means, rarely to never. Only now do I start to think about the fact that Anwar never wrote to me when he was gone. But I know he’s back even if he hasn’t been logging into the Zoom room.

Yet here I am. Once again, my reflexes are lightning fast, the thought process is more of a postmortem.

He did leave me his key. I mean, once upon a time, Alwar didn’t seem to mind having me around. He’s not answering so I guess I’ll just go in.

I am the queen of all that is awkward and the goddess of going too far. No need to stop now. That may not be why Alwar loves me, but it’s why he knows me. I might literally be the only person he does know.

I remember meeting him in that lecture on cave art. Beautiful stuff. Tribal. Large mammals grazing on stone, hands outlined on the walls of rock. I could feel the emotion of it.

What was the theory? The first cave artists were neurodivergent — keen in focus and observation. That diversity saved humanity from the winter and lived on forever in our evolution.

Not sure how they gathered that from the cave art, but it’s a cool story. Alwar was unusually talkative at that seminar. And I was, well, me.

“Hey, you have a real visitor — you might want to put some pants on.”

The smell is all scorch and syrup. Alwar had that habit of burning bundles of herbs from different places he’d visited to purify the energy of the place — or, in my opinion, get that terrible smoke smell out of the couch. But this is a different flavor of desperation.

I swing open the cheezy kitchen doors, ready to crash his morning ritual.

You would think that self-preservation would tell you not to grab the cord of a smoking appliance. But I guess someone in the herd has to act fast and think later. I have a fistful of wires — and, apparently, luck.

Would my sneakers have insulated me in the event of a short? Some questions, I guess, will go unanswered.

The coffee pot is crackling and scorching with the heat of being empty and nothing is left but bitter smoke and obsidian dried to the bottom. He’s gone long enough for coffee to turn to stone. But not long enough for the place to burst into flames. Look at me, Anwar, who’s the archeologist now?

I wander to his couch. I’ve always marveled at just how far you sink into that thing. The disgusting stained mustard corduroy of it all. And here, in the crack. That’s not right. Alwar would never, never leave a page of his travel journal languishing in the uncharted savannah of this couch.

It’s also totally unlike him to be melodramatic and leave clues. Just like it’s totally like me to read any page of private correspondence that I sit on when I enter someone’s flat uninvited.
Let’s remember when a massive fire hit Pike Place Market, on this day in 1941 (December 14)
By: Chris Burlingame
Tags: Pike Place Market, On This Day, Fires, Seattle

This is not good.

From HistoryLink and Phil Dougherty:

On December 14, 1941, a three-alarm fire strikes the Sanitary Public Market building at Pike Place Market in Seattle, causing major damage. The fire’s mysterious origin and rapid spread and that it occurs only seven days after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor leads many to speculate that the fire is the work of Japanese saboteurs. However, the cause of the fire is never determined.

Darkness was falling just before 5 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, December 14, 1941, when the first sign of trouble suddenly appeared. Courtney Payton, night watchman for the Sanitary Market (which covered much of the block between Pike and Pine streets and 1st Avenue and Pike Place) was in his apartment in the building when he heard four muffled explosions. Looking out, he saw flames erupt from the building’s west (Pike Place) side.

The Seattle Star reported the next day that the fire began on the third floor of the building, but it had spread to all four of the building’s floors by the time the first firefighters arrived. More help was summoned, and within an hour there were 150 firefighters from 17 engine companies and four truck companies fighting the blaze. They were aided by several hundred volunteer auxiliary firefighters as well as other volunteers, including soldiers and sailors.

Another 200 men from the Home Defense Infantry Regiment joined 60 police officers to control the thousands of onlookers (some fearing the fire was the result of an air raid) who converged on the scene. The crowd became so large that Seattle Police Chief Herbert Kimsey banned vehicle traffic from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd avenues in the vicinity of Pike and Pine. Spectators were also cleared up to a block away from the building.
The Top Resources for Progressive Web Apps of 2019
By: Y Media Labs
Tags: Programming, App Development, Software Development, Web Development, Pwa

The Top Resources for Progressive Web Apps of 2019

Our collection of the most useful resources to become a PWA master

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

PWAs are great because companies implementing them are seeing tremendous lift across several important key performance indicators.

Walmart, for example:

For anyone eager to learn more about PWAs and about how to get the most out of them, here is a list of the top resources available online today.

1. Google’s official developer section on PWAs

A fantastic, comprehensive resource for PWAs including videos, how-to-guides, and testing tools.

2. Google’s PWA Roadshow

This is the first in a series of great videos from the Google Chrome developers. The entire series provides a solid overview, some successful examples, and some developer how-tos.

