title
stringlengths 1
200
⌀ | text
stringlengths 10
100k
| url
stringlengths 32
885
| authors
stringlengths 2
392
| timestamp
stringlengths 19
32
⌀ | tags
stringlengths 6
263
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enteral Feeding Formulas Market Size Worth $8.72 Billion By 2027 | The global enteral feeding formulas market size is expected to reach USD 8.72 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2020 to 2027. Increasing prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, dementia, multiple sclerosis, chronic liver disease and COPD is expected to boost the demand for enteral products that aid patients having trouble in oral intake. As per a study published by Cancer Research U.K., approximately 17.0 million new cancer cases were reported in 2018 across the globe. Incidence of cancer is projected to increase by 62% between 2018 and 2040.
In addition, growing deficiency of macro and micro nutrients among the patients in hospitals during pre and post-surgery drives the demand for enteral feeding formulas. Furthermore, increasing product offerings aimed at specific indications are delivering targeted nutritional needs, which is a key driver of this market. These enteral tube feeds usually contain polysaccharides and proteins for patients capable of digesting and absorbing nutrients without any difficulty. Availability of wide varieties of enteral formulas, along with increased demand for low-cost nutrient formulations among consumers, is boosting the market growth. Moreover, favorable reimbursement scenario supports high adoption of tube feeds among hospital patients as the enteral nutrition is usually covered under Medicare claims.
Moreover, the market is consolidated with presence of few leading players, including Nestle Health Science, Abbott, and Danone. These players are constantly investing in the R&D activities for development of enhanced products that cater to the niche therapeutic areas having high growth potential in the industry in order to gain a competitive edge. Market entry has proved to be challenging for new entrants as the industry is dominated by few major MNCs with high brand recognitions.
Click the link below:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/enteral-feeding-formulas-market
Further key findings from the report suggest: | https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/enteral-feeding-formulas-market-2426d8d10005 | ['Gaurav Shah'] | 2020-12-22 07:10:26.304000+00:00 | ['Brazil', 'Australia', 'Singapore', 'Pharmaceutical', 'Russia'] |
The Champagne Socialist Manifesto | The Champagne Socialist Manifesto
A specter is haunting the world — the specter of Champagne Socialism
Twerkers of the world unite
How can I be rich and talk so much about the poor? To me it’s simple. I don’t want everyone to be poor. I want everyone to be rich.
How rich? Not destroy the planet rich, not greedy, not the too much it currently takes to have enough. Everyone should be rich enough to buy champagne and not worry about their healthcare or education or housing or material needs. No one should have to work to live. That’s all I mean. I’m a champagne socialist.
I must clarify one very important thing.
When I say champagne I mean Prosecco, sparkling, any sort of bubbly. Which costs about $10 here. No appellations without reparations. Until France at least cancels their onerous debts they can shove a cork up their colonial asses.
What I mean by champagne socialism is simply that everyone should be able to live comfortably and indulge themselves once in a while. Keep it halal, drink Chamdor, whatever you want. But you shouldn’t be worried about clean water. You shouldn’t be worried about seeing a doctor. We have enough for this. We have enough to share.
What does this mean exactly? Well, I live in a Democratic Socialist country that has somehow managed to have good public healthcare and functional primary education (falls apart after there). It is possible with very little money. We somehow did it with almost none. You can look at the robust social services of communist Kerala as well. Basically most of the world has figured this out. It’s actually cheaper. The Dirty South certainly seems better at running public health than the capitalist north.
I also believe that every child should have the same rights as a rich child. The right to eat decently, have shelter, the leisure for education, a safe place to escape, and to never have to work for a living. People act like these are some new unsustainable rights, but this is how rich children live. This is my life. It is extensible. We have enough. The human potential we will unlock will be greater than any measure of GDP.
This is what I mean when I say ‘no one should have to work to live’. Our existence is not based on our usefulness to capital. We are all delightful children of God, or the spaghetti monster, or whatever it takes for you to love your neighbor. I have worked since I was 14, but never to eat. No one should have to worry about this. This is what truly unlocks entrepreneurship and creativity. People not worrying about their next meal.
It is possible to extend these privileges to every child. These are not in fact, privileges, these are rights. Rich benefit from welfare already. It’s called compound interest, low to no tax rates, and endless government bailouts. We just have to redistribute wealth, and make as many services shared as possible. Universal Basic Income and free public resources for many things. No one should go without food, shelter, or care. This is true civilization. We can do this.
In order to do this I also believe in direct democracy. Instead of classes of politician that inevitably become Animal Farm (some animals are more equal than others), select Parliaments randomly. Instead of casting a ballot you just put your own name in the till. You would immediately get 50% women’s representation, minorities represented, and different incomes (right now elected officials are almost all rich). People would say this is disruptive and we need career politicians, but do we? The Venn diagram of career politician and career criminal is pretty tight. How could it be worse?
I also believe in free markets. Which means free labor. If capital can move, so must labor. There is no open market without open borders. Our children are born just as free as yours. Brown, black, and *shudder* Muslim people are free to move and live wherever they want. I am not asking for a new freedom here, I am simply asking for it to not be violently denied. This freedom applies to your children as well. Freedom means freedom for everyone.
Markets are important, which is why they must be socialized. The bifurcation of the stock market and economy has to be stopped before AI buys a few director boards and Skynets us the easy way. The stock market should be socialized. It can go up all it wants. But 40% of the shares will belong to the public and 50% of board seats will belong to the workers.
Finally, the crisis of climate change is not a crisis of population, as rich white people like to say. The top 1% emit more than double as the poorest half. If we’re going to reduce anyone, I’m afraid it’s got to be billionaires. We simply cannot have and do not need these levels of obscene wealth. It is greed that’s killing the world, and that must be pulled back internationally.
We must stop prosecuting minor crime at all and go and find these people and their hoarded wealth and redistribute it. Abolish prisons and police, which are really only for the poor. Treat everyone like they are rich in the eyes of the law, and turn those eyes towards stolen riches for once. Find the offshore accounts and redistribute them. This may require occupying England, the greatest money launderer in the world. Whatever it takes. Billionaires are a cancer upon the Earth.
Champagne only costs $10. You do not need so much to be happy. Hence what I call for is international equality, international solidarity, and international justice. Every child being as free as a rich child today.
You can say this is wildly idealistic, but look at history. It is only change. The only thing certainly wrong is to predict that things will stay the same. So here’s to champagne socialism.
Cheers. | https://medium.com/indica/a-champagne-socialist-manifesto-90dac3ac2b83 | ['Indi Samarajiva'] | 2020-10-13 15:19:47.425000+00:00 | ['Government', 'Communism', 'Equality', 'Economics', 'Socialism'] |
第十七屆彼得潘的 iOS App 程式設計入門合影 | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/%E5%BD%BC%E5%BE%97%E6%BD%98%E7%9A%84-swift-ios-app-%E9%96%8B%E7%99%BC%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4/%E7%AC%AC%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%83%E5%B1%86%E5%BD%BC%E5%BE%97%E6%BD%98%E7%9A%84-ios-app-%E7%A8%8B%E5%BC%8F%E8%A8%AD%E8%A8%88%E5%85%A5%E9%96%80%E5%90%88%E5%BD%B1-76bcc9e15660 | ['彼得潘的 Ios App Neverland'] | 2020-12-27 12:54:15.589000+00:00 | ['iOS', 'Xcode', 'Swift'] |
Azure WebApp to read Excel files without having Excel installed | Once, I was requested to create an Azure WebApp that reads from Excel files, It will be SaaS, and this means it should be independent on Excel Application, and to read rows and columns of Excel without the existence of Microsoft Office Excel binaries.
Luckily, there is a way to read from Excel files that has (*.xlsx) or (*.xls) extensions, without having Office Excel installed on your machine, using an open source library.
This way can be used with any .NET project type (Windows, or Webs), also can be used with PowerShell, however, I will address below how to use it with .NET only in details, and will give some guidance how to use it with PowerShell
Open your visual studio, and Create a new .NET Project (web app, or windows app, or other) with .NET v4.0 or more, I will choose the name “AppReader” we need to add an open source library, To install it you need to open “Package Manage Console” in visual studio
3. Then run the below command in the console :
Install-Package DocumentFormat.OpenXml -Version 2.9.1
If you prefer to do it manually, you can search google on DocumentFormat.OpenXml, download the .dll, and use add to reference
4. Now, Create a new Class, and lets name it “ExcelAdapter.cs”
5. Paste the below block in “ExcelAdapter.cs”
6. Now the Document Format should be installed in your project, check the references (or bin) to confirm
7. Rebuild the project, should be no errors
8. To start using the functions create a new Webform, or Windows Form, and start using the functions, this function will return list of sheets in the excel file
List<string> sheets = ExcelAdapter.GetSheet(@"~Path\file.xlsx");
9. Now we will get the data in one of the sheets, and load it to a datatable, then to DataGrid, to do this write the below
DataTable dt = ExcelAdapter.ReadExcel(@"Path\Sales.xlsx", "Sheet1");
this.GridView1.DataSource = dt;
this.GridView1.DataBind();
//Please don't forget to add databind if you are using with asp.net
10. and you will have your Dataload as below
If you want to use it with PowerShell, it will be a little bit more complicated, you will need first to, convert this module to *.dll then reference it to your PowerShell script like in this link
https://activedirectoryfaq.com/2016/01/use-net-code-c-and-dlls-in-powershell/
Regards, | https://medium.com/@ahmedadly0/azure-webapp-to-read-excel-files-without-having-excel-installed-81a2aff28e0b | ['Ahmed Adly'] | 2019-06-18 14:08:47.853000+00:00 | ['Web App Development', 'Microsoft', 'Documentformat', 'Excel'] |
Scraping & Analyzing CS:GO Game Score Data | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (abbreviated as CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game. Recently, competitive CS:GO surged in popularity. Gambling on CS:GO matches is also massively popular; wagers placed on CS:GO matches account for approximately 29% of worldwide esports betting volume (source).
Competitive CS:GO games follow a predetermined format: the first team to score 16 points wins the game. If both teams score exactly 15 points by the end of the 30th round, the game either ends in a tie or continues to overtime depending on the league rules.
CS:GO bettors often place wagers on the total amount of points that will be scored in a single game. Bets like this are know as over-under bets. For example, in an over-under bet, one could wager that fewer than 25.5 points will be scored. In that example, the bettor took the under and will profit if 25 or fewer points are scored.
Distribution of scraped game scores
To gain insight into statistics behind over-under bets, I scraped data from 10,000 of the most recent competitive CS:GO games from ESEA. I calculated the total points scored in each game and created a histogram to visualize the distribution of total scores.
The histogram shows that around 27% of the games scraped were 16 point games. This seems counter intuitive; why would a 16–0 game be 10 times more likely to occur than a 16–1 game?
After additional research, I decided that the overwhelming amount of 16–0 games was likely a product of disqualifications, thrown matches, or no-shows. To remove these irregular data points, I manually set the probability of a 16–0 game to be equal tot the probability of a 16–1 game. After applying that assumption, I created new figures. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/scraping-analyzing-cs-go-game-score-data-from-esea-997a875ca90f | ['Henry Rossiter'] | 2020-03-27 18:06:34.030000+00:00 | ['Betting', 'Esport', 'Data Science', 'Statistics', 'Data Visualization'] |
I Tried Asking While Kowtowing ~ EP. 11 (EngSub) Full — Episodes | Episode 11 || I Tried Asking While Kowtowing ~ EP. 11 (EngSub) Full — Episodes
I Tried Asking While Kowtowing
Dogesuaru, who wants to see the naughty bits of girls, has a last resort to persuade them. That is, to grovel in front of them. Intent on having his lewd requests heard, he endures through the kowtowing. The heroines are often taken aback, embarrassed, and confused by his sudden action. Is anything impossible before dogeza?! Will the girls show him their risqué side?!
Title : I Tried Asking While Kowtowing
Episode Title : EP. 11
Number of Seasons : 1
Number of Episodes : 11
Genres : Animation , Anime , Comedy , Romance
Networks : AT-X
Status: Returning Series
Quality: HD
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (516i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 1314. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/@sidompuanb.a.da.ng/episode-11-i-tried-asking-while-kowtowing-ep-11-engsub-full-episodes-c4a824448e45 | ['Sidompuanb A Da Ng'] | 2020-12-21 12:19:45.379000+00:00 | ['Animation', 'Anime'] |
Why My Food Is Not “Authentic”, And Why I Don’t Care | One of the measures of whether a restaurant’s food is good is whether it’s “authentic” — a term that’s a particular favourite of armchair food critics the world over.
Now, as a former Malaysian restaurateur and professional cook, I’ve received my fair share of accolades and criticisms about my own food over the last 27 years.
I generally ignore the opinion and scorecard ratings of self-appointed experts (ie. most Instagrammers and food bloggers) who have never cooked a plate of food for willing, paying customers themselves, and who seem to think we restaurateurs are basically a bunch of soulless, talentless hacks rolling around in beds of cash while laughing all the way to the bank.
Nonetheless I’ve decided it’s time I put my thoughts on paper (well, the internet) so I can, frankly, move on to more important things in life (like, whether MIB International is worth watching on the big screen, or if I should wait for it to come out on Netflix, etc.).
First of all, what do you mean by “authentic”?
According to the dictionary (ie. Google), in the context of food, it means -
“made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original”.
On its face, that sounds reasonable and obvious — but can you see the problem?
By one definition, it means that food that’s authentic must be prepared in the “traditional or original” way — does it mean, unless you pound your spice paste in a mortar and pestle, or cook with wood or charcoal fire etc. — your food can’t be “authentic”?
I’ve had people argue this point with me, pointing out that char kway teows cooked with charcoal fire have a superior je ne sais quoi, and that spice pastes absolutely have to be pounded by hand, while humble bragging that they spend all weekend tending to their bone stock before it’s ready for their “authentic” har mee (prawn noodle) cook-athon.
In other words, you need to throw out your food processor, pressure cooker, dough mixer, slow cooker, Thermomix, gas or electric stove & oven etc. — or you’re basically a fake or a sellout. No cheating, now — it’s all or nothing!
But let’s say you’re one of the less-hardcore so-called food experts, and you subscribe to the second definition, ie. that “authentic” simply means food that “faithfully resembles an original”.
My problem then is with the term “original” — what is the definitive timestamp and geographic location of any dish’s origin?
I’ve seen it claimed that the aforementioned har mee is not authentic if it comes with boiled egg, because back in the old days, it was served without. I would wager that it probably didn’t come with a whole host of other things that it is generally served with nowadays — because, guess what, folks — food evolves!
Let’s pick another example — my signature dish, Char Kway Teow (CKT) — the Malaysian stir-fried fresh rice noodles commonly cooked using pork lard, and containing blood cockles, Chinese sausage, pork crisps, prawns and fishcake slices.
My Char Kway Teow contains none of the above except for prawns (and then only if you choose the seafood option). In fact, I even offer — quelle horreur — a Chicken Char Kway Teow — which your sage “expert” will remind you, does not exist in Malaysia.
So why this abomination?
Firstly, no pork lard or pork crisps or Chinese sausage — because I’m one of about six Chinese people on the planet who don’t eat pork.
Secondly, if you can find decent quality and cost-effective blood cockles in Sydney (not the gigantic, rubbery-textured and expensive stuff I’ve seen on and off in a select few fish shops), and convince Aussies that biting into bloody & slimy-looking semi-raw cockles in your noodles is actually quite delicious — I’m totally going to start using it.
Thirdly, Aussies (my customer base) like to segment their diets — some are vegetarian, some will eat white meat but not red meat, some will eat seafood but not other meat, etc. — so, pro tip — by having everything in the one dish you’re simply alienating a large chunk of would-be customers.
And finally, based on the fact that about 8 in ten orders are for Chicken Char Kway Teow — most people like their chicken — take it from someone who’s cooked upwards of 100,000 serves of this dish to paying customers over my food career.
Then, there’s the question of what you consider is the “original” Char Kway Teow, on which you base the “authenticity” of what you just ate.
That depends on which end of the Malaysian peninsula you grew up in — or in the case of Westerners, where you spent your Malaysian/Singaporean vacation.
With apologies to Malaysians everywhere, since I’m writing this for my Australian audience (who are very familiar with Thai food but generally clueless about Malaysian), Penang Char Kway Teow looks like Pad Thai, whereas Southern (ie. KL/Singapore) Char Kway Teow looks like Pad See Ew with Hokkien noodles thrown into the mix.
I remember that time at Orange Grove Farmers’ Market, when this Aussie guy tried to challenge me on the “authenticity” of my CKT which he’d already paid for, as I was cooking it up.
Enraged that I added Hokkien noodles to the wok, he accused me of lying about there being a Penang version and a Southern version — he knew because, apparently, he had spent 30 years in Bangkok.
Sadly, he stormed off without his food before I had the time to point out that Bangkok was not, in fact, in Malaysia.
I got into this whole “food” thing because I wanted to recreate my culinary memories of Malaysia, so yes, of course I care about faithfully replicating the flavours, ingredients and styles of the cuisine of my childhood in the food I cook.
But in all honesty, in the ongoing debates about authenticity, I’ve come to see the term as nothing but a platitude.
It doesn’t mean anything, and if I’ve claimed it about my food in the past, I no longer care to do so — try it yourself sometime — it’s liberating.
Or if you want me to take your opinion of my food seriously, come back after you’ve served up your 100,000th plate of CKT to a paying customer. In the meantime, I’m going to go for a roll in my bed of cash before I head out and laugh all the way to the bank.
(PS. This doesn’t mean that I’m letting all those Western “celebrity chefs” off the hook, who can’t tell a nasi lemak from a nasi goreng, or who think that rendang should be crispy — that’s another post for another day.)
Jackie M CKT photo by Ian Chow
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Jackie M is an ex-restaurateur and sole parent of Baby Noah, who was born with Down Syndrome and some very complex medical issues that saw him spend the first 217 days of his life in hospital. She is also the founder of WokAroundAsia.com — an online Asian culinary coaching course where she teaches her students to master Malaysian street food using her proprietary EATS Framework. | https://jackiem.medium.com/why-my-food-is-not-authentic-and-why-i-dont-care-e316b2b4ad5d | ['Jackie M'] | 2019-10-25 00:22:31.957000+00:00 | ['Jackie M Food', 'Authentic', 'Malaysian Food'] |
Trump’s Monolithic Support Has Cracks | Axum city, Ethiopia
Republican leadership in Congress would like to believe there is monolithic support for all things conservative. They present their positions as though all Republican voters also think in a bloc and will vote the party ticket no matter what. Democrats would like to have such a uniform stance, but non-republican voters are anything but uniform in what they want to see become reality after this current reign of Trump-led party politics in every phase of governance. Labeling them non-R is far easier than trying to put a D-like label on each of the numerous factions now vying for position in the coming elections.
The conventional wisdom of party politics in this 21st century and the Trump Administration in particular is that every Republican Representative and Senators stands behind their President and will do nothing to alter his grip on their votes for the items he wants and against the items he doesn’t want. The fallacy of that thinking is much of their apparent support is fear of what will happen to their political careers and post-Congressional lives in consulting and lobbying if they do not toe the line.
He has not convinced all of the GOP Congress that he is right, his way is best, and resistance is futile. Many of the rank and file are hushed into silence and tacit approvals of his actions and policies. Such forced support is not unlike a milder version of executing Generals in North Korea for even as much as asking a question which gives the appearance of dissent. At some point the fear of dissent will be overshadowed by the damage which must be endured for not taking the stand.
Every week that Trump remains an unencumbered dictator he moves ever closer to stepping over some unseen line in the dirt. Eventually, he will step over it either accidently or on purpose. When he does all GOP members of Congress will have to face their constituents for the permissions they granted to the President. Their constituency is not merely the voters who voted for them in their last election but all the voters who voted for an adversary and everyone who was not motivated to vote at all. Those latter two groups are vast indeed and outnumber Republican voters typically 2 to 1.
“Political Pain” is a force which motivates many people to vote and vote a particular way. The past several decades the level of pain has been turned up incrementally and the constituents accommodated the new higher level of discomfort. The pain factor is not without its counterpart, Political Pleasure. With equal parts from each side of an Equals Sign it is easy to remain in a state of inaction. That is to say there must be some minimum level of more pain than pleasure in order to get the person to get out and cast their vote.
All of the individual affronts to the Constitution and the rule of Law which Trump has committed in and of themselves has not moved the Political-Meter needle too far of center. The nation listened for several weeks to the testimony and rebuttals in the House hearings on Impeachment. The Dem camp presented live testimony and real written documents accusing Trump of Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. Woven in between testimony we heard the GOP camp essentially say “yeah, but that doesn’t rise to the level of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Furthermore, What is a High Crime and Misdemeanor anyway?” The rebuttals were all attempts to soften the severity of the criminal acts so that voters would be disinclined to vote against Trump in Nov 2020.
GOP Senators who now must hold a trial and decide the fate of the impeached President must choose between blindly following Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s directives to acquit or risk the wrath of being “primaried”, Twitter-bashed and besmirched at now weekly campaign rallies. They must decide if supporting the President regardless of what he says and does is beneficial or detrimental to their careers. The President daily turns up the heat a bit more still they do not jump. Eventually the heat will cause the defection from that mythical monolithic support he appears to command.
The reality is Donald Trump has been a useful tool to a lot of people all of his life. He craves acceptance so mush he does anything to get even a sliver of it. He responds freely to flattery. He loves to be the one to throw candy to the crowd (well paper towels maybe.) He can be bought by paying off his financial boondoggles in exchange for a “future draft pick.” He muscles his way onto the stage just to be seen but has little to offer once he is front and center. When he is being particularly stressed by loss the absence of kudos, he manufactures a new crisis to solve with billions of taxpayer money.
There always is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and Trump will eventually place it there. He latest gambit for glory and recognition is the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani with a drone strike in Iraq. While there might be a valid reason for removing him from the chess board, doing it in such a controversial manner opens the US and its remaining allies to reprisals beyond imagination. The entire concept of disproportionate response creates a climate of anything goes with years of warfare and millions dead.
Even as some Republican politicians and Forever Trumpers cheer the death of one Iranian General, all the Centipede’s Shoes are yet to fall. The stock market climbed 330 points after the first of the year but then was undone 230 point the very next day by poorly considered military acts. Yes, it was our Generals and White House aides who thought up and planned this debacle, but it was also they who suggested it to the President who welcomed it for a mixture of personal reasons. A better man would have said no, come up with a better option. Undoubtedly someone suggested, “Mr. President, Sir, this will make you look strong and decisive.” He took the bait.
Now it is we the people who will pay the price for everything which flows from this criminal act. What was done IS a violation of the International Criminal Court, an institution the US previously pulled out of. We will have to endure the probable fuel price increases. Greater scrutiny at the borders. Iranian-Americans have already felt the horror of being Americans and being singled out for their heritage. There will be reprisals by Iran which will take a toll of lives. And if we actually do engage in a full scale conflict, soldiers will disabled or killed for yet another useless war.
The solid support Trump has relied upon up until now cannot long last in light of the current global affairs. Even Tucker Carlson, at the Fox Network has criticized HIS President. Cracks in the monolith are being seen and are propagating. There can be no going back as Trump’s support falters. | https://modalchoice.medium.com/trumps-monolithic-support-has-cracks-c64567fb2fbc | ['Robert Carlson'] | 2020-01-06 02:54:51.553000+00:00 | ['Congress', 'Trump', 'Monolithic', 'Politics', 'War'] |
My MTB mates hate my gravel bike | My MTB mates hate my gravel bike
I have to assume they are both jealous and in denial because why else would they ask “WTF is a gravel bike anyway?”
So I humour them, and smile, and tell them how awesome it is, how it goes anywhere, never lets me down, makes me smile a lot. And they yawn. And we move onto something else. But it’s a fair question, and one I try to answer to non-cyclists whose eyes quickly glaze over once I start. And that then leaves me wondering too.
What is a gravel bike and what is a gravel bike rider?
And I do think the gravel bike community is very diverse, open to all, adopted by many. Albeit with some nuances depending on your biking heritage.
The roadie gravel biker
I try to avoid these people, way too fast for me. You can spot them in the Facebook groups; obsessed with carbon, 700c, don’t see the point of tubeless, it’s all about rolling resistance, KOM’s, speed and of course Rapha. They will tell you how their Karoo2 or Elemnt Roam is far better than anything Garmin, and of course the maps are good enough for the Komoot routes they use; they’ve never got lost on the B687. Oh, and they have leg stubble (it’s a roadie fetish I’ve never understood). And don’t even think about them using flared drop bars.
The Hope R8+ LED will suffice as they’re never out too long, or in the dark, but they’ll still want to know how many gels they’ll need for the ride.
If they can’t ride the entire route, above 10mph average, they’ll divert to the tarmac and go home. They’re riders not runners.
What they eat at the cafe
Double espresso macchiato (every ride is a race). Lemon drizzle cake. Quiche. Elderflower non-alcoholic spritzer. They’ll be in out in 30 mins max.
The MTB gravel biker
First of all, you’ll smell them from afar. They only ride 650b tyres, tubeless, the wider the better. All carbon is shite, titanium is the answer to everything light, particularly frames; or you should take a dump in the hedge if you need to lose some weight and can’t afford the silver stuff. They’re more likely to have ViewRanger on their phone than a Garmin Edge 830 on their bars, plus a proper paper map stuffed into a pocket somewhere.
If the ride doesn’t include a carry or a hike, it’s a soft roadie ride. If they don’t see gravel as big as their head, it’s a soft roadie ride. If no one gets left behind, it’s a soft roadie ride.
They’ve had their Camelback for years, it’s never let them down, the water bladder is an additional source of free protein. There will be an old peperami and a half-eaten energy bar in one of the pockets for emergencies, a rusty multi-tool for trail repairs. They’ll look more like homeless people in their MTB helmets and baggy clothes; it will be a zero-tolerance lycra free zone. Lights? They’ll have a headtorch at best.
What they eat at the cafe
Large full-fat cappuccino. Cake, any cake. Pies, sausage rolls, pizza, full cooked breakfast. Beer, as much as possible. They’ll be there until it’s dark. Or asked to leave.
The hipster gravel biker
These are the organic ones. Their first, and only bike was a gravel bike, hand made frame, Hunt wheels, Shimano GRX. They’ll look like a GRX model; beard, tattoos, Rapha shorts, organic loose fit T, Oakleys and the full-kit-w*nker set of Apidura bags. On their wrist is a Garmin tactic Delta series with special-ops functions to help them travel in the shadows; they won’t get left behind to die. And everything is super; super awesome, super exciting, super cool, super gravel.
In the Apidura’s will be organic nuts, organic dark chocolate and of course fresh ground organic coffee for their Aeropress Go. They’ll take time to sit and savour their nutrients, to breathe in the air, to meditate, to enjoy not endure.
They don’t care about speed, or walking, or carrying. It’s all about the experience and being at one with gravel. It’s all super awesome no matter the terrain.
What they eat at the cafe
Oat milk latte. Vegan cake. Vegan hot food. Local IPA. They’ll stay as long as they stay. Time is not a measure that matters.
So there you go, every type of gravel rider I know of. Not forgetting those that transition between all genres depending on where they choose to identify on any particular day. It’s a funny old gravel bike world.
NOTE: My mates don’t really hate my gravel bike, they just think they’re really funny. | https://medium.com/dartmoor-gravel-bike-guide/my-mtb-mates-hate-my-gravel-bike-5b8249714df1 | ['Peter Gold'] | 2021-04-01 18:32:36.769000+00:00 | ['Dartmoor', 'Gravel Bikes', 'Travel', 'Bikepacking', 'Random'] |
BANKNIFTY ANALYSIS (16TH JULY 2021) | Banknifty Daily Chart
In the Last Trading session, Banknifty Futures were able to give Volume Push on upside and convincingly able to break 36K barrier with volume. But we now 1st need to look into FIIs and DIIs activity that have taken Place in the Last trading Session.
FII’s and DIIs activity:
🔰 FII’s again pulled out 1224.53Cr in Equity market
🔰 DII’s again were Net Buyers 439.41 Cr in Equity market
This gives us an indication that this bull run is as of now supported by DII’s. FII’s this month have been pulling out money from equity market consistently. One global trigger can also make the market again crash. So, we need to be careful about that as well.
But as a Trader, our focus is upon where the current trend is running. The answer is: Bull Mode. So, we can stay bullish as long as new demand zones are forming in market and prices are making new highs with high volumes.
Nearest Demand and Supply Zones in Banknifty
For Banknifty to become bearish, prices will first be required to be breaking major zone D1 (35900–35970) where prices gave volume breakout in last trading session and kept taking Support multiple times but still could not break it. Zone D2 is minor Support zone for prices and next major demand zone is D3 (35720–35670).
On Upside, If prices are able to give a breakout above S1 with high volume tomorrow, then we might see rally to be coming tomorrow for 500 points and above.
Banknifty Daily chart
Next Major Supply zone are marked in the chart above and you can use it for future reference.
For more details and Live updates on BankNifty, you can visit and subscribe to our following Channels.
Website: www.elixirlearnings.com
Telegram: https://t.me/s/elixirlearnings
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdTyn3_QUqe4TlvDyJjHghA?sub_confirmation=1 | https://medium.com/@elixirlearnings/banknifty-analysis-16th-july-2021-68b6a775291d | ['Elixir Learnings'] | 2021-07-15 21:13:07.302000+00:00 | ['Bank Nifty', 'Nifty', 'Elixir', 'Nse', 'Stock Market'] |
Insights from Interspeech 2K20 — A Letter to Prospective, Busy & Junior (PB&J) research students | Dear PB&J,
I vividly remember a question from ISCA General Assembly Q/A session last Interspeech: about making Interspeech remote. I recall instantly thinking about you. Coz attending my first Interspeech(2015) in person is an experience I am likely to reminisce for a long long time. There are a ton of memories associated with a trip like that but something I found super infotaining was the (impromptu)discussions with senior PhD students and researchers both from academia and industry. This year we are hit with something that forced us remote. Am sure you have made the most of all the parallel sessions this year, great job! Here are some things I would have loved discussing with you in person.
Disclaimer: (1) These are my subjective opinions. (2) This post was co-edited by Judith. (3) My blind spot areas are: speech production & perception, phonology, brain stuff.
I like binning insights from conferences into three trend categories: trends that are (A) yet to play out, (B) playing out and (C) have played out. I will indicate each trend with its identifier in this post.
Towards objective metrics for evaluation of synthetic speech (A):
A huge bottleneck in development of neural generative models for speech(also text, image) is the evaluation. Typically metrics are subjective and are time consuming. Also such metrics make it hard to incorporate techniques such as RL seamlessly. I came across works this year attempting to predict naturalness of synthetic speech. They did quite an extensive evaluation. Interestingly, they found this approach language independent. There is also a work on learning a differentiable perceptual metric. On a side note, do you know that in Interspeech, someone is predicting paper reviews using a deep learning model? Read about it. Its cool :)
Learned Features are better than traditional features (A):
In paper “Investigating Self-supervised Pre-training for End-to-end Speech Translation”, authors show that self supervised features are better than traditional filterbank features. Let me tell you why this is fascinating. MFCCs or filterbanks working so well for every task was always the case, even though a ton of signal processing features were proposed over the last couple of decades. We seem to now have neural representations that are better than these traditional features. Alright, to be fair we knew this from a couple of years now, but this year we seem to be adding nuances to it: learned features are better in (1)low resource scenarios, (2) for phoneme discrimination (3) for spk id, etc. Other work in this direction is “Unsupervised Subword Modeling Using Autoregressive Pretraining and Cross-Lingual Phone-Aware Modeling”. This observation seems to hold across different training data sizes.
Error Rates of learned features vs MFCCs wrt training data from the paper “Unsupervised Subword Modeling Using Autoregressive Pretraining and Cross-Lingual Phone-Aware Modeling”
Easing the dependence on ASR in SLU (A)
Requirement of ASR was a strict one for many SLU applications and it seems to be going away. Removing ASR requirement (or easing it) can make approaches language independent as well as less error prone due to propagation of issues. Other advantages are inference speed up and memory efficiency. Papers “A low latency ASR-free end to end spoken language understanding system” and “ASR-Free Pronunciation Assessment” are examples. In the paper “An Audio-enriched BERT-based Framework for Spoken Multiple-choice Question Answering”, authors show that adding acoustic level statistics can offset the errors made by ASR in a cascased system. Their task was spoken multiple-choice question answering. But I guess this observation can be extended. Still early works these though. Looks like more will be in this direction.
Confidence Measures in Neural Models (B)
A huge advantage of traditional models was the ability to comment on model confidence. Posterior probability was a good proxy for model confidence. But thats difficult in neural models. In addition, there have been published works that argue that the hidden layers of deterministic autoregressive models have unknown marginal distributions. This makes it hard to employ them directly as confidence measures. There have been works towards confidence measures in our lovely neural models. Came across the paper “Confidence measure for speech-to-concept end-to-end spoken language understanding” in this year’s conference where authors show an interesting approach in this direction. They use multiple layers to alleviate the previous concerns.
Universal Approaches to Tasks (B)
There has been a constant rise in approaches towards universal solutions — both in terms of models as well as scenarios. Papers in this direction are:
“Towards Learning a Universal Non-Semantic Representation of Speech”
“Speaker Conditional WaveRNN: Towards Universal Neural Vocoder for Unseen Speaker and Recording Conditions”
“Listen to What You Want: Neural Network-based Universal Sound Selector”
“Towards Universal Text-to-Speech”
“Universal Adversarial Attacks on Spoken Language Assessment Systems” Check this space out.
Discrete Latent Representations are here (B)
Perhaps VQVAE was the first comprehensive neural based model learning discrete representations in an unsupervised fashion from speech. Since then there have been numerous attempts at learning such representations. The papers “Semi-supervised Learning for Multi-speaker Text-to-speech Synthesis Using Discrete Speech Representation”, “Learning Syllable-Level Discrete Prosodic Representation for Expressive Speech Generation” are in this direction. Watch out the works from Zero Resource speech challenge for more ideas in this space.
Meta Learning works in Speech (B)
Lots of paradigms proposed in core ML do not typically directly work in speech processing tasks. One of things we noticed as a trend last ICASSP and Interspeech was meta learning. And it seems to work very well in speech. There was a tutorial session which showed application in Spoken Language Understanding on Sunday. One of the papers I liked from the many in this year’s conference is “Learning Fast Adaptation on Cross-Accented Speech Recognition” where the authors showed that meta was better than doing multi/mixed accent training in the context of ASR.
Few shot results from “Learning Fast Adaptation on Cross-Accented Speech Recognition”
Seq2Seq Models to perform a combination of tasks (A)
The Chain rule based decomposition and subsequent end to end is usually employed in single tasks. I havent seen people doing multiple tasks using end to end models. This is true even in the case of HMMs or CRFs(may be coz they cant model long term dependencies well). I saw a paper titled “Joint Speaker Counting, Speech Recognition, and Speaker Identification for Overlapped Speech of any Number of Speakers” where they manipulate the objective function to perform multiple tasks in an end to end fashion. I believe this is the first time I am seeing this in a bunch of slightly unrelated tasks and perhaps there is more to come from here.
Data Augmentation and Privileged Data (B)
People have been using cleaner versions of data to assist in different tasks from a while now. Google used a mix of noisy data and clean version of data for speech synthesis / denoising. Amazon used noisy data to learn a noise invariant representation for ASR. I came across a paper “Implicit Transfer of Privileged Acoustic Information in a Generalized Knowledge Distillation Framework” where they name this as using privileged information (did I get this wrong?) This seems an interesting space. Last year’s ICASSP had a tutorial on data augmentation, perhaps indicating an increased interest in this direction. I have not seen many approaches manipulating the latent space of a speech utterance for augmentation. This conference, we a have a paper “SpeechMix — Augmenting Deep Sound Recognition Using Hidden Space Interpolations” in this direction. An interesting paper I found has something I did not expect with respect to augmentation: In “Large scale weakly and semi-supervised learning for low-resource video ASR” authors showed that their approach was better than the strongest data augmentation method they evaluated against.
Graph based Methods (B)
Graphs have interesting properties and they seem to have finally arrived in speech. In “Conversational Emotion Recognition Using Self-Attention Mechanisms and Graph Neural Networks”, authors propose relation
reduction process in the graph and demonstrate that only three kinfs of relation types need to be modeled for emotion recognition.
“Predicting Collaborative Task Performance using Graph Interlocutor Acoustic Network in Small Group Interaction”, authors employ a graph based approach to model inter and intra group perspectives in the context of personality behavior prediction. Other papers along these lines are:
“Entity Linking for Short Text Using Structured Knowledge Graph via Multi-grained Text Matching” and
“Improving Speech Emotion Recognition Using Graph Attentive Bi-directional Gated Recurrent Unit Network”
Measuring Disentanglement and Interpreting Models (B)
Speech has been slow compared to vision regards to disentanglement and perhaps due to the lack of visibly demonstrable/separable latent spaces. Saw a paper from CSAIL titled “Unsupervised Methods for Evaluating Speech Representations” towards this direction. While there are kinks to be addressed, this is I believe one of the earliest works and I anticipate more work to come. In “Understanding Self-Attention of Self-Supervised Audio Transformers”, authors show that self supervised audio transformers have three explainable attention categories — pertaining to two characteristics: phonetic and speaker. Along the same lines, authors in “Vector-Quantized Autoregressive Predictive Coding” limit model capacity while training and find that bottleneck-ed autoregressive stochastic models preserve phonetic and speaker information
Three attention patterns and the two characteristics from “Understanding Self-Attention of Self-Supervised Audio Transformers”
The trends I believe have almost played out are “Controllable Text to Speech”, “building data/compute/memory/inference-time efficient models(beyond just ASR and TTS)”. Finally there are certain areas that I dont consider trends, but are important to watch out for: Speech for Health applications and Privacy in speech. There are very interesting papers in these directions and you are gonna love them.
I will close this post with an example trend from notes I wrote after ICASSP last year. There was this paper by DeepMind about efficient coding for speech and one of my fav. Postdocs(whom I met at one such in person conferences) Gustav suggested this as something to look out for — Speech Coding. I wasn't long on this. You see, I believed then that there was little in terms of academic research w.r.t coding and has been for more than a couple of decades. I thought, “We have reliable codecs. What else do we need?”. You can verify that there has been a lot of work in this direction recently. This highlights the importance of having such notes: They provide an ability to look at things retrospectively. I highly encourage you to develop this habit.
My takeaway from the whole conference came from the keynote talk by Prof Lin-shan Lee “This maybe the golden age of (speech)research incentivized by deep learning, big data, powerful machines and a strong industrial workforce.” I will extend his quote by saying this: “…and realize that YOU are at the center of this. Do amazing research and enjoy every step of the way :)”
Okay, I have said enough. I will go back to work on my dissertation now. Looking forward to reading your next paper! | https://srallaba.medium.com/insights-from-interspeech-2k20-a-letter-to-prospective-busy-junior-pb-j-research-students-c430b9ac07c7 | ['Sai Krishna Rallabandi'] | 2020-11-11 23:49:58.705000+00:00 | ['Speech Processing', 'Machine Learning', 'Deep Learning', 'Interspeech', 'Self Supervised Learning'] |
Winning at Minecraft | The beach had narrowed to a few yards of sand, crowded with bodies, wrecked vehicles, abandoned equipment, and blood. The waves pushed pink froth onto the shore, rolling corpses back and forth.
Someone in the high command had made a decision to stop further landings on the packed strand, but that just meant that the fire from the defenders was now concentrated on those clinging to the feeble shelter of the shingle bank. Mortars worked their way methodically along the beach, each burst flinging out a whizzing rain of stones, shrapnel, and body parts. Machine-guns hunted down any movement. The invasion had come to a halt, only a few soldiers able to make any progress against Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
Roland worked with Sergeant Osmond on linking up the Bangalore torpedo tubes. There was a pointed cap that fitted over the front, and spring-loaded connector pieces that joined the sections end to end.
As each fresh length was attached, the assembly was pushed forward, through a shallow trench scraped out of the shingle, under the barbed wire in front of them.
The final tube was pushed out, making twenty feet of explosives ready to blow a gap in the wire. Sergeant Osmond screwed the igniter into the end. Pull the string, and after a delay of a few seconds, the whole thing would go up.
“We’re short,” Roland said, risking a peek over the shingle barrier, and then ducking back before a machine gun in a watchful bunker sent stones rattling over the crouching men.
“How much?”
“Only two yards. Another section would do it, Sarge.”
“We haven’t got another section. And we don’t have time to look for one. Another half-hour, and we can either keep our heads down and drown, or stick ’em up and get ’em shot off.”
As if to emphasise the point, something massive screamed over their heads and exploded in the rising ground ahead. Roland turned around, his ears ringing.
“Look!” he pointed seaward.
Just off the beach, so close that Roland thought it must have run aground, a navy destroyer was aiming its guns at the German bunkers. As they watched, another shell howled over, sending up a fountain of earth and rock.
The German fire had switched to the ship, which was steaming slowly along the beach. Fat lot of good machine-guns would do against armorplate…
“Grab your flags, Rollie!” Sergeant Osmond yelled in his ear, and clambered over the shingle bank.
Roland collected his rifle and bundle of marker flags and followed him. The enemy fire had dropped for the moment, and he joined the sergeant, lying prone beside the Bangalore torpedo. Expecting every moment to feel bullets ripping into his flesh, he helped Osmond push the twenty feet of tube forward under the belt of barbed wire ahead.
“Head down!”
Sergeant Osmond pulled the igniter and rolled away. Roland did the same, doing his best to wedge himself into the ground, and sticking his fingers in his ears for good measure.
With a crack like the world splitting open, the torpedo went off. Stones, clods of earth, pieces of wire shot up and rained down again. Something hit Roland’s helmet with a bang, crunching it down again on his nose, and he lost interest in anything for a few seconds.
“Come on!”Osmond yelled in his ear, hauling him up by his shoulder. “Run!”
Roland ran. The Bangalore torpedo had made a gap all the way through the wire, and they landed together in the grass beyond.
“Don’t move, Rollie,”Osmond said. “There’s a mine just in front of your hand.”
Roland looked up. Before his outstretched hand, a little metal tree with three thin upcurving branches poked out of the earth.
“Right. Flag number one.”
Roland felt one marker flag being extracted from his bundle and watched as Sergeant Osmond pushed it — carefully! — into the sandy earth beside the mine.
“Let’s assume that there are no mines underneath us, otherwise we would know about them, and start probing for more ahead.”
Roland looked around. They were off the sand and shingle, and now the ground was rising up in a bluff to a crest ahead of them. The Germans were mostly up in bunkers on top of the ridge where they could see the beach, but not the slope directly in front of them. Not unless they were standing up tall, exposed to the return fire that was growing in intensity.
Besides, there were bushes, and folds in the ground, and rocks and rabbit holes. This was much so better than lying out on the beach in plain view.
Sergeant Osmond had his bayonet out and was probing the ground ahead of him.
Roland tried to remember the training courses back in England. There were two types of mine the Germans used. The metal “Bouncing Betty”, that they had just marked, which shot into the air when someone trod on the three little twigs, and went off at waist height, blowing your nuts off.
And the “shoe mine”, which was a little wooden box with a hinge on one side. Stand on that, the top crunched down on a fuze, the small charge instantly blew your shoe off. Along with your foot.
A nasty mix. Metal detectors — and they were about as useful in combat as a water pistol — wouldn’t pick up the little wooden boxes. The only way to clear a minefield like this was to probe through the soil with long thin metal rods. Or something every soldier had: a bayonet.
Catch a mine at the wrong angle and it would go off anyway. You had to be careful, methodical, and slow.
“Got anything better to do, soldier?” Osmond asked, moving gingerly forward on his elbows over the ground he had just cleared.
In the end, it didn’t take that long. Fifteen minutes as they worked their way up. Not a huge number of mines to mark, but enough that charging up the hill would be a disaster. Roland wriggled forward and found a fresh bootprint in the sandy ground ahead of him. He looked up in sudden alarm, but they were alone on the hillside. Apart from one army at the bottom, another at the top, and both of them doing their best to kill each other.
Just a narrow deserted footpath slanting up the slope.
“Sarge!”
The sergeant probed his way forward.
“Good work, Rollie! Here’s our shortcut to Berlin!”
“I suppose you want me to walk along, see if there are any mines, see who’s at the other end? Maybe we should, you know, go get reinforcements, because it’s going to be Germans, and they won’t be happy to see us?”
“Good thinking, that man! We get through this, you’ll be a corporal.”
Roland smiled. He was a company clerk, not a rifleman.
“But first,” Osmond went on, “let’s just take a quick look. Don’t worry, I’ll go first.”
And he did, crouching low, moving slow.
“Careful, Rollie. Tripwire.”
Smart thinking, Roland thought, looking at the thin wire stretching from a bush into a rabbit hole. This was probably how the Germans got down to the beach to maintain the defences. You didn’t want to mine your own path, but you didn’t want to leave it as a highway through the obstacle. There was probably some secret sign to indicate the trap to those in the know.
He spotted it at once. A yard up the hill an empty wine bottle lay against a rock, as if it had been thrown or rolled down from above. He pointed it out to Osmond, who nodded and gave him the OK sign.
Roland planted two more marker flags.
There were Germans ahead. A machine-gun rattled noisily, out of sight over the crest they had almost reached. And there was a mortar clanging every few seconds as it lobbed high explosives onto the soldiers below.
Sergeant Osmond crawled off the path and looked through the leaves of a low bush. He was still and silent for a full minute, then he beckoned Roland up beside him.
Twenty metres along the path, a German soldier was standing in a concrete hole, firing a machine gun down onto the beach.
“Easy target. Let’s see if we can get the Kraut.”
Roland must have looked doubtful. Two men against the whole German army?
“Come on. He’s killing our guys. You think we should run away?”
