fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
9 Tips for Trimming and Tightening Your Digital Copy
By: Dan Brotzel
Tags: Editing And Proofreading, Digital Content, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Content Writing

9 Tips for Trimming and Tightening Your Digital Copy

#8: Don’t be afraid of short sentences

Photo by ANDI WHISKEY on Unsplash

Probably the most common copywriting issue I come across in marketing is how to cut copy — how to ‘say more with less’.

How can we say what we need to say in half as many words? We often have so much we want to say but our content’s way too long and clunky already.

Reducing unnecessary words matters even more online, because digital is such a tough reading environment. As Steve Krug puts it in Don’t Make Me Think:

When we’re creating sites, we act as though people are going to pore over each page, reading our finely crafted text… What they actually do most of the time (if we’re lucky) is glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest… We’re thinking “great literature” (or at least “product brochure”), while the user’s reality is much closer to “billboard going by at 60 miles an hour”.

As far back as 1997, Jakob Nielsen found that by cutting copy in half, you could score an improvement in measured usability of 58%. Today’s multi-platform reality has only underlined the brevity imperative. As Nielsen said later: ‘Short [copy] is too long for mobile. Ultra-short rules the day.’

So less is more. Cutting and tightening makes it look like less effort to engage with, which in turn raises the possibility of someone actually reading it. It also, as a compliance officer reminded me recently, makes for a smoother review/approval process. ‘The less you write, the less I have to caveat,’ he said.

So let’s cut to the chase…
Do We Listen? An Exploration of Social Distancing in NYC Parks
By: Mitchell Krieger
Tags: Covid 19, New York City, Social Distance, Police, Data Science

Photo by Alex Simpson on Unsplash

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes to New York City from its usual day to day hustle & bustle. Subway ridership is down 90% of its usual riders, rents in Manhattan are falling quickly while apartment vacancies are at a peak, and even foot traffic is down in many NYC neighborhoods. In the early days of the pandemic, New Yorkers were encouraged to stay at home by Governor Cuomo’s NY on Pause initiative. But as spring turned to summer, the weather warmed and restrictions were lifted, New Yorkers gradually began to leave their apartments for socially distant and outdoor activities, and New York City Parks became a major reprieve during pandemic life.

Enter the Social Distance Ambassador

In May 2020, NYC created a team of 2,300 city employees to serve as “Social Distance Ambassadors”, pulling on employees from across city agencies to replace the NYPD as the face of social distancing enforcement in NYC Parks. The goal was to avoid confrontation between law enforcement and New Yorkers, educate people on social distancing best practices using a friendly face, and hand out free face masks. Summer 2020 in New York City was also marked by massive #BlackLivesMatter protests against racial injustice and police brutality. Although the Social Distance Ambassador program premiered in New York about two weeks before the death of George Floyd, the timing of a new program that takes a social responsibility from the hands of the police and returns it to city workers is an interesting test case for what it might mean to defund the police. In this politically divisive time, would we listen to strangers correcting our behavior?

Using Data to Provide Social Distancing Insights

This summer, Social Distancing Ambassadors logged nearly 12,000 encounters with groups of people who were not social distancing in NYC Parks. But what you may not have realized if you interacted with an Ambassador this summer is that they watched what you did next. In each of these encounters, Ambassadors provided instructions on social distancing best practices. After, they recorded the number of people who continued to ignore social distancing best practices and the number of people who started to comply. The city recently published multiple datasets about these interactions on NYC’s Open Data Portal, a collection of thousands of datasets related to NYC. These data sets contain everything from the number of park patrons complying to the exact time and location to small details of how the interaction played out. Of the nearly 35,000 people the Social Distancing Ambassadors interacted with this summer 73% of people complied with best practices after receiving instruction. To investigate further, I used geopandas and folium (geospatial data packages for the python programming language), to generate some maps of NYC Parks to see if any trends emerged from this data:
The 5 Most Influential Programmers
By: Shalitha Suranga
Tags: Software Development, Technology, Computer Science, History, Programming

The 5 Most Influential Programmers

They are pioneer programmers who put a strong foundation for software development.

Photo by Simon Abrams on Unsplash

Starting from ones and zeros, programming came a long way to reach the current state of abstraction. Past programmers put a stable foundation with great inventions for modern programmers to do their work easily. If we check a particular software, perhaps, it was written with the help of several libraries that have another set of dependencies that were created some years ago. When we go back further, eventually we will find out a massive invention done by an exceptional programmer in the history of computer software evolution.

