fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
In Moment of Despair, Turkey’s Opposition Finds New Synergy and Unity
By: Abdullah Ayasun
Tags: Chp, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Local Elections, Turkey, Erdogan

In Moment of Despair, Turkey’s Opposition Finds New Synergy and Unity

The decision for the rerun of Istanbul vote rattled Turkey. But it also reinvigorated the opposition, paving the way for the steady rise of a new leader — Ekrem Imamoglu.

Former Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu joined a family in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli district for first iftar dinner of Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“Everything will be fine.”

Hours after Turkey’s election authority ruled for holding a new election in Istanbul, this has become the defining motto of Turkey’s fragmented but emboldened opposition.

It was a morale boost to reinvigorate the opposition dispirited by the annulment of opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu’s hard-won and deserved win in Istanbul in local elections. And the remarks came from the new (or former) mayor himself.

“Everything will be fine,” the mayor said, rejecting to allow himself to be overtaken by grief and despair. And he enabled a diverse set of people — celebrities, writers, journalists and people from all walks of life — to coalesce around a passionate cause to claim what was stolen from them — Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey and the major political battleground that could shape the country’s political future.

They joined the call from Imamoglu who urged people to speak without fear. Everybody, celebrities, artists and businessmen must speak as a patriotic duty. “If not now, when?” he asked when he denounced the Supreme Election Council’s (YSK) “act of theft.”

The mood, as we can glean from social media, turned from resignation and despair to a newfound enthusiasm buoyed by a sense of righteousness and victimhood. For a while, the opposition part of Turkey has never been this loud or effective.

Artists were on the front line on social media, leading the emerging public resistance. “Everything will be fine” suddenly has become the symbol of new-age civil disobedience, expressed in peaceful and pacifist mode on social media. It espouses juxtaposition of diverse emotional and psychological elements, hope and firm belief. It also contains elements of determination, will and endurance.

IYI (Good) Party leader Meral Aksener whose support was vital in Imamoglu’s election described the YSK decision as a civil coup, an intervention to disregard public will in Istanbul.

The reaction from the outside world was indignant as well. EU’s Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri expressed her disbelief.
5 Tips for Effective End-to-End Tests
By: Mohit Mair
Tags: Test Automation, Publicis Sapient, Quality Engineering, End To End Testing

End-to-end testing in IT projects is agreeably a high-value proposition. With incremental software development and micro-features being released frequently & continuously, it's important to ensure that all components in the architecture logically amalgamate, to fulfil the ultimate end-purpose of the application, at all times.

On the other hand, end-to-end testing has also attracted counter opinions, some even saying its difficult to achieve or is not sustainable, probably based on their wane prior experience.

So, here are 5 simple tips that will help in making your end-to-end testing effective, value-based and sustainable.

1. Define “end-to-end”.

Clearly define the purpose & outcome, start-states, end-states and verification points.

Include not just business flows, but technical processes and data flows as well.

Emphasise on breadth-wise test coverage, cutting across the UI, features, modules, systems and sometimes infrastructure as well. (depth-wise coverage is anyways taken care by functional tests)

Keep the number limited and value high.

2. Watch your assertions!

Don’t over-crowd assertions. Hold the temptation to validate each and every step, rather, focus on integration “weak-points” where data or process hand-over may be vulnerable and test responsibilities overlap. Identify and cover all integration “Blind-spots” .

Don’t repeat functional validations.

Validate the end-state, reconciling all the way from the start-state, traversing through all key integration stages.

3. Align test-data.

Start with a fresh dataset every time and use the same dataset along the course of the test. This will ensure end-to-end data consistency.

Its a no brainer never to use mocks and stubs in end-to-end tests.

Keep the test-data aligned throughout and dont break process-data relationship during the run.

4. Mix application layers.

Dont limit end-to-end test to just front-end. Orchestrate the flow across other application layers e.g front-end → web-services → database → legacy systems → any backend cron jobs, schedulers etc. along the way.

5. Make them continuous.

Don’t wait to run end-to-end tests in the later stage of SDLC.

Automate and run them continuously. Embed into CI/CD process, schedule overnight, etc. But keep them running. Not only will this ensure end-to-end state is upright at all times, but, will also not let your tests become obsolete.

Re-purpose functional test scripts and stitch them to create end-to-end flows. By doing this, development effort is not duplicated and the maintenance will automatically be taken care of.

All the best!
Why You Should Never Fly on Fridays, and Instead Choose This Day.
By: Levi Borba
Tags: Travel Hacks, Travel Tips, Budget Travel, Flight Tickets, Travel

After this article, you will change your perceptions about the middle of the week. Source: pexels.com

After years working as a strategy specialist in the world’s best airline, I came to one conclusion:

Airline companies are very good at one marketing method:

Customer segmentation

The good news? You can play with their segmentation to save thousands in your next travel.

