fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Micro Services with Sinatra -Part 1
By: Surat Pyari
Tags: Postgresql, Ruby, Microservices, Ruby on Rails, Sinatra

Why to choose Sinatra?

If you are very good in ruby than other language like nodejs or GO. You can easily find a ruby developer and so this is maintainable as compare to other language like elixir, GO It doesn’t come with heavy package like rails and so its perfect choice for micro service. You can add activerecord-sinatra gem and can reuse code if you have existing rails app. Performance over other ruby framework is much better. Sinatra is 3 times faster than Rails API 5 and 7 times faster than Rails 5.

1. Create a new app with Bundler

Create a folder with your project name and add Gemfile .

source 'https://rubygems.org'

git_source(:github) { |repo| "https://github.com/#{repo}.git" }



ruby '2.4.2'



gem 'sinatra', require: 'sinatra'

gem "puma" # to start our server

Create config.ru so that it load bundler before it loads Sinatra app.

require 'rubygems'

require 'bundler'



Bundler.require



require './microservice_with_sinatra_app'

run MicroserviceWithSinatraApp

Now add a new file described in config.r u` i.e. microservice_with_sinatra_app.rb

require_relative 'env'



class MicroserviceWithSinatraApp < Sinatra::Base



get '/' do

'hello world'

end



end

Yes we are missing environments! :). Add a file `env.rb`

require 'bundler/setup'



APP_ENV = ENV["RACK_ENV"] || "development"



Bundler.require :default, APP_ENV.to_sym

start server with following command

bundle exec rackup

Open http://localhost:9292/ and see you hello world app.

2. Configuration with PostgreSQL

This step is totally optional. If you need to do some database storage you may need this step.

Add following gems ..

gem "pg" # for Postgres

gem "rake" # so we can run Rake tasks

gem "sinatra-activerecord", require: 'sinatra/activerecord' # for Active Record models

Modify config.ru as follow:

...

Bundler.require

require 'sinatra/activerecord'

require 'sinatra/activerecord/rake'

...

Create config/database.yml

development:

adapter: postgresql

encoding: unicode

database: database_name

pool: 2

username: your_username

password: your_password



production:

adapter: postgresql

encoding: unicode

pool: 5

host: <%= ENV['DATABASE_HOST'] %>

database: <%= ENV['DATABASE_NAME'] %>

username: <%= ENV['DATABASE_USER'] %>

password: <%= ENV['DATABASE_PASSWORD'] %>

Generate a new migration.

rake db:create_migration NAME=create_table_name

and edit your migration according to your need just like rails migration.

Now you can add desired models and can work just like small rails app. Next will be integrating RabbitMQ and other stuff required to create a micro service. KEEP READING …
PostgresSQL Installation on Linux
By: Mohan Bihari
Tags: Reset Rooot Password, Postgresql, Ubuntu, Installation

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system with over 30 years of active development that has earned it a strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and performance.

In this blog, we will install PostgreSQL and set a password for the root user. Open terminal ‘CTL+ALT+T’ and follow the step given below.

Step 1: Create the file repository configuration

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list'

Step 2: Import the repository signing key

wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -

Step 3: Update the package lists

sudo apt-get update

Step 4: Install the latest version of PostgreSQL

sudo apt-get -y install postgresql If you want a specific version, use 'postgresql-12' or similar instead of 'postgresql'

Step 4: Set Password for the user Postgres

Open terminal CTL+ALT+T. Then enter the code given below one by one.
Postgresql functions as backend (p.2: REST API)
By: Oleg Zech
Tags: Postgresql

or “How did we got rid of Django and 3-tier in general and how going back is a huge leap forward”

Previous episode

So you decided to give it a shot? Welcome to 2000, you will like it. First things first: there’s no framework to hold your hand. Required self-discipline closely resembles Shaolin monks. On the bright side — your performance will too.

Some companies operate for 20 years, stuck with monolithic SQL beast that nobody can maintain.

From where Im standing — this beast is working unmaintained after quarter of the century. Matter of the perspective.

Rest is really human problem. I cant stress this one enough: human problem

Im not saying my way is correct. Im pretty sure there’s a lot to improve.

So you might want to start from establishing the REST API.

First you need PostgREST, so I wish you nice day or two and see you later ;) Do it correctly — thats your API !

Upon finishing installation external applications can start using your database without any drivers etc. I suggest you rev-proxy it via nginx, if this is public
Getting Started on pgRouting
By: Ong Chao Jian
Tags: Postgresql, Postgres, Postgis, Pgrouting

pgRouting is a useful tool extended from PostgreSQL database that stores geographical data in the form of edges and vertices in SQL tables which then allows for routing queries to be performed using the provided functions.

This guide will walk you through a setup using a Windows machine. There are a few items required as listed below. Simply click on them and you’ll be directed to the downloads.

Install PostgreSQL

It is recommended to install using default selections. Otherwise, keep in mind that the command line tool is compulsory, pgAdmin is highly recommended for ease of database access and stack builder is optional.