For example, the Anaconda data science environment is written in Python. Thereafter, Python is written in C programming language which is a huge project that powered millions of projects. Similarly, Android uses the Linux kernel that is a large project by an exceptional programmer. The following programmers are pioneer computer scientists who put a strong foundation for software development by doing several memorable projects.
AYS Daily Digest 27/10/20 Frontex says “no evidence” of pushbacks, videos and eye witnesses say…
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Refugees, Digest, European Union, Greece, Turkey

4 people die in English Channel // Canary Islands rescuers overwhelmed, union reports // more reports of Croatian Police brutality // evictions crises in Calais // and more…

“Romanian Border Guard Neustadt class vessel MAI 1103 under Frontex filmed blocking migrants from reaching Greece” Info by EU Observer, Photo by Turkish Coast Guard

FEATURE: Frontex says they investigated themselves, found no evidence to “substantiate any accusations of violations of the law or Frontex Code of Conduct”

The investigative portal Bellingcat recently exposed how Frontex have been involved, either directly or indirectly, in at least six pushbacks between Turkey and the Greek islands since March this year. Their evidence includes videos of Frontex ships blocking a boat of people off the Greek coast and several eye witness accounts from Greek islanders. In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Frontex stated:

“Frontex has launched an internal inquiry into suspicious incidents recently reported by the media. So far, no documents or other materials have been found to substantiate any accusations of violations of the law or Frontex Code of Conduct. ‘We aim to uphold the highest border guarding standards in all of our operations and do not tolerate any violations of the fundamental rights in any of our activities,’ said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri. Frontex Executive Director: ‘We remain committed to providing support to Greece at its external borders in line with our mandate and in the spirit of EU solidarity, in full respect of fundamental rights and international law.’”

Watch the Midday press briefing from 26/10 here.

Many people are pointing out the ridiculous notion that Frontex could be trusted to investigate themselves fully and honestly, but especially in just a few days:
A stolen march
By: J.D. Harms
Tags: Love, Passion, Sex, Poetry, Dreams

After you

stole a march on me

dropping your pants

to the floor

I rushed headlong into

the space they left;

the moon’s bending

over us

watching: not like a pervert

but like a great silver muse.

“There’s the thief,”

you say/ whispered tight & light:

“after them!”

& I don’t see anyone but I

let the flow of the moment

coursing through you into me even as

you claim something/one is

running away with your

dreams for the night…

We follow, though, through

(are we in another city…when

I thought we had carefully mapped the landscape

of the sheets) & we go on

winding into an arch

getting wet on

the highway & all this time

I only remember you.

I think I saw nothing leave

& am not left bereft;

the moment of alchemy still shuddered

into its own eternity

now there’s only

just the moon watching watching us

& I am still stuck on the moment of

your stolen march.

J.D. Harms 2019
Where The Apple Tree Dies Part 8
By: P.G. Barnett
Tags: Short Story, Fiction, Fiction Series, Later Henry, Short Fiction

My name is Henry James, and I’m a writer for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

We pulled out of the Dark Sides parking garage Tuesday morning and took the South Mopac Highway to West Canyon road then 290, which would feed into Interstate 10 heading west. For one of us, it was as if we’d just managed to snuggle into a comfortable sweater, a pleasant feeling of being on the road again. For the other, it was trying to work a laptop tethered to her cell phone as we drove.

One thing we agreed on, besides the Twinkies, was by the time we finally decided to switch drivers, we wanted to have all the information on this Robert Wallers fellow as we could.

“Okay, this is interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“If this Robert Wallers guy is actually Tobias Wilson, he’s somehow managed to create a completely new persona for himself. He’s married, has two kids, owns a home, and believe it or not Henry, a car dealership.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

“We have company.”

“Somebody’s following us?”

“No, somebody’s decided to tag along. She’s sitting in the back seat.”

“Uh, Henry? There’s nobody in the back seat of your car.”

“Tell that to miss thing sitting back there. Hello Nancy.”

“My beautiful, beautiful blankets.”

“Yes, they are beautiful, Nancy.”

“You’re talking to Nancy Wilson?”

“Yeah, Peters. I think she’s going to be with us for a bit. You know her chest I was supposed to leave at the office?”

“Let me guess you didn’t.”

“Yeap. It’s still in the trunk.”

“Great. Wait, what the hell?”

“What’s going on?”

“The pointer on my laptop is moving on its own. James, my laptop’s got a mind of its own right now. Hang on, it just stopped. Okay, that’s interesting.”

“Ya wanna share with the rest of us?”

“Please, just because you can see her, doesn’t mean you have to include her in the conversation like she’s part of the group.

“Get on with it Peters, huh?”

“Okay, where the computer stopped was a record, a bank transaction back in sixty-three. Evidently, Tobias Wilson closed a savings account registered in his name and took all the money out.”

“How much?”

“Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Wow, back then, that was serious cash.”

“Damn, the pointer is doing its thing again. And there we go, this time it stopped on a loan issued from a bank in Tuscon. Wow, a loan to Wallers Lexus Dealership for three-quarters of a million dollars.”

“When?”