I am seriously talking about price differences near 40% of the total paid for a ticket.

Airlines delineate their commercial strategy all over the expected behavior of customers. Millions are spent in research to profile and project the behavior of those buying tickets every day.

This entire effort starts at a very basic level: all the passengers are divided into two main categories:

Business or Leisure.

There are other groups (like pilgrims or visiting relatives) but their relevance is minor compared to those previously mentioned.

Business Travelers vs Leisure Customers: Who are who.

Business passengers usually are not paying their own ticket. They buy with less anticipation and are relatively inelastic (meaning they don’t care too much about the price).

On the other hand, leisure customers plan their trip well in advance. They pay their own tickets and are more price-sensitive (or elastic).

Business travelers tend to fly at the beginning of the week, like Monday, and return before the weekend, especially Friday. Meanwhile, they rarely travel at Sundays (except in the Middle East, where this is a working day) and Wednesdays.

Due to the lack of corporate travelers, airlines tend to price Sundays and Wednesdays at lower rates than Fridays.

There are exceptions, though. If a certain destination is attractive, for example, to Saudi nationals, Sundays tend to be expensive. This is because Sunday is a working day for them. Special events and holidays also may inflate the prices of specific days. However, in normal circumstances, the price pattern is relatively stable. This drives us to our conclusion.

Conclusion

All the rest being constant, the best opportunity to save money is to avoid flying on Fridays. Wednesdays, on the other hand, tend to have much better prices.

That is how you will hack the day of the week price segmentation. In my next story, I will tell you how much in advance you should look for flight tickets! Hope none of my former airline bosses feel betrayed by that.

Author: Levi Borba, founder of Colligere Expat Consultancy, former RM specialist for the world´s greatest airline, co-founder of Nearby Airport Hostel Warsaw and author of the books Moving Out, Living Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity and Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide. You can check some of his articles here.

Subscribe here, for free, to my email list and receive the digital book 20 Essential Hacks for Saving Money While Travelling. Discover the way to cheaper flight tickets and even an upgrade to Business Class! Written by an author that worked during years in some of the best airlines of the planet.
Soccer Laduma App community show their support while being rewarded for the UGC.
Tags: Social Commerce, Weekly Update, Innovation, Blockchain Technology, Press Release

Soccer Laduma App community show their support while being rewarded for the UGC. JET8 Follow Jan 23 · 2 min read

The year has kicked off to a great start with Soccer Laduma App users taking full advantage of the rewards received for their UGC.

The Soccer Laduma App which launched in May 2019, is built on the JET8 social commerce technology, which places users back in the center of the value chain.

Within the past few months, the Soccer Laduma App has seen a phenomenal spike in new users. Individuals that are actively posting and engaging on the App, have experienced the full benefits of JET8 Technology through social commerce.

Currently, active users on the App are using their social currency, JETPoints, to predominantly redeem data and airtime. The process itself is fast and easy, with the voucher number being received instantly after the process has been completed in the JET8 Wallet.

Participants of the exclusive Soccer Laduma Fan Club have taken to the App and are posting regularly as they attend exciting soccer games in South Africa. Users on the App are showing their support through engaging on these posts and posting their exciting soccer-focused content, showing us that true fans of Soccer Laduma are being rewarded.

With blockchain and social commerce being a hot topic all over the world, it is exciting to know that one of South Africa’s leading publications have already adapted to the way of the future. Continue to show your support by downloading the App and engaging to experience the full user centric JET8 Technology cycle.

Get the JET8 Wallet App

If you don’t have the app installed yet get it now at https://wallet.jet8.io or discover new DENapps at https://apps.jet8.io

For media inquiries, please contact:

Keshia@jet8.io, PR and Social Media Manager
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How To Create A Thriving Data Visualization Culture
By: David Mora
Tags: Data Science, Topicsindv, Business, Data Visualization, Data

Creating Great Data Visualization Culture

Before you build a great dataviz culture, you have to envision it.

During the DVS conversation, we came to a strikingly concordant vision for what that looked like: dataviz culture at its best embraces a human-centered design process focused on the audience and their core needs, not just the visualization tools or forms. This culture doesn’t just make data useful — it fundamentally gives its org vision into how it uses data to begin with.

OK, but what does that look like in action?

Illustration by Natalia Kiseleva (eolay13)

To help, let’s envision a dataviz professional named Alejandra. Alejandra’s got mean Python chops, a knack for data exploration, and expertise in visual perception and human-centered design.

What about her organization’s dataviz culture enables Alejandra to flourish and bolster her organization’s strategic goals? For starters, Alejandra's teammates approach her with key questions and expect a collaborative process to answer them, not a predefined chart.

