fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Image Segmentation with Python
By: Siddhant Sadangi
Tags: Machine Learning, Python, Image Processing, Computer Vision, Programming

Thresholding

In image processing, thresholding is the process of creating a binary image from a grayscale image. A binary image is one whose pixels can have only two values — 0 (black) or 255 (white).

In the simplest case of thresholding, you select a value as a threshold and any pixel above this value becomes white (255), while any below becomes black (0). Check out the OpenCV documentation for image thresholding for more types and the parameters involved.

thresh = [cv2.threshold(img, np.mean(img), 255, cv2.THRESH_BINARY_INV)[1] for img in tqdm(gray)]

The first parameter passed to cv2.threshold() is the grayscale image to be converted, the second is the threshold value, the third is the value which will be assigned to the pixel if it crosses the threshold, and finally we have the type of thresholding.

cv2.threshold() returns two values, the first being an optimal threshold calculated automatically if you use cv2.THRESH_OTSU , and the second being the actual thresholded object. Since we’re only concerned about the object, we subscript [1] to append only the second returned value in our thresh list.

You can choose a static threshold, but then it won’t be able to take the different lighting conditions of different photos into account. I’ve chosen np.mean() , which gives the average value of a pixel for the image. Lighter images will have a value greater than 127.5 (255/2), while darker images will have a lower value. This lets you threshold images based on their lighting conditions.

For the first image, the threshold is 126.34, which means that the image is slightly darker than average. Any pixel which has a value greater than this will be converted to white, and any less, will be made black. But wait! If you notice the grayscale image, the leaf is darker than the background. If we apply a normal threshold, the darker pixels become black, while lighter pixels become white. This will apply a black mask on the leaf, not the background. To deal with this, we use the THRESH_BINARY_INV method, which inverts the thresholding process. Now, pixels having an intensity greater than the threshold will be made black — those with less, white.

Lets have a look at the pixel intensities for the first thresholded image:

As you can see, the pixels which were lighter (top row) in the grayscale array are now black, while those which were darker (bottom row), are now white.

Lets see the thresholded images to verify:
Researchers created an invisibility cloak from this ‘artificial skin’
By: Faisal Khan
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Technology, Future, Science

7TH ARMY JOINT MULTINATIONAL TRAINING — COMMAND/VICTOR TANGERMANN

FUTURISTIC INVENTION

Researchers created an invisibility cloak from this ‘artificial skin’

Mimicking the color and temperature of their environment, this novel tech can make soldiers ‘invisible’

Cloaking devices from the yesteryears Scifi show ‘Star Trek’ are now becoming a reality. A lot of research has been undertaken in this area recently. For now, most of these applications are being developed for specific use cases like the one we are going to discuss today — giving soldiers the ability to blend in with their natural surroundings.

Back in 2019, I wrote about a Canadian biotech company, Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. which reached the patent application stage with its light-bending, paper-thin & inexpensive futuristic material — making things invisible behind it. Their prototype “Quantum Stealth” material was also developed for military purposes.

While the Canadian company used a paper-thin material to develop the invisibility cloak, South Korean researchers have taken this to the next level by developing an “artificial skin” that could allow soldiers to perfectly blend in with their surroundings. The resulting cloak not only makes them invisible to regular cameras but also to infrared-based night vision as well.

Although the novel tech sounds futuristic and out of a sci-fi movie, there are examples of this in nature — like the chameleon’s ability to blend into the surroundings. This invention just takes this natural cloaking ability from the visible light spectrum to the next step by masking the heat signature of the wearer as well.

“The cloaking in the visible range is therefore achieved separately by matching the ambient color… we recently developed a method to detect and mimic the environment by integrating a micro camera with our devices to make an autonomously working device.” ~ Seung Hwan Ko, Team Lead

According to the research, it uses flexible patches that can camouflage itself and is capable of cooling down or heating up depending on its surrounding environment. The process of switching only takes about five seconds. giving the soldiers the ability to camouflage themselves during the daytime and not show at thermal cameras at night.
Hustle
By: Bridget Webber
Tags: Productivity, Creativity, Culture, Lifestyle, Writing

I’ve tried hustle.

I’ve worked until my arms ached, and my eyesight failed into the dim light of dusk.

My bones have coughed out marrow.

I hunched and toiled past the hands of time.

I ate words and listened to night fall like thunder.

I devoured, plodded, straightened my back and swallowed the dawn.

I watched the stars drift past my desk and the old owl swoop close to the moon, and I heard his soulful call among the wolves.

I’ve tried hustle:

Paper piled high against the darkness.

My limbs grew tired of the weight.
The Last Guide to Social Media You Will Ever Need — in a 3-Minute Read
By: Tim Denning
Tags: Social Media, Marketing, Creativity, Content Marketing, Writing

The Last Guide to Social Media You Will Ever Need — in a 3-Minute Read

Follow these brutally honest 22 tips to get followers, money, and fame

Photo by Modern Affliction on Unsplash

As the resident douchebag that is asked to give social media advice to every man/woman and their dog — because of a tiny bit of success online that was mostly an accident — it literally kills me to have the conversation.