3. Mozilla’s PWA guidelines

An excellent collection of resources for developers exploring the potential of PWA.

Answers the what, why, and how of progressive web apps, from making the case in your organization to reaching your users in bold, new ways.

A List Apart has an excerpt in chapter two which is a great overview of PWA.

Jason also wrote an excellent post on why iOS’s lack of full support for PWAs shouldn’t matter. It’s a couple of years old at this point and iOS has begun supporting more PWA functionality, but the arguments are still relevant.

5. Maximiliano Firtman

Maximiliano has a great post on PWA enhancements added in iOS 11.3, which, when combined with Jason Grigsby’s arguments, continue to make a strong case.

6. PWA Stats

A community-driven list of stats and news related to progressive web apps.

7. Can I Use?

Can I Use? provides developers with very specific features and functionalities supported by different versions of mobile browsers.

8. What Web Can Do Today?

A companion resource to ‘Can I Use?’ that showcases web-based capabilities of your current browser.

9. Yes, that web project should be a PWA

A guidebook for business leaders, product managers, and technical decision-makers.

10. Additional PWA resources

Ma-no.org — A helpful collection of links, categorized by features that digs into the weeds of technical and developer resources.

Progressive web Apps by SPEC INDIA:

A simple progressive web app tutorial by James Johnson:

Designing a progressive web app by Mustafa Kurtuldu:

Learn how to build a PWA in five minutes by Meggin:

Build a real-time PWA with React by Yomi:

Turning an Angular app into a PWA by Jefferson Boldrin Cardozo:
ありきたりの学生だった僕が学生パパになるまで#3
By: Takuya Yagishita
Tags: Work, Hiking

in In Fitness And In Health
I Finally Started
By: John Siwicki
Tags: Poetry, Short Story, 100 Naked Words

There is something that reminds you of living when you walk outside and you can feel the world on every once of your skin. A cold morning can be such a beautiful thing. I look outside and the snow blankets my neighbor and you can feel every breath that you take. Today, before I walked into my house. I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes and I took three big breaths of that cold air.

Then I went inside and finally started a project that has been on my list for almost a year now. I finished a draft in it one sitting.
Dirt
By: Suzan Bond
Tags: Poetry, Poem, Life Lessons, Poetry On Medium, Life

Basil lines my window sill

floating to my nose

bright, spicy sweetness dances in the air.

I breathe it into my lungs, my heart, my soul.

I’m transported from my Brooklyn apartment.

I’m eight

standing on my Grandma’s farm,

the dusty road beneath my feet.

Oak trees sway in the wind.

Close your eyes, she says.

My mouth open.

Waiting.

A fresh, tangy, earthy delight arrives.

It’s like I’ve tasted raspberry for the first time.

Then, rows of beans need tending.

I revel in the earth,

the grassy scent a balm.

I drink in the dirt, the plants, the fresh air.

I’m a world away.

No longer caged

by concrete and brick.

I run and I run.

I am one with the earth, the sky,

the soul of my ancestors

who made their life in this dirt.
Attacking Legacy Code Outside In
By: Jeff Foster
Tags: Testing, Software Development

We’ve run a few legacy code things now, starting by describing the nature of the enemy, moving onto using refactoring to try and simplify the code. Today we started with the tests.

Characterization Testing is a term coined by Michael Feathers to describe the tests you use just to describe the code you’ve got. It’s not about testing for correctness, it’s just about fixing some aspects of the behaviour.

Most of the examples of characterization tests use simple types — in which case it’s happy days! Throw some input at your method, observe what happens and turn it into an assert. Easy.

Our code however wasn’t so easy. The method we were aiming to test took many parameters, and each of them were concrete classes that were difficult to create. Our approach was to find the callers of the method (luckily it was only called at application startup) and work out what data was actually being fed to the function.

Eventually, we managed to create a simple characterization test. Given these inputs we expect to assert the following SQL is generated.
Chaos
By: Rebeca Ansar
Tags: Women, Poet, Feminism, Poetry, Poem

there are three of us inside of me

or maybe six, not sure

among the confusion, we hold convention

who holds the scissors and what shall we cut?

lay them out side by side

look for the semblance least governed

no bristling beast among the bunch

but perhaps an intrepid glint in her eye

not even that

beneath any normal night

just rust on your skin and caulk in your heart

the women in your blood have left a sullying mark

their words are angry but their sound is confused

the past is a landfill

you’re better off

with a wordless goodbye.
Succeed by committing
By: Alok Tyagi
Tags: Blogging, Personal

“Your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing” — Abraham Lincoln

Simple formula for success: Make commitment on regular basis — large or small — with a conviction. And then do whatever it takes to make it happen.