That was pretty much Roland’s thinking, but instead, he took his rifle, checked the safety was off, and made a sight picture. Couldn’t miss.
But he did. The bullet pinged off the concrete and headed off into France, unblooded. Roland examined his rifle. It had fired perfectly on the range two days ago. He’d have to correct his aim, just a fraction to the right…
Osmond had missed with his first burst as well. He was adjusting his sights down a little when the German suddenly turned his gun towards them and sprayed long bursts through the bushes. They had just enough time to duck before leaves and branches rained down on them, and the crack of bullets immediately over their heads made their ears buzz.
“Chew on this, you bastard,” Osmond said in the sudden silence, pulling a pin from a grenade and taking a deliberate pitch at the German.
Another spatter of bullets came in return, but they both felt the deep roar of the grenade going off.
“Got him!” exulted Osmond, sticking his head up. “Come on, Rollie!”
He rose to his feet, beckoning Roland up, when a German stick grenade spiralled through the air and landed between them. Quick as a flash, the sergeant grabbed it and lobbed it back, a moment before another burst of machine-gun fire slammed into him, pushing him back onto Roland, and they both tumbled down the hill in a bloody embrace. | https://medium.com/grab-a-slice/winning-at-minecraft-92f2d2baa5d4 | ['Britni Pepper'] | 2020-06-25 21:57:40.644000+00:00 | ['Fiction', 'D Day', 'History', 'Omaha Beach', 'War'] |
BitBoxBase, quo vadis? | In a talk at the Lightning Conference in Berlin I laid out the overall goals and design decisions made for the BitBoxBase project.
Running a node is for everyone
It must be easy to set up, no assembly required, plug & play. Directly integrated into BitBoxApp. Resilient and forgiving when errors occur, with screen and buttons to talk to the user. Focused to avoid feature clutter and make support easier.
It must be easy to set up, no assembly required, plug & play. Directly integrated into BitBoxApp. Resilient and forgiving when errors occur, with screen and buttons to talk to the user. Focused to avoid feature clutter and make support easier. Privacy by default
A Bitcoin node today should primarily communicate over the anonymous Tor network. All communication, even in your own home network, must be authenticated and encrypted.
A Bitcoin node today should primarily communicate over the anonymous Tor network. All communication, even in your own home network, must be authenticated and encrypted. Reliable upgrades
Upgrading the node must be super-stable. Avoid leaving devices in the field in undefined states or even bricking them must be virtually impossible.
Building on the RockPro64 (with plenty of oomph, stable eMMC flash storage and a PCIe SSD to avoid clunky USB connections) and not on a underpowered Raspberry Pi 3 could be considered a risky choice, together with using a custom Armbian diskimage, integrating Mender for signed full rootfs updates and connecting to the BitBoxApp instead of a web UI.
These choices make the project unique, but practically speaking, much harder.
Platform
While very fast, the combination of RockPro64, Armbian and PCIe SSD is just not stable enough. With many kernel hacks, it runs somewhat stable, but there are kernel panics every few months. This is pretty good for any board like this, that is not built with server-like stability and uptime in mind, but not good enough for the goals of the BitBoxBase. It looks like the Raspberry Pi is the only maker board that can potentially run long-term stable, but of course even the Pi is not a real server.
User interface
The integration of the user interface into the BitBoxApp works great, and adds a smooth onboarding experience for non-technical users. The BitBoxBase is automatically discovered in the network and — after establishing an end-to-end encrypted connection — the BitBoxApp provides an easy to use setup wizard. With existing solutions, I think the setup process is a key area that is still too hard for new users, and there is the temptation to compromise on security to make it easy without too much effort. But the non-compromising approach of the BitBoxBase is also very complex, and the dependency on the BitBoxApp makes it hard for it to stand alone as a community-driven project.
Custom hardware
Adding a secure screen, with buttons, driven by an adapted BitBox02, with firmware programmed in C, acting as a potential personal HSM over time, is a pretty bold move. Some might call it overly ambitious. It can be done, but the effort needed for a high quality result is significant, and in a company within an emerging field, engineering resources are always scarce.
A lot of work has gone into the hardware prototypes, with a custom case and a special small form-factor PCIe adapter. Off-the-shelf cases never really satisfied me, and creating a case from scratch allows a lot of attention to details. But of course, a custom approach needs scale to be affordable. This perfectionist approach is tricky in such a niche market.
The project aims high, but there’s truth in “don’t over-engineer and ship fast”. There is still work to do before the BitBoxBase can be ready for production. Shift is focusing on the core products for now, the hardware wallet BitBox02 and its companion, the BitBoxApp. As much as it personally pains me to see the BitBoxBase project on pause, progress on the BitBox02 is only possible with clear focus and targeted resources allocation.
The great thing about open-source projects is that all the work is in the open. It’s up for taking, building upon and remixing in other endeavors. BitBoxBase will also still be there once Shift can take it up. There are other interesting developments in this area: RaspiBlitz as the ultimate do-it-yourself node, and the up-and-coming nix-bitcoin, which has a lot of promise. We are ready to work on the BitBoxBase as soon as the right time comes. | https://medium.com/shiftcrypto/bitboxbase-quo-vadis-f9ae0ab0694f | [] | 2020-06-05 13:48:50.686000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Lightningg', 'Node', 'Swiss'] |
Jenkins Management for Automated Testing — Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery and Making Your Life Easier | In my Automated Testing (AT) series, we will discuss testing frameworks, AT best practices & approach, and managing Jenkins. I seek to share my QA knowledge and bounce off ideas with fellow testers in developing a complete and robust AT Testing System.
Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash
This article assumes you have the basic understanding of Jenkins, Automated Testing, and Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Why Jenkins + AT + CI/CD?
It is not unusual that developers make mistakes when committing codes into master branch(es). These can be categorised into technical failures and business logic failures.
Technical Failures:
Wrong dependencies’ versions
Dependencies not prepared/installed
Business Logic Failures:
Merging multiple features potentially causing failure in meeting business requirements
A standard CI/CD
This is a typical CI/CD in a development cycle. In such a design, we can ensure that the system is Built & Deployed successfully, or trigger alerts upon failures.
Will this be sufficient? Will It be able to detect any business logic failures? Well, the answer is No. We need to enhance this process and integrate it with automated testing.
Refining the CI/CD Process
We need a highly reliable process that aims not just to ensure successful server deployments, but also the completeness of meeting business requirements.
Refined CI/CD with AT
In this design, we maintain the CI/CD in the original process — dev push codes, GIT triggers Jenkins build, notify failure.
So, what changed? We maintain a separate repo AT Repo solely for testing purposes, containing all the AT cases. Nightly, an api-all-test-run job will be triggered, running test cases that checks if a particular server meets the business requirements. A JUnit Testing Report is generated after an api-all-test-run which indicates the failed test cases to the Dev/QA. From this point on, failures will be remedied by the assignee.
By creating separate jobs, we are able to build and run test cases individually. A build-deploy job is triggered whenever changes are made in the main repo. A api-all-test-run job is triggered nightly to test the latest server(s) deployed.
This process successfully integrates AT into a CI/CD design. Devs are alerted when a build fails every time codes are pushed to master. At the same time, this process ensures that the system maintains or meets its (new) business logic. | https://medium.com/automated-testing/jenkins-management-for-automated-testing-continuous-integration-continuous-delivery-and-making-3c93ad256d57 | ['Adrian How 侯智腾'] | 2020-11-09 00:02:32.478000+00:00 | ['Software Testing', 'Continuous Integration', 'Automation Testing', 'Quality Assurance', 'Jenkins'] |
4 consejos para potenciar el aprendizaje de un nuevo idioma | Aquí comparto mis ideas y experiencias en el sector viajes y turismo | Sharing my thoughts and experiences about travel and tourism
Follow | https://medium.com/leticiaestevez/4-consejos-para-potenciar-el-aprendizaje-de-un-nuevo-idioma-21fe043263de | ['Leticia Estevez'] | 2020-08-25 14:49:36.206000+00:00 | ['Aprendizaje', 'Turismo', 'Educación', 'Academia', 'Idiomas'] |
Movies and Series — September, October & November 2020 | Alien 1979 (9/10)
Watched full for the first time in HD. Amazing in all senses. Feels like miles away from Star Wars Episode IV. Performances and the atmosphere is astonishing.
The Newsroom S01 (9/10)
News drama series about how a newsroom reacts and reports on the main news stories from 2010's. From Deep water Horizon, Bin Laden’s death, to the Arab spring. The main characters are amazing.
Community S01, S02, S03, S04 (8/10)
Re-watched Community. Fresh, smart and fast jokes all around, filled with geek references in a group of misfits joining the worst Community College in the world.
Perry Mason S01 (7/10)
Easy watching show about the prequel of the famous lawyer. A detective-lawyer thriller with lot’s of drama.
Borat 2 (7/10)
The second embarrassment made art. Amazing performance of both main characters, making fun (while risking their lives, literally) of how awful is USA at the moment.
Community S05 (6/10)
Losing Chevy Chase and Donald Glover left the series marked for death.
Broadchurch S01 (6/10)
A drama series, that has too much drama. Turns the show from what it could been an interesting thriller to a soap opera.
Broadchurch S02 (4/10)
Didn’t need a season 2. Sometimes too much of something is just too much.
Guns akimbo (5/10)
Entertains and have some good gory jokes, but nothing else.
The Umbrella Academy S02 (4/10)
Again, if the best think to say of the series is the soundtrack, is that there is not a lot there. Having said this, the soundtrack is pretty good.
Get Duked (3/10)
What could’ve been a good idea, turns into an awful movie that tries to be funny and only preteens will find it that way. Good scenery from the Highlands though. | https://medium.com/@jordi-escude-godia/movies-and-series-september-october-november-2020-261e548e1563 | ['Jordi Escudé Gòdia'] | 2020-12-01 11:12:39.566000+00:00 | ['2020', 'Lan', 'Series', 'November', 'Movies'] |
Construction and Mining Equipment 2021: Bulldozing Over Covid 19 Setbacks | In the third AEM [Association of Equipment Manufacturers] member survey conducted since the pandemic started, 75 percent of CEO respondents predict industry-wide revenue growth through October 2021.- Construction Equipment Guide
It’s hard to keep a strong industry down and civil construction and mining are two sectors showing impressive resilience in the wake of 2020’s global Covid 19 shutdowns and disruptions. While overreaching, politically driven restrictions and regulations have no doubt left their scars, intrepid industry leaders are determined to bulldoze right over the roadblocks set in their way on the road to a robust rebound in 2021. And once again, innovative equipment management approaches using digital services and platforms are the key, forecasted to drive up to $273 billion growth by 2030 according to this informative report at Benzinga.
The 2021 Construction and Mining Equipment Sales and Rentals Market
Growth in infrastructure development
Increases in delayed urbanization projects
Alternate powertrains for heavy equipment (electric drives with digital technologies)
Demand for modern, compact, rental equipment
Telematics and digitization are building a strong reputation for boosting operational efficiency that results in robust ROI, according to industry analysts Frost and Sullivan. While 2020 saw numerous pandemic delays, the rebound in the 2020 construction and mining equipment sector will be fueled by a variety of factors to resolve the pent up demand driving the top industry trends of the heavy equipment industry including:
According to the Benzinga analysis, telematics companies in lucrative partnerships with autonomous retrofit providers and equipment rental companies can offer streamlined fleet modernization for key markets including the United States, China, Europe, and India. Rental fleets make it much easier for construction and mining companies to manage operational costs while increasing utilization capacity.
These reciprocal partnerships can boost the 2021 rebound and grade right over the Covid 19 pandemic scars from the depressed 2020 heavy equipment market. End-of-year estimates are anticipating a reported “18% decline in the unit sales of heavy equipment in 2020 due to the decline in manufacturing, operations, and distribution centers across the globe”.
But rapid growth in rental programs incorporating IoT (Internet go Things) can allow OEMs to accelerate the development of compact, autonomous construction and mining equipment that bring operational costs for companies way down. In mining operations, 30% of the workforce is often dedicated to equipment maintenance alone, generating 40% of operational expenditure.
Outsourcing to reduce maintenance opex for construction and mining corporations will place OEM dealers in a dominant position for equipment service and maintenance, while providing a streamlined path to the latest state-of-the art equipment fleets for optimized ROI.
“Growth will be driven by the Asia-Pacific market and the earthmoving segment in the short term. The transition toward rental models, electrification, and automation will happen in the medium to long terms.”- Krishna Achuthan, Commercial Mobility Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan
The Construction and Mining Equipment Rebound: Slow But Steady
While small equipment (under 10 tons) may continue to struggle in the first half of 2021 due to a decrease in housing and non-residential building construction, consumer confidence could rise by the second half of the new year and help to erase significant declines in small rental equipment. The need for more compact equipment in urbanization upgrades will also have a positive impact on the small equipment sector.
Infrastructure construction is expected to make up for lost ground experienced in 2020. Mid to large size equipment utilization demand can benefit from these large long term projects funded by governments and economic stimulus and environmental programs. Electric utilities/gas plants will pick up by 35 percent in 2021, led by expected groundbreakings for several large LNG export facilities and an increasing number of wind farms.
After a 4% decline in 2020, compared to 2019, management consulting firm DuckerFrontier predicts that in the process of catching up with the backlogs caused by covid-19 shutdowns, “both contractors and their machinery will be extremely busy next year”. That could cause a scramble for rental equipment as the springboard to a slow but sustained rebound in the industrial equipment sector.
The latest forecast released by the American Rental Association (ARA) on Nov. 12 anticipates 6.8 percent equipment rental industry growth in 2023 and 4.8 percent in 2024 to reach $59.7 billion, according to the report After a Tough Year, Heavy Machinery Sales Will Pick Up in 2021 … Beyond at Construction Equipment Guide.
Dodge Data & Analytics predicts that total U.S. construction starts will increase 4 percent in 2021, to $771 billion. This is a good start to recovery from 2019 where pandemic impact and the shutdown recession has been a lingering obstacle to construction starts in 2020.
In the mining sector, rising demand for dump trucks, and hybrid trucks in particular, is expected to “drive the largest slice of the construction equipment sales pie”, according to research conducted by Markets and Markets Inc. The study data implies that a “major chunk” of the global electric dump truck market includes hybrid mining dump trucks with higher capacity, power output, fuel efficiency, and reduced maintenance cost. The overall global construction equipment market size is expected to reach nearly $170 billion this year, and have a value of $205 billion by 2025.
So while the rebound in construction mining and equipment sales and rentals won’t be instantaneous in 2021, progress in the sector will be, like the equipment itself, powerful, slow, reliable, and steady.
Catch Up on Your Backlog in 2021 With Resource Erectors
While 2020 has been a year of trials and tribulations for us all 2021 is shaping up to be a year for rolling up our sleeves and getting back to business as usual. If you’re an experienced professional ready to take advantage of new opportunities in 2021 we’ve got enduring working relationships with the industry-leaders who are seeking your talents.
For organizations getting ready to roll to success in 2021, we can help you build your dream team while eliminating further disruptions by avoiding the high costs of a bad hire and filling those essential vacancies that pile up operational expenses day by day. We maintain vital connections with the top professional candidates and industry-leading companies in civil construction, mining, minerals, aggregates, concrete, construction materials, engineering, and more.
When it’s time to get your workforce in shape to catch up with your 2021 backlog, Resource Erectors brings decades of specialized industrial human resource experience to the table. Over 80% of our highest qualified professional candidates placed are still contributing to the profitable success of their companies 5 years later, so please don’t hesitate to contact us today to be prepared for the rebound just around the corner in 2021. | https://medium.com/@mining-recruitment/construction-and-mining-equipment-2021-bulldozing-over-covid-19-setbacks-bebdd6bc8fa9 | ['Resource Erectors'] | 2020-12-23 14:38:31.646000+00:00 | ['Mining', 'Recruiting', 'Equipment Rental', 'Mobile Equipment', 'Construction'] |
What’s New in Flutter 2. by Chris Sells | Folio is meant to be a simple example of an app that you’d want to run well on multiple platforms from a single code base. And by “well,” we mean that it looks good on small, medium, and large screens, that it takes advantage of touch, keyboard, and mouse input, and that it works well for the idioms of the platform, (for example, by using links on the web and menus on desktop). We call this kind of app “platform adaptive” because it adapts well to whatever platform it’s running on.
If you’d like to see how you can make your own apps platform adaptive, you can check out the source code for Folio. In the future, expect to find docs and codelabs that explore this topic more deeply. In the meantime, check out Aloïs Deniel’s excellent blog post and video on this very topic.
Google Mobile Ads to Beta
In addition to Flutter desktop moving to beta, today we’re excited to announce an open beta for Google Mobile Ads SDK for Flutter. This is a brand new plugin that provides inline banner and native ads, in addition to the existing overlay formats (overlay banner, interstitial, and rewarded video ads). This plugin unifies support for Ad Manager and Admob, so no matter what size publisher you are, this plugin can be tailored to your scenarios.
We’ve been piloting this plugin with some of our early customers in a private beta program, and many of them have successfully launched their apps with these new formats. For example, Sua Musica (largest Latin American music platform for independent artists with more than 15k verified artists and 10M MAU) launched their new Flutter app with the Google Mobile Ads SDK for Flutter plugin. They saw an 350% increase on Impressions with a 43% increase on CTR and 13% increase on eCPM.
This plugin is available for you to use today. As part of Flutter Engage, Andrew Brogdon and Zoey Fan presented a session on “Monetizing apps with Flutter” (available on the Flutter Engage site), where they talk about monetization strategies for apps built with Flutter, and how you can load ads in your Flutter app. Moreover, we created a new Ads page on flutter.dev where you can find all helpful resources such as the plugin implementation guide, the inline banner and native ads codelab, and the overlay banner, interstitial and rewarded video ads codelab. Please be sure to check them out!
New iOS features
Just because we’re continuing to increase the quality of support for other platforms, don’t think we’re forgetting iOS. In fact, this release brings with it 178 PRs merged that are iOS-related, including 23495, which brings State Restoration to iOS, 67781, which fulfills a long-standing request to build an IPA directly from the command line without opening Xcode, and 69809, which updates the CocoaPods version to match the latest tooling. In addition, a few iOS widgets have been added to the Cupertino design language implementation.
A new CupertinoSearchTextField offers the iOS search bar UI.
The CupertinoFormSection, CupertinoFormRow, and CupertinoTextFormFieldRow widgets make it easier to produce validated form fields with iOS’s sectioned visual aesthetics.
In addition to the feature work for iOS, we’re continuing to research performance improvements for iOS and Flutter in general when it comes to shaders and animation. iOS continues to be a premier platform for Flutter and we’ll continue to work to bring important new features and performance improvements.
New widgets: Autocomplete and ScaffoldMessenger
This release of Flutter comes with two additional new widgets, AutocompleteCore and ScaffoldMessenger. AutocompleteCore represents the minimal functionality required to get auto-complete functionality into your Flutter app.
Autocomplete is an often-requested feature for Flutter, so this release starts to provide this functionality. You can use it today, but if you’re curious about the design for the complete feature, check out the autocomplete design document.
Likewise, the ScaffoldMessenger was created to deal with a number of SnackBar-related issues, including the ability to easily create a SnackBar in response to an AppBar action, creating SnackBars to persist between Scaffold transitions, and being able to show SnackBars at the completion of an asynchronous action, even if the user has navigated to a page with a different Scaffold.
All of this goodness can be yours with a couple of lines of code that you should be using from now on to display your SnackBars:
final messenger = ScaffoldMessenger.of(context);
messenger.showSnackBar(SnackBar(content: Text(‘I can fly.’)));
As you might imagine, there’s more to it than that; for the details, check out an excellent video from Kate Lovett on ScaffoldMessenger.
Multiple Flutter instances with Add-to-App
We know from talking with many Flutter developers that a significant number of you don’t have the luxury of starting a brand new app but you can take advantage of Flutter by adding it to your existing iOS and Android apps. This feature, called Add-to-App, is an excellent way to reuse your Flutter code across both mobile platforms while still preserving your existing native code base. However, for those of you doing that, we’ve sometimes heard that it’s unclear how to go beyond integrating the first screen into Flutter. Interweaving Flutter and native screens makes navigation states difficult to maintain, and integrating multiple Flutters at the view level uses a lot of memory.
In the past, additional Flutter instances had the same memory cost as the first instance. In Flutter 2, we’ve reduced the static memory cost of creating additional Flutter engines by ~99% to ~180kB per instance.
The new APIs to enable this are in preview on the beta channel and are documented on flutter.dev along with a set of sample projects demonstrating this new pattern. With this change, we no longer hesitate to recommend creating multiple instances of the Flutter engine in your native apps.
Flutter Fix
Whenever any framework matures and gathers users with larger and larger code bases, the tendency over time is to avoid making any changes to the framework API to avoid breaking an increasing number of lines of code. With over 500,000 Flutter developers across a growing number of platforms, Flutter 2 is quickly falling into this category. However, for us to continue to improve Flutter over time, we want to be able to make breaking changes to the API. The question becomes, how to continue to improve the Flutter API without breaking our developers?
Our answer is Flutter Fix.
Flutter Fix is a combination of things. First, there’s a new command-line option to the dart CLI tool called dart fix that knows where to look for a list of deprecated APIs and how to update code using those APIs. Second, it’s the list of available fixes itself, which is bundled with the Flutter SDK as of version 2. And finally, it’s an updated set of Flutter extensions for the VS Code, IntelliJ,and Android Studio IDEs that know how to expose that same list of available fixes as quick fixes with little light bulbs that will help you to change the code with a click of your mouse.
As an example, let’s say you had the following line of code in your app:
Creating a Flutter widget using a deprecated argument
Because the argument to this constructor is deprecated, it should be replaced with the following:
Creating a Flutter widget with the deprecated argument replaced
Even if you’re familiar with all of the many Flutter deprecations, the larger the number of changes you have to make in your code, the harder it is for you to apply all of the fixes and the easier it is to make mistakes; humans are not great at these kinds of repetitive tasks. But computers are; by executing the following command, you can see all of the fixes we know how to make across your entire project:
$ dart fix --dry-run
If you’d like to apply them in bulk, you can easily do so:
$ dart fix --apply
Or, if you’d like to apply these fixes interactively in your favorite IDE, you can do that, too.
While we’ve been marking old APIs as deprecated for a number of years now, now that we have a policy about when we will actually remove deprecated APIs, Flutter 2 is the first time that we’ve done so. Even though we haven’t yet captured all of the deprecated APIs as data to feed Flutter Fix, we continue to add more from previously deprecated APIs and will continue to do so with future breaking changes. Our goal is to do our best to make Flutter’s API the best it can be while also keeping your code up to date as we do it.
Flutter DevTools
To make it clear that DevTools is a tool that should be used for debugging your Flutter apps, we’ve renamed it to be Flutter DevTools when it’s debugging a Flutter app. In addition, we’ve done a lot of work to bring it to production quality worthy of Flutter 2.
One new feature that helps you zero in on your issues even before you’ve launched DevTools is the ability for Android Studio, IntelliJ, or Visual Studio Code to notice when there’s a common exception and offer to bring it up in DevTools to help you debug it. For example, the following shows an overflow exception has been thrown in your app, which brings up an option in Visual Studio Code to debug the issue in DevTools.
The Flutter IDE extensions notice when your app throws a layout overflow exception
Pressing that button brings you right to the Flutter Inspector in DevTools on the widget that’s causing the trouble so you can fix it. We’re only doing this for layout overflow exceptions today but our plan is to include this kind of handling for all kinds of common exceptions for which DevTools can be the solution.
Once you’ve got DevTools running, new error badges on the tabs help you track down specific issues in your app.
The red dots in DevTools helps you focus on the parts of your app with errors
Another new feature in DevTools is the ability to easily see an image that’s at a higher resolution than it’s displayed, which helps track down excessive app size and memory usage. To enable this feature, enable the Invert Oversized Images in the Flutter Inspector.
Enable the “Invert Oversized Images” option to highlight images that are bigger than they need to be
Now, when you display an image that’s significantly larger in resolution than its display size, it will appear upside-down to make it easy to find in your app.
The “Invert Oversized Images” option in action
Also, by popular demand, in addition to showing details about flexible layouts in the Flutter Inspector’s Layout Explorer, we’ve added the capability to show fixed layouts as well, enabling you to debug layouts of all kinds.
The new Layout Explorer shows layout details for fixed as well as flex layouts
And that’s not all. Here’s just a summary of a few more of the new features in Flutter DevTools 2:
Added average FPS information and usability improvements to the Flutter frames chart
Calling out failed network requests in the network profiler with red error labels
New memory view charts are faster, smaller and easier to use, including a new hovercard to describe activity at a specific time
Added search and filtering to the Logging tab
Track logs from before DevTools is started so you can see the complete logging history when you do start it up
Renamed the “Performance” view to “CPU Profiler” to make it more clear what functionality it provides
Added timing grid to CPU Profiler flame charts
Renamed the “Timeline” view to “Performance” to make it more clear what functionality it provides
And that’s still not all. For the full set of changes, I recommend the following announcements:
Android Studio/IntelliJ Extension
The Flutter plugin for the IntelliJ family of IDEs has gained a number of new features for Flutter 2 as well. To start, there’s a new project wizard, which matches the new wizard style in IntelliJ.
Also, if you’re using IntelliJ or Android Studio on Linux to program against the Flutter SDK installed from the Snap Store, the Flutter snap path has been added to the list of known SDK paths. This makes it easier for users of the Flutter snap to configure the Flutter SDK in Settings. Thanks to MarcusTomlinson@ for this contribution! | https://medium.com/flutter/whats-new-in-flutter-2-0-fe8e95ecc65 | ['Chris Sells'] | 2021-03-03 19:09:49.230000+00:00 | ['Desktop', 'Web Development', 'Flutter', 'Dart', 'Web'] |
How far ahead is Tesla in electric vehicle powertrain technology? | Spoiler alert: It´s quite a lot. But how far exactly is it? Going to the bottom of this matter is the main purpose of this article.
I will take a closer look at the electric powertrain technologies of Tesla´s Model X Long Range Plus and Audi´s e-tron 55 quattro. I will try to find out why Tesla has a range of 561 km in the WLTP cycle while the Audi reaches only 436 km, which represents an astonishing difference of 22%. What are the main reason for Tesla´s dramatically higher range, despite the fact that Audi has launched its full electric SUV 3 years later. Considering the current pace in electric vehicle powertrain technology development, this seems quite surprising.
Establishing a fair ground
First, I want to make sure to do a fair comparison. For that we should take into consideration the differences in total battery capacity. Simply putting more battery capacity into a car is no technological piece of art. The Model X Long Range has a total battery capacity of 100 kWh, while Audi´s e-tron quattro 55 has only 95kWh. This difference explains 4 percent of the total 22 percent difference in range. But where do the remaining 18 percent come from? Let´s find out…
Differences in usable battery capacity
The first interesting fact is about usable battery capacity. The Tesla uses 95% (95 kWh) of its total capacity, while Audi only allows access to 91% (86.5 kWh). This explains another 4 percent of the total difference in range. But why is Audi walling off so much capacity? The first reason probably is to assure a consistent brake pedal feel. In electric vehicles brake energy can be recuperated and fed back into the battery. But if the battery is already full, no more energy can be recuperated. In that case the driver must press harder to achieve the same braking effect because recuperation doesn’t support. Consistent driving performance has a high priority for Audi, so they seem to be willing to sacrifice some range for more consistent braking performance. On top of that Audi seems to be very cautious when it comes to battery cell longevity. Battery cells age quicker at higher states-of-charge, so walling off more capacity at the top helps to add a safety margin against battery aging. One additional sidenote: Before the update of the Audi e-tron, the usable battery capacity was even lower (83.6 kWh), which shows that Audi started even more cautious, but adapted its approach quickly.
The remaining difference comes from various efficiency measures
We now have explained roughly 8 percent of the difference by looking closer at battery size and usable capacity. But there are still 14 percent left that need to be explained by pure efficiency alone. Efficiency describes the ability of the car to translate the accessible energy of the battery into kilometers driven. So let´s take a closer look where this massive gap in efficiency comes from. Why does the Tesla need much less watt hours (Wh) per km driven?
Differences in vehicle weight and aerodynamics
The Audi has a vehicle weight of 2595 kg, while Tesla´s Model X has 2533 kg. Considering that Tesla has a bigger battery on board, the difference is substantial. A rule of thumb in automotive engineering says that 100 kg weight savings result in 4 percent higher power/fuel efficiency. Therefore, I estimate the weight difference to account for roughly 3 percent difference in range.
Another factor with a big effect on efficiency is aerodynamics. While the e-tron has a drag coefficient (cd) of 0.28, the Model X achieves 0.24, which is quite a difference. As a rule of thumb, you can assume that a 10 percent decrease in drag coefficient brings roughly 2 percent in power/fuel savings, which brings us to a total of roughly 3 percent explained in our comparison.
A factor, that also plays a role is the roll resistance, which is largely defined by the selection of tires. I do not know exactly which tires have been selected for each model in the WLTP tests, so I simply ignore any effect from differences in this area, assuming similar tires were used.
Remaining difference comes from a more efficient drivetrain
The main components in the drive train are battery, power electronics, electric motor, and gear box. So, the remaining 8 percent difference seems to come from this area. I do not expect major differences in gear box and electric motor efficiency. Both vehicles use a single-speed gearbox. The Tesla Model X uses a permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor in the front and an induction electric motor in the back. Audi uses two induction electric motors. Permanent magnet motors have slightly higher efficiency, but this should not be a major factor. I believe the main difference comes from a better integrated design and control of the whole system. Tesla as a company is higher vertically integrated, controlling even the production of its battery cells, and seems to do a way better job in finding the best engineering trade-offs because of that. I also assume the overall heat management, the optimization of losses and the control of recuperation energy is simply better at Tesla, which might explain the big differences.
Can traditional OEM´s catch up?
The comparison shows nicely that Tesla is clearly ahead in electric vehicle technology. To be honest, I am even a bit surprised by how much. In total 18 percent of the range difference can be explained by technological factors, which is really a lot. One important fact to know is that the Audi e-tron was built on the MLB platform, which was originally developed for combustion engine cars. This means that Audi engineers had to face certain limitations when designing the e-tron. On the contrary, Tesla´s Model X is a car designed for purely electric powertrains, which clearly brings advantages. There is some hope that Audi can catch up with future vehicles, which are built on the new, pure electric platforms like the modular electrification platform (MEB). On the other hand, Tesla doesn´t seem to be a company that plans to rest on their laurels. On the contrary, they are pushing the limits very aggressively, which was once again proven by their announcements on the latest battery day. Only future will tell how this will play out. But Tesla is in a very good position to stay in the lead.
Comment 1: I would be super happy to get some comments and feedback from readers. Especially your perspective about how to further break down the 8 percent difference in drivetrain efficiency would be very interesting.
Comment 2: Numbers presented in the article are rounded and sometimes estimates based on back-on-the-envelope calculations. The objective is to give a rough understanding about major differences, not highly precise numbers.
Source of performance data: ev-database.org | https://medium.com/@greeck/how-far-ahead-is-tesla-in-electric-vehicle-powertrain-technology-8e45a74c5478 | [] | 2020-12-24 11:57:00.839000+00:00 | ['Electric Vehicles', 'Tesla', 'Battery', 'Technology', 'Electric Car'] |
Cinderella Solution Review: Is it that Good? | Weight gain and obesity do not discriminate. They can strike anybody who isn’t careful of their daily habits and in some cases, people who have hormonal diseases that cause weight gain. However, with that being said, women tend to obsess more over their waistlines and bodies. According to some reports, weight gain may cause more harm to females than to males. When we consider all these facts, it becomes evident that women need a bankable solution for their weight loss needs.
A good weight loss solution is something that we’re all excited about. However, most of the products and programs out there, which promise to help you get thin aren’t good enough. They usually comprise of fad diet ideologies and bogus science that encourage unhealthy habits. So, even if you do lose some weight on such programs, keeping off the weight loss is difficult. Additionally, many weight loss solutions require you to starve yourself or give up entire food groups to speed up metabolism or fat burn. While this may lower the number on the scale, it strips your body off of vital nutrients that can affect your body negatively.
In this scenario, a product like The Cinderella Solution is a fresh breath of air. It certainly helps you develop healthier eating habits. However, it also focuses on teaching you more about the fundamentals of food and how it works at fuelling your body. With this program, you’ll get the right information that will aid you in customizing a plan that works best for your goals.
What Exactly Is The Cinderella Solution?
The Cinderella Solution is a 28-day weight loss program that is available as a series of PDF e-books. You can immediately download these once you buy the plan. Moreover, like most easy downloadable PDFs, this program can be accessed via a smartphone, tablet, desktop, or even your tab. This makes it incredibly convenient for everyday use.
This weight loss program has been designed with women in mind and includes two key phases called Ignite and Launch. Each of these different phases is two weeks long and comes with meal plans. Rather than focusing on cutting out entire food groups, this program is centred around the right food combinations to maximize the rate of weight loss and fat burn. There is also a low-intensity workout guide contained within the program. Most of the exercises in this system are focused on the butt, hips and abdominal muscles.
Now, some people prefer learning about the program before jumping head-on into its routine. On the other hand, others might want to take the plunge and just get started. No matter which squad you belong to, The Cinderella Solution has an option in it for your preference. The main Cinderella Solution program includes two distinct paths from which you can pick whatever best suits you.
In most cases, the 17-page Quick Start Guide to the Cinderella Solution is a great starting point. Even if you’re clueless about nutrition, it can help you get loads of useful information in a relatively short time. Although it isn’t too long, it dives into the program and how it will unfold. Additionally, you’ll learn what needs to be done and when you can get the best results from your efforts.
How does The Cinderella Solution work?
The Cinderella Solution has been designed with women and their unique issues in mind. Specifically, the program focuses on ICE dysfunction. This is centred around the philosophy of insulin hormone imbalance. In the case of women who have an imbalance of insulin hormones, their metabolic rate is usually among the first to get affected. With the Cinderella Solution, you’ll learn some useful tips and tricks to stay a step ahead of this imbalance and its unpleasant effects. The main principle is focused on restarting and regulating the function of three essential hormones that regulate your metabolism, fat and weight loss.
You’ll learn how to increase your lifespan by merely eating healthily and in the right manner. Additionally, you’ll get information on the right beverages and foods to consume to get closer to your goals weight and maintain the same. This program also breaks down the concept of targeted weight loss. With a better understanding of change sequences, it also explains how these win over cardio workouts.
This system functions perfectly for women over 30 who have more than 10 pounds to lose. Moreover, this program has a straightforward approach to weight loss. Unlike many programs that aren’t backed by sound nutritional information, this one isn’t an unhealthy or dangerous scam. In our opinion, the information in this guide is good enough to help you get closer to your fitness goals sensibly and sustainably. Moreover, if you want a solution that’s easy enough to follow and doesn’t need added investments, this is your best bet.
Get access Now
Who Created The Cinderella Solution?
As is the case with any fitness program or weight loss product, understanding who created it can help you estimate its potency and benefits. In the case of The Cinderella Solution, the program is designed by Carly Donovan. Like many other women across the US, even Carly had struggled to lose weight and keep it off sustainably and in a healthy way.
Even before she defined this program and brought it out to the public, Donovan was involved with fitness. She was a fitness instructor at her local gym and led a few classes regularly. In spite of this, Carly suffered from weight problems. Many people used to talk about the fact that she still didn’t have a perfectly toned body in spite of working out so much.
With some tests and a few doctor’s visits, it was found that Donovan had developed diabetes owing to her almost 100-pound weight gain. This was the last straw for Donovan, and she vowed to finally find something that would help her lose weight for good.
Although she describes herself as a regular Jane and a mom on her blog, she finally landed on a wealth of information that helped her lose weight. This information was combined into a reliable program, which we know as ‘The Cinderella Solution’.
One of the most surprising facts about this program is that it is created by someone who isn’t a fitness guru or an expert. Instead, it is the brainchild of an actual woman who went through the struggles of weight gain that arises out of metabolic or hormonal imbalance and its accompanying issues.
What Does The Program Consist Of?
Now that we’ve taken a look at the program’s overview and its creator let’s dive into the specifics of the Cinderella Solution. The central manual of this program contains four distinct parts.
Part One: The Cinderella Solution Explained
This part of the program begins with a basic introduction of the program and how you can best start your journey. The next chapter contains information regarding pairing foods based on flavour profiles as well as the right time for you to nourish your body. Details on slim-sequencing exercises follow this chapter. You also get the two critical phases of the program known as Ignite and Launch in this first part.
Part Two: Your Daily Nutrition Blueprint
In the second part of the program, you’ll get 14-day calendars as well as daily meal-prep plans. These help you understand the best way to nourish your body and eat well for weight loss. Moreover, if you’re looking for innovative recipes, this part of the program is the right one for you.
Apart from meals and recipes, this part also has information on macro nutrition and food pairings. There is a wealth of information related to different food groups and the best corresponding food items. With this information, charting a meal plan that is full of flavour, yet useful for weight loss, becomes a lot easier.
Part Three: DIY Meals and Flavor-Pairing
The third part of The Cinderella Solution focuses on giving you an even more detailed set of information. This information is sure to aid in creating nutritionally rich, yet calorically low meals. Moreover, this phase helps with recipes that’ll take your Ignite and Launch phases into overdrive. You’ll also learn about things like portion options and portion blocks, which will help you make the right decisions related to your diet.
Part Four: Top 10 Flavor and Weight Loss Food Combinations
As the title suggests, the fourth part of the program focuses on giving information about food combos and flavorful ingredients to boost your weight loss journey. By this stage, you’ve been exposed to exhaustive information that makes sure you’re ready to take on the weight loss challenge and emerge victoriously.
What We Liked About the Program
The Cinderella Solution is among the best options for sustainable and long-lasting weight loss. Due to its unique way of being compiled, there is definitely something for everyone in this program. Let’s take a look at some of the best features and benefits of this program.
Designed For Women: Weight loss isn’t rocket science, although it may often feel like that. However, in any case, weight loss is different for men and women. Due to the differences in body composition, hormonal function and a wide variety of factors, women’s weight loss requires a different approach. In the case of The Cindrella Solution, we like how the program is customized for women and their unique weight loss requirements.
Includes Easy Workouts: While many people have embraced the happy life and made working out a central part of their day, it isn’t practically possible for many women to do so. Committing to the gym or pre-organized workouts can be challenging for stay-at-home moms or even working women. This is why the Cinderella Solution is a good bet for those who are low on time. Unlike many competing weight loss programs, Cinderella Solution workouts aren’t too demanding — either in terms of equipment or in terms of intensity. This program focuses on diet and food combinations to do a bulk of the work, which aids in regulating hormones and boosting weight loss.
Detailed Information: One thing is for sure with The Cinderella Solution. You won’t feel like you’re not informed enough. Right from your body’s hormonal function, to macro nutrition and other equally informative topics, this program gives you enough scientifically-backed info to help you lose all the extra weight for good. Although a little intimidating, the program reboots your full information cache and gives you all you need to get started on a better, healthier, and more balanced lifestyle. You’ll find many tips, facts and theories on weight loss that you might not have known of before this program.
Practical and Useful Tools: The second part of this program offers some excellent tools that can aid your journey with this program. The 14-day calendar is especially useful for keeping track of what you eat and when you eat it. Additionally, the detailed recipes can add some fun flavor into your routine. Most importantly, you won’t be lacking tasty meals on this program.
Excellent Value For Money: For a program that is so specialized for women and offers such a trove of information, The Cinderella Solution provides excellent value for money. If you shop online, you might even get some exciting deals or offers. Unlike products or shakes that require you to make ongoing purchases, this is a single purchase that’s an excellent investment for women over 30 who want to lose weight for good.
Money-Back Policy: We are firm believers in products that offer refunds. Simply put, fake products or scams will never offer you the option of returning it if you’re not satisfied. However, a manufacturer who is sure of the program’s quality is more likely to ensure that the customer is happy. In the case of the Cinderella Solution, we like that they offer a 60-day refund policy. If the program doesn’t adequately help in solving your weight loss problems, you can ask for a full refund.
Customer Service: We won’t go so far as to say that this program comes with excellent customer service resources. However, the website has a few interesting tips and tricks for those who have started this program and may have doubts or difficulties.
What We Didn’t Like
This program isn’t without faults of its own. Here are some of the disadvantages of this product.
Requires Commitment: In the case of any program or product that promises to help you lose weight, you have to put in some effort and commitment from your side. Similarly, even with this program, if you’d like long-lasting and visible results, you’ll have to commit to the recommendations and follow along properly. This means that you’ll have to change some old habits and overhaul and unhealthy traits you may have. Moreover, you can’t be impatient and expect instantaneous results.
Takes Time For Results To Show: If you’re looking to drop two dress sizes in two months, this program is not the right choice for you. Since you have to follow the meal plan for 28-days at the very least, you can begin to see results only after this period. However, if you stick to the meal plans and follow the workouts as prescribed, there is no reason why you won’t achieve your weight loss goals in due course.
Recommended For Women: While women tend to focus more on their weight issues, we can’t say that men don’t have problems related to their weight. This is why we feel that the product’s women-only focus is a disadvantage to men who are looking for a useful solution to their weight loss troubles.
Get Discount Now
Final Thoughts
By now we’ve taken an in-depth look at the Cinderella Solution program in all its glory (or lack of glory). While it is no doubt that this program has potential, it is best suited for women over thirty who want a formidable solution to their weight loss problems.
Moreover, we like that this program isn’t based on any unhealthy misconceptions about diet, exercise, nutrition or lifestyle choices. It helps in simplifying an otherwise complicated subject and aids you in creating meals that are yummy, yet useful in promoting weight loss and fat burn. The add-on information in this program will help you sleep better and look better. Some users claim that it also helps in slowing down the effects of ageing.
In our opinion, this program might very well be the solution to your increasing waistline. The relatively low price tag and one-time-investment tag really makes it a formidable opponent to existing leaders in the weight loss program market.
Originally Published at https://bigbluetest.org/ | https://medium.com/@jitendrapattanayak69/cinderella-solution-review-is-it-that-good-679d5a9ac758 | [] | 2020-11-16 09:23:33.970000+00:00 | ['Weightloss Foods', 'Weightloss Recipe', 'Weight Loss', 'Diet And Weight Loss', 'Weight Loss Tips'] |
Why the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian” matters to so many of us | By Kent R. Kroeger (December 27, 2020)
________________________________
“As in the case of many great films, maybe all of them, we don’t keep going back for the plot.” — Martin Scorsese
“I don’t care about the subject matter; I don’t care about the acting; but I do care about the pieces of film and the photography and the soundtrack and all of the technical ingredients that made the audience scream. I feel it’s tremendously satisfying for us to be able to use the cinematic art to achieve something of a mass emotion.” — Alfred Hitchcock
________________________________
After over 55-plus years, I can count on two hands and a couple of toes the number of times I’ve cried watching a movie or TV program.
I cried when Mary Tyler Moore turned off that lights at WJM-TV.
I cried when Radar O’Reilly announced Colonel Henry Blake’s death.
I cried when the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the Soviets in 1980.
I cried when Howard Cosell told us that John Lennon had been killed.
I cried when ET said goodbye to Elliot.
I cried when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
I cried when baby Jessica was pulled from a 22-foot well.
I cried when Mandy Moore’s character dies at the end of “A Walk to Remember.”
I cried when Harry Potter and his wife sent their son off to Hogwarts.
I cried when Barack Obama became our 44th president.
I cried when the 33 Chilean miners were rescued.
I cried when the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series.
But I can’t remember crying harder than while watching this season’s final episode of Disney’s “The Mandalorian,” when Luke Skywalker rescues Grogu (more popularly known as ‘Baby Yoda’) from the Empire’s indefatigable, post-Return of the Jedi remnants.
Since its December 18th release on Disney+, YouTube has been flooded with “reaction” videos of Star Wars fans as they watched a CGI-version of a young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) remove his hood before Grogu’s caretaker, Din Djarin (a.k.a., The Mandalorian), and offers to train Grogu in the ways of The Force.
The “reaction” videos range from the highly-staged to the very charming and personal — all are illustrative of the deep affection so many people have for the original Star Wars characters, particularly Luke Skywalker.
For me, however, it is hard to detach from this emotional, collective experience the knowledge that it never would have happened if Lucasfilm (i.e., Disney), under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, hadn’t completely botched the Disney sequel movies, starting with “The Force Awakens,” director J. J. Abrams’ visually stunning but soulless attempt at creating a new Star Wars myth, followed by “The Last Jedi,” director Rian Johnson’s inexplicable platform for pissing on the original Star Wars mythos, and ending with “The Rise of Skywalker,” J.J. Abrams’ failed attempt to undo Johnson’s irreparable damage (along with the desecration Abrams himself laid upon the Star Wars brand with “The Force Awakens”).
Though opinions vary among Star Wars fans as to the extent Disney has alienated its core Star Wars audience, almost all agree that Disney’s most unforgivable sin was disrespecting the character of Luke Skywalker, who had been defined during George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy as an incurable optimist with an unbreakable loyalty to his family and friends (Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo).
We cried at Season 2’s end of the “The Mandalorian,” not just for the beauty of the moment, but also because of the depth of Disney and Lucasfilm’s betrayal.
Actor Mark Hamill, himself, as he promoted (!) “The Last Jedi,” perfectly described the cultural vandalism perpetrated by Kennedy, Abrams and Johnson on Luke Skywalker:
“I said to Rian (Johnson), Jedis don’t give up. I mean, even if he had a problem he would maybe take a year to try and regroup, but if he made a mistake he would try and right that wrong. So, right there we had a fundamental difference, but it’s not my story anymore, it’s somebody else’s story and Rian needed me to be a certain way to make the ending effective…This is the next generation of Star Wars, so I almost had to think of Luke as another character — maybe he’s ‘Jake Skywalker.’ He’s not my Luke Skywalker.”
