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School: Simple to Inflexible | Technology changed the way of interaction, most probably the sadder way 🙁
School
It used to be a very fortunate place where students used to enjoy the symphony of leaving life as a kid. Crying loudly if teacher scolds. Those beautiful days used to be like golden days in today’s world. Especially, the world used to be a small garden and we all were the small seeds trying to grow in the soil but were kicked out of the ground, sometimes in air and sometimes in water. Whether its great or formal it’s not the right way to be more peaceful. That air and water made the seeds crumble as were acting like big hurdles. What used to be a strict environment was converted into a more free environment where students are not to be scold or beaten. Maybe the modern method is the worst decision for the unknowns who remain unknowns for their whole life. This education system really doesn’t care about the ability to learn things but demands more of capacity to learn things.
It is possible to do anything but it is not possible to do everything.
Back to those days where teachers used to teach real life education to their students. Back then were classrooms filled with nature and natural things. It almost made students feel free to connect with what they are learning. The modular methods made it so hard to believe because of no practicality in their academics. There must be set of lectures which teach us what to do in medical conditions when no one is there with you.
Let me tell you 3 things which changed:
We don’t know why we are learning it anymore. We don’t know who we are. We don’t know how do we choose the right.
The above questions may sound illogical but as a student’s perspective it sounds very familiar. We don’t know why we are learning subjects in engineering which we don’t expect. We don’t know why we are going to option out for engineering instead we love medical.
The answer to the above questions are pretty inside us and we should take time to think for it. It’s obvious that not everyone will do it but some of us will do it and feel the difference of doing thing for a reason. Knowing the reason is the best motivation for consistent work. | https://medium.com/@patiledukosmindset/school-simple-to-inflexible-12aba65d5751 | ['Patil Edukos'] | 2020-12-27 14:17:55.546000+00:00 | ['Schools', 'Reason', 'Education', 'Life', 'Personal Development'] |
Why all the fuss about psychedelics? | Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
Psychedelics are a controversial topic. Or at least, they were.
The word “Psychedelics” conjures up images of hippies in Ibiza’s heyday, John Lennon and those glasses, Burning Man, ayahuasca retreats in Costa Rica, perhaps even Austin Powers and his gorgeous velvet suits! But there is so much more to this space than outdated cliches about mind-expanding experiences and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Psychedelics are serious business.
We’ve been fascinated by psychedelics for some time now and we’re buzzing with excitement at the possibilities. Of course, we don’t know how the industry will develop and who the winners and losers will be in the race to commercialise. But we firmly believe that we are early on the curve, and that the psychedelic ecosystem deserves serious attention from investors in public and private markets. We’re talking about a burgeoning investment category — one that’s still in its infancy.
Enter the rabbit hole.
A vibrant ecosystem is forming around psychedelics, with producers, distributors, thought leaders (and critics) creating a perpetual motion machine that signals exponential growth in the years ahead. But until recently, this field felt esoteric and impenetrable — the preserve of biochemists and pharmaceutical R&D departments, with a little bit of and thrown in. It was hard to get a practical handle on real life use cases for psychedelics.
That was until we read a book which literally expanded our minds and led us down the rabbit hole. That book was Michael Pollan’s How To Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics , and it has helped to take psychedelics mainstream (or at least, onto the bookshelves of your local Waterstones, if it is still open).
Pollan reveals how psychedelics are improving the lives of not only the mentally ill, but also healthy people who are grappling with the challenges of everyday life. What’s really cool about this book is that the author doesn’t pontificate from the sidelines — given what he discovered while researching his book, Pollan chose to dive in and explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. The result is something truly wonderful.
The premise (and promise) is simple — psychedelics help people to manage psychological illness and obtain a higher quality of life. When we talk about psychedelics, we’re really talking about Psilocybin, a hard-to-pronounce but nonetheless naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms. Psilocybin is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of LSD. Those effects are pretty groovy — they include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, and spiritual experiences — but they can also include possible adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks.
An industry is born.
Human use of psychedelics is as old as the hills. Imagery found on prehistoric murals and rock paintings in Spain and Algeria suggests that usage of psilocybin mushrooms predates recorded history. In Mesoamerica, mushrooms were consumed in spiritual ceremonies before Spanish chroniclers first documented their use in the 16th century.