Dudes in suits want to know the secret to social media so they can make money from it. Their intention is selfish, which is part of the problem.

They call me in and ask the following:

How do we do content?

Do we build a brand?

What’s the strategy?

How do we get customers?

What’s our story?

These questions make my eyes bleed and my tongue slide to the back of my throat, blocking my airway and causing a resuscitation event to occur.

First of all, strategy kills social media.

Second, the word content takes a beautiful piece of art and turns it into a lifeless, soulless, dry, cold, heartless act that blocks the world from ever hearing what you’re trying to say.
Write Because You Must
By: Pamela Hazelton
Tags: Self, Writing Tips, Productivity, Creativity, Writing

Write Because You Must

Every other reason is secondary

Photo by user28856488 — licensed via Freepik premium

Ask a thousand writers why they write, and you’ll hear plenty of varying answers. Among them will be terms like “side hustle” and “to help others.” But there’s really only one reason to put pen to paper — ehh, fingertips to letter keys — because you must.

I started Write, I Must to arm passionate storytellers with insights and tools they need and as a place for writers with others who feel the same need to get words out of their heads. There are thousands of books on the art of writing. Still, growth happens when we get rejected, figure out what went wrong, rework if necessary, and resubmit.

Confession: I get just as much out of publication as the readers. Tom Beck’s 7 Benefits of Writing by Hand reminds me of my college days when penning on paper was essential during the creative and editing process. Paper and ink were expensive, and retyping stories over and over exhausting.

As a former journalist, reading Cody Wiesner’s argument against the inverted pyramid was eye-opening. Side-note: journalistic writing styles aren’t just for reporters.

Then there’s Toni Koraza — who goes against the grain in explaining why writers don’t need their own website. I have one, but it’s for my professional services. I never write stories there.

There is a wealth of information to be learned not just from the “masters” who’ve been published by some of the largest outlets but also from those who are still finding their way to the top. We read not only to understand what editors want and how we should embrace rejection but also to learn from others’ mistakes.

The most genuine writers aren’t solely looking for a paycheck. They write because they have no other option, even if it means only one person reads their work to the end. They’re motivated by claps and comments, yet don’t let these numbers define them. They write because they love the game.

Why do you write?

If you write to keep a roof over your family’s head or to make extra money, that’s perfectly fine. But there’s really only one core reason passionate writers tell stories — because they absolutely must.
17 Quotes That (If Applied) Can Change Your Life Forever
By: Sukhroop Singh
Tags: Philosophy, Inspiration, Creativity, Motivation, Writing

“No good can ever come from deviating from the path that you were destined to follow. You will be assailed by varieties of hidden pain. Most often you deviate because of the lure of money, of more immediate prospects of prosperity. Because this does not comply with something deep within you, your interest will lag and eventually the money will not come so easily. You will search for other easy sources of money, moving further and further away from your path. Not seeing clearly ahead of you, you will end up in a dead-end career. Even if your material needs are met, you will feel an emptiness inside that you will need to fill with any kind of belief system, drugs, or diversions. There is no compromise here, no way of escaping the dynamic. You will recognize how far you have deviated by the depth of your pain and frustration. You must listen to the message of this frustration, this pain, and let it guide you…It is a matter of life and death.” — Robert Greene, Mastery
27 Free Resources for Developers and Designers
By: Madhav Bahl
Tags: Design, Productivity, Development, Content Creation, Design Thinking

Design is the face of your product, service or content, without good designs, even if the content is amazing, there are chances that it might not appeal a larger audience to “have a look”.

But, there are so many tools available on the internet which makes our lives (as a designer/front-end developer or a content creator) more easy, and I am going to talk about many of them which I use, in this blog.

Did someone say “design”?

It’s been so many years I’ve been making content, and taking free initiatives, and one thing that used to scare me was posters and info-graphics.

I always wanted to spend my time in making content, not worrying about promotional posters, and then I started searching on Internet about tools which can help me with that, and came across some amazing ones.

Slowly, I came across free and open source vectors, images, design inspirations which we can use. If you are like me, trust me, this blog is going to make your life a lot more easy ( ° ͜ʖ °)

But wait, I bet there are a lot more resources out there apart from these as well, so if you come across one, do mention it in the comments as well, I will edit this article, add more and of course, I will give you proper credits.

Let’s get started!
Why You Need to Write More Than One Headline
By: Cynthia Marinakos
Tags: Writing, Business, Productivity, Headline Hacks, Creativity

Why You Need to Write More Than One Headline

Hone your skill for writing brilliant headlines quickly

Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos.

How many headlines do you write for one article?