Adding PostGIS Features

Unzip the PostGIS bundle file and copy the files in the following folders to the respective PostgreSQL program folders. Here, we assume that PostgreSQL v13 is installed. Otherwise the directory for PostgresSQL will change according to the version number.

All .dll files in ‘bundle_directory\lib’ to ‘C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13\lib’ All folders in ‘bundle_directory\share’ to ‘C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13\share’ All files and folders in ‘bundle_directory\bin’ to ‘C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13\bin’

In order to use PostgreSQL command line tool and the shp file converter tool, we will need to edit our system environment variables.

Using Windows Search, enter ‘system environment’. Select ‘Edit the system environment variables’. Click on the ‘Environment Variables…’ button below. Under ‘System variables’, double click on ‘Path’, then click on the ‘New’ button. Browse to ‘C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13\bin’, click ‘OK’ and save it.

Convert, Import And Prepare Data

Unzip the data folder and run the script shown below — assuming that the folder you unzipped into is ‘roads_digitized_0_0_0’, otherwise edit the script accordingly.

Notice that I changed the data projection from the original 32644 to 4326 because PostGIS only provide map visualisation on data projected onto 4326 through pgAdmin. It is a really cool tool to visualise and better understand your data.

Data Visualisation of Sri Lankan Roads

To view the image above, open up pgAdmin and from the left panel navigate accordingly from ‘Server’ > ‘PostgreSQL’ > ‘Databases’ > ‘roads’ > ‘Schemas’ > ‘Tables’ > ‘roads_digitized’. Right click on it and and select ‘All Rows’ under ‘View/Edit Data’. Go to the geom column and click on the eye icon beside the header.

Now your database is set up and ready for you to continue to learn more about pgRouting!

If you like my notes, especially if it saves you some time pulling your hair out, feel free to give me a clap or even buy me a donut ;)
Right Time For Entrepreneurs To Get Into Food Delivery Business With 50% Offer
Tags: Ubereats Clone, Business, Ubereats Clone Script, Entrepreneurship, Startups

Right Time For Entrepreneurs To Get Into Food Delivery Business With 50% Offer Cristonjose Jul 5·2 min read

Right Time For Entrepreneurs To Get Into Food Delivery Business With 50% Offer

UberEats clone is the best food delivery script that fulfills their Eaters and Restaurant needs by taking good cuisine at their locations. A Food delivery solution turns huge profits. This app solution stack supports online delivery and ordering, restaurant owners can prefer and encourage the use of this solution stack. Ubereats clone script offered by Trioangle.

Ubereats clone script is done with the needed features and its outfit for entrepreneur startups. An entrepreneur can start their business career in the Ubereats clone and earn more profits in this delivery business. Our Ubereats clone is available on the web, Android, and iOS platforms. We provide four panels, Eater, Driver, Restaurant panel, and separate web panel for admin to monitor all databases.

Features In Our Food Delivery Script

Takeaway Option: This takeaway option can be used when the restaurant partner has a delivery type. Using this option, the user can order when they are willing to take their order items from the Restaurant.

Single Pickup Multiple Delivery: If the two users are ordering the items from the nearby restaurants at different locations, the nearby driver will take two orders at the same time and deliver them to the users.

Support Option: This support option will be beneficial for the users to solve the query with the admin. Admin can add options like Whatsapp, Skype, LiveChat, and more can be added for support.

Tips Option: In GoferEats, the users can tip the driver using the “Add Tip” feature. Note that this feature is optional for users.

Dynamic Payout: The payout preference can be selected by the admin from the available options. This feature also enables the Stores and Driver to pay the admin.

To check more features visit us on UberEats Clone

Why Choose Us?

Trioangle provides Free server installation, Free App Submission, Free Bug Support, 100% source code, On-time support, Free Technical Support, Free White Labelling, and our food delivery script is available with a flat 50% offer, valid till July 3rd, 2021. Entrepreneurs can grab this opportunity and start their business career in this food delivery. It has a huge global revenue in upcoming years. In this pandemic, it is helpful for the eaters to get their food at their doorsteps. Restaurant owners can enlarge their business in online digitized mediums.

Thanks For reading this blog!

To check demo, features and to know more about food delivery script, feel free to contact us on sales@trioangle.com or whatsapp us 6379630152

Visit us: https://www.trioangle.com/ubereats-clone/
Best Practices Before Business Presentation
By: Abhishek Sengupta
Tags: Startup, Presentations, Entrepreneur, Business, Entrepreneurship

Presentation is important for business. 5 Points to overcome fear before presentation.

Pic Courtesy : Unsplash

Presentation in business is a vital process. It creates many business opportunities. Many deals are finalized based on the presentation. This becomes make or break situation for the company. It is quite obvious — at times — person who is going to present gets nervous. This is nothing unusual. Rather a human psychology. Too much expectations make a person nervous.

Apart to regular preparation, few more exercises can be of help. I am noting here few points which will help to get rid of nervousness:

1 Close your eyes: This is first step. Cut off from all distractions. Close your eyes. Put the focus of the mind inside oneself. This step helps you to improve focus and remove distractions. Quick deep breathing can be of further help. Needless to say, keep your mobile, laptops and tab away.