Hang on, uh, nineteen sixty-five. Oh, and guess how much good faith money Wallers put up.”

“Three hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll say one thing, Peters, this ghost has some serious computer skills.”

“Okay, this is making my skin crawl.”

“Have a twinkie. That ought to help.”
How a Popular Feature Declined by Svelte Went Live in Malina.js
By: Oleg Nechaev
Tags: JavaScript, Web Development, Front End Development, Svelte, Programming

Export or Import a Class

Using $class in a template does not look very natural, so we made it possible to adopt a class from a parent to be able to use it as a usual class and use a class directive.

In Svelte, we have the keyword export to be able to accept attributes/props from a parent component and the specific CSS syntax :global . So we made a similar syntax to accept a CSS-class from the parent:

:export(.class-name) {…default-style…}

There is probably a better keyword for this. You also can suggest it in comments.

Example: We have a button in a child component. It has a .btn class, so in styles, I can split .btn into two rules:

.btn {font-style: italic}

:export(.btn) {color: deepskyblue}

In this case, the first rule (with font-style ) is always applied to the button, but the second rule (with color ) is applied only if the parent doesn’t pass the btn class. Otherwise, the class from the parent will be applied to the button.

Example of how to adopt a class from parent

The hashes in the example ( css-1, css2… ) were set by an option cssGenId to look simpler. You can specify any style for a hash (no in Svelte issue).

If you want to use classes with another name in a parent component, it’s easy to remap it. In the example below, I forward the classes red + bold to one button and purple to another button.

Remap classes: red + bold -> btn

Also, you can use a class directive.
Your Election Day Anxiety Open Thread
By: Gen Editors
Tags: Election Day, Election 2020

Your Election Day Anxiety Open Thread

Is everyone remembering to breathe?

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Everyone copes with stress in different ways. Some people stress eat, some people stress exercise, some people stress Tweet or stress blog. (Hello.) Over at Forge, Ashley Abramson recommends canceling plans, getting out of meetings, and generally clearing your plate.

Or maybe you just cope with stress by leaning all the way in, checking the polls, the news, the numbers, the weather—every second of every day. We see you. We hear you. We have made this open thread just for you.

Let us know in the comments: What is your greatest anxiety about the election? How are you coping?
UBK Markets partners with Serenity
By: Serenity Financial
Tags: Forex, Ethereum Blockchain, Forex Brokers, Forex Trading, Finance

We are happy to announce that UBK Markets partners with Serenity.

The history of UBK Markets dates back to 2002. UBK Markets Ltd. is well -stablished firm with a proven reputation and financial stability. The company is regulated by CySEC and operates in accordance with MiFID directive. UBK Markets mission involves the development of innovative technologies and standards of work in the global financial markets. UBK Markets is firmly convinced that the ability to work in the financial markets using proprietary own high-tech closed circuit solutions is strongest competitive advantage.

The company constantly strives for continuous progress developing new technological solutions and improving existing ones taking into account customers’ and partners’ individual needs and wishes.

UBK Markets power lies in ateam of professionals. Knowledge, potential, energy and creativity of each person make the team strong and unique.

Serenity Financial provides added transparency for customers and brokers alike. The combination of functions within the Serenity platform allows clients to quickly and efficiently manage their trading results and money while having an exact snapshot of all trading activity conducted on the brokerage account. This technology reduces commonly associated financial risks for traders.

According to Alexander Stanovoy, CBDO of Serenity “Partnership with UBK Markets, the technology sophisticated brokerage house give us great support for Serenity mission. This is a true acknowledgment of the Serenity project from one of the industry leaders.”
GOD OF WHEAT
By: E. Obrien
Tags: Poetry, Poem

Image from Kevin Jones

I slattern bramble and wood and moss and amber and sap and milk and buck every frond and arching stem.

I am god and spokey like wheels on a ribbon hung from a neck of sky.

I am the light of florets ignited, my saffron hunger boils at the heart of every spat, each spike of lightning.

I stain the moon, white with flour, and when I laugh dry spikelets click in my chest where I have no ribs.

I shiv like a mandolin through bone and fissure, belting songs like wheat spumes on wind.

I am fisted handfuls of flag leaves and twelve points of whimsy.

I am smatter of rain in the morning and under-bridge goblins are my dearest disciples.

I grit teeth when I sleep and twittering birds cloy over me, collapsing on wind like prayers and dollar bills on my eyelids.

I am bitter brew torching veiny gullies, leaving glassine pools of spit in my wake.

Sprung, I take shape.

I cut myself from the ground for it is a dwindling thing and I suffer no keepers.
Conviction Or Confirmation: A Handy Flowchart For Turbulent Times!
By: The Establishment
Tags: Politics, Brett Kavanaugh

The conversation is much more interesting when everyone has a voice. Media funded and run by women; new content daily.