Example 1: Bridging domains

When a gap of understanding opens between the data science team’s machine learning results and the sales team’s ability to use them, the team looks to Alejandra. Presented with the open-ended challenge, Alejandra knows her value won’t come from pretty charts, but from the process by which she works with the sales team to understand the questions and challenges that define their work. That insight, in turn, powers visualizations that reveal the structures in the data that can clearly answer those driving questions.

This enables the sales team to make key discoveries that the data science team — often divorced from the nuances of sales — had overlooked. This helps the data team refine their own process and focus.

With space to direct a dataviz process centered on user needs, Alejandra’s work doesn’t just change the charts her org uses, she fundamentally changes their ability to communicate across domains and extract critical insights from the data.

Illustration by Natalia Kiseleva (eolay13)

Example 2: Helping data resonate with stakeholders

Alejandra’s work extends outside the org, too.

As her org teeters on the verge of losing their most important customer, Alejandra combines a keen sense of stakeholders’ needs with data storytelling to create a presentation highlighting the value her org produces for that key customer. Here, again, it’s not her technical knowledge or communication skills alone that make the difference. With the freedom to practice a human-centered design process and skills to analyze the data, Alejandra illuminates the data in a way that resonates with her target audience.

Alejandra’s work goes beyond charts — it guides and supports her organization by pinpointing what matters most to her stakeholders and providing tailored insight into how the data fits into that picture.

This is the ideal. But how do we get there?
How Well Do You Play With Others? Interpersonal Skills Are Vital for Success
By: Ed Newman
Tags: Success, Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Skills, Career Advice, Life Lessons

What attribute is critical for success in organizations yet most frequently overlooked? Genius? Hardly. There are plenty of people with successful careers who are not geniuses. Training? It’s useful. Experience helps, and problem solving skills do as well.

The real rocket fuel that powers us is motivation, which draws upon all our strengths and provides the impetus for purposeful, focused achievement. This is not, however, the overlooked quality I want to draw attention to. There’s another variable that is essential for success, especially in organizations.

Unless you own the company, interpersonal skills are vital. Your effectiveness in human relations, or your lack of it, may determine whether you advance or get left behind on the promotion ladder.

Do you pay attention to and understand the personal values of superiors, subordinates, peers and others? Do you recognize the needs of others? Are you developing positive working relationships with co-workers? Are you a team player? Are you self-aware? That is, do you know how you come across in meetings or in the break room?
He Murdered His Entire Family and Then Disappeared for 18 Years
By: Ella Figg
Tags: History, Family, True Crime, Crime, Murder

John List was a quiet man, according to all of his neighbors. His wife, Helen, was known for getting drunk at parties and demanding John spend money to keep up a lavish lifestyle. This included buying the stately home they inhabited that was well-outside John’s price range. Their three children by all accounts were well-liked and active in sports and drama. John’s mother, with whom he had a complicated relationship, lived in the upstairs apartment. Together they were one big family making it work the best they could.

However, in early 1971 John lost his job. He hid his shame by dressing for work and going out every day as if nothing were wrong. But something was wrong, deeply wrong, in John’s head. As the money dwindled, he began to contemplate a way out of his predicament. Without his family.

On the day of the murder, after the kids went off to school, John took a gun and shot Helen in the back of the head as she enjoyed her coffee. He then walked upstairs and shot his mother in the face. Finding her “too heavy” to take downstairs, he left her there.

He found himself famished and coolly made a sandwich. Because murdering your wife and mother wets one’s appetite, I guess. After eating his lunch, John called around to cancel the mail service, forgo milk deliveries, and to inform the children’s carpool mom and school that his family would be going away on vacation to see Helen’s sick mom. He didn’t know when they’d be back. He went to the bank to withdraw every penny from his mother’s account “for the trip,” he said. He tied every loose end.

One by one his children came home from school. He shot and killed each of them. Then he dragged their bodies to the ballroom with his wife’s corpse and wrapped each in a blanket. Following this he walked throughout the home, carving his face out of every photo and destroying it. He couldn’t kill himself, but he was determined to destroy all traces of his old life. Pictures disposed of, he turned on every light, turned on the phonograph to play some religious music, and shut the door to his home and his life as John List.
The Illustrated Interview: Steve Teare
By: Edith Zimmerman
Tags: Spiralbound, here, Comics, Illustrated Interview, Steve Teare

Every week on Spiralbound we ask one of our featured artists: How do you make comics? This week we spoke (emailed) with Steve Teare, of “True Stories From IKEA.” (Check it out if you haven’t already! And see here for our full interview archive.)

