fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Bad Practices in UI/UX Design That You Should Avoid
By: Bradley Nice
Tags: Design, User Experience, Web Design, Web Development, UX

Making mistakes in your UI is easier than you think. There are quite a lot of pitfalls on your way of delivering smooth user experience, and I want to talk about some of them today. Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

Phone Number Form Fields

Phone number field is a beast. In my other article, I mentioned a post on Imgur that presents you the best UI/UX practices from hell, mostly concerning phone number input. But there are less obvious ways to ruin user experience.

Everything is permitted

The most common misbelief is that allowing users to enter whichever format they like is the key. But it’s not entirely true.

Check out an example above. Is this filled out correctly? No? But hey, you decided to let users run wild, so someone clearly did. How will your database handle this input? And if you throw in a validation there, it will further confuse users. Do they need a country code? Do they need to put dashes or spaces between number groups? Users will most likely abandon filling out the form, rather than spend time guessing which format you meant there.

Let me show you the way

Some developers think that by showing the user an example how the field should be filled out they will avoid confusion, but in reality, most users just ignore the example and fill out fields the way they like. This, again, causes validation errors and leads to form abandonment.

We are the many

Other designers split input forms. But adapting form to just one country isn’t user-friendly at all. The example above will mostly suit some users, but others may be left aside because they have different formatting and number lengths in their countries. This approach is also difficult to fill out from mobile phones.
Quadrant Launches Service Credits, A New Paradigm for Enterprise Blockchain Solutions
By: Navas Khan
Tags: Big Data, Blockchain, News, Product Updates

Today we are happy to announce the launch of Service Credits on Quadrant. This is a path-breaking initiative that allows customers to purchase QUAD tokens — known as Service Credits — from Quadrant. Although a simple concept, this is a turning point in enterprise adoption of blockchain technology.

Since the creation of blockchain technology, the transformational power of the technology has not been matched by the user experience it offers. This is a simple fact that anyone active in the space is likely to be aware of. Blockchains are powerful, but to use them in a professional setting has not always been easy. The introduction of Service Credits changes this.

What are Service Credits?

The QUAD token is a utility that is required in order to use the Quadrant platform, and will be used as payment for access to services like Data Stamping and Verification. Quadrant’s enterprise customers, though, often have strict security and reporting requirements and policies that make it difficult for them to transact on crypto exchanges, which often lack institutional-grade UX and back-end bookkeeping and invoicing capabilities. So we decided to build a solution ourselves.

With the launch of the Service Credits, customers can now purchase QUAD tokens from Quadrant at the rate of 1 QUAD = 1 USD. This obviates the need for users to obtain QUAD on independent, third-party exchanges.

How it works

The way it works is simple. When a customer makes a purchase request, Quadrant obtains the desired amount of tokens from the market. We then, in turn, remove one eQUAD token from circulation for each QUAD purchased, keeping the total number of circulating tokens unchanged. Within 48 hours the QUAD will appear in the customer’s wallet in the form of a Service Credit. No cryptocurrency is needed — all purchases can be made in fiat currency.

Quadrant is a leading innovator in the data space. In only a year we have built a robust, expanding platform backed by a talented and growing team. As we continue to map the data universe, our data solutions offer unparalleled insight into customer behaviours, particularly in the realm of authenticated location data, that can help our enterprise clients maximise the effectiveness and reach of their products. Our Service Credits enhances these benefits by making the experience of using the Quadrant platform seamless. Enterprises are now able to enjoy the full benefits of our data verification and mapping capabilities — made possible by the power of the blockchain — with the transparency and ease of use they require. And this is just the beginning — as we continue to build new features(data tools and services) for our enterprise clients, our Service Credits will further contribute to their continued adoption of our platform.

You can purchase Service Credits on our website here. As always, we are happy to answer any questions you may have; please reach out to marketing@quadrant.io and we will respond as quickly as we can. Thank you again for your continued support.
“Some traumas are like tornados; some are like hurricanes.”
By: Jason B. Hobbs Lcsw
Tags: Anxiety, Mental Health, Trauma, Hurricane, Therapy

So what does this mean for the experience of trauma and loss?

Tornados are like those sudden difficult events that happen in our lives: the sudden death, the sexual assault, the job loss. We feel as if we did not see it coming. We often feel that we “should” have seen it coming. I say this to say that the sudden event often brings with it a need for explanation, for blame. For many of us, that blame feels as if it fits best with us. We blame ourselves for being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Even though we can see that it is truly someone else’s behavior, we still feel this nagging sense that it is our fault.

Hurricanes are more like the long, slow death of a loved one. We have time to prepare, but not fully. Often, but not always, we have people with whom we sit with during the onslaught of the howling wind and rain. With a hurricane, we may ask ourselves, “will this ever end?” There is an exhaustion that can set in with this long, slow event.

So what does this mean for the recovery from this trauma and loss?