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Covid-19 impact: Software Defined Storage Market Size To Reach $17,461.9 Million By 2024
By: Rajesh Varma
Tags: Software Development, Software Defined Storage, Covid 19, Software

JUN 2020 | Report Format: Electronic (PDF)

The software defined storage (SDS) market size is expected to reach USD 17,461.9 million by 2024, according to a new study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc.

The emergence of the Big Data technology is anticipated to impel growth in the global software defined storage market. Technological propagation, coupled with benefits such as high flexibility and cloud storage, is instrumental in keeping the industry prospects upbeat. The technology facilitates the efficient management and control of complex networks through proficient resource data traffic management.

The advancements in the cloud technology, its availability, and wider access to cloud-based platforms are favorably impacting the industry. Various enterprises across the globe are experiencing the need for minimizing infrastructure development and data storage center costs which are significantly contributing toward theexpansion of the industry.

Enterprises across diverse verticals are generating excessive data, creating the need for effective data storage management solutions. SDS solutions offer high agility and robustness to businesses along with cost and time efficiency.

The industry is projected witness significant growth in the developing markets of South America and the Asia Pacific regions, owing to thestrong growth of the small-scale industries. The need for improving the efficiency and business processesin data centers is driving the demand for SDS solutions in small and medium-sized enterprises.

North America Software Defined Storage Market revenue, 2014–2024 (USD Million)

Download PDF:

www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/software-defined-storage-sds-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:
Scores prognósticos
By: Fabiano Filho
Tags: Prognosis, Machine Learning Health, Dados E Saúde, Health Data, Diagnosis

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How a freight forwarder makes things easier for you.
By: Akin Shoyoye
Tags: Subscription, Logistics, Freight Shipping, Tech, Fulfillment

Stress less. Build great products. Make more money.

Managing freight is an integral piece of an efficient supply chain. Fumbling this operation can set you back significantly. Handle it the right way and it’s one less thing you have to worry about.

Having your products manufactured overseas in countries such as China or India means you’ll be working with a freight forwarder. A freight forwarder manages the relationships between various carriers: air & ocean freight, trucking, trains, etc. They determine the best routes and prices to have your products shipped to the U.S.

Awesome freight forwarders, can do a lot for you as they can really help step up your international game. It’s important for you to not only know what they can do, but also the best way to take advantage of such an important relationship.

They help you identify and secure the best routes from the port of Manufacturing to the destination you desire. By arranging the type of transportation most suitable and economical for your particular situation, they make sure everything regarding these is squared away.

Their ability to do all of this will cut your costs and reduce stress and give you the mental room to think about other important aspects of your company.

They also help you with the paperwork regarding customs and pay any duties/taxes need to clear the path for shipment. A good partner has access to recommended insurance providers to provide the services you may need.

Even if you’re experienced in getting your products across the water, freight forwarders should be a valuable source of information regarding the entire operation and should have issue in educating you.

The partner you need.

Finally, a freight forwarder, like many other aspects of your logistics operation, should not something you just pay for, but a a reliable partner looking out for your best interests.

They’re an asset to your company and amazing resource for running your supply-chain.
Monster
By: Dasha Tolstikova
Tags: Criticism, Self Doubt, Anxiety, Failure, Comics

dasha is a brooklyn based author and illustrator. to see more drawings of people lying on floors go to: www.dashatolstikova.com

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วิธีใช้ header, hgroup และ h1 — h6 elements ใน html5
By: Suranart Niamcome
Tags: Highlight, Coding, Document Outlines, HTML, Html5

SiamHTML

The collection of articles for front-end developers
[IONIA] The logo has been changed
Tags: Blockchain, Crypto, Cryptocurrency, Finance

The logo of the Ionia project has been changed.^^

From the existing IONIA project logo,

It’s a new logo.

As the Ionia project becomes more specific,

The logo has been changed to match.

Whitepaper and homepage will be updated and released.

Let me tell you some good news about the Ionia project.

I will keep coming to you with good news ~
TenX Departmental Milestones — and what’s to come
Tags: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Tenx, Ethereum, Cryptocurrency

TenX Departmental Milestones — and what’s to come

A few weeks ago we promised to share with you infographics on what each team has accomplished since the beginning of Q1, and shed a little light on what they are currently working on.

It has been some time coming, but we have collated the information and organised it for convenient viewing. It’s easy to forget there are many components to a machine and we’re happy to show you what each of those do.
Meet Shan Wang: MSDS’s new statistics professor!
By: Lisa Chua
Tags: Education

A big welcome to Professor Shan, who will be teaching Linear Regression and Time Series this fall. Continue reading to learn more about her background and what advice she has for MSDS students.

Why did you choose the academic path and why statistics?

