fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Peace & Perspective
By: Debbie Aruta
Tags: Writing, Poetry, Hiking, Woods, Poem

The woods are dark, they go for miles.

They are filled with paths to rest my soul.

The woods are quiet, full of peace,

while in my outside world, turmoil hunts me.

The woods welcome me in warmth and grace.

They protect me from my outside strife,

They get me to an ethereal like place,

pulling me deeper in their home to stay.

But the woods to me, mean I am home,

they need not lure me in too deep,

they give me rest and time to recharge.

Love pours forth in this magical place.

A Peace & Perspective flood my soul,

Long tall pines on all four sides.

Everyday life gone for a short while.

This is a gift given from the trees.

The woods are haunting,people ignoring all it offers,

They ponder the deep dark woods, but never enter.

Some may attempt to feel their soul,

but fear of the unknown scares them,

it scares them right back out into the light.

A gift given back, fear beating in their hearts,

the woods abandoned for an office.

Come back call the woods,for there is nothing to fret,

you are welcome in this exceptional place.
Only money can
By: Tyrone Graham
Tags: Writing, Written Tales, Poetry, Poetry On Medium, Poem

If you enjoyed this feature, show your love by letting the author know.

Helping Support Writers!

Please follow the author and Written Tales to continue to read more wonderful tales like this. Thank you for your kind support and don’t forget to subscribe to the Written Tales Weekly!
Answering Legal 10 Day Free Trial Breakdown
By: Frank Cordeira Jr.
Tags: Lawyers, Call Center, Virtual Assistant, Law Firm, Attorney

Watch to find out everything that’s going to happen during your 10 day free trial! Answering Legal fully integrates with your firm, without changing your current infrastructure! Sign up for a no commitment free trial today! www.answeringlegal.com
How To Trust Yourself Fully
By: Zaid K. Dahhaj
Tags: Psychology, Trust, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Relationships

The vast majority of people struggle with trusting themselves fully which is pretty sad when it is contemplated upon. This is why it is so important to practice the art of trusting oneself within our own lives.

Why don’t we trust ourselves fully?

There are a number of reasons why we don’t trust ourselves fully. Let’s explore them below:

Negative Influences

Many of us have negative environments and influences around us which cause us to lack belief within ourselves and, therefore, not trust ourselves fully.

These negative influences must be removed at all costs because they are holding us back from our full potential in our lives. Make the decision to cut them out, no matter how emotionally difficult it might be to do so.

This is your life quality at stake.

No Proven Track Record

Many people don’t have a proven track record of disciplined action. As a result, they don’t see themselves as disciplined individuals and as people who can trust themselves fully to do things.

Understand that trust in one’s self comes about when we say that we’re going to do something and we stick with that commitment.

This is why I personally keep track of my disciplined behavior through various methods such as tracking through an app called Streaks and written forms of tracking as well.

Cultural Manipulation

Culture wants you to stick to a certain, rigid path and stay in your lane. They do this through various methods of manipulation via media, advertising, so on and so forth.

Think about it, if you become your own individual who has standards, then you likely won’t fall into the trap of consumerism which is what culture wants you to walk into.

Separate yourself as an individual and avoid cultural hypnosis.

Ego

The ego doesn’t wan to change and just wants you to remain within your comfort zone.

For the vast majority of people, a lack of self belief and trust is within their comfort zone because they have become victims within their lives. This becomes a vicious cycle that runs on the fuel of unhealthy momentum.

Understand your ego and practice a detachment from its impacts on your life.

These are just a few key reasons why we don’t carry a full trust within ourselves. Below, we’ll discuss the impacts of what this means for our lives in terms of results and manifestations.
When Nirvana and Pearl Jam Stood Up for Feminism
By: Matthew Reyes
Tags: Featured Rock, Feminism, 1990s, Music, Rock

Feminism and rock music have always had, at best, a spotty relationship. There was the horrific Led Zeppelin “mud shark incident,” 1980s hair metal (all of it), and even punk — with its ideal of complete inclusion — has had an awful history of misogyny.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t exactly been a ton of music that counteracts this ugly strand of rock’s history. Very few rock songs that have championed women’s empowerment have become bonafide hits. During the Women’s Liberation Movement there was Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” and Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, both of which hit the top of the charts. There was also countless songs in the 90s that people related to as quasi-feminist anthems — No Doubt’s “Just a Girl,” Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know,” and Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” to name a few — but these weren’t exactly political in any explicit sense. And that’s about it when it comes to feminist hits.

The most famous wave of feminist rock was the Riot Grrrl movement, led by Kathleen Hanna and her band Bikini Kill, originating in Olympia, WA in the 1990s. But as influential as the movement was and despite the massive amounts of media coverage it received, it was basically an underground scene. Unless you count Sonic Youth and Hole — both of whom were associated without being full-on Riot Grrrl bands — L7’s “Pretend We’re Dead” is the only thing resembling a smash to come out of the movement.

What’s often forgotten, however, is that Nirvana and Pearl Jam were feminist through and through. As the years go by, their very public attacks against sexism in the early 90s look even more remarkable than they did at the time. They were the two biggest bands in the world and they stood up for feminism in ways that today would set the internet on fire. And they were men! But they welcomed the challenge, practically egging on anyone who disagreed with them.