Tornados often lead to self-blame. So we need to guard against blaming ourselves for a small error in judgement when it is someone else who harmed us. And even though there is the nagging self-doubt that says, “I should have seen this coming” that is usually a sort of lie we tell ourselves. Everything is always clearer in hindsight, even though it may not have been clear at the time.

Hurricanes, due to their long duration, can lead us to think that “it will always be this way”. That is the thought that we have to guard against. We have a tendency to take a hard situation and make it a rule about our experience in the world, instead of merely an exception. We do not always live under the threat of a hurricane, even though we did at one time.

One of the most positive ways that we can cope …

… with either trauma is to find ways to connect with others. Even if we feel very alone in our trauma (like the particularity of a tornado), it helps to find others who have been through this too. This is why support groups for survivors of sexual assault exist.

Large traumas (like hurricanes) can make this somewhat easier in that you can band together with people who just went through the same thing that you did. Survivors of school shootings or war veterans provide a easy example of this phenomena.

In the end…

… it also matters how you make meaning out of the event. Yes, there are most certainly consequences to trauma. We can limit some of the damage if we spend less time blaming ourselves. We will do better if we work with others who have walked this journey.

And while this tornado/hurricane analogy is not perfect, and whether you have experienced the short, sharp trauma or the long, grueling loss, find others who will walk with you, perhaps a trained therapist or other supportive person/group. It is not all your fault; do not go through this alone.
Everything You Need To Know About Hoisting in JavaScript
By: Janith Gamage
Tags: Angular, Nodejs, JavaScript, React, React Native

What Is Hoisting?

It's easier to understand what hoisting is with an example. Let's take a look at the code snippet below.

Here you can see that the printVariable function is called before it's defined, and the variable passed into the function is also used before it’s defined. But still, if you run the code, you'll notice that the program doesn't throw any errors. It simply prints undefined in the console. It seems that the program is somehow aware of these elements in the code that are yet to be defined. The magic behind this is hoisting.

Hoisting is achieved by allocating memory locations for the variable declarations, class declarations, and function declarations in your code when compiling. Therefore it feels like these elements are hoisted/lifted to the top of their scope so that the program is aware of them beforehand.

The snippet below shows the sequence in which the elements in the code above would be read by the compiler, resulting in the impression of being hoisted/lifted. It’s important to remember that hoisting is related to how the compiler reads through a program and that it doesn't literally alter the code.
Introducing 3 Small-Big Books You Need to Read the Correct Way
By: Ruchi Das
Tags: Ideas, Book Recommendations, Self Improvement, Books, Reading

Photo by Author

There’s a genre of books that relates to Holocaust stories. This book is not one of them.

There’s a genre of spiritual books and books related to life’s philosophies. This book is not one of those either.

Rather, this book teaches you to seek value and meaning in the worst situations you face in life. Because it is meaning in living that empowers the human mind to keep going even in life’s toughest situations. This book is about finding that meaning.

Psychologist Viktor E.Frankl was one of the survivors who came out alive out of the Nazi concentration camps in the Spring of 1945 and lived to tell the tale of its horrors. However, his profession granted him a unique perspective on the extremities of life in those situations. He used his insight as well as those of other people around him to decipher and confirm some of the ideas that humans believe helps them live a more purposeful life through the highs and lows of it.

The correct way to read this book

The book is divided into two parts: the first narrates the account inside the concentration camp and the second is a brief introduction on Logotherapy- Frankl’s own school of thought aimed at helping people find meaning in life.

The first part is more of a story. It narrates Frankl’s and his inmates’ thought process in the most extreme situations they face in the camp, such as lack of food, or working in extreme conditions or watching people die. You can sail through this part as you sail through a story. This part also contains some really uplifting one-paragraph recollections and anecdotes you can mark to read when you need motivation in life.

You need to pay attention when Viktor gets freed from the concentration camp. This is when he speaks about man’s search for meaning in his life. And how focusing on something in the future is a powerful anchor that gives him that meaning to survive.

Then, the second part of the book describes logotherapy as a psychological branch, where he describes the nuances of the meaning of human life in various situations.

In essence, the first part conveys through the story what the second part conveys in theory. Both parts are equally enriching but even if you read the first part of the book attentively, you will have derived the intended value from the book.

Also, you might want to note down certain important principles Viktor mentions in the book to refer to later. These are gems and should not be passed without letting it sink in. One of the examples is this quote:
Why Do You Read?
By: Siobhan O'Connor
Tags: Writing, Reading, Blogging

Why Do You Read?

Plus: 10 of my favorite Medium writers right now

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

It would be a lie to say I read for a living, but it’s fair to say I make a living because I love to read and am good at it.

Why do you read? When you ask people this, a lot of them say they read to consume information or to escape. No offense to me, but this blog post will likely contain very little information! And surely no escape, unless you are procrastinating. But it contains thought and opinion, and you may get a sense of how sentences form in my head because I write how I think, and you’ll learn who I’m reading lately, and why.

