fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
MAE and RMSE — Which Metric is Better?
Tags: Modeling, Statistics, Data Science

Comparison

Similarities: Both MAE and RMSE express average model prediction error in units of the variable of interest. Both metrics can range from 0 to ∞ and are indifferent to the direction of errors. They are negatively-oriented scores, which means lower values are better.

Differences: Taking the square root of the average squared errors has some interesting implications for RMSE. Since the errors are squared before they are averaged, the RMSE gives a relatively high weight to large errors. This means the RMSE should be more useful when large errors are particularly undesirable. The three tables below show examples where MAE is steady and RMSE increases as the variance associated with the frequency distribution of error magnitudes also increases.

MAE and RMSE for cases of increasing error variance

The last sentence is a little bit of a mouthful but I think is often incorrectly interpreted and important to highlight.

RMSE does not necessarily increase with the variance of the errors. RMSE increases with the variance of the frequency distribution of error magnitudes.

To demonstrate, consider Case 4 and Case 5 in the tables below. Case 4 has an equal number of test errors of 0 and 5 and Case 5 has an equal number of test errors of 3 and 4. The variance of the errors is greater in Case 4 but the RMSE is the same for Case 4 and Case 5.

3,4,5 is a Pythagorean Triple

There may be cases where the variance of the frequency distribution of error magnitudes (still a mouthful) is of interest but in most cases (that I can think of) the variance of the errors is of more interest.

Another implication of the RMSE formula that is not often discussed has to do with sample size. Using MAE, we can put a lower and upper bound on RMSE.

[MAE] ≤ [RMSE]. The RMSE result will always be larger or equal to the MAE. If all of the errors have the same magnitude, then RMSE=MAE. [RMSE] ≤ [MAE * sqrt(n)], where n is the number of test samples. The difference between RMSE and MAE is greatest when all of the prediction error comes from a single test sample. The squared error then equals to [MAE^2 * n] for that single test sample and 0 for all other samples. Taking the square root, RMSE then equals to [MAE * sqrt(n)].

Focusing on the upper bound, this means that RMSE has a tendency to be increasingly larger than MAE as the test sample size increases.

This can problematic when comparing RMSE results calculated on different sized test samples, which is frequently the case in real world modeling.
Turning small change into a crypto investment
By: Coincast Tv
Tags: Investing, Apps, Micropayments, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

Bamboo’s new microsavings platform will help young people convert their spare change into a cryptoasset portfolio.

Phil George from Bamboo explains the app

The platform rounds up users’ spare change from the previous months’ purchases and invests it into diversified Blockchain holdings including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

“If a user buys a coffee for $4.85, the Bamboo platform will round this cost up to $5 and invest the 15 cents into cryptocurrency,” said Bamboo CEO Phil George.

The company believes the Bamboo platform will appeal to younger people as a way of boosting their savings.

“Young people are looking to emerging cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technologies, rather than investing in traditional assets such as equities or putting their savings in an institution,” said Mr George.

Bamboo’s new platform will make Blockchain and cryptoassets more inclusive to a new audience by offering risk appropriate access to a new asset class for as little as $1.

“People feel more directly connected to the projects by investing in the token of a platform rather than holding a traditional equity share on a publicly traded securities market,” said George.

Bamboo is a Perth-based Blockchain startup that is reducing the barriers to entry for young people to get involved in Blockchain technology platforms.
Digital Design is never done: Evolving Windows 10 Mail and Calendar
By: Ruediger Kinast
Tags: Windows 10, Microsoft, Design, UX Design, Fluent Design

Two years ago we introduced completely rewritten and redesigned Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 10. (Not the screens pictured above.) While the apps were functional and modern looking, they still lacked a more refined and delightful look and feel. In the “software as a service” era, we’re able to improve our features and designs with a cadence that customers have come to expect. Even before the 2015 release, we began thinking about the next app iterations.

Our early redesign set the goals to visually align with Windows, reduce chrome, give the app a fresh, more refined, and beautiful look, while raising the bar of “craftsmanship” (the internal name for our efforts). The team established design guidelines grounded in a purposeful use of typography, color, and motion, to convey a delightful and highly functional app.

Timing plays a part in every story

It wasn’t until early 2017, engineering resources became available to work on our redesign. About the same time, the Fluent team (code named NEON) was launching, and actively driving adoption of the new Fluent Design System into Microsoft apps. That meant we had a refreshed design challenge; (Thank you Satya) rethinking what we kept, what we left behind, and how we became more Fluent going forward.

While the Fluent launch was exciting, our team remained mindful that we were redesigning apps that had millions of users and fans. Altering things they were used to—like title bar, ribbon, and key functionality—had to be carefully considered. Obviously, we didn’t want to alienate our users, and we were not interested in any backwards steps in usability.

One insight we gained early on in user testing was that “different” did not necessarily mean “problem.”