Although they’re mostly remembered for destroying hair metal and making mainstream rock respectable again, they should be recognized for using their platforms as the two biggest bands in the world to stand up for women’s rights. No one else on that big of a stage has come close in rock history.
客座演講：勞動檢查（職業安全衛生署 鄒子廉署長）
By: 高紹芳 Christine Shào-Fāng Kāo
Tags: Study Notes, Policy, Sociology, Labor, Public Health

in Both Sides of the Table
Traffic Sounds
By: Nalini Macnab
Tags: Wisdom, Nature, Awareness, Silence, Life

Photo by Kat Nelson on Unsplash

They’re baaaack. It’s a bit sad, really. I didn’t miss the engines revving, the backup beeping...

This morning is allegedly the first morning post-shelter-in-place in my county. If that order has been extended I didn’t get the notification. Oh, wait, I turned off my phone. {insert fiendish grin here}

This morning, the open window let in both the pre-dawn freshness and the sounds of motorized vehicles! It was so nice while they were absent. I woke to birdsong and, okay, a skunk yesterday, but his/her visit was random. Burying my nose under the covers, I waited out the stink. That is one powerful molecule! The cat was not amused.

And, yes, we need our motorized vehicles. Infinite heartfelt blessings to those who have driven during this time, to provide transportation and deliver necessities. Gratitude for the mechanisms that allow us to travel without wearing out our moccasins.

But, this morning, I treasure the moments of stillness between the streaming gnash of highway not so far away. The clatter and clash of what are presumably resumed construction projects. Will they never end?

I would rather feast on the sunrise chorus of birds, the pink glow on the front range, and the peace that nature provides. Every. Day.

The cat has already made his dash for the bird bath, accosted the trunk of his claw sharpening tree, and raced back to the door, hopeful of treats.

Shutting the windows now. I so prefer the stillness as a way to greet the day.
Code Smell 19 — Optional Arguments
By: Maximiliano Contieri
Tags: Clean Code, Code Smells, Programming Languages, Programming, Software Development

The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.
Jaded
By: Imλbөпg Fλmiпц
Tags: Poetry, Poems On Medium, Poetry On Medium, Reflections, Poem

POETRY/REFLECTIONS

Jaded

Post-COVID reflections

Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash

I know you think I am jaded

And I think I know why

You are perpetually confounded by my post lockdown attitudes

My love of solitude, silence, brevity, and abhorrence for drama

Even though my introverted ways are no secret to you or me

You wonder why I am in no hurry to resume the pre lockdown

Patterns, attitudes, stressors, and harried existence

You suspect I cover up my people exhaustion with a veneer and appearance

Of soul searching; mind building, internal conversations, and quiet solitude

It is a liberating realization that former patterns, methodologies, beliefs, Lifestyle habits, pressures, and culturally accepted right doing can be a trap

And stumbling block to growth, productivity, and the attaining to

Lofty ambitions and grand life purposes

The sweet taste of rest

Of mind, body, soul, and spirit

Uncovered the barefaced lies the rat race has fed us

The blatant falsehood that we must work till we drop

To enjoy the good things and simple joys of life

The sober realization that we must come face to face

with the man in the mirror and be hit with some blistering home truths

- we do not know ourselves as we thought we did

- we do not know our loved ones as we thought we did

Lockdowns, stay-at-homes, work-from homes, and social distances

Provided the much needed reset we did not know we needed

to save us from ourselves

The chance to challenge the status quo — Look it in the eye

and declare without fear ‘You are outmoded, stagnant and in need of overhaul and replacement’

To risk an honest, bold, fear-inducing, and jarring inventory of our lives

And face some hard and bitter truths

A somber thing to realize but change has been screaming all along

Unfortunately for us all, she was drowned out by the louder voices of life and living

2020’s searing upheaval ravaged like a refining fire

A raging conflagration consuming all and sundry in its path

But hope shines through and calls us anew

For out of the ashes shall sprout

New hopes, new dreams, new courses to chart

New goals, new ambitions, new heights to aspire

New vistas, new resolutions, new life paths to attain

And endless possibilities and opportunities to explore

We must therefore go forth in victory

To conquer and win so that we emerge at last at the other side

Fully formed and fulfilled into the new day and dawn

© Imabong Faminu, 2020
Jared Dexter
By: J. Garcia
Tags: Memories, Death, Eulogy

I’m trying to understand it. And I wish it was called pain. I’ve been so numb all day. Jared Dexter was one of my soccer players. He died yesterday. The principal came over the PA system and tearfully informed the students, staff, and faculty that Jared had passed away, had died.

People asked me if I knew him and I said yes. He was a good kid. I said it over and over today. He was a good kid.

And then it hit me, how unfair that was to him. He was an excellent young man. Good and nice those words ring hollow when I think about him.

Jared was kind. There was this one game where one of our starting players forgot his socks. Jared wasn’t starting and while the other nonstarters ignored the player, Jared took his own socks off and gave them to the kid. I reprimanded the team and told them to follow Jared’s example.