I think we read to connect with ideas and people. I have an always-growing list of people who I will read no matter what. I’ll read their tweets, their replies to other people’s tweets, their deep captions on IG, their blogs, their longform, their newsletters, their books, their texts, if I am lucky enough to call them a friend. Some of these writers I love for their voice, others for the way they think, for their spare (or weird!) use of language, for their ideas, or how they change my mind. And they all connect.

So I’m going to salute them here. Here are 10 writers I read for different reasons. Feel free to share your own list. (If you do, please tag me so I see your post — it’s an occupational requirement for me to fall in love with new writers on an ongoing basis 🤗.)

So that’s my list for now. Who’s on yours?
Truth in Memory
By: Joanna Vang
Tags: Musings, Writing, Dishonesty, Short Story, Consequences

Truth in Memory

A Short Story

Photo by Mick De Paola on Unsplash

C. opened the back door, the noise seemingly unnatural. Few miseries are as intense as that disordered and ignored room. Like a no man’s land. On a broken chair was sitting a man, gazing at the mirror door. His dirty, nerdy appearance didn’t terrify her. He didn’t frown either, seems like he’s waiting for her.

Why you came here? I have exchanged everything valuable in that place with the black horizon. You are not welcomed here, get out!

I value your respect for me, and I’m really sorry for you, she said in a calm way. Your true intentions were always revealed with extravagant rudeness and dishonesty.

I’ve exchanged the piano with a silver toaster. You’ve never heard music, now I’ll take the piano, so that you have an ample space where you cannot starve for entertainment.

Joanna Vang 2020
Why Machine Learning Practitioners Should Watch The Movie “Her”
By: Richmond Alake
Tags: Machine Learning, Technology, Entertainment, Artificial Intelligence, Movies

Photo by Alex Litvin on Unsplash

Opinion

Why Machine Learning Practitioners Should Watch The Movie “Her”

Meet the Virtual assistant of the future

Introduction

Major bugs fixed, production application looks good, and I just pushed my last commit of 2020, the holiday season is in full effect. So, I prepare to unplug, briefly, from the ever-moving world of AI.

How do I unplug and let my brain recharge?

Like any passionate machine learning practitioner, I watch TV shows and movies with AI aspects within them.

You guessed it; I’m not unplugging, not fully anyway.

So I’m not giving my brain a break from AI, but in this article, I want to point out (and make excuses for not unplugging) how relevant some films with AI features are beneficial for ML practitioners.

Through reading this article you’ll gain the mindset required to derive inspiration from Sci-fi movies. More specifically, I’m going bring to your attention the impending convergence of AI content conveyed within movies and the trajectory of current AI developments.

Happy Reading.
Is Gold worth investing over Stocks in 20 years?
By: Sanjeev Kumar
Tags: Machine Learning, R, Visualization, Data Science, Analytics

Thanks to the amazing R libraries gganimate and ggplot2 which helped in creating the animated chart.

I will post the details of creating the charts in another post. Until then stay tuned.
How To Implement The Java Stack Class In JavaScript
By: Krishnanunny H
Tags: JavaScript, Web Development, Software Development, Java, Programming

An npm package that implements the Java collection framework stack data structure into JavaScript.

Native JavaScript doesn’t provide a function for implementing the stack, which works on the principal last-in-first-out. This package offers more functionality than essential stack operation like push and pop, which provides more operations like peek(), showStack(), isEmpty(), size(), maximumElement() and minimumElement().

This cover has been designed using resources from Freepik.com

Creating stack using the package

Install with npm package to your project using the command below

npm i javascript-stack

Example usage

const Stack = require("javascript-stack"); const newStack = new Stack();

newStack.push(100);

console.log("The top value of the stack is: ",newStack.peek());

newStack.push(200);

newStack.push(300);

newStack.pop();

console.log("The size of the stack is: ",newStack.size());

newStack.minimumElement();

console.log("Minimumelement of the stack is: ",newStack.size());

The output of the above code is

The top value of the stack is: 100

The size of the stack is: 2

Minimumelement of the stack is: 100

The various operation used in the package

Adding the element to the stack: An element could be added to the created stack using an operation called push(), which will add an element to the stack. Removing the stack element: An element could be removed from the stack using an operation called pop(), which will remove the last entered element from the stack. To get the top stack element: To get the top element from a stack, we could use peek() to return the top element from the created stack. To print all the values inside a stack: To print all the values inside a stack package, provide an operation called showStack() that will return a string contains all the values in that stack. Check whether the stack is empty: To know whether the stack is empty or not package provides a function called isEmpty(), and that will return a boolean. It returns false if the stack is empty, otherwise true. Maximum and Minimum element: In case the stack is added with an integer value, and we could obtain the maximum and minimum value, to do that, the package provides maximumElement() and minimumElement() functions. To determine the size of the stack: Return the current size of the stack through a method size(). Remove all the elements: The clear() method used to remove all the added values from the stack. Convert stack to an array: This package provides a provision for converting the stack into an array, the method used to do this operation is toArray(). For reversing the stack: We could reverse a stack through a method reverseStack(), which will reverse the initiated stack values in the opposite direction. Searching the value: Search operation in the stack could be done by a method search(), which will return true if the given value is present in the stack otherwise it will return with a false value.