I used to write one in a few seconds, impatient to publish after spending hours, days, sometimes weeks, to finish a draft. I treated headlines more like an insignificant crowd extra, rather than the star of the show.

That was a stupid thing to do. I now realize I wrote mediocre headlines most of the time.

I was being selfish and impatient. You see, when you write vague or clever headlines that don’t serve your reader — they’ll ignore you.

The most important person in all our worlds — is ourselves. That is true for us. And for our reader.

They want something. They’ve got to figure out how to earn more money. How to get more sh*t done. How to start a side hustle because they hate their job. They want to be more creative. To figure out how to get fitter, redecorate their homes, get their kids off sugar.

Your reader — your customer — is here because they have a challenge and they want the solution so they can have an easier, happier, less stressful life.

Your headline needs to tell them it’s worth them reading the next line. And the next. And the next.

Headlines are essential in every writer’s toolbox. In every marketer’s toolbox. Like any tool, it can’t be used well unless you’ve learned how to use it. To use it skillfully, you’ve got to put in a consistent and focused effort. You’ve got to write more than one headline. Here are five tips to get you going.
Adding Timed Comments and Waveforms to Spotify
By: Lee Martin
Tags: Marketing, Design, Spotify, Programming, Music

Generating waveforms from Spotify tracks is the first problem I tackled when putting together this prototype. I ended up using the Spotify Platform’s Audio Analysis endpoint to get the loudness levels of the track and then simplify that data into an array of values I could use to dynamically generate the waveform using canvas. Rather than generate this data every time a user visits the app, this prototype caches the waveform data for each visited track once for future visits.

I have also provided a CodePen on how the final waveform was generated.

Spotify Player

Typically when I build custom Spotify player interfaces, I use their Web Playback SDK because it allows you to simply stream full tracks to premium Spotify users who authenticate with your app. The big issue with this SDK is that it doesn’t work on mobile devices currently. In an attempt to make this solution more accessible, I turned to the Spotify Connect Web API. Instead of being able to stream full tracks through your web app like the Web Playback SDK, the Connect Web API allows you to remotely control an open piece of Spotify software on one of your user’s devices. This API can be pretty temperamental but when it works, it’s a decent solution.

Spotify Comments

The comments solution I put together for this web app draws from the Spotify powered chat solution I developed for the Future Islands project. This app also uses Spotify’s Implicit Grant Flow to authenticate users via a popup. Users must also be authenticated in this way to use the Connect Web API.

Once authenticated, users may tap into the text input to begin writing a message. When the input is focused, they may use an avatar slider on the waveform to position their comment on the timeline. Posted comments are sent to an awaiting Serverless endpoint and added to a DynamoDB. These comments are stored with the timestamp of their position on the timeline so they may be visually placed on the waveform again.

What’s Next?

For this particular prototype, I had the thought of making the comments come through in real time like the Future Island’s chat but that is likely something I’ll investigate later. The point of this experiment was to further explore what social features built off the Spotify Platform could look like. Through experiments such as this and in my client work, I hope to continue to investigate this topic. I hope the information shared proves useful to you as well and I’d love to hear what you think and more importantly, what you build. Happy hacking.
It’s Time for a ‘Device Divorce’
By: David Kadavy
Tags: Productivity, Technology, Writing, Self Improvement, Creativity

But, even though we don’t evenly distribute all of our activities amongst all our devices, we still do a little of everything on all our devices. Maybe we do most of our social media on our phone, but we also do a lot of social media on our laptop. Maybe we do most of our email on our computer, but we also do email on our tablet.

The problem with this is, it exposes us to path dependency, gone rogue. If we take a wrong turn, we end up on the wrong road. Once we’re on the wrong road, it takes that much longer to get where we’re trying to go.

Think of it this way: You can do a lot of things with a toothbrush. You can scrub your teeth with a toothbrush. You can also scrub your toilet with a toothbrush. But would you scrub your teeth and your toilet with the same brush? No!

So why use the same device to do two things that are completely at odds with one another? Why surf the web with the same device you use to write? Why chat with your friends on the same device you use to meditate?

You need to split up. You need a Device Divorce. You need to make it easy to get to the places you want to go, and hard take a wrong turn to the places you don’t want to go.

A simple exercise to begin your Device Divorce

To begin a Device Divorce, try this exercise: Draw three columns on a piece of paper. At the top of each of the respective three columns, write laptop, tablet, and smartphone. Now, in the respective column, write down the activities that you primarily do on each of these devices.

Do you see any contradictions? If you go down one path to do one of these things, will that take you farther and farther from another path to do another thing?

Will it break your focus? Will it dampen your momentum? Will it alter your mental state to go down Instagram Alley instead of Scrivener Circle?

If so, you aren’t using your devices, your devices are using you.

Next, make a decision. Decide what activities you will do on each of the three devices. But, just as important, decide which activities you will not do on each of these three devices.