At times we just fail to commit either for the fear of failure or trying to play safe. Don’t. You learn a lot about yourself when you fail. Shy away from making a commitment and sooner or later learning process stop — so does the growth. That day main purpose morphs from doing that extraordinary thing to just getting by.

Kind of commitments we make and how we live up to those commitments — shape us and our destiny. We don’t stumble into greatness — it is usually an outcome of conscious/committed choice and lot of hard word. When JFK reaffirmed America’s commitment to land a person on the moon — it was a conscious choice; big commitment and lot of hard work of enthusiastic people. We chose to go to the moon and not stumbled on it. It was the commitment that made the difference!

So make those tough commitment that are required and learn a lot about yourself going through the process. Remember — we fail to learn; not learn to fail.
Block Community Event powered by Ontology and Tokenomy
Tags: Tokenomy Update, Block Community, Indodax, Ontology

Tokenomy Website | Tokenomy Telegram |Tokenomy Twitter |Tokenomy Facebook |Tokenomy Instagram

Tokenomy Telegram Group english & bahasaindonesia |Tokenomy Reddit

Risk warning: Tokenomy does not provide any investment, financial, accounting, valuation, tax, legal or other professional advice. All decisions to buy, sell or trade any Digital Asset using the Services are made solely by you, and you are fully responsible for all such decisions
3 Red Flags That Scream Out Toxic Leadership
By: Paul Myers Mba
Tags: Work, Leadership, Advice, Business, Ideas

1. A High Turnover of Staff

During my career, I once joined a company very much looking forward to working with an industry expert, only to learn that he resigned, after just 6 weeks in the job.

At the time I lied to myself. I was convinced that this was just part of the business world dynamic. People move on, right?

How wrong I was. It was a major red flag.

It later transpired that this highly experienced individual tendered his resignation without another job offer on the table, which speaks volumes. Six weeks is not enough time to onboard a new employee, it’s only 45 calendar days or 30 working days.

In fact, during my first two months at this company, seven people either resigned or were pushed out the door. Almost one person a week.

High-turnover is a problem. It’s not only costly but a huge indicator that something is not right at a leadership level. On a cultural level.
Statement from COBINHOOD
By: Cobinhood 中文
Tags: Updates, Cobinhood, Statement

We learned that recently there have been news articles regarding “5 Worst Cryptocurrency Exchanges of 2018” that triggered social conversations and misunderstandings. In response to the unjustified rating and criticism of COBINHOOD, it is our obligation to deliver facts as the following statement:

COBINHOOD is dedicated to building a next-generation, zero-trading-fee cryptocurrency service platform and providing the best trading experience to our users. Despite the grim prospects for the world economy as a whole, we successfully expanded our global presence and made significant achievements, including winning the 2018 Red Dot Award, and ranked as one of the most secure exchanges on the ICOrating Security Report. Contrary to degradation, COBINHOOD team keeps moving forward to realize our vision of building a decentralized future empowered by blockchain. Launching COBINHOOD exchange is our first step to introduce cryptocurrency to the public in the early stages of blockchain development. DEXON project is never a snap decision nor a hype. It is our latest milestone to build a game-changing infrastructure for mass adoption of blockchain. In November 2018, we unveiled DEXON testnet, followed by a series of workshops, incentive programs and tools to onboard developers. Our next big leap is DEXON mainnet, which is set to launch in 2019. Recent token delisting is a temporary suspension of the trading policy that occurs as a result of current market condition. Withdrawal and deposit functions for delisted tokens are still available on our exchange. Our team has been working around-the-clock to keep up with market trends and will make every effort to provide promising and sustainable digital assets that are worth the investment.

We understand that a prolonged downtrend remains dominant in the cryptocurrency market and there is still a long way to go before blockchain really fits into our lives. We choose to go on this journey not because it is easy, but because it is hard. COBINHOOD will continue the mission of shaping a better future with real-world blockchain applications and experiences.
Begin Again
By: Uchechi Obasi
Tags: Poetry, Haiku, Scribe, Dating, Love

I tell stories entangled in the ridges of my mind. My words will nourish your soul. Passionate about women, children, tea and a little “too” many other things.

Follow
Tragedy of role-based contribution
Tags: Life

I am a product builder who specializes in programming. Strongly believe in humanist.

