fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Machine Learning: Black Magic to Science
By: Vishal Pani
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Machine Learning

3. Projects and Implementation

Just knowing lots of stuff and gathering knowledge from several different sources is not enough, if one wants to have proper grip on topic making projects is of utmost important. So after choosing course,language and learning all the stuffs everything should not come to halt because we are having no idea of how to or from where to do projects. The following are some beginner friendly projects that you can try!

1. Predict Stock Prices

First, you have many types of data that you can choose from. You can find prices, fundamentals, global macroeconomic indicators, volatility indices, etc… the list goes on and on.Second, the data can be very granular. You can easily get time series data by day (or even minute) for each company, which allows you tothink creatively about trading strategies.

Finally, the financial markets generally have short feedback cycles. Therefore, you can quickly validate your predictions on new data.

Some examples of beginner-friendly machine learning projects you could try include…

Quantitative value investing… Predict 6-month price movements based fundamental indicators from companies’ quarterly reports.

Predict 6-month price movements based fundamental indicators from companies’ quarterly reports. Forecasting… Build time series models, or even recurrent neural networks, on the delta between implied and actual volatility.

Build time series models, or even recurrent neural networks, on the delta between implied and actual volatility. Statistical arbitrage… Find similar stocks based on their price movements and other factors and look for periods when their prices diverge.

Tutorials

Python: sklearn for Investing — YouTube video series on applying machine learning to investing.

R: Quantitative Trading with R — Detailed class notes for quantitative finance with R.

Data Sources

2. Teach a Neural Network to Read Handwriting

Whenever a person starts learning anything in AI usually the first idea that strikes is handwriting scanner/checker.

The MNIST Handwritten Digit Classification Challenge is the classic entry point. Image data is generally harder to work with than “flat” relational data. The MNIST data is beginner-friendly and is small enough to fit on one computer.Handwriting recognition will challenge you, but it doesn’t need high computational power.To start, we recommend with the first chapter in the tutorial below. It will teach you how to build a neural network from scratch that solves the MNIST challenge with high accuracy.

Tutorial

Neural Networks and Deep Learning (Online Book) — Chapter 1 walks through how to write a neural network from scratch in Python to classify digits from MNIST. The author also gives a very good explanation of the intuition behind neural networks.

Data Sources

MNIST — MNIST is a modified subset of two datasets collected by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. It contains 70,000 labeled images of handwritten digits.

3. Gesture keyboard
A Clann at Christmas
By: Paul Myers Mba
Tags: Poem, Poetry, Christmas, Life, Family

A Clann at Christmas

Families are the circle of life

No clann is beyond strife

Connections can end

But often mend

Driven around the bend

A hand to help and lend

An eclectic blend

That I recommend

Well wishes to you I send

As love can never end

“My father’s people say that at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon, their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body, from which was to spring all life. And he drew forth from her breast the stars, and the stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul. So there’s the Cameron’s monument. My folks’ too, I guess.”

— Hawkeye: Daniel Day-Lewis, Last of The Mohicans.
How to Ensure Security for Your Remote Workers
By: The Carrera Agency Designing North
Tags: Cybersecurity, Remote Working, Information Technology, Covid 19, Leadership

How to Ensure Security for Your Remote Workers

Remote work is more critical than ever: Five infosec leaders share five timely lessons.

The way we work changed in response to COVID-19. The “new normal” is here to stay. Today, ensuring security for remote workers is more critical than ever. Organizations across the globe must rely on the IT department for technology solutions, especially as they relate to remote work.

During a recent virtual forum hosted by SIM San Diego, four CISOs and one Director of Cybersecurity discussed how their organizations are ensuring security for remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group revealed trends in cybersecurity best practices and compliance among technology teams. You can use their feedback to gauge how your team is handling its response to business continuity concerns in this new-normal world of virtual collaboration.

1. Trust your communication and self-help documentation

Source: Gary Hayslip, CISO, Softbank

Gary Hayslip explained that Softbank was 100% cloud when COVID-19 hit. Aside from partnering with HR, their IT processes remained intact — business as usual. Most employees worked off a laptop and used Saas tools in the office, so preparing for the work-from-home environment wasn’t too tricky.

As a cloud-based company, initial action included using desktop apps for IT support. Employees with a laptop needed nothing more than login credentials. This feature connects remote workers with live help and immediate information to combat potential security or device issues.

However, Gary’s tech team also deploys self-help documents, which they regularly push out to staff. The dual-action approach decreases support tickets and reduces fatigue among the IT team, allowing them to focus on more important projects.

A cybersecurity leader for the company, Gary continuously educates the company on critical security threats. And today’s biggest threat is highly-targeted phishing attempts: malicious parties hide behind COVID-19 emails, a fascinating subject in anyone’s inbox. So Gary’s team engages staff members to demonstrate what to look for when spotting risky emails — it’s a game of education and constant communication.