My personal device arsenal

Me, I do most of my writing on my iPad, with an external keyboard. I do not do email on my iPad. I do not do messaging on my iPad.

I try to do as much email as I can on my iPhone. But, I don’t have Twitter or Facebook installed on my iPhone. I’d be taking wrong turns, left and right.

My laptop, I simply try to limit its usage as much as possible. My laptop is a “slippy” tool. Too many side roads and detours.

Your Device Divorce doesn’t have to stop at your primary electronic devices. According to a poll I did on Twitter, three out of four of you already have an extra tablet or smartphone just lying around.

These old devices often can’t run the latest software (thank you, planned obsolescence). But just because a device can’t do everything, doesn’t mean it can’t do something.
Thinking About Software Sustainably
By: Johanne Andersen
Tags: Sustainability, Startup, Software Engineering, Programming, Software Development

Thinking About Software Sustainably

I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again with all the sustainability buzzwords,” but hear me out

Photo by Alexander Abero on Unsplash.

Sustainability is not just about preserving the environment. That’s only a part of it.

According to a report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainability is about the capacity to endure. This is something us software developers should be very interested in. We are problem-solvers and builders. Of course, we want our creations — or at the very least our jobs — to last.

Thinking about how we can build sustainable software is a good way to do that.

“Sustainability of a system describes how well the system will continue to exist and function, even as circumstances may change.” — Becker et. al.

The question for us software developers is, how can we design and build software so it can deal with change?

This is also why, implicitly, we are already focusing on building sustainable software. By trying to ensure maintainability, scalability, and all the other -ilities, we’re trying to create software that can stand the test of time. It’s just good sense. However, there are more perspectives involved than just technical sustainability.

Various academic papers have actually identified four perspectives for sustainable software:

Economic sustainability

Environmental sustainability

Social sustainability

Technical sustainability

These might not be all-encompassing, but they cover the majority of software-related sustainability concerns.
John Frusciante Rejoins Red Hot Chili Peppers: What About The Other Guy?
By: Michael B. Wharton
Tags: Psychology, Self Improvement, Mindfulness, Mental Health, Creativity

Josh Klinghoffer has already had his worst week ever. Today is only Tuesday.

He played guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was the youngest person ever admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was only 32 at the band’s 2012 induction. That was on Saturday.

The Chili Peppers fired him on Sunday. His replacement? John Frusciante. The man Klinghoffer replaced ten years ago.

He confirmed the news to fans, one of whom tweeted, “Josh is happy for them,” meaning the Chili Peppers. Marbelle, or, at least, that was their Twitter handle, added, “I’m sure he’s hurting though. We will be there for him.”

What does “being there for him,” look like from this altitude? How does one think one’s way past this level of unthinkable?
How Weighted Blankets Can Help Improve Your Mental Health
By: Jerren Gan
Tags: Health, Self Improvement, Sleep, Mental Health, Science

How Weighted Blankets Can Help Improve Your Mental Health

Sleep is closely related to our mental state

Photo by The-Lore.com on Unsplash

Sleep is closely related to our mental state. When we aren’t able to sleep well, we are often more easily frustrated and experience a drop in productivity. When lack of sleep (or poor quality sleep) occurs for prolonged periods, we might even start to feel a strain on our mental health.

Amongst methods like using calming essential oils, yoga, and sleeping pills, weighted blankets are a common solution many have turned to in an effort to solve their sleep-related woes.

What is a weighted blanket?

In short, a weighted blanket is a heavy blanket that weighs anywhere between 5 pounds to 30 pounds (around 2 kilograms to 13.5 kilograms).

Originally devised to help older children that fall on the autism spectrum, weighted blankets have also helped improve sleep quality.

Weighted blankets can be used to help reduce anxiety and stress, making it a great way for one to subtly improve one’s mental health without having to make radical changes in one’s lifestyle.

The benefits of using weighted blankets

A weighted blanket applies a “deep pressure” on the user, engaging a kind of stimulation called Deep Touch Pressure (DTP) Stimulation. When studied, DTP provides positive effects by reducing the anxiety one feels. Furthermore, the weighted blanket helps users feel relaxed and more comfortable, helping improve sleep quality.

Apart from reducing anxiety, DTP encourages our bodies to release oxytocin. This hormone works to help with stress coping, allowing one to relax and fostering a positive mood.

The use of weighted chain blankets by patients with diagnosed psychiatric disorders was found to help significantly with insomnia, allowing the patients to reduce the fatigue, depression, and anxiety felt during the day, resulting in an increase in daytime activity level.

Is a weighted blanket suitable for me?

While I hope everyone can enjoy the benefits of a weighted blanket and be able to sleep in the warm hug of one, it’s not suitable for everyone.

Individuals with sleep apnea, respiratory problems, claustrophobia, and other chronic medical conditions should check with a trained medical professional before using the blanket.