Follow
[Etheremon Dev Update] 2019.01.08
Tags: Gaming, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Update, Ethereum

Hi Mon-Seekers,

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! For the past few weeks, there have been some UI improvements made (new leaderboard, new battle UI and new team selection, etc.). We are still gathering the feedbacks to improve your experience in our game gradually.

There are 2 big things coming soon, the Lunar New Year event & the Challenge mode. However, I will keep their details in later blogs. In this one, I will mention smaller updates, to make the gameplay better.

1. New sign-in flow

Now you are required to register and sign in (actually sign a message) to play the game. The sign-in session will be remembered and you do not have to sign again when playing rank/practice battles.

Expected release date: Jan 11

2. New Quests

Referral system will be brought back and moved under Quests page. Also, ranked battle winning reward will also be moved under Quest to make all reward claim in one place.

Referral system: For every friend you invite to the game, both you and your friend will gain points, up to 5 points. Both of you will get 1 point if your friend catches a Free Mon and up to 5 points if your friend buys a Mon in the Store.

For every friend you invite to the game, both you and your friend will gain points, up to 5 points. Both of you will get 1 point if your friend catches a Free Mon and up to 5 points if your friend buys a Mon in the Store. Ranked battle winning reward: to be moved under Daily Quests. Every day, you can accumulate your wins to claim rewards. At each milestone as below, we detailed out the EMONT you can get. All rewards should be claimed before the daily quest reset, at 00.00 UTC time.

First 5 Wins: 1.0 EMONT

Next 5 Wins: 1.0 EMONT

Next 5 Wins: 1.0 EMONT

Next 5 Wins: 1.0 EMONT

Next 30 Wins: 9.0 EMONT

Next 50 Wins: 16.0 EMONT

***Note: Please claim all your current winning reward by Jan 11, 08:00 UTC.

Expected release date: Jan 11

3. Improve ranked battle

We are moving team selection off-chain.

We will disband all teams having at least 2 Mons of the same species.

Now you do not have to make a transaction to change the team. However, re-selecting your team will cost 4 energy.

Trading and transforming are no longer blocked if your Mon is in battle.

If any Mon in your team is no longer available (being traded/transformed), other players can still attack you, but you cannot attack the others before you re-select your team.

You can perform up to 5 attacks each time. Opponent list will be reset after that.

Expected release date: Jan 16

As usual, if you have any questions, please post in our Community and we will be there to help you!

Cheers,

Etheremon Team

— — — — — —

Website: etheremon.com

Twitter: twitter.com/myetheremon

Discord: discordapp.com/invite/xgJpuzc

Telegram: t.me/myetheremon
How Some White Women’s Envy Threatens Black Women
By: Rebecca Stevens A.
Tags: Patriarchy, White Privilege, Black Women, Racism, Feminism

Today, many white women still carry those insecurities. Their hatred of black women is deep and is often unconscious.

I am what most people consider a pretty black girl — and all too often I have seen white women’s envy play out in a multitude of ways in the most improbable situations.

White women have more than any other group sought to portray me as an angry black woman. They’ve sought to demonize me — tried to build a narrative of me being emotionally manipulative, strong-willed, or a bully. When that doesn’t work, they resort to criticizing my work directly or the value I bring to the team. They call me a diva, say that I am a prima donna, a bimbo. Anything to undermine me or take away my credibility.

There have been few exceptions of white women that have treated me right and these have been good experiences.

Most often, however, white women have seen me as competition, most thought they were vying with me for the boss’ attention or the next promotion. I often found myself on their warpath, and this has been the most unpleasant and stressful of experiences. One thing that I need to share with these ladies is: your white bosses will always support you over a black woman — you have nothing to worry about.
Overview of how does CSS works behind the scenes?
By: Manisha Basra
Tags: HTML, Front End Development, Web Development, CSS

Frontamentals

Let’s start by understanding what actually happens to our CSS code when we load up a web page in a browser.

When a browser starts to load the initial HTML file, it takes the loaded HTML code and parses it, which means that it will decode the code line by line.

By this process, the browser builds the so-called DOM (Document Object Modal) which describes the entire web document in a tree with parent, children and sibling elements.

HTML Parsing by Jonas Schmedtmann

As the browser parses the HTML, it also finds the stylesheets included in the HTML head and just like HTML, CSS is also parsed.

But the parsing of CSS bit more complex.

By Jonas Schmedtmann

There are two main steps that are performed during the CSS parsing phase :

1. Conflicting CSS declarations are resolved (also known a cascading) 2. Process final CSS values (for eg- converting a margin defined in percentage units to pixels)

Parsed CSS is also stored in a tree-like structure called CSS Object Modal, similar to DOM.