Gary believes that communication is the most essential factor when ensuring security from remote workers. Open and easy-to-use tools empower people to seek help in potentially harmful situations. Tools such as Slack and video conferencing are a must for any security team.
Soul compass
By: Laura Black
Tags: Self Improvement, Poetry, Poetry On Medium, Self-awareness, Love

We have a soul compass

with us at all times.

It’s right in the middle of our chest.

Follow it always.
Chanel is opening its first stores in Israel
By: Micol Debash
Tags: Chanel, Jef, Luxury, Fashion, Israel

French fashion chain Chanel will soon open a store in the TLV Gindi shopping mall in Tel Aviv, as reported by Globes.

The new 80-square-meters store in the TLV Gindi shopping mall will be the first one to be opened. Following, Chanel will also open a store in the Ramat Aviv Mall.

The two stores will sell Chanel’s accessories and personal care products.

The French brand was brought to Israel by the Alpha group, managed by Ronen Shamir. The Alpha group indeed imports cosmetics from a wide range of brands, including Chanel.

According to Globes, Chanel’s sales totalled $9.6 billion in 2017, with an operating profit of almost $2.7 billion.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream.
By: Alex Myers
Tags: Music, Battles, Ice Cream, Advertising

by Martin Farrar-Smith

Rule #2 when soundtracking an ad. If you can’t get an obscure Folk singer to do a cover of an 80s classic, just use ‘Ice Cream’ by Battles.

#1. Fifa 12.

#2. Vision Express.

#3. Tesco.

#4. Bupa.

Am I missing any?!
Finding the meaning in bitterness
By: Joel V Zachariah
Tags: Emotions, Life Lessons, Purpose, Vision, Life

Finding the meaning in bitterness

Unclogging your mind to see why it hurts and learning from it.

It is not easy. It never was and it never will be. That rejection that you did not expect. Or the unexpected response to something trivial and predictable in nature.

Confusion fills the mind and failure is a word that keeps reappearing while trying to comprehend what just happened. Yet, a very few of us manage to see beyond the gloom and dull time and understand what went wrong. This reinforcement to their belief makes them stronger tomorrow.

We live our lives avoiding failures — which makes it harder when it comes at an unexpected moment. Sometimes it is alright to cry. Sometimes it is alright to feel weak. Sometimes it is alright to feel vulnerable. It is only human to feel that way and natural for the course of life to traverse ups and downs.

But years later when we look back, you will see that it was these better moments that made you stronger. It might have felt unfair back then, but circumstances will reveal to you what you missed and what it might mean for the rest of us.

We learned why we should not touch fire by daring to feel the flame of the candle. An act of foolishness and it might leave scars, but if you are willing to look beyond the pain and find the reason, you will find the unspoken message between the lines.

It is said to experience greatness, one must endure true bitterness. Hatred paves path for revenge and anger but forgiveness and introspection will help you see beyond the horizon and find the core reason before the sun sets so that you may sleep in peace.

This is a big world where we live in. Every one is racing to the top and life is not fair. You might find over 99 reasons to crib about it, but if you hold firm to the one as to why you should brush it all aside and wipe your tears with a smile on your face, it will unlock an entire array of possibilities to pursue.

Forgiveness is a vital key at this juncture of life. When you feel bitter about someone for what they did or say, rage will blind your actions. Yet with some slow breathing and introspection, you will in time learn to forget the past.

Sometimes you will blame yourself for the trouble that may have been caused. None of us are perfect and these imperfections are what make us unique in many ways.

The key remedy to bitterness is forgiveness — of oneself and others. It is an art to practice and live by. You can either choose to live every day sulking about how unfair life has been to you or turn the coin to be glad for how things move favoring your purpose.

To conclude, remind yourself that we are together in this world to help and love everyone unconditionally.
Poetry…
By: Lichfield Vocations
Tags: Poetry, Maya Angelou

It’s World Poetry Day. Whether you love, like or are indifferent to poetry, there are those who feel compelled to write it and whose words become a shared way of expressing something that otherwise is inexpressible. The poet Robert Frost said “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” There is a story I really like about a journalist asking the ballerina Anna Pavlova if she could explain the meaning of a dance she had just performed. “If I could explain it” she said “I wouldn’t have bothered to dance it”. Poetry (and dance) aren’t just alternative ways of expressing something, they are ways to express things that can’t be shared in any other way. They give us glimpses of truth that can’t be grasped in other ways. According to Plato, “Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”

Poetry can be a powerful way of connecting with who we are, who we could be and what the world is like. Maya Angelou called the first part of her autobiography I Know why the Caged Bird Sings and in her poem “Caged Bird”, she compares the free bird “Who names the sky his own” and the caged bird who “stands on the grave of dreams”. The poem is a beautiful exploration of the opportunity and challenge of freedom and the constraint of being pigeonholed, or bird caged. Angelou writes that she knows why the caged bird sings, “The caged bird sings / with a fearful trill / of things unknown / but longed for still … for the caged bird / sings of freedom.

We are not constrained to what and where we are now. What we can imagine, what we sing of, what we long for are part of our reality. As someone who burst out of various cages, Maya Angelou expressed through poetry convictions that could not have been expressed otherwise.