Also, a weighted blanket should not be used for young children.
How To Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect— Associate Exam
By: Bhargav Bachina
Tags: Cloud Computing, Certification, Software Engineering, Software Development, AWS

How To Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect— Associate Exam

A complete guide for the new SAA-C02 exam

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a leading cloud provider according to the magic quadrant and it dominates the global cloud infrastructure and it has the market share equivalent to the next four big cloud providers combined. AWS offers several certifications. AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate is one of the associate exams that anyone could take before going into more specialized certificates. I recently took this exam and this article is all about what is this exam about, tips to pass the exam, and a lot more.

Why should you take this exam

Any Prerequisites

About the exam

Where to register

How to train

Useful Tips and Tricks

Before the exam

During the exam

After the exam

Other Certifications To Consider

Conclusion

Why should you take this exam

If you are a goto guy in your organization and always ready to provide solutions for the common problems this exam is for you. This exam really tests your ability to effectively architect and deploy secure and robust applications on AWS technologies. By preparing this exam you will get to define a solution using architectural design principles based on customer requirements and provide implementation guidance based on best practices to an organization throughout the lifecycle of a project. If you want to go to the next level as an architect this exam for you.
The Unending River of Hate
By: Anangsha Alammyan
Tags: Feminism, Social Media, Psychology, Writing, Mental Health

“Why does your voice fumble when you speak? Is it a medical problem?”

“You’re a nobody, a wannabe.”

“Your books are flops.”

“You post a lot. You must be narcissistic.”

“You’re not a real writer.”

I have received messages and comments such as these, and so many other versions of hate, of negative feedback, of strangers on the internet telling me I am not a good writer, that my voice is unclear, that my posts are not useful, and so forth.

I face such toxic criticism almost daily, and, though I try to stay strong, sometimes, all this negativity gets to my head.

The shield of anonymity

I’ll be honest — it beats me how a person can be so cruel as to post hate on a work created with so much passion

It probably is due to the debilitating power of the internet: it hands every user an equal footing to voice their opinion. With the shield of anonymity protecting them, such people feel they have the right to say just about anything they wish to, without worrying about the consequences their harsh words might leave on the minds and hearts of the creators.

Is it them, or is it me?

At first, I used to think there was something wrong with me. Whenever I received a comment telling me the article I wrote or the video I made was trash, I used to delete it immediately, spending hours trying to figure out why it was terrible and how I could make it better.

Over time, I have realised that such mindless hate should only be dealt with in one way: ignore and move on.

If there is nothing constructive in the criticism, one shouldn’t spend time or energy pondering over them.

There is a quote attributed to the Buddha that sums it up perfectly:
Podcast Episode 104: Loss Aversion
By: Jennifer Clinehens
Tags: Psychology, UX, Marketing, Design, Behavioral Science

Podcast Episode 104: Loss Aversion

Why losing is twice as painful as the joy of winning

I’m so excited to introduce the Choice Hacking podcast, a weekly show dedicated to exploring the ways behavioral science and psychology intersect with experience design, marketing, startups, and more.

We’re just getting started, but if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review. Thanks!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Have you ever experienced FOMO — the “Fear of Missing Out”? It’s a form of social anxiety that makes people scared they’re being left out of exciting or interesting events. It’s usually triggered by posts on social media, where it looks like the whole world is having fun without you. If you suffer from FOMO, you’re not alone. A recent study found that 70% of millennials experience the fear of missing out regularly. And there’s a powerful psychological principle behind why people experience FOMO — it’s called Loss Aversion. First identified by Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, Loss Aversion is a psychological principle that says people will go to great lengths to avoid losing. In fact, the psychological pain of losing is twice as powerful as the pleasure of winning. Join us as we explore the good and bad sides of Loss Aversion, and how to use it to create more engaging, persuasive, and effective customer experiences.

EPISODE NOTES
Join the Better Marketing Community on Slack!
By: Brittany Jezouit
Tags: Writing, Community, Marketing, Slack, Entrepreneurship

Join the Better Marketing Community on Slack!

Become a member to connect with other marketing-people, learn new things, and make better creative work

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

TL;DR version: We’re creating a Slack community for Better Marketing. We’d love to have you. Fill out this form for an invite!

Dear Better Marketing readers and writers,

Creative, talented people with expertise in marketing are everywhere, but sometimes that community can be hard to access — especially if you work in a smaller organization or a more entrepreneurial endeavor, where you might not have a full marketing team to bounce ideas around with. I’m drawing from personal experience here: I literally run a publication for marketers, but if I wanted some advice from folks who are really good at email marketing about how to make my newsletter better, I don’t have a go-to place to find that.

And if something doesn’t exist, why not make it yourself? So, we’re launching a Better Marketing Slack community.