And he was well-mannered. He has inquired about my daughters for the last three years almost every week. I can hear him calling out my name in the hallways. He had—it is difficult to speak about him the past-tense but I can’t find any other way of shaking this numbness off, I need to write—he had this particular tone when he called my name out, “Garcia!” His parents brought him up well. I knew because his dad was one of the only parents at the games. I knew because his dad was the only parent that offered to use his vehicle when we didn’t have the bus for a tournament. I know because he spoke often about his dad and it was with love.

Don’t get me wrong, he was a little bit clumsy—maybe not clumsy, maybe I don’t have the right word right now—sometimes but that was part of the package. I would joke with him because he was always getting injured, but he tried. He would try so much.

Jared Dexter came up to me after we had made the boys run 45 minutes one day and he said, “I wanna keep running because I need to build endurance.” He had walked a couple of laps. He knew that he lagged behind his other team-mates but he wanted to catch up. He wasn’t envious. He was determined. If you know soccer kids you know how much they hate running. I said no, but he insisted. While the other boys stretched he ran.

He was funny. He didn’t take himself too seriously but he took other people seriousy.

Jared Dexter, you will be missed. You will be sorely missed.
Tommy’s 20 New Year’s Resolutions for 2020
By: Tommy Paley
Tags: Humor, Satire, New Years Resolutions, Funny, Self Improvement

Tommy’s 20 New Year’s Resolutions for 2020

by Tommy Paley

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

So, it’s that time of year again.

You know the time — the one where we feel bloated and exhausted and pressured to work on becoming better versions of ourselves.

The time where we are strongly encouraged to put out these resolutions to the world so that everyone can have a grand ol’ laugh and silly ol’ Tommy who couldn’t keep his promises once again.

For the record, here was last year’s attempt

Well, here goes nothing. Warm up your cheek muscles now.

I, Tommy Paley, resolve to
2019 In Review — We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You 🎊
By: John Maduforo
Tags: Futuresoft, Digital Agency

As we celebrate the New Year and new decade, we are also looking back on 2019 with gratitude for the victories we had, lessons that stretched us and made us grow and relationships we built that made the year truly special.

Yes, you guessed it! 2019 was AMAZING!! Here are some highlights…

We trained 1000+ CEOs and business owners in the past 18 months

We had an eventful year as a team and through our partnerships, we helped African businesses and young leaders in different capacities learn about Digital Marketing and Digital Transformation. These essential Digital Skills will allow them to leverage Digital to grow their businesses and make an impact in their communities. Here are some highlights…

Wimbiz Capital Training Session on Digital Transformation
Megan Fox Responds to the Resurfaced ‘Sexualized at 15’ Interview
By: Jessica Lovejoy
Tags: Culture, Equality, Women, Celebrity, Sexuality

Megan Fox Responds to the Resurfaced ‘Sexualized at 15’ Interview

While this may sound like celebrity gossip to some, as a sexual assault survivor, this news feels personal.

(Transformers director Michael Bay and actress Megan Fox) Source

In 2007, the massive blockbuster hit Transformers was released, starring Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf, and directed by Michael Bay. Megan Fox, then 21-years-old, played the breathtakingly gorgeous sidekick/love interest Mikaela Banes, to LaBeouf’s nerdy character of Sam Witwicky. Transformers made $709 million worldwide, and the live-action film thrust its two stars onto the cover of every magazine cover that year.

Fox and LaBeouf came back for the sequel, Revenge of the Fallen (2009), but when the third installment of this popular franchise was announced, it was announced Fox would not reprise her role of Mikaela Banes.

It was a shock to fans everywhere to see Fox walk away from the franchise that gave her her big break.

“It was her decision not to return. She wishes the franchise the best.” But for those who remember the Megan Fox interview in 2009, there seemed to be a much simpler answer as to why Megan was parting ways with the franchise. And it felt more like they had fired her for this interview.

About director Michael Bay, she said in an interview with Wonderland Magazine:

“He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it’s endearing to watch him.”

These comments are rumored to be the reason behind her alleged firing by producer Steven Spielberg even though he’s denied these claims.

After this Wonderland interview, she was “canceled”.

Everyone talked about how ungrateful she was to the director of the movies who launched her career. Following the release of the third movie without her, Fox was known as a “Katherine Heigl” type (a woman complaining about the movie/directors that brought her success). The movie industry deemed her as problematic — canceled before the internet decided they would and could cancel whoever they wanted.

This is what I remember of Megan Fox and why she deserved to be canceled.
Bite-Sized Fiction: Sluggish
By: Quinn Cooke
Tags: Fiction, Short Story, Bite Sized Fiction

Dunno…think Slug looks like a rabbit, or some mutant worm. What do you guys think?

One bright and dewy morning in the garden, Snail met Slug. Snail looked at his cousin and grinned.

“Good morning, Slug!”

Slug said nothing. He chewed on his breakfast of cabbage and tried to ignore Snail.

“My, my,” Snail said. He shifted so the sun glinted off the colors of his shell. “Isn’t the sun glorious today? It shines so prettily off me. Where is your shell, Slug?”