The industry took a step forward in 1959, when Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated psilocybin and his employer Sandoz marketed pure psilocybin to physicians and clinicians worldwide for use in psychedelic psychotherapy ( Rolling Stone reports that Homann “created LSD in 1936 — but it wasn’t until 1943 that he first dosed himself and went on a magical bicycle ride”). There was then a retrenchment in the late 1960s, with increasingly restrictive drug laws curbing scientific research into the effects of psilocybin and other hallucinogens.
In recent years, the sector has been gaining regulatory momentum, leading to mind-blowing possibilities for medical applications in the treatment of depression, anxiety and addiction. The research is fascinating and has been given a massive boost by the opening of the world’s first formal centre for psychedelic research at London’s Imperial College .
A fly in the ointment.
Whilst the empirical results from the various studies that have been conducted are staggering (in a positive way), there’s an epistemological disconnect.
Researchers (and by extension, regulators) are struggling to understand the biochemical process by which psychedelics alleviate mental illnesses. In other words, they know that psychedelics are a game-changer, but they can’t pinpoint how they work and why they’re so effective. This is a key barrier between clinical trials and widespread commercialisation and adoption.
The other option, of course, is decriminalization, which means that natural psychedelics (e.g. mushrooms) become a realistic choice for patients and consumers. Whilst this is another route to market — one that will create opportunities for public and private companies throughout the supply chain — we don’t believe that it will lead to the kind of mass adoption that could come through regulatory approval and pharmaceutical grade drugs delivered via traditional distribution channels.
Ready and waiting.
We’ve said it before, but we’re optimists. We believe in science, and we believe in people. This problem will be solved, and when it is, the psychedelics industry will explode into a new phase of exponential growth.
In fact, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is currently in the latter stages of the FDA approval process with a large scale study into the use of MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other nonprofits and companies are hot on their heels, and we’re close followers of the innovative work that Compass Pathways is doing here.
Things are also happening out in the big wide world. Zach Haigney has pointed out that Oregon will later this year vote on the Psilocybin Services Initiative — medical infrastructure and regulation around the manufacture and sale of psilocybin via a clinical setting. This parallels early days of medical marijuana in California and points to a positive trajectory for the adoption of psychedelics at the state level.
Private market participants are already getting in the action, embracing great risks for potentially great rewards. Twitter commentator Shroom Street said it all when they recently tweeted:
“I feel like there’s a lot of people blindly entering the psychedelic space with no idea what they are getting themselves into.”
We prefer to wait and watch — it’s still early days, and there is plenty of time to play this theme. But rest assured, we are ready to capitalise. It’s simply a question of targeting and timing.
The bigger picture.
What’s really exciting about psychedelics as an investment category is the sheer size of the market. It’s no exaggeration to say that every single human being on our planet might be able to benefit from these treatments at some point in the future.
And those focused on therapeutic applications are missing the bigger picture. Psychedelics exist at the intersection of neuroscience, spirituality, healthcare and investing and a bunch of other fields. It’s fair to say that psychedelics lead us to question the very nature of consciousness. Digging deeper into that rabbit hole might lead us to weird and wonderful new ideas about how we might live, work and relate to each other — ideas with consequences for investors.
It’s too early in the journey to characterise this in detail, and too early on a Saturday morning to speculate as to where human beings might be headed over the next few decades. But is it really that far fetched to postulate that psychedelics might have a role to play in expanding and enriching the experience of being human?
John Lennon said:
“Surrealism to me is reality. Psychedelic vision is reality to me and always was.”
For everyone else, there’s coffee. Strong, black coffee. But for a small and growing number of researchers, investors and optimists, there’s the promise of something stronger and brighter. And maybe — just maybe — it’s closer than you think. | https://medium.com/@3bodycapital/why-all-the-fuss-about-psychedelics-efee589da0ab | ['Three Body Capital'] | 2020-07-06 09:12:26.873000+00:00 | ['Psychedelics', 'Investing', 'Finance', 'Future'] |
Week 9 @ Encora Academy (Build Something From Scratch) | In the ninth week at Encora Academy we delivered the final product of this phase in which we were working for the last month.