Maybe you’ve been writing for Better Marketing since we launched, or you’ve just stumbled upon our publication. Maybe you’ve been in marketing for decades, or you don’t work in marketing at all and want to learn something new. Maybe you have new projects you’re excited to share and collaborate on, or you’re feeling stuck and looking for a way to re-ignite your creative energy. Wherever you are, come join us on Slack!

You don’t have to be a “marketer” to join — if you work in writing, brand strategy, design, communications, digital storytelling, journalism, or other creative industries, you’ll fit right in. Lifetime access to our Slack community is $10 USD (and free for all Better Marketing writers).

We don’t know exactly what this will look like, but we have some ideas that we’re excited about. Here’s a few: writer AMAs; virtual talks or workshops on creative topics; something like pair programming sessions, but for marketing projects; job postings and marketing gigs; writing accountability clubs; peer edits and feedback circles for articles; random virtual coffee dates?

I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of different creative communities, and I am stoked to take what I’ve learned and to try out new things with this one.

Join us! Here’s how:

Read the Better Marketing Slack Community guidelines below, and then Fill out this form for an invitation.

We hope to see you there! And if you have questions or ideas about this, please get in touch.

Cheers,

Brittany
1 Popular Writing Tip I Completely Ignore Every Time
By: Tom Kuegler
Tags: Social Media, Facebook, Writing, Self, Creativity

Why I Think “Target Audience” Doesn’t Always Matter So Much

First, writing isn’t a science.

When you write a good story, almost anybody will read it. I really believe that. I think worrying about a “target audience” can make you too preoccupied with things that don’t matter. You need to be thinking about emotion.

Emotion plays no matter what audience you’re writing for.

Second, the term “target audience” puts you in a box. If you say you’re going to write blog posts for freelancers in their 20’s, then every single blog post, to you, better be for freelancers in their 20's.

What if you want to write about a relationship you once had, though?

You can’t. You got to write to freelancers in their 20’s. It gives you no freedom to dabble, and that can get really draining as a writer.

Third, most folks only have three or four topics they really want to write about anyway. For me that’s travel, writing, life lessons, and relationships. These are my four topics. You’ll never read a cooking article from me. I don’t care about that.

If you free yourself from boundaries as a writer, you’ll arrive at your target audience organically. Who is my target audience? People like me, I suppose!

Fourth, too much emphasis on “target audience” can dehumanize you to your audience. What makes Shannon Ashley so endearing for me is the fact that she writes such personal sh*t.

That humanizes her. That makes me want to read her more, no matter what she decides to focus on, because I love her and want to support her.

If I just gave you more freelancing tips every blog post, that’s fine, but I’m not anything more than a teacher to my audience. By writing more personal stuff, I become something much more. I become not only helpful, but relatable. I become less of a teacher and more of a friend.

And who do you want to hang out with more? Your teacher or your friend?
3 Tricks You Can Use to Up Your Editing Game
By: Ria Tagulinao
Tags: Creativity, Editing, Writing Tips, Productivity, Writing

3 Tricks You Can Use to Up Your Editing Game

A Chrome extension, the ultimate intro question, and a scroll test

Photo created by drobotdean | Freepik

Part of becoming a better writer is becoming a better editor.

What makes the editing process exciting is that it’s always going to be different. But that’s also why it’s so darn hard — every story has its own challenges. Every story requires a different treatment. But as you go along, you’ll find your own strategies that lend a bit of cadence to the process and help you revise drafts more easily.

I’ll be sharing three simple tricks that have made editing less daunting for me and helped bring out the ideas in my stories. I hope they make your life easier, too, and maybe even excite you the next time you edit your piece.
100 of the Best Engineers, Developers, Coders, and Entrepreneurs to Follow Online
By: Jana Bergant
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Startup, Development, Self Improvement, Programming

100 of the Best Engineers, Developers, Coders, and Entrepreneurs to Follow Online

100 brilliant minds

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. This applies to work too.

Imagine you could surround yourself with brilliant engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs. Imagine you could freely exchange ideas and share knowledge with all of them.

Most of these brilliant minds openly share knowledge. They write books, give talks, have Twitter accounts. This is what makes them great; they change communities, change lives, and make the world a better place.

I created a list of great minds that inspire developers. The list was generated by a survey of more than 400 developers.

The purpose of this list was to find people that are role models in dev community. By following them, learning from them we can become better developers ourselves. And the world needs inspirational people now more than ever.

This was a great experiment. Thank you for taking the survey and participating in a discussion.

The survey is now closed.

The list is no longer available.

The objective was to find people ALL OVER the world to INSPIRE us.
About Devansh Mittal
By: Devansh Mittal
Tags: Psychology, Motivation, Philosophy Of Mind, Artificial Intelligence, Physics

I am Devansh Mittal. I am a Computer Science graduate (2003–2007) from IIIT-Hyderabad (International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad). Currently I am a Physics Faculty at Allen Career Institute (Kota, Rajasthan) since 2015.