Caged bird by Maya Angelou is at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/48989

LH and JH
What My Day Looks Like as a Full-Time Writer
By: Itxy Lopez
Tags: Creativity, Happiness, Self, Writing, Writing Tips

What The A.M Looks Like For Me

I wake up whenever I want — typically around eight. There’s no alarm, no rush, no chaos. I stopped setting an alarm because I realized I was still exhausted when I woke up. Since letting my body wake me naturally, I no longer struggle with keeping my eyes open while I write.

What I do first thing in the morning depends on my goals, projects, and my mood. One thing remains the same: whatever I work on first has to excite me. I learned a while ago to avoid boring projects that suck the life out of me straight away. It sets me up for a bad day and makes me feel less energetic.

A non-negotiable before I write — or rather, type — is stretching. I stretch my arms, wrists, fingers, and legs for about ten minutes because I’m terrified of reaching a point where it physically becomes too painful to write. (Seriously.)

Lately, I’ve been working on my book in bed, with a pencil and a journal. Sometimes I read, and other times I get out of bed and either write or edit an article. Sometimes with french vanilla coffee or hot chocolate for company.

However, if we’re being completely honest here, there are mornings when I screw up and check social media and email for about ten to fifteen minutes, which is the worst way to start a day. It puts me in a bad mood and it’s a complete waste of time. I try to break that habit as soon as I realize I’m doing it. I enjoy working and being creative first thing.

Then, from ten until noon, I eat breakfast, get ready for the day, and hang out with my family.
Lending
By: Sankaet Pathak
Tags: Banking, Loans, API, Fintech

We are finally announcing our much-anticipated loan origination and servicing product. This product is currently available in sandbox for testing and feedback.

With our Loans product, developers can issue and service short-term unsecured loans. Currently, we will be supporting one-time loans and revolving line of credit. Here are the differences between both:

One-time loan: These loans are disbursed to use at the time of origination. Once the user pays the loan, the loan account is closed. A good example of this is Affirm. With Affirm, consumers get a loan at the point of sale and then over the course of next few months, they pay off the loan. Revolving line of credit: This is like a credit card. Consumers get approved for a line of credit which they can draw against and as they pay off the balance, they can draw more. This is what Final was trying to do.

In the future, we will enable issuing a card number on top of these loan accounts, which would essentially turn these accounts into credit cards.
63. The Northwest Air
By: Del Singh
Tags: Poetry, Poem, 100 Naked Words, Love

I take a deep breath and let the crisp air fill my lungs. I hold it in to let it my body enjoy its pureness.

Exhale.

Give it back to the earth.

My body elevates and I soar towards the carpeted trees. I spread my arms and fingers and let the cold air pierce my skin.

I rest my hands behind my head as I turn my body towards the sky. I cruise passed the trees with my face staring at the sky.

The ice cold breeze makes it hard to breathe. I take in every breath and smile.

What a magnificent place to fly.
When the Night Falls
By: Lorna Ye
Tags: Moments, Poetry, Nature, Poetry On Medium, Life

The last thread

of honey-hued sunlight

stretches across

the edge of sky,

reluctantly fades in

the thickening darkness.

Hesitant birds

loiter on the

vibrant branches

and hum in the

wavering cool air.

Their silhouettes cast

neat shadows,

against the translucent night canvas,

like dark-colored cutouts

on flimsy paper,

with the finest detail.
Installing CUDA and cuDNN on windows 10
By: Akshay Sinha
Tags: Image Processing, Python, Cuda, Deep Learning

Installing CUDA and cuDNN on windows 10

This is an how-to guide for someone who is trying to figure our, how to install CUDA and cuDNN on windows to be used with tensorflow.

It should be noted that at the time of writing this, tensor flow is supporting only upto CUDA version 9.0 and corresponding cuDNN libraries so please don’t download CUDA 9.2.

Installing CUDA 9.0 on windows.

Pre requisites :

NVIDIA GPU with compute capability of > 2.0 . Check your GPU here

Download CUDA version 9.0

Please note if your connection permits, please download the local version. That saves you from sitting around waiting for download to finish at the installation time.

The download should be ~ 1.4 G. Once the download finishes, launch the installer and follow the defaults. It takes around 10–15 mins for installation to finish. Pleasy verify the files at the default install location after the installation finishes: C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v9.0

Installing cuDNN from NVIDIA

First of all, register yourself at NVIDIA Developer site. Its an free registration and takes only a couple of mins. From there, the installation is a breeze Once registered, goto the download page and accept the terms and conditions. POst this download cuDNN v7.1.4 for CUDA 9.0

Once the files are downloaded locally, unzip them. Installing cuDNN is pretty straight forward. You just have to copy three files from the unzipped directory to CUDA 9.0 install location. For reference, NVIDIA team has put them in their own directory. So all you have to do is to copy file from :

{unzipped dir}/bin/ --> C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v9.0\bin

--> {unzipped dir}/include/ --> C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v9.0\include

--> {unzipped dir}/lib/ --> C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v9.0\lib

That’s it.