This week I learned a lot from the beginning. On Monday, I was dealing with a dependencies issue that I installed locally, and when I tried to upload the changes into Github, my teammates couldn’t run my changes, so I deleted my project locally, and when I tried to run it, again, it threw me an error that I couldn’t identify, so I went to the internet, and copy the first thing that I found because I was desperate to solve the issue, and the result was a tragedy. I deleted all my files on my computer with the rm command I don’t know how…
At first, I wanted to cry because I lost a lot of work that I’ve been doing for the past months, and also the code that I had written in my IDE. Then I realized that I couldn’t recover anything, so I just moved on. I just started at zero and try to recover as soon as possible.
The following days, it was just about finishing everything on the project, making sure that everything worked well before deployment. I finished the notification system, which we managed sending emails for appointments, for registers, for appointment cancelations, and so on.
By Wednesday, we started deploying our project. We chose Heroku, which was a whole new thing for me. I learned the deploying process and the problems that come with it.
The next day, we faced with compatibility issues, the web app doesn’t work well with iOS devices because they manage calendars in a different format, as well as some other visual details.
By Friday, we had our last demo, where everything went well, although we did it locally.
Then we discovered some other details, that if you enter the app through the HTTP protocol instead of HTTPS, you couldn’t log in for some reason. And lastly, the thing that we found was that we have to keep in mind that servers have to default UTC, so we have to code keeping this in mind.
Conclusion
This week was tough. I learned by the bad way that I have to be careful of what commands I put in my computer and to read well before I do anything. I learned a lot about technical issues from Nodejs and its promises to deployment tools, but where I learned most was from my teammates. Everybody was always in their best disposition to help each other. I learned a lot about git and Github thanks to them and how to be for each other. This phase was very special to me, and I’m really looking forward to see what comes in the next phases. | https://medium.com/@urielmd00/week-9-encora-academy-build-something-from-scratch-30d5c53a4b00 | ['Uriel Martinez'] | 2020-11-24 05:38:44.482000+00:00 | ['Encora', 'Heroku', 'Nodejs', 'Internships'] |
How frequently should you mail to your list? How often should you include a sales message in them? | How frequently should you mail to your list?
How often should you include a sales message in them? AlexisSACondillac Nov 9, 2019·2 min read
Those are the two most frequently asked questions regarding e-mail marketing(besides how to get a list).
Well, you don’t need to look more for the answers.
You should always mail your list biweekly, and exactly 86.4% of your mails should include a sales pitch.
Now, i would love to say that it was actually that simple. However, deep down, you probably know that it isn’t so.
And I’m saddened to say that the correct answer — as with many other questions — is: it depends.
You can run a successful mail campaign, that involves multiple sales pitches A DAY, if your list is expecting to get pitched frequently.
However if you run the mailing list Weekly Free Gardening Tips, your readers won’t be pleased once they see that they are getting an ad in their mailbox every two hours.
You can pretty much get away with everything, once you set up the expectations of the members of your list accordingly. They should know how many emails they can expect from you monthly, weekly or even daily. And once the expectations are set, and you consistently follow up, they can say to themselves “yes, that is indeed what i signed up for”. This can actually create some kind of trust between you and them, as you are delivering according to the expectations that you set for yourself.
This goes pretty much for both questions(frequency of mailings and frequency of sales pitches).
You can set up the expectation for free information without any advertisement in them, but then you have to deliver accordingly, or your unsubscribe rate will increase very quickly. Another question is whether you want to have a list that is not expecting any sales messages. But that is part of the bigger strategy picture.
What if you already set the expectations wrong to your list?
Do you have to build a new one altogether?
Well, yes and no. You can communicate to your list how you are going to mail them in the future. In a way resetting their expectations. However that means that a certain percentage(based on how much you are going to change) will leave. This is something that is unavoidable. And if they leave they probably wouldn’t fit into your strategy either. So in a way, you renew the members on your list, but pertain the list itself. | https://medium.com/@alexissacondillac88/how-frequently-should-you-mail-to-your-list-how-often-should-you-include-a-sales-message-in-them-42dbd33768f9 | [] | 2019-11-09 09:37:46.761000+00:00 | ['Email Marketing Tips', 'Marketing', 'Copywriting Tips', 'Email Marketing', 'Email Marketing Lists'] |
#1: Day One | My bible
Day 1 of Wuruwuru and I spent all day writing and setting up tools. Wuruwuru emails are now set up for Eseosa Belo-Osagie (ebelosagie) and Ajiboye Ayotomiwa (designgod) 🙄. I’ve also set up Notion for documentation, Basecamp for tasks, Airtable for research and Twitter for marketing.