After my graduation I worked in IT industry for two years from 2007–2009, at Hyderabad. After that I joined IIIT-Hyderabad as a Lecturer and worked there from July 2009- January 2014. During February 2014 — August 2015, I worked as a Lecturer at IIT-BHU (Varanasi).

During my tenure at Universities like IIIT-Hyderabad and IIT BHU I worked on Mind Body Problem which involved my works on Theoretical Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Mind and Psychology.

Physics has always been my love, so currently I am following my passion by Teaching Physics to Bright Minds of Higher Secondary. My research in Physics is never limited to any competitive exam. I like to explore various aspects of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, along with Newtonian Physics.

This blog is a tiny attempt to share my explorations.

I can be contacted here.

devansh [DOT] exe [AT] gmail [DOT] com
Permissionless Professors #6: Tiago Forte
By: Gary Bailey - Monetization Manifesto
Tags: Monetization, Marketing, Growth, Entrepreneurship, Startup

We believe monetization is a hidden secret. Secrets hiding in plain sight. From the psychology of anchoring, the mathematics of power-law pricing tables, the application of demand elasticity, and the market positioning of your price — your path to better monetization awaits.

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Who is Nightingale for?
By: Alyssa Bell
Tags: Design, Storytelling, Science, Data Science, Data Visualization

“Who is Nightingale for?”

It’s a question I’ve been asked point-blank by friends and coworkers and one that hovers beneath the surface in certain online conversations. For some it is a practical question: does reading this provide value to me? But for others the question is more fundamental: do I even belong here?

So who is Nightingale for? The easy answer is the dataviz community. But, in the 5 months since the launch of the Data Visualization Society and roughly 80 Medium stories later, a few things have become quite clear.

This community is expansive. We are designers who learned about data analysis and coding; we are scientists who learned about visual design and storytelling; we are computer programmers who learned about color theory and building visualizations. We all learned differently. Some of us have been doing this work for several decades — long before there were formalized programs — while others of us have never made visualizations professionally.

And if the dataviz community is hard to summarize, summarizing our audience is an impossible challenge. The work we create is used across all fields, from public health, to history, to sports, to… Beyoncé. We have used our own hobbies to inform our visualizations, and incorporated visualization work into our most special days. We have used visualization as a tool to challenge the utility of everyday objects, and to measure small victories. Here at Nightingale we encourage people from all backgrounds to submit articles that continue to add new voices to this conversation.

Know someone who’s unsure that Nightingale is for them? Share our homepage or one of the stories above and ask them to come explore.
Remember to Write Books that Entertain the Reader
By: Brian Rowe
Tags: Writing, Reading, Creativity, Entertainment, Books

All sorts of books are published every year, and there are all sorts of book-buyers who are looking for different kinds of things.

Some people love to read romances, and some people love to read mysteries, and some people love to read young adult novels, and some people, yes, are looking for thought-provoking literary novels.

I’m one of the latter. I write books for the middle grade and young adult market, and I have a particular passion for genre books like thrillers and horror novels, but what I actually love to read the most, the kind of book you’d spot me curled up on a couch actually reading, are literary novels, the bigger the better.

I love literary novels about family especially. Three of my recent favorites are The Nix, The Goldfinch, and Little Fires Everywhere, all richly detailed tales I loved every minute of.

So, yes, some people like myself seek out novels with a high degree of literary merit. That offer more than a fun yarn you can forget a few minutes after you turn the final page.
About STORIUS
By: Ray N. Kuili
Tags: Storytelling, Publication, Filmmaking, Marketing, Writing

You have a story to tell. STORIUS is here to help you tell it in the best way possible. From the nuts and bolts of crafting your story, to finding the best channels to deliver it to the right audience, to selecting the format best suited for your objectives, STORIUS brings you a rich mix of practical advice and inspiration from established and emerging storytellers. An online magazine about the art, craft, and business of storytelling, STORIUS is the publication for everyone interested in how stories are created, discovered, distributed, and consumed.

What makes STORIUS unique in today’s crowded market of publications? A few editorial principles we follow in selecting our content:

Storytelling everywhere. STORIUS’ articles cover storytelling across various industries, mediums, and forms. We offer both breadth and depth in our coverage. Whether you want to write for TV, work on a novel, or need to learn how storytelling can accelerate your business, STORIUS is a resource you can count on. Authoritative content. Our content always offers an informed perspective, delivering real value to our readers and helping them accomplish more in their storytelling. We don’t publish content just for the sake of content. Diversity of perspectives. Today’s storytelling is, more than ever, a collaborative business. STORIUS’ materials highlight the perspectives and ideas of established and emerging professionals who make movies, books, shows, and other forms of stories possible. Storytelling as art and business. We do not subscribe to the notion of the starving artist. We cover both artistic and business aspects of storytelling, helping our readers to make money with their storytelling.