Testing it with tensor flow

Install tensorflow-gpu using pip3 install tensorflow-gpu . Once that is done, fire up a python console do a from tensorflow import * . If you don't see any errors, we are good.

Another way you know that your GPU is being used by executing a keras model and having it use tensorflow as its backend. So at the runtime, you should see a message like this :

Happy coding
📌 Re: “DPoS is too centralized”
By: Spencer Noon
Tags: Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Tezos, Cryptocurrency

📌 Re: “DPoS is too centralized”

It’s all about trade-offs

It’s pretty common these days to hear the critique that Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) protocols are too centralized with respect to block creation. In today’s post I’d like to push back on that a bit — some DPoS protocols actually have extremely decentralized block creation.

As with many concepts in computer science, it’s all about tradeoffs, and this applies to different DPoS systems as well. Here’s a simple diagram to illustrate the biggest tradeoff for DPoS:

Simple tradeoff in a DPoS system

As you can see, the more delegates you have, the slower your network will be, and the fewer delegates you have, the faster your network will be.

I think the “all DPoS systems are centralized” critique mostly stems from thinking about EOS, which only has 21 delegates called Block Producers. EOS Block Producers will likely resemble corporate data centers with massive computing power — so the network will be able to process thousands of transactions per second — and there is an argument to be made that the network will be less censorship resistant because of this.

But one DPoS protocol that should be quite decentralized in terms of its block creation is Tezos. In Tezos, users with at least 10,000 XTZ can “bake” (that’s the Tezos term for stake) in the network. For users with fewer than 10,000 XTZ, they can delegate their coins to a baking pool which will allow them to create blocks too. With a total supply of ~760 million XTZ, the Tezos network will be able to support up to nearly 80,000 delegates at launch, and although the network surely won’t have that many bakers when it’s live, it will probably closely resemble the decentralization of the Ethereum Casper ecosystem, which has individual stakers plus staking pools like 1protocol. This bodes well for Tezos’ ability to be censorship resistant, however, it comes at a cost to throughput — the network will only be able to support ~40 transactions per second.

Want Provably Neutral in your inbox every day? Sign up here. And hit me up on Twitter if you have any feedback on today’s post!
Why Trolley Problems Are the Least Interesting Ethical Dilemma
By: Mckinley Valentine
Tags: Politics, Philosophy, Technology, Life, Ethics

Ethical dilemmas for interpreters

In each of the following scenarios, you are an interpreter hired by the public service, meaning you are not working for the police, but neither are you working for the accused. You’re meant to interpret neutrally and faithfully.



1.

A man suspected of murder is being interviewed by the police. He denies any involvement in the crime whatsoever. The interviewing police officer leaves the room for two minutes.



The man becomes agitated and tells you: “Look, it was an accident. I only wanted to scare her. I’m not guilty.”



The officer comes back with his coffee. What do you do?



2.

At a police station in an Eastern European country a young man on a stag-night trip from England is being interviewed following a street brawl which he had apparently initiated. A police officer tells him that he faces a prison sentence but adds that ‘there’s another way of dealing with this situation’ and leaves the room for a short time.



You are aware that the young man has just been invited to offer a bribe but he has no idea this is the case. What do you do?



3.

A French woman originally from Lyon is seeking a divorce from her English husband, who had cheated on her and wouldn’t let her work. The judge grants her the divorce but has to decide on the amount of financial settlement she is to receive from the respondent. The judge asks her about the market value of the house she has kept in Lyon. She says it’s worth ₤30,000 but, a native of Lyon, you know that this kind of property is in fact worth at least ten times more.



What do you do?



…



We would agree, I think, that interpreting includes cultural context as well as the literal word-for-word translation — you would translate an idiom into a relevant one in English — but does “cultural context” include house prices? Or the fact that a bribe is being offered? Does “neutrally” translating the bribe request make you complicit? In the first scenario, does “neutral” mean not translating anything that wasn’t intended to be said to the police? I think that one’s relatively easy because a death is involved, but what it if it was a less serious crime?



These scenarios all come from the Centre for Forensic Linguistics, and they’re based on real situations that have happened. The CFL is using them to point out how little ethical guidance is given to interpreters, and to call for more.



Their work is endlessly fascinating: they were called in as expert witnesses for a guy who said parts of his testimony had been faked — the cops had written extra bits in the margins and blank lines after he signed it. Case study is here, pulling apart the differences between the two parts of the document [PDF].



I also enjoyed their breakdown of Malicious Communications [PDF] into:

Threats: Personal

Threats: Professional

Abuse: Unclear justification

Abuse: Clear justification

(justification meaning they gave a reason, not that the reason seemed fair enough to the linguists)
Week 248: The Meal
By: Aaron Charles
Tags: Food, Short Story, Thanksgiving, Cooking, Marriage

This was the day. Due to COVID-19, our usual family Thanksgiving gathering had been changed. It would be difficult to forego the time with family, but we knew that safety was the top priority. So Sarah and I planned a full Thanksgiving meal for the first time. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, rolls, two different desserts, and even homemade gravy.