2 Create a presentation room in mind: This is next step. You have to expose your mind virtually to the environment of the presentation room. In order to do that, create an image of presentation room in your mind. Imagine you are going to present. Imaging the chairs, tables, lightings, screen your laptop, presentation stage etc. Keep hovering your mind inside the proposed presentation room. This will help your mind to adapt to the environment and keep the nervousness out.

3 Make an imaginary presentation: Once you imagine the environment of the presentation room. This will slowly take away the anxiety. One you calm and composed, make an imaginary presentation in front of imaginary people. Run the whole presentation with your proposed narration. You may do this exercise multiple times. More you do more confidence you build.

4 Answer imaginary questions: Questions after the presentation, at times, makes the presenter scary. Best way to deal with this phobia is to make the mind acquainted with the situation. Imagine audience is asking questions and you are answering them. Deal with as many imaginary questions you as you can. In imagination, learn how to deal with tough question. Learn to deal with questions of which, you do not know answers. More you do so, more your phobia disappears.

5 Your brain will adapt: Brain is an amazing machine. Brain becomes confused in new environment. When you practice the above steps in mind, the brain becomes acquainted with the situation. As brain becomes familiar with the situation, chances of getting jumbled up gets reduced. Mostly this is a mental exercise. This helps to overcome the nervousness.

So keep practicing above five points before any business presentation.
Sunlight named hottest deeptech startup at The Europas 2021
By: Hannah Mellow
Tags: Startup, The Europas, Deeptech, Edge Computing

Designed to perform anywhere. Sunlight makes applications from Edge to Cloud simple. We’re delighted to have been recognised by The Europas 2021 for our contribution to the Edge Computing ecosystem — taking home the hottest deeptech startup trophy on 2nd July 2021.

Now in its twelfth year, The Europas is the premier awards for Europe’s hottest tech startups. It’s mission is to spotlight the startups that address relevant, urgent, large-scale, global issues that face us all in the 21st century. It has identified some of Europe’s most ambitious and successful startups, including Spotify, Transferwise, Soundcloud, Deliveroo and Babylon Health.

The Deeptech category celebrated new infrastructure players that are crucial for the delivery of applications including security, IoT and AI. Finalists included crate.io, Crypto Quantique, Didimo, Spread, VividQ and Sunlight. Sunlight, the Edge Computing as a Service platform that makes applications from Edge to cloud simple, took home the trophy for this category.

Sunlight founder and CEO, Julian Chesterfield said “We’re building the next frontier of technology infrastructure — making it easy for companies to deploy edge applications in the same way they do cloud applications today. This is a wonderful boost of encouragement that we are doing the right thing and building something great!”

To find out more about the hottest deeptech startup in Europe right now, visit sunlight.io
Why Should Small Businesses Be Consistent On Digital Media?
Tags: Startup, Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Marketing, SEO

Small businesses can be a unique challenge in many ways and might not be everybody’s cup of tea. Small set ups has to be operated within certain boundaries, which at times can be frustrating. Not to mention the challenge of quality manpower small enterprises always face. Same goes with digital marketing for small businesses. With an appropriate approach, small enterprises can benefit a lot more than they presently do. And they can do that without increasing their current budget and even save substantially on the same. Let’s look at some important benefits digital marketing has to offer to small businesses.

Very Economical

Not only small businesses, but big organizations also prefer this marketing method because of the cost effectiveness it offers. All digital marketing channels and platforms offer great solutions, along with a high ROI.

Maximum and Relevant Leads

In any best or worst scenario, the success of any business lies in its sales figures. And sales relies highly on leads that are generated. Not just that, getting relevant and convertible leads is very important. That’s exactly what channels like SEO do, by attracting direct traffic to your websites and webpages, thus giving you sales leads that really matter.

Social Media

Every business today is putting their best to reach out to customers and engaging them effectively. Doing that consistently, without overdoing it, is very important. Social media gives small businesses a great opportunity to reach out to a huge base that’s readily available. Moreover, it’s not just any customer base out there; there are huge load of people who are literally living on digital media today. It’s up to the small enterprises, to figure how to make the most of this sea of people available on this digital channel.

Customer Retention

Retaining a customer is one of the biggest challenges all organizations, irrespective of size, are facing in today’s business times. For small businesses, retaining customers is as important as it is to acquire. Apart from effective reach out, customer engagement, marketing, advertising, small businesses can also interact with customers on important factors like product feedbacks, reviews, complaints etc. Small enterprises should ensure that they address customer queries and / or suggestions promptly. Such actions helps businesses to develop a great relation with their customers and retain them as well.

