fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
searching for the sound*
By: Nicholas Petrone
Tags: Otherdoors, Mindfulness, Poetry, Music, Poem

Dreams

I want every note

every noise and strange accidental sound

every potential song that’s ever rested upon the un-vibrated string of the viola

each harmony

emanating from the wind chimes that guard my mother’s house

every dormant chord progression

in the taut nickel multiverses

of the angsty idealist’s Fender knockoff

every deep commodious daydream

rendered in Sanskrit or the

subterranean echoes of the bass guitar at midnight

I need the beat and tap of every insect and angel to rattle my aging spine

to come to me

& that will be

the kind of heaven I can get behind

— until then

purgatory.

“Listening for the secret,

searching for the sound…”

— “Box Of Rain” by Phil Lesh and Robert Peterson
Why I have the most amazing job ever
By: Dennis Proppe
Tags: Pydatabln, Big Data, Data Science

Working at the boundaries between Data Science, Business and Computer Science is amazing.

You get to implement things that do not yet exist to help businesses solve problem that do exist.

My job as a CTO is…wait. What is the job of a CTO of a predictive analytics software company, actually?

I like to think of it as to “get” the future and make small batches of it available today to our clients, which is amazing.

I have the great honour of working with very smart and decent people from the fields of data science, computer science, web development, sales and marketing to make this happen.

Yet, sometimes, the everyday stream of challenges and mini-fails can cloud the outlook on this greatness. You sometimes feel tired and overwhelmed with all the small and not so small things your team and you have to get right to succeed.

But then, you go to a conference on a friday and you are completely blown away by the awesome topics and speakers: Big thanks to the organizers @pydataberlin and the speakers, especially: Julia Evans, @krasul, @mjaskowski, @nora_neu, Martina Pugliese and @kjam.

Then, your team and you go crazy on the possibilities ahead. And then you get a call from sales that the big deal you worked on so many weeks is now finally closing. And then, afterwards, you get a Slack message from a data scientist on your team that shows that he has built a deep learning prototype using his phone on the train because he was too excited about it to wait to get home!

And then you realize you have the most amazing job ever.
Migrating Posts From Craft CMS to WordPress
Tags: WordPress, Web, CMS, Wordpress Web Development, Web Development

In our case, we only needed to transfer over certain content pieces that fell under a particular category. This ruled out a straight migration using existing tools. (Who wants to transfer everything only to end up deleting what you don’t need?) We had a copy of the database and could have written a script that would extract what we needed from it; but we weren’t familiar with the entity relationships for Craft CMS and after an initial assessment it seemed like more work than necessary for what we wanted to do.

What We Did

The process was straight-forward:

Get a list of URLs we need to import Alter Commander Vee to be specific to our project Write a supplemental script to scrape the database for missing information Add importing featured images to the Commander Vee import script Run the import script Test the results

Get A List of URLs to Import

We ran the Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool on the existing site to get all of the site URLs. We’d need them for redirects, anyways, so this was already part of our process. For the post import, we only needed certain content pieces that fell under a particular category and, thankfully, those pieces were easy to parse out based on the URL structure. As you can see below, we needed content pieces that fell under ‘/about/features/’.

Results of a Screaming Frog Spider

Commander Vee Setup

Commander Vee is example code that shows how someone might scrape content and insert it into a WordPress database. Commander Vee is not a polished plug-and-play script but it certainly did help as a launching off point for our data migration!

We set up Commander Vee on a local web server so we could execute PHP files. We used MAMP Pro, but it doesn’t matter what you use to spin up a server. Our local URL was http://cvee.dev.

Target URL File

Copy and paste the URLs you would like to scrape into a text file in ‘commandervee-master/target-urls.txt’; one URL per line. We named our file ‘target-urls.txt’ but you can name yours anything you like. Just make sure you reference the correct file name in the next step.
DataBroker DAO — un marché décentralisé pour vendre et acheter des données de capteurs IoT
Tags: Databroker Dao, ICO, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, IoT

La vision de DataBroker DAO :

“With DataBroker DAO, we aspire to unleash long-tail creativity with the use of sensor data to facilitate the conversion of incredible ideas into value adding services.”
The Blind Dog
By: Ana-Maria Schweitzer
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Poetry, Love, Loss, Dogs

The Blind Dog

In the middle of the road

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash

There’s a blind dog in the middle of the road

with overgrown nails, coat covered by fleas.

He’s sniffing the air, in search of a scent

the putrid cigar smell of the hands of his man.

They both used to sit, under the low, silky willow

its branches a stronghold for two aged lonely souls,

until greedy hands came for wood at the river

leaving them just a stub, in the sun, by the bank.