CSS Parsing by Jonas Schmedtmann

Both parsed HTML and CSS together form the so-called Render Tree.

With this, we finally have everything we need to render the page.

Visual Formatting Model is something that is used by the browser to actually render the page. It is the algorithm that calculates the boxes(box-model) and determines the layout of these boxes, for each element in the render tree, in order to determine the final layout of the page.

So finally, after the visual formatting model, the website is finally rendered or painted, to the screen.
If Religion Fuels All Conflict, What Fuels Religion?
By: Dave Olsen
Tags: World, Language, Religion, History, Intelligence

If Religion Fuels All Conflict, What Fuels Religion?

Religion was a testament to our intelligence, but now it’s a testament to our foolish inertia.

I’ll caveat the perhaps inflammatory and controversial statement in the title of this story: organised religion, fundamentalism, and militantism are to blame, not faith itself. Unfortunately, it’s rare for religious people to be able to avoid the influence of organised religion, and while many people would say of fundamentalists that “they’re not real Christians/Muslims/Hindus”, they do make up a worryingly significant proportion of those who report to believe.

If you need convincing, though, of the idea that religion causes all — or at least most — conflict, then I can only point to the fundamental tribalism which religion creates. It is a self-evident truth that having several different religions, mostly segregated from each other, leads to violence and war. Counter-examples are available, but oft subtly contaminated by the stain of religion.

And before someone screams that I’m an intolerant atheist who doesn’t understand religion, I’m counting atheism as a religion of sorts — an often tribal ideology.

Onto the key question: what fuels religion?

Today, religion is kept healthily on life support — it is still dominant in the world, but a little shifting of fault lines could change all that. Religion is no longer really fuelled by intense debate, scrutiny, prophecy, and originalism. It is kept alive purely by incubation: tight-knit religious communities, within religious sovereign states and regions, perpetuate religion with little challenge or consciousness.

Few ideas get in, and few ideas get out. Few people care to the extent people used to; religion is carried from generation to generation as a sort of tradition with little known purpose. In these communities, you are a Hindu because your parents are, and your parents are because their parents were.

Of course, that’s not to say that theological debates are now non-existent, or that many people don’t dedicate themselves to religion. Rather, the trend is that debate is more and more infrequent, and that conscious dedication is disappearing.
Get Ready for Viola.AI Public Sale: Buying Guide for ETH, BTC and Fiat
By: Christina Thung
Tags: Viola, Fiat, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin

It’s less than 1 day away to the start of Viola.AI Public Sale!

Click on these step-by-step guide for contributors who wish to purchase VIOLET tokens with:

3. FIAT (Credit Card via Paypal): Read here.
Can You Hear Me?
By: Melissa Bee
Tags: Poetry, Photography, Suspense, Short Story, Chance Encounters

FICTION

Can You Hear Me?

An interactive mystery

Photo by Melissa Bee

The walls of my throat contract with desperation.

Each inhalation holds a scream of undiluted fear.

Each exhalation attempts to reason — to calm.

The steps are getting louder —

closer…

Drenched secured palm

over Lilith’s mouth

eyes lock and gaze

feeling no tomorrow

a hunt for hope,

unknown,

if it will be the last,

tears flood —

flash.

Protector

intense pressure

other palm, over her heart —

an innocent one,

an unexperienced

panic.

The footsteps creep — sound

the next step

two,

loud now

vibrations

see here —

one,

scream released

none,

your —
And Now, a Monolith
By: Jack Shepherd
Tags: News, Art, Humor, Culture, Outdoors

And Now, a Monolith

Deep in a remote canyon in Utah, a strange monolith has appeared

All photos: Utah Department of Public Safety

The sudden appearance of a 12-foot-tall silver monolith in a remote canyon this week has been the source of some consternation amongst the Wildlife Resource officers of Utah’s Department of Public Safety (UDPS), as well as people everywhere who don’t expect monoliths. Most monoliths, from the pyramidion-topped tekhenu the ancient Egyptians built to celebrate the sun god Ra to the 555-foot obelisk erected in Washington, DC, to celebrate America’s first president, have been—to some degree at least—expected, but this one has come as a surprise.

The surprise monolith first made itself known to Utah authorities when UDPS officers were (rather adorably) counting bighorn sheep from a big brown helicopter. Pilot Bret Hutchings spotted the shining triangular prism as he flew over it and, according to local press, told his crew, “There’s this thing back there ― we’ve got to go look at it!” When it comes to sheep-counting in the Utah wilderness, there is no clear protocol for unforeseen obelisks, but our brave Wildlife Resource officers counted this one anyway.