What are you employing this thing to do for you? (EQ)
Wuruwuru is a playground for interesting ideas.
We’re making multimedia stories about design and popular culture in Nigeria with the goal to eventually publish and sell a magazine.
The idea is to take an interesting question or topic and explore it with a visual essay, game, music album, animation, documentary, dataset or whatever best tells the story. The stories will be made with other independent makers and enthusiastic friends. We’ll also work on mini projects to learn how to create and sell high quality digital/printed goods.
The experiment is to publish these stories online for free and later compile them into a magazine for sale. The magazine will also include internet education, how-we-made-it essays, interviews with collaborators and fun graphic design.
We’re taking it one story/project at a time, starting with Bros J’s Guide. It’s an Instagram comic about learning to roll up, marketed with a trifold brochure (tract). The booklet will be made of cardboard so it can be cut up and used as a filter and the inside spread will be lined to make it easy to fold. I called Onyinye and she says she can print!
For the actual guide, we’re thinking Instagram highlights and feed images illustrated in a monochrome comic style. From my experience with Instagram landing pages (paystackgift, ori.igo), I expect this to be fun. | https://medium.com/wuruwuru/1-e272499a7178 | [] | 2020-10-05 15:12:31.430000+00:00 | ['Journal'] |
I Created My Own Python Algorithm to Find the Right Medium Publication to Submit To | The Inspiration
After writing an article, the main task is to find a suitable publication and then publish the article in that publication. Most of the time we get refused by the publication because our article is not eligible for their publication. Sometimes we manage to publish to a publication but don’t get many views.
Screenshot by author
This is not the fault of any party. And, even if we follow the guidelines defined by the publication, still we find that the article is not that suitable for publication.
I wrote a script or a program that can find the best suitable publication based on the content of my article or the draft so that I don’t need to waste my time sending my article to the wrong publications.
Here’s how I made it possible. | https://bettermarketing.pub/i-created-my-own-python-algorithm-to-find-the-right-medium-publication-to-submit-to-a7362f1b38b1 | ['Pranjal Saxena'] | 2020-12-02 15:22:55.435000+00:00 | ['Naturallanguageprocessing', 'Python', 'Strategy', 'Programming', 'Algorithms'] |
Being Trans in the MMA World | The world isn’t safe for transgender women. 1 in 4 of us will face violence in our lives, and this statistic could be as high as 1 in 2 for trans women of color. In 2019 we have seen a rash of hate crimes and murders of transgender women and almost all of them have been women of color. As a way for me to keep my sanity in a world focused on exterminating me and my rights I have begun practicing MMA training.
As my wife and I prepared for our 10 year anniversary we both wanted to lose weight, and begin to get in better shape. We were both tired of the idea of running on treadmills, and lifting. So we found a marketing campaign on Facebook running a “free” Six-Week Weight Loss Challenge. This gave us both a kickstart, and over six weeks I dropped 20lbs and learned a ton of self-defense and Krav Maga and Kickboxing techniques. We thought this gym would be a great fit until I was sitting on Twitter a few weeks ago, and saw the gym owner, ranting against transgender women competing in sports. He essentially pulled out the same tropes and straw men as people like Joe Rogan and others that transgender women are “biologically male.” And trans women have an advantage over cisgender women.
For those that have followed any of the UFC’s rise to fame and an ESPN contract you would also note that Fallon Fox was a competitive champion, but her transgender status brought about a range of anger until she retired. Fox in a fight broke the skull of her opponent who then went on the record saying:
“I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can’t answer whether it’s because she was born a man or not because I’m not a doctor. I can only say, I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right… I still disagree with Fox fighting. Any other job or career I say have a go at it, but when it comes to a combat sport I think it just isn’t fair.” — Tamika Brents
Now this quote led to a whole debate about who transgender women are, and there place in MMA and competitive sports. Brents herself claims she doesn’t know what caused Fox’s strength, but is also quick to attack her gender identity and “biology.” But her is the thing, strength training mileage varies, and focus varies. Fox beat Brents simply because she out-trained her, not because of her physique. However, it is easier to malign a minority group rather than to say you don’t know what you are talking about, and you got beaten.