Practical application of stacks in software development
My Last Medium Story Went Viral. Now What?
By: Caitlin Vestal
Tags: Essay, Life Lessons, Writing, Self, Blogging

My Last Medium Story Went Viral. Now What?

On learning to write for the internet (and never reading the comments)

Photo by the author

It’s a strange feeling to have an essay you’ve written be seen by 13,000 people. Especially when the essay you wrote before that was only seen by 34. It’s exciting, yes. And also a little terrifying.

A couple of days before the election, I sat down to write something about living in Germany, experiencing a robust social safety net for the first time in my life, and begrudgingly voting for Biden. This is what came out. And I guess because of the timing (and perhaps an overly dramatic title), it was read by a lot of people. 13,000ish people.

And hey, this is what we want, right? This is what we’re all on here to do — to have a bunch of people see something we’ve written and share it on the internet, so that we can experience the sheer joy of not having our writing put us in the red for the first time ever. Right?

I am learning that writing for the internet is a brave (or not so brave), new world.

But even as I was giving my husband daily updates on my story’s stats, I was also sort of wishing I’d never written the thing. It’s my first experience with having my work seen by so many eyes. Up until I started writing on Medium, I’d only published my work in literary magazines. You know who reads literary magazines? Only people who want to be published in literary magazines. So that’s basically (and I say this as someone who helped found this literary magazine)…no one. I am learning that writing for the internet is a brave (or not so brave), new world.
The good, the bad and the ugly of Scripts in Production
By: Assaf Miron
Tags: Lambda, Python, Script, Production, DevOps

If you can think it — script it

I love scripting. I have been scripting since I started to develop.

I have written scripts in different scripting languages starting from basic, batch, bash, VBScript, JavaScript, phyton, perl, and my personal favorite — PowerShell.

Many “scripting languages”, especially Python and PowerShell until recently were only used for the “gluing work”, but nowadays with cloud technologies more and more scripting languages make it to the “real languages” domain.

I’d like to share my view on what the benefits of using scripting languages and why it is okay to use them even in production environments without hesitation.

Not long ago, when I asked my developer friends: “What do you think about running scripts in a production environment?” 4 out of 5 said that they think it was a bad idea and they couldn’t really explain why. So, I asked more questions. Most of their reasons focused on “it doesn’t feel right” running code that is not compiled, plain text, a code that has not gone through a standard SDLC.

However, if you were to ask IT experts the same question, I believe the answers would be different. My assumption is that 4 out of 5 would say that they do it every day and feel comfortable with it. The fifth would need some time to remember that while he might not have done it, his predecessor likely did. One example that IT experts commonly use are login scripts of users in the corporate domain. I’m sure that would count as a script running in a production environment, don’t you?

Also, DevOps engineers use scripts in their production environments all the time. Serverless development is usually based on non-compiled code.

So why do you avoid using scripts in our production environments? Why doesn’t it “feel right”? What are you afraid of?
[Python] 網頁自動化測試的新選擇 -- Microsoft Playwright
Tags: Python3, Python, Selenium, Automation Testing, Playwright

Announcing Playwright for Python: Reliable end-to-end testing for the web | Python

Automated end-to-end tests are a powerful tool for your team to ship faster and with more confidence. End-to-end tests…
Il Digital Marketing, perché è la chiave per la crescita di un’azienda? — Parte 1
By: Loriana Consentino
Tags: Marketing, Social Media, Digital Marketing

in In Fitness And In Health
“Hygge is a quality of coziness that makes a person feel content and comfortable.”
By: Jennifer Geer
Tags: Lifestyle, Winter, Outdoors, Wellness, Self Improvement

“Hygge is a quality of coziness that makes a person feel content and comfortable.” — Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Hygge encompasses the Danish view of life. It doesn’t translate easily into one word but is more of an idea. Think cozy socks, warm blankets, reading a book under the covers while raindrops hit the roof, candlelit dinners, roaring fireplaces.

It’s all those things and more. It’s whatever you make of it. Most importantly, it’s a positive mindset. A way to appreciate the little things. We can use a little hygge to get us through the next few months of winter.
The Isolated Addict
By: Rose Marie
Tags: Addiction, Covid 19, Mental Health, Self Improvement, Recovery

I get it, I truly do. We’ve finally gotten sober and now this hits us. Slamming our fierce sobriety against a brick wall, nearly forcing mind-altering substances into our systems despite our please for a reprieve from the constant racing thoughts. Fear and anxiety take hold and it seems that reverting back to the old coping mechanisms might be the best idea that we may have had up until this point.