On the other hand, it is always wise to be very particular on the digital marketing agency you go with. It has to be at least better than many.
Northern New Mexico College welcomes Ener.com to demonstrate their solar PV cooling modules
By: Nik Seet
Tags: Startup, Solar Energy, New Mexico, Renewable Energy

Northern New Mexico College welcomes Ener.com to demonstrate their solar PV cooling modules Nik Seet Jul 5·2 min read

Left to right: John Manford, Nicholas Seet, Spence Hamilton, Margaret & Hill Kemp, Richard J. Bailey, Jr., Ph.D. in front of a 10-panel solar PV trailer modified with Ener.com’s PV cooling modules. The trailer is parked outside of Kit Carson Electric Cooperative’s El Rito North array, which went online in January 2020 and consists of 4,700 solar panels.

By Nicholas Seet.

El Rito, NM — When Northern New Mexico College President Rick Bailey thinks of solar PV, he not only thinks of having both the El Rito and Española campuses running fully on renewable energy he also thinks about jobs. “Assembling and installing Ener’s PV Coolers on our El Rito solar array would be a valuable skill set for our trades students,” Mr. Bailey said, “As New Mexico builds out solar capacity there will be demand for trained technicians and engineers. Ener.com’s retrofits of existing arrays increases demand for these skills that Northern provides.”

The Ener.com PV Cooler™ is mounted to the back of a standard solar PV array. It consists of water-based cooling tubes sandwiched between the PV cells and insulating material. When water is run through the PV Cooler, the excess heat from the solar panel is absorbed by the PV Cooler instead of being re-radiated into the environment or absorbed. Since the best solar panels are only around 20% efficient at turning the sun’s energy into power, this excess heat capture represents a novel improvement in solar energy use.

“Since most [~80%] of the incoming solar energy is not utilized by traditional solar panels, and there’s almost never anything but dead space behind the panel, we’re able to take this wasted resource, improve the performance of the panels, and create a new industry in solar PV enhancement,” says Nicholas Seet, CEO of Ener.com. “This kind of project excels at multiple goals for multiple parties: power and pure water for needy populations, improved PV economics for investors, jobs and skills for NNMC students and better environmental performance for everyone. It can serve as a key linkage for President Bailey’s strategies for NNMC development,” Seet added.

After the demo in El Rito, the solar trailer was driven to Taos to show Kit Carson Cooperative member’s the PV Cooler™ in action.
Startups that Solve
By: Shobana Murali
Tags: Startup, Customer Experience, Product

Startups that Solve

The social composition of people in India is, as I’d like to call it, extensive and inordinate. And, yet we seem to be seamlessly connected with an unseen form of a blessing called ‘technology’. During the pandemic especially, the blue and grey collar market was stricken due to lack of preparedness, their particular nature of work and vulnerabilities, and declining opportunities.

As a consequence, we could see rising trends of individuals using digital platforms to network and obtain job opportunities (slowly and slowly steering away from traditional ways of connecting). Of course, these platforms always existed, but to me, the relevance of using them to this degree was a result of the pandemic (a crisis like no other, making it one of the most disastrous recessions).

One such platform that is helping these bottom-of-the-pyramid workers is ‘Apna’. The startup is connecting thousands, if not millions of front-line workers/professionals with employers across the country, with an easy-to-use, freely accessible product.

All right, let’s jump in!
OggaDoon Market Mega Trends — Life in the Fast Lane of Healthtech Investment 2021
By: Oggadoon Digital Marketing
Tags: Startup, Startup Marketing, Medtech, Digital Marketing, Healthtech

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the world scrambled to go online, it laid bare both vulnerabilities and opportunities to bridge the digitisation gap in the digital health market, propelling it forward 10 years, in just 10 weeks. Sector providers and developers can now capitalise off this tech infrastructure acceleration and bolster the operational inefficiencies previously driving up costs, creating exponential improvement in digital healthcare.

Technology can optimise processes, deliver apps, products and services to combat other pre-existing health factors linked to the pre-Covid health crisis such as the aging population, chronic diseases (e.g. obesity) and the ever-growing drug development costs. This has been recognised by regulators and legislators who have responded to the growing health crisis by lifting regulatory red tape.

This huge shift across digital healthcare, and the society as a whole, has created huge opportunities for start-ups, unicorns, decacorns, hectocorns as well as more established firms to create solutions for both B2B and B2C end users across the healthtech sector; including patients, professionals, hospitals and biopharma.

In 2020, the UK attracted record levels of investment maintaining its leadership in European digital healthtech research. In terms of global growth, digital health is set to double in the next five years, reaching $350 BN. All of the demand, investment and adoption are driving both B2B and B2C to grow quickly however B2B is scaling faster as B2B takes the longest to unlock.

Flourishing sub sectors in Healthtech

Throughout the pandemic, professionals and patients have become accustomed to new digital healthcare systems, platforms and processes. In the UK, online medical appointments soared from 2% in early March to 80% in April. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 GP prescriptions are dispensed electronically. This together with App-based Covid reporting and check-in systems are good examples of how things pivoted online driving the digital user experience.

Going forward, innovation will continue to flourish at the consumer interface level, linking to a variety of sub-sectors including digital therapeutics, femtech, remote care, remote appointments and monitoring services.