Que my story — as I found the owner calling trans people “gender appropriators” and other derogatory terms there is this consistent talk of my biology, my hormones and my muscle definition. So let’s take a chance to break that down.
No one else knows my biology other than myself, and my medical team. More importantly, my biology is female. Transgender women are not biologically male, it is a fallacy, and here in reality, not close to true. So, for anyone to start arguing about someone else’s biology is a joke. And it is comparable to cisgender woman Caster Semenya who is being told she is not really a woman and needs to be on a HRT regimen to compete as a cisgender woman in women’s running. These biology police are simply uneducated and love to be lightening rods to other ignorant followers. Caster, Fallon, and myself are all women. Biology has said so, gender research says so, and my medical team has the records to prove it.
2. Hormones don’t determine gender. Again, in the case of Caster, and Fallon, the argument is that testosterone gives these women more of an edge than those they compete against. But guess what? Transgender women on HRT are medically TESTOSTERONE FREE. That means every six weeks when I have blood work done, my testosterone is in the lowest level it can be for women. News flash, before I started HRT my hormones told the doctor I was a woman as they did bloodwork and I was infertile, and testosterone free. So if I have no testosterone, how does testosterone make me a “male” and stronger? It’s not there, so round two goes to transgender women again as biologically and medically female.
3. Strength is not a gendered capability either. For example Becca Swanson holds a record for female dead-lift at 672 pounds! She can also be found lifting over 800 pounds. How did she get there - working out, working out, and building a routine. Again, many men with testosterone can’t even match this, so does that mean she is a man? No, that argument is ridiculous because people understand how weight lifting goes. Many women that are working out and doing Crossfit and training for strength completely change their physique but are not told they are not their gender either, even though they develop broader shoulders, bigger biceps, and thicker back and neck muscles.
Crossfit Woman, Training on Deadlift
So as I enter and continue in the world of MMA, Krav, and other martial arts and fitness training gyms I know I may face some bias. However, I hope to continue to better educate the people I train alongside. Just because I am tall, and still losing weight does not mean I get an automatic win. Further, others ignorance, or better phrased, refusal to enter reality, should not limit me from competing with women. I am one.
I am also extremely thankful for other trans fighters and wrestlers out there training and being visible because together we are making the gym a more equitable arena. I am forever indebted to Fallon Fox because she trained, and trained, and won because of it. She opened doors for us all.
Fallon also in her own writings has addressed many of these same faux arguments and highlights how bad they truly are in terms of making rules and regulations for sport. Even comparing herself to other female fighters and their physiques.
Julia Budd (Left) Fallon Fox (Right)
Seeing these two women below it is obvious how much HRT impacts us, Fallon on the right, is less muscled and has less of a powerful physique than the comparison to Julia Budd. And I mean if you compared me to Budd, yikes, I’m a fluffy chibi girl versus a warrior. Even more so, my size is less than UFC female fighter Gabi Garcia.
6'2, 235 lb UFC Heavyweight Gabi Garcia
Gabi Garcia Cisgender UFC fighter highlights
So that leaves the question, what makes a UFC, or MMA fighter successful?
Training. Tenacity. Determination. Heart.
In the world of sports, and gym memberships, and training, we need to move away from the false narratives of “male power”. Transgender women don’t have it, when on HRT our muscle definition and muscle density lessens, our bone structure lessens, our ability to be strong becomes more and more of a challenge, seriously ask me to open a pickle jar, it’s comedic. And we are constantly monitoring our own hormones levels, things that these cisgender women are never doing.
So let’s end the stigma and push for inclusive communities. We all just want to be able to be fit, and protect ourselves and the ones we love. | https://medium.com/the-transition-transmission/being-trans-in-the-mma-world-330d579de112 | ['Shana Carroll'] | 2019-09-20 18:38:56.897000+00:00 | ['MMA', 'UFC', 'Transgender', 'LGBTQ', 'Sports'] |
Will Xbox Get More Exclusives To Have An Edge Over Playstation? | Photo by Ammar ABU-ZAiD on Unsplash
The Console Wars have been an arduous 21st century battle between two juggernauts of the gaming industry. Microsoft’s Xbox lineage and Sony’s Playstation lineage have been pitting against each other for decades by supporting nearly the same features, all the while Nintendo practices innovative isolationism on the sidelines.