Slug said nothing.

Snail shifted again so that more of his shell shone.

“Too bad you don’t have a beautiful shell to live in,” Snail said. “What do you do when it gets too hot? Or when it rains? Where do you go when Frog is hungry?”

Slug said nothing.

Snail laughed and wiggled his shell so that the sun reflected into Slug’s eye. The glint caught the eye of passing Crow. In a flash of blue-black feathers and a scream of terror, Snail was carried off.

Slug said nothing, and continued to eat his breakfast of cabbage.

The moral of the story: Clothes make a man.
How Much Do The Crème de la Crème Earn on Patreon?
By: Frederik Bussler
Tags: Gig Economy, Data Analysis, Podcast, Data Science, Data

How Much Do The Crème de la Crème Earn on Patreon?

What to aim for.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

The passion economy has been a growing trend in recent years, with the explosion of platforms like Medium, OnlyFans, SubStack, and Patreon. It started with platforms like Uber and Airbnb, that let people monetize their cars and their homes. Today, you can monetize anything: Your blog, your emails, your videos, or even your body.

The Great Depression 2.0 has catalyzed this trend, as we’re spending more time online, and people are looking for additional sources of income.

Patreon enables over 200,000 creators to get paid from their most loyal fans. As with every passion economy platform out there, the typical creator doesn’t earn much. The monthly median take-home revenue on OnlyFans is $136, most Medium writers and Patreon creators make less than $100 a month, and the median earner on Fiverr makes $60 a month.

In short, the average creator shouldn’t expect to earn more than a bit of ˢᵐᵃˡˡ ᵇˡᵃᶜᵏ coffee money. But what’s possible if you shoot for the top? I found data on the top 1,000 Patreon earners — roughly the top 0.5% —and analyzed it with Apteo to see how much the best earn.

World-Class Earnings

The 997th creator makes $2,534 a month (this is the closest to the top 0.5%, as not all creators have monthly earnings numbers in the dataset). Their Patreon page has multiple tiers, which means they’re likely on the Patreon Pro version, with 8% fees.

Assuming a 30% tax rate on top of that, the monthly take-home pay for a top 0.5% creator is around $1,600.

Let’s skip to the top 200. There’s no earnings data for the 200th earner, but #201 makes $14,752 a month. Assuming 8% Patreon fees and a 40% tax rate, the monthly take-home pay for a top 0.1% creator is around $8,000.

What about the true crème de la crème — the 1% of the 1%, or the top 0.01%? There’s no data for the 20th earner, but #19 makes $61,868 a month. Assuming 12% (Patreon Premium) fees and a 50% tax rate, the monthly take-home pay for the top 1% of the 1% is around $27,000.

Below, we can see the top 20 monthly earners (Patreon accounts with no earnings data are skipped).
And Then this Is How I Changed My Life This Weekend
By: James Altucher
Tags: Writing, Screenplay, Change Your Life, Daily Practice, Life

I love exploring new subcultures.

I’ve been involved in many slices of life over the past thirty years. For me, a new subculture is both an escape and a passion.

When you combine escapes with passions, money is a side effect. And love is a side effect.

I took two high-stakes subcultures: the hedge fund business, which I was involved in for about 15 years.

And the standup comedy world, which I first tasted twenty years ago but have been more active in in the past 1–2 years and probably obsessively in the past year. (I performed Saturday and Tuesday).

[Much more on this in a future article].

Also in the past few years several “high stakes” things have happened to me. Shaken me to the core. SHAKEN!

Forcing me always to apply my own advice to myself rather than to just stupidly just give it. To experience my own believes again and again.

Divorce. Money. And throwing out everything I own plus spending years moving from AirBnB to Airbnb.

Why did I move from Airbnb to Airbnb? I don’t really know. I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of owning anything. I wanted to have everything taken care of.

I wanted to be a voyeur on everyone’s life. I wanted to explore new places and neighborhoods as much as possible.

But because I did this for years, 100s of stories (both bad and good) have happened to me. From the horrific to the amazing coincidence, to just simply the amazing.

[More, more, and more on this in future articles].

It reminds me of Rutger Hauer’s monologue in his death scene in the first Bladerunner:

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. … I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”

And yes, I’m comparing myself to Rutger Hauer and Bladerunner. I give myself permission.

A friend of mine gave me advice recently. “It’s time to stop with the Airbnbs,” she said, “It’s creepy”.

We’re having lunch today. She’s saved my life before. So lunch is on me! Big spender!
Are You Writing This All Down?
By: Terri Mead
Tags: Sol2proj, Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Life Sciences, Biotech

This is not a drill. This is really happening.

If you had a well documented and tested business continuity plan, you are on solid ground.

If you did not, you are scrambling to get things into place to avoid complete financial disaster. If you are in life sciences, you may be getting technology in place to support remote workers for people who are not comfortable working from home.

If you are scrambling, might I suggest writing down everything that you are doing so that when we are through this, you can create the business continuity plan?