Check out our article on the top five healthtech companies to watch here. Or you may be interested in our Five Organic Marketing Activities to Kickstart Your Startup.
What sort of Founder are You?
Tags: Startup, Founders, Founder Advice

There is nothing our ecosystem needs much more of than having very high quality founders.

I am aware that a handful of “us” have argued on various fora that our ecosystem needs more investment; more success stories; more government support; and even our own geographic “Silicon Valley.”

While all these are noble desires, I strongly believe that having great founders will naturally attract everything else.

As I speak to various VC’s, funders and accelerators, one gets a feeling that certain founders that have gone ahead to be successful from our market have set a bar that perhaps new founders just aren’t reaching as much or at the right velocity to match the global interest in our market.

There is nothing we need more urgently than this. We need more Sim’s, more Jason’s, more Shola’s, more Kendal’s, more E’s, more Mark’s, more Tayo’s, more Oluyomi’s, — just to name a few.

So, what is it that these guys have in common? Can others develop these attributes? I think so. What are these attributes?

A very clear vision of the future. Grit, powered by a hunger for success and impact that is palpable and evident. Ambition that is beyond raising that next round or getting on Techcrunch. A clear understanding of the business, its key metrics and how value can be multiplied. Disciplines like punctuality, courtesy, and timely feedback. Accountability and understanding the place of regular reporting and the like. Appreciation for the perspective of the foreign or local investor and then empathizing around that. A global or at least Pan African view. Integrity and solid bank of social capital. Compelling story backed by a clear, urgent and personal “why.”

As we look to develop our ecosystem, let us remember that the tree is only as good as the seed planted, and so great companies will be built around great founders.

At VP we continue to work to identify founders with a natural knack for the above character sets and support them as they grow and build successful businesses.

My people, my people; we can do it!

Selah.

Source: https://medium.com/kola-aina
Role of coaches in #DigitalPakistan (Pt. 1)
By: Sumaya Anjum
Tags: Technology, Summit, Startups

Hosted by Global Pakistan Tech Summit Powered by Ejad Labs.

The insightful session was conducted by Saba Kalsoom, a community manager and partner at Work Nation Space. With Raheel Bodla, a Business Coach based in Silicon Valley as a guest speaker.

Raheel Bodla shared vital knowledge for startups in the hour-long session. He explained the role of a mentor as a person you reach out to ask advice because you want to do something similar to what they are doing. The role of a coach was also explained. Mr. Bodla described coaching as a formal engagement that offers three more befits that mentorship does not.

Coaching provides clarity. Mentors can confuse you as different mentors will tell you different things based on their experiences. Coaching is sustainable. Mentors might not always have time for you because they do not do this full-time. Coaching has the factor of Accountability. You can hold coaches accountable, and they can do that for you as well. Coaches work with a plan and discuss your weekly progress alongside.

Raheel stressed that startups need both coaching and mentorship as it is a collaborative effort. The founder of a start-up already has subject matter expertise, so they need the coaching and business matter. A coach provides a business plan and tells you the market position. They help in marketing, sales, operations, finance, and customer success. These are the 7 dimensions of business. A lot of work is also put into the mindset and strategies.

Q: What are the criteria to choose a coach or mentor in the digital and startup ecosystem?

A: Reach out to a mentor or coach that has already done (successful) what you want to do.

Q: What do Pakistani startups look like compared to startups in the U.S?

A: A lot of people who study in the U.S and go back to Pakistan to start their work are doing an exceptional job because the purpose of universities is to surge the economy.

Q: Where does Pakistan lie on the global scale?

A: There is a lot of talent in Pakistan. Pakistan Tech Summit, Ejad Labs, and Startup Grind Pakistan bring startups to Silicon Valley. Venture Capitalists are considering funding Pakistani startups and consider them an amazing investment.

Q: Should one focus on High Tech, that is, go innovative when it comes to startups, or does it not matter?

A: Go with the one idea that you believe in. The one you would risk your life’s investment on.

Watch the full session here.
Why I Joined RUKA
By: Louiser Businge
Tags: Startup, Career Change, Graphic Design, Hair And Beauty, Ruka

Why I Joined RUKA

Hi! I’m Louiser, and during the pandemic, I took a leap of faith and made a career change from marketer to graphic designer and after months of freelancing for the past year I have decided to join RUKA, as an Assistant Graphic Designer.

You could say the moves I made in my career during the pandemic were brave, fearless, or even crazy. But I believe that in this short life we live we can either follow our passions or live a life dreaming of doing so — and I decided now was the time to follow passion. Acting without fear happens to be one of the RUKA core values and with their mission to change the hair game I am excited to be a part of what is to come.

The moment I knew RUKA was the place for me was during the interview process, when I was asked a question relating to my own motivations when it comes to Design. Being able to use my creative skills to make an impact in the lives of those around me is important to me. The fact that the team really cared to understand me and my “why” made me see that RUKA honestly cared about the people they were hiring and it was a demonstration of how the brand is about more than just selling a product. The same care RUKA has for the community they have for the team.