According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, there are approximately 1,500 bighorn sheep residing in Utah, making the endangered animals significantly more numerous than the state’s sudden and mysterious polyhedral menhirs, which at present count is just the one. A press release from the UDPS announcing the monolith’s unanticipated appearance notes that it is illegal “to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you’re from,” and adds that the Bureau of Land Management is currently determining whether they need to investigate further.

But regardless of its provenance, purpose, or intention, there is now—surprisingly but unambiguously—a monolith.
5 Leadership Behaviors I’ve Learned from 2 Years of Data Science and Engineering
By: Rose Day
Tags: Technology, Data Science, Career Advice, Careers, Data

The last leadership skill that I have taken away from these experiences is understanding the value of having a mentor and being a mentor. I have found both to be incredibly beneficial for myself and the others involved. I gravitated toward adopting a mentor when I started my current job. In past positions, they assigned mentors, but the experiences were not useful. Either I didn’t feel the connection with the person, or it was an uncomfortable relationship I was forced into. In picking my current mentors, I gravitated towards individuals who had skills in areas that I wanted to improve. One had excellent communication skills and developed MVP projects, and the other excelled at envisioning the future and path forward. When I started to mentor months later, I sought out a mentee who was a woman at the start of her career looking to learn more about the STEM field.

5. Mentoring

Mentor and be mentored. Finding a mentor in data science can be a valuable asset. They are someone you can speak to about your challenges, successes, and career progression. Find someone you are comfortable talking to who can help provide you with the resources you need. While looking for a mentor, consider becoming a mentor for someone. This person may be someone younger or earlier in their career than you. It may seem stressful at first, but you have a story to tell, and you can help them along their path through what you have learned along with yours. No matter what stage you are in your career, you can get a mentor or become a mentor. Consider doing both and jumping out of your comfort zone.

Tip: Stay in touch with different organizations within your company who are frequently looking to pair mentors and mentees up. If you don’t have one, reach out to colleagues both within and outside of your organization to find a mentor/mentee. These individuals do not need to work in the same place to help you in your career.

Finding a mentor can help you in your career, and becoming a mentor can help someone else who is navigating their own. Learning to leverage both can help you traverse through your path, and help improve your leadership skills. Through these experiences, I have learned to assist others who come to me for advice or help.
Behind The Models: Dirichlet — How Does It Add To 1?
By: Tony Pistilli
Tags: Mathematics, Machine Learning, Bayesian Statistics, Data Science, Dirichlet

So How Does The Dirichlet Add To 1

The PDF for the Dirichlet distribution is below. Here θ is the multinomial category, and α is the vector or β parameters. The Betas are always Beta(α, 1) — there is no second parameter. Note that the resulting Beta-distributed variates will not follow a Beta(α, 1) — the β paramater is a function of the α vector. That may start to give some intuition about why the Dirichlet adds to 1 — as the alphas grow bigger. The resulting Beta-distributed variates follow Beta(α, (K-1)*α) where K is the number of values in the α vector. Have a go at it yourself:

x = np.random.dirichlet((1, 1, 1), 100000)

for n in range(3):

a, b, l, s = beta.fit(x[:,n], floc = 0, fscale = 1)

print(a)

print(b)

The form of the PDF for the Dirichlet gives a first glimpse at how it ensures that the Betas add up to 1.0. Here θ is the multinomial category, and α is the vector we’ve been working with.

A practical implementation uses the Gamma distribution (recall that relationship between the Beta/Gamma: B(α,β)=Γ(α)Γ(β) / Γ(α+β)) and is easy to intuit. First draw an independent Gamma(α, 1) for each Dirichlet variate, then average them out to 1.0 to produce Dirichlet-distributed variables.

a = 3

n_ = 5 y = [np.random.gamma(a, 1, 100000) for i in range(n_)]

y_sum = [sum([y[x][i] for x in range(n_)]) for i in range(100000)]

x = [[y[x][i] / y_sum[i] for x in range(n_)] for i in range(100000)]

x = [[x[i][n] for i in range(100000)] for n in range(n_)] for i in range(n_):

plt.hist(x[i], histtype = u'step', bins = 300, normed = True) a, b, l, s = beta.fit(x[0], floc = 0, fscale = 1)

As an aside, this also affords a great opportunity to use some robust list-comprehension: I’ve been salivating over this article for about a month.

The Infinite Case — The Dirichlet process

In the previous article we arrived at a Dirichlet process, which is slightly different than Dirichlet distribution. A Dirichlet distribution can be expanded to have an infinite number of variates via a Dirichlet process.This is another fact that I waved my hands about that might have offended your intuitions.