But, may I submit for your consideration the idea that returning back to the old way of living may just be exactly what solidifies our collective demise, reserving an unmovable spot in a box that is firmly planted six feet under the ground? One that, had we continued to push through, might have never been constructed?

Believe me, I spent several years (over a decade) spiraling down a black hole of addiction, and using every excuse in the book to validate my claims that drinking or using was the only way to make it through the day. So, it would only be fitting if I were to go back to the methods that helped me to cope before. That is, however, if those coping mechanisms didn’t throw my life into a cesspool of avoidable turmoil rather than improving it in any way.
Dear Crush…
By: Emanuel Mwangi
Tags: Poetry, Crush, Writing, Poetry On Medium, Love

Ever since we started talking, I feel some kind of a way,

I feel like I want to talk to you all the time,

You make an introvert feel like opening up without the fear of feeling naked,

I want to call you and ask about your fears,

Have deep conversations as I get to know you more,

Set up late dinner and take you to a poetry showcase in one of these evenings,

Hold arms in the auditorium,

I want to do those things that an introvert despises,

You’re beautiful and your thinking arouses me,

You’re outgoing hence sociable… I’m not sociable and you could teach me a lot,

There’s a lot I wanna tell you but as an introvert I have to reserve some for my self,

But I’ll write about it,

About how I thought you were the one,

How I always checked if you had texted me every morning,

How I’ve pictured the both of us crossing streets of Nairobi hand in hand,

How I’ve pictured us sited next to each other on a bus with so many empty seats,

How I’ve postponed dropping by your workplace almost every morning,

How I’ve thought your name could really match well with my middle name,

How my pulse beats with the sounds of your name every time I think of calling you,

The way I’ve fallen for you is not normal for humanoids like us,

That nigga Cupid shot an arrow through my heart and it’s now wounded by affection for you, 🌹,

You have the antidote but the pain sometimes makes it feel good so I wanna keep it,

I want to keep you but you don’t wanna stay,

My soul now feels like a ghost town,

The light that you shone on this heart is off and others can’t get in now,

What do I do to get the trust,

What do I do to stop pissing you off,

What do I do with this sprinkle of anxiety,

I’ll spend eaon writing about you,

Of how close I was,

To get what mama always asked me to take home,

A girl who’s a complete package,

From generosity, wisdom, patience and knows how to cook…

Now tell me you’ll tag along,

Now tell me I’m not circling in the desert,

Looking for an oasis that is you,

Tell me I’m not in a love triangle,

Tell me why you’re holding back,

Tell me where I’m miscalculating,

Tell me,

Tell me in deep details,

Tell me as we stare under the street lights in a quiet night,

Tell me on the rooftop as the stars stare enviously at your eyes,

Quench this thirst…

Cause I’m about to drain all my emotions, 🌹
Understanding MapReduce
By: Coder S Cat
Tags: Programming, Functional Programming, Software Development, Distributed Systems, Google

A Programming Model: MapReduce

Of course, MapReduce is much more complicated than the two functions above, even though they share some of the same core ideas.

MapReduce is a programming model and framework for processing big data sets in distributed servers, running the various tasks in parallel.

It is a technology that was invented to solve big data problems. Nowadays, the data volume is so huge that we cannot solve it on one server.

The whole idea of MapReduce is a split-apply-combine strategy. We split the big data set into multiple parts and process them parallelly on multiple servers, then combine the result with all outputs from servers.

Let’s make an analogy. We have a lot of ingredients. After the procedure of shredding and recombining, we make a lot of sandwiches:

Figure 2 from Ryan Eberhardt.

Typically, MapReduce ’s users will implement the map and reduce functions, and the framework will call them on a large cluster of machines.

In practice, except for map and reduce , there are some other processing stages in the whole procedure, including split , combine , shuffle , sort , etc.

Suppose we want to count the numbers of each word from a very big piece of content. We split the file into three sub-files, finish the word counting task in each server, use the words as keys for shuffling, and finally combine the results from the same key.

Figure 3 from DreamShutter.

The framework will also support redundancy and fault tolerance since errors may happen in any server. In the original implementation of Google, they use the architecture of the master-worker pattern. The master node will assign jobs to workers and maintain their status.

The master pings every worker periodically. If no response is received from a worker in a certain amount of time, the master marks the worker as failed. Then it reschedules the job for anther healthy worker.
Review: FractalNet (Image Classification)
By: Sik-Ho Tsang
Tags: Machine Learning, Image Classification, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Deep Learning

1. FractalNet Architecture

Fractal Architecture: A Simple Fractal Expansion (Left), Recursively Stacking of Fractal Expansion as One Block (Middle), 5 Blocks Cascaded as FractalNet (Right)

For the base case, f1(z) is the convolutional layer:

After that, the recursive fractals are:

where C is the number of columns as in the middle of the figure. The number of convolutional layers at the deepest path within a block will have 2^(C-1). In this case, C=4, thereby, the number of convolutional layers is 2³=8 layers.