There’s nothing like the real thing to force action.
Keeping My Promise
By: Kim Smyth
Tags: Productivity, Practice, 100 Naked Words, Writing

delfi de la Rua for Unsplash

Well, it’s a rare occurrence, but my hubby is sick, ill enough that he even went back to bed…poor guy. So, I am taking advantage of the quiet time, to keep my promise to write a little something here every day. It may not be monumental or help anyone but me, yet here it is. Normally, on a Saturday we would be out running errands, having our “together” time. Today, it seems we are on our own, free to do whatever we want, so I am writing while I can.

Of course, I have been writing posts on my blog every day as well, fulfilling prompt challenges and/or posting about whatever is going on or seems important to me that day. The point is, to keep writing, practicing, and hopefully, getting better. I have to prove my point that I am in this thing 100% and that I will work my butt off to eventually have something to show for all this writing, a paycheck, a legacy…something. Maybe even a book someday-who knows? If nothing else, the daily practice keeps my mind, and my fingers engaged and productive…that has to count for something, right?!
‘Zero-Click’ iPhone Attack Exploits Flaw in Apple’s iOS Mail App
Tags: Apple, Hacking, iOS, Malware, Technology

The attack can be triggered without any interaction from the user, according to cybersecurity firm ZecOps. The hacker simply needs to send a specially crafted email to the Mail app that’ll consume your iPhone’s RAM.

By Michael Kan

Hackers may have been using a previously unknown iOS vulnerability to infiltrate people’s iPhones with a specially crafted email.

The flaw deals with the official Mail app in iOS. You can actually trigger the software to run rogue computer code when it handles an email that consumes a large amount of RAM, according to cybersecurity firm ZecOps.

What makes the flaw particularly scary is how the specially crafted email can trigger it without any interaction from the user. Instead, the attack will occur in the background as the Mail app loads the email. Hence, ZecOps is dubbing the vulnerability a remote “zero-click” attack.

The company has detected hackers abusing the flaw to target enterprise users, company executives, and other IT cybersecurity firms as far back as January 2018. That said, ZecOps couldn’t definitively confirm the attacks; the emails used to trigger the vulnerability were deleted from victim devices. Instead, the company relied on digital clues left over during the intrusions to reconstruct the attack vector. (In doing so, ZecOps also uncovered another iOS “out-of-bounds write” vulnerability, which the hackers likely triggered by accident.)

ZecOps information bar about the attack.

According to ZecOps, the zero-click attack affects iOS versions going back to iOS 6. However, the vulnerability does have some key limitations: It only works against Apple’s default Mail app, and not against other email apps, like Gmail or Outlook.

The vulnerability also can’t take over your iPhone. Instead, it has to be coupled with another attack to have any chance of hijacking the operating system. Otherwise, the vulnerability alone can do nothing but modify, delete, or leak emails from the Mail app.

The other limitation involves the specially crafted email. ZecOps said it developed a demo of the attack by using an email containing several gigabytes in plaintext — a huge size that exceeds the cap on popular email services such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Nevertheless, ZecOps said a hacker can use other tricks to trigger the vulnerability without sending a large email. Your iPhone also doesn’t need to download the malicious message in its entirety either.

According to Motherboard, Apple plans on patching the flaw in an upcoming release to iOS. Currently, the fix is only available in the iOS 13.4.5 beta release. “If you cannot patch to this version, make sure to not use the Mail application — and instead to temporarily use Outlook or Gmail,” ZecOps added.

Whoever is behind the attacks remains unknown. But ZecOps speculates government-sponsored hackers may have bought details of zero-click vulnerability from a third party. “We are aware that at least one ‘hackers-for-hire’ organization is selling exploits using vulnerabilities that leverage email addresses as a main identifier,” the company said.
We Need New Ways of Judging the Success of Websites
By: Choire Sicha
Tags: Metrics, The Internets, New York Times

We have such terrible metrics for judging websites! There’s income, and there’s traffic, and that’s about it. But neither of those take into account burn rate, overall expenditure or organization size, just for starters. One way to look at things might be: unique visitors per month, divided by employees. Size of staff is something of a predictor of size of traffic, it turns out! If you have no staff, you cannot make the traffic, for one thing. Obviously there’s a slight variable in this metric — which has to do with number of part-time contributors, freelance and marketing budgets and, of course, certainly at the big behemoth, unpaid contributors. Speaking of, let’s look at the Huffington Post!

The Huffpo has a staff of 203 (among those are 97 full-time editorial staffers), and they’re currently at 26 million monthly uniques (according to their numbers). That’s 128,000 uniques per employee.

The Daily Beast has 65 full-time employees (positively tiny in comparison), and, in November, 6 million uniques, as per Omniture. (comScore reports it as 3.7 million.) The Beast also doesn’t have “free bloggers,” and yet (using their numbers, of course), it still comes up with a pretty good 92,307 uniques per employee.

Slate is now doing 6.48 million uniques (comScore for July to September, as a three-month average). It has but 30 editorial staffers and counting the full team (some of which are shared across the Slate Group), they’re 42 people, coming in at a whopping 154,285 uniques per employee. Slate is also, you know, seven times older than the Beast — and all that time online makes for a nice stream of search results and archive pages.