There’s a blind dog in the middle of the road,

left here, today, by the strong acidic hands

of the one the old man called “dear son”

when his voice was alive, and his hand stroked the dog.
Stolen Moments
By: Lindsay Soberano-Wilson
Tags: Self Love, Poetry, Self Care, Poet, Age Of Empathy

how many stolen moments

make up a day

a sip of coffee

a glance at the paper

a jotted note

a poem

a jaunt

a phone call

we steal these moments

as though we need to

steal

moments that belong

to us

sealed with an oath

returned to sender.
Monero BulletProof — Transactions Now Cheaper By 97%
By: Shane Moser
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Crypto, Bitcoin, Monero

Back in December 2017, Monero announced that they would be implementing their Bulletproof Protocol in two stages which promised to retain all existing privacy and security features while shrinking down transaction sizes significantly and providing an avenue for sustained and efficient scaling.

Since that time two separate audits were done on Monero’s Bulletproof Protocol, the first being done by Kudelski Security back in July 2018 and the second by QuarksLab in January 2018.

Recently Monero shared their latest major release of v0.13.0 of the Monero software named “The Beryllium Bullet” which has enabled Bulletproofs to make transactions on the Monero platform nearly 97% cheaper. While there were some crucial fixes needed Monero has since patched their documented vulnerabilities, most significantly stopping the threat of a 51% attack on their network through remote nodes.

Although significant, the BulletProof update showed little improvement towards the value of XMR and saw only a $4.00 maximum increase in value after the news broke of the update according to CoinMarketCap.

In the long term, Monero looks like they have taken a meaningful step in the development of their platform that might set them apart in the future as the crypto market continues to undergo constant change and evolution. With such a massive step forward Monero may very well be clearing a path for other networks to follow.

Will the BulletProof update spark rally for the value of XRM? Only time will tell. As other networks fall behind the curve Monero has set we may very well see Monero start to climb the charts past its competitors.
The Fierce Story of an Iranian Female Chess Grandmaster Who Immigrated to America
By: Kamna Kirti
Tags: Chess, Women, Gender Equality, Feminism, Equality

Dorsa made sure to comply with the sports committee rules; she understood the responsibility of being an official representative from her country. But things went sour when she was bashed for her clothing. In 2014, during a tournament in India, she was reprimanded by the federation officials for wearing tight jeans.

On the very first day of the tournament, they told me my jeans were too tight. I told them I would not participate in the round unless they stopped scolding me.

Though she won the tournament but time and again she endured nasty comments from the officials for not wearing her hijab (headscarf).

After 2015, she started playing solo leaving the national team. Her family paid for her traveling expenses and tournaments. Through her solo experiences, she loved the feeling of being dressed up the way she desired and felt guilt-free for not covering her head.

In 2016, Dorsa temporarily stayed in Spain and played under the auspices of various European clubs. Not even a single time, she had to cover her hair or dress up in a certain conventional way.

But in February 2017, she was barred by the Iranian chess federation for not wearing a hijab at Gibraltar Chess Festival. Her brother, Borna Derakhshani, who is a chess player too, was barred as he played with an Israeli grandmaster and it was against the Iranian chess federation.
Episode 29: Rebecca Nugent — Stephen E and Joyce Fienberg Professor in Statistics & Data Science at Carnegie Mellon
By: Sean Ammirati
Tags: Data Visualization, Data, Innovation, Data Science

One of the thing’s I’ve observed over and over again from the best corporate innovation leaders is how data can be fuel for their innovation programs. On this episode of Agile Giants, I bring on a true academic thought leader on this issue — Rebecca Nugent. Rebecca is a chaired professor in statistics and data science at CMU. She’s built some really amazing programs both at the undergrad and graduate level around data science and really across the entire university. She also has partnered with me on some interesting executive education programs. As you listen to this week’s episode, let me challenge you to think about how data can be fuel for your innovation programs.

(See full transcript & listen on Agile Giants website)

Show Links:

Subscribe

I also hope you’ll consider subscribing to Agile Giants if you haven’t already on:

iTunes (also if you feel like the podcast deserves 5-stars, would love a rating on iTunes)

Spotify

Google Play

Or use RSS in your favorite podcasting software

The Full Transcript is on the Agile Giants Site
Step-by-step instructions: how to buy Zenome Tokens?
By: Jeff Heizmann
Tags: Zenome, Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, Genetics, Blockchain

Dear buyers of ZNA tokens, here we present you step-by-step instruction for participating in the Zenome token-sale.

Purchase of tokens is carried out in the buyer’s personal account at Zenome Wallet. Our wallet is integrated with a smart contract and designed to maximize the protection of the user’s personal data and to prevent hacking.

You can read more here: Zenome Wallet Developments - Working group’s report.

The basic smart contract of the ZNA token is: https://etherscan.io/token/0x59c3ba7a0a4c26955037710654f60d368303b3e1

Step 0

Make the decision to purchase ZNA tokens

Step 1

You need to have an ETH-wallet and some amount of BTC or ETH to buy tokens.

Earlier we published the instructions — how to make an ETH-wallet and buy BTC or ETH: instruction.

Step 2

Fill in the application form for participating in our whitelist: Google form.

Step 3

Register the personal account of the token-buyer and go through the KYC- procedure: Zenome Wallet.