So, Steve, how do you make comics? (Text from Steve, drawings by Edith Z.)
I miss someone I've yet to understand
By: Daniel A. Teo
Tags: Regret, Prose, Sad, Grandparents, Death

After my very much prolonged rebellion phase ended. I was nicer, maybe more compassionate. But yet still engulfed in television, books and never allowed the blue screens of my phone to leave my sight. I left a phase — to join another. I was addicted to a stupid rectangle with bright lights.

At the dinner table, the bed, the living room, my hand would always be clasping the phone, it was like a body part I wasn't able to live without. And again, because my head was fully submerged into my electronics, my body couldn't feel anything but the phone, and my Grandpa was left to be neglected once again. He was a forgiving and extremely religious man and always believed in giving second chances. He didn't really bother that I had ignored his very existence, he just continued staying silent, knowing that my lesson can only be learned after he closes his eyes.

Anyone struggling with addiction would know exactly how I would have felt. You don't just “stop” being addicted. You fight and fight with your own mental struggles and each attempt demands more will and strength. Till realization hits and you start reflecting on what you’ve caused to yourself. And you proceed to recovery.

However, just when I was about to approach recovery, another wound was formed.

No, not wound. It felt more like an already healed scar; after someone took a scalpel and grazed it till my cartilage forces it back open. My brain and my vocal cords were not working anymore, maybe because it was unable to accept the truth- I only did treasure him when he was gone.

Well, that pretty much explains it right?

In simple words, he left. He left without giving the second chance. He left without a goodbye from him or from me. Just like that.
How to SignUp and Registered? — BuyUcoin Web 3.0
By: Rinkesh Jha
Tags: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Investing, How To

BuyUcoin, India’s most popular and reliable cryptocurrency exchange, has introduced Web 3.0 to change an amount of things. Here complete solution, how to register or sign up on BuyUcoin?

First of all, Kindly visit the following page to register: Register Now! and Follow the steps below:

1. Visit the top right corner and click on the Sign-up button

2. A Sign-Up page will get opened, enter your Name, Email, Account type (Company | Individual), desired password, and Country.

> Click on the square box to accept Terms & Conditions (Read Instructions Carefully!).

> Click Create Account to complete registration.

> You’ll receive a verification link through email, click to verify.

You can also watch videos on How to Signup on BuyUcoin?

In this video complete answer of how to signup in buyucoin.

Note: if the button is not working, click the link below or copy/paste the link in your browser and click enter

Still not getting it, reach us at support@buyucoin.com
Breaking news! Hell freezes over as immigrant parent issues an official apology using words instead of fruit!
By: Arijana Ramic
Tags: Immigrants, Satire, One Liners, Comedy, Humor

The Foreigner Blog explores the comedic side of being an immigrant, children of immigrants, and diaspora. Our experiences are often clouded in dark and painful realities, but here we find the light and the levity. Welcome!

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How Becoming a Mentor and Reading Through 100,000+ Lines of Code Made Me a Better Human Being
By: Oluwadamilare Olusakin
Tags: Programming, Humanity, Front End Development, Mentorship, Web Development

Humility

Photo by Carl Jorgensen on Unsplash

I truly believe no one person, no matter how talented or knowledgeable, can ever truly be amazing without realizing that anyone can teach and be taught — and this brings me to the final value I’ll be discussing.

Several times, I’ve run into a piece of code that does something (the same thing) in a fashion that’s completely different from anything I would’ve thought about, adding to my knowledge base and expanding my experience.

But it takes humility to accept being taught by someone you’re paid to guide; however, this one mental hack can completely change your life if you let it.

Understanding anyone, no matter how young, can pass onto you some sort of knowledge/piece of information that could be vital to you in some way — or even life-saving at a later time — can quickly increase your value as a person. It’s advantageous to go from experience to experience without ever looking down on any encounter or having a preexisting notion about the disparity in knowledge between you and anyone.

You can learning from your kids how to be more creative or learn a new concept from a junior employee that’s vital to demystifying a challenge you’ve been faced with for weeks. These experiences are cumulative and, in the long run, extremely valuable to the one who holds them. Master this one mental perspective, and it’ll accelerate your mental capacity, knowing not just what you know but what a ton of other people do as well.

No knowledge belongs to you or me. Realizing this and tapping into the collective wisdom offered to us daily, through the interactions with people of various skill levels, can bring you to a place where your lack of specific knowledge or any one piece of information will never be a disadvantage.
A simple Blockchain strategy framework
By: Gayan Samarakoon
Tags: Digital Transformation, Strategy, Oxford University, Blockchain

Recently I completed the Blockchain strategy certificate at Said Business school, University of Oxford. One of the first things among the fire-hose of information received was a strategy framework in evaluating the suitability of Blockchain for a particular project. It is not meant to be a highly technical document. However its extremely useful set of questions and an evaluation criteria for many reasons. For example it is a simple evaluation process to identify the use case, and how it could potentially operate in order to create a business strategy. It can also help you navigate through many of the scammy ICOs claiming to be the next hot blockchain project.