The way to think about a Dirichlet process is that each pull from it is itself Dirichlet-distributed (not Beta distributed, though of course draws from a Dirichlet distribution are Beta distributed). So unlike the Dirichlet distribution above where each variate

The process is possible because we can iteratively generate a new variate, so we don’t actually generate infinite variates, but we create a framework where we could always create more variates if needed. In this case we can’t use the Gamma trick from above because we can’t divide by the total sum, but we can be assured that if we went onto infinity we’d never end up with variates adding up to more than 1.The formula is reproduced below — p(i) is the Dirichlet variate — V(i) is an intermediary variable.

Below we generate the first 3 variates in a Dirichlet process:
Vitalik Buterin speaks
By: John Fenton
Tags: Investing, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

Vitalik Buterin speaks

https://carbonwallet.com /and we listened! (took us a while but better later than never)

Back in 2013 when we first put out the beta of carbon wallet Vitalik reviewed our crypto storage service and made a few valid points that we have now incorporated into the finished article

Check out what he had to say back then and then sign up for the new and improved version!

Sign up today for free https://carbonwallet.com/
A Ghetto Christmas (By Edgar Alan Ho)
By: William, Dollar Bill
Tags: Poetry, Booty, Culture, Sex, Porn

A Ghetto Christmas (By Edgar Alan Ho)

Adapted from an old classic

photo by author

Here’s a take-off on the classic I used to post every year on my escort blog. I’m not a poet — and I know it. But this has a certain disgusting and depraved appeal all its own!

Twas the night before Christmas I was pulling my crank

Not a creature was stirring not even a skank

The stockings were “hung” by the chimney with care

But nary an escort to blow me was there

The hozzizz were nestled all snug in their beds

With visions of slave boys giving them head

And mama in her kerchief and I in my hat

Checkin’ her booty yo dat shit’s phat!

When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter

It was Cherokee Da Ass with her shit even phatter

Away to the window I flew in a flash

As tired as I was I just had to see dat ass

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow

Made the perfect setting for that phat-bootied ho

When what to my wondering eyes should appear

She’s clapping her booty for a male porno peer

With rock hard rapier he pounded her good

As she screamed her approval and woke up the hood

He stuffed her insanely and spewed all things racial

And then he withdrew and gave her a facial…

That’s enough of that! A Merry Christmas to one and all!
Edie’s Three
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: Hard Work, Hope, Self Love, Top 3, Life

Go Ahead And Get Your Hopes Up

This piece is something I absolutely needed to read today. I’ve been feeling off for a few days; not really myself, and not knowing why. And reading this article by Shaunta Grimes make me realize what it was: I was talking and preaching hope, but I wasn’t feeling it or believing it.

We’re all taught from a young age, to not get our hopes up as it will only set us up for certain disappointment. But why not hope? Hope is magic! Hope is like the sprinkles on the donuts — it’s like this magical fairy dust that makes everything seem brighter and prettier, and makes your heart soar. So hope as much as possible! If you fail, you fail. But if you succeed without hope, your victories won’t taste quite as sweet.

Don’t Trust The Process

I’ve heard this so many times, in so many different contexts. I’ve said it so many times myself! ‘Trust the process.’ And at the time, it feels right. It makes sense.

But reading this story, I’ve not only found another new-to-me brilliant writer to follow, but Nicole Peeler has also opened my eyes to a whole new concept. The concept of not ‘trusting’ the process, but to rather engage with it. This has renewed my drive — I’m going to polish my turds until they shine!! Okay, that has to be a new hashtag. If it isn’t already, I’m doing it! #polishtheturd

I’m 80 Years Old And Fighting Slippage. Here’s Why You Should, Too

This one struck a really hard chord with me tonight. Like a rear-back-give-it-all-you-got hard wake-up slap in the face. One doesn’t have to be 80 to fight the slippage — or even to recognize it.

Helen Cassidy Page hit the nail directly on the head with this one. I saw myself in nearly every line (except the open bathroom door; my bathroom is so small that if I don’t close the door, I can’t sit on the toilet!)

Why do we let our standards drop, at any age? We should take pride in ourselves. In the way we live, the way we carry ourselves, the way we dress. When does it become okay to stop caring? Another reason it hit me really hard, was that earlier today I had a conversation with my best friend. It was silly, really. She’d read my article about being barefoot (link below article), and commented that she loves her cozy socks and thinks they’re also sexy.

My response was “I don’t care about sexy.”