To undergo the KYC procedure, please read this note: instruction.

You will need a passport, driver’s license or ID (or another identity document), and a camera to take a photo of yourself.

Step 4

If you are a US citizen or from another country where you need to be an accredited investor to participate in token sales, please complete and sign this form and attach a scanned copy to your personal account: certification form.

Step 5

You can buy the required number of ZNA tokens directly in your personal account: instruction.

The conditions of the token sales are described in detail here: token sale terms document.

Key points:

● The private round goes until September 3. Right now, the minimum purchase size for a private round is 50000 USD.

● Public round: September 3–September 17, minimum purchase — 1ETH.

● There is a system of bonuses from 5 to 25% depending on the amount of purchase.

If you have any problems or questions, please contact us by email tokensale@zenome.io

Contacts

Email

Telegram

Facebook

Twitter
Most Popular Development Posts Of The Week (20 March 2019)
By: Ido Shamun
Tags: JavaScript, HTML, Vscode, Web Development, React

We would like to welcome to our exclusive list of sources the following amazing blogs: Lambda, Instagram, Flutter Community, Angular In Depth, codecentric, React Native, React, Kotlin & Spring. This batch is focused on backend and mobile development, hope you will like them 🥳

They are already available in your New Tab! 👩‍💻
Why I (Still) Write Under a Pen Name
By: Ellie Daforge
Tags: Creativity, Writing Life, Publishing, Personal, Writing

It’s what I’ve always done.

Way back when I was a teenager, I used to post short stories to web sites under a screen name. That was back in the days when it was considered terrifying to post your real name online. Someone would show up at your house and murder you, or something. People simply used a screen name. Your persona was based on your interest, not your looks or your social prestige.

When I was young, one of my teachers didn’t display framed photos of her children on her desk, as other teachers did. When we asked her about it (because we knew she had kids), she said she wanted to respect their privacy. She didn’t want anyone to break into the school and steal the pictures of her kids.

This was probably 1995 or so. Nowadays, people post not only their real names to social media, but a ton of recent photos of themselves and their children, their phone number, birthday, and location. LinkedIn encourages people to post their workplace’s name and address. People sometimes upload their daily runs, complete with maps of where they ran, to public social media sites. Everything you do can be documented and posted on the Internet.

In contrast, my Instagram is pretty low on personal details. I post about my environmentalist efforts, and that’s about it. You could say I’m just used to having a certain online persona. For me, less is more.
Make it Rain — Agriculture Lessons!
By: Code Club Australia
Tags: Agriculture, Water, Coding, Drought

Water is the most valuable resource that we have. And as Australian’s we live on a continent where there’s not much of it.

Australian’s are the highest consumers of water, despite living on the driest continent! Each of us uses 100,000 litres of water a year, not including the water that is used to grow our food products.

On the farm in our game, they’re just coming out of a drought. That means that it hasn’t rained in a long time!

‘Australia is the driest populated continent on earth, and yet Australians are the greatest per capita consumers of water in the world’ yourhome.gov.au/water

There’s lots of ways that you can reduce the water consumption that you use. Try taking shorter showers or baths.

Did you know that 34% of a household’s water use is from the shower!

Chat with your parents about getting water efficient taps and hardware. And look at the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards on all your appliances.

Maybe you could even set up your own water tank like in our game!

You could also plant some native plants in your garden. Native plants are much better suited to the Australian landscape. They can often better survive the harsh heat or floods. Plants like the banksia don’t need much water to grow, and they attract birds and bees to our gardens.

Plants like these Elkhorns and Staghorns get their water straight from the air because they don’t have roots!

Learn more about water in Australia here

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/waterinaustralia/

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/water

All photos from https://www.bhg.com.au/australian-native-plants

If you’re looking for further educational resources on water and other agriculture industries, as well as Science curriculum matching head to Primezone — https://www.primezone.edu.au/?s=water

If you’d like to learn about technology and coding in other Agriculture industries, head to our blog for more info — https://medium.com/code-club-australia

Want to combine hardware and coding. Our Moonhack 2020 micro:bit project is an easy start to get kids using hardware and sensors. Find it here — https://codeclubau.org/projects/moisture-sensor/

And don’t miss the other coding lessons that are part of this module at https://codeclubau.org/projects/topics/agriculture/

All the lessons are free and matched the Digital Technologies curriculum.

Register your free Code Club and getting kids coding in your community — codeclubau.org
A different approach to data visualization
By: Jan Schultink
Tags: Data Visualization, Presentation Design, Design, PowerPoint, Images

It is hard to get the magnitude of a huge number across on a slide. A $700bn bailout,how much is that? Photographer Chris Jordan takes a different approach. Repetitive patterns of miniaturized objects that form a bigger picture. Images have a political message, many of them try to put current “consumerism” into perspective.

The image below is inspired by Seurat’s “un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte”, and constructed from 106,000 softdrink cans.