Answer these questions to determine whether blockchain could help solve your use case:

Is there a predictable, repeatable process that lends itself well to automation?

2. Is there an ongoing or long-running transaction or process, rather than a process that occurs only once?

3 Are there multiple stakeholders in this process or value chain?

4 Is the role of reconciling disparate data usually played by one party or a limited number of parties?

5 Remembering that value is not only monetary, is there an element of value transfer?

6 Is there value in an immutable record? Or is an immutable record a requirement?

If you answered Yes to any of the key criteria, consider the following questions to start planning how you would use blockchain:

PROTOCOL LAYER

Is it possible to use public blockchains? Or is there a defined need for a private implementation?

What are the design expectations regarding speed, programmability, or payment functionality?

Do you have developer resources available? Or is the protocol you’re using supported by a robust, sustainable open-source developer community with access to resources?

NETWORK LAYER

Who needs to run a node? Who has read access? Who has write access?

What are the technology integration requirements?

What are the data storage requirements regarding archiving and regulation?

APPLICATION LAYER

Who is going to use the application? What are the implications for user experience and design?

What is the existing organisational structure? And what behavioural patterns do users have today? How does this product or service fit into their existing workflow?

Are there any behavioural or organisational changes necessary to implement this use case?

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Celestial Absolution
By: Sherry Kappel
Tags: Poetry, Sunset, One Line, Hope, Sunrise

Each citrusy sunset

Bloody sunrise

Tangle of clouds

Diaphanous sky

Never the same

Unceasing surprise

Proposing h o p e

Resurrection

Redemption

For any who dare

Raise their eyes
Tunnel Vision for Computer Players
By: Andreas Stöckl
Tags: Computer Games, Data Science, Eye Tracking

Tunnel Vision for Computer Players

Lessons learned from an Eye-Tracking Study

Adapted Pacman Version

In a recent paper for the ETRA ’20 ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications, we took a closer look at the gaze behavior of computer gamers. The gaze behavior of players in different difficult situations is examined in order to gain potential insights for game design.

A comparative study was conducted in which the test persons played the game Pac-Man in three difficulty levels while their gaze behavior was recorded with an eye-tracking device. Various measures were observed, such as the current position of the players’ gaze, the current position of the Pac-Man figure and the game object currently being viewed.

Gaze heatmap

While some aspects of the game showed no significant results (e.g. the distance between Pac-Man and the viewpoint), the time spent looking at one of Pac-Man’s enemies showed a highly significant effect on the difficulty level. As the difficulty level increased, more and more people stared at their own game character (“Pacman”), and less and less at their enemies (“ghosts”). So when the difficulty level starts to get too high, a kind of “tunnel vision” appears.

Time gazing at objects for men and women

With the results, we want to inform designers and researchers about the pitfalls of using the gaze as an analytical tool in the field of challenge in games. In addition, the findings of our efforts form the basis for providing orientation and support to players in challenging game situations by visually complementing objects located in the peripheral visual field.
The Fascinating World of Women in an Ottoman Harem
By: Mythili The Dreamer
Tags: Equality, Culture, Feminism, History, Women

The Fascinating World of Women in an Ottoman Harem

Life in an Ottoman harem was like being imprisoned in a golden cage with endless rules, expectations, and boundaries.

Image Credits: Pexels.com

The term ‘harem’ conjures up images of beautiful women whose sole purpose in life was to please their sultan sexually.

We visualize in our minds images of oppressed women, deprived of their freedom and imprisoned in golden cages. We see decadence and debauchery of wealth everywhere from shimmering curtains, silken rugs, goblets of wine, exotic heaps of fruit, and seductive women in various stages of undress all trying to vie the attention of an aging sultan, old enough to be their grandfather.

That said, while the images are not entirely devoid of truth, they are also not the entire truth as they were created by westerners. The truth lies somewhere in between. The true state of women in the Ottoman Empire was quite complex and very difficult to understand for an outsider who tends to see them as imprisoned slaves devoid of any fundamental rights.

That said, the harem of a Sultan performed a variety of functions and the women who lived there had significant power and influence in their own right. While every activity revolved around the sultan, it would a mistake to assume that the harem was just a sexual playground for the sultan.

The harem was also home to powerful women who are held in high honor by the sultan, some of whom had a hand in governing the powerful Ottoman empire.in fact, a period in the Empire known as the ‘Reign of Women’ or the Kadinlar Sultanati saw the harem women playing powerful roles within the Ottoman empire and even beyond, leading them to amass extraordinary powers never done before by any woman.