That is not exactly what Johnson wanted to hear from one of his “Last Jedi” actors just as the movie was being released. But Hamill’s words spoke for many long time Star Wars fans.
In fact, many of us believe Disney and Lucasfilm’s Kennedy, with ruthless premeditation, intended to use the Disney sequel movies to malign Lucas’ Star Wars characters (with the exception of Princess Leia) in favor of the Disney-ordained Star Wars cast: Rey Palpatine, Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), Poe Dameron, and Finn.
I’m fairly confident in this prediction: Nobody 10, 20 or 30 years from now is going to care about Rey, Kylo, Poe and Finn. But I’m 99 percent sure we’ll still be talking about Luke Skywalker, if only in recalling how Disney f**ked up one of the most iconic heroes in movies history. Rey inspires no one — including young girls, who apparently were Lucasfilm’s targeted demo with the Disney sequel movies.
Had Disney trusted their own market research, they would have known the only reliable target was the tens of millions of original Star Wars fans (and their children and grandchildren), whose loyalty to Star Wars was proven when they still showed up at theaters for Disney’s three sequel movies, even after their devotion was insulted with the unnecessary diminution of the once dashing and heroic Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and, of course, Luke.
Had Disney treated their core audience with respect, Star Wars fans now might be anticipating Rey’s next cinematic adventure, instead of drowning themselves in the bittersweet giddiness of Luke’s triumphant return on “The Mandalorian.”
To be sure, a lot of Star Wars fans want to put Luke’s return in its proper perspective. We still have to accept that — under the Disney story line — Luke is destined to slump off to a remote island, drinking titty-milk from the teet of a giant alien sea cow while whining that he couldn’t stop his nephew from killing off Luke’s young Jedi pupils (including presumably Grogu).
Despite the joyousness of Luke on “The Mandalorian,” the dark cloud of Abrams and Johnson’s bad storytelling skills still looms large.
But even the biggest Disney critics are allowing themselves to enjoy what Jon Favreau and David Filoni — the creative team behind “The Mandalorian” — are doing for the fans.
One such person is Nerdrotic (Gary Buechler), the bearded crown prince of the amorphous Fandom Menace — a term used to describe a social-media-powered subculture of disgruntled Star Wars fans who particularly aggrieved at how Lucasfilm has dismantled Star Wars canon, allegedly using the Star Wars brand to pursue a “woke” political agenda at the expense of good storytelling.
“For the first time in a long time, the majority of the fans were happy, and the question you have to ask upfront is, ‘Disney, was it really that hard to show respect to the hero of generations, Luke Skywalker?’” says Buechler. “It must have been, because it took them 8 or 9 years to do it, but when they did do it, it sent a clear message that people still want this type of storytelling, and in this specific case, they want Luke Skywalker because he is Star Wars.”
For me, Luke’s return in “The Mandalorian” is a reminder that great moments are what make movies (and TV shows) memorable, not plot or story lines. People love and remember moments.
As someone who camped out in a dirty theater alleyway in Waterloo, Iowa during the Summer of 1977 to see a movie that was then just called “Star Wars,” I am going to enjoy what Favreau and Filoni gave us on “The Mandalorian” — the moment where the Luke Skywalker I love and remember from childhood returned to Star Wars.
- K.R.K.
Send comments to: [email protected]
Postscript: In recent days, Lucasfilm and Disney social media operatives have been posting messages reminding us that Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is a “fan” of the Disney sequel movies, including Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi.”
Perhaps that is true. But I also believe Hamill has made it clear in the past couple of days where his heart resides — with the George Lucas’ Luke Skywalker: | https://medium.com/@kentkroeger/why-the-season-2-finale-of-the-mandalorian-matters-to-so-many-of-us-bcc83817692e | ['Kent Kroeger'] | 2020-12-31 16:51:20.348000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'Disney', 'Luke Skywalker', 'Lucasfilm', 'The Mandalorian'] |
I Masturbated To His Voice | I Masturbated To His Voice
Image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay
My panties were pooling… leaking out into my jeans.
I just listened to an amazing audio sent to me by someone. Someone special. Who he is, or how we know each other is irrelevant here.
His voice, and those dirty, sexy as fuck words. Worked like magic. I never had thought it was possible…but it happened. Here’s what he said —
“Oh my God, hurry…sneak in here with me. We really shouldn’t be doing this. Oh Fuck, I can’t help it. Pull down your pants, that’s right…underwear too. Oh my God, your pussy’s already so wet. Oh, Gawwd…So warm…Fuckk. Bite my neck, bite it. Leave a mark. Mark me as yours…Fuck. Do you want me to pull my dick out? Do you, do you..want to fuck in here, before anyone finds out? I’ll fuck you, fuck you so good. I don’t have a condom, I hope you don’t mind. I’m just gonna………cum in you. Fuckk, that’s right baby, give yourself to me. GIVE YOUR PUSSY TO DADDY, NOW. Do it, fuck me ..fuck me. There you go, good girl, good girl. Oh yeaaah, let daddy fuck that pussy. Good girl…I can feel you dripping all over…Yes”.
Yes, that's all it took. Just the above words, in his voice, recorded and sent.
I touched myself as I listened to him. Playing his voice on my laptop, I switched on the voice recorder on my phone. I wanted to return the favor.
Not with words, but with moans.
Moans of me masturbating…to his voice.
Just typing this makes me want to stop and go do the whole thing again. But I will wait till I finish telling y’all what I did.
So, I got naked…opened his voice attachment on my laptop. Kept my phone with the voice recorder on, right next to me, and started touching myself. By the time he said, “Pull down your pants”. I was already two fingers deep.
I massaged my G-spot with my fingers while using my clit sucking toy on my engorged clit. It was working and I was steadily grinding against my own hand. Moaning steadily, the rhythm set.
As soon as he said, “I’m just gonna…cum in you”, I had a tiny orgasm. But it didn't stop there. His voice got hoarser, now I had three fingers thrusting and massaging, and my moans sounded like a primal creature writhing in pain pleasure.
There was a steady built up of my moaning, and it reached a crescendo as he uttered the words, “good girl, good girl”. I exploded into a huge rolling orgasm. Clenching my thighs, toes curled, feet arched, currents pulsed through my body…moaning for dear life….
I finally switched off the clit sucker and pulled out my soaked, cum-coated fingers. The recording ended with me letting out a nervous laugh. I was embarrassed but satisfied. I played it for myself to listen to. Damn, it did sound pretty hot, but I knew my overthinking would start soon.
So I quickly pressed send… | https://medium.com/the-sexpert-s/i-masturbated-to-his-voice-a0ac28e867f0 | ['Wistful Writer'] | 2020-12-12 21:23:31.138000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Passion', 'Nonmonogamy', 'Masturbation', 'This Happened To Me'] |
How to develop spending habits | The Christmas shopping season is here! It doesn’t have to stay a pipe dream to get your fill of shopping and fine dining. Spending smarter can put you on the fast track to turning those “dreams” into reality.
Let’s discover how you can break bad spending habits and create new, healthy ones.
How to break your bad spending habits
Start by focusing on our not-so-great spending habits. There are three spending habits you need to break if you want to make your dreams reality:
1.Spending Without a Plan
It is common that a lot of you would find your money disappears quickly and quietly. You don’t know where it went as most of you don’t have a period budget. Paying too much for a loved bag, overspending on your hang-out budget, or impulse-buying accessories, all these would double as a knife sharpener. Too many people live on more than they make and use credit cards to cover the difference.
2.Making Impulse Purchases
In today’s constantly connected world, impulse shopping becomes the name of the game for many millennial consumers with instant gratification the modern norm. According to the statistics from Finder.com, it shows that 81% of millennials makes impulse buys at least once a month and on average, the amount spent per impulse purchase is $71 online and $82 in store in 2019. However, nearly half proportion of millennials tend to feel guilty after an impulse buy and regret it.
3.Spending Without Keeping Track
Spending money is not one-off. Losing track of the money you’ve spent or payments you’ve scheduled could eventually come back to bite you. When you pay for convenience without keeping track, money will slip between your fingers. So, it is necessary to track your spending and take the time to have a second count of your payments.
Replace Bad Spending Habits With Good Ones
1.Live on A Reasonable Budget
Give every dollar a name at the beginning of the month and make money work harder for you. Creating a plan for your money allows you to prioritize your spending. Put your money goals — perhaps getting out of debt or going on a vacation — at the top of your budget.
2.Understand Yourself and Your Motivations
It is important to have a better understanding of yourself and learn how to control emotion. For every one of us, our daily choices add up over time. Take a moment to think about where your spending habits come from and learn to say no to yourselves in order to gain something greater in the long run — regardless of your current emotions. It takes wisdom to make decisions based on what will drive you forward, and it takes courage to put blinders on to what other people think.
3.Make Room for Spending
Although we need plans for savings, don’t forget that our ultimate purpose is spending smarter. Instead of pretending that spending money is a bad thing, be intentional about setting aside a chunk of money — big or small — each month to do something you love and take your own time. Give yourself permission to spend some money!
Always keep in mind when you spend smarter, your money goes further. And it is not only about spending money, but also about enjoying life.
(Reference: Ramsey) | https://medium.com/@tanggram/how-to-develop-spending-habits-af10bfa0b312 | [] | 2020-12-16 00:25:15.343000+00:00 | ['Spending Habits', 'Money Management', 'Wealth'] |
Vértigo | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/el-circulo/v%C3%A9rtigo-5be0c18e55ab | ['Pablo Pereyra'] | 2020-09-19 22:02:33.015000+00:00 | ['Español', 'El Circulo', 'Miedo', 'Poesía En Español', 'Poesia'] |
Tokenization of Diamonds: The New Age Way to Trade in Diamonds? | I would annex the planets if I could; I often think of that.
~Cecil Rhodes
The person who said these words is also the one who was the founder of the world’s largest diamond mining company, De Beers. The company continues to be the strongest in the industry ever since it was established in 1888.
Diamonds have a history of their own. In Ancient India, they were valued as gemstones because they were used as religious icons. Other than that, they have also been used as engraving tools. These gemstones, known for their beauty and brilliance, have been on the rise in popularity ever since the nineteenth century. Today, they are used as gemstones and as industrial abrasives, hence their increased demand.
What is the Diamond Industry Like Today?
Ever since the conception of the nation-state and probably even before that, the production of diamonds and their distribution was concentrated within a few hands — companies like De Beers (40% of annual world diamond production) and Alrosa. As one goes down the supply chain, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WIDE) is the medium through which diamonds — both rough and polished — are traded wholesale.
After this, diamonds that are prepared as gemstones are sold to bourses, diamond exchanges — a total of 28 in the world. It is from these bourses that wholesalers and retailers buy a relatively small quantity of diamonds to sell to the customers. There is also a considerably large market for ‘second-hand’ diamonds and these are sold at auctions, second-hand jewelry stores and at pawnbrokers. Until this level in the supply chain, the industry is controlled with an extremely tight grip.
Current State of the Diamond Industry: Challenges and Opportunities
In the present time, the Diamond industry has become both — dynamic and complicated. Technology has, on one hand, made the industry better and on the other more complex.
To begin with, the incoming of lab-grown diamonds has also increased the demand for certification. The reason behind this is a higher demand by the customers for transparency. In fact, the customers today, want a level of transparency that has never been asked for in the past. Recently, Alessandro Bogliolo, the CEO of Tiffany & CoCo, asserted that it is the duty of a company to provide its customers’ information regarding every aspect of manufacturing and trading.
The reaction is natural with the growing awareness among the population as the mining and distribution of diamonds, even today, rouse controversies like blood-diamonds. According to statistics, as of 2016, Angola produced the highest amount of conflict diamonds, amounting to 2.1% of the world’s total diamond production.
Another major issue is the reduction of financing to the sector by the banks in all the three major diamond hubs — India, Israel, and Belgium. In Israel itself, only three banks are supporting the diamond industry. However, on the positive side, the diamond industry has seen a boom online, with people buying more and more diamonds on platforms like Amazon.
Can Tokenizing Resolve Existing Issues?
So far, we have identified some of the major problems of the diamond industry today — transparency and lack of liquidity.
In this case, the digitization of assets can provide, without a shadow of doubt, complete transparency because of the entire process taking place on the blockchain. The complete supply chain of diamonds can be traced with authenticity, making certification easy. This will enhance customer trust and weed out bad actors from exploiting conflicts to mine diamonds. This is specifically useful to resolve the case of blood-diamonds and offers a permanent solution to unethical mining.
Companies that wish to bring more transparency in the diamond business can easily raise funds through digitization of assets (diamonds, in this case) and sell these “digital diamonds” through a security offering. Following this, the investors have access to the details of the issuer, and those of the entire chain through which the asset reaches to them.
Next, for diamonds, which are highly low on liquidity, an STO can be a real game-changer. The offer of fractional ownership of the tokenized assets, in this case, diamonds, would increase the number of investors who will be able to purchase smaller stakes. Thus blockchain would increase the liquidity of these otherwise non-liquid assets.
The gemstone market is a multi-billion dollar market and is attracting many businesses to venture into its lifecycle — mining, polishing, and trading. However, mining operations require substantial capital, something that becomes a major hurdle for a lot of companies. While these companies do have proven resources and technical know-how, funds pose a major issue in starting the mining operations. STOs present an excellent opportunity for such companies to raise funds through the digitization of their assets.
STOs can also act as a special investment vehicle for a business working in a specific field where big, vertically integrated companies can make a public offer to attract money and create a business based exactly on the given field.
Digitize Assets with QUUBE
QUUBE has not only presented to the world a robust quantum computing hack resistant blockchain system, but it has also been a host to an STO Launchpad. Through this launchpad, not only STOs can be launched, but also the legal framework for creating security tokens can be accessed.
The launchpad also offers a great marketing platform to attract more and more investors. QUUBE allows access to more than $4 trillion of private wealth through its expansive network all over the globe.
An STO, once launched can become a part of the QUUBE exchange by getting listed, ensuring high liquidity for digitized assets like diamonds.
To know more about the STO Launchpad of QUUBE, visit us at https://quube.exchange.
Join QUUBE Exchange on networks:
✉️ Telegram Group https://t.me/QuantumWarriors
🗣 Steem https://steemit.com/@quube-exchange
📸 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/quubesecurityexchange
👤 Facebook https://facebook.com/QuubeQuantum
📷 Instagram https://instagram.com/quube_exchange
🐥 Twitter https://twitter.com/quube_exchange
⭕️ Medium https://medium.com/@quube_exchange_m
⚙️ GitHub https://github.com/Quube-Exchange-2019
🅱️ Bitcointalk https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180249 | https://medium.com/@quube_exchange_m/tokenization-of-diamonds-the-new-age-way-to-trade-in-diamonds-5987ca2d50d5 | ['Quube Exchange'] | 2020-06-11 14:31:45.155000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Quantum Computing', 'Security Token', 'Blockchain', 'Commodities'] |
“To see as we never see”: dialogue between Pierre Bourdieu and Toni Morrison | Photo taken by Éric Guichard
Pierre Bourdieu: My questions are intended to try and give you the occasion to say things that you haven’t said. I would have liked to inquire about Howard University, about the teachers you had there — Frazier, for example, the great author of Black Bourgeoisie; and also about your role as senior editor at Random House, where you published a certain number of important works by distinguished writers and black critics. I would have liked to raise the controversy surrounding the 1988 Pulitzer Prize, because it seems to me that it’s a very significant event that permits reflection on the particular situation of the black writer in the American intellectual world. But I’ll move from there to something that seems more important to me.
In Playing in the Dark, you analyzed the hidden images of Blacks present in white literature. But there’s also a white image of black literature, a terribly stereotyped image: for example, even if, and this is very legitimate, you don’t like to be treated as a black writer, you are a black writer because you are thought to be a black writer — because there is a stereotype attached to this image, which orients the reading of your work. What is this stereotype? For example, a systematic link is made between black literature and the social sciences. Generally speaking, this is not a compliment… Albert Murray spoke of “social-science fiction”, which is not a way to pay any respect to this literature. Here, the literary work is reduced to a document, and when one accords to black writers a subversive capacity, one accords it to them on the socio-political terrain, not on the formal terrain. For example, just as jazz introduced entirely extraordinary innovations, which have been at once received and not received, because they have been categorized in and confined to an inferior region of musical art, so too have a certain number of aesthetic innovations made by black literature been reduced to folklore, and neutralized in their literary specificity. For example in Jazz, what has been taken from it is the rhythm as much as the structure. In fact, what is interesting is the plurality of voices and the fact that there is no longer a principal voice, a central discourse… One could say the same thing about black writing. We hear of sensuality, warmth, sexuality, etc. Put another way, we find in the discussion of your work all that you find in white writers regarding Blacks.
Toni Morrison: To be considered only the witness of a certain situation or as someone who has nothing to say except “Ouch! That hurts!” or “I protest!” is deeply humiliating, even if it is very important that we consider writers in their context. I tried to make of Beloved a historical novel that escaped the limits of the discipline of history. When I finished it, I decided to write a book dedicated to the following historical period, what we call the Jazz Age. But what I wanted, above all, is for readers to be aware, before anything else, of the construction, the apparent elaboration, in which I wanted to use as much as possible, the structures of jazz.
The comparison with this music is fundamental since, if it is true that the culture of jazz is still associated with sensuality, illegality, tam-tams, and exoticism, it’s become difficult to stop there. From the moment that one begins the smallest critical analysis of this music, one can’t ignore its sophistication. But this is still not the case in the area of literature: whatever the sophistication of the works, whatever the new responses, the subtleties and innovations that they contribute, all of this is completely ignored. The most banal reactions are always offered: something of the “natural”, the accessible, the magical, or the folkloric is seen.
I would add that journalists are restricted by the limits of their profession. But I can guarantee you that none of them discusses what interests me: the structure inserted, the way that stories are recounted, the refusal of all domination in narration by breaking apart the narrator’s voice.
Bourdieu: Everything that you’ve said of the black writer goes for the sociologist, who often tries to do rather sophisticated things, which are in turn reduced to pure “content”. This is perhaps what has made me sensitive to the injustice done to black writers. Now, what seems important, and what you’ve confirmed now, is that one often takes a non-literary point of view on black literature. And to adopt a properly literary point of view, it is important to place literary writing back into literary history, in the history of predecessors, and evidently, we probably need more time — I would like it if you could say a little about how you situate yourself in relation to these people from Harlem in the 1920s, whose era you have rediscovered in Jazz; or in relation to people like Zora Neale Hurston, for example, who is very important for us sociologists, because she was at once a writer and an anthropologist. I would like you to tell us in which of your predecessors you recognize yourself, black writers but also white writers, Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Garcia Marquez.
Morrison: Like all writers, I dreamed of being an author apart, sui generis, and somewhat original, beyond all comparison. But the fact is that we have all read so much, and we would like not to have to recognize our influences. I am nevertheless entirely aware of having been marked by many American authors; black authors and white authors, sometimes for different reasons, and sometimes for the same reasons. Those who counted the most for me are the writers of the 1920s, people like Jean Toomer; and above all I’ve found myself very curious and attentive to black literature, which has permitted me to discover treasures so far ignored — not novels, but accounts by slaves or former slaves. In my eyes, literature includes an incredible number of stories written by people who, with the pen, broke free of the yoke of slavery and entered the world of freedom. In the history of humanity I don’t know of an oppressed people who meditated, wrote, and published so much on their own situation.
And then there was also this inexhaustible mine of songs, of lyrics, of spirituals, which were and will always remain the voice of jazz; this kind of poetry immediately spoke to me. These antecedents are therefore clearly present in my work. But in certain cases I put these writers into question: in Ralph Ellison, for example, I asked myself about certain narrative voices, I tried to see if one couldn’t modify them, divide them, to create a different effect. I understand how important it was for all these writers, for those who still lived in slavery as much as for those who wrote at the beginning of the century, to prove their capacity to write well to a white public that dictated the rules of the game. They approached writing by using an excessively correct and erudite language. Or else, inversely, they tried to reproduce what was then called the black “dialect”, for lack of a better term; but they would very often do it clumsily, in their transcription, to try to highlight the specificities of black language. This problem interests me in my work in particular; it’s in this way that I can attempt to make a conscious effort to reattach myself to the authors of the past.
Bourdieu: Maybe you could, on this point which seems important to me, talk a little about your own solution. Between these two limits, hyper-correction and hyper textual fidelity to the vernacular, whether linguistic or cultural. How have you found your own way as a writer: in alternation, in combination?
Morrison: The first thing done by those who hold the rifles is discredit the other’s language. When you have an army and a navy, you can say to the other that her language is not a language, that what she says is closer to the speech of animals. Knowing how to manage this position, of being subordinate with respect to language, is a fundamental problem for all dominated peoples. We know that in theory all language comes from elsewhere. The play of all these languages is extraordinary; and if somebody would like to protect the purity of one among them, they would have to enact an extremely complicated task that implies a very large amount of self-defense. And the reason why this defense is necessary is that it is constantly under threat of being crushed by someone. In this way language can be a true battlefield, a place of oppression, but also of resistance. American English poses few problems in this regard, on the one hand because it is already essentially a polyglot language; and then, thanks to the influence of all the people who live in America and who refuse, like black people, the domination of one language over the others. It’s something that has always seemed astonishing to me, this absolute refusal of Blacks, of all Blacks, whatever their social and cultural status: they remain always faithful to their language; it is at once something very dear to them, but also a mark of rebellion.
I think that there is something captivating in the fact that to write in English in the twentieth century is precisely this possibility of moving between diverse levels of language, from the vernacular of the language of the street to lyrical or biblical language, passing through the common register. All these languages say different things. So, what seems interesting to me is to fuse them, mix them up to say something else, perhaps something that has never been said in exactly the same way before. I think that this search was the very definition of “modernity”, of the language of people whom one calls the “modernists”, such as Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, even a large part of Hemingway’s work, and then e e cummings. All these authors, when they tried to be “avant garde”, to say something entirely new, with the most possible freedom, they used black vernacular language. See Ragtime, for example, or even the correspondence of these writers, and you find expressions there drawn from this folkloric tradition: when they wrote of themselves, T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound nicknamed themselves “Possum” and “Br’er Rabbit”. They even adapted their spelling and typography, specifically by using lower-case letters where standard English uses upper-class letters. So at least for those who claim this tradition, black language has always been marked, not by a return towards a sad past, but on the contrary by a step towards a modern and exciting future.
Bourdieu: What impresses me when I survey your trajectory is that you have an attitude that could be described as both engaged and reserved. For all I know, you have never entered into overt forms of engagement. We don’t see you strongly engaged in the feminist movement, although the feminist movement claims you; we don’t see you ostentatiously engaged with black activism, although this movement claims you. At the same time, you have defined a rather beautiful formula for yourself, a kind of generative formula of what you are: you say that you are “an African-American woman writer in a sexualized and racialized world”.¹ Obviously, you are very powerfully engaged through your work; and also through your actions: I think of what you did recently in relation to the matter of this judge accused of harassment.² You are therefore very engaged, but in a very special way, “engaged-disengaged”. I would very much like you to describe the philosophy of this engagement… which I like very much.
Morrison: It’s true. I have a big problem: as you recall it, I live in a totally racialized and sexualized world, and I must do in it what I feel is truly right. Yet in truth, I’m not at ease within organizations: I’m never there when it’s necessary, and I don’t like to receive orders. I have very limited room for maneuver in certain political spaces. But I believe that writing is the political act par excellence. I’d like to take as proof of this that the first measure taken by an oppressive government is to censor or to destroy books, or still to gag people. And they do this simply because they are not stupid, because they know too well that the very act of writing is seditious, potentially seditious in any case, and always the bearer of interrogations.
My books don’t respond to aesthetic preoccupations alone, no more than they respond exclusively to political preoccupations. I think that, to be taken seriously, art must do both at once. There is no reason that a work of art can’t be taken seriously in its own world, no excuse for not doing the best work possible. But, on the other hand, I think that writers must also engage themselves in a certain type of collective action. As you know, in the United States we don’t have this long tradition of politically active “intellectuals”; it existed at moments and then disappeared, and I believe that at this moment we’re in one of these times where this tradition is more buried than living, contrary to France. It’s why what happened two years ago in the US, at the time of a certain judge’s nomination, created an exceptional political situation. The problem was to find someone who was capable of succeeding Judge Marshall, this absolutely extraordinary African-American judge who, for fifty or sixty years, fought relentlessly and was victorious a number of times in the service of two causes: that of human rights and that of civil rights for Blacks. Then President Bush chose a young black man, because he was a black man of the right who was malleable.
To gloss this nomination, Bush declared: “I want you to understand that it’s not a question of race, this nomination has been decided outside of all racial criteria”. It’s then that accusations of sexual harassment appeared. This was a true fiasco, and everybody was absolutely fascinated by this story. I don’t know what you have been able to see of it in Europe, but all this was almost paralyzing. It didn’t help to telephone senators, because they would immediately ask you, “Who do you vote for? What do you want?” Anyway — and here I am angry all over again, I didn’t expect that! — I appealed to a whole group of writers, to people from diverse academic disciplines: history, English, law, critical legal studies, anthropology, religion, ethics, philosophy, etc. Eighteen of us, Whites and Blacks, men and women. In a very short time, because there was some urgency, we wrote an anthology in which each among us made use of our discipline’s point of view to deconstruct, analyze, and clarify the political situation that brought us to this point. We titled the book, Race-ing justice, En-gendering power, a somewhat complicated play on words…
Bourdieu: You have told me that you are working on a novel with two “heroines”, one black and the other white, and that all your effort consists in making the categories of white and black completely disappear. First, is this possible? What particular difficulties does this work of quasi-“transcoding” encounter? It’s an experiment that finds an analogue in what Perec did when he tried to write without recourse to the vowel e, but, in this particular case, it’s a fundamental category of perception of the social world that you exclude. So, are you not being led on an extremely complex formal pursuit, which is at the same time a political pursuit: the utopia of a world in which the white-black category will be no longer pertinent, will no longer exist?
Morrison: The book I’m currently working on³ is deeply rooted in the reality of a place that I deliberately chose as being exclusively black: a black village at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, I speak in it of four women of whom I say: “One among them was white, the others were not”. Then I hope that I describe each of these women so well that the reader will know them all intimately, as if she were in their skin; that she will know everything about them, except their race. I think that the reader will really ask who is white and who is black; but, if I succeed, and I’m not sure yet because I haven’t finished, this question will in the end no longer have any importance. But the difficulty is enormous, because there exists no language for this. How do you describe the soul of a character without reference to racial codes, without using this secret language, explicit or implicit, that everybody uses to mark race? And at the same time, it’s necessary to give the reader what she is never entitled to possess: an immediate gaze permitting her to see as she never sees. All this demands a new discourse, a new language. It’s difficult, but I believe that it’s gratifying. I truly think that this language can be just as subtle, just as strong, and permit just as many emotions, without any reference to color. This is my hope. But in any case, what is important to me now is less the success of this project than the search itself, the construction of a language that permits me to render these characters terribly present, to make them entirely known… except for their race. | https://medium.com/@geoffreme/to-see-as-we-never-see-dialogue-between-pierre-bourdieu-and-toni-morrison-aec8c6b55c78 | ['Geoffrey Mead'] | 2020-02-25 01:20:51.275000+00:00 | ['Pierre Bourdieu', 'Toni Morrison', 'Sociology', 'Literary Criticism'] |
How to Deal With That Deadline Dread | If attention is the new currency, where are you spending yours? Are you giving away your creative energy to your social media, to your needy work colleague, or to fearful dithering? There is so much going on out there, and most of it has just become noise, making us feel overwhelmed by it all. The overwhelm, coupled with the fear of missing out, can make us procrastinate like a crazy person. Before we know it, a day, a week, heaven forbid, a year, has disappeared and we are no further forward with our dreams, or our lives. I suspect that attention hijacking has become the great remora of our times.
Being someone who is just as easily pulled into attention sucking black holes as the next person, I’ve had to learn to be super disciplined with my time and get all Judge Dredd on my own ass. (see what I did there. :) Here’s some ideas that you may find useful. Let me know if they work for you or if you have other ways to protect your precious hours.
Learn to say No.
You gotta say No, folks. Not just to people but also to distractions. This is a big one if you are a procrastinator. Your body and your mind will do all that they can to trick you into not doing the hard stuff, or the boring or sometimes just any stuff that is going to move you forward.
Suddenly you’re thirsty, must go and get a drink. On the way, you’re caught into a conversation with Jo at the water fountain. Then she asks if you know how to clear the cookies out of her browser and you try to explain it but it’s easier to show her, you end up doing it for her. Thirty minutes later you’re back at your desk and trying to pick up where you left off. Ahhh!
Whatever the scenario — in the office, freelancing from home, in your makers studio, networking at events — to get closer to your goals learn to say no to things that are not aligned with you.
Chunk your time and focus.
I chunk all my time into small, focussed segments. Into 33 minutes of no distraction, bum on chair, out-flowing, work periods. I don’t use any fancy apps anymore; I have an old iphone that has a countdown timer on it, that’s it. This works perfectly for me but you may prefer to use an app. You could even go old school analogue and use an actual alarm clock or hourglass timer. As long as it’s simple and doesn’t lead you into a funnel of distraction each time you use it.
Then, my earphones go on with sounds that put my brain into the best state to create or to focus, depending on the work I’m doing. I’m currently using binaural beats that put my brain state into theta for creative flow. Also, jazz or classical music is good for focussing and shutting out distractions. Try out different ones and see what works for you.
Set smaller, not so scary, deadlines.
So, now that you’re chunking your work-time into small focused segments, you can do the same with your deadline. For example, if you have to complete an essay or presentation in three weeks, create a 1-week and 2-week deadline with a reward if you get it done and a consequence if you don’t.
Whenever any new project or idea comes my way, and it seems huge and daunting, I break it down into smaller projects. Then I trick my brain by telling myself, ‘well, you know, we’ll just do this bit and see what happens.’ Next thing I know it’s done, and I can start the next small bit. Simple, but awesome self-trickery.
Turn off all distractions.
This is obvious, and yet, we all still do it. I’ve recently turned off all my social media notifications, badges and updates, then only check in on it a few times a week. If you need to check more that’s fine but at least you aren’t being lured by the red beacons of diversion.
I use a social media app manager to manage my daily posts, by setting up my posts for the week in advance which then get posted at the times I’ve set. I keep an eye on direct messages through email notifications so I can respond within a few hours of receiving them.
I check my email after I’ve done my morning work for anything important, then I set an hour aside late in the day to reply to important stuff. Then I clear my inbox by replying to not so important emails, reading updates and deleting not needed emails twice a week. I started doing this about five years ago and it totally changed how productive my week was.
Keep your workspace as your WORK space.
Set up your workspace so that it is comfortable for you and when you are there, your body and mind know it’s time to get stuff done. Once I walk into my office I’m in my creative zone, when I walk out, it’s (mostly) switched off again. It’s one of the ways that I use to control and channel the stream of creative energy flow.
My workspace is set up to give me maximum impetus, with no excuse for distraction. Everything I need is within arm’s reach, with all the right ergonomic arrangements. There is plenty of natural light with my desk under a window looking out onto a luscious green garden. It is warm and inviting with all my favourite things around me. This works for me; you need to find the best way that you work. When you’ve figured it out, train yourself that this is where the work happens.
Set Your intention.
Before you start, be clear on what you want to achieve. Say it out loud if you need to, so the goal genii can hear you. Setting an intention is akin to making a wish, only luckily, we don’t have to look for a magic lamp before we can start. By stating it out loud or writing it down we are engaging more of our senses to get focussed.
Becoming more Self-Aware helps tremendously.
Most procrastination is caused by fear, fear causes stress. It helps to become more self-aware. If you are procrastinating or self-distracting in some way, try asking yourself ‘What am I scared or anxious about, right now?’ Bringing our fears out into our awareness is the first step to conquering them. Perhaps you’ve heard of Susan J. Jeffers book, Feel the Fear and do it anyway? It’s worth a read if you need more help with fear.
Acknowledge your fear by seeing it, being ok with it and then dealing with it. Addressing or letting go of what you are fearing is just about the only way I know of to really moving through procrastination and back into the creative flow.
Lift the lid on your procrastination stress and see if you have any of the following fears. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it might get you started.
Indecision
-fear of picking the wrong thing or idea to work on. The only answer is to pick something and move forward with it. Working on something will help your mind to relax and then you will probably discover what is the right thing for you to work on.
Being Ridiculed
-or being judged or criticised. What if I mess this up? What if they hate it? Yes, this is always a possibility and what’s the worst that can happen if they do? Are you proud of your work, or at least happy with it? Then you’ve done your best. Time to put your adult pants on.
Lack
-of any kind. Fear that you won’t have a good idea, or the right ideas or enough ideas, or enough anything….which you then convince yourself to believe could end in dismal failure. The more stressed we become the more difficult it is for us to be in ideation or creative flow.
Feeling Unworthy
-I’m not clever enough or good enough or… (replace with any other lack-lustre, self-sabotaging statement) to do this project/thing/job. Stop comparing yourself with either a) other people; or b) some fantasy about who you think you should be.
Resistance –
-This is that horrid, sticky, heavy feeling that is stopping you from completing your activity. As Data said to the Borg Queen, “resistance is futile” (hello Star Trek geeks). I find that resistance is like a thick smog that is usually covering up some other emotion. Surrendering into it by focusing on the feeling of resistance and bringing it into your awareness usually helps you to move through it. You will probably then be confronted by another fear or emotion and we’ve already talked about how to move through our fears.
Boredom
-which is also a type of resistance. But also, perhaps you are uninspired by what you are doing. In that case, you need to think about the reason you are doing it. Perhaps the thing you are doing is boring and uninspiring but completing it will move you into the thing that IS inspiring or gets you closer to your goal. Finding the why essence in everything you do will make the doing a lot easier.
Be Ruthless!
It’s your life, your time, be ruthless with it. If you do have commitments that you can’t say no to, then you have to be firm with your time, and extra clear on your priorities. Focus your attention on the things that are going to move you forward in life and let everything else fall away. Don’t be busy for the sake of being busy. Remember your time is finite and more precious than gold, give it the sacred attention that it deserves and use it to create a life worth living.
Is the Deadline Realistic?
Of course, there is always the possibility that the project is too big to complete by the deadline. Pushing yourself to breaking point is not going to help you or your quality of work. This is when a virtual assistant can be your secret weapon for getting things done, giving you an extra set of capable hands to get you over the finishing line.
Now, stop reading this, and go, get on with crushing that deadline, task or project so you can move closer to your goals. I’m cheering you on! :)
Mela Davey
www.oxygenva.com | https://medium.com/@meladavey/https-medium-com-meladavey-how-to-deal-with-that-deadline-dread-91243ed07594 | ['Mela Davey'] | 2019-08-07 10:22:43.718000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Procrastination', 'Business'] |
The Realisation of My Sexual Fantasy Is on Hold | The Realisation of My Sexual Fantasy Is on Hold
And I did it to myself!
Photo by Ferdinand studio on Unsplash
A while ago, I wrote about how I didn’t have sexual fantasies and how I wasn't happy about it. Since then, I’ve been working on changing that — I felt sexual fantasies would bring fun and sexual excitement to my life. And I was right.
Because my partner, Mr P., goes along with anything I ask (and he gets the same from me), I knew that anything I’d fantasise about, he would make it happen.
Apart from going to a dungeon — the number one on my sexual bucket list — eventually have a threesome (an FMF one) and going to a fetish party, I couldn’t think about anything else to fantasise about. Not until I stopped overthinking it and allow me to go with the flow.
Last month, I found out my first real sexual fantasy. It came up naturally, without forcing it. But most important: it came up because I let down my defences.
Mr P. is in the army. Because of the lockdown, since March he has been out of it (it’s not his primary job). When the restrictions were lifted, he went back to the army work; soon he went out for an “army weekend”.
In our good morning texting, on that Saturday; I asked him to send me a picture of him, I wanted to see him (we couldn’t do a video call).
When I opened the picture, I got horny as hell! He was dressed in his army suit, I’ve never had seen him on it. I texted him back: “I want you to fuck me dressed like that.” He laughed and said, “ok”. What else?
A couple of weeks later, we would celebrate our six-months dating. We agreed we’d have a romantic dinner and a kinky night.
Our date was very romantic. We cooked together, both dressed up. He invited me to go for a meal out, but I was in the mood to stay indoors.
He had lit all the candles in the house (he has candleholders in the walls of the living room, on the dining table and along the stairs). The ambience was perfect; intimate and romantic.
We drank Prosecco, we talked, and we celebrated our marvellous and committed six-months relationship.
After dinner, my dog had to be walked. Usually, Mr P. comes with me, but that night he told me he had something he needed to take care of, for me to walk the dog without him.
I knew immediately it had something to do with sex; he wanted to prepare a scene.
I went out with my dog (with a big smile on my face.) I walked him longer than usual. I wanted to give time for my lover to get ready for whatever he was preparing, and to create an expectation for me to get back.
The same way, I wanted to create an expectation for myself.
While I walked my dog, I imagined what Mr P. was preparing for us. Would it be a wax scene? Was he preparing the handcuffs, whips and floggers? Was he going to ask me to dominate him?
The anticipation of sex is so delicious.
When I got home, I had an incredible vision: Mr P. was dressed in his army suit.
He was so hot in it. But so, so hot! I took my dog’s leash off, told him good night, grabbed Mr P.’s hand and dragged him to his bedroom, upstairs.
We started making out. My clothes flew around the room; his camouflage suit stayed on. The only thing that moved in the suit was the zip of the pants (that one had to be undone.) Ok, I grabbed it hard and pulled my man to me, dragging him through the camouflage suit, but I never undressed a piece from him.
We had an amazing fuck: me naked; he dressed in his camouflage suit. It was so intensely sexy and arousing!
I never thought a costume fantasy would be my thing. I still don’t think it is; I need to explore it more.
Mr P. is in the army, the suit it’s his; I feel it’s the power that comes with it, the ownership that makes me so horny. I’m not sure I’d feel the same if he dresses up in something it’s not him. I guess I’ll have to try.
Having my man dressed in an army suit, pinning me down on the bed and fucking me with desire, threw me to another dimension.
The realisation of the fantasy was spectacular. But it made me want more — a new fantasy was born from it. | https://medium.com/emma-london-writes/the-realisation-of-my-sexual-fantasy-is-on-hold-5574889049d8 | ['Emma London'] | 2020-11-04 22:31:10.374000+00:00 | ['Kink', 'Life', 'Fetish', 'Sexuality', 'Sex'] |
Marvin’s Best Weekly Reads December 6th, 2020 | “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” -Albert Einstein
Ryan Reynolds is one of the very few Hollywood celebrities who knows how to invest in and promote startups & products in such a savvy & effective way.
“Standing over a bear trap, Reynolds dryly states: “At Mint Mobile, we don’t hate you.”
Reynolds enjoys nearly 17 million Twitter followers & more than 36 million Instagram followers. He uses both platforms to promote his various brands without alienating his followers. Moreover, he doesn’t exclusively promote his brands on social media, but weaves in his own funny personal commentary or gives followers a peek into his marriage with Blake Lively, which we can all agree is #relationshipgoals.
Mint Mobile partners exclusively with T-Mobile to provide service, & unlike some other MVNOs, it uses a direct-to-consumer model, foregoing any physical footprint. Plans start at $15/month & top out at $30/month. CMO Aron North says that Reynolds’ ownership & involvement with Mint Mobile is “absolutely critical.”
“Ryan is an A plus plus celebrity, and he’s very funny and entertaining and engaging,” said North. “His reach has given us a much bigger platform to speak on. I would say he is absolutely critical in our success and our growth.”
https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/28/how-ryan-reynolds-and-mint-mobile-worked-without-becoming-the-joke/
2. Incredibly insightful and important for whatever you do.
“You see this pattern with startup founders too. You don’t want to start a startup to do something that everyone agrees is a good idea, or there will already be other companies doing it. You have to do something that sounds to most other people like a bad idea, but that you know isn’t — like writing software for a tiny computer used by a few thousand hobbyists, or starting a site to let people rent airbeds on strangers’ floors.
Ditto for essayists. An essay that told people things they already knew would be boring. You have to tell them something new.
But this pattern isn’t universal. In fact, it doesn’t hold for most kinds of work. In most kinds of work — to be an administrator, for example — all you need is the first half. All you need is to be right. It’s not essential that everyone else be wrong.
There’s room for a little novelty in most kinds of work, but in practice there’s a fairly sharp distinction between the kinds of work where it’s essential to be independent-minded, and the kinds where it’s not.”
“Independent-mindedness seems to be more a matter of nature than nurture. Which means if you pick the wrong type of work, you’re going to be unhappy. If you’re naturally independent-minded, you’re going to find it frustrating to be a middle manager. And if you’re naturally conventional-minded, you’re going to be sailing into a headwind if you try to do original research.”
http://paulgraham.com/think.html
3. Interesting list of countries. Would love to visit Colombia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Big fan of Armenia and Ukraine.
“Beyond any other metric that you care to mention, culture is important. How people think and how they act when faced with an obstacle is valuable information.
If they are not adaptable or hard-working, why should a nation full of people with such a mindset ever do well?
All around the world, there are countries with the capacity to be fantastic economic powerhouses, but for some reason or another, their progress was halted. It might have been that they didn’t have the technology, the business know-how, the capital markets, or the political system to move forward.
But the culture is there. And now they’re in a position to rise up to face the challenge, and you can make a tidy profit by helping them do so.”
https://nomadcapitalist.com/2020/06/24/international-investment-markets/
4. This is a good background on Ryan Reynolds advertising agency he co-runs.
“Besides being known for his role in the Deadpool movies, a witty Twitter presence, and his banters with Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds is also the co-founder of the ad agency, Maximum Effort Productions.
He heads the agency with George Dewey, content, communication, and creative professional who has worked at McCann, SpaceX, and Twentieth Century Fox.
The duo decided to formalize the venture in 2018 after their marketing efforts for Deadpool 2 raked in $785 million at the box office.”
https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/ads/ryan-reynolds-took-the-advertising-world-by-storm/
5. Man, I really want to go mushroom picking in Ukraine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/29/world/europe/ukraine-mushrooms.html
6. “As we steam towards the end of this “annus horribilis” and look to a brighter future, we need to rethink how we handle differences, of all kinds. Let us begin with this basic premise: weird is good. Lean in.”
https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/paulearle/2020/11/23/innovators-make-weird-work-for-you/amp/
7. I’m very optimistic here. I believe as horrible as Covid has been, it will awaken immense innovation and opportunities for all of us. It will end the Great Stagnation we’ve been in the last few decades
“But perhaps VR/AR can become the next consumer electronic platform with a whole suite of specialized productivity-enhancing features, similar to the previous waves of computers and mobile phones. It seems plausible that many future vaccines will be made more quickly using this same mRNA technique that (we hope) works for COVID.
Maybe specialized AI manages to find 20 to 40% improvements to basically every informationally complex task we do. Finally we could see driverless cars/trains/trucks fulfill their promise and reshape American cities in a more healthy and human-centric way. With advanced geothermal or nuclear energy we would not only have clean energy, but abundant energy too cheap to meter, with all the economic applications downstream benefiting from that.
If some combination of those things happen, we will look back at the roaring 20’s as the decade which broke through the Great Stagnation.”
https://www-agglomerations-tech.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.agglomerations.tech/cracks-in-the-great-stagnation/amp/
8. “We don’t expect successful business managers to be fortune tellers either. So what do you do if you can’t predict the future, and don’t want your company caught off-guard as you navigate an uncertain, ever-changing economic landscape?
We’ve found that nimble, adaptive companies tend to be successful over the long term and offer investors a wider margin of safety. Indeed, we would argue that relying exclusively on valuation for safety, especially given the accelerating pace of disruption in the Information Age, is downright dangerous.”
https://www.nzscapital.com/sitalweek/redefining-margin-of-safety
9. “The EU is the region with the greatest degree of participation in global value chains, but that participation — in the EU’s regional value chain as well as globally — is shrinking fast, a phenomenon that may have significant relevance for the integration of the EU single market. The EU’s decreasing role in value chains is linked to technological innovation and human capital. On both fronts, we find preliminary evidence that China is catching up very fast.”
https://1556865737385.medium.com/europe-is-losing-competitiveness-in-global-value-chains-while-china-surges-95bdb4b89adf
10. “The good news for entrepreneurs is that windows of opportunities for startups always keep opening and closing in various markets at different points in time. The bad news is that any particular window of opportunity remains open for a short time. Therefore, timing in a market can make or break a business. Launch too soon and customers reject it for being too unfamiliar and launch too late and the market is already well-established.
Both having no competitors or having too many competitors is a clear sign of wrong timing. Don’t build things nobody wants. And don’t build things that competitors are already fulfilling. Capitalism rewards rare and valuable.”
https://invertedpassion.com/dont-be-a-first-mover/
11. Interesting move but such an awesome eclectic career path like many of the best people in Silicon Valley (or anywhere).
https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/30/with-an-eye-for-whats-next-longtime-operator-and-vc-josh-elman-gets-pulled-into-apple/
12. Not sure how I feel about this. One of biggest things I missed in 2020 is going to a live bookstore and browsing around.
https://www.protocol.com/manuals/retail-resurgence/covid-forced-bookstores-online-can-they-survive
13. Sadly this is a bad outcome for the early investors and employees. Liquidation preferences matter.
What happens when you raise too much money too early and just don’t ship & sell to grow into your valuation. It happens alot.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/30/servicenow-is-acquiring-element-ai-the-canadian-startup-building-ai-services-for-enterprises/amp/
14. Not sure why anyone would be surprised here that China is fudging their Covid numbers. They fudge their economic growth numbers and most numbers. Period.
“I believe that the Chinese government is massively under-reporting infection data in the pandemic regions of Hubei and Zhejiang provinces.