Check out more of his images here. Via Village of Joy.
The Robins of Fall
By: Ms. Mary Ann
Tags: Fall, Birds, Nature, Trees, Nature Poetry

The Robins of Fall

Could be a southern thing, ya’ll.

Photo by Joe Cox on Unsplash

Like farmers heading out for the harvest

Some local, others having traveled long distances for the work at hand

Or fans of the big season

After a long road trip to an out-of-conference game

They gather

Raising their voices to match the festive event.

Enthusiasts become key players

In the intimate arena.

They chant their common mantra, cheering teammates towards the goal.

Balmy temperatures just now broken, give way to a slight coolness in the air

Their rust color sweaters reflect the heat of fall bonfires

Lit with the kindling of newly cleared thickets

They spread their wings to fan the flames

While donning also their gray-brown jackets.

Whatever the motivation, they arrive in droves

Inhabiting the old-fashioned dogwoods which were once so common

But now seem like rudimentary specimens harkening a simpler time.

Like bees in a hive they meet.

But instead of pollen, they hunt the red-ripe berries

Hidden amongst the first dried leaves of autumn.

They zip back and forth within their host grove

Looking more like mallard hens as they fly than songbirds

Having no-doubt been fattened by the generous buffet

As they gathered for this reunion of kinsmen.
This is How Art Can Change the World or at Least Rescue a Few People
By: Froyle Davies
Tags: Banksy, Life, Social Justice, Art, Refugees

Like all wealthy and successful people, Bansky bought himself a yacht. But unlike ordinary rich folk, this famous yet anonymous street artist converted a French Navy vessel into a search and rescue boat to help aid refugees in crisis.

The ship, which has been named “Louise Michel” after a French anarchist, was purchased by Bansky from the proceeds of his artwork. The mission of the project is to save the lives of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe.

On the website, the Louise Michel project said, it aims to “uphold maritime law and rescue anyone in peril without prejudice.” They claim that the authorities are not only ignoring distress calls for help but are arresting those who do offer assistance.

“This crisis is not a natural disaster. It is created by political decisions and a failure of humanity.” — mvlouisemichel.org

M.V. Louise Michel (image from mvlouisemichel.org)

Louise Michel has already begun the mission. On Thursday, 27 August 2020, they rescued 89 people from a rubber boat in distress. The vessel is customised for search and rescue operations, and Banksy’s involvement in the project is limited to providing financial support. The Louise Michel is “captained and crewed by a team of rescue professionals drawn from across Europe”, stated the organisation.

“She runs on a flat hierarchy and a vegan diet.”

Using a fire extinguisher, Bansky painted the 30-meter long vessel in a coat of bright pink, and added the image of a girl in a life jacket, stretching out one hand towards a heart-shaped lifebelt. The picture resembles the artist’s famous “Girl with Balloon” stencil.
ebb/flow
By: Mikhail Hanafi
Tags: Poetry, Writing, God

If I believed—

like the stars; always shining, bright in the night

like the moon; in constant tow, floating alongside our home—

in your grace

your majesty

your kindness

would you let me bask in your light

rinsing away the dust left floating

in the shadow of your absence?

If you showed yourself

not just to me but to all of us

who don’t (or refuse to (

or sometimes))

believe,

would you let us bathe in your light

like you would the murderers and thieves

who whisper their apologies under

the whimpering moonlight?

If the waves

the flow and the ebb

the crashing and the foaming

bubbling up the sandy beaches

then disappearing into the sand

If you let them change and move and

exist as they are

Would you let us, with our arms stretched outwards

pointing to the ends of the world,

float

without weighing us down,

sinking

If I believed

that you could make me

better than I’ve made myself,

would you let me be

happier

than you have

made me to be?
Hello, User! — Executables and Your Environment
By: Aleksandar Gakovic
Tags: Executable, Program, Environment Variables, Python, Tutorial

Make the Program Executable

The program runs and we can call python3 to run it for us but if we were to try to run the file through the system directly, it would not yet know how to run this program. I.e. it is not executable.

Trying to execute the program using the system itself returns permission denied.

The Shebang:

#!

The Shebang tells the system to run the program and how to run it.

But first a word on comments:

A comment in python is anything that follows an octothorpe ‘#’

# Thus this sentence would not be recognised by Python and exists as a comment.

So the Shebang ‘#!’ is not recognised as code by Python but as a comment. Instead, the Unix Kernel loader system recognises it and reacts to it by reading the rest of the first line after the shebang. It then knows what program to run and provides the name of the file (‘hello.py’) to the interpreter program as the last argument. The interpreter runs as normal treating the Shebang as a comment. Thanks to Kevin Panko in this Stack overflow post.

We use the shebang to embed information on how the program should be executed. Specifically, the following code should be embedded at the top of the program:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

The code above is saying ‘use the env program (environment program) to find the interpreter python3’.

‘/usr/bin/env’ is the path to where the environment program is located.

When we use the command python3 in the terminal, or above when we provide it to the environment program, which python3 is it finding? Where is Python3 located?