Integrating fresh cues from early Fluent Design mail work with the aforementioned redesign ideas turned out to be fairly straightforward — as some of the overarching principles were already aligned. Even some of the Fluent design elements, namely “acrylic” with its translucent surface treatment, were already present in some form in our existing app (semi-transparent navigation pane).

Early “Craftsmanship” refresh for mail (never shipped)

Early “Craftsmanship” refresh for calendar (never shipped)

Fluent Design Elements Implemented with Mail & Calendar

The design explorations coming from the recently launched Fluent team didn’t meet all of the requirements we had for our apps in terms of workflow, personalization, localization, accessibility, etc. Our team examined each of those requirements, applying aspects of the Fluent Design System into our own explorations.

The first Fluent design elements we looked to implement were “acrylic” which is the translucent, glassy surface treatment for panels and “reveal”, the light effect that appears on hover to reveal actionable elements. Each of them presented their own set of challenges and we remained in close communication with Fluent and the other Office teams, learning what worked and what didn’t.
Reasons to Vote for Andrew Yang
By: Daniel G. Jennings
Tags: Humor, Election 2020, President, Andrew Yang, Satire

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang (D-New York) has attracted a lot of attention with his crusade for the basic income (the Freedom Dividend).

Yang has attracted a large following of online supporters and generated a lot of controversy with his message that artificial intelligence will kill our jobs. However, a lot of people are not sold on Yang and his ideas.

Note: Yang suspended his campaign on 11 February 2020, but his name could still be on your primary ballot. Thus you could still vote for Yang in some states.

Here are some reasons to vote for Yang:

If you’re over 18, he will give you $1,000 every month. He is not Donald J. Trump (R-New York). He will give you $1,000 every month. He is not Joe Biden (D-Delaware). Yang will give you $1,000 every month. He is not Michael Bloomberg (?-New York). He is not U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Andrew will give you $1,000 every month. He is presidential candidate who is not a creep. You will get $1,000 a month without working with Yang’s Freedom Dividend. At last a president who plays video games!! Yang will not create any jobs but at least he will send you some cash. The other guys will not create jobs and give you nothing. Having a president who knows what Dungeons & Dragons and Doctor Who are could be fun. He has a good looking wife. Andrew Yang will give you a $1,000 a month Freedom Dividend. We need a president who understands we need to get used to serving our robotic overlords. At last a president who admits we’re fucked. Andrew Yang will pay you a $1,000 a month basic income. At least we will have a president who knows what cryptocurrency is. Maybe he’ll explain it to the rest of us. Andrew Yang will pay you $12,000 a year. Having a president with a posse (the Yang Gang) will be cool. Having Dave Chappelle perform at the inauguration will be fun. Andrew Yang will pay you $1,000 a month.

Finally, America needs a nerd in the White House. Us geeks have been denied too long.
Poet Warrior
Tags: Poetry, Writing, Poet, Poem, Poetry On Medium

Archaic Helmet, by Armin Hanisch

Warrior,

Choose your weapon.

Paper and quill,

PC, iPhone,

Moleskine notebook

Medium board…

Polish your rhymes,

gather your tropes.

Crack your knuckles,

Fist ready for assault.

Never fear the enemy,

Strike hard,

Conquer them

on their own soil.

Don’t let doubt take you hostage.

Don’t imprison your True Self. You were born

to be a hero.

With each poem, with each word,

you are shedding

your own blood

to save our collective soul.

To all my Poet comrades in arms, with Love.
<Sub/Tweet> Facebook’s PR Mission
By: Joey Vara
Tags: Facebook, Social Media Marketing, B2B, Russia, Social Media

Image credit: CNN Money

It seems that Facebook can’t escape the spotlight these days. What used to be an obsession for everyday Americans has suddenly seen itself morphed into what you see above: the most direct and startling evidence that Russia successfully infiltrated the United States political landscape during the election season of 2016. Each week we learn more about the reach and magnitude of this campaign.

For agencies and advertisers within the United States, this is just beginning to become a major problem. What Congress and the American public are suddenly learning is how the unregulated and grey area within not only social media, but the entire digital advertising world, can be easily manipulated and leveraged by enemies of the state or those who seek to break the law.

Sir Isaac Newton famously said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” But, in this case, the reaction to Russia’s invasive campaign to fragment the American people is aggressive digital regulation that could surely cripple efforts of those who are playing by the rules.

Ineffective Quality & Security Measure

The social network giant announced early last week that it would be adding 1,000 human ad reviewers in order to provide a check on the almost entirely automated placement system for Facebook ads. This was an immediate way for Facebook to counter the barrage of negative press it’s been receiving because of the Russian election meddling investigation.

However, this is insufficient. Anyone close to the digital ad business knows the value of 1,000 human hires into a vast ecosystem — it’s meaningless. This was a pure PR play by Facebook. What they have yet to effectively address is how their billing and credit system between advertisers and clients changes almost daily. What’s more, it seems that people within Facebook itself don’t even have an idea or path forward to heal the network’s actual credibility, not just it’s public image.