And life inside the harem was a fascinating mix of rules, hierarchy, power games, and boundaries that need to be navigated by every woman staying there, slave or otherwise.
Now what, Argentina?
By: Ignacio Zambello
Tags: Soccer, Copa America, Football, Argentina, Messi

The Copa America is about to start. So is the blind faith.

Image from www.deportes.canalrcn.com

Don’t ask me why. I have no idea why we keep believing that we can win the Copa America this year. Every single time Argentina is to play a tournament, we think we can win it. “Just because we are Argentina”. And the Copa America 2019 is not the exception.

It’s true, we have the best player in the world, that gives us a little bit of advantage. But we’ve had him for almost 15 years and we’ve got enough to learn that that doesn’t guarantee success. It’s also true that, if we look back in history, we are one of the best teams in the world. But history doesn’t get into the pitch.

As you may already know, the South American football is perhaps the toughest in the world. There are almost no differences between the teams and anyone can beat anyone. Thus, any team can win the Copa America. For instance, Bolivia or Venezuela are not the favourites, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they raised the trophy. The qualifiers for the 2018 Word Cup made as sweat a lot. Suffering until the last match, imagining ourselves watching the Russian action without being part of it. So why could Argentina even think of winning this tournament?

Problems in the Argentinian Football Association are part of the everyday life. New coaches every now and then, complete disorganization in the top leagues, no long-term projects. Like it or not that gets reflected into the pitch. If the bases are not strong enough, the whole building is going to fall down.

Psychology is not my field, but I know how bad it can be. After losing three finals in three years (or how I like to call it, “reaching the second place three years in a row”) the players were bombed with brainless critics. Those things do hurt. And every time these players face another competition something negative may happen inside their minds.

5 years later, we’re hoping to find ourselves playing in the Maracana the last Sunday of the competition. We just want the ending of the story to be different. We just want to get freedom. We just want to be able to feel a fleeting happiness, to get a little bit of glory. How does that feel?

I’ll be with you again, Argentina. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Another Copa America full of intensity and emotions, full of victories and defeats, full of laugh and tears.

Now I think I know why I believe we can win this Copa America despite all the negative facts against us. Because, after all, it’s just football.
Wanna play? Can you commit?
By: Alok Tyagi
Tags: Personal, Software Development, Organization Development

“It was my tongue that swore; my heart is unsworn” — Euripides

We all have personally experienced, heard or seen examples where an individual or team accomplish goals that otherwise was seen hard to accomplish. It is the kind of stories that surprise people involved. You know about it when you experience it. And I am sure we all have our fair share of similar stories either in our personal life or professional life where we accomplish something that we thought was less probable. We revisit those glorious moment/period from time to time to cherish and renew our confidence on what we can accomplish.

So what set such moment/experience aside from the other ones? I believe it is how we get our head in the game and tackle our self-doubt. Doubting ourselves as we undertake a daunting journey is part of the commitment making process. And how we tackle those doubts leading up to making personal commitment towards accomplishing those goal differentiate the outcome — from winning or missing the mark.

Commitments are personal by nature and we have to go through our own intellectual and emotional journey as we commit ourselves to a cause. However once committed it propel us to take action. It gets the creative juices flowing opening up new paths on daily basis. It allows the right stuff to happen, breed determination and rally individual and team towards an unrelenting pursuit of that elusive goal/outcome. Once committed it also frees the mind from doubts and instead focus all energy towards progress and discovering creative approaches that can lead us to the goal. I have found time and again — a committed individual or team — is able to discover right path/approach necessary to accomplish the daunting goal that may have looked so hard to accomplish at the onset.

So want to play to win and accomplish seemingly daunting goals then let’s start with tackling our own doubts. Getting truly committed help accomplish those daunting goals and liberate mind from worries filled with self-fulfilling failure scenarios.

Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans. -Peter F. Drucker
Moving Out. One in 23 children in the SF public…
By: California Sunday
Tags: Homeless, Photography, San Francisco, Family, SFHomelessProject

Evicted along with her was her elementary-school-age son, Nate, who became a part of San Francisco’s youngest cohort of homeless when they moved into a shelter. One out of 23 kids in the San Francisco public school district is living either in a shelter or doubled up in someone else’s home. That’s 2,400 students this past school year, enough to fill Mission High School two times over. Homelessness has a negative effect on focus and student achievement: A vast majority of homeless students surveyed nationally said it took a toll on their emotional and mental health.

“I tried to keep it like an adventure,” Martha says. “In our room [in the shelter], I had our laptops so we could watch movies.” Nate got counseling twice a week, made friends at the shelter, and was able to keep up his grades.