What other ways can we start looking at what websites are and how they perform? Well, pay rate, sure (though try prying that number out of anyone).

Then there’s traffic versus site income, certainly. Take the HuffPo again — that’s $30 million this year, they say, and they were reporting 26 million uniques via comScore back in March, so let’s just totally ballpark it and say they did 312 million uniques this year. That puts their income at just about 1:10 with readers. Fascinating!

Don’t compare that to print, by the way: the print edition of the New York Times has, very roughly, just a million subscribers. How tiny and quaint, you think? Well, the news division of the Times Co. alone takes in — mostly from the print product — somewhere around $150 million… each month.
Web3 Wallet with Ethnamed Protocol
By: Andrey Stehno
Tags: Web3, Cryptocurrency, Wallet, Web Development, Bitcoin

Emails instead of hex-addresses and web3 interface for all cryptocurrencies

We’re glad to announce the deployment of open-sourced Ethnamed, which includes a wallet plugin for Chrome, a protocol for storing data on blockchain, and a set of smart contracts to govern interaction between the parties, in Ethereum mainnet. It is exciting to get proof-of-concept for Ethnamed and we’ve already got positive feedback on the project’s Producthunt page. Now Ethnamed is undergoing beta-testing stage before delivering more of what’s planned for Ethnamed.

Name Registration Process

One of our primary goals is to create a universal payment solution with an option to send funds knowing only the sender’s email or nickname. To some extent we fused the basic principles of Metamask ETH-wallet and Ethereum Name Service DNS, and extended the whole idea to using emails and nicknames to eliminate the need to use complex HEX-addresses. For example, a regular Ethereum address looks like this: 0x89205A3A3b2A69De6Dbf7f01ED13B2108B2c43e7, and the majority of crypto wallets work with such. Unsurprisingly, such addresses are easy to misspell and hard to memorize, unlike simple nicknames or an email like johndoe@test.com. Besides, Ethnamed allows users to link several wallets of different blockchain networks to one email or nickname.
Narcissistic Sociopathy of Wealth
By: Lester Golden
Tags: Wealth, Capitalism, Sex, Love, Relationships

Seeking Arrangement and tech bro CEO’s fashion metaphor (https://img.scoop.it/DaZm5V6L3u85ITN8TTCmnIXXXL4j3HpexhjNOf_P3YmryPKwJ94QGRtDb3Sbc6KY)

A perfect illustration of the narcissistic sociopathy of wealth that assumes absolutely everything can and should be bought. He ignores a single and fundamental moral symmetry: you get what you give. He wants to get the emotional high from discovering, young, innocent feminine energy that gives life, while giving nothing of himself but money, which he has beyond excess, in return. The Financial Times just published a piece on why billionaires make pathologically litigious neighbors about trivial stuff like trees that block a view and other superficial nonsense. Last September 26 Wired published “Why Rich People Are So Mean”. This guy fits that model to a T. I spent 20 years in the yachting industry dealing with guys like this and got to know the type very, very well. The crews on the yachts and private jets know all too well how these assholes assume that money buys them the inalienable right to be narcissistic, selfish spoiled and infantile. Talk to any yacht captain. https://medium.com/an-idea/narcissistic-sugar-daddy-ceos-lament-can-t-buy-me-love-d8e7fdb58959
Statement in Solidarity with the People of Puerto Rico
By: Jewish Solidarity Caucus
Tags: May Day, Dsa, Jewish Solidarity Caucus, Statements, Puerto Rico

On May First, International Workers’ Day, Puerto Rican unions, students, feminists and activist organizations called a general strike. When they attempted to march down Milla de Oro, the main artery of the downtown financial district where the headquarters of the unelected, congressionally-imposed, austerity-imposing Fiscal Control Board are located, police met them with tear gas and rubber coated bullets. Small children were tear gassed. A fruit vendor was shot nine times in the back with rubber coated bullets. After the protesters fled the tear gas, heavily armed SWAT teams rampaged through Rio Piedras, where a campus of the University of Puerto Rico is located, assaulting students and grabbing activists from homes where they were taking shelter. 20 people were arrested.

As Mercedes Martinez, the president of Teachers Federation of Puerto Rico, told Jesse Hagopian,

Today was a day of pure struggle. I just got home from going to the police stations to check on our people. They sent over 1,000 police to intimidate the protest. People are hurt and in the hospital. It was brutal. They chased students to their homes, entered without warrants, and arrested them. This is the class struggle.

This state violence in service of capital has continued beyond the original May Day protests and is an extension of policies that combine voracious pillaging by corporations and deliberate neglect of humanitarian needs by the U.S. government in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

We share their anger and disgust with the $73 billion of debt, much of it in junk bonds foisted by banks like HSBC and signed for by corrupt local politicians. We join them in repudiating the austerity imposed by the unelected fiscal control board and PROMESA. We support their struggle against the attacks on their education and infrastructure. We recognize that the educators on the island are fighting the same battle as the #RedForEd movement, in harsher conditions and with more at stake.