Roadblock for Advertisers

This is already a tremendous headache for advertisers and brands that abide by digital and social channel guidelines. Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it would limit targeting parameters that tapped into business demographics such as education, employment, field of study, and job title. This hits B2B advertisers especially hard, as these new restrictions make the social network an unlikely destination for their ad budgets. It’s uncertain how long it will take for this targeting to return and in what form it might be.

As evidence continues to come to light, as it assuredly will when Facebook, Google, and Twitter come to Capitol Hill, we might be able to predict the scale and effect this impending regulation will have on digital media and advertising. It has already begun and will continue to unfold, making the ability of agencies and advertisers to stay in tune with this exponentially dynamic system vital to the success of clients, brands, and causes.

You think this is confusing now? Just wait for 2018.
The French Dilemma and Lavender Madeleines
By: Stephanie Arsenault
Tags: Cake, Cookies, Baking, Tasty Travels, From The Kitchen

I’ve always wished that I was just a little more French than I already am.

Maybe it’s all the Madeline books I was read as a child. Or maybe it’s just in my blood.

Regardless of the reason, there’s a certain unkempt perfection that I adore about everything French. Like the cobblestone streets of Paris, or the often relaxed fold of the crust of a galette. While I aspire to this, it’s something I’ll never accomplish. I’m a little more unkempt and a lot less perfection…

…c’est la vie.

I’ll have to settle with admiration, imitation, et la persistance — in the form of food. These Lavender Madeleines are a good start, with their beautiful, golden shell exterior and their soft, spongy texture.

Finish them off with a delicate dusting of icing sugar and a hint of culinary lavender for an oh, so French treat.

Lavender Madeleines

Makes 12

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon culinary lavender, finely chopped

¼ cup butter, melted

Icing sugar, lavender, to serve

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy in colour, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and lavender and mix. Fold in dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula, and then once fully incorporated stir in melted butter. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and generously butter a madeleine pan. Sprinkle pan with flour and tap out any excess. Spoon the batter into moulds and bake for 12–14 minutes, or until the madeleines are golden and spring back when touched. Invert them onto a rack to cool, and sprinkle with icing sugar and lavender prior to serving.
The Music Plays On — Booker T. Jones
By: Donato Cabrera
Tags: Booker T Jones, California Symphony, Donato Cabrera, Music, Las Vegas Philharmonic

When an artist has such an overwhelming success with one tune, a tune that becomes a worldwide hit, it’s hard to see past this one bright star to see what this artist is all about. Booker T. Jones is one such artist.

Jones’ talent is the definition of what it means to be a studio musician. He can do it all. He was a child prodigy and could play any instrument that he put his hands to — oboe, saxophone, trombone, double-bass, and, of course, organ and piano. Born in 1944, by the age of 16, he was already a professional musician, and Booker T. and the MG’s was created in 1962.

On their first album was the song, Green Onions, and it quickly shot up the charts. It is considered as one of the most popular songs ever recorded that doesn’t have any lyrics. Here’s a great video of the band performing the song from Norway in 1967.

But, Booker T. Jones could so much more than just come up with an unforgettable bass line on the Hammond B3! And he has been proving that night after night in concert venues around the world since the early sixties. This is an incredible concert from the end of last November in Pennsylvania.
Black Insurance raises funding to power next stage of development
By: Mart Parve
Tags: Insurance, Agile, Insurtech, Fintech

Black is joining forces with a seasoned VC firm to bring insurance disruption yet closer

Black is pleased to announce that we’ve just closed a new funding round, taking us a big step closer to bringing our insurance software and carrier capability to market.

The round was led by Concentric, a London-based early-stage VC that also invested in our partner Insly, and has extensive knowledge of the market we operate in.

This funding round marks an important point in our growth, providing the resources we need to further develop and refine our insurance software, with a beta version finished in May. It will also allow us to prepare for acquiring an insurance license from the regulators, and start raising the solvency capital we need to start trading.

Black is in advanced stages of developing a next generation insurance software, which will simplify and reduce the cost of offering insurance capacity to managing general agents (MGAs). By building our insurance platform from scratch, rather than relying on legacy systems and processes, we avoid the inefficiencies faced by traditional insurers. Prioritising growth over immediate ROI, we pass these savings onto MGAs and consumers, as higher commissions and lower prices.

Selling via insurance intermediaries means Black doesn’t need to specialise on a particular type of cover or geography, or offer sales and claims, as this is all provided by the MGAs. This makes the business highly scalable and ensures we can focus on building the best technology, with seamless integration and sophisticated underwriting data facilities for MGA-s.

MGAs control substantial insurance portfolios and are always on a lookout for better insurance carriers. Our value proposition has resonated strongly with them so far, resulting in a €2 billion sales pipeline, with €30m for imminent onboarding. Once the technology is ready and our license is secured, we’re in a solid position for growth. Stay tuned!
Introducing the Contractual Wheel of Data Collaboration
By: Andrew Young
Tags: Contracts, Data Stewards, Data, Data Stewardship, Data Collaboratives

By Andrew Young and Stefaan Verhulst

Data Collaboratives are an emerging form of collaboration where parties from different sectors come together to leverage data held in the private sector to benefit the public interest. These new public-private partnerships are an innovative and essential new problem-solving technique in our increasingly “datafied” society.