Being a professor has been my dream career since I was a senior in high school. I was really into science and thought working in academia would be the “purest” way to pursue a career in science. I chose my favorite subject, mathematics, to be my major in college. After my undergraduate studies, I didn’t change my dream of being a professor but pure mathematics seemed a little challenging as a whole career. So I grabbed something more applied and interesting (to me), statistics.

What drew you to join the faculty at USF?

I have a great passion for education and was amazed by the construction of MSDS at USF. I do believe that the way the program is designed can greatly benefit students. I love the opportunities the program is providing to students, as well as the faculty, so it is my honor to be a part of this program.

Can you tell us about your experience applying statistics to cancer research?

In the past few years, I got the chance to work with researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center through an NIH grant: the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC). Not only did I gain more experience in modeling cancer data using predictive models, but I also gained experience in planning and evaluating big medical grants through survey and evaluation methods. I have also been working with doctors from Beijing on risk factors in different medical conditions. Currently, I am working on a manuscript, “Survival Analysis and Prognostic Factors of Primary Intramedullary Spinal Cord Astrocytoma Based on the 2016 Revised World Health Organization Classification of the Central Nervous System Tumors”, with Dr. Wei Shi from the Department of Neurosurgery at Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital’s School of Clinical Medicine.

Professor Shan making a new friend in Nara, Japan.

What do you like to do on the weekends?

I enjoy hanging out with friends (surprisingly I know many people in the Bay Area even though I just moved here this summer). I love hiking, trying out restaurants, and sometimes just staying in to read or do some watercolor painting.

Any advice to our fellow classmates?

No matter what courses you are taking, always remember the goal of why you came to the program. Graduating this program is not the end goal, but pursuing a successful career in data science is. Try to enjoy the experience, learn as much as you can, and get to know these classmates who may end up being your best friends or future colleagues. Become a data scientist with great skills, but more importantly, become a great person.
You Will Never Be Rich If You Keep Doing These 10 things
By: Desiree Peralta
Tags: Money, Finance, Advice, Life Lessons, Inspiration

There are no secrets to getting rich overnight, but there are some proven systems that can help you get rich.

The reality is that everyone has the same opportunity to be rich. Some may face greater obstacles than others. But the opportunity is there for everyone to seize.

Have you ever wondered why some people are rich, and others are not? Mostly it’s because of their lifestyle and mindset.

Many people spend their entire lives lamenting the situation in which they were born, while others strive every day to change it, and that differentiates us.

Also, they still believe in easy money and that everything is a matter of luck. That is why there are still companies that steal money from others by promising to double it in a week.

There are still a lot of people that do nothing because they feel that one day “their time will come” and believe that wealthiness is a matter of divine luck.

But having money or “financial freedom” is more a matter of habits and effort than “luck or easy way,” and there are many habits that do not allow you to achieve that goal.

From living beyond your means to having a single source of income, I bring you 10 signs that say you will never be rich.
Media Buying 101: Your Guide to TV Buys
By: Appleton Creative
Tags: Video Advertising, Media Buying, Advertising, Commercials

Media Buying 101

“I want to sell more of my product.” We hear you. And you are not alone.

When clients come to Appleton, we sit with them and work through what this seemingly straightforward selling goal really means for their individual product. Only then can we determine how to best make the selling happen. Often, the process will include gaining exposure through paid media to quickly appeal to the correct buyers with demographic laser-focus. Since paid media comes with a lot of industry slang, we thought we’d give you a quick media buying 101 lesson starting with television.

Daypart

Dayparting is the division of the broadcast day into various parts, which is reflective of the demographic and target audience viewership during that segmented time. Examples of TV dayparts include early morning, primetime and late news.

Spot

A “spot” is the industry catch-all term for advertisements and commercials. Regular spots typically run from 30 to 90 seconds. A long-form spot has the ability to run between 5 and 30 minutes. These long-form spots are typically more content rich and associated with pitches and infomercials.

Crawl

Crawls are simple lines of text scrolling along the bottom of the screen. They’re similar in style to secondary headlines or weather information at the bottom of newscasts.

Flowchart

A flowchart is a summary of information on medium, placement, budget and run time, which is equivalent to a road map for your spots television lifetime. For our clients, everything gets laid out in this handy media flowchart,

Reach

Reach is the total number of different people or households exposed, at least once, to your spot during its run. It simply measures how far your spot makes it in terms of distance and medium.

Frequency

Frequency is the measure of how many times viewers see your spot after initial contact. The amazing thing about television is that there are dozens of ways to reach your audience. Research reveals who is watching what, when and where.

Zoned Cable Television

Using zoned cable television allows networks the ability to air different commercials by specific geographic areas. Spots can be run on specific channels, shows and devices. You can even run spots during certain on-demand programming. Zoned cable helps … continue reading at Appleton Creative.
The Road to 30
By: Hannah Rider
Tags: Hunting, Wildlife, Public Lands, National Parks, Conservation

What is the 30x30 goal and why do we need to reach it?