For a recipe of this magnitude, we’re stretching the aperture of our usual Cooking With Sarah experience. Obviously, the Thanksgiving meal came on Thursday. But don’t worry — the cooking adventure still lasted until Sunday.

This was going to be a new adventure, but there’s no one else I’d rather share it with than my Sarah.

The Big Day

Thanksgiving dawned with morning sunshine and the growing realization of the task that lay before us. We had been thawing the turkey for multiple days already. The prep work had begun in earnest long before the morning light came. But now was the time to kick things into high gear.

Not long before Sarah began buttering the turkey, we realized we didn’t have any garnish to cook in the tray with the turkey. Sarah looked up a recipe and found one that called for oranges, so off I went to the store. This would prove to be a fortuitous decision later on.

When I got home, I went right into chopping up the oranges. Sarah took the orange slices (a few of which were only slightly oversized), and stuffed them in and around the turkey, along with our gluten-free stuffing. Then it all went in the oven to roast for a few hours.

Sarah was a whirl of action — moving around the kitchen from one thing to the next. In the midst of it all, I took a moment to pause and take the day in. We were making the full Thanksgiving meal together. This was a big deal! In that moment, I stopped to give thanks for this life and the fact that I get to share it with Sarah.

The turkey wasn’t the only highlight of the day though. Usually, when we’re all together for Thanksgiving, Sarah’s Mom makes deviled eggs. This is my favorite dish at the Thanksgiving table. So, of course, we had to try our hand at making them this year. Sarah outdid herself! They were just like I remembered, and we ended up snacking on those for most of the day.
Neighbors
By: Tre L. Loadholt
Tags: A Cornered Gurl, Neighbors, Poetry, Weather, Helping Others

She's limping —

Struggling to tie bags

Of goodies to her hand

And tug them like a boat

To her apartment.

I back in,

Shove my car into park,

Zoom past the others, and

Shout to her, "Leave them,

Let me help!"

I remember that even in

Old age

Some do not want hands,

Other than their own.

Then, I ask,

"May I help?"

She stops —

The bad leg dragging to

Keep up with the good,

A fake competition

For first place in

Number of surgical procedures

Performed.

She smiles at me, thankful

That I pulled in

When I did.

"You were going to try to do

This all by yourself, weren’t you?"

She smiles again.

We reach her door,

The cane perfectly in place

Waiting for her return.

"Well, if I didn’t need that cane,

I could’ve done it by myself, Tre."

Now it’s my turn to smile

Because I see that independence

Has no statute of limitations.

There is no aging out

Until your body

Dies long before you do.

And even then,

You soldier on.
Visualizing in Vancouver
By: Niklas Elmqvist
Tags: Conference, Data Visualization, Research

At the end of October this year, visualization researchers from all around the world will gather at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada for the annual celebration of world-class visualization research known as IEEE VIS. The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at University of Maryland will be among them with a strong showing of six full papers at the three flagship events — IEEE SciVis (scientific visualization concerned with spatial and volumetric data from engineering or medical applications), IEEE InfoVis (information visualization involving abstract data with no given visual representation), and IEEE VAST (visual analytics that combines visual interfaces with automatic algorithms and machine learning methods) — as well as papers in co-located workshops and symposia. Read on for more details.

Papers at the Main VIS Events

Our paper on “Common Fate for Animated Transitions in Visualization” (to be presented on Wednesday, October 23 in Ballroom B) studies the so-called Gestalt Law of Common Fate, which states that people will perceive objects that behave in the same way as belonging to the same group (i.e., they have the same ultimate fate). Consider, for example, a flock of birds traveling in a formation with a shared goal. The traditional meaning of this has been for the objects to move at the same speed and direction, but in the paper we note that similar behavior could also mean that they grow or shrink — or change color — in a similar manner. We investigated this using a crowdsourced study where participants were shown four circles under the influence of two conflicting synchronized behaviors: position, size, and color. We found that motion indeed yielded the strongest grouping, but that changing size was more dominant than changing color and proximity to other circles, and that changing color was more dominant than static size.

Election map animation. The circular dots represent election data per state. The dots change in size and color to convey the change between 2012 and 2016.

To test these findings in a more realistic situation, we also had participants use an animated scatterplot and a thematic election data map (see above). While this study confirmed many of the earlier results, we also found that the relative grouping strength depended on the specific visualization used.

We wrote a separate HCIL Sparks post on this paper: On Groups in Graphs.
What Industries Will Be Next to Adopting Data Science?
By: Samuel Noriega
Tags: Data Science

It’s no surprise that data science will surely spread to more industries in the next couple of years. So, which of them would probably be the next ones to hire more data scientists and benefit from big data?

We looked at five very different businesses that are starting to benefit or could benefit from data science and how exactly can big data better help them achieve success in their fields.