Efforts to unlock the value of private-sector data through Data Collaboratives are proliferating around the world — as evidenced by the over 150 examples found in the Data Collaboratives Explorer. Despite this growth in practice, establishing a Data Collaborative can still be a slow and difficult process. In particular, defining and coming to agreement on the legal provisions driving a collaborative can be an arduous undertaking. Creating these legal agreements — such as memoranda of understanding or data-sharing agreements and contracts — create significant transaction costs for companies in the private sector representing the supply side, as well as institutions in the public or civil sector representing the demand.

These transaction costs can be especially burdensome for small businesses and under-funded or under-resourced entities. Eliminating or mitigating these transaction costs could therefore not only serve to catalyze more data collaboration, but also help to ensure a level playing field that may widen the scope for innovation.

Earlier this year we launched the Contracts for Data Collaboration (C4DC) initiative — an open collaborative with charter members from The GovLab, UN SDSN Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS), University of Washington and the World Economic Forum. C4DC seeks to address the inefficiencies of developing contractual agreements for public-private data collaboration by informing and guiding those seeking to establish a data collaborative by developing and making available a shared repository of relevant contractual clauses taken from existing legal agreements. Today TReNDS published “Partnerships Founded on Trust,” a brief capturing some initial findings from the C4DC initiative.

The Contractual Wheel of Data Collaboration [beta]
5 Big Investments I’m Going To Make In 2021
By: Tom Kuegler
Tags: Creativity, Investing, Money, Business, Cryptocurrency

2. Philippines Stock Market Investing

I love the Philippines. I love the people, the beaches, even the crowded capital city of Manila. There’s something about it that draws me in. I’m also drawn in by their economic potential.

They’re a developing country, but I believe in the next 20–30 years their economy will drastically improve. I’m putting about 10% of my portfolio into the Philippines, so I won’t incur any huge losses in case I’m wrong.

I don’t think you should just jump right into investing in the Philippines Stock Market yourself.

I think it’s a good idea to have a portion of your portfolio comprised of stocks from Developing countries, though. You can do this easily through a broker like Vanguard.

Vanguard has the VTMGX (Vanguard Developed Market Index Fund) that invests in markets outside America. Here’s what you would have today if you invested $10,000 in that fund 10 years ago.

Here’s that fund’s breakdown:

Every investing book I’ve ever read has stated you need to invest in markets outside of the United States. Most of this one is in Europe, and more than 1/3 is in the Pacific Region.

The USA is not the only market in the world. It would be a good idea to diversify your portfolio in this way for 2021 and beyond.
Mulan Musings
By: Valerie Dela Cruz
Tags: Mulan 2020, Movies, Mulan

Why the 2020 character is a bummer

Photo by 张 学欢 on Unsplash

Imagine an Asian girl in the 1990’s who grew up in a patriarchal society, observing that gender roles are strongly embedded. It is so deeply embedded that when a girl prepares a meal for the first time, it is not uncommon to hear a remark “you can now be wedded to a husband” (in Filipino language, “pwede ka na mag-asawa.”)

Then imagine that same girl watching Mulan, the animated film. She sees that the princess joins the army, fails several times at training, yet strategises and perseveres. She thinks outside the box. In the end, she succeeds at her goal. The girl’s heart races, rallying for the princess, as she breaks the status quo. She thinks Mulan is awesome.

Needless to say, that girl was me and I’m probably not alone with this experience. Now we fast forward to 2020, when we have even better production technology and see Mulan portrayed by real people. Among the several critical changes they made to the animated story, there are two points that saddened me most.
Neural Networks. What is a Neural Network?
By: Zaki Jefferson
Tags: Convolutional Network, Coding, Python, Neural Networks, Data Science

What is a Neural Network?

A Neural Network consist of a family of Machine Learning techniques used to model the human brain. Neural Networks are able to extract hidden patterns within data; they’re able to do this by having a bunch of nodes connected to each other (dense). Each node works together to figure out the hidden details and then pass it on to the next node to find connections within those details.

Input Layer

The input layer of a neural network is the list of variables/features we are using in our model.

Weights

In the case of logistic regression, the weights here are the coefficients we are adjusting to fit our model. In other Neural Networks, the weights are a combination of scalar transformations and matrix multiplication on any of the input variables.

Activation Function

In logistic regression we use a sigmoid activation function. Other options you might see are linear, Tanh and ReLU.

Deeper networks = more hidden layers

Why hidden layers?

They are hidden because we do not specify them. They could represent latent factors (as with matrix decomposition), or a combination of the existing variables into new features.