Above all, we see STORIUS as a community. Join the conversation, pitch your ideas for articles, and share your stories. Welcome to STORIUS!
Want To Write Like Aaron Sorkin? Start By Being Bored
By: Phillip Morina
Tags: Creativity, Life Lessons, Motivation, Writing, Self Improvement

Image Credit: David Torcivia on Flickr

Aaron Sorkin never wrote for fun until after college. Which is insane. If you’re unfamiliar with his work he is responsible for A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, The Social Network, The Newsroom, and a long list of other movies and TV shows. He is screenwriting royalty, and he got there because he was bored.

On the Bill Simmons podcast, Aaron Sorkin talks about the first time he ever wrote for fun.

The year is 1985. There is no Tinder, Snapchat, or Netflix. Smartphones and the internet don’t even exist yet. Aaron Sorkin was sharing a studio apartment. His friends were all out of town or at a party he wasn’t invited too. He had $3 in his pocket; the tv and stereo were broken. It was pure boredom. The only thing in the apartment was a semi-automatic typewriter and blank pieces of paper.

Sorkin talks about how the first time he wrote for fun was writing dialogue. He said,

“I loved it, I stayed up all night writing and I feel like that night has never ended.”

Think about that. We could have been robbed of Moneyball, Charlie Wilson’s War, and Sports Night had it not been for boredom.

Sorkin goes on to say, “There are too many easy boredom killers.” and it’s easy to see what he is talking about. We live in a time where everything is competing for our time. Companies spend billions of dollars to steal more of your time. They feed off your boredom, but it might be time to start using your boredom to feed your creative self.

People put off starting things. That article, book, or screenplay they want to write is put on the shelf until they have the time to do it. In the meantime, their distractions get in the way, and they never feel like they have the time because they are continually keeping themselves from being bored.

Our culture doesn’t make it any easier on us. Sorkin says, “People are curating there lives now,” and it is easy to see what he is talking about. Now there is a pressure not to be bored. To continually be engaged, and with the social pressure to be “living your best life,” the idea of being bored for a lot of people is terrifying.

Being bored gives you the opportunity to delve creativity. To sit alone with your thoughts and challenge us to expand our creative expressions. Be bored, reach for that blank piece of paper instead of your phone. Find the stories that are hiding inside of you, instead of the distractions that are always waiting for you.

A working TV or stereo could have robbed us of some of the most exceptional dialogue in television and movie history, and I can’t help but wonder what kind of works of art are we missing out on because people refuse to let themselves be bored.
How To Stop Taking Your Phone to the Bedroom
By: Eva Keiffenheim
Tags: Productivity, Mental Health, Health, Digital Detox, Life Hacking

Do you really want to fall asleep to the latest post on your newsfeed?

Most people don’t. And yet, they continue to take their phones to their bedroom.

A survey with more than 7,000 smartphone owners showed 80% check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up.

All these people waste their health. This study showed consistent evidence of an association between access to devices and reduced sleep quantity and quality.

By sharing your bed with your smartphone, you get less and worse sleep than somebody who abandons their phone. Plus, with a phone as your alarm, you’ll start your mornings in a highly unproductive way.

That’s why people like Ryan Holiday ignore their phone whenever possible:
We are Writing up a new age of Enlightenment Online
By: A Singular Story
Tags: Society, Social Media, Future, Journalism, Philosophy

The internet is the hive mind that can make a better society happen if we unite in pushing back against the diktat of greed that keeps churning out overwrought pathos for clicks and bucks. But until thinking out loud in print gains critical mass, we have to accept it will take a while for our intellectual labor to yield results, be they financial or otherwise.

For now, we are sowing the seeds for a new ecosystem instead of depleting the current one for our own personal gain. Trust that the present we are writing up now will be the future; greed will eventually become obsolete when it realizes it may have amassed financial wealth but credibility, respect, or usefulness remain beyond its reach.

We are laying down the blueprints for a better humanity by gently waking one another up from egocentric darkness. And the sooner we do, the better for everyone; we are learning how to be better, together. When we approach writing as service, we break down barriers, torpedo taboos, and slay stigma but doing so takes time and it is a team effort. If bringing us together is what the internet excels at, it only happens when we share our personal narratives with integrity, humility, and most of all accountability.

Peddling shockers to line our pockets with the proceeds of sensationalism by parlaying outrage, shock, or disgust into cash as we settle old scores is a zero-sum game, no matter how much it pays: it offers no societal value so it achieves nothing beyond temporary personal enrichment.

Surprisingly perhaps in such an individualistic culture as ours, it is by putting others first that we lead change. Those who get to carry the torch have first dibs on what the future looks like and that is priceless: This is how writing online can change our lives, from journalism to social media.

We get to shape the world we want to live in through the strength of our words.

Think about it, isn’t this extraordinary?