The two consoles have comparable specs: both are sleek in design, identical central processing units, similar storage space, familiar frame rates, and the same likelihood of a 12-year-old tauntingly teabagging your character post-headshot.
Considering these shared features, brand loyalty condenses down to whichever one you have more friends on. As much as gamers are seen as anti-social cyberslackers, it is a highly social form of entertainment.
You virtually interact in teambuilding environments with multiplayer games for so many hours that time seems to dissipate. Or you may be going on your own independent adventure in a single-player game that will be the talk of the town among your buddies.
Outside of the social aspect, there is another motivation that explains the behavior of the brand loyalists: exclusive content.
Playstation was ahead of the game with exclusive content considering that the first Playstation came out well ahead of the first Xbox, which debuted alongside the Playstation 2. Developers flocked to Sony with their video game ideas, seeing it as liberating and edgy compared to the Nintendos and Ataris.
Microsoft had to catch up since Sony had the advantage of a longer market presence. By the time the Playstation 3 was coming out, Microsoft didn’t want to seem like they were behind their competitors by simply naming their next system the Xbox 2. In effect, they abandoned a chronological counting system in exchange for geometrical jargon and thus spawned the Xbox 360. And their counting system ceased to make sense ever since.
While Playstation garnered a list of exclusives over its years of being active, Xbox made a significant impression with the eclipsing impact of the Halo series as well as offering such exclusives including Forza, Fable, and Gears of War.
While these titles made Xbox a fierce competitor for the Playstation, each incarnation of the Playstation still managed to outsell each Xbox. A trend that is still continuing.
In order for Xbox to have an edge over Playstation, Microsoft will have to make a different impression on the gaming market. They are, without a doubt, the larger company with more resources to enhance the performance of their gaming system.
In October 2020, Microsoft was able to acquire ZeniMax Media, responsible for Bethesda Games Studio, for $7.5 billion. This may end up being a move to make popular game series Elder Scrolls and Fallout exclusively available for Xbox and PC, despite studio director Todd Howard’s desire to maintain access from all platforms.
The details of the deal have yet to be ironed out, but it will no doubt give Microsoft a competitive edge. Under its wing, Bethesda will be able to become a better developing company than it already was. Starfield, the interstellar RPG that has been discussed for years, can be pulled out of development hell and brought to development heaven by Microsoft.
The general consensus among the gaming community is that each sequel of acclaimed games Microsoft pumps out fosters fatigue. The newest Halo and Gears of War titles haven’t stirred excitement while new Playstation titles have been making good impressions on the public with God of War, Last of Us, and Uncharted.
Taking on original titles is a risky venture. Considering how many Avengers and Fast & Furious movies there are, the motion picture industry is well aware of this as well. But in order for Microsoft to officially outsell Sony, it’s going to have to bring more titles to the table.
The people are ready to try something new. Even if it does end up being Fallout 76.
Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/will-xbox-get-more-exclusives-to-have-an-edge-over-playstation-863139e2e2b2 | ['Erik Ruof'] | 2020-12-03 15:50:44.879000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Games', 'Technology', 'Gaming'] |
UHIVE— An Opportunity For Medium Writers To Grow | UHIVE— An Opportunity For Medium Writers To Grow
the new social media revolution that lets you earn
, this is not official logo just made on canava.com
UHIVE, a new era of the social network is a marvelous gift for us from technology.UHIVE is based on new unique positive and creative ideas. The idea here for us as a medium writer is that we can grow our medium post here. We may get traffic in an enormous amount by working on UHIVE.
The question is still in your mind ‘ How can we get traffic via UHIVE?’
Every new social network comes into the technology world with some extra benefits but to avail benefits, we must be aware of its proper handling.