Just like the American government massively over-reported North Vietnamese casualty data in the Vietnam War.”
https://www.epsilontheory.com/body-count/
15. Hard not to get outraged by reading this. There is alot here & it’s aged well since April.
“Those stories are dying. They are dying because the institutions built on those stories failed us all, and all at once.
First, the people die; then, the stories.
The failures of these institutions were not simple mistakes, evidence of wrongness of one kind or another. The failures of these institutions were failures of narrative, devastating revelations of each institution’s fundamental inability to do what they said they would do.
“Friends, for the first time in any of our lifetimes, everyone around us is seeing the same things that we are seeing about the same institutions. They know the same things we know. We may all observe in real-time the brokenness of a fragile economic system built on the present-efficient tools of the Long Now, the over-optimization of cash, inventory, supply chains, operating and financial leverage.
We may all observe in real-time how complexity makes liars out of global institutions designed with political pacification of the masses (“All is well!”) as their primary purpose.
First the People
16. Good one from my buddy.
“The fact that more founders are choosing to create syndicates highlights another shift in early-stage venture capital: the stigma around “party rounds” is all but gone. In the past, having no clear lead was seen as risky due to the lack of available follow-on capital. “If things go south,” the narrative went, “no one will bail you out.” While that can still hold true to some extent, it’s far less of an issue that in previous years, particularly at the early stages.”
“Free of the stigma of syndicates and with an unprecedented number of early-stage funding options, I expect we’ll see many more founders raise “non-traditional” Pre-Seed and Seed rounds in the years ahead.”
https://ckneumann.medium.com/why-vc-unbundling-is-great-for-founders-5e9420870d82
17. Key lessons from the Salesforce acquisition of Slack. Think it makes alot of sense.
“What you can learn:
— Bundling is magic.
— Salesforce and Microsoft are the main two natural acquirers for any enterprise SaaS product.
— If you control the right layer in the value chain — like a central hub for employee communication — the strategic value of your position might be worth more to acquirers than as a stand-alone money-printing business.”
https://divinations.substack.com/p/why-salesforce-bought-slack-430
18. “While the story of American Dream is unique in many ways, its struggles are emblematic of the bleak future facing many US malls and department stores — whose destinies have long been intertwined. The downfall of these onetime crown jewels of retail will have meaningful impacts on the Americans who work for them and the communities they’ve long called home.”
“Across the US, department stores are shrinking or shuttering altogether. In 2011, US department stores employed 1.2 million employees across 8,600 stores, according to estimates from the research firm IBISWorld. But in 2020, there are now fewer than 700,000 employees in the sector, working across just over 6,000 locations.”
https://www.vox.com/recode/21717536/department-store-middle-class-amazon-online-shopping-covid-19
19. Lots of great founder wisdom here from cofounder of Segment.
“The startups who most rapidly improve are the ones who are able to take outside information, and then incorporate it into their product, their strategy, and their worldview. That’s why, you should always be optimizing for one metric in addition to revenue and user growth: learning.
At any given time, your startup should have somewhere between 1–3 existential risks. Big questions that you are worried about that you really want the answers to. It’s your job to get the answers to these questions.”
“For most startups, it’s better to do a few things well than try and do too many things poorly.”
https://calv.info/early-stage-lessons
20. So very interesting for architecture fans. Super trippy pics of Soviet architecture.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/dec/02/hotels-fit-for-a-kgb-officer-soviet-cities-in-the-twilight-in-pictures
21. This is SUPER interesting & a BIG DEAL!
“Liquidity is Coming” to startup land!
https://henrysward.medium.com/liquidity-is-coming-761a9140dedd
22. WOW. I mean HP totally sucks now & sort of irrelevant but they were one of the first in Silicon Valley. This move to Houston is kind of big deal and signal.
“Sobering” is right. This is not just an indictment of Silicon Valley but the poorly governed extreme left wing progressive mess that is California. (BTW I am left wing too)
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/is-silicon-valley-losing-its-shine-4275033/
23. “So what do I believe the future holds for venture partnerships vs. solo capitalists?
I believe solo capitalists are here to stay. They are finding founder-investor fit with a number of entrepreneurs, and leading competitive financing rounds. They’re an interesting option for founders, and an exciting career path for investors at any stage.
But I do also believe that the best partnerships have advantages that enable them to out-perform on all aspects of the venture capital model over a long period of time.”
https://nbt.substack.com/p/venture-partnerships-vs-solo-capitalists
24. Ben is super credible and has a very impressive portfolio as both an angel and VC. No surprise this fund is oversubscribed.
“Between the more than five years that Ling spent with Sand Hill Road firm and the “nearly 80” investments he made as an angel investor before that, he says he has invested in 10 “unicorns” altogether so far, including Rippling, Airtable, Udemy, Quora, Instacart, Gusto, and the now publicly traded companies Pagerduty, Square, Lyft, and Palantir.
A Stanford PhD in computer science, Ling insists that by working as a lone GP — one supported by three principals — he can continue getting into more hot deals, too. “It’simportant because you can make decisions much more quickly, whereas in partnerships, you have to get a partner looped in, and all those days can cost you an investment opportunity.”
https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/03/ben-lings-bling-capital-just-rounded-up-113-million-more-from-investors/
25. This is a pretty neat story. Nav the Flash crash trader.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDEWVJan0s
26. This is a good retrospective look at 2020: reminder that as crap as it was, there may be some good things coming out of the year where the world literally has changed.
https://www.gq.com/story/the-best-things-about-2020
27. This is sad but it shows that EVERYONE faces their own internal demons. Even more so when you have resources to enable them. The world lost a good man here.
“He fostered so much human connection and happiness, yet there was this void,” the close friend continued. “It was difficult for him to be alone.”
“In some ways, count him as another Covid-19 victim, except that instead of succumbing to the disease itself, the virus appears to have accelerated some wrenching internal battles and a series of terrible external decisions.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/
28. “Find your purpose in life through meditation and prayer. Or, find your calling through repeated and difficult failure in life.
But once you find that purpose, devote yourself to that ideal and don’t let it go. You are here for a reason. Put everything else out of your mind. Pay whatever price you must. Seek out your goal with single-minded fervour.
Be careful not to limit yourself too narrowly when you devote yourself to your ideal purpose. The Greeks understood the danger of doing so.”
“The Greeks were not trying to create men who would easily be pulled into various different directions. They were actually trying to build men who were good at being MEN. This lifestyle would create men with strong bodies, minds, and souls. That was the Greek notion of balance: a body, mind, and soul working in harmony.
This reached its apotheosis with, of all things, the Spartan agoge. The agoge was a brutal and terrifying system of education by soft, weak, and pitiful modern standards.”
https://didacticmind.com/2020/12/devote-yourself-to-an-ideal.html
29. Lots of good insights here. Well worth a read for founders and investors.
“One thing few people realize about billionaires is that all of them could have stopped sooner. They could have gotten acquired, or found someone else to run the company. Many founders do. The ones who become really rich are the ones who keep working. And what makes them keep working is not just money. What keeps them working is the same thing that keeps anyone else working when they could stop if they wanted to: that there’s nothing else they’d rather do.
That, not exploiting people, is the defining quality of people who become billionaires from starting companies. So that’s what YC looks for in founders: authenticity. People’s motives for starting startups are usually mixed. They’re usually doing it from some combination of the desire to make money, the desire to seem cool, genuine interest in the problem, and unwillingness to work for someone else. The last two are more powerful motivators than the first two. It’s ok for founders to want to make money or to seem cool. Most do. But if the founders seem like they’re doing it just to make money or just to seem cool, they’re not likely to succeed on a big scale.”
http://paulgraham.com/ace.html
30. “Savvy investors have realised that diversification is as relevant to lifestyle planning as it is to wealth management. By spreading their assets across a range of markets and jurisdictions, over time they are more likely to harvest returns than if they hedge their bets on one country alone — even if that is a world-leading nation.”
“Increasingly, people prefer the concept of being a global citizen, rather than being solely tied to the country of their birth,” he said. “They too value the many associated benefits including visa-free travel, world-class education, optimal healthcare, political and economic stability, reduced tax liabilities and wider business and career opportunities.
“The pandemic has brought into sharp focus what really matters to people: family, freedom and security.”
https://international-adviser.com/number-of-hnws-seeking-second-passport-skyrockets/
31. “Outside of the positive changes that COVID-19 is bringing *for a select group[* (ability to save tons of time and increase margins), we can look at the implications of the December shut down which are as follows: 1) more restaurants/retail will be shut down for good, 2) this will cause online sales to see a significant boost in December, 3) companies that were on the fence about remote working, will likely make it a permanent option, 4) major cities will continue to see outflows for example SF -> Nevada/Texas, Boston/NYC -> Miami/Carolinas, and preference for lower cost cities such as Nashville, 5) executives will be paid a *lot* since they know their workers won’t be able to move easily & 6) additional loss of trust with the government will make a vaccine deployment harder as citizens will not trust the initial solution.
Putting feelings aside, that appears to be the impact of the decision to shut down businesses in major cities. That said, you (yes you the reader) has to adapt or die. Keep your costs at near zero (especially if you own anything related to brick and mortar) and continue to build an online business/presence. The big will get bigger, but at least e-tail/online sales is a growing market.”
https://wallstreetplayboys.com/realizing-time-can-be-saved-and-comments-on-december/
Listen to this Newsletter: https://listencat.com/the-hard-fork-by-marvin-liao-podcast/ | https://medium.com/@marvinliao/marvins-best-weekly-reads-december-6th-2020-8e1edd96ec33 | ['Marvin Liao'] | 2020-12-06 11:06:10.884000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Founders', 'Startup Lessons', 'Venture Capital', 'Silicon Valley'] |
Owning Your Crime | Owning Your Crime
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
In the process of USDA’s hammering out plea deals with the accused, the government stresses that defendants should “own” their crime. Maybe they feel it’s the first step toward rehabilitation and an indication of their defendant’s maturity.
Hard to say. You’d have to ask them. Whatever the issues which led to my stay at MCC, denial certainly wasn’t one of them. I had absolutely no problem admitting that I’d underreported income and thus attracted the attention of the law.
Upon hearing about my predicament, a friend of mine’s mother commented “why do they bother with Billy? Why don’t they go after Trump?” I appreciated the sentiment, but told John “my current dilemma has nothing to do with Donald Trump — and has everything to do with me. What he does is his business. And what I did is mine.” But I appear to be in the minority when it comes to owning my indiscretions.
Take the President for example. Never mind about allegations that he’s not the country’s most diligent taxpayer. What happened when that “grab ’em by the pussy” tape surfaced? How would a real man respond?
By me, he’d say “I’m completely embarrassed by what I said. It was totally inappropriate, insensitive, misogynistic and juvenile. I apologize to anybody and everybody offended and vow to never say anything like that again.” That would have been a nice start.
So what happened? Trump responded by citing Bill Clinton as a much worse offender when it came to talking trash about women. That is what I call not owning your crime. I wonder why I, a nobody in the grand scheme of things, is told to man up to my own mistakes, while the President of the United States gets a pass.
I roomed with Paul Manafort during my stay at MCC federal prison. Coincidentally, I knew more about Paulie’s mistakes than 99% of the inmates and staff at the prison. I’d researched his crimes and written a blog post on the subject.
In fact, one night down at suicide watch, after describing concisely to a fellow inmate exactly who Paul Manafort was — and what he’d done to get himself locked up — Jeffrey Epstein (who was also in attendance) commented “that’s the best synopsis of Paul Manafort’s crimes I’ve ever heard!” And this was coming from the teaching part of Jeffrey’s personality which gained the favor of many a multi-millionaire while he taught at one of New York City’s most elite private schools. And not the part which led him to abuse teenagers.
I can say a few positive things about Paul Manafort. He was an intelligent and considerate celly. But not once did he own his crimes. It was all about the media twisting his story — and how abused he’d been by them — and all that horse shit so reminiscent of the guy whose campaign he ran.
How difficult would it have been for him to say “I didn’t feel like paying taxes on that Ukranian dictator’s money. It was a poor decision in retrospect. Look where it got me.”
Paulie used to get up in the middle of the night, turn on his special prison reading light, and dig into the bible. And I’d wonder “Is this his way of acknowledging his crimes? Is he saying ‘I’m sorry’ to God?” I never asked him. I just took it as one of my cellies’ (I had six of them in a year) quirks. They all had them.
I don’t hold myself above Paulie or the President just because I own my crime while they don’t. I just wonder how guys like that rise to the top of the food chain, and in the President’s case, manage to gain the favor of the electorate given how they act when it comes to being a man. | https://medium.com/doing-time/owning-your-crime-518162ad392 | ['William', 'Dollar Bill'] | 2020-12-07 13:49:39.031000+00:00 | ['Manafort', 'Trump', 'Rehabilitation', 'Prison', 'Politics'] |
ULTRA ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES AND TRADING (SMC - PRIVATE) LIMITED Let’s Safe and Secure Your… | ULTRA ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES AND TRADING (SMC - PRIVATE) LIMITED
Let’s Safe and Secure Your Premises!
UET Trading starts to serve a project from the very beginning; the conceptual design stage. UET Trading assists the architects, engineers or building consultants to specify fire protection and security systems according to latest international codes and standards and acceptable to local authorities.
What’s App # +92 330 7961912
+924232112140
Ultra Engineering Technologies and Trading (SMC – Private) Limited Main Systems.
Clean agent Fire Suppression Systems
FM200
CO2
Novec 1230
ECARO 25
Proinert
Foam
High Pressure Water mist system
Water Sprinkler
Kitchenhood R102
Fire Alarm Systems
Fire Alarm Systems
Hochiki
Gas Leak Detection System
Voice Evacuation Systems
CCTV
Get A Free Quote
Postal Address: G.T Road Opposite Central Hospital, P.O Box 19200, Saidu, Sharif Swat, KPK, Pakistan.
Head Office : DUBAI , UAE , FREE ZONE.
What’s App: +9242321121401 / +923307961912
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.uettrade.com
Ultra Groups:
www.ultra-jobs.com For Jobs
www.ultra-onlineshopping.com For online shopping
www.uettrade.com For Engineering Products. | https://medium.com/@engineer192168/ultra-engineering-technologies-and-trading-smc-private-limited-lets-safe-and-secure-your-f021b51a3cb6 | [] | 2021-05-08 15:15:10.421000+00:00 | ['Access Control', 'Fire Fighters', 'Security Camera', 'Foam', 'Fire'] |
problems with wet pussy. | problems with wet pussy.
a poem about WAP.
Which one is the slut? Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
the world is ending and
people still have a
problem with wet pussy.
even as everyone is sexualizing
themselves
onlyfans
findoms
selling foot pics, yeah, even now
people are still pretending
wet pussy is the problem.
some people got $1200 to hold them over
applied for things they didn’t qualify for
told they worked too much, too little
had the wrong kind of job
but we are being punished by god
because wet pussy is the problem.
edit the word throat
out of the song —
not because it’s a bad word but
it’s implied there’s a dick in it.
as usual, a dick being in something
defines it forever.
makes it bad.
the problem is used pussy.
the problem is
you can’t tell if it’s used
they used to say it was sealed
like a fuckin’
pill bottle
they used to say they could “tell”
they used words like
roast beef to define a pussy that was
worn out.
but they lied. they couldn’t tell.
they couldn’t tell
virgins from mothers
gymnasts from strippers
teachers from their favorite
onlyfans accounts
they couldn’t tell cis from trans—
that’s the problem.
they
couldn’t
tell
and they made it our problem —
they couldn’t tell
so they made it seem like
we had tricked them. we tricked them when
we paraded our pussies around
we put on a costume and they couldn’t tell
we put on an act and they couldn’t tell
we were ourselves, our plain selves, and they couldn’t tell.
Why is it my fault you thought I was
a virgin? Why is it my fault you thought I was
a whore? Why is my fault you made an
assumption about what is between my legs and
why am I accountable for your rage
for your world ending?
the problem is
pussy is pussy.
wet, then dry.
dilated, then small again.
alive, ever-changing.
the problem is
pussy is pussy
sometimes bleeding
sometimes not.
there’s nothing to tell you its
status
you can’t calculate its worth
based on things that have been in it.
based on things it
was in the past.
the problem is
pussy is pussy.
flexible, able to
regulate itself, heal itself.
it doesn’t need
your opinion
your products
your standards
the right color
the right smell
the right powder, the right dryness
the right number of orgasms
a lack of orgasms
the right number of babies
a lack of babies
to be. | https://medium.com/are-you-okay/problems-with-wet-pussy-a05c6625940b | ['Lisa Martens'] | 2020-09-09 02:20:15.923000+00:00 | ['Sexism', 'Society', 'Poetry', 'Poem', 'Sexuality'] |
Top 10 in PropTech: Current Trends in Real Estate Technology | Blockchain. Blockchain use can potentially revolutionize rental property payments by removing middlemen and reducing transaction cost. It can facilitate cost effectiveness and better decision-making in leasing processes with the use of a shared database, where an entire vertical of stakeholders including owners, tenants and service providers can interact with ownership information, or transaction history in an open and secure way. Real estate assets can be tokenized and made transferable with the use of blockchain. Brickblock is a smart contract platform that allows users to buy tokenized shares of real-world assets with cryptocurrency with an aim to remove barriers to entry imposed by traditional financial institutions.
The introduction of smart contracts into real estate ledgers and transactions have the capability to restructure various processes such as transfers of ownership and documents. Propy integrates blockchain technology for governments to instantly verify online title deeds issuance for a property in a secure and cost-effective way.
Building Information Modelling (BIM). Building Information Modeling is a smart 3D model-based process that enables architects, engineers, and construction professionals to plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructures efficiently and the information can be used throughout the life cycle of the property. Snaptrude is an intelligent CAD (Computer-aided Design) software for real estate, which transforms a hand drawn sketch of a floor plan to a 3D BIM within seconds.
CyBe Construction.
Construction Technology (ConTech). Proceeding from an economically necessary view of the entire property life cycle, ConTech has the potential to automatically become the focus of interest. The global construction industry is booming and there is a need for technological advancement with the current explosion in construction cost. CyBe Construction is pushing the boundaries of 3D concrete printing and as a result, is driving this change in the Construction industry. These technological advancements will not only make the industry cost-effective but also sustainable.
Giraffe 360°.
Drone Technology. The extraordinary aerial imagery of real estate that we are able to look at today has only been made possible through the use of drone technology. It can be used for everything starting from high rise office buildings to pre-eminent properties along the coast to sports stadiums to wildlife parks. It has helped agents in selling large estates by providing important information and property overview to the buyers. On the other hand, camera drones and its ground-based substitute, glide-cams, are being used to create indoor virtual tours and videos for both residential and commercial spaces. GIRAFFE 360° enables effortless digital space capture for virtual tours, floor plan and wide-angle photography and improves the experience of property viewing for the buyers.
Geolocations. Geolocation technology transforms simple maps into full sets of critical data about real estate and properties. It can not only pinpoint where buyers are in the traditional sales cycle by utilizing predictive analytic technologies but can also pinpoint their physical location. It enables real estate developers to make far more accurate valuations based on economic strategies. Further, geolocation technology plays a very crucial role in real estate marketing and has the capacity to change how properties are marketed and traded. geothinQ visualizes property data, county maps, topography, flood zone maps, soils and more in order to analyze the value of land. It provides more accurate access to parcel data that accelerates risk versus reward analysis for land acquisition, land use planning and land development and therefore enables smarter decision making.
Internet of Things (IoT). In simple terms, IoT can be described as items and structures equipped with sensors that internet applications can read and can translate into usable digital data. IoT can improve both the real estate industry and individuals everyday lives by its varied application from predictive maintenance to accelerated decision making to increased energy efficiency to count a few.
There is a rising opportunity for alternative housing solutions equipped with IoT as the age demography in Europe changes with the increase in the aging population. Better @ Home offers a tailor-made and modular expandable solution for equipping real estate with age and comfort. The concept is designed to enable older people to live at home as long as possible without compromising on safety and self-determination.
Sharing Economy. The ‘Sharing Economy’, interchangeably used for the term ‘Collaborative Consumption’, represents an economic revolution built around an economic philosophy that space and capital goods are better shared. In the real estate industry, it has its application in nearly all domains including residential, hospitality, retail, storage and office spaces. Estimates suggest that there is a rise in the number of single households, and this has and will increase the demand for shared services, as it provides lower fixed cost for people involved.
The drastic increase in the number of co-working spaces in the last few years is also indicative of the increase in the demand for shared services. Containerwerk upgrades used shipping containers by an innovative insulation process into a high-quality buildings and space modules that can be used for student hostels, co-working spaces or micro-living to count a few. | https://medium.com/sicos-publication/top-10-in-proptech-current-trends-in-real-estate-technology-8056c10d561b | [] | 2019-01-31 16:52:21.287000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Stokr', 'Big Data', 'Real Estate', 'Drones'] |
We Are Not All in The Same Boat | I saw this on social media a couple of days ago and it’s stayed with me. There’s no known author that I can find.
I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked, and mine might not be.
Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflections, of re-connection, easy in flip-flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial and family crisis.
For some that live alone, they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest, and time with their mother, father, sons and daughters.
With the $600 (US) weekly increase in unemployment, some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working.
Others are working more hours for less money, due to pay cuts or loss in commissioned sales.
Some families of four just received $3400 from the stimulus package, while other families of four saw $0.
Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter, while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk, and eggs for the weekend.
Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break quarantine.
Some are at home spending two to three hours a day, helping their child with online schooling, while others are doing the same on top of a 10–12 hour work day.
Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it, and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it.
Others don’t believe this is a big deal.
Some have faith in God and expect miracles this year.
Others say the worst is yet to come.
We are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm, experiencing a very different journey. — Unknown Author | https://medium.com/swlh/we-are-not-all-in-the-same-boat-ebf7d44a8e53 | ['Chloe Cuthbert'] | 2020-04-21 21:33:28.630000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Pandemic', 'Personal Development', 'Self-awareness', 'Social Media'] |
8 Things That a Mobile App Can Do That Your Website Can’t | Modern day businesses often have internal debates about the importance of building different digital assets, specifically when it comes to mobile apps versus websites versus web apps.
A lot of people feel you don’t need a smartphone app, and that you just need a website that looks fine on mobile devices. Others claim mobile apps have advantages that cannot be offered by a website. Who’s right? In this article, we will explore the differences between these three types of software to identify where mobile apps set themselves apart from web-only products.
You might assume that web apps and mobile apps are the same in nature, but in reality, they are not. They aren’t just different in terms of their structure; they are also built for different classes of user. To start, let’s review the structural differences between progressive web applications and websites.
Progressive Web Apps Defined
A progressive web app (PWA) is essentially a version of a website that operates correctly, fluidly, and in a user-friendly way on mobile devices. Specifically, web apps work like downloadable apps, but all from the convenience of the browser of your mobile device computer. In this way, they fall between websites and mobile apps, as they act like websites, but provide an experience that is comparable to native apps.
Native Apps Defined
Native apps are apps created for a specific platform, such as iOS for the Apple iPhone or Android for any Android-based smartphone. They are usually downloaded and installed via an app store and have access to device resources such as GPS and the camera functionality. Native applications live on the device itself and run on it.
Some examples of popular mobile apps are Snapchat, Instagram, Google Maps, and Facebook Messenger. Unlike web apps, which are accessed through the internet browser and adapt to any computer you are on, native apps are constrained to the device that they are running on. Some web apps are dynamic and interactive enough to adjust according to the size of different displays, but most are static.
Why Build a Mobile App?
So how is it that native mobile platforms can offer different functionality than web interfaces? Well, by definition, there are multiple useful features that are exclusively available on mobile apps. These features include the following, which we’ll discuss in detail below:
Use of device-specific features Ease of personalization Offline usage Easier user access Better speed Push notifications Brand visibility Design freedom
Use of device-specific features
When using smartphone applications, users can access device-specific functions such as screenshot, camera, dictionary, GPS, autocorrect, and touch screen (which is not present on most desktops or laptops).
Screenshots in particular are a highly common use case, as they are very simple to take and save for future use when reading an article, watching a fashion show, or capturing some other on-screen event. The simple zoom in and zoom out functions offered by touch screens enable easy cropping and focus.
These features can reduce the time to perform common tasks and boost convenience.
Ease of personalization
Mobile apps give you the liberty to personalize the user experience on the basis of their preferences, location, usage patterns, and more. With smartphone applications, it’s easy to present consumers with a highly personalized interface. In addition, a mobile app can also allow users to customize the app’s appearance as per their preferences.
Offline usage
Offline usage not especially easy to implement, but it may be the most significant advantage offered by mobile applications. Although mobile applications usually require internet access to perform much of their duties, they may still offer basic content and features to users in offline mode.
For example, consider health and wellness applications. These apps can provide functionality such as a diet plan, calorie chart, body measurement, water intake alert, and many more, even without the assistance of an internet connection.
Easier user access
Mobile users spend 86% [1] of their time on mobile apps and just 14% on mobile websites. In comparison, the total time consumers spend on mobile applications is also growing, rising in one year by 21 percent. There is no doubt that people invest much of their time on social media applications and gaming applications, which are often native mobile apps.
Better speed
A well-designed mobile app will certainly perform at a much faster speed than a mobile website.
In comparison to websites, which typically use web servers, applications generally store their data locally on mobile devices. For this reason, in mobile applications, data extraction is easy to perform. In addition, by storing user preferences and using them to take proactive actions on behalf of users, apps can save users time.
Smartphone applications should function more efficiently on a technological level, too, as websites on smartphones use JavaScript code (typically much less efficient than native code languages). What happens in the background is a puzzle to most users, so the faster app type — in this case, mobile apps — wins this category from a UX perspective.
Push notifications
There are two forms of smartphone app alerts: push notifications and in-app alerts. They are both attention-grabbing options that connect in a relatively non-invasive way for smartphone users. In-app alerts are alerts that can only be accessed by users when they open an app.
On the other hand, push notifications are displayed to users regardless of the operation they are currently performing on their mobile device. This is a powerful way to grab the user’s attention; in fact, there have been some cases where push notifications delivered click-through rates of 40 percent or higher.
It goes without saying that the notification campaigns have to be thoughtfully prepared. Users will resent being constantly pinged by notifications that don’t deliver urgent or relevant information.
Technically, push notifications for progressive web apps can also be implemented by utilizing third-party services, but these services are currently in a preliminary stage and have some limitations.
Brand visibility
Consumers devote a large portion of their time to mobile app interaction. It’s fair to assume that many people, every day, seek out a company’s app icon on their smartphones. For app makers, this daily experience can be used as a promotional opportunity. [2]
Even if people do not use a smartphone app actively, they will be reminded of it whenever they see their home screen. The app icon works as a brand mini-ad for the brand.
Design freedom
Even with all the technical advances in web design, to perform even the most basic functions, mobile websites have to rely a lot on browsers. Mobile websites rely on browser features to function, such as the “back” button, “refresh” button, and address bar.
None of these limitations apply to mobile applications.
Based on advanced gestures like “tap”, “swipe”, “drag”, “pinch”, “hold”, and more, a mobile app can be programmed with a lot of elaborate functions. These gestures can be used by apps to provide creative features that can help users complete their tasks more intuitively. For instance, using a swipe gesture, an app will allow users to move to the next or previous phase.
Mobile Apps Offer Unique Advantages
Websites may capture a broader range of traffic, but for businesses that can make use of the above features, a smartphone app is essential. Native apps and websites can work together in a satisfying way to build an omnichannel user experience that draws user traffic and results in tremendous user growth.
This is true across a wide array of business types. If you’re an e-commerce store, why not encourage visitors to buy from your website as well as through an app? Churches can use mobile apps to release revised sermon notes prior to the service and then record audio and video. Restaurants can provide modified menus, instructions, and online orders. Magazines may submit push alerts when new papers are written. Consider both web and mobile properties into your customer engagement plan, instead of one or the other.
Crowdbotics specializes in converting websites and web apps into mobile apps. We offer custom, cross-platform app builds that let companies get their content to customers on all of their devices. If you’re looking to expand your marketing strategy to include omnichannel engagement, get in touch with a Crowdbotics expert today.
Sources:
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/04/02/the-mobile-browser-is-dead-long-live-the-app/#5c5ef237614d
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2014/11/17/heres-why-your-business-needs-its-own-mobile-app/#30b288b2327f | https://medium.com/crowdbotics/8-things-that-a-mobile-app-can-do-that-your-website-cant-faeb695f7601 | ['Allah-Nawaz Qadir'] | 2020-10-28 16:20:58.948000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Marketing', 'Mobile App Development', 'Website Development', 'Application Development', 'Crowdbotic'] |
Flexbox ile gerçek dünya uygulamaları | in Both Sides of the Table | https://medium.com/arabamlabs/flexbox-ile-ger%C3%A7ek-d%C3%BCnya-uygulamalar%C4%B1-df884e4b1ad6 | ['Emre Yasin Çolakoğlu'] | 2018-03-28 09:53:56.817000+00:00 | ['Flexbox', 'CSS', 'Frontend', 'Front End Development'] |
Developing Desktop Apps for Windows: XAML Islands vs WinUI vs UWP | Our Case
We wanted the modern-looking UI, but several doubts arose about accessing OS resources, as we would most likely need extensive access to the file system and the global registry. Then, instead of going directly with UWP, we decided to try an alternative that would give us unrestricted access to those resource and a modern-looking UI.
XAML Islands
XAML Islands is basically a way to add UWP UI controls into desktop applications. Our intent was to do everything we could in UWP, but have the base application be a desktop application so that we would not have troubles when trying to access restricted resources. Everything went well at first, but soon we started finding several limitations. Here is a list of “limitations and workarounds” in the official XAML Islands documentation. Although most of times it is hard to explore deeper into all limitations just by looking such kind of lists.
For example, we thought it would be good to use UWP file pickers in some parts of the UI, but it turns out that XAML Islands do not support open dialogs so pickers will fail. There is a workaround explained here using the IInitializeWithWindow pattern, but this starts showing how many things become harder to implement.
As another example, we wanted to be able to open our application from the system tray and hide it when closed. This is easy to do in WPF, you just hide the Window and the corresponding taskbar icon when initializing the app. But when initializing an application using XAML Islands, a taskbar icon from a process that was not even part of our application appears, and it would not go away until we showed a window. We did a non-elegant work-around of creating an additional transparent window and then removing it just to make that icon go away. We also had to find workarounds for other features like theme changes.
Figuring out how to…
The main problem with XAML Islands is not only that it has so many limitations, but more importantly, that there is very little documentation other than the official one. This caused us to have to spend hours or days for every one of these workarounds we had to do.
Furthermore, we had seen in this official documentation that some Windows APIs can be called from a desktop application. This would be helpful as some APIs from the Windows Runtime API were more appropriate for our use than the .NET ones, but when we tried to use them, most of the Windows APIs require a package identity, and this package identity would place the restrictions like making it a full UWP app, partially defeating the purpose of not using UWP.
This may change in the future, as it seems that starting from Windows 10 May 2020 Update (version 2004), desktop applications are allowed to have a package identity without having to be placed in a sandbox (More information).
If you decide to go with XAML Islands, other than the official documentation, this post from the Windows Developer blog can prove very useful.
At this point, we thought it may be better to try just going full UWP instead.
Full UWP desktop apps using the FullTrustProcessLauncher API
One of the first things we noticed when starting our prototype in UWP is that the systray icon does not exist in UWP. For this, and other requirements that would potentially need a desktop application, we looked for an alternative, and found the FullTrustProcessLauncher API. This API basically allows a desktop application to be launched from another UWP application, and vice-versa.
To be able to use the FullTrustProcessLauncher API, the runFullTrust restricted capability must be added to the manifest.
In our case, our desktop application only contained the taskbar component with a menu to open the UWP one.
Desktop applications can be uploaded to the Microsoft Store, but keep in mind that doing so will require a more complicated (and onerous) process than with UWP apps because it contains the runFullTrust restricted capability. (More information)
One of the biggest differences between UWP and desktop apps, the Application Lifecycle
Since UWP aims to create applications for both desktop and mobile devices, its lifecycle process must take into consideration the battery restrictions on mobile devices. As such, UWP applications normally cannot run indefinitely hidden in the background as desktop apps can. We say normally because Microsoft added in its Windows version 1703, a set of APIs to allow extended or indefinite execution in the background, but that has other restrictions.
In UWP, if you close an application, it directly goes to the “Not Running” state, which means the process is killed, and you lose any non-saved data. If you do not close it, but instead minimize it, or change focus to another application, then after a few seconds the application will be suspended. When an application is suspended, there is the possibility that the system may terminate its process if it needs the resources, or if it is drawing too much battery. Therefore, it is needed to save the application state before the application goes into the suspended state. UWP apps can have a handler function set to its Suspended event, where they can save the state. This execution is limited to 5 seconds (10 for mobile devices), so Microsoft recommends partially saving application data while it is still running so that smaller operations are needed on the suspended event. If the handler of the Suspended event does not finish within the time limit, the application will be terminated.
The Application Lifecycle
Executing code from the background in UWP
The UWP way to do background processing is using Background Tasks. These tasks are classes that are registered to execute code when certain conditions are met, even if the application is not currently running at that time. Once a task is registered, it will last until unregistered, until the application is uninstalled or reinstalled, but it is recommended to re-register them on application launch.
There are several different triggers that allow for many conditions for starting execution, but there is another limitation, which is resources. Background tasks can run up to 10 minutes if the app is running in the foreground, or 30 seconds otherwise. This can be a limitation for many desktop applications that need to do intensive background processing. The execution time can be extended indefinitely by setting the extendedExecutionUnconstrained capability in the manifest.
Be aware that adding the extendedExecutionUnconstrained restricted capability will prevent the application from being deployable to the Microsoft Store.
Another issue to watch out for is that background tasks may be limited by the system in their memory usage, as they are expected to be lightweight. In the official documentation, there are guidelines for creating background tasks, but overall, they seem to be aimed at doing minor tasks.
Windows Control
Another difference between UWP and WPF or XAML Islands is the way windows are controlled. Controlling windows in UWP is more restricted.
Package limitations
One last issue we will mention in this post is the limitations that are inherent in requiring an MSIX package. Another feature we wanted to have was to add a shell extension to, for example, provide additional functionality to the file explorer context menu, and add overlay icons. In a desktop application, we could do this by using Shell extension handlers. The problem is that to register these extensions, we needed to modify the global registry, and this is not allowed in packaged applications.
After some investigations, it seems that it is possible to do things like adding shell extensions, but the way to do it is using the package manifest schema. The problem with using the package manifest schema is that the official documentation is quite scarce, and documentation other than the official one is almost non-existent. So, it is a thing to have in consideration, that features which need the global registry to be modified (for example, if another application needs to access these modifications) are possible but doing it can take a long time. | https://medium.com/southworks/developing-desktop-apps-for-windows-xaml-islands-vs-winui-vs-uwp-12dd0281e37c | ['Nicolás Bello Camilletti'] | 2020-12-10 21:34:58.035000+00:00 | ['Winui', 'Uwp', 'Csharp', 'Xaml', 'Windows'] |
Finding Peace With My Father’s Memory at Thanksgiving | Finding Peace With My Father’s Memory at Thanksgiving
Compassion and gratitude helped this fatherless daughter move from feelings of abandonment to forgiveness.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
By Lisa M. Blacker
The dying of an estranged family member can be as difficult as the dying of a close loved one.
The last time I saw my father alive and well was the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 1996. We hadn’t talked since the 50th-anniversary party of his parents a decade earlier. After just moving back into the old neighborhood, we bumped into each other, as neighbors do.
We exchanged awkward pleasantries and after brief chit-chat, I invited him to have dinner with me for the holiday, thinking it would be a good opportunity to get re-acquainted. He agreed and accepted my invitation, but when the day arrived, he didn’t. My father stood me up; deserted me just as he had done when I was a toddler before he and my mother divorced.
I remember that last day we were a cohesive family. I was three and we lived in a garden apartment on a busy street at the edge of the city. I was standing on the couch looking out the window, waiting for him to come home from work. He was late and my mother was worried and upset. He got out on the passenger side of an old beat-up red pick-up truck driven by a co-worker and headed straight for the front door.
My mother greeted him with a kiss on his cheek. She quietly asked him why he was so late. Standing just inside the doorway where I could see, he slapped her across her face. I was scared and didn’t understand how he could hurt my mommy. She must have swept me and my baby sister out of the room and soon, out of the apartment. I don’t remember anything more in that apartment after that incident.
I later learned that my father had a short fuse and was often in trouble for fighting. When people learned of my last name and asked me if I was related to him, the usual response I got after replying, “Yes, he’s my father” was, “Oh, I’m sorry.” I once asked someone who was less verbal if he could tell me anything good about my father and his answer was much the same. “Oh, honey. No. I’m sorry.”
My father offered no explanation or apology that Thanksgiving day or after. I was heartbroken, again. Troubled-soul that he was, he avoided me and the rest of his family, including my sisters (his daughters) and his own mother, for the rest of his life. Some say we were better off without him. I believed that for a long time.
◊♦◊
In November 2008, I learned my father was in a local nursing home dying of testicular cancer. With a schoolmate friend along for support, encouragement, and my physical safety, I went to see him on the Friday before Thanksgiving.
To say hello. To ask why? To say goodbye.
It was hard. Hard to walk up to his doorway and see a man who more closely resembled his father — my gentle, loving, recently-departed grandfather — more than the trouble-finding, uncomfortable-with-reality father I remembered.
I was quiet for a minute as I stood in the doorway, wrapping my mind around his aging physical body sitting in a wheelchair. This was not my grandfather, but my father. It was one of those spiritual moments when I assumed G-d caused my father to resemble Gramps just so it would be easier for me to be warm to this near-stranger. After all, if he had still appeared to be the strong, healthy, 52-year-old who stood me up for Thanksgiving dinner, it is likely my next move would have been much different.
He spoke first. “Well, hello!” His pleasant tone surprised me. “Do you know who I am?” I asked. I honestly do not remember if he said my name, but I knew he knew me when he looked into my eyes and responded with all the enthusiasm his exhausted body could muster, “Yes! I do! Please come in.”
My friend was right behind me, and when I determined my father was clearly no threat to me, I nodded for him to wait in the lobby.
As I sat on the bed next to my father in his wheelchair, I thought of the many elder hospice clients I had worked with and I felt compassion for this man. Surely he knew he had made choices in his life, the consequences of which had brought him here alone, rather than dying in his own home with loved ones surrounding him, as was true for Gramps the year before. Still, I considered, while we know time only in a linear reality, he cannot change the decisions of his past, nor can I change how I responded to his absence.
I reached to touch my father’s bare arm and he twitched a smile as tears fell from his sad eyes. I held his hand in both of mine as I had done with clients and my grandfather. Touching each other as father and daughter for the first time since I was a baby, my father and I wept silently for a few moments. We made peace together in the nursing home that day with few words and a gentle touch. Whatever his reason for choosing to abstain from family life, I forgave him. It was healing for me, and probably for him as well.
When I visited my father the next day, he was in a critical care room; semi-conscious, eyes closed. I sat with him quietly, realizing I would not get any more questions answered, nor would he have the strength to ask anything about me or our family, even if he wanted to.
I also came to the awkward awareness that he did not invite me into his room this time, and he might prefer to be alone. I had no way of knowing except that he had always chosen to be away from me; from all of his family. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder and whispered, “I’m going to leave and let you rest. I’ll come by tomorrow to see if you feel like company.”
I left a chocolate milkshake for him that Saturday afternoon. When I told him so, he faintly grunted two syllables that sounded to me like “thank you.” That was the last sound I would ever hear from my father. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving 2008, 12 years to the day after I invited him to Thanksgiving dinner, my father’s cancer-filled body died.
◊♦◊
Growing up, I had always wondered if my father didn’t like me. As a young woman that Thanksgiving he stood me up, I couldn’t help but revisit that thought. The day I brought him the milkshake it occurred to me that maybe it wasn’t me he didn’t like, maybe he didn’t like himself. Or maybe he didn’t like that he felt he couldn’t communicate his truth. Whatever his truth, it has gone to the grave with him.
Certainly, my father had some good qualities; a few of his friends shared them with me when we gathered for his memorial at the local tavern where he worked. He was “nice, fun, and a good friend.” Short list. However, they seemed to love him at least superficially. I was glad to see there was some love in his life.
My father was intelligent, and I’m grateful to have had his biological family as mine. I am also grateful my father and mother conceived me and my sister Laura, and he and his third wife, Mavis conceived my sister Jayne. I am grateful that I chose to visit him in the nursing home, and that I also witnessed him making peace with his mother before he died.
I used to approach Thanksgiving with sadness and resentment, as the anniversary of his repeat abandonment. Since we made peace when he was on his deathbed, I have remembered him with compassion and am no longer sad at Thanksgiving.
I will never know why my father made the decisions that kept him away from me and the rest of his family, even though he lived in the same neighborhood. But, I am certain he knew before he died that I had forgiven him for his absence from my life. Although he didn’t parent me, he will always be my father.
—
A version of this post originally appeared on the author’s blog and was republished on The Good Men Project. | https://goodmenproject.medium.com/finding-peace-with-my-fathers-memory-at-thanksgiving-13cd4e5853eb | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-11-07 01:18:46.216000+00:00 | ['Holidays', 'Fatherhood', 'Family', 'Reconciliation', 'Life'] |
Tokes Platform Newsletter, November 2018 — Product Demos, Development Updates, and Conferences | Greetings Tokes Platform Enthusiasts,
Welcome back to the November edition of the newsletter, and a Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the States! This has been an incredibly busy month for the Tokes team, both on development fronts and with conference and business efforts. We have set some stringent milestones for ourselves by the end of the year which we are prepared to meet, particularly on the Merchant Gateway, discussed in more detail below!
Merchant Gateway Updates
The Tokes Merchant Gateway is seeing a number of new developments and integrations in the closing months of the year. One of the most exciting is the integration of BTCPay Server, currently enabling both Bitcoin and Litecoin payment functionality, and allowing for more tokens/currencies to be easily integrated in the future. While clearly there is incentive for us to develop software solutions natively integrating our token, there is a clear benefit to building functional merchant ready software for the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole — particularly when there is a relative dearth of brick and mortar ready point of sale software available today. Lest we forget, wallets are not enough to prompt enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency, there must be full-featured, easy to use software that encompasses current business processes around tokenized transactions. With our present features and ongoing developments, the Gateway meets the software needs for standard consumer business practices!
Ecommmerce integrations are also right around the corner, allowing merchants utilizing the Gateway to turn on a plug and play web store, or use plugins to their existing website for easy tokenized checkouts. Users may expect to see these integrations rolling out the first quarter of 2019.
Additionally, integration with Metrc is nearing completion, Nevada’s reporting system for all cannabis business transactions. This will make the Merchant Gateway fully compliant with Nevada’s state reporting requirements, and any other state utilizing Metrc for cannabis business data.
World Crypto Con & MJBizCon
The Tokes team demonstrated our products at World Crypto Con October 31 and November 1, sharing a booth with our partner Vault Logic. Here, booth visitors were able to experience the full consumer workflow of a Tokes payment, from purchase of the token using the Vault Logic Kiosk and Tokes Mobile Wallet, to check-out on the Merchant Gateway Software. We gave innumerable demos during our days on the floor at the conference, and made a great deal of introductions to both new potential Tokes users and die hard followers alike.
Below you will find a YouTube video demonstrating the full walkthrough conference goers experienced at the booth (with who we shared some Tokes swag).
MJBizCon came shortly after World Crypto Con, and the Tokes team was there assessing the current state of blockchain based projects and point of sale offerings within the cannabis space. Of particular note at the event, our partners TheraCann and Applied DNA Sciences had a presence demonstrating their ETCH Biotrace technology. ETCH is a verification technology that employs molecular tagging methods to ensure the integrity and provenance of ingredients and components in cannabis supply chains. It is this ETCH data that we are using as one of the first use cases for our EPCIS chain. Coupling the ETCH technology with a distributed blockchain ledger via EPCIS ensures the provenance of the plant to a degree that cannot be achieved with QR codes on product containers alone. ETCH tags the plant with an inert, synthetic DNA marker that can be tested for using a mobile device in a matter of minutes. Fundamentally this can completely eliminate gray market slippage of product in or out of geographically bounded supply chains when regular auditing protocols are adhered to. The plant gets an unforgeable marker with ETCH, preventing grey market cannabis getting in, and the data structure maintains a degree of trustless certainty that prevents data manipulation via the decentralized ledger. We are very excited to help bring this product to market with our partners at TheraCann. See a short video of the ETCH tagging system below:
Cannabis Economic Forum Talks
The week of MJBizCon, Michael Wagner gave an informative presentation at CEF Talks here in Las Vegas Nevada. The Cannabis Economic Forum is an organization formed for the purpose of giving voice to the concerns associated with the emerging cannabis market. Their efforts give a formal platform for cannabis businesses, activists, lawmakers, and patients to discuss emerging issues and solutions amid the ever-changing business of cannabis. Michael’s talk primarily focused on the advantages of using blockchain based payments and data structures within the regulated cannabis space. See an excerpt of his presentation below.
That wraps up this month’s newsletter. Keep an eye out this month for development releases, and have a happy holiday season!
Here’s to something new. Here’s to the revolution. | https://medium.com/tokesplatform/tokes-platform-newsletter-november-2018-product-demos-development-updates-and-conferences-f6db27ee1773 | ['Multichain News'] | 2018-11-25 19:39:07.673000+00:00 | ['Cannabis', 'Cannabis Cryptocurrency', 'Fintech', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain'] |
Yashahime {Capitulo 12} Subtítulos en Español | Night’s New Moon, Black-haired Towa
Episode 12 | Night’s New Moon, Black-haired Towa | The daughters of Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha set out on a journey transcending time! In Feudal Japan, Half-Demon twins Towa and Setsuna are separated from each other during a forest fire. While desperately searching for her younger sister, Towa wanders into a mysterious tunnel that sends her into present-day Japan, where she is found and raised by Kagome Higurashi’s brother, Souta, and his family. Ten years later, the tunnel that connects the two eras has reopened, allowing Towa to be reunited with Setsuna, who is now a Demon Slayer working for Kohaku. But to Towa’s shock, Setsuna appears to have lost all memories of her older sister. Joined by Moroha, the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome, the three young women travel between the two eras on an adventure to regain their missing past.