For the join layer (green), element-wise mean is computed. It is not concatenation or addition.

With 5 blocks (B=5) cascaded as FractalNet at the right of the figure, then the number of convolutional layers at the deepest path within the whole network is B×2^(C-1), i.e. 5×2³=40 layers.

In between 2 blocks, 2×2 max pooling is done to reduce the size of feature maps. Batch Norm and ReLU are used after each convolution.
BubbleTone Messenger: Updated Version Released
By: Bubbletone Blockchain In Telecom
Tags: Mobile App Development, iOS, Mobile Application, Messenger, Android

The Bubbletone team is glad to announce that an updated version of the messenger was released on April 25 for Android and April 30 for iOS. The team fixed a number of nasty software bugs and implemented a number of noticeable improvements to make it possible for the app to run smoothly.

As the new version of the app is stable, its release has made future integration of the messenger with mobile operators that will be using the blockchain-based marketplace possible.

The team has fixed serious problems related to the Android version of the app. As for the iOS version, only the most urgent issues have been resolved. Our development team continues to search for bugs and fix them. We kindly ask those members of the community who are interested in the project development to download the application and test it thoroughly.

If you detect any bugs, please send information describing the found bugs and the phone model on which the application was installed and tested to our Telegram channel administrators. The administrators will compile a list of detected bugs and hand the document over to the development team. You can also express your opinion on the design and functionality of the messenger. It is thanks to your help that we will be able to greatly improve the application.

It is also worth mentioning that the web version of the app is scheduled for its release in Autumn 2019. In the web version of the messenger will be implemented most of the functions that are present in the mobile version, including calls to landline and mobile network phones.

The messenger is available on the App Store and Google Play:

About BubbleTone

Customized for the needs of mobile operators, the BubbleTone messenger provides operators with additional revenue streams on voice calls and SMS messages from the app and other telecom services. When it comes to end users, the app enables them to make calls to both landline and mobile network phones, as well as send SMS messages to mobile network phones, all straight from the app, regardless of the user’s location, saving them money.
I’m the Local Freak
By: Bethany Beeler, Author Artist
Tags: Self-awareness, Transphobia, LGBTQ, Transgender, Self Love

I’m the Local Freak

And I’m Not Freaking Out About It. Nor Should You.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long, Bethany! You are welcome here!”

That’s the greeting I received from a truly beautiful person to whose holiday gathering I was invited. Her motherly welcome was genuine, and the festivities, the meal, and the people did not disappoint. ❤

At the local dental office, the dentist herself took me aside and said, “You don’t have to worry about being trans here. I can’t imagine what you go through with some people.” Her dental care was excellent and made good on her open-door promise to me. ❤

I know, I know—you probably think I’m gonna bitch about how awkward “woke” people can be in their embrace of my trans identity. Not at all. I am affirmed by people’s embrace of me and their sincere follow-through.

It Don’t Come Easy

That doesn’t mean such experiences are easy for me. I’d like to be welcomed for my simple presence as who I am, with no preamble as to why I’m so welcome, other than my having come to the party.

Yet … my presence isn’t simple. My other articles and upcoming memoir make clear that I neither apologize for being trans nor give cis folk a free pass. I’m also not glossing over the vilification and violence that we trans persons get from transphobes, TERFs, and other hateful assholes. Last, I’m not saying that all trans and non-binary folks ought to adopt my response as proscriptive.

Avoiding Me

Growing up, I did everything in my power to hide my self-perceived freakishness. Part of that chameleon motivation was self-preservation, but a large portion of it was simply the attempt to avoid being who I am.

Now I embrace the exhilaration of being me. Oh, the joy of realizing that what I mistook for freakishness is my one true liberty.

Embracing Me

Amid that exhilaration though, even my happy social interactions show that who I am freaks out cis people. I’m ironically now the novelty, the oddity, the carney-show exhibit that I’d previously, desperately avoided.

I am simply Bethany.

For me, being trans means not just embracing me as I am but also embracing everyone else’s encounter with the odd, the different. What we fear about ourselves as hideous, unclean, untouchable is dissipated with a simple “Yes! You and I are one. As I welcome you, I welcome me.”

A Condition of Complete Simplicity

Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean we easily do it.

I didn’t welcome this role for myself. Then again, I didn’t welcome being the Bethany I am until I’d exhausted every other alternative and nearly my life.

So I’m the local freak. And I’m okay with that.

Coda: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

It’s as simple as the pub I have the joy of going to multiple times a week, not just ’cuz it’s in my apartment building but because its owner, staff, and patrons welcome me in a way that, for decades, I simply found impossible.

As me.