Back propagation — adjusting weights

Moreover, neural nets are dynamic in the sense that, after a certain number of data points have been passed through the model, the weights will be updated with an eye toward optimizing our loss function. (Thinking back to biological neurons, this is like revising their activation potentials.) Typically, this is done by using some version of gradient descent, but other approaches have been attempted.

Convolutional Neural Networks

CNNs are mainly used for image recognition/classification. They can be used for video analysis, NLP (sentiment analysis, topic modeling), and speech recognition. Today we’ll be discussing how CNNs are you used to classify images.

How computer see images

To computers images are a 3D object — composed of 3 matrices — one for each primary color that can be combined in varying intensities to create different colors. Each element in a matrix represents the location of a pixel and contains a number between 0 and 255 which indicates the intensity of the corresponding primary color in that pixel.
Do You Ever Wonder What Happened to Your Grade School Friends?
By: Kimberley Payne
Tags: Friendship, Memories, Memories Of Childhood, Kindergarten, Relationships

I started kindergarten in the days when there was only one kindergarten — there were no junior or senior divisions.

I started kindergarten in the days when we attended for only half a day. I had the morning shift.

Mrs. Daly was my teacher. She was a kind-hearted woman. I brought her cut roses from our front garden when she retired.

I started kindergarten in the days when nap time was part of the routine and we were each given individual carpet pieces to rest on.

I remember walking one kilometer to school with my eldest brother. I remember the kindergarten class had a fantastic model kitchen to play in. I remember the cloakroom had low hooks to hang my coat.

And I remember Little Mary.

I called her Little Mary because she was a sweet, tiny girl. She took a bus to school from the countryside. She was my best friend in kindergarten.

Although I only played with Mary for a few hours each day, and only for 8 months, she made an indelible impression on me.

But the next year when I started grade 1, Mary wasn’t in my class.

Fast forward 30 years.

As an adult, with 2 children of my own, I had moved to a little village outside of my hometown.

I wanted to send my children to Separate school, however, the nearest Catholic grade school was over an hour bus ride away and I couldn’t bring myself to put my two little people on such a long ride.

I enrolled them in the local elementary school and then also enrolled them in the local church’s Boys and Girls club. I wanted them to get the foundational faith upbringing that I had the privilege of experiencing.

This small village church made a big impact on me and my kids. I started to attend Women’s Bible study, volunteer in the children’s Vacation Bible School, and I returned to Sunday services — something I hadn’t done since I was a child.

At Sunday services, I met a friendly, outgoing woman named Mary. We talked about our families and eventually the conversation rounded to where we grew up and went to school.

“You’re Little Mary!”

Imagine my complete surprise and elation at discovering this lovely woman was actually my best friend from kindergarten.

We have since renewed our relationship and I am happy to report that we have enjoyed years of friendship.
420 Jesus
By: Andrew Pilkington
Tags: Hell, Blasphemy, Humor, 420, Cannabis

The Book of the Doobie (Bros)

“Jesus Is Just Alright”…

Matthew 4:20

“And at once they left their nets and followed Him.”

Mark 4:20

“Others like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop — some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Luke 4:20

“Then He rolled one, passed it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.”

John 4:20

Our ancestors worshiped this, but you claim that we must not

He took the bowl, saying, “This bowl is the new covenant; do this in remembrance of me.”

Now that is “The Affirmation of Christ”!

*Now I know I am going to Hell…
We Need Everyday Fashion For Disabled People
By: Edie Meade
Tags: Women, Fashion, Equality, Society, Economics

Beyond the diversity branding and image makeovers in the fashion world, it remains difficult to find stylish and affordable clothing options for plus-sized, petite, or disabled people.

It isn’t just the big fashion houses that are choosing not to include modified products to cater to consumers with disabilities.

If you go into a department store like J.C. Penney or Macy’s, you may be able to find some good plus-sized versions of the core fashion lines. They look like the same kinds of clothing pieces, just tailored for different-sized bodies. But finding those kinds of items that have discreet alternate closures? Not a chance.

It’s no better in the discount chains like Walmart — even though millions of working class people with disabilities do their clothing shopping there.

“I just need something that’s not tacky, and not infantile,” my mother once told me when we were picking through Walmart racks before an Easter gathering. At one point, she pulled out a tie-dyed tunic and started laughing.

I could see why she was exasperated: the options for easy-to-wear clothing tended to lean either too far in the Peg Bundy direction for my mother’s tastes, or they were “infantilized” items with drawstrings, oversized elastic waistbands, and sassy sayings.

“I need an Easter blouse, not a shirt with tiny Easter eggs on it,” she said. I looked down at my own Walmart-purchased shirt, patterned with oversized pineapples that I bought for a summer barbecue while I was pregnant the year before, and I had to laugh. Preg Bundy rides again.

Not tacky, not infantile: why is that so much to ask of any clothing chain?
Womanhood
By: Tarrant Smith
Tags: Women, Female Empowerment, Poetry, Self-awareness, Witch

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Cast your spell

in words

in kindness

with an active hand.

Protect the wronged

with fiery energy

an immovable body

and your protest-voice.

Bring balance and fairness

with your deeds

your thoughts

and intentions

Slay the dragons

Charm the devils

Love the deserving

and teach the willing

This is the way —

of the eternal Witch

Mother, maiden, and crone.

Womanhood.
3 Character Tropes to Avoid in Your Writing
By: Alicia Banaszewski
Tags: Writing Advice, Writing, Fiction Writing, Creativity, Writing Tips

The benevolent homeless person

This was something that a playwriting professor of mine frequently stressed. A story where a character speaks to a person going through a hard time and lionizes them, perhaps depicting them as a sage, wise person or an undiscovered genius is more often than not, in poor taste.

Firstly, it reeks of privilege.

Secondly, if you have not actually spoken to a homeless person at length or gone through homelessness yourself — there is no way to guess what their situation feels like. We shouldn’t be guessing, anyway. We should be direct and deliberate with the stories we want to tell; let them share their own.

You are well-intentioned, I get it, but regardless it without fail screams savior complex. It also hints at the fact that caring about those struggling with homelessness should only be done because they are “good” or “intelligent” people. At the core of it, we don’t have to relate to homeless people to care about them. They can be awful, positively evil individuals and we can still care.

Don’t make a caricature out of the thousands and thousands of humans who are suffering.

A brief personal anecdote, I once beat out a fellow classmate’s play in a playwriting competition. Mine was based in a grocery store since that had been my first job. His play was based in a tent city. Do you know what I mean? It’s the most basic and strongest advice: Write what you know.

It’s good to invent — but don’t speculate.

What aspects of homelessness did you intend to portray? Hopelessness? Feeling abandoned? A nomadic lifestyle? Optimism? Unexpected beauty in a horrible time? If you dig deeper into what you were trying to say, that will become a more startling and shining heart for your story.

An example of this working is Nick Flynn’s memoir about his time working at a homeless shelter where he would occasionally run into his father.

Nick Flynn, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
Good News: The Average Person Can Spot A Fake News Source.
By: Eric Wimsatt
Tags: Public Editor, Education, Misinformation, Journalism, Social Science

While disinformation may seem like an impossible problem, a recent study suggests that most people know who to distrust.

Researchers at MIT and the University of Regina asked almost 2,000 laypeople to rate the reliability of 60 news sources and then compared their judgments with professional fact-checkers. The result: average people are really good at identifying unreliable news outlets.

While there was a bit of partisan disagreement about which sources were the most reliable, there was bipartisan consensus about which sources are generally trustworthy and which were consistently biased. Notably, neither democrats nor republicans trusted hyper-partisan or fake news websites, regardless of the sources’ political bias.

To many who are fighting misinformation, the study comes as a relief. It’s good to know the public is generally aware of which sources consistently publish slanted content. But the research team makes no claims about how easily newsreaders recognize bogus content as they consume it. So if a usually reliable source publishes a story overflowing with fallacies, many readers might not spot them. We still need a way for people to work together to identify misleading content and notify others.

Together We Can

With elections coming up and misinformation on the rise, it’s reassuring that the average person knows who to trust. But many people aren’t average. And when their biases lead them to trust unreliable reporting, misinformation can go viral.

Fortunately, there is hope. With new tools, we can put our heads together and be more resilient against misinformation. The authors note: “using crowdsourced trust ratings to gain information about media outlet reliability — information that can help inform ranking algorithms — shows promise.” Working together, we can prevent biased outliers from derailing our collective conversations.

Our Solution

Public Editor was built around this big idea: people, thinking together, can make judgments about articles as accurately as experts. How do we organize that? We provide online training and guiding interfaces for volunteers who identify specific reasoning errors in news articles. And we bring it all together with open source algorithms and labels so everyone can see our work. Learn More

We’re recruiting a community of citizen scientists to help us identify misinformation and share our consensus with daily newsreaders. Care to join us?
Fireplace’s Crackles
By: Daniel A. Teo
Tags: Prose, Poetry, Haiku, Life, Self

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🤔 Why is AntPool burning BCH?
By: Spencer Noon
Tags: Bitcoincash, Blockchain, Crypto, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

🤔 Why is AntPool burning BCH?

A quick analysis of the situation

Today, Bitmain-owned mining pool AntPool announced that they are now burning 12% of their BCH transaction fees:

Their official announcement doesn’t really indicate why they’re undergoing such a drastic measure; instead, they’ve opted to give us a largely incomprehensible statement about the “forthcoming wave of innovation” for Bitcoin Cash.

So what’s going on here — why is AntPool reducing the total supply of BCH?

The Optimist

This is a massive signal of confidence by one of Bitcoin Cash’s biggest mining pools. By burning their tokens, AntPool is demonstrating its belief in Bitcoin Cash’s long-term viability. This should in turn improve overall BCH investor confidence as well.

The Pessimist

This is a desperate move to pump the price and shows that there is little organic demand for BCH. By burning some of their coins, AntPool is signaling that market demand for BCH is clearly not enough to meet its supply.

The Realist

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s quickly crunch the numbers on how much money we’re talking about here. Here are the latest 24-hour mining stats for BCH:

Source: bch.btc.com

So, (15 blocks mined)*(.00609139 avg. tx fees per block)*(12% burn)*($1070 market price of BCH) means that AntPool has only burned $11.84 worth of BCH in the past 24 hours! Ultimately, this nothing more than a token signal of strength for Bitcoin Cash.

All things considered, I’m not sure there’s as much of a story here as we originally thought.
Influencers Shouldn’t Need to Announce or Apologize for Taking Time Off
By: Julia Appa
Tags: Mental Health, Content Creation, YouTube, Social Media, Addiction

Influencers Shouldn’t Need to Announce or Apologize for Taking Time Off

Viewers are not entitled to their content

Photo by Anastasiya Lobanovskaya from Pexels

There seems to be a growing trend on social media, whereby influencers and content creators declare that they are going to take time off from YouTube or Instagram because they feel like they need a break.

By stating that they have thought of doing so for a while now, it becomes clear that influencers and content creators are very hesitant to make such a statement. Not only do they apper to feel guilty for taking time off, they also seem scared.

Considering that they rely on their audience, clicks and engagement rate for possible partnerships and their income, this fear is reasonable. If they disappear for a month, some subscribers or followers could be fed up due to the lack of content ‘they were promised’ and decide to no longer support the influencer.

In turn, decreasing numbers can mimimise partnership opportunities and reduce the amount of money made via YouTube ad revenue. This will manifest itself in a lower income, which of course triggers an existential crisis!

This is why many influencers and content creators reassure their audience that they will not be gone forever, that they will be creating content again after a 2 or 4 week break.

They want to make sure that people are still going to be there and watch their content.
Non-Technical Skills That Help Developers
By: Maxim Chechenev
Tags: Careers, Programming, Software Development, Engineering Mangement, Startup

1. There Is No Such Thing as a Dumb Question

I had this thing. I got my first job as a junior developer, and I was proud and happy. But I also had imposter syndrome — I knew that my skills and knowledge were quite low. And I didn’t want anyone to uncover that.

So whenever I had anything that blocked me or something difficult, I was trying to solve it myself without asking for help. Or I was too shy to ask my questions, especially in front of a group of people. “They will think that I’m an imposter. Hide it, Maxim!”

But in fact, it’s the opposite.

People wait for questions from each other, and these questions are not stupid, they are just regular, typical questions. No one expects that you know everything; it doesn’t matter if you are junior or senior. It’s a part of working in the team — to communicate with each other, ask, and help.

Don’t be afraid — just ask all questions that you have.
A 30% Stabilising Slice in My Piotroski Portfolio
Tags: Bonds, Investing, Gold, Etfs

The last change I made to my portfolio last month was adding a 30% piece invested as a stabilising mechanism to weather difficult periods, crises and crashes. Until now I’ve been fortunate enough to never experience a real crash, mainly because I’ve only been investing in stocks since the beginning of 2013, but that’s the point: You need to prepare for the worst when you have the means of doing so, not when it’s too late. Because crashes will happen. And that’s fine by me.

So what is a stabilising piece, in my case? It’s an investment in long-term bonds, short-term bonds and gold. All three of those tend to not move the same way that stocks do, but rather in opposite direction. Gold is especially strong in crises, and bonds do not lose their value in crashes like stocks do because they are not stakes in a company but loans that have to be paid back no matter what happens.

Which instruments did I choose? I used DBXP for short term bonds, DBXG for long term bonds and XAD5 for gold. These are two ETFs by Deutsche bank and one ETC that tracks the price of physical gold. The bonds are exclusively European government bonds. Since I’m based in Europe I chose local bonds rather than international ones. Additionally, these two ETFs reinvest the coupon payments rather than distributing them, so it’s basically like a stock that goes up without ever really going down. This makes sure I don’t have to pay taxes on the capital gains if I hold the ETFs for at least 6 months. (In Luxembourg, the return from an investment held for more than 6 months is tax free.)

(I do not know why the DBXG jumped in value in 2014, but I’ve re-checked the net asset value, i.e. the value of the underlying bonds compared to the price of the ETF, and it’s very close to the price so there’s nothing irregular there.)

Now in case a crash does happen sometime in the future, I will still lose money since 70% of my portfolio is in stocks, but the loss will be strongly counteracted by the bonds and the gold.

The gold as such has no long term value to me: in my opinion it doesn’t have any real value and there is no guarantee it will go up in value in the future. So why am I holding it? I hold it because there is a good chance that it will spike in price when a crash occurs, as it did in 2008:

Additionally, it is pretty volatile, and this is useful for rebalancing: if gold rises a lot when my stocks fall, I will be able to sell gold at the end of the year to buy cheap stocks. Without the gold stake, there would be no money at that point to buy low priced stocks.

A bond / gold holding will inevitably reduce your overall returns but if that can take most of the sting out of crashes then it’s worth it to me.
Meet us in New York: Join Jason and Ben at Betaworks Studio on June 19th
Tags: Blockchain, Ethereum, Technology, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

Meet us in New York: Join Jason and Ben at Betaworks Studio on June 19th OST Follow May 31, 2018 · 2 min read

In partnership with Betaworks, we are thrilled to announce that our Co-Founder and CEO Jason Goldberg as well as Benjamin Bollen, our Co-Founder and Chief Blockchain Strategist, will host Blockchain X Mainstream, a workshop on how to bring blockchain to mainstream applications, at the new Betaworks Studios in New York on June 19th, 6:30pm EST.

For the session, both Jason and Ben will present an interactive workshop sharing everything you need to know on why and how to integrate blockchain and cryptocurrencies into mainstream applications. The workshop will cover a wide range of topics including:

Why businesses should care about blockchain and tokenization

What resources are needed to harness the benefits of blockchain

How to build a token economy

How to scale blockchain for your business growth on Ethereum

The session will be introduced by John Borthwick, Founder of Betaworks. We will also have a post-workshop moderated Q&A session as well as an open Q&A forum for the audience. This is an excellent opportunity for all members of the broader builder community — developers, entrepreneurs, product managers, designers, investors and enthusiasts — to get a more practical insight on how to leverage blockchain as a tool to drive your business.

If you are based in New York or will be in the area, please stop by for the session. Register for the event at Betaworks Studio’s event site: https://blockchainxmainstream.splashthat.com/

We look forward to building a strong partnership with Betaworks and can’t wait to meet you in Manhattan next month!

About OST

OST is building “the complete blockchain toolkit for business”. The Berlin start-up strives to be the blockchain technology partner of choice for businesses of all sizes and levels of technical sophistication, enabling any business to create, launch, and manage their own branded digital token economy powered by OpenST protocols and OST blockchain management software. The OpenST protocol enables companies to launch branded token economies on highly scalable, open, cryptographically auditable side blockchains.

About Betaworks

Betaworks is a startup studio that builds and invests in next generation internet companies. Betaworks builds products, runs thematic accelerators, makes early stage investments and has launched a new physical space, Betaworks Studios. Betaworks Studios is a new drop-in member space for builders from different backgrounds to discover one another, meet, learn and experiment. Located in New York’s Meatpacking District it is the perfect clubhouse for people working in Technology, Media and Culture.

For more info or to apply for membership, visit betaworks.com/studios
X Motion Pictures Partners With CopyrightBank To Register Films On The NEM Blockchain
By: Nem Australia, New Zealand, Official Editor
Tags: Blockchain, Announcements, Nem, Film, Blockchain Technology

Filmmaking management platform, X Motion Pictures (XMP), has today announced a partnership with CopyrightBank, a copyright registration and verification solution, to enable filmmakers and videographers to register and record the copyright of their original works on the blockchain.

XMP is a one stop shop for anyone producing a digital video, feature film, documentary, music film clip, web series, television show or short film. Using blockchain technology, the platform facilitates smart contracts without the use of third parties, and provides accounting, communication and administration tools to streamline all film business operations. Digitizing the entire process decreases time and cost for filmmakers, investors, studios and strategic partners.

CopyrightBank is a copyright registration and verification platform for digital works powered by the NEM blockchain. A digital work, regarded as one’s intellectual property, can range from books, music, photographs, artworks and films, to computer programs and databases. These assets are digitally-fingerprinted, timestamped and registered on the blockchain as evidence for copyright protection. Launching just over two months ago, CopyrightBank has more than 500 registered users globally, including in Australia and in the US.

“CopyrightBank’s partnership with XMP will deliver a 21st century copyright solution to the filmmaking industry. It is an innovation that is long overdue,” — David Oh, CEO and founder of CopyrightBank. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with CopyrightBank because it is a fully functional blockchain project,” says XMP Founder James Vegter. “Through this partnership, XMP will enable copyright registrations for films, screenplays, music compositions, animations and other filmmaker assets.”

Recent research shows that 21 per cent of Australians aged 12–64 download film and TV content from pirate websites despite the proliferation of legal content services. In 2017 alone, there were an estimated 22.9 billion visits to streaming piracy sites and 9.4 billion downloads of pirated films and TV shows.

“We are seeing an increased adoption of the NEM blockchain as a versatile plug and play platform to build blockchain projects. This partnership between CopyrightBank and XMP will further expand the NEM ecosystem in Australia and globally.”- Jason Lee, Expansion Director for Australia and New Zealand

XMP is currently conducting their private sale for XMP token, a worldwide filmmaking currency.

Originally published at medium.com on September 19, 2018.
Frente a la Anarquía, la respuesta siempre será Poder
By: Lautaro N. Rubbi
Tags: Power, War, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Foreign Affairs

Ph.D. and MG. in International Relations. Expert in International Security and War. Special interests in new technologies, productivity, and philosophy.

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