Hear Martha talk about parenting while homeless

But that was a temporary fix. Nationally, the aim has been “rapid rehousing” — moving families as quickly as possible from a shelter into a new place of their own and then providing them with rental assistance to stay there. The Obama administration has requested $6 billion for rapid rehousing in this upcoming fiscal year’s budget, with the hope of solving family homelessness by 2020. San Francisco combined resources from its general fund with state and federal money and funding from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to pump up the city’s program.

But when it comes to finding a place to use the subsidy, averaging $800 a month depending on income, a majority of families are making the same decision as many a San Franciscan teacher, line cook, and journalist before them: to leave. The most expedient housing solution for poor San Franciscan kids is not in San Francisco.
Achain (ACT) Listing on Indodax
By: Digital Asset Indonesia
Tags: Indodax, Bitcoin Exchange, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Investment

Indodax completed integration with Achain (ACT/IDR), which are the winners of the Community Coin Voting period 1. You can trade Achain on Monday, May 28, 2018.

Here are the schedule details for both events:

Saturday, May 26, 2018, at 4:00 pm, Achain can begin to be deposited in Indodax account.

Monday, May 28, 2018, at 3:00 pm, Achain can be traded with Rupiah in Indodax.
Japanese Fernweh
By: Vlad Alex, Merzmensch
Tags: Travel, Japan, Kyoto, Japanfernweh, Merzazine Series

Japanese Fernweh

False memories? Obsessive hope? Reincarnation? New Series: INDEX

Merzmensch

Do you know this feeling? Places are calling for you. They urge you to visit them. And when you enter these terrains, you feel at home. As if you came back after the long exhausting journey.

Some call it false memories. Some speak about reincarnation. Some explain it just by over-enthusiastic interest, becoming a mania, empathic feedback, like Déjà vu works. I don’t care about esoteric stuff; I also don’t need a scientific explanation.

I just love Japan.

And after several visits, I discovered a place where I know and feel every street, every stone, every pine tree: Kyoto.

Temple Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺).

Heian period.

I can stay on the terrace of the temple for hours, indulging in reminiscences I never had. Call it imagination.

But I also can roam around Japanese streets with eclectic architecture, full of light and music. And I feel home. Back to the roots.

I know other people who are in a similar way emotionally bound to some location on our small planet. Where they have never been. But this where, oh they do adore, yes they do.

In German, there is a word Fernweh. It describes precisely the feeling of longing after distant places, as opposite to Heimweh (= longing for home).

In my new series, I want to share with you Japan. My Japan. Far from sightseeing tours. Far from ridiculous ethnic stereotypes. Far from exoticisms (because let’s face a fact: since everything is exotic to somebody on this blue sphere, it doesn’t count anymore).

So, welcome to my Japan.

Index
Dad Shocked to Learn that School Summer Vacation Is Now Endless
By: Andrew Knott
Tags: Satire, Parenting, Pandemic, News, Humor

Dad Shocked to Learn that School Summer Vacation Is Now Endless

Downtrodden father: “I’m very sad…”

Photo by Clément Falize on Unsplash

Last year, local dad Daniel Leonard was flabbergasted to find that his children’s summer vacation from school lasted a full 75 days.

Mr. Leonard thought he would be more prepared for the summer of 2020, but then fate sent another curveball his way.

“What the hell?” Mr. Leonard said to everyone and no one.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “I’m very sad about everything going on in the world and I feel very fortunate that our family has not been directly affected by the pandemic health-wise, but how am I supposed to wrest control of the garden hose from my kids for infinity days?!?!”

Mr. Leonard reported that his family’s virtual schooling was going “disastrously” so he was, in some ways, looking forward to summer vacation. As an example of the difficulties they had faced in recent weeks, Mr. Leonard noted that his 7-year-old took “between four and nine hours” to complete his writing assignment each day. His writing assignment was two sentences.

“However, now that I think about it some more, I’m actually not looking forward to summer,” Mr. Leonard said. “Some of you may remember that I had a bit of mental breakdown last year after approximately five hours of summer vacation. The only thing that got me out of my funk was repeated visits to Michael’s for more glitter — I can’t get enough of it — and that three-week solo vacation I took to participate in the International Sunflower Seed Spitting Contest in Vienna. I don’t think either of those things are in the cards for this year, so I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

After taking a few moments to collect his thoughts, Mr. Leonard dove back into the fray. Literally. His children were brawling in a huge pit they dug in the yard and he had to jump into it to stop them.

Later, the family participated in some of their favorite activities like arguing about the hose, scattering toys all over the floor, eating granola bars, and watching YouTube for seven hours.