From previously working in companies where I was one of the few black people in the team — in some instances the whole company, it was refreshing to be welcomed by such a diverse team. At RUKA, inclusivity isn’t just a trend — it’s normal. We believe that bringing our full selves to the workplace is the only way to get better answers to our consumers.

As a black woman growing up in the UK, I have felt the need for beauty brands that understood and catered to my needs and it has been amazing seeing the emergence of brands doing so in the past couple of years. Black women are finally getting their voices heard and I love to see it! Likewise, RUKA was formed by women who not only saw but from personal experiences felt a need, and were bold to bring a solution to the market. It’s inspiring to work on a team with people that aren’t afraid to take risks and 15-year-old Louiser would be so proud.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama

When I see RUKA I see change, and I am excited to be part of it. RUKA has already impacted the lives of many black women, and we still have a long way to go. I am excited to be on this journey of changing the narrative of beauty standards for women.
Firebase Almost Ruined My Startup
Tags: Startup, Software Development, Firebase, Technology, Programming

How Firebase Started To Become a Problem

Despite getting the benefits, we started to feel the problems after six months when we tried to add more features and scale more for our growing number of customers.

First problem: Query

The first problem was queries. To add more features, we had to do more complex queries.

But there are many limitations for queries or filtering the data in Cloud Firestore. You could easily perform simple queries, but it was very difficult to run a complex query.

You have to understand that it’s not SQL. So, we had to create more collections and we duplicated more data for simplifying the complex queries.

But duplicating data also created some other problems. We had to update 5-6 collections when any data changed.

Second problem: No solid backend

Firebase’s purpose is to create a serverless environment, so it’s obvious that it won’t have a backend as we would use in another system.

As there was no backend, we accessed the database directly from our app. But it was a huge mistake. Reading or writing data directly caused many problems.

There was another way to access the data. We also tried that. We used the Firebase cloud function to make APIs. But cloud function APIs don’t perform like normal APIs. There are some limitations. It’s slow and not developer-friendly.

Third problem: Crash!

When the tech team’s size increased, the real problems started. Every developer had to have a clear understanding of the database and how it worked.

Because they had to read or write data directly from the database, we had to waste a lot of time on that. As we decided to build three different platforms (Android, iOS, and web), it was very impractical to allow developers to write data directly in the database.

If any developer from any platform pushed the wrong formatted data, then the other platforms crashed. The productivity of the whole tech team became slow.

Fourth problem: The security rule!

Security is very important for every tech product. There is a special feature in Firebase for enhancing security. As Firebase allows to read and write data directly from the frontend side, they have a system to write “security rules” in the admin panel.

I find it very inconvenient. It’s much easier to write security rules in an API.
Startups vs MNC: What should be the battlefield?
By: Aadhitthyaa Hari
Tags: Startup, Product Strategy, Competitive Analysis, Product Management, Startup Lessons

What do startups need to do to compete against large MNCs? Should the startup attack a profitable business on its loss-leaders with a good-enough product at 1/2, 1/4, or possibly even 1/10th the price, and start cleaning up?

As counter-intuitive as it might sound, attacking a profitable business on its loss-leaders is a terrible strategy, because it can use all its powers against you, plus orders of magnitude more dollars, and not care about a direct business model to support those decisions. That is a scary competitor — lots of resources and nothing to lose!

For example, Microsoft decided to make Internet Explorer a loss-leader against Netscape, and destroyed that company. Of course that was after Netscape was a huge, going concern, so that wasn’t a strategic error on Netscape’s part, but rather a clear demonstration of the power of a profitable company who doesn’t care about making money in a certain market. On the flip side, Google built a $1B+ business apps market that competes against Microsoft, because in this case “Office” is the profitable line of business that Microsoft can’t impinge.

So, competing against a large, profitable, growing business might be the smartest thing you can do as a startup! Just make sure you’re hitting them where they’re fat, not where they’re able to beat you at your own game.
Announcing WPool #12: Kingdefi!
Tags: Startup, Crypto, Defi, Bitcoin

Whether markets are going up or down, one thing remains the same: you‘ll always have opportunities to earn great yields with Wault. As an example, take what we’re announcing now — a new WPool with Kingdefi.io !

With this partnership, you’ll be able to stake WEX for 100 000 USD in KRW rewards which will be distributed over 5 weeks.

https://app.wault.finance/bsc/#pool

A new KRW-BNB WFarm will also open with bonus WEX rewards for farmers. https://app.wault.finance/bsc/#farm

This makes the 12th WPool we’ve launched, yet we have many more coming, since many projects have approached us with interest in partnering with BSC’s third-largest and fastest-growing AMM. So hold onto your WEX and get ready to stake them!