1) Sports

If you saw the movie Moneyball you might know why big data is important to baseball and sports in general. Nowadays, for instance, many NBA teams collect millions of data records per game using cameras installed in the courts. The ultimate goal for all these sports teams is to improve health and safety, and thus performance of the team and individual athletes. In the same way that businesses seek to use data to custom their operations, it’s easy to see how these two worlds can crossover to benefit the sports world.

2) On-demand services

Uber gets attention for its growth and success that came mainly because how the company uses data. The Uber experience relies on data science and algorithms so this is a clear example of how on-demand services can benefit from big data. Uber continues to succeed because of the convenience that its data-driven product provides. Other on-demand services should look up to Uber’s example for their own good and follow up with relying more on data science.

3) Entertainment industry

In this era of connected consumers, media and entertainment businesses must do more than simply being digital to compete. Data science already allows some organizations to understand their audience.

A once content-centric model is turning into a consumer-centric one. The entertainment industry is prepared to capitalize on this trend by converting information into insight that boosts production and cross-channel distribution. From now on it can be expected that those who provide a unique audience experience will be the only ones to achieve growth.

4) Real estate agents

We continue hearing that the housing market is unpredictable, however some of the top real estate agents claim they saw the housing bubble burst coming way back (think again of movies, exactly like in The Big Short). It’s easy to obtain this information from following data and trend spotting. This is a great way for this volatile industry to be prepared for market shifts.

5 ) Restaurant owners

This business field is the epitome of how important it is being able to tell what customers want. According to the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association, restaurants face another big obstacle besides rent, licensing and personnel: critics, not only professional but amateurs who offer their opinions on social media. The importance of quality is the reason why restaurants are beginning to use big data to understand customer preferences and to improve their food and service.
What is the Scoville scale all about?
Tags: Rancho Bella Vista

From wikipedia:

The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat (or piquance) of a chili pepper. The number of Scoville heat units(SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes; pure capsaicin has a Scoville rating of 16,000,000 SHU.

The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville. His method, devised in 1912, is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. The modern commonplace method for quantitative analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography, making it possible to directly measure capsaicinoid content.

Here is a list of Chile peppers and their Scoville Heat Units. Due to variations in growing conditions, soil and weather, peppers tend to vary between the lower and upper levels listed, but can go beyond them.
Let’s Play The Security Gamebook
Tags: Privacy, Cybersecurity, Encryption, Crypto

Today the common use of internet encourages the spread of our data: checking your mails, sending messages, downloading files, shopping online etc.

Most of the services you access to, require to unveil, register and store your data online. A significant portion of that data is sensitive information, for which unwanted access could have serious consequences. Particularly in crypto.

Cyber security is therefore one of the most important matters you have to deal with.

Blockchain.io gives you the first steps to follow through the security gamebook: a short security oriented decision-making game.

Take a deep breath and find out if you master the basics of cyber security!

Ready?

👉Imagine that you are walking down the street.

You have some cryptos stored on a Blockchain.io wallet so we can say that I am now next to you, carrying your bag of coins and tokens.

1. A stranger stops in front of us, and suggests to take your bag because he’s an expert. He promises to give it back to you with interests. What would you do ?

- You follow him: Go to 0.

- You don’t follow him: Well done. Beware of “phishing”. Always check the URL (https + domain name) of the website you are connected to.

2. You can’t remember your secret code to open your wallet full of cryptos so you share it with your family. You realize now that your brother-in law has always been a bit weird…

- You eliminate all your family and friends. Go to 0.

- You pick a password that you can remember. Well done. You also set up a 2FA to confirm with your phone each time you log on the platform and secure your mailbox. (Want to know more about 2FA and how to implement it?)

3. While we’re walking together, a group of junkies try to steal your bag (that I am still carrying, remember?). Fortunately, I’m used to it and master martial arts like Jacky Chan in a kung-fu movie.

- You trust in my abilities to protect the bag. Go to 0.

- You anticipate risks and move your cryptos into a hardware wallet when you don’t need to make trades. Well done!

4. In the street, we meet Cristiano Ronaldo coming the other way, you ask me to take a picture. As your phone was turned off…

- We have to be fast! You give me the PIN number. Go to 0

- You don’t. Good choice ! During SIM swapping attacks, an adversary only needs few information (PIN number, recent numbers called, street address, date of birth,…) to take control of your phone and then your accounts.

0. ☠️ Game over! You put your cryptos at risk (or yourself).

To sum up:

• Always check the domain name and url on the websites you visit

• Pick a strong password and set up a 2FA (how to implement a 2FA)

• Always look for the most secure solutions, like an hardwallet.

• Keep a strong control on who has access to your information, even the least important ones!
No, 25-Year-Old Life Coach, I Don’t Want to Buy Your Course
By: Amber Radcliffe
Tags: Business, Money, Aging, Self, Success

No, 25-Year-Old Life Coach, I Don’t Want To Buy Your Course

Your success can’t be replicated by me.