“We’re going to do what we need to do to get through this,” Mr. Leonard said sagely. “I’m talking about life, to be clear. Because it least that has some sort of end point.”
Swipe Right on These Classic Movie Characters if You’re Ready for Some Classic 80s Movie Hijinks
By: Bill Dubay Jr.
Tags: Satire, Film, Television, Fiction, Humor

Marty McFly

I’m trying this online dating thing after a long hiatus. Believe it or not, kissing my mom in that old Packard didn’t exactly do wonders for my emotional well being. Plus, I can’t even see a Calvin Klein commercial without hearing my mom’s sultry voice in my head and going into a full-blown anxiety attack. But I’m a fun-loving guy who knows how to have a proper adventure.

The only thing is, if we really hit it off, find wedded bliss and have a kid, be prepared for me to sit out on the porch with a shotgun in an attempt to protect them from zany, crazy-haired professors ready to lure them in with expensive music gear so they can use them as lab rats in their latest experiments. I mean, sure, the Doc and I had a great friendship and tons of zany fun, but looking back I can see that if I had done even one thing slightly differently, my own father would have ended up as a homeless vagrant instead of the hipster sci-fi author he became.

Come to think of it, disregard this profile. Go ahead and swipe left. You’ll thank me when you don’t become your own grandmother due to our future child’s hijinks.
Join the Bitonomy revolution! Sign up for our ICO now and get up to 20% bonus!
Tags: Social Media, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Finance

Join the Bitonomy revolution! Sign up for our ICO now and get up to 20% bonus! BITONOMY Follow May 31, 2018 · 1 min read

A company that empowers eCommerce & Shoppers experience by enabling them to integrate Blockchain technology based Ecosystem has launched its token sale.

Bitonomy says its “Ecosytem” has tangible benefits for businesses — achieving transparency and accountability in supply chains while using CryptoCurrency as mode of payment.

Still waiting for right moment..? Hurry Up

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7 Must-Use Developer Tools for Increased Efficiency
By: Mahdhi Rezvi
Tags: Technology, Programming, Software Development, Web Development, JavaScript

Responsively App

If you ask a full-stack developer whether front-end development is harder than back-end, most of them would say yes. Personally, I would too. The reason why front-end development is so hard compared to back-end development is that it involves a lot of complex UI components.

Recreating the user interface created by the designer itself is a challenge, but moreover, with the huge number of devices and screen sizes present, the developers should make sure that their applications are responsive as well.

Modern browsers, like Chrome, have inbuilt dev tools that help you make your browser window responsive, to serve each device and screen size. But one common issue you’ll face is that you can only work with one device/screen size at a time.

The Responsively app helps you preview your website for all target devices and screen sizes in a single window, side by side. Furthermore, the interactions are mirrored. This means anything that happens on one screen, will be mirrored to the other screens as well. From screenshots to customizable layouts to element inspectors, Responsively has it all. It even comes with support for hot reloading.

This tool can be very helpful when developing websites.
Robert Kosara: How to Visualize Data
By: Siqi Zhu
Tags: Data Visualization, Data Science

This is a great article that theorizes the role of visualization in problem-solving. The sub-section on “Cycle of Visual Analysis” is a useful framework for thinking about your own projects later on in the semester.

https://eagereyes.org/talk/talk-how-to-visualize-data
FPL Gameweek 12–13: Midweek Trouble
By: Tom Thomas
Tags: Fantasy Sports, Fantasy Premier League, Fantasy Football, English Premier League, Soccer Analytics

Our First midweek Gameweek of the season. It sprung up on us quickly. A lot of games over the past few days and we’re already on to the next Gameweek this weekend as well. Fitness seems to a big issue. Player injuries have been racking up with managers like Jurgen Klopp complaining about the tight schedule. This week saw most of the top teams either lose or play unimpressive draws. It was a fairly boring Gameweek to be honest. It was a good one for several underdog teams such as Burnley who beat Arsenal.

Going with our new strategy, we were hoping to save a transfer this week and make no changes. However, Diogo Jota got stamped with a 6 week injury so we had no choice but to replace him.

We make two changes to our team.

OUT: Diogo Jota (£6.8)

IN: James Maddison (£7.0)

OUT: Gabriel (£5.0)

IN: John Stones (£4.8)

Gameweek 11–18 Fixture Difficulty Schedule

There weren’t a lot of good picks at the £6.8 range for Jota to come in. So we bit the bullet and had to get rid of a defender as well. Gabriel had a poor Gameweek the week before with the Arsenal defence looking leaky again and a return of just 1 point. This transfer turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Gabriel got sent off this past Gameweek.

The only great option at that price point remained James Maddison who has started to come into form with a goal and an assist in Gameweek 11.

With Manchester City facing an easier schedule as well, we made this choice.

Gameweek 12 & 13 Results