Watch On ►► http://dadangkoprol.dplaytv.net/series/384485/1/12
Show Info
Network: Japan YTV (2020 — now)
Schedule: Saturdays at 17:30 (25 min)
Status: In Development
Language: Japanese
Show Type: Animation
Genres: Anime
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5Season 00s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (53i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 444545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 174. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/nights-new-moon-black-haired-towa-capitulo-12/yashahime-capitulo-12-subt%C3%ADtulos-en-espa%C3%B1ol-9b0fe09f5399 | ['Steven Z. Gordon'] | 2020-12-19 10:01:04.027000+00:00 | ['Animation', 'Anime'] |
Solar Distributor in Thodupuzha — Futore Nxt Systems Futore Nxt Systems a.k.a Future Next Systems is one of the best solar energy distributor / service provider in Thodupuzha region. Futore Nxt… | Solar Distributor in Thodupuzha — Futore Nxt Systems
Futore Nxt Systems a.k.a Future Next Systems is one of the best solar energy distributor / service provider in Thodupuzha region. Futore Nxt Systems is a joint venture by ex-servicemen and NRIs having a head office at Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha.
They supply a wide array of products as listed below.
Solar Panels
Solar Off Grid Inverters
Solar On Grid Inverters
Solar Batteries
Solar Water Heaters
Futore Nxt Systems is a leading supplier Solar products of major brands as listed below.
Havells
V-Guard
Kirloskar
Hykon
Luminous
Waaree
Amaron
Their services are listed below. | https://medium.com/@lijoppans/solar-distributor-in-thodupuzha-futore-nxt-systems-ed028d5fcaae | ['Ligo George'] | 2020-12-23 18:12:29.135000+00:00 | ['Solar', 'Solar Power', 'Solar Energy', 'Solar Panel Installation'] |
Is Samsung preparing to say goodbye to Android? | Is Samsung preparing to say goodbye to Android?
Future Samsung phones may no longer run Android OS, but a new operating system that’s been in development in Google’s laboratories for a few years now. It’s called Fuchsia, and as some of you may remember from earlier this year, it came to light that Samsung has contributed to Fuchsia’s development. Now, a new rumor suggests that Samsung may have gone a few steps forward and decided to leave Android behind in favor of Fuchsia
This transition won’t happen anytime soon, though. The source specifies that it will take a few years before Samsung adopts this new open-source OS from Google. And it’s too early to tell if Fuchsia OS will be accompanied by One UI or another proprietary skin from Samsung.
Samsung may be getting a leg up on its competitors already
The transition from Android OS to Fuchsia isn’t something that Samsung came up with on its own, but rather, it’s all a part of Google’s master plan to switch to a new platform built from the ground up. Unlike Android OS, Fuchsia doesn’t use the Linux kernel but new code called Zircon.
Google is developing Fuchsia to run on a wide variety of smart products, from wearables to smartphones, tablets, computers, and IoT. It was already used for the Nest hub as a pilot run.
Assuming that Google makes this a reality and pushes Fuchsia to the forefront in the next few years, Samsung won’t be the only OEM to drop Android OS for some, if not all of its Android-running devices. Other OEMs will have to follow or be left behind.
And because Samsung already appears to be involved with Fuchsia’s development, this may give it a leg up over its competitors who aren’t. Samsung will familiarize itself with the new Fuchsia OS early on, and this early start could be the company’s key to maintaining its leadership in the new era.
The transition will take time, though, so don’t expect Android OS to be going away anytime soon. And although it seems like a scary change, it may be for the better. Android OS always had some kinks that Fuchsia could address. | https://medium.com/@reyalps/is-samsung-preparing-to-say-goodbye-to-android-ad9c88f1e542 | ['Rey Alps'] | 2021-12-25 17:40:33.597000+00:00 | ['Goodbye', 'Samsung', 'Phone', 'Smartphones', 'Android'] |
User Interface Design | User Interface Design
The Importance of Beautifully Designed UI/UX and its Influence on Customer Experience.
User Interface and User Experience Design
User Interface Design: User interface design is considered a visual connection between a user and a companies digital product such as a website, app or platform. UI/UX design incorporates how the user interacts with the device, the layout and style of the interface, and how content and information are displayed.
User Experience Design: User experience design incorporates how the user interacts with the UI design, including the functionality, usability and the satisfaction which the user receives from interacting with the device.
UI and UX are both crucial to a digital product and work closely together, but despite their close relationship, they are both separate parts of the design process. You can have a beautifully designed user interface with a poorly functioning user experience. Therefore, it is essential to give both UI and UX individual and careful attention to ensure they both work together seamlessly.
UI/UX Design and Consumer Relationships
For organizations, UI/UX design has become a crucial part to developing strong relationships with their customers. Customer relationships are the connection between a company and the customer and how they communicate and interact with their customers. As consumers are the centre of any business, it’s crucial to maintain a good and healthy relationship with them. Therefore, anything your company does should be focused on the needs and wants of your consumers.
Changing Consumer Trends
Consumers are now demanding more than ever before from organizations, they no longer base their loyalty on price or the quality of the product but place a significant emphasis on the customer experience they receive during the entire buying process. Developing a good experience for your consumers evokes positive emotions and memories towards your brand and helps drives customer loyalty. A recent Walker study found that 86% of buyers will pay more if they receive an excellent customer experience and it is considered that the customer experience will overtake product quality and price as the key differentiator by 2020.
Digital transformation has wholly transformed consumer habits, causing companies to transform the way they interact with their customers. Creating an excellent online experience for your users can help brands develop a positive relationship with their customers. The customer experience includes the environment in which the consumer interacts with, including the digital environment. While an exceptionally designed user interface and user experience for your company’s website/app is only part of the consumer journey — it is arguably the most important.
Mobile devices, apps, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and machine learning have created a new type of modern-day buyer, who’s digitally adaptive, multi-channel, and social. Because of the opportunities that arise from using modern technology, customers often rate organizations on their digital customer experience first. As consumer trends shift towards digital, it’s imperative that companies develop a seamless online experience for their customers, curating positive relationships through UI/UX design.
The benefits of a positive customer experience
Creating a positive experience for your customers is likely to:
Increased customer loyalty to your brand
Increased customer satisfaction
Increased user-generated content through word-of-mouth, reviews, recommendations and social media marketing.
User Interface Design and User Experience
One of the main ways companies look to develop strong relationships with their consumers, is by providing a good experience for them when they interact with their brand. Customer experience is considered the holistic perception a consumer has of their experience with your brand. The customer experience includes every part of the way a customer interacts with your brand, from talking to customer service, navigating through your companies website to receiving their product or service — It covers the whole of the consumer buying process. It’s important to understand that while UI and UX go hand-in-hand, you can have a good UI and a poor UX and vice versa. Therefore, designers need to strike a good balance between a beautiful user interface design and a seamless user experience. | https://medium.com/universlabs/user-interface-design-70a5c3a2ca82 | ['Univers Labs'] | 2019-11-07 12:33:32.636000+00:00 | ['UI', 'UX Design', 'UI Design', 'Customer Experience', 'UX'] |
Ethereum-compatible Hyperledger Besu now has Enterprise Grade DAML Smart Contracts | Ethereum-compatible Hyperledger Besu now has Enterprise Grade DAML Smart Contracts
Hyperledger Global Forum, Phoenix, AZ — March 3, 2020 — Blockchain Technology Partners (BTP) today announced that its Sextant for DAML platform now commercially supports the integration of DAML, the open source smart contract language created by Digital Asset, with Hyperledger Besu, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain framework hosted by the Linux Foundation. It is the first DAML on Ethereum integration.
Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of Hyperledger, said “Hyperledger Besu is the most recent framework to be contributed to Hyperledger and the first that is compatible with the public Ethereum network. It is great to see Hyperledger members BTP and Digital Asset collaborating to create a DAML integration with Hyperledger Besu so soon after it has been accepted by the community. This is the third Hyperledger framework to support DAML. As we anticipate both specialization and consolidation across the blockchain tech stack, having a unified option in DAML to write applications across Sawtooth, Fabric and now Besu is great to see.”
DAML is a next-generation smart contract platform used to create distributed applications that can run across technology silos. Digital Asset provides commercial integrations of DAML with partner platforms so that a variety of organizations — from the largest enterprises to technology start-ups — can develop secure, sophisticated, compliant, and operationally solid applications faster and deploy them to any ledger.
Dan O’Prey, CMO & Head of Strategy at Digital Asset, said “Hyperledger Besu is now the eighth platform to support DAML smart contracts, including the three main Hyperledger frameworks. There are well known security issues with the Solidity language used by Ethereum platforms like Hyperledger Besu and JP Morgan’s Quorum, and now developers have a fit for purpose alternative with DAML which works with all the major enterprise blockchains.”
Hyperledger Besu is an Ethereum client designed to be enterprise-friendly for both public and private permissioned network use cases. Its comprehensive permissioning schemes are designed specifically for use in a consortium environment. Hyperledger Besu was originally contributed to Hyperledger by Consensys’ PegaSys team.
Ron Resnick, Executive Director of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, said “There will be no one platform to satisfy every use case. To truly expand global commerce, the industry needs standardized components that allow companies to make the business decision on which platform best suits their needs. When the platform of choice is Ethereum, the integration of DAML and BTP’s Sextant for DAML with the EEA specifications-compliant Hyperledger Besu project adds the Ethereum choice to a unified approach to writing and deploying applications across any of the leading blockchain platforms. This solution marks the forefront of industry standardization.”
Hyperledger Besu is the fourth platform to be commercially supported by BTP’s Sextant for DAML, an integrated offering that radically simplifies the deployment and management of DAML-enabled platforms. Duncan Johnston-Watt, CEO of BTP, added “Sextant for DAML gives our customers the ability to deploy DAML applications on Hyperledger Besu and Hyperledger Sawtooth as well as Amazon QLDB and Amazon Aurora. It is important to offer them choice while ensuring a consistent user experience across all these DAML-enabled platforms.”
Csilla Zsigri, Senior Analyst — Blockchain and DLT at 451 Research (now a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), said “Sextant for DAML seeks to remedy blockchain-related enterprise pain points such as infrastructure complexity, usability and skills gaps. We see DAML facilitating the coding of complex business processes while Sextant takes care of automation and operations thus ensuring developers focus on capturing business value rather than worrying about the underlying infrastructure. This combination not only makes sense but can also potentially save enterprises valuable time.”
To get started with Sextant for DAML visit www.blockchaintp.com/sextant/daml
About Digital Asset
Digital Asset helps companies of all sizes and across industries get distributed applications to market faster, and stay there longer. At the core of our service offering is DAML, an open source and platform-independent smart contract language that enables developers to write an application once and deploy it anywhere. To learn more about Digital Asset, visit www.digitalasset.com. To learn more about DAML, visit www.daml.com
About Blockchain Technology Partners
Founded in 2018, Blockchain Technology Partners (BTP) is a leading enterprise blockchain company. BTP brings the benefits of smart contracts and blockchain to business by providing Sextant — a management platform that radically simplifies the deployment and ongoing management of distributed applications. To learn more about BTP, visit www.blockchaintp.com
Media Contacts
Digital Asset: JoAnn Healy
T: +1 718 -610–9568
E: [email protected]
BTP: Oliver Johnston-Watt
T: +44–7738–735216
E: [email protected] | https://medium.com/blockchaintp/ethereum-compatible-hyperledger-besu-now-has-enterprise-grade-daml-smart-contracts-22ad0f4b9b16 | ['Duncan Johnston-Watt'] | 2020-03-03 12:46:48.097000+00:00 | ['Open Source', 'Daml', 'Smart Contracts', 'Hyperledger', 'Blockchain'] |
Tokenomics | Tokenomics
$SEED and $TREE
$SEED Token
Name: SEED Token
Symbol: Seed
Supply: 800 Max
Contract address: 0xc8c2eb145648c37fd5684708b6019a7c24d6b3c0
Private sale price: 450 USD (In payment token)
Pre-sale price: 600 USD ( In payment token)
Listing price: starting from 1500 USD
Liquidity will first be added by the PlantDEx team on
Pancakeswap 🍰
Bakeryswap 🍞
Streetswap🏙️
$SEED Allocation
Allocation for pre-sale 70%
Allocation for private sale 15%
Allocation for SEED lottery 3%
Allocation for project Dev 7%
Allocation for Bounties 5%
Funds gotten from $SEED private sale and pre-sale will be used for Dex development and Liquidity adding on various exchanges.
$TREE Token
Name: TREE Token
Symbol: Tree
Chain: Binance Smart chain (Bep20)
Block rewards: per block 10 TREE (30,000 blocks per day)
Total Supply: INFINITE (with burn)
Price: Starting price $1
Distribution method: Liquidity Mining and staking
No pre-mines no ICO no pre-sale.
70% of $TREE token block rewards will be shared amongst Liquidity miners .
30% of $TREE token block rewards will be shared by $SEED token stakers in the $TREE pool. | https://medium.com/@plantdex/tokenomics-3f08fdaa2d6f | [] | 2020-11-29 06:32:12.800000+00:00 | ['Binance', 'Binance Smart Chain'] |
Crafts or Lovemaking: A Quandary (“Country” 16) | My grandmother, age 80.
My grandmother Lena came to visit me when I lived in a Vermont log cabin with R and the two children. A secular Jew rooted in Germany, she’d exited her homeland around 1938 for safety in England. In a large house in Woking, outside London, throughout World War II she managed the flow of family and refugees, including accessing food through everyone’s ration cards, and keeping her own chickens for eggs. I can never cook scrambled eggs without recalling how she’d scrape every precious yellow fleck out of the pan when I was a kid.
She was nearly 80 when she visited us at the log cabin. I collected her from the airport in my aging VW, which had very poor or no heat, so I brought with me several blankets, and tucked them around my slender grandmother in the car; she beamed and said “Just like the old days!”
While staying at the cabin, she took a daily walk, with her cane. Bear in mind, this was February, and the snow was more than a foot deep, the temperatures often below zero. But she’d head out on her own (my companionship declined), down the snowy road, and back again.
At Dad’s city home — Dad, plus my grandmother and me, and the kids. I made that dress. Sigh.
The first afternoon, after her walk, she settled in a chair and asked, “So where is your mending?” I knew just what she meant — I pulled out my basket of clothing on which I was sewing patches, stitching new hems, replacing buttons, and we set to work.
Today that probably sounds odd. But I grew up stitching and mending. It was part of what my mother taught me, as part of normal life. I never questioned it, and if my skills at the sewing machine never reached professional in putting together garments using paper patterns, they still were decent.
“Do as I Say, Not as I Do”
My father’s favorite instruction to us five kids was the announcement “Do as I say, not as I do.” In general, we managed to ignore that, and at least four of us could be recognized today as patterning ourselves after his life in ways either helpful or painful. I might be the worst — or maybe I just see it most clearly in myself. If I regret any of the past, it’s mostly regret that I copied Dad’s examples so relentlessly.
Mom was easier to track, for me: I did what she taught, by word and deed, in all the crafts and domestic ventures, including childrearing. (Can’t count how many times I read “Blueberries for Sal” and “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” to kids, mine and others.) So my grandmother’s visit felt easy, natural — we made meals, we mended clothes, we held children and encouraged them. I wish I’d asked her about the behavior of the men in our family, because it’s clear that my father reprised his own father’s behavior. Unfortunately.
The other area I never asked my grandmother about was the role of women in families where the men “cheat.” Or anything about sex or making love. And of course not about the war years — my father’s firm example of “don’t ask, don’t tell” for the Holocaust had settled into me. I didn’t know until I was 60 that my father’s few revealed details were riddled with lies. As the French say, désolée. Sorry about that.
But I took Mom’s “sex advice” to heart. What was it? One, sex can smell bad but if you love someone it’s better. Well, since I didn’t experience sex as smelling bad, I assumed that I loved the people I was “making love” with. Bad syllogism.
Two, Mom said you mustn’t discriminate — if someone seems handicapped, cut them extra slack and treat them as warmly as anyone else. I can’t tell you how much trouble that got me into, in the strangest ways. Somehow I interpreted it as, if someone doesn’t grasp how to treat others kindly, I had an assignment to stick with them and help them change. Hint to others who try to accept such an assignment: It hardly ever works that way.
Follow the Leader
Surely, I followed Mom’s examples and lessons in “homemaking” and seasonal crafts. Lots of centerpieces with pinecones! Homemade cards! And, though I only just came to realize it, my own passion for writing comes from hers — her poems were rhymed and awkwardly metered, but she loved writing them, and she sang folk songs and ballads and instilled them in me as the baseline for stories and poetry. Thank you, thank you, Mom — this is my bedrock, and I owe it in part to your start (and my own persistence and love for it).
Also, although I thought for years that I was following Dad’s instructions about drinking — since he was the one who repeatedly advised, “Eat olives before drinking alcohol and you won’t get drunk” (that one didn’t work for me) and “know the difference between port and sherry” and “become educated in vintages when you have time” — last week a different clarity came to me:
In drinking, I followed my mother’s example, amplified by the way Dad used to maintain the liquor stock, even in the decades when we all “knew” Mom was drinking excessively. It took me 25 years of drinking-on-the-side to reach a time when I had to quit, or else.
Or else what? Or else die, actually. But that was not part of either parent’s story, or my grandmother’s. So I’ll tell it another time.
Today, I am able to stitch an outrageously sturdy and artsy patch on any pair of pants or sweater elbow. For country life, it’s a skill I’d recommend.
Along with tracking the past, and coming to terms.
A painting by my grandmother. She, Mom, and I have all painted. So do my sons. Hmm.
This is “Country” story number 16. You can see number 1 here, number 2 here, number 3 here, number 4 here, number 5 here, number 6 here, number 7 here, number 8 here, number 9 here, number 10 here, number 11 here, number 12 here, number 13 here, number 14 here, number 15 here. More, of course, to come! | https://medium.com/@bethkanell/crafts-or-lovemaking-a-quandary-country-16-8f65efe1c7b5 | [] | 2020-12-24 21:42:09.626000+00:00 | ['Drinking', 'Memoir', 'Family', 'Love', 'Vermont'] |
Scum isn’t a bad word when it Fits. | WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE ALERT. IF YOU’RE EASILY OFFENDED THIS ONE ISN’T FOR YOU. IF ON THE OTHER HAND STARVING KIDS HAS YOU SWEARING TOO, THEN READ ON.
Scum she called them. Scum and she got reprimanded for it. If ever there was an absolute failure in parliament to be representative it was Angela Rayner being forced to apologise to that vacant tuss Chris Clarkson for speaking truth, but frankly I felt she was rather restrained and to see deputy speaker Eleanor Laing make such a scene of utter pomposity of it frankly sickened me. Fuck traditions, fuck niceties, they’re starving kids intentionally! To vote to leave kids going hungry and even go as far as to justify that is inhuman, debases us as a nation, damages our reputation and I doubt anyone who voted for them did so for this. 322 of these Tory bastards backed it, just 5 found enough of a conscience to oppose it. I’d say remember it at the ballot box, but that’s fucking years away and current polling shows that STILL, 42% of the public back these monsters — a few tins in the foodbank box ease your conscience does it? clapping for NHS workers whilst your party stripped their pay put food on their table does it? Right now I doubt I could look a single Tory supporter, let alone MP in the eye without that word popping into my head — scum. Many of these shits purport to be Christians, my own MP, Derek Thomas is the son of fucking missionaries, but he still voted to starve kids. Frankly the next time this sadistic non-entity of an MP steps into a church he deserves to burst into fucking flames — Scum.
Children have been living in poverty for years under the Tories and still those too young to get a vote are the ones they persecute. Nearly 1 in 3 are growing up in poverty in one of the wealthiest countries on Earth — it is intentional and the amount of money to feed these kids over half term is tiny — to feed all those on free school meals would cost just £15m — a drop in the ocean when you consider the size of some budgets. Still far too many people in this country back them. It certainly doesn’t help when the BBC and Sky report it as MP’s voted against it, when every single MP that did was a Tory, but that little nugget of truth got buried. I’m not here to attack the media today though.
Nicky Morgan was on Question Time last night to defend this shit, saying it had been politicised — why does a politician need reminding everything is political? She said that the govt had put in £300m into school meals vouchers this year — yes but you outsourced it to Edenred so what was their cut and it doesn’t make one iota of a difference to kids going hungry this coming half term and Christmas because that money has already been spent and she went as far as to blame Labour for it for presenting it as an opposition day motion — essentially blaming parliamentary process for voting it down! Strange, that some of your colleagues thought there were other reasons.
Paul Scully was on Politics Live and decided to blame the previous Labour government because, in his words ‘kids have always gone hungry’. Oh well that’s OK then is it? your predecessors let children go hungry, so for ten years you saw no reason to change that, because that’s how long its been since Labour were in power! Actually, inequality fell under Labour, but naturally this scumbags accusation went unchallenged — it’s the BBC after all.
Brendan Clarke-Smith felt that he didn’t believe in nationalising children — they aren’t a fucking commodity to be traded with, but lest I forget your party basically privatised them when you academized the damn schools so somebody could make a profit — will providing those free school meals offend some shareholders?
Ben Bradley felt that it’d increase dependency on the state to feed people’s kids. No shit Ben, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, work is drying up, unemployment is rising and you scumbags are now planning on slashing Universal Credit to help pay for the cost of said pandemic, those on minimum wage having to live on less than that because you’ll only pay up to two-thirds of their wages, so explain to me how they can feed their kids when you’re destroying their ability to afford to! The poorest shouldering the burden yet again, austerity 2.0. Well let’s look at this a bit more shall we, because you fuckers can find money when you want to.
They’ve each taken a payrise of £3300 each, that works out as just over a million pounds of taxpayers money for the 322 scum MP’s.
They found money to convince you to Eat Out To Help Out, but there’s no money for the poorest kids.
They get £400 food allowance each — if all MP’s gave that up — they’re paid enough after all — that’s roughly £260,000 a month found.
Track and Trace cost £12bn and was a bung straight to their mates — perhaps you’d have saved enough money to fund these school meals during this pandemic if you weren’t so busy letting others do your jobs for you? Sack Serco and feed the kids!
Eat Out To Help Out cost £500m — they found that easily enough, why is £15m so hard?
Johnson found £100bn for his Moonshot project, which as now, in typical Johnson fashion, been scrapped — how about handing 0.015% of that budget to feed the kids over half term?
Theresa May found £1bn to bribe the DUP with, where did that come from? Oh yes, the magic money tree — does it not rustle its leaves to feed kids then?
Johnson found £53m for his Garden Bridge as London Mayor, money for water cannons he could use as well, the list goes on and on.
Thankfully there are some glints of light here and there. In some areas local businesses and schools out of their own budgets are stepping in to help where the government refuses to because it’s the right thing to do.
Marcus Rashford has again been a champion here, but having lost face to the guy a few months ago, there was no way the ego’s within the Tory Party would tolerate it again.
Sadly next week, due to this latest round of abject, unnecessary Tory cruelty, many kids will go hungry, but many parents will too as they give to their kids when there won’t be enough to go around. I happened across this poem by Twitter user @MissSBMP which describes all too clearly what life will be like in thousands of households next week.
Why Would you Even?
As we handed out the fruit today
Lily politely requested a pear
She put it in her pocket
Whilst the others ate right there
Later, Finn shared out his birthday cake
Brought in by mum, with some sweets
Lily wrapped hers in a napkin
Watching her classmates eat
Her packet of sweets was not opened
They went in her pocket as well
She had eaten her school meal at lunchtime
But was hungry, it was easy to tell
“I know we’re in class,” I whispered
“But today is a special treat.
We’re celebrating Finn’s birthday
It’s perfectly OK to eat.”
“Can I take it home to my mum please?”
Lily answered, polite but sad
We don’t have cake at our house
We haven’t had much since dad.
It will be a bit tricky for mum next week
When I’m on holiday
She can’t go to work when I’m at home
We’ll have lots of fun and we play
But it’s a long time without school stuff
My lunches will be really small
And I want to take the cake home
Because mummy eats nothing at all.”
Lily continued to talk
A world of pain pouring out
A child and her mother in need
But who both tried their best, there’s no doubt
“We used to have food when dad was here
But dad was not very kind
It’s better that mummy is safe now
So it’s ok, I don’t really mind
I’d rather be safe (me and mummy)
Than have lots of cake, fruit and sweets
But I put this stuff in my pocket
So mummy could have something to eat”
If you enjoy my work, feel like it and can do so without hardship, please also consider contributing to the ongoing development of the page, or just buy me a coffee.
This blog has been ranked 10th in the top 35 UK Political Blogs by Feedspot.com! Not bad going for someone who’s only been going a few months! Do check out some of the other blogs I’m listed alongside, be one of the best informed people out there! | https://medium.com/@cornishdamo/scum-isnt-a-bad-word-when-it-fits-921e1370995b | ['Cornish Damo'] | 2020-10-25 10:17:07.693000+00:00 | ['Conservative Party', 'UK', 'Scum', 'Children', 'UK Politics'] |
HOW TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY WITH THESE 4 EASY ACTIONABLE STEPS | Ask Dr Annika | HOW TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY WITH THESE 4 EASY ACTIONABLE STEPS | Ask Dr Annika Annika Sorensen Aug 23·4 min read
Do you sometimes feel that you’ve lost your ability to manage tasks efficiently?
I know, I’ve been there too.
There are moments that there are just too many things on my list and I sometimes feel like it’s too much than what I can take.
Times like this make me feel useless… and it’s very stressful.
I remember a time when a client came to me saying:
“I am so stressed out. I don’t know what to do and the business is going down.”
Our sessions made our bond stronger, together with the trust. So during one of our sessions, a lot of things were put out in the open and what we’re able to see is that there’s been an ongoing mismatch with his Mother-in-law.
They were not animus… basically, there has been a misunderstanding.
And when that misunderstanding has been cleared, my client got things working well again.
So what I’m saying here is that…
We can have problems, at work or at home, or somewhere else which can sometimes be unavoidable. So when there is, just stop and figure it out.
GIVE TIME TO PONDER
Take the time to ponder about it first because when there’s too much happening but no thinking or planning has happened, a lot of mistakes can arise and although mistakes are okay, it’s gonna slow us down and we know that they could have been prevented in the first place.
MAKE A LIST TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY
Making a list of things to do or tasks at hand plays a crucial role in this journey!
When you don’t have a list, you just go on and do things randomly… even maybe sometimes pick random tasks because that task makes you happier than the rest.
But what does this do to other tasks? They get piled up.
When you make a list of things to do, you automatically put them in their logical order, thus giving it organization.
And working on tasks with a structure means you’re managing your tasks efficiently.
On the other hand, if you get confused on which task goes first while making your list, I advise you to break them down into these 4 categories:
1. Urgent and Important
Examples of tasks that fall under this category are those that you cannot always predict and require immediate action or attention to stop further harm if any. These tasks give you the feeling to drop other tasks and do only these tasks NOW.
2. Not Urgent But Important
These tasks, since they are not urgent… mean that you get to have the time to really ponder about them.
Sample tasks that fall here are the tasks that could be really something big for your business and need plenty of time planning and doing.
“Why does it come second if it is not urgent”
Because if you don’t start doing them now, sooner or later THEY BECOME URGENT.
3. Urgent But Not Important
These are the tasks that require urgency because they could be preventing you from achieving some of your goals, or proceeding to the next step/s.
But since they are not important, ask yourself if they can be rescheduled or outsourced.
4. Not Urgent and Not Important
Yes, they do exist. Some examples that fall here are those that other people told you that you need or tasks you see other people have so you also thought you need but don’t probably have to do at all.
Avoid these tasks as much as possible as they only serve as a distraction. Reflect and ask if these tasks are really necessary or just a waste of time.
If they turn out to be somewhat necessary after you ponder about it, then figure out if they fall under any of the first three, or again, just delegate.
RAISE YOUR POTENTIAL CAPACITY
Raising your potential capacity means doing what you can to increase your energy. With more energy, you will be able to do more.
DELEGATE SOME TASKS
If there’s too much ongoing — literally too much than what you can take even after doing the above steps, then you might want to consider delegating or outsourcing.
Outsourcing is a good way to take some tasks off your plate. Just choose the tasks that don’t really need to be done by you personally, and focus on the bigger things.
These are the 4 steps I advise you to take: Taking the time to ponder, making a list, raising your potential capacity, and delegating some tasks.
Combine these all together and you’ll have less stress from too many tasks!
Want to read more like this? CLICK HERE.
If you want to start your process for less stress in your life get my free e-book and start working.
To your success and keep smiling, | https://medium.com/@askdrannika/how-to-manage-tasks-efficiently-with-these-4-easy-actionable-steps-ask-dr-annika-27a940e5a3 | ['Annika Sorensen'] | 2021-09-07 01:48:59.094000+00:00 | ['Time Management', 'Efficiency', 'Work Life Balance', 'Work Smarter', 'Stress Management'] |
An uninvited Possum. | An uninvited Possum.
The brushtail possum is an Australian marsupial with doe-eyes at one end, a soft fury tail at the other, and an arsenal of surgically lacerating weapons stored covertly in between.
Oh, and they poop bullets….like a cluster barrel Gatling gun.
My partner Kelly and I have been at war with one particular possum for several months now. She took up residence in the rafters of our garage. Up in the supporting lattice where we store all the stuff we really should throw out and a few of the things we shouldn’t..but that has now been up there for so long… look like we should.
Lengths of lumbar. Some old doors. Crumbling boxes of things somewhat forgotten. An old laptop. Christmas decorations. A guitar case.
The first thing we noticed was the poop. Small black banana shaped pellets on the garage floor. Pellets that at first seemed disproportionately small to have come from a possum. I thought we had rats.
As I was soon to learn, what possum crap lacks in calibre it more than makes up for in magazine size.
It was everywhere.
On top of the car.
All over the tins of our emergency pandemic (or zombie apocalypse) food stash.
Among the toolboxes and paint tins and plastic storage containers.
It looked like the aftermath of a faecal firefight.
And something else. Urine.
The entire garage stunk of stale ammonia, and we could see dried urine stains running down the sides of our car.
One evening we saw her sneaking out on our security camera. A hop, and she was up onto the front gate post. She did this sort of Rumba across the length of the fence and disappeared like a ninja up into the neighbours fruit tree.
How totally cute I said.
No Ian, we shall call her Bitchclaw. Corrected Kelly.
Demonising your enemies is one of the first strategies in war.
A war that was not going well for the allegedly superior species.
To date Bitchclaw had completely mocked all our Google inspired attempts at possum eradication.
We blocked off all the external entry points we could find.
We cladded the wooden pillars of the garage in slippery tin sheeting.
We added plastic spikes to stop her getting over the top of the roller-door.
We threw hand fulls of pungent naphthaline balls up where we thought she was sleeping.
I made Kelly spend the day in the garage singing a Mariah Carey medley over and over (don’t tell the RSPCA).
Nothing worked.
Bitchclaw came and went as she pleased. She crapped. She urinated.
She redecorated the garage just the way a possum would like it. She even collected all the naphthaline balls and arranged them into a V for Victory sculpture atop a tiny plinth of poops.
OK. Perhaps I imagined that last bit.
Garage fortification fail.
Exasperated, we finally called a professional possum wrangler. For a not-insignificant fee he would trap Bitchclaw and then release her elsewhere.
That’s fantastic! Problem solved. I’m thinking somewhere deep in the Tasmanian wilderness would be good. Or maybe the Galápagos.
Sorry mate, I have to release her within 50 metres of the trapping point. It’s the law.
Fifty metres. Seriously*. | https://medium.com/@ian-miller/an-uninvited-possum-e1b0fb0b0b4 | ['Ian Miller'] | 2020-12-05 22:27:49.511000+00:00 | ['Australia', 'Animals', 'Wildlife'] |
Here’s to ‘Him’ | Poetry about the men we need.
Photo by Brittani Burns on Unsplash
Here’s to him
who stands up for fellow humans
irrespective of the labels society graciously provides
Here’s to him
who shows his strength through kindness and empathy
even when expected otherwise
Here’s to him
who is intelligent and has a wonderful sense of humour
without berating or un-dignifying others
Here’s to him
who is truly gentle and knows how to treat women well
and not just his wife, sister, daughter or mother
Here’s to him
who loves wholeheartedly
without reserve or shame
Here’s to him
who owns himself, his virtues, his faults
and doesn’t put ‘male ego’ to the blame
Here’s to him
who shares his beliefs
doing his bit to save humankind from ruin
Here’s to the ‘man’
who truly believes that above all else
it’s most important to be human. | https://medium.com/@renitasiqueira/heres-to-him-67fff54ca37d | ['Renita Siqueira'] | 2020-11-19 06:47:15.032000+00:00 | ['Men', 'Internationalmensday', 'Poetry', 'Masculinity', 'Gender Roles'] |
Party men at the helm of bank boards again | The government has been recruiting party men as directors to the boards of state-owned banks in violation administrative rules.
Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is appointing directors on political consideration.
“The government is taking the wrong steps by appointing party men as the directors of the banks. The entire bank sector has to bear the brunt for this. Professionals and skilled people should be appointed as directors,” Bangladesh Bank former deputy governor Khandaker Ibrahim Khaled told Prothom Alo.
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp1.html
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp2.html
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp3.html
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp4.html
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp5.html
http://isra.org/fix/gf-v-jp6.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv1.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv2.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv3.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv4.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv5.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv6.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv7.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv8.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv9.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv10.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv11.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv12.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv13.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv14.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv15.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv16.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv17.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv18.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv19.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv20.html
http://isra.org/fix/en-v-ch-tv21.html
http://isra.org/muj/ucl-v-j-101.html
http://isra.org/muj/ucl-v-j-102.html
http://isra.org/muj/ucl-v-j-103.html
http://isra.org/muj/ucl-v-j-104.html
http://isra.org/muj/ucl-v-j-105.html
http://isra.org/muj/Es-j-v-j201.html
http://isra.org/muj/Es-j-v-j202.html
http://isra.org/muj/Es-j-v-j203.html
http://isra.org/muj/Es-j-v-j204.html
http://isra.org/muj/Es-j-v-j205.html
http://isra.org/muj/b-v-8xx1.html
http://isra.org/muj/b-v-8xx2.html
http://isra.org/muj/b-v-8xx3.html
http://isra.org/muj/b-v-8xx4.html
http://isra.org/muj/b-v-8xx5.html
http://isra.org/muj/m-v-u-f1.html
http://isra.org/muj/m-v-u-f2.html
http://isra.org/muj/m-v-u-f3.html
http://isra.org/muj/m-v-u-f4.html
http://isra.org/muj/m-v-u-f5.html
http://isra.org/muj/p-v-g-001.html
http://isra.org/muj/p-v-g-002.html
http://isra.org/muj/p-v-g-003.html
http://isra.org/muj/p-v-g-004.html
http://isra.org/muj/p-v-g-005.html
http://isra.org/muj/UCl-j-v-j1.html
http://isra.org/muj/UCl-j-v-j3.html
http://isra.org/muj/UCl-j-v-j4.html
http://isra.org/muj/UCl-j-v-j5.html
http://isra.org/muj/UCl-j-v-j2.html
http://isra.org/muj/t-v-d-01.html
http://isra.org/muj/t-v-d-02.html
http://isra.org/muj/t-v-d-03.html
http://isra.org/muj/t-v-d-04.html
http://isra.org/muj/t-v-d-05.html
http://isra.org/muj/lazi-k-v-j1.html
http://isra.org/muj/lazi-k-v-j3.html
http://isra.org/muj/lazi-k-v-j4.html
http://isra.org/muj/lazi-k-v-j5.html
http://isra.org/muj/lazi-k-v-j2.html
http://isra.org/fug/walsh-v-jazz-fig-1.html
http://isra.org/fug/walsh-v-jazz-fig-2.html
http://isra.org/fug/walsh-v-jazz-fig-3.html
http://isra.org/fug/walsh-v-jazz-fig-4.html
http://isra.org/fug/walsh-v-jazz-fig-5.html
http://isra.org/fug/B-v-Se-box-d1.html
http://isra.org/fug/B-v-Se-box-d2.html
http://isra.org/fug/B-v-Se-box-d3.html
http://isra.org/fug/B-v-Se-box-d4.html
http://isra.org/fug/B-v-Se-box-d5.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/ucl-v-j-101.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/ucl-v-j-102.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/ucl-v-j-103.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/ucl-v-j-104.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/ucl-v-j-105.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/Es-j-v-j201.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/Es-j-v-j202.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/Es-j-v-j203.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/Es-j-v-j204.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/Es-j-v-j205.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/b-v-8xx1.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/b-v-8xx2.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/b-v-8xx3.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/b-v-8xx4.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/b-v-8xx5.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/m-v-u-f1.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/m-v-u-f2.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/m-v-u-f3.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/m-v-u-f4.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/m-v-u-f5.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/p-v-g-001.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/p-v-g-002.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/p-v-g-003.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/p-v-g-004.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/p-v-g-005.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/UCl-j-v-j1.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/UCl-j-v-j3.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/UCl-j-v-j4.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/UCl-j-v-j5.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/UCl-j-v-j2.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/t-v-d-01.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/t-v-d-02.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/t-v-d-03.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/t-v-d-04.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/t-v-d-05.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/lazi-k-v-j1.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/lazi-k-v-j3.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/lazi-k-v-j4.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/lazi-k-v-j5.html
https://vector-space.org/sites/default/files/webform/lazi-k-v-j2.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Rn-v-Ks-lequipe-fr-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Rn-v-Ks-lequipe-fr-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Rn-v-Ks-lequipe-fr-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Rn-v-Ks-lequipe-fr-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Rn-v-Ks-lequipe-fr-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Leipzig-dfb-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Leipzig-dfb-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Leipzig-dfb-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Leipzig-dfb-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Leipzig-dfb-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-BVB-dfb-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-BVB-dfb-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-BVB-dfb-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-BVB-dfb-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-BVB-dfb-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Laz-v-Bor-liv-sky8-tv-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Laz-v-Bor-liv-sky8-tv-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Laz-v-Bor-liv-sky8-tv-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Laz-v-Bor-liv-sky8-tv-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Laz-v-Bor-liv-sky8-tv-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Juve-inicio-it-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Juve-inicio-it-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Juve-inicio-it-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Juve-inicio-it-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Juve-inicio-it-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-PSG-foot-fr-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-PSG-foot-fr-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-PSG-foot-fr-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-PSG-foot-fr-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-PSG-foot-fr-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Frnc-Bar-nb1-hu-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Frnc-Bar-nb1-hu-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Frnc-Bar-nb1-hu-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Frnc-Bar-nb1-hu-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/v-ideo-Frnc-Bar-nb1-hu-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bar-v-Fer-horario-tv-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bar-v-Fer-horario-tv-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bar-v-Fer-horario-tv-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bar-v-Fer-horario-tv-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bar-v-Fer-horario-tv-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Sev-v-Che-fut-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Sev-v-Che-fut-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Sev-v-Che-fut-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Sev-v-Che-fut-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Sev-v-Che-fut-05.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bru-v-Zenit-sporza-be-01.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bru-v-Zenit-sporza-be-02.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bru-v-Zenit-sporza-be-03.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bru-v-Zenit-sporza-be-04.html
http://isra.org/dbc/Bru-v-Zenit-sporza-be-05.html
There are 30 resumés of party men at the finance ministry.
Sources said current and former leaders of Awami League, Jubo League, Swechchhasebak League and Chhatra League have been visiting the financial institutions division of the finance ministry. Some are lobbying over phone.
Advertisement
The government is taking the wrong steps by appointing party men as the directors of the banks. The entire bank sector has to bear the brunt for this. Professionals and skilled people should be appointed as directors.
Bangladesh Bank former deputy governor Khandaker Ibrahim Khaled
However, economists, chartered accountants, financial market, monetary policy and financial management experts, former bankers, private sector business representatives, and at least one professional woman have to be recruited in the board, according to a finance ministry circular published on 12 April 2009.
Flouting the rules, Rajib Parvez, assistant secretary of Awami League central finance and planning sub-committee, was recruited as director to the BASIC Bank on 22 March 2020.
While recruiting him, he was identified as founder and executive director of ‘Governance Policy Explore Centre’, but no website of this organisation was found. The Facebook page of this organisation has not been updated since 2017.
Rajib Parvez sought nomination from Patuakhali-1 constituency in the 11th parliamentary election. He launched a campaign in his constituency, but the party did not give him nomination.
Similarly Awami League’s international affairs committee assistant secretary KMN Manjurul Haque wanted nomination from Gopalganj-1. He launched a campaign, but failed to get nomination.
This former Chhatra League leader was appointed as director of Agrani Bank on 9 September 2019. Earlier, he was the director of this bank.
Although the party men were not given nomination for the parliamentary elections, they were appeased with appointments as directors of the state-owned banks.
In 2009, directors were recruited in the same way.
Directors were recruited in the banks on political consideration after Abul Maal Abdul Muhith had become the finance minister in 2009. There were allegations of financial scams in the banking sector. When he became the finance minister in 2014 again, he recruited former bureaucrats and bankers as the directors instead of party men.
There is no training for the directors. There is no instance of punishment if they are found to be involved in lobbying and taking bribes.
While secretary of the financial institutions division, Younusur Rahman took an initiative for training, but the move came to a halt when Md Asadul Islam joined as the secretary.
The Awami League government randomly recruited party men as directors of the bank between 2009 and 2015.
Some of them include Jatiya Party former leader Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, Mahila Awami League leader Jannat Ara, Awami League former leaders Nagibul Islam, Saimum Sarwar Kamol, Mahbubur Rahman Bhuiyan, Jubo League leader Khandoker Jahangir Kabir, former Chhatra League leaders Bolram Poddar, Shuvas Singha Roy, Shahjada Mohiuddin, Jakir Ahmed and Abdus Sabur.
Financial scams of different business entities and banks including Hall-Mark, BASIC Bank, Bismillah Group, Annon Tex and Crescent Group surfaced during the period.
When asked about the recruitment of party men as directors of banks, financial institutions division secretary Md Asadul Islam advised the Prothom Alo correspondent to talk to the additional secretary of the division ABM Ruhul Azad.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Ruhul Azad said, “Directors are being recruited after scrutiny. If there are any allegations against anyone, Bangladesh Bank can inform the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Directors above the accountability
Bangladesh Bank observer Lila Rashid recently raised allegations against Agrani Bank chairman Zaid Bakth, saying that he took decisions ignoring the opinion of the directors. When the allegation was raised on 17 August, the central bank investigated the matter and found the allegations to be true.
BASIC Bank chairman Abdul Hye Bachchu surpassed all in corruption. Late bank director Rezaur Rahman filed a complaint with the financial institutions division about anti-bank activities of Bachchu . But the division removed the director.
Financial institutions division joint secretary Kamrunnahar Ahmed was the director at BASIC Bank for entire five years during the tenure of Abdul Hye Bachchu. Questions were raised about her role. But she had no problem to become additional secretary.
Former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Khandaker Ibrahim Khaled said former reputed bankers, lawyers, good businessmen, accountants and neutral researchers should be appointed as directors of banks.
The accountability of directors has to be ensured, Khaled added. | https://medium.com/@sobuj09/party-men-at-the-helm-of-bank-boards-again-c660a52f989a | [] | 2020-12-02 17:38:53.773000+00:00 | ['Scam', 'Politics', 'Recruitment', 'Bank', 'Exclusive'] |
Ava Launches Closed Captions for Videos & Zoom Meetings | Ava - One-Click Captions for any online or in-person conversation
The future for 450M Deaf & hard-of-hearing people just got brighter.
I’m thrilled to announce that Ava has raised a $4.5M Series Seed co-led by elite investors Khosla & Initialized.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the ongoing support of our existing investors, clients, partners and most of all our Ava users — real Pioneers — , that I especially want to thank here.
I’m excited to be working with Alda Leu, Alexis Ohanian, Garry Tan at Initialized Capital, as well as Kanu Gulati and Sven Strohband, CTO at Khosla. Their experience in advising world-changing companies will be invaluable to transform the world of communication access.
Our next chapter: Radical Empowerment
With this, our next chapter towards total accessibility begins — we’re unveiling three new products that push boundaries like never before:
#1: Ava Closed Captions, for Mac & Windows , adds closed captions to all your online videos and meetings, in one click.
, adds closed captions to all your online videos and meetings, in one click. #2: Our Free Plan now includes unlimited captions, 24/7 available on all platforms Ava is, on iOS, Android, Web, Mac & Windows, in 15+ languages.
24/7 available on all platforms Ava is, on iOS, Android, Web, Mac & Windows, in 15+ languages. #3: Ava Scribe, our new next-gen CART service providing 99% accuracy by mixing AI & transcription professionals, available in the US & France.
Each of these are game-changers in captioning technology. Together, they galvanize radical empowerment of Deaf & hard-of-hearing people in their day-to-day lives to make accessibility happen on their terms — instead of having to wait for it to be provided.
This completes the foundations for a totally accessible society for the Deaf & hard-of-hearing, as we envisioned when we started Ava.
COVID-19 poured gasoline on prior accessibility fires
Access to information is such a fundamental human right. But 5% of the world population who are Deaf & hard-of-hearing are denied this very right every single day.
I grew up in an all-Deaf family, witnessing, first-hand the impact of the lack of accessibility in my parents’ and sister’s daily lives. Job interviews, meetings, classes, campus life, social media videos all lacked — and are still lacking — proper accommodation.