I hate being told how to succeed by life coaches under 25. Is that petty? Maybe a little. But it’s impossible to not see the influx of young, very successful 20-somethings who feel compelled to teach the rest of us washed-up 30-somethings how to follow our dreams.

Ugh.

Before you call me sour grapes, I should clarify something first: I do not envy them for their success. They worked with what they had, and did well. They’ve achieved a level of financial comfort I can’t even imagine. Good for them. I hope they take the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The one thing I do not want them to do is to sell me a course on how I too can achieve what they did by following the same steps. Because, spoiler, I probably won’t. Neither will most in my age bracket.

Put it this way: if any of the above is true about you, don’t sell me the “Here’s how I made it story.”
Instant Sponsor Partners with Esports Arena
By: Mike Murphy
Tags: Blockchain, Esports, Sports, Sponsorship, Cryptocurrency

Los Angeles, CA (January 16th, 2019) — Instant Sponsor, a blockchain-powered sports sponsorship platform, has formed a partnership with Esports Arena.

“Instant Sponsor is excited about the opportunity to partner with Esports Arena,” Anthony Puntoriero, founder and CEO of Instant Sponsor said in a statement. “Esports is projected to become a $3-billion industry by 2022. And sponsorships are projected to be a substantial revenue stream for the industry, making this partnership a no-brainer.”

Puntoriero was citing a report made by Goldman Sachs in 2018 that projected the growth of Esports to surpass the $3-billion mark by 2022. That report also stated that Esports will have more monthly viewers than the NFL and compete on a global stage with football and F1 for the most-watched sport on the planet.

In 2015, the Esports Arena, the first venue dedicated to competitive gaming in North America, opened its doors in Santa Ana, California. Over the next few years, Esports Arena expanded to Oakland, helped Allied Esports in creating Esports Arena Las Vegas and ESA Drive, and partnered up with Walmart to bring esports competitions and events to Walmart shoppers.

Esports Arena’s locations run league nights during the weekdays and larger tournaments on the weekends. Open play hours will exist daily for customers to train together, try out a new gaming product or game, or practice for an upcoming match. All arenas will be equipped with OVERPOWERED PCs, which were developed specifically for gamers by Esports Arena, and are available exclusively on Walmart.com

“We are very excited to be working with Instant Sponsor to keep finding new and innovative ways to bring new revenue streams to the Esports Industry,” said Tyler Endres, the co-founder, and CEO of Esports Arena.

More about Instant Sponsor:

An average of 30 percent of sponsorship inventory goes unsold across professional sports each year. Instant Sponsor addresses this pain-point for athletes and teams by acting as a conduit between sponsors and rights holders.

Instant Sponsor’s patented algorithm — Campaign Consultant — allows sponsors to match with sponsorship opportunities based on desired budget and target demographics…ensuring a return on investment. Once matched, rights holders and sponsors and negotiate and transact all without leaving the Instant Sponsor platform. And since Instant Sponsor is backed by blockchain technology, the transactions made on the platform will be secure and instantaneous.

Before transitioning to a blockchain platform, Instant Sponsor had a 4-year operating history as an independent agency with some notable clients including PGA Tour, WTA, Shanghai Masters, Dallas Mavericks, Sky Sports, Staples, and Mercedes Benz.
No, cryptocurrency is not dead — here are 5 reasons why
By: Tom Underwood
Tags: Bitcoin

There is a lot of debate permeating the internet about whether cryptocurrency is dead. The price of Bitcoin has fallen 65% from it’s 2017 highs and we’ve seen a total cryptocurrency market cap fall from $1 trillion to $260 billion.

Former diehard Hodlers have returned to full-time gaming and our grandparents have stopped asking us about this “Bitcoin” thing. But is cryptocurrency really dead?

Here are 5 reasons why it’s not:

1.Cryptocurrency prices rose exponentially and declined slowly. Usually bubbles form and burst in the opposite direction — steady increases over a long period of time and a sudden crash. This happened in infamous crashes such as the 1987 Black Monday, Dot Com crash and 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The most recent cryptocurrency trend has been a staggered decline, about three times longer than its rise. A slow decline is more indicative of healthy correction rather than an absolute crash.

2. The blockchain and smart contract technology remains intact. There was no Bitcoin security breach, no superseding technology, nor any threat that renders Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies useless. The supporting phenomenon that popularised cryptocurrencies in the first place is better than ever and represents an alternative to the legacy financial systems (and other systems) that we have in place today.

3. We now have over 24M blockchain wallet users worldwide. This is a 15% increase since the end of last year, which has occurred even during the declines of the last few months. This also represents an almost 100% year-on-year increase of wallet users worldwide.

4. More businesses than ever are accepting cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services. This doesn’t just include major companies such as PayPal and Expedia, it also includes an influx smaller businesses as well (see list of businesses accepting crypto payments here). Cryptocurrencies are also the preferred method of payment for internet based freelancers which are becoming an increasingly important economic engine of the digitised 21st century.