WPool Reward Details

Total Rewards: 200 000 000 KRW(~ $100k USD)

KRWToken Address: 0x1446f3cedf4d86a9399e49f7937766e6de2a3aab

Rewards Period: 5 weeks

Rewards Start Time (Approx. July 5rd, 2021 1:00 PM GMT)

Rewards End Time :(Approx. August 11st , 2021 1:30 PM GMT)

Distribution Schedule: 198 KRW/block

About Kingdefi

KingDeFi is a DeFi project combining three main areas: earning, monitoring and tracking. The earning part offers its users a large variety of farming options on BSC and Solana. Monitoring provides an overall market overview combined with search engine analytics and on-chain metrics. Portfolio tracking allows users to access their investments and analyse their portfolio performance, monitor impermanent loss, yields and deposits and all relevant information in one dashboard.
Welcome to DOJO Basics
Tags: Social Media Marketing, Social Media, Fitness, Startup

We at DOJO, have recently launched DOJO Basics. DOJO Basics is a personalized membership experience, a platform for our partners to build their social presence in such a difficult time, through the services provided by us. We help our partners to create a brand name online that upholds their reputations throughout.

Once you sign up for DOJO Basics, you will get listed on our DOJO app at free of cost. This helps you to generate more leads. We will provide you with an application through which you can look over all the working on your social handles.

We provide various services for partners, consisting of free as well as paid. We aim to generate more leads and increase sales for our partners. And through our services, we do not fail at nailing the bull’s eye.

We provide a one-month free trial so you can understand what we do, and how we do.

DOJO Basic provides our partners with the best online presence, because if your business is not online then you are missing out on getting marketed globally. During this worldwide crisis, it is doable for small businesses to grow in the virtual sphere. And it will be our job to construct a base for customer interaction. We want your business acumen to meet our online strategy thus enabling a strong base for your brand’s online presence.

We are trying to help small-scale businesses manage their basic requisite and aiding them in incrementing their commerce. Staying with the original theme of the brand, we weave the designs, content, and on-demand topicals, and stay weeks ahead of schedule.

In this era of an integrated universe, having a social presence is a must. Advertising gets easier when you have the means to reach out to a greater audience.
Thirty Youth In Walewale Uses Digital Media Skills To Create Employment.
By: Northern Innovation Lab
Tags: Startup, Digital Media, Youth Employment

Ghana Tech Lab in partnership with Northern Innovation Lab under pathways to sustainable development crowned its six weeks of Digital Media Training with Walewale Startup Summit. The purpose of the event was to give the trainees a platform to bring the knowledge they acquired during the training program into use and pitch their innovative ideas.

Speaking at the event, the West Mamprusi Municipal Coordinating Director, Abdul Rahman Baba Ahmed who was the main speaker of the event explained the importance of digital media and job creation among the youth. He also congratulated all the various startups for how far they had come. The branch manager for GCB bank Habib Abdul Rahman, a key note speaker, also explained how the banking system works in this digital era mainly to the startups and the general public also.

During the panel session, discussions were centered on the theme. Each of the panelists shared their expert knowledge on the theme coupled with experiences. Kawdwe Ephirim founder of Ephis Services used his IT background to explain the opportunities in sustaining businesses and creating jobs using digital media. John Tobias Kwodiah the NABCO Monitoring and Evaluation Officer also explained how digital media can promote entrepreneurship in the Municipality. Eunice Oforiwaa Yeboah, Director for Cooperative Union, advised the startups, students, and everyone present to learn a digital skill and shouldn’t depend on the government for jobs. She explained how local businesses in Walewale can be more sustainable through digital marketing.

At the end of the pitching, Zoori Media LTD and Best Seeds emerged as a winner and first runner up respectively. Zoori Media LTD wants to use digital media to advertise tourist sites in the region and nationwide. Whiles Best Seeds aims to use digital media to promote MSMEs through branding and social media advertising.

The two qualified teams will go through the incubation stage which will groom them for the National Summit. The remaining teams will be assisted to secure good internship slots in respected organizations within the region.

Salama Hudu.
TechLeap is Connecting Startups, Investors, and Community Builders to Create a Thriving Dutch Startup Ecosystem
Tags: Startup, Amsterdam, Netherlands

TechLeap is Connecting Startups, Investors, and Community Builders to Create a Thriving Dutch Startup Ecosystem Causeartist Jul 5·2 min read

In episode 107 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, we speak with Prince Constantijn Van Oranje, Special Envoy for TechLeap, on connecting startups, investors and community builders to create a thriving Dutch startup ecosystem. Listen here

Prince Constantijn is Special Envoy for TechLeap and co-founder of Startup Fest Europe, as well as Director of Digital Technology and Macro Strategy at MAP in London. He was also a member of the ‘ High Level Group of Innovators ‘, a group of 15 independent members that advises the European Commission on innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Prince started his working life at the Cabinet of the Commissioner of the European Commission, H. van den Broek. After this, the Prince completed an MBA course at INSEAD in Fontainebleau and did an internship at the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC. He then worked as a strategic business advisor at Booz Allen & Hamilton in London and as a policy researcher for RAND Europe in Leiden and Brussels, where he later became head of the Information Policy and Economics Team.

From 2003 to 2008, the Prince also worked as a European communications advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2010, the Prince made the transition to the European Commission, first as an advisor and later as Deputy Chief of Cabinet, and Chief of Staff to Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Digital Agenda.