Try this in your terminal:

which python3

which python3 returns the location/path of the python3 interpreter.

The environment variable $PATH returns the list of directories, separated by ‘:’ colons. This is the list of directories that the env program looks through when it is being told to find python3.

We can run an environment variable such as $PATH using the echo command:

echo $PATH

‘echo $PATH’ may not be pretty to look at but it is important. We can add to this set of directories which will be useful later.

A list of all of the environment variables can be obtained by entering either of the following commands in the terminal:

env printenv

Finally to make the file executable we have to change its mode to add executable permissions:

chmod +x hello.py

This allows us to execute the file as we tried earlier straight from the command line directly through the system:

./hello.py

The dot represents the current directory and /hello.py points to the program.

In this section, we made the program executable by indicating which interpreter the file can be run with, using a Shebang line. We then used the Change Mode command ‘chmod’ +x to turn the hello.py program into an executable one.
ICCDI Africa Entry Wins S.A.G.E Climate Pitch Competition
By: Iccdi Africa
Tags: Recycling, Children, Women, Climate Change, Waste Management

The winning entry is a platform aimed at primary and secondary schools that educates children on key environmental projects like waste management (recycling) and climate change.

The S.A.G.E grant, valued at N700,000, is said to be a celebration of organisations who act to achieve climate progress. Representing the co-founder of ICCDI Africa for the pitch was the Campaign Manager, Abimbola Abikoye.

The S.A.G.E. founder revealed her passion for supporting climate-smart cities — those that are low-carbon and climate-resilient — as a critical part of addressing climate change.
How to Be Intriguing. You are the most interesting person in…
By: Elle Rogers
Tags: Self Improvement, Satire, Humor, Success, Workplace

Everyone likes a little mystery. It adds intrigue to an otherwise dull-witted soul and can spice up the dreariest of conversations. Here’s how to add that something extra and impress everyone you know!

Use the “word fog” technique

Nothing creates an aura of mystery and garners respect like dancing around what you are actually trying to say. This one is especially helpful in the workplace!

Example: By integrating synergistic initiatives and repurposing 24/7 paradigms, we can successfully gain interactive eyeballs on our incentivized transparent metrics.

By using this type of impenetrable language, you’ll wow your coworkers, your boss, and your boss’s boss. Sit back and let that promotion come to you!

Be (very) specific

Example: I bought this non-stolen car with legal money that I earned from legitimate work I did for Fat Tony.

As you can see, the use of super specific words makes you sound interesting and law-abiding.

Bonus example: No officer, there is nothing illegal here on my private property which I purchased with money borrowed from a government-sanctioned bank.

The officer in question will likely let you go on your merry way. Not only have you assured him of the legality of your possessions, but he’ll probably even tell his buddies at the station about the pleasant exchange you shared!

Show interest

Everyone likes someone who shows interest in them!

To make your interest clear, stare at your conversational partner without blinking for as long as you can manage. If you do feel a blink coming on, try doing it slowly, while looking the person up and down from head to toe. By doing this, you assure others of your #mindfulness.

Sweat

Just the right amount of glisten will give you that “trust me” shine that people love. Bonus points if you can soak your shirt during the course of a single conversation.
The World Is Bright — VIFF 2019. Being separated from your only child…
By: Jennifer Hammersmark
Tags: Documentary, Immigration, Review, Suicide, Mental Health

Filmmaker Ying Wang does a heart wrenching job of following this beautiful couple for ten years as they investigate their son’s alleged suicide.

This is a story of grieving parents, but it is also a story of the challenges that immigrants face — an important issue in our times. Did you know that migrants are 2–5x more likely to experience psychosis than non-migrants? Compound that with the denial of mental health issues that is held by many cultures, we then realize that many of our youth and young adults can be at high risk abroad. If you are away from home, alone for the most part, and suffering, who would know? The tragedy on tragedy in this story is that some people did know, and they did nothing. Again, terrible.

I feel naive as well about how bad our bureaucratic system can be. From the police, to the judicial system, immigration … so many injustices occurred in just this one case. Definitely makes me wonder how many more immigrants there are who have also been mistreated? I have mostly felt proud to be Canadian, and I thought that we were welcoming and treated people well. Now, I’m not so sure.

Please see this film for yourself. Awareness and advocacy is how change happens, and there is a lot that needs to change.

Ying Wang is continuing to work at this change, with these goals at the forefront:

Create a safer space for immigrants. Legislative process to be addressed. Personal apologies to Ms. Li and Mr. Deng, parents of Shi Meng Deng.

Finally, this personal note from Ying Wang as she continues her journey with this family, a journey she herself feels a strong connection to:
The Benefits of Being Adaptable
By: Katy Velvet
Tags: Life Lessons, Entrepreneurship, Work, Business, Leadership

Keep going, even when things get tough.

Being adaptable isn’t leaving when something doesn’t go your way. It’s about finding solutions to cope with the setbacks.

Maybe it’s not getting enough work you want in your chosen field. Maybe it’s not earning the income you desire. Instead of quitting, look for ways to keep moving forward.