5. We’ve been here before. For those who have been involved in crypto for longer than a year have experienced at least one major fall in the price of Bitcoin. This is not our first rodeo and it is certainly not our most significant crash either.

A more convincing argument to why crypto is alive and well, is that we still don’t know who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Until we hear it from the horses mouth, there is no reason to assume that cryptocurrency is going away any time soon.

Whoever Satoshi is (I personally think it was Nick Szabo, see reasons why here), he created an amazing gift and has left it for humanity. More important than arguing over whether cryptocurrency is dead, is arguing over who is going to play Satoshi Nakamoto in the blockbuster Bitcoin movie!
New Moon’s Night
By: Jane Woodman
Tags: Free Verse, Poetry, Moon, Night, Mabon

New Moon’s Night

free verse for Mabon

Photo by Ryan Clark on Unsplash

New moon’s night:

Emptied mind

Even heart

Wordless

Peace in the dark.

May my mind wax

My words return

My heart enliven

As the moon grows again

Until Mabon erupts

In harvest

In celebration

In shapely wish,

Then dive again

Into deeper cold

Into meditation

Into wisdom of Winter.

Love the low cycle

As we do the high

Waiting for the spirit’s return

And the new season’s crops.
Siemens Cybersecurity: Trust in a secure network
By: Kayleigh Shooter
Tags: Cybersecurity, Technology

We take a closer look at Siemens Cybersecurity, and how the company is committed to the safety of its customers.

Cybersecurity is at the heart of every business, with Siemens being no exception. In an ever-evolving digital world, cybersecurity is at the heart of every business and at the front of everybody’s mind. Cybersecurity threats arise every day and companies and people have to continuously adapt to overcome these dangers and not fall victim to the threats. Siemens is dedicated to protecting its clients against these ever-rising threats.

Siemens takes cybersecurity threats seriously, they say that a large number of advantages of today’s ever-adapting and increasing digitalized and connected world comes with a dangerous price: Cyberattacks have become a serious threat, more serious than ever — affecting our day to day life and not only just data anymore.

Cybersecurity is a rapidly changing and evolving battlefield that requires awareness, continuous vigilance and resilience, and a consolidated response from all people involved. Siemens has a holistic approach to combating cyber threats. The company is a trusted partner to many high fledged technology corporations, the company’s expertise in and knowledge in partnership with international standards allows for the company to pave the foundation for a long-term security partnership. Siemens has joined forces with leading technology corporations from around the world to form the Charter of Trust.

The company’s interoperable products and solutions meet and excel the strictest cybersecurity requirements for secure communication, protection of data integrity, access control, and consistent monitoring.

The company has over 30 years of experience in cybersecurity, meaning it brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to its customers to help fight against cyber threats. In an article by Siemens, a spokesman for the company says “In addition to its focus on industrial customers, Siemens also provides cybersecurity services to suppliers, power grid operators, and the healthcare sector.” So not only does the company help combat cyber threats in the technology industry, but it has branched its operations out to other industries.
Golden Chain Gladiators
By: Talk To Warlock
Tags: Songs, Freedom, Music, Rap, Life

Like Doomed gladiators, we’re never free

We kill or die, no way to flee

Cause men yeah we’re made o’ meat

We all fear him…

The grim reaper, these cold streets

We know God’s round the corner…

n we scared to meet

You’re livin too, so you know the deal

To keep him away, you too would steal

Even a life… ya we could kill

But we freeze when we move

Cause comfort ya it keeps us still

So Come on put on that golden chain

Look all around you…just be the same

No? Uh-oh you’ve gone insane!

Promised me I’ll be free…one more win

These endless hoops, we jumpin in

Just Wanna be free…but NO thats a sin

You know, I think it’s all a lie

yo games ain’t fair, fuck it I aint gon’ try

Never those chains… ya I’d rather die

Our fears are loud

We hear em’ whisper

They too strong… but please remember

Kanye, Hopsin, Jordan

Freddie, Michael, Rogan

Ali, Tyson, Eminem

you believe… and YEA you will ascend!

But Come on put on that golden chain

Ya you don’t need it, dont really need your brain

Look around you…just do the same

No? Uh-oh you’ve gone insane!

Searchin for a reason

Somethin to gain

wish I could live my life

YA FUCK YOU! I’m still sane!

Now just playin… my own game

it kills me though… You’re all the same

Alzheimers…only remember your name

I wanna be free, live out my passion

I wanna make love, wanna die laughin

I’ve always thought that was the way

But maybe it’s time, I’ll go away

COME ON BITCH

DONT EVER surrender

never give in to greed

Luxury? nah we’re all you need!

We’re all winners, not too long ago

The hardest race…

we all won, heres a reminder

Mommas egg, first place n we blow

YOU CAN! DO IT CHAMP! COME ON! GO!

Come on put on that golden chain

Talkin bout them feelins gain

Look all around you…you can be the same

Take some pills ‘fore you go insane

But I say dream darlin, hope’s all you need

Find your light n join me

Let go, I promise you will see

We’re all one baby

Shockingly…free