Across America, natural areas that we rely on for clean air and water, biodiversity, outdoor recreation, and local economies are disappearing. In the United States, a football field worth of natural area is converted by human development every 30 seconds. From habitat fragmentation to the widespread impacts of climate change, lands and waters throughout the country are being lost to development and degradation every day. To combat this crisis, scientists are urging that we conserve 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030 — a goal that can help save nature, strengthen local economies, and improve public health.

Global biodiversity is collapsing, and scientists have shown that protecting and restoring natural areas is the most effective way to slow extinctions and retain resilient ecosystems. In the past few decades, animal populations have declined by 60 percent, and today more than one million species are at risk of extinction. Studies show that animal and plant abundance is much higher in protected areas, and conserving more land will allow species to respond to the changing climate.

The “30x30” goal is also key to solving the climate crisis. Forests and natural lands in the United States today draw out of the atmosphere and sequester the equivalent of more than 11 percent of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting and restoring additional land is key to ramping up climate action.

Family Hike | Bureau of Land Management

Addressing the biodiversity and climate crises through conserving lands and waters will benefit local economies, access to outdoor recreation, and environmental justice. From hunters and anglers to hikers and paddlers, outdoor recreation is the lifeblood of many rural communities across the country. The $887 billion industry supports thousands of jobs, and a community’s proximity to public land is correlated with higher per capita income and employment rates. Protecting more land can open up the millions of acres of public land that are inaccessible to the American public.

The 30x30 goal can work to right environmental injustices. Inclusive planning can ensure that protected areas involve the wishes of the local community, and adding parks and green spaces will benefit public health and access to nature. As we explore ways to reach the 30x30 goal we are reminded that protected and public lands are the traditional homelands of indigenous peoples. As the 30x30 effort moves forward, collaborative conservation led by indigenous communities will be essential to its success.
Write For PsychoTalk.
By: Bryan Dijkhuizen
Tags: Writer

Write For PsychoTalk.

Share Your Ideas and Inspire The World, Your Opinion Matters.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Why would you become a writer for PsychoTalk?

PsychoTalk is a new Medium Publication all about Mental Health, Psychology, and everything around that. We are really looking for writers who want to speak up and deliver up-to-date content and if you like to write on these topics please contribute!

Publishing in a publication like PsychoTalk allows you to reach a broader audience and earn money through the Medium Partner Program. You also remain the only owner of your work, in accordance with the Medium Terms of Service that you agree to when establishing a Medium account.

Submission rules

Before submitting your article, there are a few essential things you need to know. Make sure you read each point well, and that you understand them, as by submitting an article to PS, you are agreeing to comply with all of them.
Recommended Places to Keep Fire Extinguishers Around Your Home
By: Victor Jablokov
Tags: Smart Home, Airbnb, Property Management, Rental Property, Fire

Fire extinguishers are an important part of fire safety. Having them located throughout your home or rental properties in accessible areas means if, or when, the time comes to use an extinguisher, you (or your Airbnb guests or renters) won’t waste time searching for one. Being prepared isn’t just a scout’s motto: it’s the first step in making sure your loved ones and property are better protected.

Knowing where to place fire extinguishers is an important part of home safety.

Kitchen

Most house fires begin in the kitchen. Grease fires require a Class K extinguisher and can’t be put out with water. Don’t place it right next to the stove since it’ll be useless if you can’t reach it through flames. Pick a spot about 30 feet from the stove where it’ll be easily accessible. It can be mounted by the kitchen door or in an adjoining room if you have a small kitchen. For more information, read how to put out grease fires.

2. Each Floor

Keep at least 1 fire extinguisher in a central location on each floor of your home. This includes the basement if you have one. Mount them at least 4–5 feet from the floor in plain view so time isn’t wasted looking for one. This means they shouldn’t be hidden behind drapes or in a closet where they can get lost under clutter.

3. Garage/Workshop

Garages are typically used to store flammable materials, such as paint, oil, or gasoline, just to name a few. Workshop tools can generate sparks when in use, and recreational vehicles contain fuel. Place the fire extinguisher near the door for easy access.

4. Laundry Room

Lint is highly flammable and collects in dryer lint traps and exhaust tubes. Clean the trap after every load of laundry and clean the exhaust tube every 6 months to reduce the risk. Please a fire extinguisher in or near the laundry room just in case.

5. Bedrooms

Most home fires occur at night between 8PM and 8AM. Keep an extinguisher in each bedroom. If the fire is right outside your door, the extinguisher that’s centrally located on your floor won’t be of any use.

6. Patio and Grill

Cookouts on the grill and relaxing around a fire pit are simultaneously fun and dangerous. Gas grills use propane fuel which can explode and charcoal grills can catch on fire from the grease and hot coals. Keep an extinguisher by the patio door or in an easily accessible spot near the grill or fire pit.