Perhaps you need to start diversifying into different income streams or you need to re-strategize your marketing. Whatever it is, you need to be willing to stick to your goals.

Be willing to learn new methods of doing things.

The world is constantly evolving and that means that something that may have worked before may not work again. The reason why we are in a creative field in the first place is because we like to create.

Creating the same things over and over again with no improvisation is not a good way to adapt. Be open to change. Take on new tasks. Try something different. It will keep your work fresh and exciting.

Talk to people in your industry and see what you can learn from them.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to look to others for help. If they’ve been around longer than you, they might be able to provide some valuable advice.

Think ahead and prepare for the worst.

Adaptable people are in control of their work. They are always looking for opportunities to improve, whether it’s a new gig or a situation in their personal lives. Having a change mindset is what’s going to help you think ahead and prepare for the worst.

Are you planning on quitting your job to work on your creative endeavours? Perhaps you need to save up and secure a few gigs before you do so. Following your passion is the first step to success, however, thinking ahead and having a back-up plan for every scenario is really what’s going to help you adapt.
Covid-19 impact: U.S. Cannabis Market Size To Reach $31.7 Billion By 2025
By: Rajesh Varma
Tags: USA, Cannabis, Cannabis Industry, Covid 19, Cannabis Medical

The U.S. cannabis market size is expected to reach USD 31.7 billion by 2025, exhibiting a CAGR of 14.5% during the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing adoption of medical marijuana for treatment of various medicinal conditions, along with addition of various applications in medical marijuana programs of each state, is expected to drive the market over the forecast period.

The use of cannabis for medical purposes is gaining momentum due to its recent legalization in various states of the country. The application areas for cannabis can be classified into chronic pain, mental disorders, cancer, and other medicinal conditions. Chronic pain accounted for the largest share by application in 2018 and is expected to grow at a lucrative rate over the forecast period. This due to a large patient base and increasing number of medical conditions/trauma associated with chronic pain. On the other hand, marijuana use for treatment of mental disorders is anticipated to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period.

The buds segment dominated the U.S. cannabis market in 2018, with a revenue of USD 7.8 billion, and is expected to grow at a lucrative rate over the forecast period. Dried buds are used for smoking and have found widespread application in treating a variety of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, buds are more affordable than oral products or tinctures, which increases its adoption.

California accounted for the largest market share in U.S. in 2018 and is expected to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period. The market expansion in this state can be attributed to expanding population base and growing number of marijuana businesses. Furthermore, the state has also legalized both forms of marijuana use i.e. medical and recreational, which considerably increases product adoption.

The industry is expected to witness significant growth due to alterations in regulatory norms related to the commercial usage of marijuana and decline in its illicit sales. For instance, the use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 states in the U.S. and the District of Columbia, owing to continuous political movement supporting its legalization across the remaining states. Moreover, policymakers are focusing on generating tax revenues in order to aid businesses by providing suitable funding.

Some of the players operating in the U.S. market are Green Man Cannabis, Los Suoenos Farms LLC, and Vireo Health of New York, which operate in their individual states as interstate trading is banned in the country. With increasing pressure on federal legalization of cannabis in U.S., the market is expected to significantly increase after its federal approval in the next few years.

To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below:

www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-cannabis-market/request/rs1

Further key findings from the report suggest:
Suffer With Me. A AAMBC Review. - The AAMBC Journal
By: Aambc Review Community
Tags: African American Lit, Book Review, Book Recommendations, Books, Black Writers

It’s fall into reading season, and we have been diving into a lot of good reads. We were excited to received Suffer No More by Robert Laboo. Having read the synopsis Robert Laboo is an accomplished author who originally penned his novel while incarcerated.

Detective Suffiyah Adams is caught early on in a shootout with a drugged-out Seton Hall Student and not identified as a detective and gets shot by fellow police officers and survives.

Upon arrival back to work, Detective Adams is caught in a psychological thriller where the Serial Murderer is killing women who look like her and attaches her business card. Many of the women are caught in the web of drugs, violence, prostitution, and lower life levels. When Detective Adams begins receiving telephone calls from the said murderer, it brings back to life suppressed memories of a life she once knew while in Foster Care.

We rate this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. The novel was beautifully written and gritty from the first few pages: fast-paced, mysterious suspenseful, and a page-turner. The characters were developed, and the plot was realistic. Mr. Laboo can reach all audiences with this mystery-filled novel, primarily an Urban Contemporary audience from teens to adults. Some of the storylines were, however, redundant and repetitive as often repeated. There were also had grammar errors.
RxJava Operator - Map Vs FlatMap
By: Amit Shekhar
Tags: Android App Development, AndroidDev, Android, Rxjava, Android Development

RxJava is the most important library which is popular among Android developers. It makes our life easy.

We use RxJava for multithreading, managing background tasks, and removing callback hells. We can solve so many complex use-cases with the help of the RxJava. It enables us to do complex things very simple. It provides us the power.