Create a business space
The first thing you are going to do after making an account on Uhive is the creation of space. Space can be created easily under any category of the topic you choose. The list is given below
Art & Architecture Astronomy Autos Beauty & Make up Books & Literature Business Comedy & Fun Comics & Anime Education Fashion Food& drink Gaming Health & Fitness History Home&Lifestyle Movies Music News& Politics Parenting Pets& Animals Photo Religion Science Sports Technology Travel
Choose your space and embellish it with your creative thinking and ideas either in form of links to the medium story or just pictures or videos. The diversity in the topics above helps you better choose your space for your variable contents. You can own your own UHIVE space too.
I made my space in the name of my publication, Passive Asset. I have followers on my space greater in number than on my publication. So I found it a convenient way to spread my publication to other social media platforms.
As a Bonus of engaging on UHIVE, you get HIVE tokens that are new cryptocurrencies expected to be presented for exchange very soon. The value of Uhive tokens expected is 300 tokens equal to 1 dollar.
The interface of the Uhive app is very attractive and much beautiful. So I suggest you create your space to spread your voice, passion, and experiences. You can use it anonymously without being tracked.
UHIVE is the best place for bloggers, writers, and people interested in marketing because they can share here a review of a book or any product and get exposure to more and more people. | https://medium.com/passive-asset/uhive-an-opportunity-for-medium-writers-to-grow-120979b3a712 | ['Em Hoccane'] | 2020-12-01 18:19:15.903000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Growth Hacking', 'Apps', 'Blogging Tips', 'Business'] |
ZIN: redevelopment project in Brussels elevates circular construction to a higher level | ZIN in No(o)rd — that’s the name of the innovative building project that will repurpose the iconic WTC I and WTC II towers in the North Quarter of Brussels.
ZIN in No(o)rd — that’s the name of the innovative building project that will repurpose the iconic WTC I and WTC II towers in the North Quarter of Brussels. The Flemish government, which will lease the office building, included specific circular criteria in its tender dossier. Real estate investor Befimmo and the architectural firm 51N4E, Jaspers-Eyers, and l’AUC are joining forces to make that happen. And the result is impressive, to say the least. The office towers from the 1970s won’t be demolished. In fact, the opposite is true. Instead, they’re being regarded as material banks to be dismantled with care. It’s the future of building and building for the future.
Buildings as material banks
The Flemish construction sector has a gargantuan ecological footprint, with about 30 to 40% of Flemish annual waste production attributable to construction waste. The circular construction strategy of ZIN in No(o)rd radically bucks that trend. The WTC towers as they currently stand will be completely dismantled. Only the underground level and the core will be retained. However, anything demolished won’t end up on the rubbish heap but will be given a new lease of life. And the figures are staggering. 63% of materials from the former WTC buildings is being reused on site. And for those materials only suitable for recycling, around 16% will be reused in the new building as well. All total, an incredible 95% of materials from the current towers will be reused or recycled. It’s a first for a project of this scale.
63% of materials from the former WTC buildings is being reused on site.
Value preservation and adaptability
A new central building will be built with 14 spacious office floors twice as high as those of the two existing towers it’s situated between. In 2030, several thousand Flemish civil servants will occupy the building. Value preservation comes first for the newbuild too, and over 30 construction materials used in it are C2C certified. That includes the concrete floors, for example, but also the glass, the aluminium façade, the interior walls, and the flooring.
Over 30 construction materials are C2C certified.
What’s more, the interior layout and design of ZIN in No(o)rd fully relies on modular finishing materials such as light interior walls and portable raised access floors. The result is an incredibly flexible and adaptable building. Every floor’s function can be modified with only minor adjustments.
Energy-efficient, sustainable design
In addition to the materials, adaptability, and portability, water, energy, and biodiversity have been a key area of focus.
The huge 1,500 m² roof garden, an entirely green façade, and a large conservatory transform this redevelopment into a new green lung in Brussels. In the office itself, there will even be 400 perennial trees and plants, among others, responsible for creating a healthy, pleasant, and invigorating indoor climate.
A smart façade guarantees energy-efficient comfort. Solar panels on the outside provide energy and shield against the sun. Opening windows ensure fresh air during the day and help the building cool down naturally at night.
The roofs will also be installed with solar panels wherever possible. Heat and cold will be extracted from the ground with a geothermal heat pump that covers over 60% of demand. The energy exchange between the functions contributes to further reducing energy consumption. Every building user is also involved in tracking and reducing energy consumption with an app that provides them with data and encourages them to consume energy sparingly.