Advocates have tirelessly pointed this out for years, but progress in society’s accessibility is so slow that it isn’t keeping up with the rapid increase of communications.
On top of that, the COVID-19 crisis hit hard Deaf & hard-of-hearing people, making their lives even more difficult:
At home, the shift to a remote life threw people into platforms with more inaccessible content than ever. Captionless Zoom meetings, audio tweets, podcasts, Facebook Live broadcasts, Instagram or Tiktok videos, Slack calls, and many, many inaccessible services…
Outside, masks everywhere made it impossible to read lips. Some made clear masks, but could you really expect everyone you ran into to wear one?
Built by the community and for the community.
At some point, you can’t rely on others anymore. You stop counting on companies, governments & society to meet your needs.
This is the paradigm shift happening today: towards autonomy & independence. Deaf & hard-of-hearing communities are empowering themselves to make accessibility happen, instead of relying on others to do it for them. A stunning example of this is the US Presidential debates, in which there weren’t any ASL or real-time professional captions, pushing members of the community to produce their own live-interpreted broadcast.
To build a totally accessible society for ourselves that doesn’t rely on others’ goodwill, while still welcoming help when it’s offered — that’s the goal we obsessed over and are bringing to fruition today.
Ava Free Plan — Free, Unlimited, Always.
Because of facemasks and social distancing, more than ever, Deaf & hard-of-hearing people have come to rely on Ava’s one-tap live captions.
In fact, it has become a vital tool for some.
With our Free Plan, Free Captions are completely unlimited in hours, now and beyond the pandemic.
The interface has been refreshed for faster 1-on-1 and group conversations.
With a larger group, knowing who says what is easier than ever — share access to your Ava Room with a simple link, and people join you from their phone (or computer), no download needed.
You deserve a stunning experience, every day.
Ava Closed Captions.
At home, everyone started using Zoom for meetings & classes because it was more reliable, rightly-so! But it wasn’t accessible. In this trade-off, Deaf & hard-of-hearing people were again left behind.
Other companies like Google and Microsoft, made automated captions available, but exclusively on their platform — literally the opposite of inclusivity!
We chose the path of self-empowerment and built Ava Closed Captions, a powerful, free one-click captions desktop app for Mac & Windows. With Ava Closed Captions, you’re able to generate closed captions in front of any video you’re watching or meeting you’re having.
Zoom meetings, FaceTime, social media videos, podcasts, talk radio… you name it — any audio from your speakers (or your system if you set up a Virtual Microphone) will be transcribed.
Ava Scribe
We’re also introducing Ava Scribe, our state-of-the-art live captioning service that combines the best of both worlds, human knowledge & artificial intelligence. It is exclusively available under our Ava Pro plan and is meant to be sponsored by organizations — like employers & academic institutions — to ensure their Deaf & hard-of-hearing members' accessibility needs are met.
When you use Ava Scribe, this means:
Highest quality captions in work and education . Key meetings & classes require professional accessibility, making Scribe captions a great solution for Deaf & hard-of-hearing professionals and students.
. Key meetings & classes require professional accessibility, making Scribe captions a great solution for Deaf & hard-of-hearing professionals and students. Instant scheduling. Request Ava Scribe in one click and your AI-generated captions will be corrected on-the-fly by professional transcribers with 99% precision.
Request Ava Scribe in one click and your AI-generated captions will be corrected on-the-fly by professional transcribers with 99% precision. Lower costs. Because it draws from AI, professionals don’t need to be hired for a whole-day affair. Ava Scribe is priced much lower than other professional services. Besides, there is no minimum engagement time required, so you only pay for the time you use.
So, are you ready for a totally accessible world?
Because it’s already in motion.
Onwards,
Thibault Duchemin
CEO @ Ava
PS: Check out our announcement on Forbes | https://blog.ava.me/new-1-click-closed-captions-f50eee7de6e4 | ['Thibault Duchemin'] | 2020-12-10 23:13:47.335000+00:00 | ['Empowerment', 'Accessibility', 'Deaf', 'Social Justice', 'AI'] |
POKKET: Crypto Market Update (June 17) | Bitcoin is -4% to trade back to $38.5k after having tried to hold on to $40k this week. ETH is lower, -6% to $2350 as alts correct. Movers are SNM +19%, GTO -11%, and rest in between as vol continues to relax.
Everyone’s favorite printing man, Jerome Powell, gave a press conference post-FOMC yesterday with the message the current bump in inflation is temporary and is due to the country’s emergence from the pandemic. He also added the bump in inflation may last longer than they expect but gave no hints towards tapering or the pace of printing; meanwhile Bitcoin remains at 21M supply.
The SEC has extended its review period of the VanEck Bitcoin ETF by 45 days, and is the second time they have kicked the can.
Fox Corporation said on Tuesday it will invest $100M in a ‘creator fund’ for the NFT space through a new unit called Blockchain Creative Labs which will be a digital marketplace dedicated to commercializing characters.
Check out today’s interest rates at POKKET and earn interest on your crypto with our crypto saving accounts. | https://medium.com/pokketofficial/pokket-crypto-market-update-june-17-7ac4bc0d82d0 | [] | 2021-06-17 15:13:04.576000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Cryptocurrency News', 'Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin News', 'Pokket'] |
Jogging While Black | December 10, 2020
Covid-19 has had an impact on all of our lives. Being an introvert, death and economic devastation notwithstanding, it has been great for me. I now have a reason for not going out with a loved one. “I would, but Covid” has been one of my favorite phrases during the past ten months and instead of the usual auditory eye roll that I would get from my more gregarious compatriots, I get an “Oh. Yeah. You’re right.”
But as much as I’ve been enjoying having a legitimate reason for not leaving the house other than to venture to the local grocery store for sustenance or a department store for toiletries, I have experienced one of the few drawbacks from the quarantine: not being able to go to the gym. Yes. As introverted as I am, one of the few things I actually enjoy is going to the gym. Something that I did pre-Covid 4–6 times a week. I’ve had my gym jaunts sporadically for most of my life. My mother was grandfathered into a 24-Hour Fitness special since I was 12 so I’ve been going to the establishment at a fraction of the cost for most of my life.
Upon approaching my thirties, I realized that I was morbidly obese. Through diet and a LOT of exercise, I reduced that to just regular obese. I made it a point during my weight loss journey to go the gym frequently because I abhor doing any exercise outdoors and would rather drive 20 minutes to walk/jog 2 miles on a treadmill than to walk/jog the same 2 miles around my neighborhood. But now that all convenient 24-Hour Fitness locations are closed due to the pandemic I now had to do my exercise regimen at home and this meant venturing the concrete jungle of my neighborhood instead of the climate-controlled, water fountain-a-plenty sanctuary of my gym. And therein lied my dilemma.
If you couldn’t tell by the title, I’m black. A 6’3”, 300+ pound, dark-skinned African American male who is very nice, kind, and courteous but doesn’t like to smile. I’ve been told that I have the male equivalent of RBF. These are the facts about myself that I’m consciously and subconsciously aware of every time I leave the home.
2020 and particularly the murder of George Floyd has placed a beaming spotlight on police/black relations in this country. It’s very disheartening that it took the planet to come to a standstill and one of the most horrific moments ever captured on a smartphone to have some real significant dialog on the subject, but such is America.
Like any significant effort to spark significant change, there were those who prefer the status-quo trying to stop it.
All the MAGA-hatted, anti-BLM, counter-protestors in New York comes to mind.
On the surface, this was nothing I haven’t seen before. Some cop is filmed killing an unarmed black person, people protest, the cop is put on administrative leave, and depending on the fervor of the case. The officer is either cleared of any wrongdoing or indicted, tried, and then cleared of any wrongdoing. A process that dates back to Rodney King.
But this time seemed different. In good and bad ways.
The good: for the first time the entire nation, for the most part, agreed that what Officer Chauvin did was reprehensible, and we saw actual police reform in some police systems across the country.
The bad: officers were on high alert and in defense mode. And when already skittish cops are more skittish it’s usually not good.
Like the rather disturbing press conference by NYPD Union Head Mike O’Meara where he lamented to the nation how upset he was at the terrible treatment of the police by society. Where he pleaded to “Stop treating us like animals!” This was said by a member of a police department that implemented stop-and-frisk. An ineffective policing tactic that almost only affected black and brown people and temporally suspended their civil rights. Also, the confirmed stories of federal agents kidnapping protestors in unmarked rental vehicles in Portland and detaining them without charging them. And let’s not forget poor Stacy Talbert of the McIntosh County Georgia Sheriff’s department who was so afraid of the treatment of police by the public that when an order took too long from the restaurant with glorious golden arches, that she fled the drive-through without her Egg McMuffin because she feared it had been tampered with and made a tear-soaked, viral video of her weeping and telling the world the “[she] hurt, too.”
Taking all of this account made my 6’3”, 300+ pound, dark-skinned African American, smile averting self, think twice about just going for a jog in my rather diverse, but still mostly older white, area of the Inland Empire.
But during the first few months of the quarantine I, like most of us, put on weight. And I didn’t want Covid circumstances to get the best of me. So, I did what all black men do in this country, I did a personal checklist to mitigate the chances of a deadly encounter with the police if or when I was stopped by one.
Trying to find a funny picture for the article I was shown multiple images Ahmaud Arbery. A black man killed while jogging by a group of white men in Georgia earlier this year.
Around this time, it had begun to heat up in Southern California, so I had a dressed-down look. Good, I thought to myself. No need to wear a hoody so I’ll wear a tank top and shorts so my entire form would be visible. I’m a rather distinct individual so there shouldn’t be any discrepancies if some other African American man commits a crime, or just looks suspicious in my general area.
I would need to bring my inhaler (asthmatic), my phone and earbuds, no need for keys thanks to smart home technology but the last few things that I usually keep on my person is where the genesis of this article comes from.
Due to the pandemic a face covering has been an everyday essential for most people on this planet and even though I would be exercising outside many of my neighbors had also put on quarantine weight so there were a fair number of people out during my exercise time due to it being the coolest part of the day. So of course, I was going to wear it while exercising but I remembered some videos I’ve seen of black men being escorted out of stores or being temporally being detained by police because they were wearing a face mask, during covid. So, this thought crossed my mind. But being asthmatic I decided I’d take the risk.
But a large black man, who doesn’t have the shape of a runner, running in the morning with a mask on amid mostly white people running as well gave me pause.
The next thing I usually have on me is my wallet, particularly my ID. There was no need for me to have it because I didn’t plan on buying anything on my jog since there aren’t any stores in the area and if I did need to buy something, I could just use Apple Pay. But the ID is what worried me.
The shorts that I wear don’t have deep pockets. That’s not usually a problem for me because I run with my phone in my hand and my inhaler stuffed in my socks, so I don’t have to worry about it falling out of my pocket. I looked up to see if it was mandatory for Californians to have a form of identification on them at all times and the state doesn’t have a “Stop and Identify” law. So legally I was covered but when has a law or absence of one stopped the police.
We’ve seen the scores of cases of African Americans being arrested for usually, non-arrestable offenses. Just this June in Tulsa two black teens were violently arrested for jaywalking. There is a chance I may unknowingly jaywalk on my jogging route so even though I’m not legally required to have my ID on me there’s a chance I could be detained for jaywalking or maybe I “fit the description” of a serial jaywalker in the area and since I have no identification me I can be detained by the police for a significant amount of time because they have to be thorough when ridding the streets of the menacing black jaywalkers. Or maybe they have a ticket quota to meet and like it’s been pointed out by former NYPD Sergeant Edwin Raymond and in the state of Missouri, police departments have always over ticketed the black community. They have used us as cash cows to supplement their budget. They do so by targeting middle and lower-class areas because it is less likely that they can afford to fight the ticket.
But also due to my running attire, I don’t have a place on my person to securely have it and not lose it. I could put it in my sock along with my inhaler, but I’m reminded of Levar Jones, a black man who was shot by an S. Carolina state trooper for getting his license because the trooper thought he was getting a gun. So, if I happen to get detained by the police and they ask for ID I would have to reach down near the inhaler bulge in my sock to get my ID. My inhaler is about 3 inches long and not shaped like a gun but who knows what a cop might think. Stephon Clark was shot and killed in his backyard in 2018 because police mistook the phone in his hand to be a gun, so it’s possible that they could mistake my inhaler for an old western-style derringer and open fire on me.
The last thing that I usually keep on me is a safety knife. A safety knife is a knife with a glass breaker and seat belt cutter in it. I have been in a few car accidents that I have been lucky to walk away from mostly uninjured, but this is something that would have been useful in those accidents rather than me relying on the kindness of strangers to extricate me from any wreckage. So, it’s something that I’ve come to have on me at all times. I never intend to use it necessarily for self-defense. I mostly use it to open boxes or pry something open. When I began carrying it a made sure to read every knife law in California and the knife and my style of carrying was completely legal, but we’ve seen what can happen to a law-abiding black man when carrying a completely legal weapon on him.
And these were the thoughts that I had.
At 5:55 am.
Getting dressed.
To go on a 20-minute jog.
As a black man in America.
It’s a thought string I’d had so many times that I was surprised that I was surprised by it. It’s second nature for back men in this country.
I was taught this way of thinking at a very young age. I’ve always been tall and big for my age. So, when I was 10 my father sat me down and told me how to deal with authorities, not just law enforcement. My father, being a large person himself, has been a victim of “Law and Order.” He told me that since I will more than likely be “the biggest nigga in the room”, that an authority figure would try set the tone by subduing me. If I’m the person causing a disturbance or not. It’s a tactic that’s been adopted by people in jail. On you first day in, you find the biggest person on the yard and knock him out. We all have heard that in some old prison movie, but my father lived it, and so have I (another story for another time). But even my smaller, melanated associates have received a similar warning from their parents.
I never thought about the facts of life extra chapter that black parents have to read to their children.
It’s second nature.
It’s almost evolutionary for the black community.
I often think about the hilariously funny joke by D.L. Hughley in where he anecdotes about the lack of black people in extreme sports. His reasoning being that being a black person in America is an extreme sport on to itself (explaining comedy takes the comedy out of it, forgive me D.L.). Watching that I laughed. Hard. Because the funniest jokes have a degree of truth in them.
And that’s how a lot of black Americans feel. So, what is an overweight black man who can’t go to the gym, due to a global pandemic but has to begrudgingly exercise outdoors, do?
Should I wear a mask but make sure to take it off when I’m near another person or a cop so that he or she can see my face to know I’m not a fleeing criminal? Just some fat dude trying to lose weight.
Should I buy some workout shorts with deeper pockets so I can keep my license on my person without fear of losing it, but I would have to reach in my pocket on the off chance I’m detained by the police? But that brings that danger of reaching for my identification and we all know how dangerous that can be. Maybe I should engineer some special shorts for African Americans with a transparent, license sized velcro pouch so that the police can see that is what I’m reaching for. Hopefully, that could work.
Should I just leave my trusty, legally owned, knife at home? I do feel a little better carrying it being someone running at dawn in areas where there aren’t other people at times but I also like not giving police officers a reason to shoot me because I have a, albeit legal, weapon on me.
I don’t know.
These are just the thoughts of a 6’3”, 300+ pound, dark-skinned, African American male who doesn’t like to smile, at 5:55 am, getting dressed to go jogging in 2020 America. | https://medium.com/@shuwilson/jogging-while-black-f3bab3e1935e | ['Shu Wilson'] | 2021-01-11 18:27:33.335000+00:00 | ['African American', 'Police Brutality', 'Black Lives Mater', 'Jogging', 'Introvert'] |
Palestinian Resistance is Resistance not “Terror” | I would like to invite you to watch a short video clip released by Israeli authorities of a recent attempted knife stabbing by a Palestinian youth of a heavily armed Israeli soldier.
But let me first describe to you what I see as a Palestinian.
From a video clip released by Israeli authorities of Incident of a Palestinian man’s attempt to carry out a stabbing in East Jerusalem: https://vk.com/video464838380_456239191
The surveillance camera shows a slim youthful-looking Palestinian in red shirt and mask walking slowly toward a barricade near Bab Hotta, one of the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque. The barricade cuts into the narrow street in the Old City. The man is later identified as Ashraf Hasan Atallah Halasa, a 30-year-old from Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem.
Behind the barricade are three Israeli Border Police members and one across from them leaning nonchalantly with his back and one foot against the wall of a building facing the barricade. All are armed with machine guns at the ready.
Palestinians walk past unfazed by this show of “security,” although they may have heard that the previous night, Israeli soldiers had abducted Tareq and his brother, Atef Sbeitan, near the al-Aqsa Mosque.
When the Palestinian man reaches the barricade, he leans over in a quick motion and tries to stab the soldier nearest him. He is quickly gunned down.
An Israeli government site describes the entire Border Police, an arm of the Israeli forces, entering “the West Bank and East Jerusalem [in 1967] to impose order in these newly-conquered regions.” They are still “imposing order” as conquerors and oppressors.
What do I see in the video clip? I see terrorism, yes, a security threat, yes, aggression, yes, violence, yes — against Palestinians.
The shoddy spectacle edited into the video clip to frame the scene as a “law and order” phenomenon is disgusting to me. Here is the bustling, self-important forensic apparatus of the state on display, the collection of evidence to portray the Palestinian with a kitchen knife as the terrorist aggressor against the forces of good.
According to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld on Twitter, we should all breathe a sigh of relief; the threat posed by the Palestinian young man was “neutralized.”
And the heavily armed representatives of a brutal state maintaining the illegal annexation of Jerusalem and presiding over its astoundingly cruel judaization of the holy city and erasure of its Palestinian Arab inhabitants and their culture? What of that?
Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused Israeli “security forces” of using excessive force. I am here to accuse Israeli forces of terrorism and all those sworn to defend the security of Israel as collaborators.
As a Palestinian, when I see a video clip such as this one, I do not buy into what the carefully arranged images the Israeli government used are meant to “prove” to the world.
Instead, I see the result of Israel’s existence on Palestinian soil traumatizing the feelings of Ashraf Halasa, a young man from Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem. Why in God’s name is this Jerusalemite in a refugee camp instead of wherever he or his family took refuge from in 1967?
I see an individual who reached a point where he wondered, like Don Quixote, whether his life had any meaning any more. It became very important for him to successfully accomplish something of importance, so he lived out a fantasy. It’s a fantasy Palestinians, including myself, will tell you has helped them fall asleep many a night.
I hear Ashraf saying, as I wrote in a post in 2017: “Look at me. Look at me as I am — a fellow human being. Look at me independently from your Jewish identity and your Jewish suffering.”
And your machine guns.
Image from my 2017 blog post titled, ‘An open letter to Jews worldwide from a Palestinian Arab’
Why is it vitally important for the world to understand that Palestinian resistance, whether armed as in Hamas’ activity against the Israeli military, or unarmed as in BDS activity, is resistance, not terror or criminal activity?
Consider the report published recently in The Electronic Intifada titled ‘Israel lobbyists force Dutch government to suspend funding of farmers’ organization.’ Adri Nieuwhof explains the situation as follows:
Pro-Israel groups have been campaigning to undermine a large Palestinian agricultural development organization by accusing it of “funding terror.”
UK Lawyers for Israel, UKLFI, and Dutch pro-Israel lobby group Center for Information and Documentation Israel, CIDI, have both been calling on the Dutch government to end funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, UAWC.
On 9 July, Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister of international trade and development, gave in to the pressure and suspended UAWC’s funding pending the outcome of an external review.
Resistance of oppression, military occupation, annexation and apartheid is not “terror.” That the Dutch and other governments continue to accept this inversion of the truth and any semblance of morality is an injustice that must end.
___________________
Rima Najjar is a Palestinian whose father’s side of the family comes from the forcibly depopulated village of Lifta on the western outskirts of Jerusalem and whose mother’s side of the family is from Ijzim, south of Haifa. She is an activist, researcher and retired professor of English literature, Al-Quds University, occupied West Bank. | https://medium.com/discourse/palestinian-resistance-is-resistance-not-terror-859f3c8ad2ac | ['Rima Najjar'] | 2020-08-20 16:40:46.362000+00:00 | ['Terrorism', 'Palestine', 'Resistance', 'Israel', 'Jerusalem'] |
DeFi flash loan attack — what just happened? | How an opportunist walked away with $360,000 in ETH From a single flash loan transaction.
DeFi dapps have been hot property in 2020. Things got even more interesting in February when an audacious opportunist/hacker made off with over a quarter of a million dollars in ETH.
The reason for the confusion over whether this was a hack or just somebody using what was available is that what they did was not illegal.
We thought we would break down the steps and also explain the jargon used in most coverage of this incident. Newcomers to the DeFi space can begin to understand the power of the products on offer here. Interestingly the person in question achieved the heist with just a few, highly calculated moves.
First, you need capital
Normally, to borrow capital using DeFi products a CDP (collateralized debt position) is required. Meaning that to borrow $100 worth of BTC you would need to deposit roughly $120 worth of ETH. If you then fail to pay back the $100 of BTC, you will lose your collateral.
A smart-contract enabled flash loan is a product that allows you to borrow an asset without having any collateral. But, this is only allowed when you pay it back in the same transaction — hence the term ‘flash loan’. If the user fails to pay back the borrowed amount, the transaction will simply revert.
Flash loan
The flash loan was needed to provide the capital to kick off this entire process and that is where decentralized exchange DyDx came into play. DyDx offered the user a flash loan of 10,000 WETH (Wrapped ETH) which was worth around $3M. Minus a few transaction fees, the hacker had access to almost $3M in capital in just a few minutes.
WETH is Wrapped Ethereum and it is backed 1-to-1 with real Ethereum except that it’s an ERC20 token. Meaning that it can be traded directly with other ERC20 tokens, including WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin), which will feature later.
The person now had the capital for a short position and try to manipulate the market to make a profit. A short position is a method employed in financial markets to make money when the asset has a decreasing price.
When you short 112 WBTC, you borrow 112 WBTC from other parties and sell them. For example, at $10,000 per WBTC, you would then have $1,120,000.
You still need to pay back the original loan of 112 WBTC. When you do, if the price of WBTC has dropped to $9,000 during that time frame then it only costs you 112 x $9,000 = $1,008,000 to pay back your loan.
$1,120,000 — $1,008,000 = $112,000 profit from the short position.
Market manipulation
In this case, the person divided the flash loan into two parts. Firstly going to Fulcrum, a trading platform built from bZx that allows margin trading. Here they opened a short position of 112 WBTC, meaning that they would profit if the price of WBTC decreased.
To ensure the price of WBTC did go down, the person then went to decentralized trading platform Compound with the other half of the flash loan. Here they borrowed 112 WBTC using the WETH as collateral via a collateralized debt position. Compound is a decentralized lending platform where users can take out loans of different crypto assets with CDPs.
Fulcrum exclusively uses the Uniswap decentralized exchange price feed to determine its WBTC price. Meaning that in order to profit from shorting on Fulcrum, the person first had to crash the price on Uniswap. With those 112 WBTC, they went and crashed the price of WBTC on Uniswap, allowing them to profit from the short position just opened on Fulcrum.
Pay your debts!
All that was left now was to pay the flash loan back. With profit gained from the short position, the person repaid the flash loan and pocketed the remaining profit. Which in this incident added up to approximately $360,000.
There has been much debate around this topic for two main reasons. The first reason is a question of ethics. Is the person in question here a hacker or just an opportunist making the most of the product available to them? We would love to know your thoughts on this incident! Opportunist or hacker?
And two, the benefits and accessibility of DeFi products for the masses are becoming very clear to see in 2020.
DappRadar will be keeping a close eye on developments in the space. | https://medium.com/dappradar-com/defi-flash-loan-attack-what-just-happened-a171683153ab | [] | 2020-03-03 11:27:15.533000+00:00 | ['Decentralized Finance', 'Decentralized', 'Hacker News', 'Blockchain Development', 'Defi'] |
Getting started with Tableau! | Well… That’s a long story on how I concluded to learn Tableau but here I am writing about it!!
The best way to learn something is to know whether that excites you. Before spending your hard earned money in buying licenses for the XYZ suggested by your peer, try how comfortable you are with the learning and the tool.
I chose Tableau because I love the arts. Weird right!!
Yes, I chose to learn tableau because the interface looks like a canvas to me where I can paint anything I could wish for. Drag and drop everything that I wanted to visualize and the final masterpiece is an abstract art that explains business excellence. I enjoy visualizing past, present, and future of a scenario and help businesses make some meaningful decisions.
Everyone may not feel the same excitement as I do, but it’s always good to know what you want!
To experience the reality of how it feels like… try Tableau public.
You can download it from Tableau official website and Learn basics from the Free Training Videos. However, we will be learning everything that is essential in the sequence of blog posts coming up.
Happy learning!! | https://medium.com/tableau-master-of-visualizations/getting-started-with-tableau-a355a2e36500 | ['Sruthi Malla'] | 2019-04-21 05:09:12.629000+00:00 | ['Data Analysis', 'Tableau', 'Data Visualization'] |
My DigitalOcean App Platform Hackathon entry: stock-checker | stock-checker running as a DigitalOcean App Platform work
Just a short cross-post to say I have entered the DigitalOcean App Platform Hackathon.
stock-checker is a golang app that spawns a task every hour to check whether any of the following UK retailers have an Xbox Series X console in stock:
This is done using a web automation library that navigates each site in a headless chromium browser.
If the app determines stock is available, a text message is sent using Twilio to the configured mobile number.
The full details can be found over on DEV.
The source can be found on GitHub. | https://medium.com/@jonjam/my-digitalocean-app-platform-hackathon-entry-stock-checker-7efdb6e7e0af | ['Jonathan Harrison'] | 2020-12-26 14:32:39.195000+00:00 | ['Docker', 'Digitalocean', 'Hackathons', 'Go', 'Golang'] |
Into The Unknown | Into The Unknown
Literally Literary and The Writing Cooperative prompt
Photo by @thedirtiestjas
“You want to quit without getting a new job?” Her tone was incredulous, eyes so wide as if her voice hadn’t emphasised her shock enough already.
“Yes. I already told you why.” I could sense the now familiar crawl of impatience, creeping up on me like a slow itch growing under my skin.
Twirling her hair around her fingers, my friend looks like she’s thinking hard about the next piece of (probably meaningless) advice to give me, but I know her gaze is on her reflection in the cafe mirror.
“You know what?” I finally said after a moment’s pause. “I’ll go home and think about it again.”
“Yeah, I think that’s probably the best.” She mutters distractedly, her fingers now working a loose braid into her hair. (God I wish I could cut it off) “I’m not sure if you’re thinking right, maybe you’re too blinded by something.” She angles her face to see how the braid looks on her skin.
“Maybe.”
I roll my eyes as she starts snapping selfies for her Instagram. | https://medium.com/literally-literary/into-the-unknown-ffe242e28afe | ['Jasmine Koh'] | 2019-12-24 04:26:01.088000+00:00 | ['Exulansis', 'Unemployment', 'Quitting A Job', 'Life', 'Nonfiction'] |
How BLM lands in Nevada can help protect 30 percent of America by 2030 | The Center for Western Priorities held its third stop on the Road to 30 virtual tour of states across the West, emphasizing the importance of a bold proposal to protect 30 percent of America’s lands and water by 2030, known as the 30x30 initiative, and how Nevada can play a role in this effort. New polling by the Center for Western Priorities shows that 75 percent of voters in five key Western states — AZ, CO, MT, NM, and NV — support setting a national goal to conserve 30 percent of America’s lands and ocean areas by 2030 to help protect wildlife and open spaces for future generations with majority support across party lines for the ambitious conservation goal.
Co-hosted by the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Nevada event was moderated by Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, and featured New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, who is leading the 30x30 effort in the U.S. Senate, Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts, a leading voice in Nevada for local conservation initiatives, and Jocelyn Torres, the Senior Field Director of the Conservation Lands Foundation. The panelists discussed the importance of Nevada grassroots and native-led conservation efforts, and how the Bureau of Land Management’s National Conservation Lands can contribute to this bold conservation goal.
Highlights from the speakers at the Nevada event are shared below.
Tom Udall, United States Senator for New Mexico: “Americans — Westerners in particular — treasure our nation’s public lands and want to see them protected and maintained. However, scientists warn that one million species are at risk of extinction over the next decades and we are losing about a football field worth of natural area every 30 seconds in the U.S. Saving our natural world has never been so important, which is why I have introduced the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature. Western voters understand that we must take bold but achievable action to protect the places we love. They recognize that the goal of protecting thirty percent of our lands and waters by 2030 is fundamental to creating a livable and productive planet for future generations. Investing in conservation and our public lands is also key to our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating direct jobs and fueling the outdoor industry. Westerners value the spectacular beauty of the West — it’s our heritage — and these measures will help preserve public lands for future generations to come.”
Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts: “State and local governments have a vital role to play in protecting our land, water, and air. Even in Nevada, where so much land is federally owned and managed, local voices can lead the successful push for federal action. Our legislature, governor, and congressional delegation have worked together to stop oil and gas drilling in the Ruby Mountains, fight the Air Force’s attempt to take over the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, and protect our public lands. Local management decisions for water, wildlife, industry, transportation, and land use all have direct impacts on our outdoor spaces. We must work together to ensure that our natural heritage is preserved and accessible to all–our health, happiness, and future depends on it.”
Jocelyn Torres, Senior Field Director of Conservation Lands Foundation: “Our biggest opportunity to meet the 30x30 goal in Nevada is protecting intact, large and undeveloped landscapes, including the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Permanent protection is essential to ensuring the places that we love and that sustain us continue to be available for the health and healing of future generations. As Nevadans, we know the value and benefit of public lands and it’s our responsibility to defend those values.”
Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director of the Center for Western Priorities: “Scientists have urged us to protect at least 30 percent of our planet’s land and water resources as a necessary step to prevent the unraveling of the ecosystems that support all life on this planet. Despite the administration’s best attempts to roll back conservation protections, there is strong bipartisan support from voters in the West to conserve our public lands for future generations, a critical step towards reaching this bold 30 by 30 goal.” | https://medium.com/westwise/how-blm-lands-in-nevada-can-help-protect-30-percent-of-america-by-2030-804d45d04256 | ['Lauren Bogard'] | 2020-07-27 20:04:38.959000+00:00 | ['Bureau Of Land Management', 'Leadership', 'Nevada', 'Public Lands', 'Conservation'] |
Indie Todler | Old History
I was born in May 1981 in Ukraine, made Aliyah (moved to Israel — ascend in Hebrew) with my parents in 1995. Joined the Air Force in 1999, and left it in 2010 after spending 11 years fixing Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon Block A/B/C/D. Let me use this stage to say that Lockheed engineers are insanely smart, and I have learned a lot from them. You might laugh but some principals I learned from their documentation on how to solve electrical issues with the F-16 systems have proven to be very useful in code debugging.
In 2010, I joined an American startup based in San Francisco called Cloud Engines, which made Pogoplug devices. I started as a Windows developer but quickly switched to iOS cause people started to realize mobile is all the rage. I worked there until 2015, and my last job was iOS Team Leader — which is funny cause the team consisted of me and a couple of guys in Ukraine. Things didn’t go too well for Cloud Engines, which was slightly ahead of time with their device, and behind with their cloud solution. The raised capital was gone, and there wasn’t too much work for me — so I called quits. I joined another startup for 6 months, left it too, and started to look for another position. After spending a week interviewing, I had enough.
I worked my entire adult life and I was entitled to 6 months of unemployment benefits — around $2000/month. It was much less than I earned in my old job — but I saved a lot (working 8AM to 7PM helps a lot with that) and I owned my own apartment, without a mortgage, so that helped with the stress factor. So I told myself — this is the time to go indie. Take my side project and make a business out of it.
The project
In April 2013 I made Remote Control for Mac v1.0. To call it basic would be to exaggerate. The app only had 2 functions — launching iTunes and controlling the master volume of your Mac. I made it for myself, cause I had a Mac mini I bought in 2011 hooked up to JBL soundbar in my living room and my entire iTunes library was stored on it. I would use the Apple Remote app to control iTunes and got annoyed that if iTunes wasn’t running their app wouldn’t work. I had to launch it manually. Another issue I discovered with this setup is that controlling iTunes volume using their app is useless if your master volume is muted or too low. Go figure. So I made it — basic HTTP server on the Mac side with a couple of RPCs to get current volume, set it, mute and unmute and launch iTunes. Simple. The app worked great. So I decided to spend $99 to put it on the AppStore for the fun of it. And for others who might need something like this. I haven’t researched my competition, I haven’t done my homework on marketing, nothing like it. I was gainfully employed and this was just a side project — a solution for a problem I had in my own life. Not some made-up use case, not a result of market research, or an attempt to use the things I learned. I had a problem and I created a solution for it and if you ask me it’s the recipe for the app’s success. | https://medium.com/@cherpake/indie-todler-c35163cb3c89 | ['Evgeny Cherpak'] | 2020-12-27 12:51:32.755000+00:00 | ['App Development', 'Apps', 'Indiedev', 'Indie'] |
The Long Walk to the Movies | Our nearest movie theater is in an expansive hotel/office/restaurant complex in the county seat. There is a large, indoor parking garage. Elevators transport you from the parking decks to the levels of the complex where you can dine, drink, see a movie, visit the health club and check into the hotel.
After I became disabled from a severe stroke in 1999, date nights became limited to things that required minimal physical activity so we usually went to the movies about once a week. Watching movies is notoriously not the best type of date to foster a connection as you sit beside each other in silence. We had been accustomed to going on hikes and many other physical pursuits together. One of many adjustments we made was switching to sedentary pursuits like dinners out and going to the movies.
I always enjoyed going to movie theaters. Spending time with my husband in this way was a pleasure that remained following so many losses. Choosing a movie together, purchasing snacks, riding in the car, and watching the show culminated in a degree of engagement.
The part of going with my husband that I didn’t like was walking from the car to the box office. The elevators brought us up to the box office level from the parking deck and we stepped out into a corridor about the length of a football field. It was level and carpeted so it was relatively easy for me to walk the length with the brace on my leg and my cane. He was always in a hurry for some reason no matter where we were going or what the schedule was. He normally stepped off the elevator and sarted to walk at a brisk pace. I made an attempt to keep up, but it was hopeless. My injuries were too severe. My left arm was so spastic it moved with its own intent, disrupting my efforts at putting one foot in front of the other. My paralyzed left foot was lifted by a bulky brace with inconsistent success causing me to compensate by hiking my hip so my foot cleared the floor and I didn’t trip over it. There was just no way I could keep up with him.
He often would turn around from 20 paces in front of me and ask “Can’t you hurry up?” Every. Week. Talk about an unwillingness to face and accept reality.
This is the short version of the story of how our marriage broke up. He became more selfish as time wore on and wasn’t commited enough to make the adjustments required for the new reality. Moving on.
Fast forward three years from when my husband left, and I go to the same theater with a boyfriend. We arrived separately and met at the box office. We saw “A Wrinkle in Time”, an adventure story starring Oprah Winfrey. We’d been seeing each other for 7 months and this was our first movie date.
We had both parked our cars in the garage, and had the long walk to the elevators to go to our respective vehicles when the movie was over. He likes to hold my spastic left hand when we walk. It becomes more unruly from the effort of walking.
I was so glad to walk next to a man who said he was proud to be out on a date with me. He held my wayward hand and let me set the pace. We were able to chat as we walked. I’m sure I mentioned that taking this long walk with me was not a possibility with my ever-hurried former husband.
The stark contrast of taking the same walk with two different men in different times speaks ever so clearly about whom I should grant the privelege of holding my hand while walking beside me. | https://brooksidevic.medium.com/the-long-walk-to-the-movies-a1c5acc070a3 | ['Victoria Ponte'] | 2018-04-09 19:30:25.346000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Disability', 'Marriage'] |
How machine learning lifecycle is different from software development lifecycle? | Image credit — https://pixabay.com/photos/staircase-spiral-architecture-600468/
What is Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?
The SDLC is a methodology followed for developing software projects with clearly defined processes for creating good quality software. The SDLC methodology broadly involves the following phases,
Requirement analysis Planning Architecture and sub-system design Coding Testing Deployment Maintenance
What is Machine Learning Life Cycle (MLLC)?
How a life cycle is defined for software development, machine learning model development also needs a similar methodology. MLLC is a cyclical process a team has to go through to build and manage the good quality models. Following are the broad phases MLLC involves,
Business Requirements Gathering and Data preparation Exploratory Analysis Training Model Selection and Verification Deployment Monitoring
How MLLC is different than SDLC?
Software vs Model
Softwares are built based on the requirements provided by during the first phase of SDLC. But in machine learning, a model is build based on a specific dataset. Software systems wouldn’t fail once deployed as long as the requirements are not changed. But that is not the case with machine learning, the underlying characteristics of the data might change and your models may not be giving the right result.
Well built software can handle various scenarios but can’t say the same thing about the machine learning models. Data used for training will change sooner or later, that is inevitable.
Let’s take a model that classifies dog vs cat, over a period of time your model may be tasked to classify new bread of dog or cat. The model will spit out an answer for sure. It will try to relate to the closest thing it saw during the training. But can you be sure that the result is correct, you may not right? Over time, the target which you are predicting can change or characteristics of the data can change or the features used are no longer sufficient to predict.
Maintenance vs Monitoring
In software, monitoring is most of the time checking the uptime or response time. Whenever a bug is caught, the team will fix it up and deploy it again. In machine learning, as we discussed earlier, the model might give the result but the result might be wrong. Monitoring the model inputs and the output becomes very essential.
Few things every operational model need to monitor are,
The integrity of the data
Distributions of model inputs
Package dependencies
Model performance metrics
Deployment infrastructure performance
ML Monitoring tools currently available are still nascent. At Dblue.ai, we think it’s high time to provide a best in class tool for automatically monitoring anomalies with the model and data. So, we built MLWatch to proactively monitor machine learning models and data.
MLWatch will monitor your production machine learning model predictions in real-time and alert you on performance degradation, data anomalies, and data drift. Build trust in your model by understanding the behavior and getting increased visibility into prediction data. Detect model bias to ensure your models are fair to all segments of the data population. | https://medium.com/dblue-ai/how-machine-learning-lifecycle-is-different-than-software-development-lifecycle-51b6b8d2f864 | ['Rajesh Hegde'] | 2020-05-15 05:35:52.049000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'DevOps', 'Monitoring', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Software Development'] |
Alternative education sees increase in China | An increasing number of Chinese parents are sending their children to alternative, private schools in order to avoid the high-stress environment of the state-run educational system.
The state-run high schools in China are solely focused on preparing students for the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, said Lijuan Shi, a curriculum and instruction program graduate student.
Shi said while colleges in the United States look at student’s SAT scores, community involvement and extra curricular activities, in China, what matters is a student’s score on the National Higher Education Entrance Examination — commonly referred to as gaokao.
The entrance exam is taken during a student’s third year of high school. Students in public schools prepare for the exam in a lecture-style class without collaborating with peers. Unlike the United States, there are not many activities for student engagement like group discussions or projects, Shi said.
Parents who plan to send their children abroad to a university are the ones who tend to seek out private schools rooted in alternative educational methods such as Montessori.
These parents want to familiarize their children with Western styles of learning before they start college, Shi said.
“There’s a need from rich people, smart parents who want to send their kids abroad,” she said. “There’s a need, so a market is established.”
During the 2012–2013 school year, 235,597 Chinese nationals studied in American colleges and universities, an increase of 21 percent from the previous year, according to the Institute of International Education.
Shi said most of the teachers at private schools in China have taught abroad or are foreigners themselves.
Sophomore economics major Ranzhu Zhao, a native of Changchun, a city in China’s Jilin province, decided to attend a university in the United States during her second year of high school.
“I talked to my parents and took one program offered [by] my school, an exchange in Boston for the fall of 2010,” she said.
Zhao decided she did not want to go through the stress of preparing to go to a university in China, and instead focused her last 18 months of high school preparing for the SAT and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams.
“Because the [gaokao] is really difficult a lot of my friends slept three hours a day,” in order to study, Zhao said.
Students are required to take gaokao exams in Chinese, English and math, although student choose to take additional exams in the sciences, social studies or the arts.
Public high school students in China typically arrive at school around 7:00 or 7:30 a.m and first review homework assignments from the night before.
Students then have four or five morning classes before breaking for about 90 minutes for lunch. After lunch, students attend three or four classes before a mandatory study hall session, in which teachers are required to stay in the classroom in case students have any questions, Shi said.
“If parents can afford it [they send their kids] to extra classes,” in the evenings or during holidays when school is not in session, she said.
With this additional instruction after the regular school day, it’s not unusual for a student to return home as late as 2 a.m.
Besides weekday instruction, schools operate on a half-day schedule on Saturdays, Shi said.
Even though the popularity of private schools offers students an alternative to the assessment-focused public schools, Shi said it’s unlikely public schools will change their curriculum.
“All teachers, all educators and all leaders…[their goal is for students to] pass the test,” she said. | https://medium.com/umdplex/alternative-education-sees-increase-in-china-8eb193baf3eb | [] | 2016-08-10 16:56:50.361000+00:00 | ['China', 'Education'] |
Footnotes on vaccine opposition. | Footnotes on vaccine opposition.
Trying to quell anti vaccine activism by reiterating public health and safety concerns are wasted on the converted, and more than likely to convince those who are undecided or apprehensive to oppose the intervention regardless of the imperative. As people change their perspective from popular convention to belligerent belief, refute public health and safety concerns, and defy scientific facts with unfounded assumptions and irrational arguments.
The resistance to vaccination is by no means news and no different than the anti- condom trend that still plague public health efforts in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In the Masibambisane campaign of the SANDF the approach that was followed to break through the quagmire of religious morals and satisfy the staggering diversity of cultures and social values that existed at the time were to disregard the rhetoric, and focus instead on personal health and empowering people with knowledge about themselves, building interpersonal skills, and creating a shared understanding of the behavior of others and the larger community, regardless of culture, creed or cast.
The lore that adversity dissipate to a fresh perspective may well be as old as antiquity, but it’s just as relevant to the Covid19 mask and global lockdown controversy as it is to the the growing anti vaccination trend.
As a retired public health official my concern with the mounting opposition against vaccination has more to do with the outrage, condemnation, and treat which we know only serves to strengthen their resolve and harden the conviction that they believe.
Without any foreseeable means to address the underlying stress, fear and anxiety that caused them to doubt what they know and fear what they believe has been the bane of the public health community since it's inception, and we know that trying to change the folly of high risk behaviour by reminding them of their responsibility towards the 'greater good of mankind' is as futile as convincing them of the evidence is moot.
To only way to change the points of view that refute the planned public health intervention is to identify the common clause that inform the belligerent behaviour and address the lapse of reason from a common perspective and a mutual understanding of the relevance their bevaviour has on the outcome of the intervention. Finding common ground among such widely disparate global narratives may seem like a impossible dream but the benefits conceivably outweighs the cost, and the resources spent on the effort will be a investment in global tolerance and self empowerment regardless if we succeed.
Since we have conclusive proof that berated condemnation and disavowal of vested interests are guarenteed to fail, and we know that there is a reasonable means to mitigate the I'll concieved resolve with the added advantage of bonafide incentives that are independent of the anticipated outcome, choosing the status quo would amount to a travesty of injustice and a lost opportunity to radically redress our trust in the present we share intent in sense and mutual relevance, wherever, whenever, whatever wherewithal or circumstance we find ourselves. | https://medium.com/@cjengelbrecht/footnotes-on-vaccine-opposition-3914b4479ec1 | ['Cj Engelbrecht'] | 2020-12-12 13:35:35.575000+00:00 | ['Covid19 Crisis', 'Prevention Of Coronavirus', 'Public Health', 'Healthcare', 'Vaccines'] |
The Chompsky Weekly #1 | Yes, I know that’s not how you spell Chomsky.
Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash
Hello! Eliz here. Welcome to the first EVER Chompsky Weekly, the newsletter about Power and Pop Culture.
Each Friday I’ll send a collection of the following to your inbox:
Media and politics news (from me and others)
News on related tech, social, and economic issues
Links to weird and wonderful content: videos, images, memes et al
Media jobs, competitions, opportunities etc.
If you’re reading this from within Medium, SIGN UP at the bottom of this page for a curated frenzy of socio-economic, politico-media content!
PS: When we launched the blog this week, I found out via Twitter that Chompsky already has its very own furry mascot friend. *heart eyes* | https://medium.com/chompsky/the-chompsky-weekly-1-53010e541bcf | ['Eliz Mizon'] | 2020-12-11 08:32:49.874000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Politics', 'Digital Life', 'Media', 'Society'] |
The Multi-Armed Bandit Problem in Reinforcement Learning | Some strategies in Multi-Armed Bandit Problem
Suppose you have 100 nickel coins with you and you have to maximize the return on investment on 5 of these slot machines. Assuming there is only one machine out of 5 which will give you maximum profit.
Strategy 1: Explore only
In this strategy what you will do is you will divide 20 coins for each of the slot machines and play with them. This might be the wise approach but it will not give you the maximum profit since out of 5 only one will give maximum profit and others might be very less.
Strategy 2: Exploit only
In this strategy you will try on all the 5 machines once and will continue on that machine where you find the maximum profit with rest of the coins. But here is the catch. Suppose at first time you get the maximum profit on Machine 1 but the Machine 5 can give maximum profit in long run. Then with this strategy you would be investing in Machine 1 itself and not getting the maximum return as you might get in Machine 5.
Strategy 3: ε — Greedy Method
In this strategy we start by setting some lower value of ε (epsilon) like 5% or 10% something like that. It says that at any time there is 5% chance that we are going to randomly pick a slot machine. There is 95% chance that at any given time we are going to play on that slot machine which has historically given us the maximum profit so far.
Let’s say at the end of 20th coin that is on 21st coin we run our random number generator and we find that based on 5% chance we should be exploiting our current knowledge today. So, what we do is that we look through the first 20th coin experience and find which machine has given us the best profit and we play on that slot machine.