In 2017 Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien founded the ANBI Number 5 Foundation with the mission to connect people who are committed to innovation that contributes to an inclusive, just and sustainable society.

About TechLeap

Techleap.nl helps quantify and accelerate the tech ecosystem of the Netherlands. Creating the optimal climate for tech companies to scale with programs and initiatives for improving access to capital, market and talent.

Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.
DeCypher DataLabs is a 2021 Clutch Top IT [Artificial Intelligence] Service Company in Illinois — DeCypher DataLabs LLC
By: Leith Akkawi
Tags: Startup, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Entrepreneurship

DeCypher DataLabs is a 2021 Clutch Top IT [Artificial Intelligence] Service Company in Illinois — DeCypher DataLabs LLC Leith Akkawi Follow Jul 5 · 2 min read

The Clutch 2021 research states that DeCypher DataLabs is one of the best B2B companies in Illinois.

AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics are quickly becoming ever more integrated into automated daily decisions for organizations. With the abundances of big data, super computers on the cloud, and advancements in neural network algorithms, organizations still do require an experienced Data Scientist to guide them through all the cloud technologies, big data and algorithmic programming code. This is the reason whyDeCypher DataLabs LLC is in business!

DeCypher takes pride in delivering AI solutions based on the principles of Truth and Data Ethics. DeCypher is operational only in the US since Jan 2019, and our portfolio of clients include organizations in the US Federal Government, as well as Commercial and Not-for-Profit sectors. These guiding principles of Truth and Data Ethics have withstood the early challenges of the entrepreneurial journey followed by the the COVID-19 pandemic national crisis.

With determination, perseverance and resilience, the genius work in Artificial Intelligence from DeCypher has been recognized by Clutch. DeCypher DataLabs has received a Clutch award as the 2021 Top IT [Artificial Intelligence] Service Company in Illinois. Clutch is an independent online reviews and ratings platform that operates in Washington DC. Clutch publishes reviews form the bases of their research in determining the best companies in every industry.

Clutch caters specifically to the B2B industry and stands out from their competitors because of their unique verification system. This allows Clutch to verify the accuracy of the information sent to their platform before publishing the review. When a company submits a report to clutch about their experience with a partner such as DeCypher, the review submitted goes through the verification process. If it passess successfully, then the review is published on the Clutch platform.

DeCypher DataLabs Founder and CEO, Leith Akkawi, would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients and partners who were kind enough to leave reviews on Clutch on our behalf. Because of how the clutch research works, this 2021 award would have never be possible without the original reviews from our clients and partners. If your company is thinking about delving into AI for your operations, get the best in the business as your partner.

Contact DeCypher …. and we’ll get started today!
To Office or Not To Office
By: Andy O'Sullivan
Tags: Work, Technology, Startup, Remote Working

To Office or Not To Office

As Covid is slowly retreating in some countries many of us lucky enough to have been working remotely will be perhaps able return to the office, most likely under some flexible or hybrid arrangements. Should we though? Or should we just stay working from home?

Here’s 10 reasons to stay at home, and 10 reasons to get back to that office.

10 reasons to stay working at home

More family time. I spent 11 years working full time in a previous company that didn’t allow any working from home. I left each day about 7:40am and got back about 6:20pm, so I saw my wife and young kids for a few hours each day and at weekends. Suddenly with Covid I’ve had so much more quality time with them, and we’ve all benefited. No commute — saving time and money. I’ve been saving about 2.5 hours a day and probably a couple of grand a year in train tickets. Healthier food. Let’s be honest, working in the office = McDonalds Tuesday, Thursday, Friday … I’ve been trying at home to vary my lunches, though they do sometime end up like this:

4. Less micro-management — remote working has led to workers getting more autonomy, even just by the fact their managers aren’t sitting in a desk in the corner looking over at them all day.

Which has of course raised the question … do we really need all those managers in the first place?

5. Performance based on performance, not being present in the office. It’s hard to judge someone’s performance mainly on their being present in the office, or coming in early and staying late, when there is no office. Instead, performance has to be now judged on … actual performance.

6. More comfortable place to work. My awesome company let us buy home ‘office equipment’ so of course I bought the largest bean bag I could find …

7. Easier to change job in a remote first world. Employers are realising that all of a sudden they can hire people that don’t live close to their offices — which is win-win for companies and employees, and should theoretically lead to more choices to change jobs more often.

8. Flexibility — the traditional 9 to 5 is out the window, and the “work whichever hours during the day suits you, as long as the work gets done” is in.

9. More inclusive teams and meetings — maybe. This one really depends on what’s going on in your own company, but I’ve seen more efforts to include people in meetings now that we’re all remote, whereas in the “olden days” .. . of last year before Covid … it was actually more likely some people wouldn’t even be asked for their opinion in in-person meetings.

10. Able to watch Loki as soon as it comes out. Have you seen episode 4?! There’s no way I’m waiting until ‘after work’ when the next ones come out.

10 reasons to get back to that office

Some of which are remarkably similar to the stay at home reasons! Which shows why none of this is simple!