With great power comes great responsibility

Let’s see the components of the RxJava.

Components of the RxJava

The above diagram describes what each component does.

Operators: It translates the input into the required format of the output.

RxJava has so many operators. In order to use them correctly, we must know about them. Here, we will discuss the Map and the FlatMap.

Map

Map transforms the items emitted by an Observable by applying a function to each item.

Map Operator

FlatMap

FlatMap transforms the items emitted by an Observable into Observables.

FlatMap Operator

So, the main difference between Map and FlatMap that FlatMap mapper returns an observable itself, so it is used to map over asynchronous operations.

Very important: FlatMap is used to map over asynchronous operations.

Let’s see the example code.

Map Example

Here, the observable gives us ApiUser object which we are converting into User object by using the map operator.

FlatMap Example

Here, we are getting the ApiUser and then we are making a network call to get the UserDetail for that apiUser by using the getUserDetailObservable(apiUser). The flatMap mapper returns an observable itself. The getUserDetailObservable is an asynchronous operation.

This is how we should use the Map and the FlatMap operators in RxJava.

Learn Complete RxJava in our professional course

That’s it for now. Happy learning :)
The best Slack groups for UX designers
By: Fabricio Teixeira
Tags: Ux Resources, UX, Slack, Tech, Design

Tons of companies are using Slack to organize and facilitate how their employees communicate on a daily basis. Slack has now more than 5 million daily active users and more than 60,000 teams around the world.

But whether the company you work for use Slack or not, you can still use the tool to connect and stay in touch with other professionals like you. The design and tech communities have been creating a series of groups to chat about references, events, books, links, case studies and best practices in our field. The best part: anyone can join and participate in the discussions.

Here are some of my favorites Slack groups:

Conversations on web and UI animation

Designers and researchers from around the world discussing user experience

A community for Sketch designers

A community to help you figure out your next steps in becoming a better designer from folks a few steps ahead of you

For digital nomads working on startups

A community for designers, PMs, and developers

A community-driven effort to make web accessibility easier

For people who are interested in the user experience of content

An active community of creatives to learn, share and grow with

From the creators of the homonym user testing tool

A curated community where photographers can share and meet great people who also enjoy photography

All the things relevant to product management

A community for creative developers to share knowledge

A Slack community for iOS developers to share experiences and learn

Slack group with ReactJS news

Group about application hosting on Google’s infrastructure

Official Slack group for the Bootstrap framework

A safe, confidential space for women who work in technology

Developers of Slack bots on Slack

Artificial Intelligence group on Slack

Slack group of people from sub-reddit /Entrepreneur

Group with independent game developers

See also:

The best new UX books from the last 3 years

The best Medium publications from design teams to follow

The best UX and design conferences in 2017

The best YouTube channels for designers and developers
cuckARooz29: GRIN fork at block #786240
Tags: Grin, Events, Mining, Mimblewimble, Cryptocurrency Mining

When will the fork happen?

At block height #786240, which is expected to happen on Thursday, July 16th, 2020, GRIN will fork from cuckARoom29 to cuckARooz29.

Which mining clients support cuckARooz29?

We will update all mining clients that will support the upcoming cuckARooz29 algorithm. Here is a list of mining clients that are currently available on our systems. The list will be updated accordingly as developers release new versions and we add support for it.

msOS - Linux based mining OS

Bminer for Nvidia (2% fee) - Supported in release 16.2.8 ✔️

Gminer for Nvidia (2% fee) - Supported in release 2.17 ✔️

lolMiner for Nvidia & AMD (1% fee) - No information yet 🔴

Windows Node - Windows mining monitoring & management client

Bminer for Nvidia (2% fee) - Supported in release 16.2.8 ✔️

Gminer for Nvidia (2% fee) - Supported in release 2.17 ✔️

lolMiner for Nvidia & AMD (1% fee) - No information yet 🔴

Where to mine?

Here is a list of our partner pools that support GRIN mining.

Want to take your mining monitoring and management to the next level? Join minerstat and start for free.
Is dual-language bilingual education a solution for India?
By: Jaya Ramchandani
Tags: Education, Learning, Society, Bilingual, Equality

Is dual-language bilingual education a solution for India?

How can we learn and live and thrive in English AND our regional and national languages?

There’s been a recent spate of articles by Indian scientists and entrepreneurs recognising the pressing need for communicating and teaching science in languages other than English. It’s time for Hindi and Kannada and Tamil and Assamese and Konkani and Punjabi and Pahadi (you get it, right?) lexicons for all things science and, in general, all things generally spoken about in English alone. It’s time for me to be able to write at this fluency in Hindi and/or Sindhi.

A lot of work has been done on bilingual education worldwide — especially in the context of learning and spreading English. Bilingual education is an amazing solution to meeting the cultural, social, and economic needs of a population — lending both esteem to the primary regional language and thus persons and culture and efficacy and opportunity in dealing across cultures.