7. Other Areas

Keep a fire extinguisher within reach of fireplaces and chimneys, wood stoves, and furnaces.

General Tips:
A Gentle Reminder about the Impeachment Hearings
By: Alexis Romero
Tags: Careers, Impeachment, Media, Politics, Democrats

Ranking Member for the Republicans: Representative Devin Nunes (CA-22).

“America is divided.”

Or at least, there’s a set of privileges that saying this phrase can get you.

In particular, “America is divided” can often be used as an excuse to shrug your shoulders and act in ways that further perpetuate divisions.

Members of Congress feel as if they can vilify and insult the person on the other side of the table. They do this, in part, because they are sure that the people who sent them to Washington hate that person as much as they do.

Watch this with the following idea in mind: Whoever “loses” here eventually gets fired.

When we see political figures bark at each other like we have been during these impeachment proceedings, what we are essentially watching is the workplace drama of a couple thousand people who work in DC. The mistake is to assume that the show we’re watching on C-SPAN is an appropriate estimate of what citizens think of one another.

There are Republican citizens, and Republican elected officials. Likewise, there are Democratic citizens and Democratic elected officials. The way these two sets of groups interact with one another are distinctly different.

A Turkey from the yearly Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Let’s Go to Macy’s (for a long-winded analogy)

Imagine you’re a Democrat and your sister is a Republican. The two of you walk into Macy’s one day to go winter shopping. When it comes to long sleeve apparel, you, the Democrat, prefer to wear sweaters, and you’re looking to buy a new one. Your Republican sister on the other hand, prefers cardigans. So you walk into the store and see that there are two salesmen inside. One of the salesmen makes their living exclusively from the sale of sweaters, while the other one makes their living exclusively from selling cardigans.

As you walk in, the two salesmen will begin their pitch. Since you and your sister have different preferences, the sweater salesmen is probably going to be able to persuade you to buy a particular sweater, and likewise with the cardigan salesmen and your sister.

Photo by Hannah Morgan on Unsplash

From the perspective of you and your sister, this story is over once you buy your respective clothes and leave the store. But let’s add another layer. Those two salesmen you met? Let’s say they are in fierce competition. In fact, whoever sells less apparel by the end of the season will get fired.

Now, not only are those salesmen trying to sell you their merchandise, but it also becomes in their best interest to sabotage one another, to cast their fellow colleague in the worst light possible.

Notice that while you and your sister have real, genuine disagreements, it’s the people who represent you, the salesmen, whose jobs are on the line. And because they have so much of their wealth, health, and identity to lose, the hate they feel for one another far exceeds you and your sister’s.
Location, Color, and Form
By: Adrian Galvin
Tags: Data Visualization

Color

Color is an illustrative microcosm of the balance between art and science which a visualization designer must strike. The realities of human anatomy and perception bear heavily on selection of chromatic scales, and sufficient attention must be paid to the critical work of cartographic color researchers such as Cynthia Brewer. The science of determining what colors and differences are maximally perceptible to the human visual system is a complex branch of research which a visualization designer must study carefully and apply to any geospatial visualization they create in order to maximize legibility and clarity of storytelling. Not only must a chromatic scale be carefully chosen, but the function by which the scale is mapped to a given data set is of critical importance for communication. The accompanying image shows only one data set and one color scale, but the transfer function is different. In the case of quantized color application, the steps in color are mapped simply to the axis values of the data set. This leads to many color categories remaining empty and a visualization in which the single outlier hexbin in Iran is dramatically highlighted while the rest of the data is flattened. The quantile application of color applies each color category to a subset of the data itself, which guarantees that all color steps will have equal representation in the data. This produces an image in which there is greater visual difference between the subtle variations of the data set, however the extreme outlier blends into the rest of the image belying how truly different it is from the rest of the data. This example illustrates how critical the application of color is to geospatial data visualization, and how different a story can be told with the same data and color scale.

There is however, another side to this story. A scientifically based, appropriately mapped color scale can nonetheless be ineffectual in conveying the essence of a data set. A successful visualization designer must simultaneously choose colors which are dynamic, evocative, and maintain a close emotional connection to the meaning behind the data. In these visualizations, a dark basemap with colors that suggest fire helps to preserve the impact of the visualization and helps to communicate the power and danger of wildfire. The successful visualization designer must be able to apply both the art and the science of color to produce a truly effective image.
Happy Holidays from BEN
By: Erick Pinos
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Generation Blockchain, Education

Thank you to our community for giving us an unforgettable 2018. Let’s reminisce on just a few of the photo highlights, like…

BEN India students & MIT Bitcoin Club meeting at the MIT Bitcoin Expo!

BEN Italy running #Aperitech meetups all across Italy.