A robust link in the urban network
ZIN in No(o)rd will be far more than just an office. There will be flats and a hotel on the intermediate floors. However, a clever approach to the building’s circulation ensures that users don’t cross paths and can maintain their privacy. Each of the building’s functions operates independently. That said, there are also multipurpose spaces where users and residents can get together. The large conservatory, the fitness centre, and the roof garden are just a few examples.
Centrally located in the heart of the North Quarter, the building is easily accessible, whether on foot, by bike, or by public transport. The underground, public car park and the various bicycle parking areas make it the perfect base for car and bicycle sharing. In that way, ZIN in No(o)rd will undoubtedly become a robust link in the urban network.
A model project of adaptable building
The Flemish government, ZIN in No(o)rd’s future tenant, is increasingly using its power to boost the circular economy. And this project is no different because it once again took up its exemplary and pioneering role by incorporating circular criteria throughout its tender dossier.
If everything goes to plan, ZIN in No(o)rd will open its doors in 2030. The North Quarter’s redeveloped site will encompass approximately 110,000 m², including 75,000 m² of offices, 14,000 m² of housing, a 16,000 m² hotel along with fitness areas, recreational areas, restaurants, and shops. However, nothing is written in stone. Why? Above all, ZIN in No(o)rd aims to be a living building. And that reality is well within reach. That’s because the neutral, modular construction ensures that the building can continue to evolve as time moves on — based on the needs of its users and the surroundings.
The scale this redevelopment does that on makes it a new standard for mixed, large-scale buildings. Moreover, this huge redevelopment project’s integral circular approach proves that Flanders is at the forefront of circular construction in Europe.
Want to know more? | https://medium.com/@circular-flanders/zin-redevelopment-project-in-brussels-elevates-circular-construction-to-a-higher-level-490d6348cd4c | ['Circular Flanders'] | 2020-12-18 12:35:02.645000+00:00 | ['Sustainability', 'Architecture', 'Construction', 'Circulareconomy'] |
How and why I decided test driven development was worth my time | I first read about test driven development (TDD) in some technical reviews blog, but I barely read it (or thought about it). Why would people write tests first when they already knew the logic?
So what was this all about? Writing tests first, incrementally building the logic, and doing it in iterations. The funny thing is, when you give two programmers five minutes to code a simple fibonacci sequence and ask one to do TDD, by the end of the 5 minutes, the programmer doing TDD may say “I have test for it!” But they won’t have finished the code. On the other hand, the other one will have finished the entire fibonacci sequence and will have optimized it.
Why use TDD? Aren’t unit tests good enough?
At the end of last year, I finally met TDD face to face. In a three-month bootcamp session, we were forced to always do things with TDD. I was already struggling enough, and so my brain always rebelled when it came time to write the tests.
Why should we write tests first when I can directly code the logic, my brain asked? Can’t we just write them later? After all functionality is finished?
How it looks when our TDD mentor convince us
Let me give you a quick overview of TDD in a nutshell.
Let’s say I’m creating a fibonacci function. I might ask, what is the simplest assertion on a fibonacci?
=> Returns 1 if input is 1.
Writing test first, no logic coded!
What is the simplest solution for that assertion? The simplest solution, I mean it.
Now, next move. What is next simplest assertion for fibonacci?
=> Returns 2 for inputs = 3
Again, let’s fix this very quickly. Just return it and add some branching.
Move to another expectation. Aim for a bigger number. Do it iteratively, incrementally.
On and on it goes, until you get the nice solution for your fibonacci function. If you want to practice more, try adding memoization during the process (and don’t forget—with TDD).
Did you notice what we did there? The baby steps, your assertion, and how we define the solution? Your thought process got separated into these five critical points:
Simple & Incremental Design — You have to think about what is the simplest thing a particular function could do, and what’s coming next. The fibonacci example describes this point perfectly.
Assertion — What is your expectation of that function? And how do you describe that expectation? Will other people understand it quickly?
Some test libraries provide you with a test description feature. That string is the only verbose thing that explains what your code is doing.
Make sure it’s a good explanation, or you’ll get a call on your holiday because your unreadable test case is failing, and no one knows why.
Your assertion and how you state it matters.
Testable Design — How should you design it so it can be testable? