fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
A Well Trained Monkey against a Team of Harvard Graduates in the Data Mining Business
Tags: Machine Learning, Data Science, Big Data, Predictive Modeling, IoT

Thanks to the decades long history of hypnotic marketing education about the extraordinary value of predictive analytics most people regard it as rocket science and believe that only a few selected mathematicians or statisticians (preferably with PhD) can develop predictive models. Contrary to this popular belief, I can confidently say that even a well-trained monkey can develop acceptable models with the data mining software of the most prestigious vendors.

When the data is properly prepared by assuming the default settings of the above mentioned software packages, developing an acceptable model is as simple as adding small icons to the canvas, connect them accordingly, and then pushing the “Execute” button.

When the monkey adds a node that splits the training data into a training and a validation sample, and also connects the appropriate modeling node that can select a good enough machine learning (ML) algorithm based on some attributes of the target variable, or the node has the capability to brute force the most widely used ML methods and select one with the best performance based on some fairly trivial built-in cost function, the end result will be around 70%-90% of the performance of a model that was developed as a result of a few iteration by a team of carefully selected Harvard graduates using a less sophisticated tool.

The above statement is not to degrade of the value of a Harvard degree, but simply emphasizing the importance of data preparation that usually consumes more than 70% of the time given to a data mining project. And secondly, it is a tribute to the built-in default settings and intelligence of the best available data mining software.

Obviously, a predictive analytic project is not only about training a model on a well prepared dataset. CRISP-DM is a widely accepted methodology that describes predictive analytics projects. Another well mystified step of CRISP-DM is the data understanding. In this step the preliminary goal of a predictive modeler is to understand what kind of data can be used as explanatory variables when predicting a target. It is often used to introduce the idea that “this is going to be rocket science and you probably will not be able to understand it”. Nevertheless the above, data understanding can be described easily with very simple phenomena:

If you want to build successful models that predict the future value of the target variable based on historical observations, you’d better avoid including attributes in the set of explanatory variables that are prerequisites or consequences of the target.

A good example would be not using the “add to basket”, or “print invoice” event as an explanatory cause of an online purchase.

Data understanding in some cases might be still quite challenging however, most of the difficulties can be tracked to the lack of proper time-stamps present next to the independent variables.
Was College Dean Wrong To Wear Arabic Ensemble To School Event?
Tags: Middle East, Islam, College

By: Cierra Bailey

A University of Oklahoma dean was called “culturally and ethnically insensitive” after wearing Arabic garb to a campus event which he says was meant to encourage diversity.

Dean of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma Charles Graham issued a public apology for wearing an Arabic robe and head covering (white thawb and red keffiyeh) to a back-to-school event last week.

Graham included in the apology that he bought the garments in Dubai and wore them out of multicultural respect. Furthermore, he said several Muslims he spoke to didn’t find his wearing the attire offensive.

Recommended: This Is How A Marvel Superhero Battles Islamophobia In San Francisco

Those who did express discomfort sent anonymous emails to the university president citing Graham’s actions as “culturally and ethnically insensitive.”

The executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma, Adam Soltani, suspects that the underlying issue for those who sent complaints was that the clothing is associated with Muslims and the Middle East.

“I couldn’t imagine if he wore a Scottish kilt or German lederhosen that people would complain about it,” Soltani reportedly said. “I highly doubt they would complain if it were any other clothing that people didn’t associate with Middle Eastern and Islamic culture that is wrongly tied to minority extremist groups.”

Soltani attributes “heightened Islamophobia” in Oklahoma as one of the factors causing the biases against Islam and Muslims.

“It’s traditional Arab dress worn in the Middle East but people who are not Arab, including myself, wear this type of clothing just as there is Persian dress, African dress, Turkish dress and clothing worn in other places,” Soltani said. “Non-Muslims in the Middle East wear this type of clothing too.”

Read More: Has Political Correctness Killed Our Freedom Of Speech?

Graham insists the situation is not a matter of religion at all, but more about cultural sensitivity.

You be the judge. Does wearing attire associated with a certain culture promote diversity and acceptance or is it a form of cultural appropriation and insensitivity?

Carbonated.TV
Coincards Expands to the U.S.A.
By: Mike Olthoff
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency News, Litecoin, Dash

Be Among the First to Check Out our Brand New US Product Catalogue

June 25, 2019 — United States — Starting today, Coincards is excited to launch a new catalog serving US customers, building upon five years of successful growth in the Canadian market. Originally bootstrapped in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2014, Coincards offers digital and physical gift cards, mobile top-ups and prepaid vouchers for major retailers and online platforms in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Additionally, Coincards implemented one the first active commercial integrations of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network in early 2018 and maintains its platform on open source Bitcoin payment processing servers. These infrastructural choices are evidence of Coincards’ strong commitment to Bitcoin community values around openness, innovation, and financial autonomy.

“Merchant’s are realizing that Bitcoin is here to stay,” said Mike Olthoff, Founder and CEO of Coincards. “Offering gift cards as a bridge is a natural choice for both the brands and the consumers. Retailers gain exposure to Bitcoiners, and Bitcoiners are able to live their lives with financial freedom”.

Coincards has always upheld the bold yet pragmatic mission of bridging the gap between cryptocurrency consumers and mainstream merchants, and the company’s trendsetting business model allows for a more rapid path towards global merchant adoption of cryptocurrency. By reducing the pain points of transacting with cryptocurrency, Coincards has opened doors for Canadian citizens to more effectively utilize their purchasing power. Additionally, this offramp for cryptocurrency users has significantly lower fees and overall costs than manual exchange between currencies.

As Coincards expands its service to the US market, the site proudly offers digital gift cards for some of the most popular brands, services, and restaurants in the United States including Amazon.com, Uber, Home Depot, Dominos, Hotels.com and more. Coincards is actively accepting partnerships with more USA merchants, to provide diverse options for customers to experience their favorite brands.

With this market expansion, the company will extend its hours for live customer support, and continue to build connections between the gift card commerce sector and the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. As a crypto-native organization that has been around half as long as Bitcoin itself, Coincards’ growing team melds a customer-first attitude with a rare depth of knowledge of the intricacies of cryptocurrency and the technologies that surround it.

Check it out at Coincards.com/us
7 Powerful Ways to be an Effective Leader
By: Gary Mcbrine
Tags: Self Improvement, Personal Development, Entrpreneurship, Business, Leadership

Today, businesses need effective leaders.

Harvard Business Review describes Leadership as

“the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. The man who successfully marshals his human collaborators to achieve particular ends is a leader. A great leader is one who can do so day after day, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances.”

Many businesses have experienced setbacks because of shut-downs from the pandemic. That qualifies as “a wide variety of circumstances” doesn’t it?

Your business needs effective leadership at all levels of the organization to accomplish your goals.

How can you be an effective leader in your organization?

How can you encourage others to follow your lead?

Here are 7 surprising yet powerful ways to be that leader. By applying these tips, you will lead your team to success.
Hi, it’s Grandma. You Changed Your WHAT?
By: Teresa Kuhl
Tags: Relationships, LGBT, Love, LGBTQ, Allyship

LGBT | LGBTQ | LOVE

Hi, it’s Grandma. You Changed Your WHAT?

What I did instead of asking that question.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

Everyone has days they will always remember: graduation, weddings, babies, things like that. Then, sometimes, you have days you will never forget.

There I was. Bored. Scrolling through” you know where” like it was my job — not even paying attention to a thing. Mindless. You know the gig.

And then it happened. I sat straight up in my chair, eyes popping out of my head. I noticed someone changed their cover photo, and it caught my eye. Glanced so quickly at the profile picture, nothing even registered. Then I saw the name.

Wait; what?

Something was wrong. My brain couldn’t put its finger on what. Don’t know that guy whose name I am reading. But the picture.

The face in the picture I see is my grandchild.

My oldest grandchild. My grandchild has a female name. Who has always had a female name. But the name. The name here was most definitely male. I even checked the Male or Female box. I was perplexed.

To assure myself that I was simply going crazy and it wasn’t what it looked like, I typed in the name I cherished so deeply. And the same page came up. The page with the boy’s name.

I was perfectly sane, and my grandchild had just come out as transgender on that really giant social media place.

Holy sh*t.

For the next 15 or 20 minutes, I behaved in ways I am not proud of. There were a lot of not very polite but lovingly phrase questions. The short phrase is WTF.

I called my 21-year-old daughter, auntie, best friend, and trusted confidante to my grandson. She knew things.

To be entirely transparent, I already knew about the transgender thing. The daughter mentioned above told me a while ago and was patiently coaching me on being a better human. To stop thinking of something like this as a choice, mental illness, or a sin.

There are places you can go to fill your mind with justifying your excuses if that’s your thing. I used to do that. Until someone I loved far too dearly came out of that dreaded closet. So in my moment of panic at this public revelation, I jumped in my car and drove to my kid’s house. The entire drive, I was spewing out my ignorance and praying my head off that we would all survive.

You know, funny things can happen just as I was pulling up to my daughter’s apartment building. I looked through the windshield and saw my courageous and incredible trans grandson. Playing around with some friends and a ball of some sort. Right there, in the street. Ahead of me. (I KNOW it’s dangerous to play in the road, but it’s a tiny town and these kids were teens. No cars in sight, except mine.)

My first thought was, “Oh my God, what do I do now?” My heart answered right away, saying, “You pull over and kiss your grandbaby just like you always do.” So I did. Thank all the suns and moons and stars and God in heaven, I did.

Thanks for reading!

You’re probably wondering who in the world I am. Start with this.

And to read about a story that is breaking my heart, go here.
WazirX has reduced crypto withdrawal fee
By: Wazirx Bitcoin Exchange
Tags: Cryptocurrency Investment, Announcements, Cryptocurrency, Crypto, Product Updates

Namaste Tribe! We love hearing your feedback and incorporating it on WazirX. Today, we’re happy to share that we’ve further updated withdrawal fee for many high volume tokens on WazirX. 💪

Updated withdrawal fee

In March, we reduced our USDT withdrawal fee starting at ZERO for you. With the updated fees, WazirX now has one of the lowest crypto withdrawal fee in the industry. We have also updated the minimum and maximum withdrawal limit for these tokens. You can check it out here.

We’ve always built out features keeping you in mind, and we’ll continue to. Thank you for always supporting us!

Happy trading! 🚀
Neblio Partners with Leading Australian Blockchain Development Firm Labrys
Tags: Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, Enterprise Software, Bitcoin, Blockchain

We are extremely excited to announce that Neblio has partnered with Labrys , a Brisbane, Australia-based blockchain development company to provide Labrys’ current and future clients with blockchain solutions built on Neblio’s technology. Founded in 2017, Labrys boasts an award-winning portfolio of innovative blockchain projects across the industries of Finance, Government, Healthcare, and Supply Chain.

Labrys offers a full suite of blockchain development services, including consulting, design, proof-of-concepts, project management, blockchain integrations, security token development, and much more. Their talented team has built security-token trading platforms, identity management software suites for governments, patient health record management systems, and textile supply chain tracking platforms to name a few.

With the Australian government recently releasing a very forward-thinking National Blockchain Roadmap, opportunities for blockchain-based firms are rapidly increasing in the Land Down Under. Neblio’s next generation scalability, simplicity, and unique metadata & tokenization features will reduce development time and greatly expand the solutions Labrys is able to offer its clients. The Neblio development team will work directly with the Labrys team where necessary to ensure they are able to unlock the full potential of Neblio’s technology, tools, services, and blockchain platform.

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas regarding Labrys & Neblio, we encourage you to get in touch with the Labrys Team or the Neblio Team to schedule a meeting to learn how Labrys & Neblio can help your business grow to the next level.
Los azulejos de Portugal.
By: Ami
Tags: Viajes, Europe, Travel, Portugal

Written by

Designer • Lover of travel and coffee • Simplicity addict • Team of http://orbistopia.com
The Two Golden Rules for a First-time Stock Market investor
By: Tom Fenske
Tags: Money, Risk Management, Financial Planning, Investing, Stock Market

Second Rule

The second rule is a direct consequence of the first rule. If your invested money is at risk, you must make sure the loss doesn’t affect other parts of your life.

Never invest money you can’t afford to lose.

You may be tempted to invest your savings or the money reserved for the down payment of your house. The sight of quick revenue might make you think it would be stupid to let go of extra percentages.

No.

As the first rule always applies, your money is at risk. Therefore, start with a little investment. Pick an amount of money or maybe a couple hundreds of dollars or make it even a thousand dollars. Just make sure it is money that couldn’t be surrendered without harming you.

Harming means that the money is not saved for another purpose. This might be purchasing that new washing machine, your vacation money, or your emergency fund.

Think of your first encounter at the stock market as school fees. The money you invest will help make your first experiences and learn a lot about the stock market and yourself as an investment person.

It might turn out that keeping your money at risk makes you have a bad night's sleep. Another possible outcome is that you are eager to learn more about the stock market and make it a part of your retirement plan. Either way, your first steps in the stock market are reserved for learning and getting to know yourself.

If you run into the market guns blazing because some co-worker had this fail-safe tip on this or that stock, you might burn your fingers. In Germany, this happened in the 1990s when the former state-run phone provider went to the stock exchange. It was highly marketed and advertised as ‘people’s stock,’ so many first-time buyers got substantial amounts of stocks from this company and this company alone. It turned out the dot-com hype mainly drove it. When noting at its height in the year 2000 on more than five times the emission value, it dropped to nearly half the emission value by 2002.

For many first-time investors, this was a painful experience, and since clouded their relationship with the stock market. Many people here in Germany are still referring to the stock market as a casino or lottery where revenues are determined only by luck.

I don’t want you to burn your fingers but build a stable relationship with the stock market. In my opinion, it is one of the rare opportunities in our low-interest environment to gain substantial revenues in the long run and build up your retirement.

There you go. Pick an amount of money you can afford to lose and make your own experiences. Find out which style does suit you and do not get greedy with your first profits. Always remember that investing is a long-run business, and therefore, there is absolutely no reason to rush.
🏚廢墟攝影 景點：舊台北兒童育樂中心 A private photo site: Abandoned Taipei Children’s Recreation Center
By: Kyle Chu 微風捕手
Tags: Travel, Street Photography, Abandoned, Taiwan, Taipei

🏚廢墟攝影 景點：舊台北兒童育樂中心 A private photo site: Abandoned Taipei Children’s Recreation Center

廢棄建築物裡，小學畢業旅行玩過的舊台北兒童育樂中心，是台北市令人驚奇的廢墟攝影練習點之一。

Among all abandoned buildings in Taipei, Taipei Children’s Recreation Center is definitely a photo spot full with amazing elements.

從圓山站二號出口，走向谷歌地圖上被稱為台北兒童育樂中心停車場的地方，可以看到圍牆，再往河邊走，會看到不再轉動的摩天輪冒出頭來。

You can take Taipei MRT to Yuanshan Station and walk out of the station from Exit No.2. Then, walk to the spot called “Taipei Children’s Recreation Center Parking Lot”.

You could see the wall of Taipei Children’s Recreation Center and the abandoned Ferris wheel inside the wall.

沿圍牆走，會看到廢棄的旋轉木馬，旋轉木馬頂邊，還有建設政績宣傳圖，有高速公路、總統府、台北市議會、中山堂等。

As you keep walking along the wall, you would see the abandoned carousel with some government propaganda photos on it.

想像一下，過去我們坐在旋轉木馬上時，照顧我們的大人看到的卻是建設政績宣傳圖片。

Well, there was a time that our parents or teachers had to watch these government propaganda photos as we was riding on the carousel.

膽大的攝影師跟模特兒，或許會爬進去製造一些精彩的照片吧，至於我，牆外隔著荒煙漫草按幾下快門，安靜地跟這些退休的娛樂設施打個招呼，心情已經好多了。

If you were bold photographers or models, you might want to climb over the wall to create some bold pictures.

But it seems to me that taking a few shots outside the wall to say hello to these lonely carousel is already good enough to get some peace inside.

旅客資訊 Info for tourists:

Abandoned Taipei Children’s Recreation Center

營業時間：Opening Hours none

Take Taipei MRT to Yuanshan Station.

Walk out of this station from Exit №2

Then walk to the old parking lot of Taipei Children’s Recreation Center

(about 5 mins)

（Took with Kodak Ultramax 400 + Yashica FX-D Quartz + Yashica ML 50/f2）
Style Guide for Scala
By: Knoldus Inc.
Tags: Style Guide, Clean Code, Readability, Scala

Reading Scala code is easy once you get used to it. However, it is always good to have a well defined set of guidelines so that the code which is readable for an individual is also readable by the other person as well as maintainable by the client. At Knoldus, we strive to write code which is clean and beautiful. At one of the Knolx sessions, we collected the information pertaining to clean code, much of the contributions coming from Daniel Spiewak and David Copeland. You can find the details here as well.

[slideshare id=13883688&doc=scala-style-guide-120806035949-phpapp02]
Cross browser development with Angular
By: Yurii Kuznietsov
Tags: Front End Development, Angular, Web Development, Frontend

Angular examples

Cross browser development with Angular

Supporting of all browsers in tough

Creation a web application for different browser could be very difficult. Sometimes css styles works not like you wanted in different browsers and you need to add a few special styles or a few properties only for one browser but those properties will be affects in all browsers.

Our solution is using Angular with dynamically css styles and properties.

First of all we need to detect browser in Angular for that we create a small class.

BrowserDefinder.ts

I do not know about you but I have problems with Internet Explore. So let’s create a method which will answer on one main question — Is current browsers IE?

For more convenient let’s create a different methods which define what is current browser.

Small function for browser definition

In TS file we create a method which will give us a name of class that we need to use accordingly to current browser. In css file we create a few classes with properties which we need.

Example get class name

Result

Sometimes we need to change only one specific css property.

Example get padding left

Result

Angular is very helpful in cross browser development.
To Be Happier, You Need to Have Problems to Solve
By: Max Phillips
Tags: Self Improvement, Creativity, Life, Lifestyle, Happiness

You want to change when your old problems become stale.

Working in retail is pretty straightforward. You need to show up, be polite and know how to operate a till. All problems relatively easily solved. Where’s the challenge?

At the start of my old job, I had a lot of training to do. As it was in a health store, there were specific qualifications I needed to acquire so I could advise customers. So, those problems took a while to solve. I was ok with it.

A few months in, however, I’d solved all the problems. It was easy, and I knew I could do more. That, in itself, created new issues. It brought up problems I didn’t know how to solve — what do I want to do with my life? What will make me happy? My life had become stale. It’s why I knew I needed to move on.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says to achieve a state of flow; you need to choose a difficult, but not impossible task. A middle ground. Whereas before my problems were neither challenging nor rewarding, my new ones are. I’m not smiling while I type this, but I can feel my happiness growing. I’m beginning to enjoy the grind. I’m willing to suffer.

In his book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, author Mark Manson writes:

“True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving.”

Merely having problems is not going to make you happy. Solving them will. As Manson also writes:

“Happiness is a form of action; it’s an activity, not something that is passively bestowed upon you, not something that you magically discover.”

He has a point. Feelings of sadness have risen by up to 27% worldwide from 2010–2017, according to the World Happiness Report. Far too often, people lay in motion waiting for the next milestone to make them happy. This, in effect, is avoiding your problems. By avoiding them, you won’t have any to solve. Happiness does come at a price — you need to suffer the right amount.
Roundup: Our Top 7 Screencasting Tools
By: Eric Kline
Tags: Higher Education, Elearning, Art Education

SnagIt, by Techsmith

7. SnagIt, by Techsmith

Along with Techsmith’s other signature program, Jing, SnagIt is one of the more popular screen-capture tools out there. It is very simple to use, but lacks any true editing capabilities (the latest version does allow limited “trimming”). The only real advantage we see over the free Jing software is that your recordings can be of unlimited duration.

Pros: Ease of use; Windows and mac compatibility; Mobile integration; Voice-over/narration capabilities; mp4 output.

Cons: Questionable value; Limited post-capture capabilities; Limited file-type output capabilities.

Verdict: C-

QuickTime Player

6. QuickTime Player, by Apple.

One of the built-in programs on a mac and a popular tool for watching video, few people seem to know it can be used for screen recording. For basic screencasts, there are QuickTime proponents out there who swear it performs as well (with simpler controls) as some of the options that require a purchased license.

Pros: Very easy to use in mac environment; Simple controls; Free (for mac owners); Voice-over/narration capabilites.

Cons: Only output format is QuickTime Movie; Essentially no post-capture capabilities.

Verdict: C

Jing, by Techsmith

5. Jing, by Techsmith

Essentially the bare minimum, but sometimes it’s all you need. When you’re in a time crunch and have to churn out a super-quick (up to 5 minutes in length) screen-share video, Jing is a good (free) tool to have at your disposal. It’s a good option for students, too.

Pros: Entirely simple to use; Convenient; Free; Voice-over/narration capabilities; Easy sharing on screencast.com

Cons: No editing capabilities; Only allows recordings/captures of up to 5 minutes in length; Can’t upload to another site like YouTube.

Verdict: B-
Santoṣa
By: Elaine Hamilton
Tags: One Line, Poetry, Balance, Peace, Emotional Health

In response to the one-line prompt for May 11, 2020

Photo by Prasanth Inturi from Pexels

Tell me, what do you see when you close your eyes?

Is there another world

that we can only see if we surrender?

Balanced, my soul aligns.

Breathe in peace.
Hello DataStore, Bye SharedPreferences👋 — Android📱 — Part 1: Preference DataStore
By: Shreyas Patil
Tags: Datastore, Jetpack, Kotlin, AndroidDev, Android

Start implementing DataStore 📁

For UI mode preference i.e. Dark mode or Light mode, we’ll create an enum class as below

enum class UiMode {

LIGHT, DARK

}

We’ll create a class — SettingsManager where we’ll be managing setting preferences set by users in our app.

This will initialize the instance dataStore field by creating DataStore using the file name as “settings_pref”. createDataStore() is extension function created on Context .

Now we’ll be storing UI mode preference using a key (as we managed in SharedPreference ). Key in DataStore is created as below 👇

Here 👆 we’ve created a 🔑 KEY IS_DARK_MODE which will store a boolean value ( false for Light mode / true for Dark mode). Because Preferences DataStore does not use a predefined schema, you must use Preferences.preferencesKey() to define a key for each value that you need to store in the DataStore<Preferences> .

Now we’ll create a method which will set UI mode from our UI/Activity i.e. setUiMode() 🔧

Note: Preferences DataStore provides a method edit() which transactional updates value in DataStore .

Now it’s time to get preference 🔥. DataStore provides data property which exposes the preference values using Flow . Means it’s time to leverage Flow 🌊 😍. See the code below 👇

👆 You can see we’ve exposed a Flow uiModeFlow which will emit values whenever preferences are edited/updated. If you remember, we have been storing boolean in our DataStore . Using map{} , we’re mapping boolean values to the UiMode i.e UiMode.LIGHT or UiMode.DARK .

Note: DataStore throws IOException when it failed to read a value. So we have handled it by emitting emptyPreferences() .
Why Doing Nothing Might Be the Key to Boosting Work Productivity
By: Brittany Beringer
Tags: Efficiency, Productivity, Rest, Work Life Balance, Mental Health

Making time for breaks

Abandoning all work responsibilities might not be the secret to boosting efficiency and productivity, but managing your time to apply useful breaks in between might be the most feasible solution to ensure you’re producing enough work while still prioritizing your mental health and wellbeing.

Take the Pomodoro Technique for example. This time management strategy is a testament to the power of breaks. It was created to simplify time management by using a timer to divide work into 25 minute intervals and implement short breaks after each interval. Once you’ve completed a certain amount of countdowns, you take a longer break.

Organizing and creating sequences are integral to the way we process information and learn.

Doing tasks and learning in chunks is an effective method for maximize efficiency, and the Pomodoro timer ensures each chunk or interval is followed by a well deserved break.

The Scientific American reported on the benefits of taking breaks and proposed results of a LexisNexis survey of white-collar workers which concluded that employees spend less time doing their jobs and used more than half of their workdays receiving and managing information instead.

It might seem counterintuitive to say doing nothing is a foolproof way to maximize productivity, but you’d be understandingly mistaken. Work culture is so consumed with maximizing efficiency, we’ve been conditioned to believe the one who works most will assume most success and grandeur, when really it leads to burnout and other mental health concerns.

The need for mental breaks is critical. Our brains physically need time to recharge in order for us to do anything efficiently. There might not be enough time in the day to consummate all work-related tasks, but that might be because our days aren’t meant to orbit around those duties.

But what counts as downtime? This is very different than leisure, and it comes as no surprise that watching YouTube videos and doom scrolling on social media aren’t positive ways to impact brain health, nor are they considered downtime since they all require you to process information, which is what we’re trying to avoid when resting.

Taking a walk, sitting in silence, and meditating all allow our brains to reset, especially when the workload begins to be too overwhelming. Any task that doesn’t involve processing too much information and gives our brain a break is considered to be downtime and extremely critical for our brain health.
HGC Cheer is back! — Support teams and unlock exclusive in-game items
By: Emily Halpin
Tags: Heroes Of The Storm, Blizzard, Esports, Twitch

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship is on a roll, and Cheering is here to help you make this season the best one yet.

When you Cheer for your favorite team(s), you’ll summon a team-themed animated Cheermote to celebrate the moment and amplify your voice in chat. Every Cheer during HGC brings both you and the entire community closer to unlocking Cheering goals, which include items like in-game Loot Chests, mounts, and exclusive Twitch emotes. Even better: a portion of the revenue Twitch receives from sales of Bits you Cheer goes directly to the team you’re supporting.

This is the second time we’ve partnered with Blizzard for HGC Cheer, so this year we’re taking it to the next level. Every few weeks, beginning Friday, June 8th, we’ll introduce more community goals and fresh items to unlock. There will be more loot than ever, but be sure to watch and Cheer regularly to support your favorite teams and unlock them before they disappear. Once new community items launch, the old ones are gone for good.

Right below the video player on twitch.tv/blizzheroes, you can track team-specific and global community Cheering progress; check out your individual goals; and see leaderboards that highlight each team’s biggest superfan. HGC teams will not only feel the love from your Cheers, they’ll get to see themselves represented on Twitch and within Heroes of the Storm on unlockable team-branded banners, sprays, and badges.

How it works:

Be sure to link your Blizzard account to your Twitch account so you can claim your loot when items become available.

Cheer for your favorite teams on the BlizzHeroes channel (or any of the international channels) during HGC events by clicking on the Nexus icon at the bottom of chat, selecting the team’s logo, adding the number of Bits and a custom message to cheer them on.

Once Cheering goals are reached, the items will be automatically deposited in your Heroes of the Storm account, as long as you already have your account linked.

Cheering will start with the HGC Mid-Season Brawl on Saturday, June 9. Fans can continue Cheering throughout the rest of the 2018 HGC season, including the HGC Finals at BlizzCon. For more details on the HGC Schedule, click here. Follow the BlizzHeroes channel to be notified when events go live.
Visual writing
By: Ashish Goel
Tags: Sketchnote, Doodle, User Experience, Sketching, Design

I remember how I felt the first time I watched an RSAAnimate video:

An RSAAnimate video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U)

“This is awesome!” quickly followed by “That must’ve taken a lot of effort” (which goes with the unstated “Oh! I could never do that”).

A few years later, I found myself at graduate school studying design. I realized that sketching was fundamental to being a designer. It was the fastest way to make the abstract and ill-formed ideas in my head tangible.

However, after dropping out of the same design sketching class twice, I figured that I was not patient enough to do the lines and ovals warm-up; or practice my 1-point, 2-point and 3-point perspective. So, I decided I needed a different approach.

A warm-up exercise you will probably do in a sketching class.

Since I was in graduate school, attending lectures was part of my routine. I could turn taking lecture notes into an excuse to sketch. I could draw the concepts that were being talked about. At the very least, if there was an image on a slide, I could copy that.

The best part: no one would get to see my horrendous drawings. You see, even when it came to “sketching notes” the bar is pretty darn high. I had seen people do it at a conference and even that felt intimidating to emulate:

Graphic recording — which I also learnt later is called “Sketchnoting”. Link

So I started. Sadly, my hope that no one will see my sketches came to naught when a classmate looked over at my notebook and said, “Hey, I like how visual your notes are.”

And I was like, “Wait, this is visual?”.

My notes from a class I attended in 2012. It’s mostly bullet points. The handwriting is terrible. There are weak attempts at drawing a “wand”, “recipe” and the more abstract “crispification”. I have no idea what’s going on with the coffee cup.

That made me realize how low the bar for this kind of thing was. Most of us, having spent years writing on ruled notebooks get impressed with the most mundane departure from the norm.

More, if my notes were mildly impressive to someone, that was great because it is not hard to get started.

So, here’s a gameplan that you can try.
The Beginning of the End
By: Craig Allen Heath
Tags: Endings And Beginnings, Lyrics, Poetry, Life, Death

A Lyric Without a Melody

Photo by William Bossen on Unsplash

I’ve seen the hand upon the mountain

I’ve felt the wind that fills the sails

I’ve sipped the waters from the fountain

I’ve heard the plan that never fails

I’ve told the story of the father

And of the wounds that never mend

But this is new and ever-ancient

It’s the beginning of the end.

You’ve broken bones and vows of silence

You’ve slipped on icy winter sidewalks

You’ve driven roads without a license

You’ve drunk the falsehood on the rocks

You’ve had a thousand meager dinners

And one good breakfast with a friend.

But this is far from common knowledge

It’s the beginning of the end

This is obscure and ever-present

It’s the beginning of the end.

We’ve lived on borrowed time for ages

We’ve wondered when the time would come

We’ve read the book but not the pages

We’ve put our faith in rule of thumb

We’ve had our good days and our bad days

And years when we could just pretend.

But this is when the door is opened

It’s the beginning of the end

This is the ticket for the big show

It’s the beginning of the end

This is the train leaving the station

It’s the beginning of the end

Don’t make no long-term reservations

It’s the beginning of the end
Migration: The future depends on our actions today
By: World Bank
Tags: Jobs, Emigration, Immigration, Migration, Refugees

We also tend to forget what migrants bring to the table. Over one-third of Nobel prize winners are immigrants. Barcelona, Manchester United, or, for that matter, the reigning world-cup champion German national team would not exist in their current form without immigrants. Along with prominent high-tech firms, such as Google and Microsoft, many old-economy global firms such as McDonalds, Pepsi, and Pfizer have immigrant chief executive officers. Immigrant entrepreneurs like Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani start new firms in record numbers, creating millions of jobs, as they have a knack for risk-taking. After all, migration itself is a highly risky endeavor.

Aside from these superstars in science, sports and business, immigrants change the social and economic fabric of the countries they live in. They fill the gaps in the labor forces across different skill levels and occupations. They do the difficult and dirty jobs that natives are not willing or able to do. This is the case with Turkish industrial workers in post-war Germany, the Mexican farmhands in California or the Filipino maids in the Gulf countries. Without them, many sectors of the economy would disappear, consumers and employers would have to scramble. Everybody would be worse off.

We forget migration is not a zero-sum game. We seem to focus mostly on the costs, especially when millions of migrants pour through our borders. Fiscal budgets are strained; rents go up; schools get overcrowded; people lose their jobs to refugees who will accept longer hours and lower wages; most importantly, xenophobia shows its ugly face. Yet, the academic evidence repeatedly shows how the migrants help the destination countries and the overall effect can be positive within the right policy environment. Given the appropriate incentives and opportunities, there is nothing stopping the emergence of more Nobel Prize Winners, football superstars and global entrepreneurs among the most destitute migrants. We can follow the examples of many remarkable people who greatly benefited their native and adopted countries. Whether the migrants are a gain or a burden, in short, depends on the educational, employment and social opportunities presented to them.
Ordinary People Buy Things; Extraordinary People Spend Their Money on Learning
By: Luke Rowley
Tags: Self Improvement, Productivity, Inspiration, Books, Reading

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

— Anthony J. D’Angelo

What would it mean to you if you could never cease to grow?

How would you feel to know that you were becoming better every day, week, month, and year?

What would you do if you could live the life you’ve always wanted, above and beyond everyone else around you?

If you want to live an extraordinary life, you have to have exceptional habits. There’s a reason the top 1% in anything are so elite. It’s because their purchases, use of time, and patterns are in the top 1%, too.

Think of the last thing you purchased.

What was the primary reason you bought it?

Did you want to be like everyone else and have the latest gadget?

Did you just want to have something nice?

Were you going on a shopping spree because you just got paid?

When was the last time that you bought something that was primarily for your learning? That you intentionally planned and purchased so that you could grow your mind?

Most people only read about four books per year. The majority are also struggling in their relationships, financially, mentally, and physically.

What would it mean to you to have relationships that were deep and lasting?

How would it feel to be truly financially free?

What would you do without any mental or physical health struggles?

If you want your life to take off, you need to learn.

The level of your social, financial, mental, and physical success is directly proportional to how much you learn.

There’s a reason that Bill Gates reads 50+ books a year. It’s not coincidence that a man like Elon Musk says “I was raised by books.” The fact that Steve Jobs spending much of his life reading wasn’t by chance.

The reason is that reading and learning is an activity of the top 1% that is vital to their success. The elite got there because they learn more than 99% of the rest of the world.

Without learning, none of these great individuals would have become what they are and accomplished what they have for the world.

So why would you shortchange your growth by not spending money on learning?

Invest in yourself today and buy a book, course, or hire a coach.

Your success and growth depend on it.
Brighton’s DIY Creatives Making a Scene
Tags: Jazz, Grime, Brighton, Music

A handcrafted trademark is characteristic of all that Normanton Street do. In November of last year they joined Lighthouse for the first of our residency spots, as part of the Last Dance programme. For two-consecutive days each month a room in Lighthouse’s central Brighton building is placed in the capable hands of local artists and musicians to test out creative ideas. The initiative provides a space through which to play, without the pressure of having to financially secure time in a professional space. Unclear, Normanton Street’s latest release, is a product of this freedom. Looking inwardly, the song muses on your own thoughts as well as how people perceive you. To compliment its analytical content the band developed a music video, directed by Sheridan Griffiths, which features a scene set in a counselling session. Nicholson tells me that the idea stemmed from an iconic scene in the Sopranos. In order to mirror this influence, the band wanted to aim for a pared down aesthetic — a backdrop for which the Lighthouse building fit the bill. Nicholson goes on to tell me, ‘the space was sick because we wanted something blank and normal, but a little bit surreal as well. Not too crazy and futuristic, but something just intense, you know, super intense. And it was perfectly what we envisioned.’

A limitation of space to create in is a topic which is regularly broached in our programme at Lighthouse. For local musicians, producing their own music videos, the boys tell me that there is one location that is predominantly used — outdoors. The reality is that having access to buildings through which to record, hold meetings or produce content is a costly ask of upcoming artists, especially those who are making their way independently. Lighthouse’s Last Dance programme is developing new ways to support the emergence of talent within Brighton, such as through the ongoing residencies. For Ned, who works with local music organisation Audio Active, initiatives which nurture the talent of young and upcoming musicians are imperative to investing in a thriving local community; ‘It’s cyclical really, I feel like every organisation should look down, in the sense that they should uplift talent. We do that. I feel like if that’s coming from everywhere, it’s not a filter as such, but ideas go up and resources go down. It’s beneficial for all parties.’ With organisations increasingly looking outward — keen to bolster the talent on their periphery — the future of the creative scene in our city looks anything but bleak. ‘There’s a progressive scene of people trying to bring others through. That’s definitely more prevalent now.’

Normanton Street’s new single Unclear is out now on iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify.

For more information on Lighthouse’s Last Dance residency programme and to apply contact Jamila, Last Dance Project Manager, jamila@lighthouse.org.uk
World Community 3
Tags: Communication, World Community, Ego, Human Behavior, Maturity

We: a plural I

Squeezing the Earth

The objectification of Nature, seen as a totally measurable and disposable resource, and, on a more empirical level, the reduction of all human relations to that of property are postulates of the axiomatic reduction of human nature to the ‘thinking-I’, the egoistic mind. The ‘I’ thinks the other as an ‘non-I’ and thus as a limit standing in front of itself.

Mommy

The first milestone in its journey towards ethical consciousness is

the moment when the ‘I’ encounters another body it recognizes as a subject, as another ‘I’, another world accessible not in terms of possession but of reciprocal openness.

Only then the individual becomes a person: Individuals form societies, persons form communities.

The inherent dialectic between individual and personality is one of the main topics of contemporary culture. But maybe we are at the thresholds of a deeper understanding of this dialectic.

The ‘We’ in a community isn’t just the result of the communion between people: it stands before. Not only it transcends the ‘I’ by raising it in the free play of interpersonal relations, it constitutes both its original cause (birth) and its final end (death) as a plural unity.

There is a ‘We’ immanent in every ‘I’.

There is an ethereal infrastructure within and all around my subjectivity, an infrastructure of communion from which ‘I’ emerge as a conscious medium of the ‘We’ that in me thinks, and wills, and hopes. The same etymology of the word ‘conscience’ *(from Latin con-scientia) opens a window on this communitarian structure of the ‘I’, in the moment of its ethical apocalypse: the conscience is a co-science, the science of living as a community, of transcending the particular perspectives into a universal convergence.

Conscience

If, by engaging dialectically with another, ‘I’ sometimes get the distinctive impression of revealing a new part of myself, it’s because within me was already present the dormient potential of every single manifestation of Life ‘I’ could ever meet or imagine on the phenomenical plane of existence. Specifically, human nature is actively present at the core of every human, as genetic memory and as ethical conscience: to know myself is really to recognize the common self under the lens of my personal reflection. This inter-species solidarity reaches beyond the illusionary boundaries of organic death and bonds every generation of the past and the future around one, present responsibility.

The cultural fragmentation of the last decades was the reaction to the hegemonic fascism of Western Civilization, which had tried to impose its order through the violent suppression of every cultural and biological memory that wouldn’t fit in its schemes of world domination. And yet, while apparently the unity of the social body and spirit was falling apart, like a mono-culture field when is left free to regenerate,
Health Questions Part 3: What’s Stopping You?
By: Michaela Grek
Tags: Self Improvement, Life, Health, Goals, Coaching

Day 3!

Well done on day 1 and 2! It’s not easy being honest with ourselves and facing the true intentions behind our health goals. But it’s extremely important or we may keep on starting and quitting all the time.

If you missed the first two days, you can find them here. It’s crucial to answer them before moving onto the next one as it won’t really make sense and won’t be as effective.

Now that you’ve established your WHAT and WHY, it’s time to look at what’s stopping you from getting it. Oftentimes, it requires a bit of digging to get to the very bottom of this. Is it lack of time? Not being able to go to the gym? Not knowing what to do?

What’s this all about?

A gentle reminder.

This is a series of 4 health discussions taking you on a journey like no other. You’ll discover more about yourself and grow your clarity around your own personal health. All in the comfort of your home.

Before we go ahead and ask the questions below I want you to record your answers. I’m assuming most of you would be happy to write down your thoughts and answers as we’re all writers here on Medium. However, a simple web-cam or phone recording will do, too. The reason I suggest video recording as well is that it’ll force you to speak your mind and answer these questions as if you were having a conversation with someone. Perhaps a coach.

So open your Google Docs or Web-cam and answer these questions:

Why have you not achieved your goal yet?

What’s stopping you from achieving your goal?

What is REALLY standing between you and achieving this goal?

Don’t overthink these or filter your answers. And for the love of health don’t Google these either. It’s your interpretation and your journey.

Don’t forget to have fun!