We stand in solidarity with the Puerto Rican people who are facing the combined attacks of colonialism, disaster capitalism, austerity, and two corrupt, comprador local political parties. We condemn not only the brutal repression of the protests that began on May Day of this year, but also the continuing history of imperialist domination and colonialist exploitation of the resources and people of the island. We condemn the silencing of voices demanding justice, on May Day and every day.

###
What Is Going to Happen to the Movie Industry?
By: Marie Eberle
Tags: Film, Business, Hollywood, Movies, Cinema

Unless you are working in it, the film and television industry might not be the first thing on everybody’s mind nowadays. But it goes without saying that everybody working in the business is being greatly affected by the current pandemic. Movie theatres across America are shutting down, and New York and Los Angeles, the two hearts of America’s movie-going world, are fighting to keep essentials going for their populace. But once the dust has settled and we have made our way through the current crisis, Hollywood and the entire movie business are likely to emerge fundamentally changed. Here is a small rundown of the different ways the coronavirus is changing the entertainment landscape around the world.

What happened to releases scheduled for the next few weeks?

Universal Studios reneged on the previously inviolable 3-month theatrical release window that has protected theatres from the threat of streaming services, and released The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma as Video-On-Demand (VOD) for $19.99 apiece. A24, on the indie end of the studio spectrum, squeezed the release of Kelly Reichardt’s new film First Cow just past the shutdowns and restrictions, and bagged a stunning $96,000 at the specialty box office on the first weekend. Focus Features did not do so well and made only $18,000 with Never Rarely Sometimes Always by Eliza Hittman.

Facing these figures and the increased need to keep people from meeting in larger gatherings, the move to VOD does not seem surprising. If anything, it’s stunning that smaller studios have not followed suit yet. However, this is a bad sign for the future of theatrical moviegoing, since studios and streaming services alike have been chipping away tirelessly at the 3-month window between theatrical and home release.
Où passent votre cotisation Ordinale ?
By: Un Ordre Pour Les Médecins
Tags: Politique, Cnom, Santé, Cotisation, Médecine

in Both Sides of the Table
Standing On Lies
By: Liza Donnelly
Tags: Lies, Trump, Propaganda, Election 2020, Politics

I am watching and drawing the Republican Convention. We know Trump lies, it is well documented. But almost every single speaker at this convention thus far — along with him — is lying about something. Twisting facts, and making stuff up out of whole cloth. Add propaganda, and what I am hearing is unlike anything I have heard before, except from despots, dictators and strongmen.

It is frightening.

And it is taking a toll on my psyche. I am an optimistic person, and trust people in a way that some might call naive. With this election, and the last four years, I find it incomprehensible and stressful that there are so many people in our country that exhibit racism, sexism, homophobia and hate.

I hope we can change. This stakes in this election cannot be exagerated.
Employee emporwerment in the workplace: the secret weapon
Tags: Empowerment, Empowering Employees, People And Culture, Employees, Software Development

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Most people are aware or at least know the basic concept of empowerment at work, which could be described as the process of giving employees authority, resources and freedom to make important decisions to solve problems. But do you really know why it is so important and how beneficial it can be?

The objective of empowerment is to enhance and train employees at work. To make this happen, the company should evaluate employees individually and define specific roles and skills in order to provide them with the required tools, such as training and information, as this will be the key to achieve the company’s objectives.

The principles which define empowerment are the following:

Authority & Responsibility - Assign authority and responsibility over tasks.

- Assign authority and responsibility over tasks. Candid Feedback - Provide timely feedback on the performance of the members of the process and recognize achievements in a timely manner.

- Provide timely feedback on the performance of the members of the process and recognize achievements in a timely manner. Trust - Trust your team and treat employees with respect.

- Trust your team and treat employees with respect. Training & Information- Provide the necessary training, information and any other tools to achieve the objectives and goals.

Once you have the basis and principles, you need to apply them accurately. Empowering is no longer a one-day process, but a step-by-step process. It is important to implement it progressively and continuously. To make this strategic tool work, you might need a change in the organization’s work culture. You should replace the hierarchical model of issuing orders from the highest level of the company. Teamwork should be strategically promoted, as it allows greater human and professional performance.There must be an environment of mutual trust as well as a united team spirit.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.”

So, what are the benefits of empowerment?

Improvement in teamwork performance .

. Higher level of productivity and production .

. Promotes quick decision making .

. Motivates employees to be taken into account and considered as an important part of the tasks.

At the same time, it brings positive results to the person as an individual, since it allows them to carry out a greater variety of activities; they are able to recognize their accomplishments, accept their mistakes and work on their improvements.

Nowadays, a job is no longer seen as a “ place to make money “. Now it has become embedded in our lifestyles and thus micromanagement is no longer seen as the correct course of action. As soon as we understand employees are not only hired to meet deadlines, but also to surpass expectations and to be part of the decision making process in order to improve the business, we will make sure empowerment is a profitable process for everyone.
Leading a risky business pivot
By: Organisation Solutions
Tags: Business, Podcast, Risk, Leadership, Growth

What does it take to lead growth successfully? Organisational psychologist, CEO and endurance athlete Dr. Alison Eyring has spent the last 25 years helping companies solve the people and organisational challenges of growth. She’s worked with all types of CEOs and business leaders across the world but it takes a special type of leader to successfully grow a business. She calls them growth leaders.