Why not? Isn’t that part of self-love and feeling good about yourself? Why should I not care? So thank you, Helen, for this bucket of cold water — it was desperately needed!
BFX IEO Round 1 on ProBit Exchange sells out in just 90 seconds!
By: Bitfex Exchange
Tags: Trading, Blockchain, Announcements, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

The first IEO round of BFX, IDAP project’s rebranded token, went live today, August 26, 2019, at 3 AM GMT. The BFX in this round, sold out in just one and a half minutes, showing the high demand among the community!

Many who may have missed out on round 1 will get a chance to participate! The second round of the IEO will go live on ProBit exchange on 30th August 2019 at 6 AM GMT.

About BFX

BFX is an ERC20 token that powers IDAP Ecosystem’s exchange, Bitfex. The tokenomics of BFX have been designed to transfer maximum value from the business to the token holders.

There are several benefits of holding BFX:

For Retail Traders: HODL a minimum number of BFX and get rewarded with Zero-Fee Trading

a minimum number of BFX and get rewarded with For Institutional Clients: HODL BFX and get rewarded with Free Master Account

BFX and get rewarded with USE BFX to pay trading fees and get 50% discount

BFX to pay trading fees and get HODL BFX and get free access to the desktop trading application

BFX and get to the desktop trading application HODL BFX and get early access to various exchange events, referral programs and more

BFX additional features:

Dis-inflationary in nature : BFX equivalent to 20% of revenue will be burnt till supply reaches 500 million BFX

: BFX equivalent to 20% of revenue will be burnt till supply reaches 500 million BFX BFX priced at a minimum of $0.03 while calculating trading fees

Benefits for IEO Participants

BUY & HODL 100,000 BFX and get commission-free trading

42% Bonus for participants buying using PROB

40% Bonus for participants buying using USDT, BTC, ETH or XRP

About IDAP

IDAP is the first complete crypto derivatives ecosystem, whose exchange Bitfex will go live on bitfex.com, introducing users to low-risk trading instruments like crypto spreads and butterfly, along with a highly advanced desktop trading platform that sports the revolutionary point-and-click ladder trading interface. Through its institutional grade infrastructure, diverse product line and trader-friendly platform features, the IDAP ecosystem will attract traders and investors of all kinds to its exchange.

About ProBit

ProBit is a global exchange that offers fast and reliable trading engine and hardware security keys that match more than 1. 5 million orders per second and only provides the users with promising, qualified, and worthy investment cryptocurrency projects.

ProBit recently established the Korean branch to support KRW transaction.

ProBit Global: www.probit.com

ProBit Korea: www.probit.kr
Tonight’s Comic Found a Really Good Cat Sitter
Tags: Pets, Comics, Cats, Friendship, Selfie

More from rstevens Follow

I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans.
Bancryp presents the first Brazilian barbershop chain to accept Bitcoin
By: Ramon Oliveira
Tags: Xbanctoken, Bancryp, Bitcoin, Blockchain

Bancryp, the first Brazilian cryptobank, keeps being a pioneer and continues with the expansion of partnerships throughout Brazil.

Florianópolis’ VIP Barbearia, one of the largest chains in Brazil, brings a unique concept in an atmosphere made for those who are looking to have fun while taking care of their image. This is also the first barbershop to accept Bitcoin as payment in Brazil.

In a confortable atmosphere, besides getting your hair cut and your beard groomed stylishly, you can also have a beer, play pool and videogames and just enjoy the cozy shop. Everything in a humanized way, with technology and very capable professionals. And what’s even more innovative: all the customers can pay for the services with Bitcoin!

For Daniel Simas, one of the owners, Bancryp brought a great revolution: “having the opportunity to be a pioneer in such a growing market in Brazil and the world is very unique. Joining this technology and the well-being our customers feel through our services is incredible and innovative. True success!” highlights Daniel.

Bancryp is following its expansion plans which intend to reach millions of Brazilians and offer the unique and real experience of using Bitcoin on daily life simply and with high technology.
ILLUMINATION-Curated
By: Dr. Deborah M. Vereen
Tags: Schools, Education, Students, Pandemic, Parenting

It’s not a good idea for parents to give their children too much down time during the holiday break.

Educators everywhere have reported struggles with student engagement in their school work during the pandemic. School disruptions have caused a lot of this because of the shifts from in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning. Some of this is due to some of the circumstances that have confronted families due to the corona virus. In some instances, parents have not held their children accountable for participating in online instructional activities.

The holiday break would be a great time for families to establish schedules for their children to get caught up with their missing assignments.

Here are some of my additional thoughts about this topic.