To The Laureate Publick House in Loveland, Colorado, I love you.❤
Campuswire vs Piazza: a Breakdown
By: Campuswire Student Design Team
Tags: College, Technology, Startup, Edtech, Education

Here at Campuswire, we’re all recent students & TAs, so we all experienced some frustrations with the communication tools available to us in our classes — we knew that students (and professors) deserved something better. So we designed Campuswire to address many of the specific frustrations we experienced with platforms like Piazza and others.

So, what does Campuswire do differently than Piazza?

1. Student data and privacy

One of our primary issues with Piazza was the way they handled student data as part of their business model.

Piazza maintains a free product by selling student data to recruiters and prospective employers (take a look here: https://eliterate.us/popular-discussion-platform-piazza-getting-pushback-selling-student-data/ and here: https://ithelp.brown.edu/kb/articles/piazza-student-privacy for more context).

At Campuswire, we’re building an entirely different business model — we will never sell student data or advertisements.

Beginning in January, we’ll offer a Pro (paid) version of Campuswire. That version will include powerful features like video office hours and active learning technology, and professors will have the option to upgrade their course to Campuswire Pro. (Everything we’ve built so far, up to and including Campuswire V3, will remain free forever.)

That means that we only make money when we’ve built a tool that provides professors and students so much value and enhances the teaching and learning experience so much that they want to pay for Campuswire. We’re in a really exciting place where our interests as a company are completely aligned with the interests of our users.

Our customers will always be the professors and students who are using Campuswire and giving us the feedback that we rely on to improve Campuswire (not the recruiters and corporations who are Piazza’s customers).

So, if you’re looking for a complete course communication tool that protects student data and that has intentionally aligned its incentives as a company with your incentives as an instructor, TA, or student, welcome to Campuswire!

2. Duplicate question prevention

Another frustration with Piazza (and every forum, really) was the clutter of duplicate questions, especially in large classes where lots of students have the same questions at the same point in the semester. Those questions can overwhelm students and make it really hard for professors and TAs to provide timely, efficient help.

So, we built a clever AI to identify similar questions and prevent them from being posted. When we introduced it, we reduced duplicate questions in a large class by 75%!
Not an iPhone review
By: Ben Edwards
Tags: The Web, Gadgets, Technology, Apple, Pop Culture

There are plenty of iPhone reviews out there. This is not another. This post is just an observation as to why the iPhone is so different and inspires such goodwill from those who use it. It is simple really, but Apple has taken tasks that on most (all?) other phones are cumbersome, non-intuitive, and often just plain crappy and made them a joy. I am not really over stating this, the iPhone is really fun to use. Browsing the web is not reminiscent of the “real” real web, it IS the real web (ok a web without Flash — for now). Google maps works just like Google maps should. Email is great, not some crippled version, and the phone, despite what some have said, is very nice too. Almost all the interfaces are easy to use and it is easy to know where to go and what to do to make things happen. My previous Windows Mobile phone and my Palm PDA phone before that, took a while to master and it was only because I learned their backwards way of doing things was I able to manage on those devices.

This should serve as yet another lesson from Apple that design matters. Make interfaces (both physical and virtual) that are fun and intuitive and people will enjoy using them and tell their friends.

A couple other observations — No wonder there is a 10% restocking fee if you return an iPhone. With the amount of plastic they use — wrapping everything multiple times in their way. It would take a while to wrap all that stuff back up, I imagine. And what is up with the industrial glue used on the bags they put the phones in when you buy them. Not sure if it is the same at Apple stores but at the at&t store the clerk put the phone in this bag and then pulled away a strip between the two insides and the bag sealed up tight — had to use keys to rip a hole in the bag to open it. When we asked him about it, he said Apple was making them do that. Think different, I guess.
29 of My Favorite Design Tools & Websites You’ve Never Heard of
By: Danny Sapio
Tags: User Experience, Design, Graphic Design, UX, Product Design

The design space is awash with countless design tools, plugins, websites, resources, and more promising to improve your workflow and make you a savvier designer. I’ve tried my hand at a lot of them over the years, but there are only a few that really stand out.

This list is the cream of the crop — the most obscure, creative, unique, helpful or exceptional. Some are fun sites to be inspired from; others are tools and resources that will absolutely make you a better designer.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what your favorite tools are on Twitter.

1. The preposterous web portal of Erik Bernacchi

eeerik.com
Review: Highway Networks — Gating Function To Highway (Image Classification)
By: Sik-Ho Tsang
Tags: Machine Learning, Image Classification, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Deep Learning

Review: Highway Networks — Gating Function To Highway (Image Classification)

Highway Networks, Inspired By LSTM, Using Gating Function, More Than 1000 Layers.

Gating Function to Highway

In this story, Highway Networks is briefly presented. This is a 2015 work. At that moment, it is found that there is difficulties optimizing a very deep neural network. However, it’s still an open problem why it is difficult to optimize a deep network. (Of course, later, it is probably due to gradient vanishing problem.) Inspired by Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), authors thereby make use of gating function to adaptively transform or bypass the signal so that the network can go deeper. A deep network with more than 1000 layers can also be optimized. I choose to present this paper so that I can introduce the gating function.