They seem to have that magic formula — that edge — that allows them to drive performance results today while transforming their businesses for tomorrow, and still keep people energised. And more importantly, how can you spot the leaders in your organisation that will drive business growth?

Growth Leaders is a new podcast where Alison looks at what it takes to successfully lead business growth, through conversations with some of the world’s best growth leaders.
PNG 2019 National Budget Data Visualization
By: Neo Malesa
Tags: Data Visualization, National Budget, Papua New Guinea

PNG 2019 National Budget Data Visualization

Visually presented, easy to understand.

This is a data visualization project I abandoned earlier this year. It is the previous Papua New Guinea government’s national budget for 2019. I didn’t complete visuals for individual sections except for the loans and grants, and also published a separate article for the tertiary and research institutions’ components. The link for that article is below. I found a few significant numerical errors which didn’t help when plugging in numbers to visualize because they didn’t balance out properly. I’ve decided to publish just the one sankey diagram and others here anyway.

Visual Summary of Budget 2019
The Ultimate Guide to Income Share Agreements
Tags: College, Higher Education, Learning, Education, Scholarship

A Lightning Quick Overview of What Income Share Agreements are and How they Work

ISAs are helping universities save money, preparing their students for the future of work, and most importantly, helping their students avoid unnecessary debt burdens.

Here is how income share agreements currently work for universities and their students:

The university agrees to provide an upfront payment to cover a portion (or all!) of a student’s tuition.

In exchange, when the student graduates and is able to find a job past a certain minimum income threshold, the student begins making a certain number of payments until they are finished. These payments are a small fraction of their salary. Once the student has completed the payments, they keep 100% of their salary.

Income share agreements provided less risk of students defaulting on their loans because they aren’t forced to pay a certain dollar amount every month — the typical arrangement in a traditional loan.

ISAs can help increase economic opportunity and educational access for students who might lack a creditworthy co-signer, which all too often locks out individuals from our higher education system. In effect, ISAs help democratize access to education in a way that our current post-secondary education finance system doesn’t.

To bring you and your team this guide for free, The Mission team partnered with one of the most innovative education technology companies in the world, Vemo Education.

Please feel free to print this guide out, share, and re-distribute it however you’d like.
Old Love
By: Carole Tansley
Tags: This Happened To Me, Haiku, Poetry, Love, Relationships

Haiku is a form of poetry usually inspired by nature, which embraces simplicity. We invite all poetry lovers to have a go at composing Haiku. Be warned. You could become addicted.

Follow
Everyday Battlestar
By: Gabe Gott
Tags: Poetry, Poetry On Medium, Office Chair, Literally Literary, Akron

Public Domain image by Skitterphoto/Pixabay.

I am the weight

of god’s wraith

crushing down on

this random

small-person

A black dwarf star

The faux-leather

of the armrests

has cracked

and flaked

down to the

stitching; it no

longer will

adjust, it is

frozen

in a slump

like someone

who stumbled

while trying

to escape

Pompeii

and is

forever

frozen

in the

worst

moment

of

his

life

I am crushing

the struggle

out of him

The last

echoes

of memory,

scars

from

the assembly line

A never

ending

spiral

into

the

abyss

Raindrops

from the

angry clouds,

threatening from

their perch,

waiting

to storm

down on the land

like enemy

paratroopers

polluting

the skies

Caught

in the shiver

of the cold war

Capitalism’s fist

smashing up

every approaching

enemy

I crush every

last impulse

from the object

of my wraith,

then throw it

away

And I sit

here

eagerly typing,

inspired,

just going

about my day

French presses

and table wine

and herbal

remedies,

flushing out

the toxins

of living

with more,

better,

toxins

Inhaling

the nicotine

from the drag

of a mentholated

slave master, I

realize my error,

I am not using

these products,

these products

are using me
Winter Break Musical Madness
By: Sarah Thomas
Tags: Music

Winter break has officially begun. Yesterday, I was inspired to record a cover song. As previously stated, I have a fear of public singing, although I love it. I also love karaoke.

Earlier this year, you may remember I tried to get out of my head and post something. No dice.

Yesterday I went on a music bender that also included car karaoke of Rihanna which I have yet to work up the nerve to share. First though, I was inspired to do a cover of Crush by Zhane. After a lengthy battle with myself, I have decided to post it.

This was done in one take, so it’s not polished. Also I’m not the best at mixing but it’s ok. I did 2 takes for the backup vocals because the first time they were way too dominant.

I will try and do more over break. Maybe a song a day but that might be too ambitious. I’ll try to do some original stuff because I haven’t recorded any of that in probably 5 years.
Twilight
By: Sean Zhai
Tags: Time, Inspiration, Psychology, Poetry, Relationships

Sign up for American Haiku Steamship To Writing History

By American Haiku

Writing takes practice. American Haiku is a great way to put your words from your fingers to your piece of paper. Don't quit, you can do it. Take a look