Bilingual education models initiate instruction in the primary language while developing second language skills — here we speak of English. Some of these models aim for full bilingualism, others aim for English proficiency only and use the primary language to develop initial literacy skills or facilitate access to academic content while English is developed. Some of the prominent models are:

Early-exit / Late-exit transitional bilingual education

Developmental or maintenance bilingual education

Bilingual immersion

Integrated (i.e., non-segregated) transitional bilingual education

Dual-language or two-way immersion

Indian states could use a mix of different programs depending upon differences in student population and need.

To learn another language, an effective way is something called immersion education models. Here, instruction is initiated in the student’s secondary language, and academic content is largely or completely taught in this language.

This is akin to English-medium schools in India — it involves structured english immersion (SEI) by original design — which has gone unchallenged for too many years!

Immersion can be great while trying to learn a new language, but it has detrimental effects if our education is in a language that is neither regional nor national. It also greatly widens the power and privilege gap between those who go to English medium schools and those who don’t.

A case for dual-language bilingual education
Coffee Morning: Mostly Cakes
By: Jonathan Law
Tags: Software Development, Coffee, Cake, Ncr Edinburgh, Macmillan Cancer

There are many sides to NCR Edinburgh life, but the most important is, of course, coffee and cake.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

On 29th September 2017, NCR Edinburgh participated in Macmillan’s Coffee Morning Project, by hosting a Coffee Morning in its own Village Green. Macmillan has been inviting people all over the UK to host Coffee Morning fundraisers every year since 1990, raising over £16.5 million in the process.

With each slice, a 50p donation was requested, with the proceeds helping Macmillian continue to provide vital support to those affected by cancer.

Our talented bakers provided a Bakewell Cake, an Orange Almond & Poppy Seed Cake, a Malteser Fridge Cake and many, many more.
This Street Artist’s Work Fits Perfectly in Its Environment
By: Jack Shepherd
Tags: Creativity, Cities, Art, Photography, Design

This Street Artist’s Work Fits Perfectly in Its Environment

Drawing from pop culture, especially horror, JPS makes art that cleverly interacts with its surroundings

All photos with permission: JPS

Jamie Paul Scanlon (JPS) is a British street artist currently based in Germany who draws inspiration from pop culture (especially horror) and accidents of geography. His wit, and his active imagination, mean that a T-junction sign can become Thor’s hammer, a worksite can become home to a marauding Jason Voorhees, and the Predator could be hiding around the corner in a wooded area near you.

Like all the very best street art, JPS’s works enhance and transcend their surroundings, working with accidents of geography or design to create a three-dimensional effect that enlivens the art with humor, social commentary, or both. In JPS’s capable hands, a cracked pavement, a damaged vehicle, or an ugly building are transformed into something that will surprise and delight passersby, enriching urban environments with a colorful cast of characters. Here are a few of his pieces, and you can find plenty more by following him on Instagram.
Marinate launches a platform to track everyday agreements on Taraxa.
By: Olya Green
Tags: Erp Software, Construction Software, Collaboration Software, Remote Work, Dapps

Marinate launches a platform to track everyday agreements on Taraxa.

Using Taraxa to let project stakeholders make business decisions faster.

Congrats to the team on the successful launch!

We’re excited to see Taraxa’s first business application come to life: Marinate barely hit Google Play, and already made it to the top-40 new apps in the US!

Utilizing Taraxa’s data audit trails.

Marinate is a full-fledged platform for tracking the business decision-making process. It uses Taraxa to provide a real-time auditable log for operational records of any size to make everyday agreements transparent and accountable.

The operational chain of custody helps to drastically shorten approval times and eliminates the guesswork around the approval process. Remote and hybrid teams can collaborate faster by finalizing business transactions right from their go-to apps. Marinate is easy-to-onboard and suitable for every industry vertical — from construction change orders to legal and accounting documents.

Go check out the Android version on Google Play, or can try out the desktop app at app.marinate.io. Let us know your feedback on Twitter!
Now is the Time to Have the Conversation About Race
By: Lindsey, Lazarte
Tags: Society, Culture, Racism, Equality, Race

Now is the Time to Have the Conversation About Race

Now is the time that ears and hearts are wide open

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

As many of you may have noticed, the last few articles that I’ve been writing about have mainly been focused around the topics of race and racism. To be completely honest, these aren’t topics that I’ve necessarily enjoyed or have been eager to write about in the past.

I usually tend to steer away from controversial topics such as race, religion, politics, etc. in an effort to keep the peace. I don’t generally like to stir the pot too much in regards to such serious topics and I don’t want to provoke any backlash from my readers.

These topics pertaining to race, religion, and politics are ones that could easily yield negative, hateful, and offensive comments, which I personally don’t handle very well. And when it comes to aggressive online comments, that’s one thing that I try my best to desperately avoid, despite how easy it might be to fall down that rabbit hole.

However, despite my opposition towards writing about these topics, I finally felt that it was time to voice my opinion and make it clear that this is a conversation that needs to be had.