BEN students from the MIT Bitcoin Club, Northeastern Blockchain Club, MIT Sloan Blockchain Club, Tufts Blockchain Club, Boston College Blockchain Club, Boston University FinTech Club, Harvard Law School Blockchain Initiative, Harvard Undergraduate Blockchain Group, Bentley Blockchain Club, Babson Blockchain Club, and Brown Blockchain Club all coming together for the Boston BEN Student Festival!

BEN India’s first student meetup!

BEN Vietnam’s Tron meetup for students in Ho Chi Minh City!

BEN at San Francisco Blockchain Week!

and lastly, BEN’s Dappy Hour with MakerDAO in Prague!

Here’s to an even better 2019!
Why You Should Always Listen to Your Incomplete Intuitions
By: Paul Ryburn
Tags: Advice, Spirituality, Intuition, Life, Mindfulness

Why You Should Always Listen to Your Incomplete Intuitions

They can turn out to be the most valuable intuitions of all

When you were six or seven years old, perhaps another kid on the playground told you in a sing-songy voice,

“I know something you don’t know”

Ooh! A secret! You just had to know, didn’t you? I bet you couldn’t wait for the other kid to let you in on the juicy details!

Your intuition, that voice from deep inside that guides you, sometimes plays games like this too. You won’t only get a feeling that you should or should not take a particular course of action; but you may also get a feeling that there’s a deeper, unknown reason why.

In this article, I will discuss an encounter I had with an incomplete message from my intuition, then go on to discuss the reasons why you should pay special attention to such messages.

How I learned about incomplete intuitions

In the fall of 2019, I was struggling financially. I had walked away from a career in web development, no longer finding satisfaction in that line of work. I was working a project gig for a law firm, scheduled only to last three months. My laptop had died and I was using a borrowed 10-year-old MacBook.

The one luxury I hadn’t given up was my $5/month Medium subscription. I had begun to dig into the data science publications, and thought to myself, if only had a powerful, up-to-date computer, I could get into this as a career turning point.

In December 2019 I caught a break: my three-month project gig got extended indefinitely. While out at Saturday brunch, a rush just came over me. It was indescribable. My intuition was urging me to buy a laptop. I never shop Amazon on my phone while out at a bar, but I just knew this was an exception. I realized it might be my one chance to do it without endangering next month’s rent. I found a good deal and completed the checkout.
AcroYoga on the Beach
By: M. H. Rubin
Tags: Acroyoga, Black And White, Yoga, Beach, Photography

Nicaragua №1, 2016

AcroYoga on the Beach

Abstractions in Nicaragua

I’m not much of a yoga guy, but for various reasons I found myself at a yoga retreat in Nicaragua in 2016. In general, I was happier taking pictures than doing yoga, but I loved these people and one afternoon we were down on a nearby beach together. I got to do what I love, and they got to do what they love, and these were the results from that day.

Nicaragua №2, 2016

Nicaragua, Hand, 2016

Nicaragua №3, 2016

Nicaragua, Sandy, 2016

Weightless, 2016

Hairy chest, 2016

Kathy, 2016

Marika, 2016
NFL, Visual Stats Frenzy — @CDM-Style
By: Carlo De Marchis
Tags: Sports, NFL

As for football in Europe, this is very fine.

They work and everybody is used to consume this content in this way: tables with numbers, ordered by the stat that define the rank and complemented with extra stats that can explain tie-breaking rules or give more details on the performance.

So what is the problem?

What I find lacking is any visual clue of how the situation really is, each Division looks the same even if one may have two teams at 9–6 and the other has the top team at 12–3 and the second at 8–7, the same applies for conference and league views.

So can something be done, at least as an alternative visualisation?

The basic idea is to start from the core data element on which standings are based of: Won — Lost , ranging from 16–0 to 0–16 and all in between at the end of the season.

6–4 or 8–2 or 0–10 (sigh!)

OK, I know also a tie is possible and it usually happens once or twice a season max, but let’s forget about that for now.

These two numbers are always associated with a team, even on broadcast graphics.

So.

The idea is to vertically visualise “games won” on top of the baseline and “games lost” below the baseline with the baseline including the team short code like in the image below in the case of the Kansas City Chiefs being 10-6 at the end of the regular season. In this case the first won game was against the Patriots (NE) and the first lost game was with the Steelers (PIT).

Each team alone does not look very meaningful as-is but when combined with others in horizontal manner to form a standing rank it starts to make sense.

This is the final standing for the regular season of the AFC West Division.

If we put all together the resulting visual infographics at the of the 2017 regular season looks like this.

From this visual representation it’s easier to see how different divisions performed in more heterogenous or homogeneous way, some with one team dominating the group others with more shared success.

it’s also interesting checking out which division generated the more teams for the Playoffs phase, for either Division games or WildCard ones.

NFC South a quite balanced Division that was able to send 3 teams to the Playoffs.