Now let’s say its 22nd coin and we again look at our random generator and find that at this time we take 1/5th chance of visiting any of the 5 slot machines to purely get another machine knowledge. So that we become even more sure of our decision when the next exploit day comes.
The performance is going to depend on the choice of epsilon ε itself. Hence this will be better strategy in comparison to Strategy 1 and Strategy 2.
There can be many strategies like UCB method, Thompson Sampling etc. These are the better strategies which we will be see in another article.
This article is purely on Multi-Armed Bandits Problem!
References: | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/the-multi-armed-bandit-problem-in-reinforcement-learning-cf46adc6d269 | ['Amit Ranjan'] | 2020-12-06 10:39:32.277000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Reinforcement Learning', 'Multi Armed Bandit', 'Data Science'] |
found conflicts between different versions .Net Core 2.2 inside test project | warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.Extensions.Options” that could not be resolved.
warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions” that could not be resolved.
warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Abstractions” that could not be resolved.
warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions” that could not be resolved.
warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Abstractions” that could not be resolved.
warning MSB3277: Found conflicts between different versions of “Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Features” that could not be resolved.
A quick fix is to add the following package in your project that throws the warnings:
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.App" />
Rebuild your project and boom! All the warnings are gone!
Better news: starting with .NET Core 3.0, the web reference will flow transitively and you can reference a web project from a test project without any other steps. So I am closing this. The design of 2.x cannot be changed, but we specifically designed things in 3.0 to have transitive FrameworkReferences, and this was a motivating scenario for that.
Happy coding! | https://medium.com/@sami-chkhachkhi/found-conflicts-between-different-versions-net-core-2-2-inside-test-project-49086b3c2796 | ['Sami C.'] | 2019-09-04 18:16:03.071000+00:00 | ['Net Core', 'Csharp', 'Microsoft'] |
“I Am Fully Alive” Poem by Anna Szabo | I Am Fully Alive is a Christian spoken word poem that shares my journey from being spiritually dead to becoming fully alive.
My dreams and my reality mismatched.
I dreamed of being loved like other kids.
But unfulfilled, neglected were my needs.
Abused, I was enduring cruel trauma.
My life at home was filled with daily drama.
To cope, I disconnected and detached.
Even to my own body I was not attached.
Six years of healing - and I’m living fully!
Enjoying life I’m deeply, greatly, truly...
I love my life, my health, my home, my friends...
Though with my past I’m still making amends.
I feel so much, so deeply, and so strongly!
I easily cry when treated I am wrongly.
When I’m rejoicing, it is also deep.
When grieving, I intensely weep.
I find true joy in spending time in nature.
A simple hike for me is best adventure.
I get excited standing on my head.
Fully alive, I am no longer dead!
I find true pleasure in a simple salad.
That’s why I cherish cooking as my talent.
I love kayaking and observing beavers.
I value leisure time on nearby rivers.
When I drink tea, my joy is felt intensely!
Each bite of food impacts my soul immensely!
I‘m happily jumping on the trampoline!
I love to swim and read and cook and clean...
When talking to my friends, I love to listen.
I ask good questions and I watch them glisten.
All people matter very much to me.
I am alive and here I’m glad to be!
When at the beach, I run barefoot for miles.
I talk with strangers, sharing cries and smiles...
I’m present when I’m writing, painting, driving...
Fully alive, today, I’m finally thriving!
Fully alive, I am engaged and present.
My interactions with reality are pleasant.
It’s not to say that life is unicorns and rainbows,
But I enjoy my life from all its angles!
10/15/2020 For many years, I lived my life detached.My dreams and my reality mismatched.I dreamed of being loved like other kids.But unfulfilled, neglected were my needs.Abused, I was enduring cruel trauma.My life at home was filled with daily drama.To cope, I disconnected and detached.Even to my own body I was not attached.Six years of healing - and I’m living fully!Enjoying life I’m deeply, greatly, truly...I love my life, my health, my home, my friends...Though with my past I’m still making amends.I feel so much, so deeply, and so strongly!I easily cry when treated I am wrongly.When I’m rejoicing, it is also deep.When grieving, I intensely weep.I find true joy in spending time in nature.A simple hike for me is best adventure.I get excited standing on my head.Fully alive, I am no longer dead!I find true pleasure in a simple salad.That’s why I cherish cooking as my talent.I love kayaking and observing beavers.I value leisure time on nearby rivers.When I drink tea, my joy is felt intensely!Each bite of food impacts my soul immensely!I‘m happily jumping on the trampoline!I love to swim and read and cook and clean...When talking to my friends, I love to listen.I ask good questions and I watch them glisten.All people matter very much to me.I am alive and here I’m glad to be!When at the beach, I run barefoot for miles.I talk with strangers, sharing cries and smiles...I’m present when I’m writing, painting, driving...Fully alive, today, I’m finally thriving!Fully alive, I am engaged and present.My interactions with reality are pleasant.It’s not to say that life is unicorns and rainbows,But I enjoy my life from all its angles!10/15/2020 © Anna Szabo, JD, MBA | https://medium.com/@annaszabojdmba/i-am-fully-alive-poem-by-anna-szabo-2038cc808aab | ['Anna Szabo'] | 2020-12-26 19:19:10.236000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Poetry', 'Christian Living', 'Poems On Medium', 'Christian Testimony'] |
Using Optuna to Optimize PyTorch Hyperparameters | This post uses PyTorch v1.4 and optuna v1.3.0 .
PyTorch + Optuna!
Optuna is a hyperparameter optimization framework applicable to machine learning frameworks and black-box optimization solvers. PyTorch is an open source machine learning framework use by may deep learning programmers and researchers. Let’s see how they can work together!
Creating the Objective Function
Optuna is a black-box optimizer, which means it needs an objective function, which returns a numerical value to evaluate the performance of the hyperparameters, and decide where to sample in upcoming trials.
In our example, we will be doing this for identifying MNIST characters. In this case, the objective function looks like this:
Notice that the objective function is passed an Optuna specific argument of trial . This object is passed to the objective function to specify which hyperparameters should be tuned. This returns the accuracy of the model, which is used by Optuna as feedback on the performance of the trial.
Defining the hyperparameters to be tuned
Similar to how PyTorch uses Eager execution, Optuna allows you to define the kinds and ranges of hyperparameters you want to tune directly within your code using the trial object. This saves the effort of learning specialized syntax for hyperparameters, and also means you can use normal Python code for looping through or defining your hyperparameters.
Optuna supports a variety of hyperparameter settings, which can be used to optimize floats, integers, or discrete categorical values. Numerical values can be suggested from a logarithmic continuum as well. In our MNIST example, we optimize the hyperparameters here:
The optimizer itself is chosen from trial.suggest_categorical(“optimizer”, [“Adam”, “RMSprop”, “SGD”]) , which chooses among Adam, RMSProp, and Stochastic Gradient Descent optimizers.
The learning rates for these optimizers varies by orders of magnitude, so trial.suggest_loguniform('learning_rate', 1e-5, 1e-1) is used , which will vary the values logarithmically from .00001 to 0.1.
For the definition of the model itself, Optuna leverages eager mode to allow normal Python looping to determine the number of layers and nodes in each layer with trial.suggest_int(“n_layers”, 1, 3) for the layers and trial.suggest_int(“n_units_l{}”.format(i), 4, 128) for the number of nodes in each layer.
Running the Trials
The default sampler in Optuna Tree-structured Parzen Estimater (TPE), which is a form of Bayesian Optimization. Optuna uses TPE to search more efficiently than a random search, by choosing points closer to previous good results.
To run the trials, create a study object to set the direction of optimization ( maximize or minimize ). Then, run the study object with study.optimize(objective, n_trials=100) to do one hundred trials.
Each trial is chosen after evaluating all the trials that have been previously done, using the TPE sampler to make smart guesses where the best values hyperparameters can be found. The best values from the trials can be accessed through study.best_trial. O ther methods of viewing the trials, such as formatting in a dataframe, are also available.
Pruning — Early Stopping of Poor Trials
Pruning trials is a form of early-stopping which terminates unpromising trials, so that computing time can be used for trials that show more potential. In order to do pruning, it’s necessary to provide intermittent feedback to Optuna from the objective function on how the trial is going. With this information, it can compare the progress with the progress of other trials, decide whether to stop the trial early, and receive messages from Optuna when the trial should be terminated. Then the objective function can smoothly terminate session after recording the results if necessary.
trial.report is used to communicate with Optuna about the progress of the trial. In this example, the objective function communicates the current epoch and the accuracy. trial.should_prune() is how Optuna communicates to the objective function if it should terminate early.
To the Future, and Beyond!
Plot Contour Visualization
For those interested, Optuna has many other features, including a visualizations, alternative samplers, optimizers, and pruning algorithms, as well as the ability to create user-defined versions as well. If you have more computing resources available, Optuna provides an easy interface for parallel trials to increase tuning speed.
Give Optuna a try!
Installation
Optuna Github | https://medium.com/optuna/using-optuna-to-optimize-pytorch-hyperparameters-2d68d60e4bc5 | ['Crissman Loomis'] | 2020-04-22 04:47:13.089000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Hyperparameter', 'Hyperparameter Tuning', 'Optuna', 'Pytorch'] |
Surrogacy: Offering a GTK | #5
Surrogacy: Offering a GTK
Image from pxfuel
It was a sunny Monday morning. My partner, Thomas, and I were sitting on a picnic rug in the garden with our laptops. I was supposed to be doing some work but, instead, I was drafting and redrafting an email. It was important — but I knew that the wording itself didn’t matter.
“You think I should just send it?” I asked Thomas, not for the first time, and he nodded enthusiastically. I finally clicked ‘send’ and pushed my laptop aside. I knew that it could take until the following day to get an answer to my offer.
To an outsider, the email might seem innocuous — I’d offered to get to know a couple that I’d met online. However, I’m a surrogate and we’d be getting to know each other to find out if I was the right surrogate for them. It’s such an important stage that Surrogacy UK, the surrogacy organisation I’m part of, has given it its own acronym: GTK (‘get to know’).
We’d met Louise & Brian(*) at one of Surrogacy UK’s online socials when we were put into a randomly-assigned Zoom breakout room with them. Afterwards, Thomas & I both said that we really liked them. We’d read through their profile before but, after checking it again, I immediately added them to our shortlist.
I messaged them through the Surrogacy UK’s forum board, a private website which allowed members to talk to one another. They replied a few days later and we started chatting.
Shortly afterwards, Surrogacy UK retired the forum and replaced it with a more modern messaging system. Inevitably, this ended some of my conversations, as people learnt how to use the new website and forgot about messages they hadn’t replied to on the old forum. Thankfully, despite a few days spent worrying about it, my conversation with Louise & Brian continued on the Surrogacy UK Member Hub.
After a couple of weeks of messaging each other, I started to think that I might offer a GTK to Louise & Brian. I let Surrogacy UK know about my interest and began receiving notifications about which online socials they had signed up to. I went to the same ones for the chance to chat with them (sometimes rearranging my weekend at short notice!)
At the socials, the Zoom breakout rooms were still randomly assigned, so it was pot-luck whether we actually got to speak to Louise & Brian. For me, this is the main downside of online socials and there were a few disappointing socials where we missed out.
I looked forward to offering a GTK so we could chat more freely — and without the fear that the time would run out on the breakout room and the conversation would be forced to end.
I wonder if I would have waited longer to offer a GTK if we weren’t in lockdown because we’d have been able to chat more easily at socials. On the other hand, we would have been able to chat more during the socials so maybe I would have offered sooner.
I felt excited about speaking to them; I knew in my gut that Louise & Brian were the right IPs for me. So, finally, I let myself accept that we should offer them a GTK. When I told Thomas, he said that he knew we were going to pick them when we added them to the short-list.
As with all stages of this journey, I wanted to be completely certain before taking the next step, so I decided to wait for a month. During the month I got more and more sure about offering the GTK and realised I’d be really disappointed if someone else offered to them before I had a chance.
We told both mine and Thomas’s parents that we were planning on offering a GTK to Louise & Brian (along with the necessary layperson explanation of what that meant!) After 3 weeks of my self-imposed month-long wait, I realised that I should just do it.
Thomas was fully on board with the decision, although he didn’t realise until afterwards the full impact of officially offering a GTK. It would, hopefully, really change any IP’s life.
That non-descript Monday morning, I sent the email to the surrogacy coordinator letting her know that we’d decided to offer a GTK to Louise & Brian. This process is done through an intermediary to make it easier for them to say “no” if they don’t think I’m the right surrogate for them.
Forty minutes after I sent my initial email, I received an enthusiastic response from the surrogacy coordinator telling me that she would get in touch with Louise & Brian and let me know when she knew the answer. I thought I would be able to remain calm while waiting for the answer but I couldn’t focus all day and kept refreshing my email inbox.
I imagined what was happening in Louise & Brian’s house. Perhaps excitement and joy; I wondered if they would let themselves get their hopes up. Even if they turned me down, I hoped that my offer would give them hope that the right surrogate would eventually choose them.
Five hours later, she emailed me again with a “great big yes” and I melted with relief.
There are plenty more hurdles for us to clear, but I’m ready for all the ups and downs. I’m very excited to start this next stage of my surrogacy journey and I’m very glad that I’m doing it with this couple. | https://medium.com/kims-surrogacy-journey/surrogacy-offering-a-gtk-f3464328ecb6 | ['Kim Barrett'] | 2020-12-04 15:02:10.864000+00:00 | ['Children', 'Surrogacy', 'Parenting', 'Offers', 'Pregnancy'] |
Angel Vision | (Makalenin Türkçe versiyonu)
I have been in the start-up sector for a long time with my Edimly start-up. I haven’t realized until today that we had provided no information about the vision and mission of our company on our website which I make all the marketing-related decisions on my own. Here, I will try to share my views about it.
The secret in us
Today, most of our actions are willingly or unwillingly recorded thanks to numerous devices around us. For example, a wearable technology product transfers how much we ran on the beach in the early hours of the morning and our heart rate to a digital world. But no one knows about the beautiful girl you saw when you ran on the beach and that tingly feeling that the morning sun created on that girl’s face. And think about listening to “Angel of The Morning” by Juice Newton from a streaming service like Spotify which turned all people into their target audience. Spotify probably noticed that you turned down the volume when you passed that girl but there is no such device to perceive our mood and transfer it to Spotify. It is a fact that all of these services which we register and send important or trivial information without noticing often use this data to show us ads. All they do is to show us what we have listened to the most at the end of the year and give us stupid pleasure. But at least they won’t know the pleasure we have, right? They might try to guess what we feel at that moment from our gestures but they will never know what is happening inside us ☺️
From Hello World to Big Data
I might have associated the company that address as “them” and the service the company provides. The vision is the targeted position of the company in the future while the mission is the steps taken to make that vision come true. Based on this definition, I don’t think it is wrong to say that “the mission of a company is the services it offers”. Then, we cannot deny the fact that these companies are willing to collect all the necessary and unnecessary data despite all the costs because of their vision to exploit us. In recent years, I frequently encounter people saying, “They are listening to us!” If only they knew that these companies are following us in various ways from the first days of the internet, they would understand that they do not see Cyprus ads because they are talking about Cyprus. It is not that hard to blend existing data with psychology and use artificial intelligence to make such recommendations. Although it is not commonly mentioned in recent years, Data Mining which is one of my main reasons to admire Google since I was a young boy is an extremely important branch. As someone who is curious about experiencing everything, I was able to do some interesting analysis as a kid by using the big data stolen from huge platforms (of course public data).
Hello New World?
I am unable to be included in the Metaverse trend which can be seen in the news of partisan media as someone who is curious about experiencing everything. But I have used both VR and AR glasses for a long time. If this hardware will enable us to access the Metaverse universe, it is not possible to predict that Metaverse will be a hit. When we all asked “is it sensible to pay 1 billion dollars” when Facebook acquired Instagram, we all witnessed that this platform worked out well years later. If an old man in Gönen can sell cheese today through a platform established only for sharing artistic pictures, that platform be a hit, man. But it is important to remember that the environment was suitable for Instagram to reach this power. When we look at the current conditions, Metaverse is weak in various terms and I don’t think it will be a hit unless it finds something innovative.
We are ruling this planet as humanity for a long time and there are even undiscovered places on the planet. For me, the only reason to create a new virtual environment despite such a large planet is commercial. This is nothing different than those who sold lands from other planets. Anyway… We still have a planet waiting to be discovered and a digital model designed with every detail. What bothers me is that for some reason, we use this map only to get directions to a location and to find out the location of our relatives.
Loneliness on the Map
On contrary to the Metaverse trend, I believe that we don’t need to create a new world yet. Instead of creating a new world, I would like to add color (🧡) to the existing world. I will try to explain how I will do that with an example. Let’s go back to our guy running on the beach as I have mentioned in the beginning. But this time, let’s assume he installs Edimly before starting the run. He opens Edimly and sees that the girl he encounters every day but is unable to speak is marked as “running”. He sends a request “shall we do it together” and they start walking together when the girl accepts. As you can see, we helped the love life of this young man. So, can we say that Edimly is a need? If we consider what Steve Jobs and similar entrepreneurs did until today, ABSOLUTELY! Edimly’s structure is suitable for everything. I don’t know if it will work if you want to sell refrigerators to the Eskimos. But I realize this one thing. When I open Google Maps and see myself alone, I feel like something is missing. I want to fill the maps with living beings breathing like us and acting like us instead of immovable assets like spaces. How clear can I be about Edimly’s vision and mission? | https://medium.com/@honortiger/angel-vision-e5e3ab435aed | ['Onur Kaplan'] | 2022-01-16 14:55:11.902000+00:00 | ['Vision', 'Marketing', 'Metaverse', 'Mission', 'Edimly'] |
Covid-19 and Brazil: A Data Exploration | Covid-19 and Brazil: A Data Exploration
Last friday, 02/26/2021, marked one year since the first recorded case of COVID-19 in Brazil. In this period the accumulated statistics of cases and deaths are frightening. The country is second in the total number of deaths from the disease according to the WHO, and third in the total number of cases. The numbers when viewed more closely can be even more terrifying.
When looking at the Brazilian municipalities we realize that in several of them the number of deaths from COVID-19 is already approaching the total number of deaths in the average of what was observed in these places between 2014 and 2018. The tragedy, however, did not occur overnight. There were many clues that it would get to where we are today. The trajectory that shook thousands of families in the more than 5000 Brazilian municipalities was built in evolutionary steps. It is this story of pain and loss that I will tell in more detail in the following paragraphs based on a comparison of the COVID’s death toll with the most recent average of total deaths in Brazilian municipalities.
The evolution of deaths in Brazil in five years
Data on deaths in Brazil take two years to be properly ascertained and released in an open format. The latest available data is from 2018. The Figure below shows the evolution of the total number of deaths from all causes in the country between 2014 and 2018.
Evolution of number of dead 2014–2018. Image by Author
It can be seen in the graph that the numbers are always above 1 million deaths and the last three years is one of stability after a small increase over the previous two years. On the date that marked the first year of the first case of COVID-19 Brazil counted 249,691 deaths from the disease. This is shown in the graph by the horizontal line that cuts across the vertical bars.
The data surveyed show that the average of the values shown in the graph is approximately 1.282 million deaths. When we compare the number of deaths by COVID accumulated on 02/26/2021 with this statistic, we conclude that the disease corresponds to 19.5% of the deaths observed in the average of all deaths calculated in the last five years of available data. This rate varies greatly among the municipalities. In the rest of this text, when reading the percentage of deaths in the municipalities, this number should be understood as a comparison of the deaths in each of these locations with their respective averages of total deaths counted between 2014 and 2018.
Distribution of the percentage of deaths by COVID-19 in Brazilian municipalities
The graph below shows how the percentage of deaths by COVID-19 is distributed in all Brazilian municipalities in relation to the average we are focusing on in this text.
Percentage of dead. Image by Author
The image shows that the great majority of the municipalities have values lower than 25%, but it is easy to see that there are values that exceed 50%, and that in some municipalities the COVID corresponds to more than 75% of the average, and in one specific municipality this value already reaches 99%. That’s right, a Brazilian municipality on 02/26/2021 recorded in the total number of deaths by COVID almost the same value as the total number of deaths from all possible causes over a five-year average.
Taking the percentage of deaths by COVID as a reference, we can see that throughout Brazil hundreds of municipalities have already exceeded this mark of 19.5% of the average total of deaths. The graph below shows how these municipalities are distributed throughout the Brazilian states.
Ranking of stats by number of cities with percentage of deads greater than the whole country. Image by Author
São Paulo (SP), which has the second largest number of municipalities, stands out in the graph. However, what you see next is not what one might expect. States like Mato Grosso (MT), Amazonas (AM), Pará (PA) and Tocantins (TO) have few municipalities. We will see later that these states also appear prominently in the lists of the ten municipalities with percentages of deaths higher than the reference of 19.5% of the average number of deaths.
The evolution of the tragedy in maps and graphs
In the following paragraphs I show how the Brazilian municipalities are distributed in relation to the percentage of deaths by COVID on four specific dates. The idea is to show that there has been a consistent evolution of the numbers toward the picture we see today. I chose three dates associated with peak moments in the first and second wave of the spread of the disease. The fourth date is 02/26/2021. See the chart below.
Time series of number of daily deads by COVID. Image by Author
The analyses are done from maps of Brazil. Here we paint the map in such a way that the cooler colors, with shades close to blue, refer to values of percentages of deaths in municipalities lower than the national rate of 19.5%. The lower this number, the cooler the color. The warmer colors, with tones close to red, signal municipalities with percentages higher than the reference. The higher this number, the warmer the color.
To get an initial idea, see below how the map looked on 03/17/2020, which corresponds to the first date with registered deaths in the database that we used as reference for this text.
Baseline map on 03/17/2020. Image by Author
As expected, the whole of Brazil is painted blue, after all, the pandemic was just beginning.
It didn’t take three months for the picture to start changing and we can already see municipalities with percentages of deaths by COVID that exceed 30% of the average. See the map for 06/04/2020.
Map on 06/04/2020. Image by Author
It can be seen in the figure that at the beginning of June the first chapters of what would happen in the municipalities of Amazonas and Pará, especially, are already beginning to be written, and the colors that represent them on the map are already starting to take on warm tones.
The figure below shows the ten municipalities with the highest rate of deaths by COVID in relation to the average total number of deaths.
Ranking of cities by (%) of dead on 06/04/2020. Image by Author
As we can see above, of the ten municipalities, seven are located in Amazonas (AM) and three in Pará (PA). On this day Tonantins was the only municipality in Brazil with a rate of deaths by COVID higher than 30% compared to its own average total deaths between 2014 and 2018. | https://towardsdatascience.com/covid-19-and-brazil-a-tragedy-of-5570-cities-in-maps-and-graphs-84886c2154c6 | ['Fernando Barbalho'] | 2021-03-02 15:48:39.502000+00:00 | ['Rstats', 'Open Data', 'Covid 19', 'Dataviz', 'Brazil'] |
Serverless at Comic Relief | We built APIs on top of various databases, simplified our contact service, built a step counter service for UK schools participating in our billion steps challenge for Sport Relief, run a UK schools lookup service, and are currently converting our main donation platform to a serverless application.
From microservices to functions
Let’s take a step back and see what has happened. As we mentioned previously we’ve embarked on a journey into containers and microservices. Two years in, we are still big fans of microservices and service-oriented architecture. However, we also learned a couple of things on the way. For example, we do spend considerable time making our services scale to accommodate expected traffic peaks. As Comic Relief is in the business of fundraising, it is often really hard for us to predict traffic levels beforehand. As a result, we often over-scale and have infrastructure left idle.
Comic Relief runs some of the biggest fundraising events in the UK — Sport Relief and Red Nose Day — and due to the nature of those events, we have incredibly spiky traffic. We traditionally upscale in anticipation of those traffic spikes, but it is impractical or simply impossible to auto-scale our containers in very short timeframes. Working with functions provide us with a platform that does not require us to prepare for those traffic spikes, nor do we have infrastructure left unused. Instead, we can spend our time building logical components that execute business logic and not worry much about infrastructure nor scaling.
For us, serverless really is all about producing value faster, and not having to worry too much about everything else that comes along the developer’s path and often is nothing more than a distraction. One of the greatest things about invoking functions — and a real paradigm shifter — is that you pay for execution time, rather than for running the underlying infrastructure of your codebase. That direct relationship gives you an instant incentive to keep things performant and forces you to keep things simple (functions can typically not run longer than 15 minutes). The combination of hands-off management and a direct focus on functions that map on business logic proves to be a really powerful combination, and we’re not the only ones to think that.
Function-oriented architecture
Let’s illustrate that thinking by looking at how we recently rebuilt our contact service. Previously, we’d have our contact forms as an integral part of our CMS software (Drupal). We factored this out into a separate decoupled service: a front-end (built in ReactJS) that captures user data, and a back-end that receives that data and adds it to a message queue. We then pick up that data item from the queue and pass it on to our CRM. We also drop a message in another queue that is consumed by a service that will send back a confirmation mail to our user. In our microservices world, we’d build the back-end bits in Symfony or Slim (a micro-framework in PHP), and host it on self-managed infrastructure.
In our new serverless world, we structure that logic around functions:
One function to receives user data (via POST) and drops a message into a CRM and an email queue
One function that consumes the CRM queue and passes data to our CRM
One function that consumes the email queue and sends back a welcome email via our email service (another example of a serverless service).
None of those requires us to manage underlying infrastructure nor scale up for moments in which we expect lots of traffic through our contact platform.
Establishing our development patterns in a world of functions
We detected a pattern we now use for all our serverless services.
A node module for each functional component or service. We really like Javascript, but are looking at Go as well, simply because it runs faster and thus will save us money. Using Javascript both in the front-end and the back-end has the additional advantage that we can reduce the amount of languages our engineering team specialises in.
A set of functions that map to functional parts of our node module. Those can be anything from API callbacks (via API Gateway) to cron-based functions.
The incredible serverless framework to handle provisioning of our functions to our function provider. We currently prefer AWS Lambda, simply because it ties in well with the rest of our stack.
Concourse CI to deploy functions to a staging environment, run tests and follow up with a production deployment. Whilst the serverless framework does the heavy lifting for you (packaging your code, uploading to S3, creating cloud formation stacks), we prefer to automate the entire deployment process so we can really just focus on writing our logic into functions.
If we need to handle persistent data (we prefer queues where possible to decouple and remove the direct dependency on a database layer), we rely on Elastic Search or DynamoDB, both managed services provided by AWS.
For all our front-end needs, we follow a pretty standard component-based architecture powered by our pattern lab and ReactJS storybook.
Looking forward
Good examples of serverless implementations within an enterprise setting are unfortunately still hard to come by. However, as we see this new exciting technology being adopted, we expect to see many more use cases being published. We hope to be at the forefront of this and will be sharing as much as we can through our public Github.
Cross-posted from the Comic Relief Technology Blog | https://medium.com/comic-relief/serverless-at-comic-relief-eaf3ff25cbfe | ['Peter Vanhee'] | 2019-04-03 11:06:20.895000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Serverless', 'Cloud Computing', 'AWS', 'Engineering'] |
Gentle Reminder | Editor of The @Awl and @thehairpin. Patron Saint of early bedtimes.
Follow | https://medium.com/the-awl/how-do-you-spell-lana-del-rey-e83501e5e8a4 | ['Silvia Killingsworth'] | 2017-07-20 17:51:21.242000+00:00 | ['For My Eyes Mostly', 'Reminder', 'Music', 'Spelling', 'Lana Del Rey'] |
A Brief History of Abortion Law in America | Throughout the late 19th century, many laws were made to restrict abortions and birth control, and eventually, abortions were banned in the majority of the United States of America by the 1880s. As you can learn from the many essays on abortions, many Americans were affected by the criminalization of abortion, as they began performing dangerous and illegal abortions that were not done by a medical professional. In 1965, one-sixth of pregnancy-related deaths were made up by illegal abortions.
However in the 1960s, the Women’s Rights Movement fought to lift these bans, and one of the most important cases involved was the Roe v. Wade case in 1973.
Norma McCorvey, who went under the name of Jane Roe in the court case, was a 22-year-old Texan woman in Dallas County who wanted to get an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. Prior to this she had already given birth two times and given up both children for adoption.
McCorvey couldn’t receive an abortion, because it was illegal in Texas for a woman to get an abortion unless her life was in danger. There were other options, such as paying a doctor to do the procedure in secret or traveling to another country where abortions were safe and not banned, but McCorvey grew up in an impoverished area and didn’t have the money for any of those choices. After a failed attempt of trying to receive an abortion, McCorvey was told about two attorneys, Linda Coffee, and Sarah Weddington, who wanted to go against these laws.
Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, was enforcing the Texas abortion law even though it was ruled unconstitutional in an earlier district court case. This led to attorneys Coffee and Weddington filing a lawsuit against Wade, for McCorvey and other citizens “who were or might become pregnant and want to consider all options.” The court case was brought before the Supreme Court and by this time McCorvey had given birth and put her child up for adoption. The court case questioned whether the Constitution included a person’s right to receive an abortion and invalidated the Texas law.
On January 22nd, 1973, in a 7–2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Texas law was unconstitutional, and a citizen’s right to their own medical decisions includes abortions and is protected under the 14th amendment. They allowed people the choice to receive an abortion during any period of their pregnancy and allowed states to regulate their own laws on abortion in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. In the second trimester, states couldn’t ban abortions, however, in the third trimester, they could prohibit abortions if in the case that the fetus could survive outside the womb but not if the citizen’s life was in danger.
This decision affected the laws of 46 states and allowed access to safe abortions for many citizens. However, even after decades after this case, it is still a controversial debate and pro-lifers are trying to overturn the ruling. Recently, Alabama passed an extremely restricting anti-abortion bill. It bans abortions unless the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus can’t survive outside the womb.
The bill, however, doesn’t make exceptions to pregnancies that were a result of incest or rape. The bill also has the power to put people who provide abortions in jail for up to 99 years. Bills like these are not only unconstitutional but prevent Americans from getting proper health care and being able to receive safe abortions. Bills like these will not stop people from getting abortions, but instead, force people to perform their own abortions and use dangerous methods, which will only increase pregnancy-related deaths.
Luckily, just as there are anti-abortion bills being passed, lawyers have also tried to push laws that keep and protect reproductive healthcare. According to Planned Parenthood, New York’s Reproductive Health Act passed in January of 2019, even if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, New York will still allow abortions to be legal. This prevents politics from interfering with abortion laws and citizens being able to keep their reproductive health rights. | https://medium.com/@adeleboulee/a-brief-history-of-abortion-law-in-america-d7dd78e79791 | ['Adele Boulee'] | 2020-11-24 07:44:16.796000+00:00 | ['Abortion Rights', 'Abortion'] |
整合：Spring Boot AWS MSK. 2020年底了，最近做了一次 Spring Boot 與 AWS MSK… | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/%E7%A8%8B%E5%BC%8F%E6%84%9B%E5%A5%BD%E8%80%85/spring-boot-%E6%95%B4%E5%90%88-aws-msk-d7b07a6d2c5d | [] | 2020-12-10 11:00:33.204000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Spring Boot', 'Kafka'] |
Benefits, use and purchase of opioids (narcotics) without a prescription for chronic pain… | Benefits, use and purchase of opioids (narcotics) without a prescription for chronic pain, information.
email: [email protected]
WhatsApp: +12133733548
Opioids are substances that have morphine-like effects when they reach opioid receptors. Medically, they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include the suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid disorders, reversing an opioid overdose, and
Email :[email protected]
WhatsApp: +12133733548
Opium.
Fentanyl
Oxycodone
Percocet
Vicodin
morphine
Oxycodone
Opana
Oxycontin
Hydrocodone
Tramadol
Kratom
Meloxicam
Demerol
codeine
heroin
Methadone
cocaine
Individual advice
Group counseling
Supportive care
Side effects of opioids:
One of the reasons your doctor should be so specific about pain relievers is that they can cause side effects, such as:
constipation
drowsiness
Nausea and vomiting
The drugs lubiprostone (Amitiza), methylnaltrexone (Relistor), naldemedine (Symproic), and naloxegol (Movantik) are approved for the treatment of constipation due to opioid use in patients with chronic pain.
Opioids can be dangerous if you take them with alcohol or certain medications, such as:
Certain antidepressants and anxiety medications (especially benzodiazepines such as alprazolam, Ativan, and clonazpam)
Certain antibiotics
sleeping tablets
Make sure your doctor knows about all the other medicines you are taking. This contains:
Prescription drugs
Over-the-counter medicine
Herbal supplements
Email:[email protected]
WhatsApp: +12133733548 | https://medium.com/@kelvintoms48/benefits-use-and-purchase-of-opioids-narcotics-without-a-prescription-for-chronic-pain-4c16673d680b | ['Joseph Bell'] | 2021-04-13 07:05:06.788000+00:00 | ['Help', 'Social Media', 'Addiction', 'Love', 'Social'] |
“I must work or else I fail” | Do you know that feeling?
Unless you do too, let me tell you about it.
You
Are you sitting at the problem you can not solve for quite some time, but you just let yourself give up?
Absolutely nothing good comes out of it when you are so hard stuck at one point in your task. Not even realizing what time it is, just blatantly sitting there, messing up your spine and damaging the eyesight.
Break
Why is this so important?
Any sort of it really helps you relieve stress, get your mind and that big beautiful brain of yours back in the game.
It does not have to be sleep or laying down in your bed, whatever you like to let your brain and body rest. Let that stuffy problem solving cerebral cramps rest, let the motivation build up and blow the problem out of the water.
You might consider that a waste of time, but trust me, when you get these quick breaks into your daily routine, it will boost your work efficiency way more you ever thought it would.
Give it a try with different types of breaks
What do you like?
Games? Reading? Movies? Walks? Runns? Washing dishes? (what?!)
The important this is that the list goes on and on and it does not matter what you do, but just do it.
Even a quick snack is an amazing way to refresh your brain with some nuts or fruit, depending on the time of the day maybe even a full meal.
When do I know it is time for a break?
If it is difficult for you to get away from work, try setting an alarm for the amount of time you initially think would be optimal.
After a couple of times, there is already going to be a mental note reminding you that you should rest.
How?
Once again, just give it in. It is not that hard and it would make a major difference.
My daily habits for better productivity
Here are some of the activities that make my day pass quicker and make me more productive
Exercising
This type of activity is known to everybody, it relieves stress, recovers your mind and improves your health overall.
When I am so stuck after hours of long thinking about something or even just have been doing something the whole day, a 45-minute exercise would be perfect for my wellbeing.
You are not a fan of running? Take a walk.
Walking
You could argue that walks belong to the exercise section, but I could tell you otherwise. This type of break fills you with oxygen and rethinking something outside, could potentially get you to the solution.
Meditating
It sounds like a very useless technique to have but it helps tremendously.
Recollecting your thoughts is important as thinking about something,
Try meditating for a couple of minutes per day and write down how you felt before and after, that way you will make yourself do it easier, but also find some results of this type of break.
Games
Nothing extreme, just a casual mobile game, to get you distracted for a couple of minutes and then back at it again!
Book
Whatever genre and whichever book you like, it doesn’t matter. Just relax during the reading that book of choice.
Breathing
There are exercises that can help you get that oxygen into your body with the right way of breathing. You might think “oh I breathe just fine, thank you”. Well try it and you might just find out how wrong you are.
I found out about these from my mom when she was in therapy, so visit your doctor, because the internet is not always the best health resource you can find.
Sleep
Have you heard that sleeping is humans superpower?
Well, it is. Do not underestimate it. If you have time, you should most definitely relax and get at least 8 hours of sleep.
One more important thing to remember is that before sleep if you are trying to learn something repeat it one more time just before bed. Once you wake up, your brain would be like a sponge and you will be blown away by how much you remember.
Conclusion
Extra breaks throughout the day won’t hurt or make you slower. Once you integrate them into the daily routine, the boost you will feel in terms of the productivity will be growing every day after you start.
Good luck and don’t break too much! | https://medium.com/swlh/i-must-work-or-else-i-fail-f33074010e58 | ['Lazar Gugleta'] | 2019-07-12 08:34:30.727000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Happiness', 'Motivation', 'Science', 'Productivity'] |
All Adults are Toxic | It’s no secret that high school is miserable. Adults always say that being a teenager is difficult, but then they go on to say that their 9–5 with no social life is far more draining. They will never understand, because even if the adult population continues with the performance of them having it harder than we do, they never will.
Their ignorance will cause them to never be able to hear us. They will never hear the sobs from all the suicidal teens comforting each other because nobody else will. They will never hear the gossip that spreads throughout social media with every minor shift in a celebrity’s life. They will never hear the self conscious worries that instagram gives us by forcing the narrative of a “perfect” body. They will never hear the disrespectful comments of 50 year old white men being made against young womxn.
Adults will never hear their own voices telling us that we are not good enough. If you are a teenager and you don’t cry almost everyday, you are either a miracle or a psychopath. Nothing in the world is fair and while we try to fight through it, the rest of the world pushes us down for their own reason. Teenagers try so hard everyday, starting with the simple things, like brushing our teeth. Then it’s onto the hours and hours of homework that was assigned by the teachers that are adults and therefore cannot understand.
All adults are toxic, and they selfishly control the lives of teenagers.
. | https://medium.com/@elp-aloha/all-adults-are-toxic-cc8c25f3ea46 | ['Emma Prokop'] | 2020-12-21 17:20:29.838000+00:00 | ['Teens And Social Media', 'Mental Illness', 'High School', 'Deppression', 'Teenagers'] |
Why Blogging is Now a Necessary “Lawyerism” | Google took away the cheat codes — what that means really is, gone are the days where you can buy backlinks and spam keywords to rank for searches. Google can now tell if you are the real deal. This means we all have to start doing the work, and what is the work?
Meaningful, educational, and helpful CONTENT:
When users embark on a search, they are not looking to be bombarded with your pop-up ads, “buy-now’s,” and consumer-conveyor-belt type websites. They are looking for an answer to a question, and in this case, if they are looking for a lawyer, you should have the answer. While it is definitely helpful to let new clients know you offer free consultations and the cheapest representation in town, that’s not the answer they were looking for (most likely.) They need you because they have a problem, so they probably search something like, “DUI process in my area.” If they find your website, but you don’t have any helpful content on what the process their case might undertake, they might not find your website very helpful, and therefore might move along in their search to find a better answer to their questions.
But how do I get my writing out on the web for users to see?
Honestly, it’s fairly easy, and almost completely free. Social media is an extremely easy tool on which to publish your blog. When you do write, and you should often, publish your piece everywhere — Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter are the big and easy ones to post on. Make sure that your header has a link to the original blog post on your firm’s website, as this will drive traffic right where you want it the most: your website.
Get featured on a prominent blog!
Eventually, if your writing is helpful and users like reading it, consider trying to contribute to a blogging website. Blogs like MPDojo.com, Myshingle.com, and Lawyerist.com, which help users learn about the law, and are read by fellow attorneys, can drive even more traffic to your website, which will, in turn, help you climb the ranks in google searches. Establishing yourself as an expert in your area of practice, and offering free information that helps users better equip themselves in the legal system only makes potential customers like you more. Happy customers are paying customers.
Consult with a content-strategist!
Content strategy professionals can help you do the research to find out what user search trends are, and help you to cater your content to them, and hopefully help those users along the way!
Who knows? You might even enjoy blogging more than you would think.
Nick Werker
Nick is the Head Content Strategist, Social Media Manager, PPC Campaign Manager, and the Executive Head Writer at Ring Savvy/Answering Legal, Inc. Nick’s talent for story-telling enables him to write and recognize the type of content users want to read. | https://medium.com/answering-legal-inc/why-blogging-is-now-a-necessary-lawyerism-d114b22507e2 | ['Frank Cordeira Jr.'] | 2016-07-08 15:38:51.906000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'Content Marketing', 'Customer Service'] |
Cosmic Doors | Don’t forget the kicker with Doors: prompt. To do so, just create a first line before your title and begin to write, at last choose the little T in the menu when you select a word in it.
Remember, we don’t mind the time, even if you submit it later than one week, it will be valid.
Don’t forget the tags Doors, Sacred Feminine, Prompt, and Poetry or Essay or Stories plus your own tag. Here prompts are not different from other texts, they are just weekly stings to write again and play together.
Have good time to tell, enjoy to write, we will have great pleasure to read you. Have a wonderful week-end!
Love, — you know what ? I am happy to be among you.
Jean | https://medium.com/queen-s-children/cosmic-doors-cf9ec5543bae | ['Jean Carfantan'] | 2020-12-19 16:03:37.646000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'Prompt', 'Newsletter', 'Aquarius', 'Sacred Feminine'] |
The Cost Of Curiosity | A trio of shots rang out yesterday, while I was patio-lounging with iced-tea, outside my favourite Starbucks.
I turned around to face where the bangs birthed.
The huge hunting and fishing store across the parking lot, was now lit with lights — flashing a furious red.
An eerie feeling hung heavier in the air than the forest fire’s fog that found our valley this week.
I began walking towards the parking-lot-muffled shouting, while people broke into fleeing-Friday-sprint-sessions they weren’t dressed for.
Trying to cast glimpses over cars, I weavingly picked up my pace — to witness the wonder, and possibly the wounds.
I wanted to help, but then remembered I had no weapon, other than my tightly gripped tea.
I crouched, rounding the last car, and came upon a very shaken and pepper-sprayed, gun-cleaving female police officer, a homeless-looking 20-something-year-old male — lying face down, and two other people I recognized.
The two I knew, were standing beside the clearly-shaken cop, whose drawn gun (I assumed) had barreled the burst.
The floored-male — knife-grasping, was ineffective in his attempts to slice the officer. But he tried — pavement-prone, nonetheless.
I approached the squinting cop, whose gasping almost rivalled deliveries I’ve witnessed.
She was in another zone — another reality. Training had taken over. And though she was clearly shaken harder than a snowglobe at Christmas, she handled herself well — waiting for backup.
Screeching in, the brawlers came, looking to defend their distressed damsel — their almost-downed deputy.
I have never seen that many cops untether their tempers, and unholster their muzzles, all at once.
I was glad I was on this side of their sights.
They shot him a few times with rubber bullets, until he finally surrendered the knife.
I still wished there was more action though.
I should have ran faster, to witness why one of the two people’s faces I knew was bashed and bloodied — along with an elbow injury he’ll have ‘till Hanukkah.
We were all very sternly told to back up, and get into the non-vegan-friendly store — where we were temporarily locked in.
Containing a crime scene is extremely important — I finally reasoned, after spending 15 minutes pissed that I couldn’t just leave when I wanted.
With iced tea now warmed to cup-side-sweating tea, it dawned on me that I might have gotten myself into a situation I can’t just walk from.
At least I had the tasty tea.
2 plus hours later, I was giving my statement to the police.
I was much calmer by then, after observing the detailed protocols they follow — ensuring that what is right is rightly written.
Those two hours with guns and bullets, and bows and arrows, afforded me more than just victim-viewing pleasure.
It gave me an opportunity to turn my attention to my tendency to run towards things others run from.
I see this theme throughout my life — playing out in both good and bad ways.
I was the one to touch things labelled hot, to take things labelled anothers’, and to test things labelled don’t.
Part of it is selfish, I am certain. But part of it is also curiosity — wanting to witness what will happen.
This time it cost a couple of hours, and led to slightly less, cortisol-filled sleep.
The benefit was a firsthand account of what happens to those who pepper-spray cops, carry weapons, and try to rob retailers.
I am thankful for the officers who show up (for better or worse), and handle the hard, the hateful, and the horrible.
I have more respect for them today.
For though boyishly-brazen — some may be, they are extremely needed!
In similar fashion to my iced tea.
For, though warmed and ice-less, it still more than satisfied my stay — a savior, shielding the struggle. | https://medium.com/@amosbracewell/the-cost-of-curiosity-4f93394a425f | ['Amos Bracewell'] | 2020-09-12 20:54:48.944000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Police', 'Mindset', 'Gifts', 'Guns'] |
How I Approach the Toughest Decisions | One of the first things I discovered as President of the United States was that no decision that landed on my desk had an easy, tidy answer. The black-and-white questions never made it to me — somebody else on my staff would have already answered them. And while few decisions in life are as complex as the ones you face in the Oval Office, I did walk away from my eight years as president with some thoughts on how to approach tough questions.
In March of 2009, just a couple of months into my presidency, the economy was in freefall. Unemployment was up to 8.5 percent, on its way to ten percent. 800,000 Americans lost their jobs that month, families across the country were losing their homes, a tanking stock market was depleting their 401ks, and a difficult credit market was making it hard for small business owners to take out the loans they needed. To turn around any of this required stabilizing the financial system, and to do that, I had settled on what was the least bad of three lousy options — subjecting the 19 largest banks to “stress tests” to see whether they had the capital to survive an even worse economy.
Nobody was happy about it — not the public, not Wall Street, not me. My own advisors disagreed about the path forward, with some calling for a sharper condemnation of the bankers whose recklessness had gotten us into the mess, and others saying that such gestures might stifle the very market confidence we needed.
To get everybody on the same page, I called a meeting with my economic team. We spent a long, exhausting day hearing from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner about how the stress tests were going, hashing out various alternatives, and pushing every idea to its logical conclusion to see if it might work. By evening, I left the meeting to have dinner and get a haircut and told my team that I expected a consensus upon my return. But the truth was that, through that grueling process, I had already reached my decision to let the stress tests bear out. Within six months, the economy would start growing again. And by the next year, the biggest banks had paid back every dime of taxpayer money — plus interest.