Highway Networks initially was presented in 2015 ICML Deep Learning Workshop and published as a 2015 arXiv tech report with over 600 citations. And later on it is extended and published in 2015 NIPS with over 500 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium)
Why Dental Floss Is a Marketing Scam
By: Reuben Salsa
Tags: Ideas, Marketing, Medical, Opinion, Dentistry

How Do You Market a Product That Nobody Needs?

First, you need to present your product as the solution to a problem.

The problem here is rotten teeth. Who wants that? This is an easy sell in a dentist. The patient already has a need, their teeth ache or it’s a check-up and they’ve arrived at your business. It’s now a question of when to present the worst scenario that foretells the loss of teeth.

And it’s not just the loss of teeth. The social impact has a major psychological grip on my sense of worth. With bad teeth I can’t get a date. Without a date I’ll be lonely. Being lonely will lead me to depression. Being depressed… well, you get the picture. A spiraling decline in my mental health all because of bad teeth.

It gets worse. You’re seeking employment. You have bad breath caused by food stuck in your teeth. You have an interview coming up. Without flossing you could be doomed. Without a job, you can’t get a date. Without a date, you’ll be lonely. Yeah, I know, it all leads back to sex.

All this runs through my mind as I sit sprawled in the dentist’s chair unable to answer back coherently.

“You wouldn’t want to have bad breath would you Reuben?” asks the Gentle Dental.

“Murhhmughhhh muuuummmmrrrgrhlll mmooorrrrhhhh” I would reply.

What? Didn’t I say I was in a vulnerable position?

“Tell me Reuben… do you date?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Because you’ll not be wanting to kiss anyone with food stuck in your teeth, would you now?” He’s a pessimist my dentist. Probably because he’s made the choice of staring at people’s bad teeth every single day of his life.

The nightmare scenario rapidly plays through my head and within ten seconds I have died, alone, somewhere in Palmerston North (formerly the worse place to live on Earth).

Need. Check.

Prevention message. Check.

Now all he needs to do is close the sale.
Opening Jupyter Notebook From Any Desired Location
By: Bipin P.
Tags: Tips And Tricks, Jupyter, Data Science, Jupyter Notebook

I ntroduction

Jupyter notebooks have become the preferred workspace for the majority of Python data scientists. Jupyter is an open-source project that supports interactive data science and scientific computing across programming languages. The very name Jupyter derived from the three core programming languages it supports viz. Julia, Python, and R. The name is also a homage to Galileo’s notebooks that records the discovery of the moons of Jupiter.

The very name Jupyter derived from the three core programming languages it supports viz. Julia, Python, and R.

Jupyter Notebook can be installed using either pip(Python Package Installer) or Anaconda Individual Edition. Once installed you can run the Jupyter Notebook via Terminal(Linux/Mac), Command Prompt(Windows), or Anaconda Prompt by typing ‘jupyter notebook’.

jupyter notebook

The Jupyter Notebook runs from the start-up location based on the operating system the user is using. Hence the user will only be able to save the code in the start-up location. This is a great drawback. Don’t get disheartened as there are several ways to overcome this flaw of the Jupyter Notebook. Most of the tweaks are a bit complicated. Rest assured, as we will be discussing the simplest solution.

The start-up location for Linux, macOS, and Windows are shown below:

Linux(Ubuntu 20.04)

The start-up location in Linux(Ubuntu):

macOS 10.14: Mojave

The start-up location in macOS:

Windows 10

The start-up location in Windows 10:

The Simple Solution to Open from the Desired Location

Linux(Ubuntu)

Go to the desired directory and right-click to select ‘Open in Terminal’:

In the Terminal, type ‘jupyter notebook’:

macOS

Open the desired location using Finder and right-click to select ‘New Terminal at Folder’:

In the Terminal, type ‘jupyter notebook’(as in Linux):

Windows

The solution in Windows is a bit different from Linux and macOS. Open the desired location in Windows File Explorer, copy the desired location from the address bar of Windows File Explorer. Alt + D goes to the address bar and Ctrl + C copies the location.

Now open the Anaconda Prompt and type the following command:

cd D:\desired location

Somehow, the Anaconda Prompt returns to the original location. Enter ‘d:’ and the prompt will reach your desired location(as shown in the image below). Note that you must enter the drive letter of your desired location(C: for C:\ drive-the primary partition).

Afterward, type ‘jupyter notebook’ and the Jupyter Notebook will be opened.

Note that the Jupyter Notebook’s home page does not list anything if the folder is empty.

Once a Python3 notebook is created, the home page will list the files.

To install Jupyter Notebook for different environments, refer to my blog here:

Hope this will help you in getting things done using Jupyter Notebook in a location of your choice. Happy Coding!!!