But the point is, in just a few short weeks on the job, I had already realized that because every tough decision came down to a probability, then certainty was an impossibility — which could leave me encumbered by the sense that I could never get it quite right. So rather than let myself get paralyzed in the quest for a perfect solution, or succumb to the temptation to just go with my gut every time, I created a sound decision-making process — one where I really listened to the experts, followed the facts, considered my goals and weighed all of that against my principles. Then, no matter how things turned out, I would at least know I had done my level best with the information in front of me.
There was something liberating, and humbling, about leaning on a process.
Of course, that only works if you listen — really listen — to others. For me, that meant asking everybody in a meeting what they thought about the problem at hand. I’d call on folks in the back row, including the most junior staffer. That required people to come prepared to share their views.
But, like every leader, I had my blind spots. Late in my first year, Valerie Jarrett reported that some of the senior women on staff were experiencing a culture where the men on the team interrupted them, dismissed their ideas before adopting them as their own, and generally made them feel diminished — to the point where some of the women had altogether stopped talking in meetings. These were some of my most important advisors, so I convened them over dinner to hear more. Listening to their stories, I considered the degree to which my own tolerance for machismo behavior had contributed to their discomfort and, inadvertently, stifled their important contributions. We didn’t resolve everything in one night — but being aware was a start. The men, I later discovered, had been oblivious — and were appropriately mortified. They promised to do better, and a few months later, Valerie said she noticed some improvement.
One of the earliest decisions I had to make about the war in Afghanistan was one that had been pending since before I took office. Although we were planning to revamp our entire strategy, the commander on the ground was requesting an immediate deployment of an additional 30,000 troops. That’s how I found myself in the Situation Room, two days after inauguration, discussing the issue with the principal members of the National Security Council — people like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of the CIA. Almost everyone in the group was inclined to support the troop deployment. | https://barackobama.medium.com/how-i-approach-the-toughest-decisions-dc1b165cdf2d | ['Barack Obama'] | 2020-12-09 13:51:01.701000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Politics', 'Leadership', 'Barack Obama'] |
‘It’s not business as usual here in Beni!’ | I’m a nutritionist and I’ve been working for the World Food Programme (WFP) since 2009. I’m currently based in the town of Beni, North Kivu province, as a first responder in the fight against the Ebola virus. I use the word fight on purpose because each passing day must be considered a battle — and a win — against the epidemic.
My days are stressful because we know that the virus is near. The workload is intense. Fortunately, Ebola is not transmittable by air, and all humanitarian staff deployed to Beni have been trained on how to prevent contamination in our day-to-day work. So for example, we avoid coming in contact with bodily fluids of infected people, we do not eat wild animals and we frequently wash our hands.
“It’s both your life, and other people’s life at stake here.”
If you discipline yourself, your chances of contracting the Ebola virus are slim. The local population, however, is very stressed; you can feel the anguish all around. Tensions are also high because of insecurity in the Beni territory, especially in the east, due to the presence of active armed groups attacking and killing civilians in villages.
As a first responder, you need to maintain your emotional well-being on a daily basis by adopting healthy coping mechanisms. It’s both your life, and other people’s life at stake here.
The Coordination Commission for the response led by the Ministry of Health and by the World Health Organization (WHO) is located here in Beni. At the request of this commission, my role is to assess the food needs of patients, caregivers, children orphaned by Ebola and people who have been in direct contact with Ebola-infected people.
Distribution of high energy biscuits by WFP, Caritas and medical partners in Beni. Photo: WFP/Emmanuel Lomalisa
I also supervise food distributions carried out by both WFP and our partner on the ground, Caritas. In the DRC, we are used to large food distributions. For example in 2017, we distributed 12,000 tons of food to 418,000 hungry people. This year, WFP is reaching some one million vulnerable people throughout the country on a monthly basis. Now, on top of this, WFP has had to expand operations and food distributions to effectively respond to the Ebola epidemic.
“Simply, everyone needs food, people need to eat. So we deliver food to the doorstep of people who have been in contact with infected people.”
Here in Beni, it’s not business as usual! We go from village to village and from door to door with a list of names of people who have been in contact with infected people. This drop-by-drop approach is an important part of the response strategy. To avoid any risk of contamination, people need to remain at home and away from their marketplaces and community.
Simply, everyone needs food, people need to eat. So we deliver food to the doorstep of people who have been in contact with infected people. We deliver a food basket of corn flour, beans, vegetable oil, and salt. This kind of organization is already complicated but you also need to take into account people’s sensitivities. Some are embarrassed to let others know they’ve been in contact with an infected person. Others are ashamed that family members have died from the Ebola virus. No one likes to advertise that Ebola might have infected him. In some parts of Beni, some people are hostile to the “Ebola doctors” as they are called. Sensitization to what Ebola is and what it is not is an essential task, undertaken during the general food distribution and home food deliveries.
“I like what I do here because we are really at the heart of a lifesaving operation.”
The nutritional response is different too because WFP supports all patients affected by Ebola, including women and children who are already suffering from malnutrition. We have to adapt the food preparation to each patient, taking into account whether they can easily eat or not. Conflict and displacement have already had devastating consequences, contributing to high levels of acute malnutrition across the country. Under the Ebola response, we are continuing to promote “best nutritional practices” even though the area of Beni is weakened by quarantines. WFP is fighting both Ebola and malnutrition in the DRC.
I like what I do here because we are really at the heart of a lifesaving operation. We have reached 6,100 Ebola affected people in North Kivu and Ituri provinces with 106 tons of food so far, of which nine tons was special nutritional food.
The WFP staff in Beni at the beginning the response. Photo: WFP/Emmanuel Lomalisa
WFP’s logistics support and expertise is critical. Three mobile warehouses have been deployed to Beni and we have seven trucks delivering medicine, food, cars, motorbikes, thermometers, refrigerators, tents, solar kits and mattresses to treatment centres. WFP aviation specialists are currently helping manage air traffic in and out of Beni, while WFP-run United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operates daily flights between Beni and Goma.
“I have reasons to be optimistic that we will win against the 10th Ebola outbreak in 40 years in the DRC.”
What I miss the most is my family. Fortunately, we can talk over the phone every day. They never miss an opportunity to remind me to follow the Ebola prevention measures very strictly.
I have reasons to be optimistic that we will win against the 10th Ebola outbreak in 40 years in the DRC. The medical and humanitarian staff on the ground are very experienced. The staff is very dedicated. There is no end to our commitment to saving lives.
Read more about WFP’s work in the DRC. | https://medium.com/world-food-programme-insight/its-not-business-as-usual-here-in-beni-4b19fec247bd | ['Jacques David'] | 2018-09-13 14:25:12.870000+00:00 | ['Nutrition', 'Humanitarian', 'Drc', 'Ebola'] |
Teamwork: More than working together | Teamwork: More than working together
If you have ever worked in a startup, you know that the team is the core of everything you do. Skalar Follow Dec 1, 2020 · 2 min read
It is often stated that many startup failures can also be traced to a lack of focus within the team. This raises a few questions about creating a well made team: who are they, what are their backgrounds, and why do they work together? In this short piece we will answer how we see this at Skalar, how we work in teams, and why we know that it’s the right way for us. In teamwork nothing can be set in stone.
Opposites attract
At the beginning of co-creating with a client, the team will consist of several people working in a broader scope, focusing on getting to know the market, position the idea and implementing the prototype with the right features at the right time. We have different teams in Skalar, catered to the challenges they solve. If a product team is well underway with their strategic collaboration, they will most often be a smaller targeted force. In these cases we have mapped out the path and are well on our way to implement and run our co-created digital product. Our targeted approach makes sure we continue to create value together with the client. At Skalar we work at the intersection of business, design and tech, which is always reflected in our teams. This means that they can rely on the skills of each other. We work this way because we know that different mindsets push things along.
The trinity
Every team consists of competence in tech, design and business. The team works closely together to initially create a tailor-made product with the client. Like a tailor, we need the client to be involved in the process so we can get to know their pains and bottlenecks. Then we begin to develop a holistic view of how their business works and how we can help them grow. Our aim is to first build a team within Skalar dedicated to create and implement their digital product, making value throughout.
There is no “I” in team.
Having written about teamwork in our previous article on co-creation, it is evident that teamwork is vital to everything we do. Teamwork is the backbone of all our processes, especially the ones we have with our clients. We build long strategic partnerships, aimed to help companies experience growth and to be a part of co-creating digital products of value. We find opportunities to build solutions with talent who are amongst the best in their field.
With competence in business, design, UX/UI, communication, creativity, music, art, hammocks, Kubernetes, JavaScript, Ruby and so much more, the teams at Skalar are ready to take on the innovative challenges that come their way. | https://medium.com/skalar/teamwork-more-than-working-together-383e8dde7df0 | [] | 2020-12-01 15:49:47.167000+00:00 | ['Team Collaboration', 'Team Building', 'Skalar', 'Teamwork', 'Cocreation'] |
Which Football Team is Best on Boxing Day? | I’ve just written on Forbes about the Premier League’s best and worst teams on Boxing Day, that English footballing tradition.
Of course, I calculated the league table on Boxing Day for all Football League teams who have played at least 30 matches on Boxing Day.
The table is ordered on points per game, rather than points, given that different teams have played different numbers of matches on Boxing Day (postponements in the past, and more recently, scheduling differences).
In the tables below there’s the standard league table information (matches played, games won, drawn, lost, goals scored, conceded, and points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw)), and then there’s points per game, and also the Elo rating “shock” factor cumulated for teams to get some sense of the extent to which teams positively or negatively shock on Boxing Day.
So here’s the overall list: | https://medium.com/@jjreade/which-football-team-is-best-on-boxing-day-e62166d56432 | ['James Reade'] | 2020-12-22 21:47:51.502000+00:00 | ['Soccer', 'Boxing Day', 'Performance', 'Football'] |
Google Play Music Is Dead. Long Live Spotify And Apple Music | Google Play Music Is Dead. Long Live Spotify And Apple Music
As another product bites the dust, Google now stands at the risk of killing its own music business
Images from Google, altered
We knew this was coming. Google had been planning to draw curtains over their decade-old music and podcast streaming service for a while now.
Now when the time has finally arrived, this all feels so sudden. However, it isn’t too surprising. The search engine giant has such a long history of discontinuing products that there’s a whole graveyard named after them.
Yet, seeing the doom of Google Play Music really hurts. After all, only last year, it was the default music player app shipped across millions of Android devices.
Today as Google begins forcing users to switch over to the newer YouTube Music app, it's hard to digest the fact that the much-loved Google Music product is officially dead.
Now, this would have been fine if YouTube Music was an equal substitution for Google Play Music. But the thing is, currently, YT Music doesn’t fill that void. Instead, it's a service that primarily focuses on boosting video viewing time rather than music playlists.
This makes Google’s whole strategy of replacing a working product by shoehorning it into another one a very questionable decision. It won’t be an overstretch to say that Google’s current move could inadvertently benefit its competitors even more. | https://medium.com/big-tech/google-play-music-is-dead-long-live-spotify-and-apple-music-b298228225fc | ['Anupam Chugh'] | 2020-10-31 18:43:26.082000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Marketing', 'Google', 'Technology', 'Social Media'] |
Clyde, The Forgotten Reindeer, Part 2 | Prompts = Come, Bedrock, Fervent
Photo by Norman Tsui on Unsplash
In depictions of Santa’s yearly ride, eight reindeer are normally portrayed. Rudolph, if included, makes nine. But never are there ten, despite the fact that there were that many stalls in the North Pole stable. The name that’s been forgotten to history? Clyde.
‘Come in, plenty of room up front. Everyone here? Good. It’s my fervent desire to have another successful Christmas. Rudolph, navigation lights. Clyde, radar — keep us from smacking into mountains. You’re the bedrock of the operation. Be ready.’
Clyde basked in the spotlight. ‘Hey Rudy! I’m working on my own theme song, just like you!’
Rudolph glowered. | https://medium.com/100-word-or-less-stories/clyde-the-forgotten-reindeer-part-2-16ecc55e0b43 | ['Parzival Sattva'] | 2020-12-25 09:53:02.953000+00:00 | ['Flash Fiction', 'Microfiction', 'Christmas', 'Reindeer', '100wordstory'] |
(Self-)Supervised Pre-training? Self-training? Which one to start with? | (Self-)Supervised Pre-training? Self-training? Which one to start with?
Recently, pre-training has been a hot topic in Computer Vision (and also NLP), especially one of the breakthroughs in NLP — BERT, which proposed a method to train an NLP model by using a “self-supervised” signal.
In short, we come up with an algorithm that can generate a “pseudo-label” itself (meaning a label that is true for a specific task), then we treat the learning task as a supervised learning task with the generated pseudo-label. It is commonly called “Pretext Task”. For example, BERT uses mask word prediction to train the model (we can then say it is a pre-trained model after it is trained), then fine-tune the model with the task we want (usually called “Downstream Task”), e.g. review comment classification. The mask word prediction is to randomly mask a word in the sentence, and ask the model to predict what is that word given the sentence.
As a result, we can obtain a very good performance NLP model, by training it with a huge amount of unlabelled training data i.e., millions of sentences from the Internet (e.g. ), which saves a lot of time for labeling data.
In NLP, we can easily obtain a sentence from the internet, as the sentence is discrete and usually legit (for example obtain a sentence from Wikipedia, it is uncommon that the sentence is erroneous and non-readable). Hence it is quite easy to define a pretext task in NLP. However, images are way more difficult as the signals are continuous, and pixels have a range of [0, 255], we as human are difficult to interpret a bunch of pixel values, and any shifting to the pixels will not be an issue to a human, but it will be completely different to a computer.
In this post, I will introduce what is a pre-trained model, downstream task, the current state of Self-Supervised Learning for Computer Vision, how to define a pretext task for the computer to learn meaningful and invariant features from images, and whether it is good to always apply pre-training, is there any alternative solution to pre-training. I assume readers have some basic understanding of CNN and Deep Learning.
The common flow of deep learning for computer vision project
Before talking about specific terms, let's look at the big picture of a deep learning project (specifically for computer vision project, but should apply to all others’ project)
from torchvision.models import alexnet model = alexnet(pretrained=True) # set pretrained=True
custom_task_model = prepare_custom_model()
dataset = load_dataset()
dataloader = DataLoader(dataset) for epoch in range(epochs):
for data, label in dataloader:
# representation could be feature maps or vector
representation = model(data)
# compute specific outputs such as object detection outputs
output = custom_task_model(representation)
# compute specific task loss
loss = criterion(output, label)
loss.backward()
# update model and/or custom_task_model
optimizer.step()
For all almost open-source research projects, you will see the above pseudo-code. The common differences would be how to load the dataset, different model architecture, different tasks, and different loss functions (“criterion”).
As you have noticed from the above pseudo-code, the “representation” is the most important part for any specific tasks (e.g. classification task), there are a lot of names for it, e.g. “embedding”, “vector”, “feature”. It literally means that this vector of real values is the “representation” that describes the data, even though it is difficult to be interpreted by a human, but it is actually meaningful for a computer to understand the data. It is because we want the computer to classify the input data, but pixels of data are too complicated, hence we want to extract “features” from the pixels of data, that is, to find out what combination of pixels is actually able to describe the data. Hence, it is important to let the computer learn how to combine these pixels so that it can classify them.
Pre-trained Model
Pre-trained models which are provided by torchvision.models were trained on ImageNet1000 through supervised learning (cross-entropy loss). The simplest way to obtain the pre-trained model is to set the keyword “pretrained=True” when you construct any models from this package (see the pseudo code above).
In the community of deep learning for computer vision, it is really common that we always begin with ImageNet pre-trained model, and fine-tune the model to a specific task with specific datasets. Because pre-trained model helps to save the time of training the model from scratch since the representation it has learned is already suitable (or easily to transfer) for a specific task such as Image Classification or Object Detection.
A figure from “Understanding Neural Networks Through Deep Visualization by Yosinki”.
For example, the above figure is a deep visualization on a trained AlexNet. The feature maps (those with black background but with some white points) are the “activation” of some features, meaning that a specific channel in a Convolution layer has found how to combine the pixels to represent some meaningful contents, (e.g. the cat head). All pre-trained models are capable to do that (and it is a must! If not, it is a bad pre-trained model haha…), hence starting your project with a pre-trained model is definitely a good choice.
Downstream Task
An edited Image by the author. (With Credit: YOLO, ImageNet and CSAILVision)
When research papers mention “downstream task” (which confused me when I was a beginner), it literally means what the pre-trained model can do with image classification, object detection, image segmentation, etc. All these tasks are called “downstream tasks”, which is actually a technical term that is used by most representation learning papers.
In short, we fine-tune the model to perform specific tasks with the pre-trained model weights as initialization. Because some domains (such as the medical field) are very difficult and expensive to obtain data, so it is important to initialize with the pre-trained model, and also it will reduce the training time if you have computation constraints.
List of Self-Supervised Learning method that I know (by June 2021)
As far as I know, SSL can be organized as handcrafted pretext tasks-based, contrastive learning-based, clustering learning-based. Note that some papers will mention self-supervised learning as unsupervised learning. Also, note that both generative models— AutoEncoder and GAN can also learn representations without labels, e.g. you can use the Encoder from the AE or the Discriminator from the GAN as the pre-trained model (both takes as input an image), but I did not list them down here because some of them are too specific on the tasks, hence I think it is not good enough to be a pre-trained model.
Handcrafted Pretext Tasks
Some researchers propose to let the model learn to classify a human-designed task that does not need labeled data, but we can utilize the data to generate labels.
Context Prediction (predict location relationship)
Jigsaw
Predict Rotation
Colorization
Image Inpainting (learn to fill up an empty space in an image)
To summarize, these tasks use algorithms to generate pseudo-labels, so that model can learn representation through supervised learning such as cross-entropy loss. For the details algorithm, you can read the paper which I have put a link in the list.
Contrastive learning
The term “contrastive” means to differentiate, hence contrastive learning means learning to compare between positive and negative samples.
SimCLR
SimCLRv2
Moco
Mocov2
PIRL
These methods are sometimes called “instance discrimination” as well because they utilize the features of instances for learning. In short, the core concept is to maximize the dot product between the feature vectors which are similar and minimize the dot product between those of which are not similar. These methods have their own method to define similarity and dissimilarity. And most of them utilize “data augmentation”, that is, a positive pair is the same image with different kinds of augmentations, while a negative pair is just different images (with different kinds of augmentations as well).
These methods are the current trend of self-supervised learning because these papers claim that contrastive learning can learn features that are more invariant (e.g. the feature map of a cat head I shown earlier, the location of the cat head in the image doesn’t matter, it will activate as long as the cat head presents) as it can “compare” and find out what are the common features in the two augmented images.
Clustering learning
I put nearest neighbor-based as clustering learning as I view every data point as a center and finding the nearest neighbor as a cluster.
DeepClustering
SeLA
SCAN
SwAV
These methods are easier to understand, I use DeepClustering for an explanation as I think it is simple. We first perform clustering on the features (the number of centroids is a hyperparameter), then using the predicted labels from the clustering result as pseudo-labels, then treat it as an image classification problem and learn with cross-entropy loss. Again, different methods have their own version of finding pseudo-labels.
I personally recommend clustering-based learning, as it is more intuitive, but I personally think that two of the big problems are how to perform online clustering efficiently and accurately (meaning no need to go through all the data, but only the batch itself) and how to define the number of centroids correctly. (Nevertheless, SwAV said, as long as the number of centroids is “enough”, the learning shouldn’t be a problem).
Rethinking Pre-training and Self-Training
Well, the title is actually the same as a paper called “Rethinking Pre-training and Self-training”. This paper finds out that pre-training is not as good as self-training in some cases.
To summarize, a self-training method has common steps as below:
learn a (teacher) model with labeled data (often with strong augmentation) generate soft/hard pseudo labels for unlabeled data from the (teacher) model retrain a (student) model with both labeled data and pseudo-labeled unlabeled data. repeats steps 1 2 and 3. (by initializing the teacher model with the student model)
It is actually a semi-supervised learning method. The term “self” means that the model learns with some data first (and the model is initialized randomly), then using its own knowledge to classify new unseen data, and uses the highly confident prediction result as new data and learns with them. Hence, the term “self” means the model is teaching itself.
This paper said that although self-training is much slower than pre-training, it actually has many benefits such as able to learn more specific features for the specific task, works well even when pre-training fails and it works even well with more data. In the paper they demonstrate the benefit of self-training with object detection and semantic segmentation, it actually makes sense as the features from the pre-trained model were learned from classification task, but adapting it to localization task (i.e., object detection) might take time to adjust (or maybe not able to adjust accurately due to local minimum). While training from scratch will help as the features are tuned from random to the specific localization task, just that it takes more time for the training.
Nevertheless, I still think pre-training is good in practice because we can save a lot of time training the model, especially for fast demo or model deployment. But you can give self-training a try if you want to beat SOTA in your research field.
Conclusion
Hope this post can help you to understand more about the pre-training model, self-supervised learning methods, and also able to explore a new field that is called “self-training” (although it is not new to the community, it is new to me).
Auto-encoder-based can also consider as self-supervised learning, as it is reconstructing the input (the label is the input), but some papers said that auto-encoder (reconstructive based to be specific) will try to memorize every detail of the input, hence it is not “invariant” enough. It is good to have a discriminative feature, even if we lose information, as long as the information that is important to the main content in the image and we can use the information for the downstream task, then it is considered discriminative and invariant.
If you wish to know more about self-supervised learning, I recommend you to read these surveys, 1, 2, 3. You can also search in Google Scholar with the keyword “self-supervised learning survey”. There is also another paper called “How Useful is Self-Supervised Pretraining for Visual Tasks?”, explains how to self-supervised pretraining help in visual tasks, I recommend readers to read if you have interest in self-supervised learning. | https://towardsdatascience.com/self-supervised-pre-training-self-training-which-one-to-use-8c796be3779e | ['Kamwoh Ng'] | 2021-06-28 02:00:13.393000+00:00 | ['Deep Learning', 'Self Training', 'Self Supervised Learning', 'Pre Training', 'Unsupervised Learning'] |
How To Launch And Grow Your Business. | So basically this is about the new trends, Remember the ‘90s? Who knew that the blogger craze would transform into something like what we see today: a valuable and necessary element of your company’s content marketing. Also Launching your business through an online Platform like an Application or website, can be equally profitable.
Although some changes may not be always good but that transformation is important. Treating a business like an online diary and publishing company updates only every few weeks isn’t what modern blogging should look like. If you’re a competitive business today, then your launching strategy must be on point, your app needs to speak to your audience, reinforce your expertise, and capture leads for your company.
Now, there isn’t one clear path alone to begin growing your business. Therefore, based on your success, though, here are some steps you can take to launch, maintain, and grow your company:
1. Choose a software development company to get started.
Your business needs a home, so first and foremost, you’ve got to find software development company to help you house your content through an app or an website; the key is selecting a marketing tool that’s intuitive and meets your needs.
2. Play the name game for branding.
If you want to actually brand your company and help it stand apart as more than simply a bulletin board for company updates, give it a name that is eye catching, and clears what you do as a business.
Your brand’s name can be anything you want, but don’t go crazy; its name should ultimately reflect its purpose.
3. Laying down some ground rules.
Before you start pumping out your business, you have to establish some guidelines so you know what you’re doing and so your content stays cohesive.
Regardless, these guidelines should work within and boost your documented content marketing strategy. That means you’ve got to think about what your goals are, who your audience is, and what your readers need from you so you can narrow down specific guidelines like categories, tone, length, and more in a custom content style guide.
4. Start brainstorming.
Inspiration for business branding content ideas can come from pretty much anywhere. When those ideas come to you, don’t forget to write them down in an ongoing blog topic Google Doc so your content marketing team can develop those ideas when it’s time.
5. Create an editorial calendar.
As your company’s calendar will depend on a lot of considerations, from your team’s capacity to when your audience is most engaged. Posting Branding Blogs at least twice a week, with an occasional third when we want to highlight a more newsworthy and timely event in our industry. Hence to start putting together a schedule of your own, check out our customizable editorial calendar template.
So lets Grow your business. | https://medium.com/@frantic00011/how-to-launch-and-grow-your-business-86f253993fc0 | ['Frantic Infotech Pvt. Ltd'] | 2020-12-23 10:41:40.545000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Mobile App Developers', 'Business Development', 'Software Development', 'Business'] |
Dear Recruiter/Future Employer, I’m coming clean and setting the record straight about my resume. | Dear Recruiter/Future Employer,
I sincerely hope that you are well and that my letter helps you understand me as a candidate a little more before you skip ahead to the next, I’m sure, equally-deserving candidate’s application.
I received a call from a company last Friday and they were wondering if I was available to do an interview on Monday, today. The caller mentioned something on the lines of finding my CV and contact details on AngelList. I figured it must have been from a few months ago but anyway, I agreed because I can’t see any downsides to taking interviews — you can only get better the more you practice right? Well, that’s what I think anyway, I may be wrong.
So, I had the interview today and it went well- again, in my opinion. Though, during the course of the interview, for the first time ever, the interviewer actually voiced a thought that I know every recruiter or interviewer who has ever looked at my resume, has thought about. I know this because the thought has haunted me for years and I have worked hard to rectify it. The man said, “You have done quite a lot. It looks like you were finding yourself or something. Have you finally settled on something?” He won my admiration for asking this question because he wanted to understand and did not seem interested in jumping to any conclusions about me or my capabilities as a Product Manager. So, I explained to him in the most succinct way I could while in an interview.
Notwithstanding, I believe I have to come clean to you in advance in more detail and set the record straight just in case you happen to be one of the many people who will see my CV and wonder with curiosity and amusement, “What’s up with this candidate’s seemingly random work experience? Am I supposed to take her seriously?” The answer is a resounding “YES” and that is because there is more to my work experience than meets the eye and as cliché as this might sound, the cumulation of my experiences have made me the well-rounded individual that I am today. Here’s what’s between the lines:
Why didn’t I choose a career in Accounting or Finance?
As much as I have grown to love Finance, I really do not like accounting. Regardless, it’s not a subject I actually consciously chose. It was a path that was chosen for me. You would not understand this unless you are Nigerian or come from a country where the parents play a significant role in the lives of their children especially in terms of their careers. Anyway, after my Masters programme, I decided I had gotten the degree and the knowledge but in terms of building a career, this just did not seem like a great fit for some absurd reason. I would have done great but it just was not me.
2. Why is my resume so laden with administrative roles?
Well, I moved back to Nigeria after university on election year on the heels of a recession (tough to the power 100). My parents wanted me to get a stable government job and I had come back and immediately registered for NYSC (it’s like mandatory industrial placement coupled with some military training). The role in which I was deployed to was, in some books, a prestigious one that people would kill for but it was an administrative role. Nobody tells you that once you start off your career in a certain role, it would take a great deal of effort to pivot especially in a country like Nigeria where underemployment and unemployment are the orders of the day and you have to be grateful that you even have a job especially one that pays enough for you to get by. It took me five years of conscious effort and fighting to pivot to anything- just anything that wasn’t a painfully routine desk job pushing paper and getting paid good money whether you exercise a brain muscle or not- and that’s how I discovered the world of tech.
I was referred an Executive assistant role at a company that seemed vaguely familiar but it was a stark contrast from my job at the time at a federal government agency — which I loved but I found intellectually numbing- I craved some excitement, something creative that’d keep me on my toes always and was far from routine. I jumped at this role even if it meant that I’d relocate to another city. Thankfully, I got in and right from day one, I knew that I was where I was supposed to be which at the time for me seemed like it was the company itself but over time, as things became clearer, I knew that it was software technology. It was at that point that it dawned on me that I could be more but only if I pushed myself hard enough out of my comfort zone.
So, I made it a point of duty to learn about every role that was connected to my bosses at the time- Marketing and Sales and figure out how to wriggle my way out of the EA hole. Luckily for me, my bosses Alexa and Chris would ask about my plans to transition into other roles in the future and that gave me the boost of confidence I needed. Being a remote EA became increasingly difficult and one of my bosses decided they could not deal with the long distance. Of course, I saw that as my opportunity to transition within the company. I interviewed for several roles, spoke with every team lead in the Lagos Office and I finally found some work I could help with in Marketing. It was events marketing and digital marketing which I was pretty great at until I was made redundant in March 2019.
It was a huge blow to me because I was dreading going back into the job market as an EA- I mean, let’s face it, I had years of experience as an administrative personnel and a few months as a Marketing Associate. The job market is not that generous with opportunities but I had tasted of the forbidden fruit and there was no going back.
3. How and Why did I zero in on Product Management and UI/UX design?
In 2018, My former boss, Alexa, probably did not realize it at the time but she introduced me to UI/UX design when we were discussing website design options in one of our external meetings. She mentioned that she used an app called Marvel to design wireframes and I’d never heard of neither the term nor the app so I went a-googling! I designed my first wireframe that day using Marvel. You guessed right — it was absolutely terrible but I loved it! Subsequently, I bugged the only Product Designer at the company at the time, every chance I got to pick his brain.
Product management came as a suggestion from a friend and former colleague at Andela who I was trying to build a startup with. I had been nursing my health for about 5 months at the time when he called me and said, “Uchenna, have you ever heard about Product Management? It’s basically what you used to do for us at startup x. I think you should just make it official and sign up for a course but just read up on it first”. I was excited, googled it and it finally made sense that the things I enjoyed doing were an actual field called ‘Product Management’. Finally, I could pivot to a role that I enjoy, that’s in tech and I could do remotely even when having a flare-up. It was perfect! UI/UX happened to be a module within the PM course I took at Utiva and it was very interesting that that seemingly random statement by my previous boss had prepared me for this- at least I knew what it was, I could talk about Marvel!
In conclusion, I believe in the interconnectivity of things. My job working with pensioners as a Data entry operator definitely prepared me for my job at Andela because I was able to interact and relate with so many people there who I’m still in touch with. If I was closed-off I would not have met Ade who told me about Product Management. If I wasn’t a curious cat from my work as an Economic Analyst, I would not have known about UI/UX or even had the fundamental skills required to learn or use the tools I have used during my 2 years in tech. If I did not have people skills or communication skills, I would not have ever met or discussed with my two former colleagues at Andela who I’m currently working for at Alta Labs and Payfi. If I didn’t work as a Product Manager at Alta Labs, I wouldn’t have been able to have technical conversations with my clients as a Freelance UI/UX designer.
My path to Product Management has neither been conventional, smooth nor straight but I have learned a million lessons on my journey here that have made me into the great Product Manager that I am even though I am far from being the best that I can be. Now, I can answer the 5-year plan question in an interview with all certainty and say, “Yes, I have settled on Product Management and I see myself being a Senior Product Manager in a company that I love- where I fit in and my values align- a place with genuinely great people, brilliant minds, a passion for design, managing a team that comprises of 50+ people.” Product Management and UI/UX design are paths that I CHOSE — they were not chosen for me by my parents, job vacancies, unemployment or society’s expectations. I naturally gravitated towards them like a paper clip to magnet and it is the most exhilarating feeling in the world to choose, love and enjoy what you do.
Thanks for considering me and I hope that you see now that there is more to a person’s resume than meets the eye. Sometimes, like in my case, the randomness of the experience is not as a result of a lack of focus by the individual but more as a result of availability of opportunity, hard work, laser focus, determination and persistence to reach one’s true potential.
I hope you stay safe.
Kind Regards,
Uchenna Angel Kalu-Uduma | https://medium.com/@theuchenna/dear-recruiter-future-employer-im-coming-clean-and-setting-the-record-straight-about-my-resume-2fa1e98c332b | ['Uchenna Angel Kalu-Uduma'] | 2020-12-21 21:56:48.322000+00:00 | ['Focus', 'Job Hunting', 'Recruiting', 'Resume', 'Human Resources'] |
An Introduction To Stockpicking For You | Introduction: I have written over 150 stock picks since 2015, most of them “don’t buy this stock at this price”. My Buy opinions have compounded by more than 20%.
If you had followed my stockpicks with $1,000 since 2015 you would have collected 5–10% in dividend cash and have doubled your first $1,000 investment to $2,073.
Let’s begin.
We’ll begin with the big idea here — to get you richer. Maybe you are not even rich yet, but you can get a leg up by saving money and having your money working for you. The art and the craft of intelligently picking stocks to buy is simple enough anyone who passed elementary math can do it.
The cardinal rule for making money in stocks is the same as in any business: Buy low, sell high!
This manual is the playbook for getting a good deal on your stock investments.
Everything you need to know about stocks from the bottom-up is covered in this book!
Get the answers to:
What is the stock market?
Why does the stock market exist?
How do people like me make money in the stock market?
Where does the money go when I lose in stocks?
How do I know I am getting the right, low, price for a stock?
When do I sell the stocks I buy?
And so much more..
People Who Have Made It In Stocks
Thousands of everyday people have lifted themselves out of the rat race and gathered great wealth for their families through the art of buying low and selling high in the stock market.
Famous names in this area include Warren Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger, who have made substantially all of their enormous wealth from scratch through the art of buying low and selling high in stocks. Did you know the famous Oracle of Omaha ran a series of investment pools (popularly known as Hedge Funds) and made other people rich along the way? Well its true — that’s how Warren Buffett made it into the real big leagues of the uber rich. If he had stayed on his own, investing his own savings into his stock picks over the years, he’d only have become a millionaire one hundred times over. Maybe that doesn’t entice you..?
Sometimes I have to think a lot about how I am going to present this material to you, the audience, because from my perspective on this stock picking thing.. picking winning stocks is like shooting fish in a barrel! And I want to make it that easy for you, too. So I decided to call this book The Elephantine Book Of Stock Picking.
And hey.. when there is an elephant in the room, who’s talking about it? All the partygoers are worried everyone else already knows about the elephant and will call you an idiot for mentioning it. But I tell you what, if you’re trekking through the jungle of life.. You can do a lot worse than riding on the back of an elephant!
So, I invite you to continue with this manual and learn the art of buying low and selling high in stocks.
Terren
Get my book The Art Of Stockpicking For Common And Uncommon People
In PDF for just $9.99 at https://www.Gumroad.com/Stockpicking
Amazon Kindle & Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W8YCTXT
Twitter @sharpfeaturesm1 | https://medium.com/@sharpfeaturesman/an-introduction-to-stockpicking-for-you-45d1506cc4dc | [] | 2019-08-13 20:52:25.111000+00:00 | ['Help', 'Self Help', 'Money', 'Business', 'Investing'] |
The Best wifi system you definitely deserve one | In 2019, There are many mesh wifi products appears on the market. You may hear some of them, such as google wifi,eero,TP-link, etc. Today, I am gonna talk about the MeshForce wifi system.
Unique design
As you can see, it’s tiny and white with a brand logo and a signal light. The top of the product has a very special design. Compared with other similar products of a single design, I think it is very fashionable.
Wide coverage
Full house coverage
It allows you to add up to 6 mesh points in the same system. One mesh points can cover up to 1500sqft coverage, it means you can max cover up to 9000sqft. If you have a very big house, this is definitely a good choice. Just put them in different rooms, you are access to enjoy yourself.
Easy to set up
Since it comes in two different models, I’ll explain them separately.
M1 3 pack（photo by MeshForce website）
Download ‘My Mesh’ App on your iOS or Android device, If you purchased 3 pack, choose any one of them as your main mesh points, plug it to power, then use the ethernet cable connect your modem to the mesh.
M3 3 pack（photo by MeshForce website）
The M3 model has made an improvement, it contains 1 mesh points with 2 dots. After you set up the main mesh point, easily plug the dots to power outlets. No need power cords or wires, simply plug in and add the dots in the app, your WiFi range becomes wider. So it’s more convenient. Use less than 10 minutes you can set everything up.
Affordable price
Refer to Amazon’s price：
MeshForce M1(3 pack) $169 /M3(3 pack) $199
eero (1 eero Pro + 2 eero Beacons) $319
Google wifi(3 pack) $254
GRYPHON(3 pack) $569
Compared with similar products, its price is more affordable.
multifunction
For its function, it has parental control, guest wifi, access management, etc. It does almost all the things that expensive products do. That’s why I recommend it.I’m not going to tell you the details of these function, you guys can search the MeshForce website or its Amazon store to find out by yourself.
Why you need mesh wifi?
If you have a big space that needs consistent network speeds, a mesh Wi-Fi network is worth to have. The Dual Band WiFi supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless which suits your older devices and newer devices. Higher class WPA2 Mixed encryption mode protects your WiFi password and data in a better way.
So if your older router not working well, please consider buying mesh wifi, you won’t regret.
Thanks for reading my story, I really appreciate. Hope you guys have a good day! | https://medium.com/@samanthazhou/the-best-wifi-system-you-definitely-deserve-one-a5b2d08eb6e8 | ['Samantha Holmes'] | 2019-08-26 02:36:49.633000+00:00 | ['Smart Home', 'Mesh Networks', 'Wifi Router', 'Wifi', 'Tech'] |
Medical Device Outsourcing Market Size Worth $231.2 Billion By 2027 | The global medical device outsourcing market size is expected to reach USD 231.2 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 10.4%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The growing incidence of chronic diseases is one of the major factors contributing to market growth. Regulatory bodies are mainly focusing on the quality of the healthcare devices provided to the public. Hence this is encouraging various players in the market to offer various services like regulatory consulting. For example, the European Medical Device Regulation undertake special spontaneous inspection of outsourced products to test the quality as well as conformity with standards.
The importance of regulatory compliance is expected to boost the growth of consulting services such as remediation, compliance, and quality management systems (QMS), thereby contributing to market growth. Whereas, the budget scrutiny in developed countries, pricing pressure, and changes in reimbursement schemes are some of the major factors anticipated to increase the adoption of cost containment measures by the original equipment manufacturers (OEM). These factors are expected to boost medical device outsourcing to emerging countries like India and China.
In addition, increasing difficulties in product engineering along with new entrants in the market are anticipated to shape the future of the market for medical device outsourcing. Whereas rising prevalence of chronic diseases is boosting the demand for medical devices. This, in turn, is helping the market to grow during the forecast period. Various companies are shifting their focus to research and development of new medical devices and are therefore outsourcing these activities to launch efficient medical devices in the market.
Click the link below:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-device-outsourcing-market
Further key findings from the report suggest: | https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/medical-device-outsourcing-market-7f9142400c0d | ['Gaurav Shah'] | 2020-12-21 10:04:32.984000+00:00 | ['Medical Devices', 'Orthopedics', 'Thailand', 'Russia', 'USA'] |
Why the Wild West Days of Payment Processing Are Over | In the early 2000s, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and the Japan Credit Bureau decided they had it with these laizze faire practices and worked together to accomplish two goal s—
Protect their cardholders from having their card and personal information stolen. Stop their own bleeding of billions of dollars each year to card disputes.
The result was version 1.0 of the PCI Compliance rules which over time have been updated
The companies have committed $5–6B each year to crack down on non-compliant businesses.
The Gift and Home industry is especially under siege.
With over $8–10 Billion in transactions flowing through, there are numerous points in the supply chain at which credit cards are vulnerable to theft.
In response to this challenge, Sales Agency Software companies have taken steps to guard against compromise through a process known as “tokenization”.
Tokenization is much more expensive and software-intensive, compared to encryption, but we’ll get to that later.
Here’s how it works in token-based systems with modern order writing systems such as Pharos, Aleron, and Ribbon:
When an order is placed, the rep does not enter the credit card directly into the order-writing software. They open a form called “iFrame”, and enter the credit card directly with the payment processor for that vendor. The credit card info doesn’t go directly to the vendor. It first makes its way to the payment processor. Let’s say, Authorize.Net or STRIPE. The payment processor receives the credit card data, and returns a “token” This token is then transmitted to the vendor, to be settled once the order has shipped. The vendor NEVER sees the entire 16 digit card number, EVER.
It is crucial to understand the difference between a “token” and a “raw credit card”. The raw card info is transmitted directly to the vendor. While the data is encrypted, it can be easily intercepted and decrypted by hackers and used to purchase whatever they wish, wherever they wish, on an ongoing basis.
Legacy Order Writing Systems have become overly reliant on directly transmitting raw credit card info to vendors, the only safeguard being transmitted over a secure HTTPS line. You might as well send card information over email.
Yes, it sure is convenient but the consequences are crippling.
It only protects the information in transit leaving the information vulnerable once it is exposed at the final destination—which is the supplier's computer.
“I wonder of it’s ok to recieve my card information as a raw text file and I’m worried what to do with it” says a supplier who requested anonymity for fear of hackers targeting her system.
The onus is on the supplier to follow compliance standards which can be expensive and time-consuming. Compliance requires answering a laundry list of 150 questions and documenting checks and balances in case of an audit.
The alternative is to only work with systems that follow stringent compliance practices.
Why Tokenization is Important | https://medium.com/reorder/the-wild-west-days-of-payment-processing-are-over-5086519821f0 | ['Vinit Patil'] | 2021-04-06 17:49:53.993000+00:00 | ['Marketplaces', 'Tokenization', 'Vendors', 'Sales Agencies', 'B2B'] |
Do your research, be informed and pick the best mobile accessories in Auckland ! | In our digitally savvy 21st century a mobile phone is the most important part for ourselves and resides at a very significant position in our daily life. We can’t even think of a single day without a mobile phone, anymore.
Mobile phones are also considered as a style icon, making phone accessories retail industry one of the booming areas in the digital marketing World! This in turn paved ways for items such as phone cables and chargers and services such as mobile screen replacement. Well, accessories do make mobile phones more user friendly. Buying a mobile phone is simple but using and maintaining it is a tedious task. Accessories help us to use our mobile phone more conveniently.
Let us go through some tips for buying the best mobile phone accessories near you:
A mobile phone acts as a smoother gadget to manage with user-friendly applications. There are various mobile phone accessories that make and found useful for us in many ways. For example, in order to get the person to rectify damage screen fixing Auckland, you have to find out the best mobile phone accessories shop near you.
Necessary accessory: These types are the mobile accessories that are essential for the better functioning of the phone. It generally becomes an important part of the device itself. For example, a phone charger is a necessary accessory for sure.
Stylish adornment: These mobile phone accessories are practically satisfying to the experience of utilising the mobile phones that are likewise imperative. Adornments like pop attachments, telephone covers and so forth are considered for an all the more stylish look.
Improving frill: Mobile phone accessories like power bank, earphones, and so on are not crucial for the working of the gadget, yet it maximises the usability of mobile phones. These are extras which are not basics but still a great idea to have.
Every mobile phone accessory has distinctive working capacity. Some of them are Bluetooth headsets, control bank charger batteries, information links, holsters, belt cuts, chargers, information cards, and considerably more. Mobile Accessories in Auckland are in great demand and rose the market of the mobile phone industry.
The power bank chargers are significant supposing that you ever go on a visit or excursion it is simple, they help you charge your mobile device effectively. The headphones or headsets are adored by individuals who are attached to music. In this way, these extras give utility. Many individuals need to demonstrate their style and elegant phone extras are ideal for them. A portion of these incorporate, calfskin cases, charms, cords, faceplates, and slings. | https://medium.com/@omnitechstorenz/do-your-research-be-informed-and-pick-the-best-mobile-accessories-in-auckland-8238e906b99a | ['Omnitech Limited'] | 2019-09-17 03:32:17.949000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Mobile Accessories', 'Phone Cables And Chargers', 'Damage Screen Fixing'] |
I’m gonna talk in this blog about everything but especially about my sexuality and my boyfriend and… | I’m gonna talk in this blog about everything but especially about my sexuality and my boyfriend and gender related stuff
I will talk about everything from the beginning | https://medium.com/@abdaskef0000/im-gonna-talk-in-this-blog-about-everything-but-especially-about-my-sexuality-and-my-boyfriend-and-f37be84fbab4 | [] | 2020-12-12 18:41:41.751000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Gender Identity', 'Boyfriend', 'Lgbtqia', 'Sexuality'] |
Create Your Own Google Chrome Extension | Photo by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash
In this article, we’ll create a simple Google Chrome extension which will hardly take five minutes. Our extension will display a greeting message to the user.
According to Chrome Developers, Extensions are small software programs that customize the browsing experience. They enable users to tailor Chrome functionality and behavior to individual needs or preferences. They are built on web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
An extension must fulfil a single purpose that is narrowly defined and easy to understand. A single extension can include multiple components and a range of functionality, as long as everything contributes towards a common purpose.
For this mini project, we’ll create a directory ( myExtension ) in our system with the following files.
myExtension
|------manifest.json
|------index.html
The manifest.json file will contain the following:
{
"name":"myExtension",
"version":"1.0",
"description":"For greeting the user",
"manifest_version": 2,
"browser_action": {
"default_popup":"index.html"
}
}
The manifest file will tell the Chrome everything it needs to know to properly load up the extension.
And, the index.html file will contain the following:
Now, we’ll open Chrome browser and navigate to the Chrome’s menu and open More tools and select Extensions . We have to turn on the Developer mode . Then, we’ll click Load Unpacked Extension and select the directory where we have created the files for this project, i.e., myExtension .
So, we’ll now check our extension after being deployed to Chrome.
In the above picture, we can see that our extension has been added in the browser.
Now we’ll click it and get the following result.
And as simple as that, we’ve created a very basic Chrome extension!
Reference | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/create-your-own-google-chrome-extension-de146f1ce645 | ['Souvik Paul'] | 2020-12-10 15:33:25.722000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Web Development', 'HTML', 'Chrome Extension', 'Programming'] |
I pretty much agree with you here. Bat shit crazy or not. | I pretty much agree with you here. Bat shit crazy or not.
I am going to retire from my J.O.B. in the spring. I’ll do some writing and saw logs on my sawmill for other people.
So yeah, I’ll still be working; but I’ll be doing what I want.
That is the key, me thinks!
Hopefully, I can continue to do these things for another 20+ years before I start walking into walls & falling down steps! | https://medium.com/@gmagilke/i-pretty-much-agree-with-you-here-bat-shit-crazy-or-not-40e715316c00 | ['John Magilke'] | 2020-12-12 16:16:23.431000+00:00 | ['Retirement Living', 'Retirement'] |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.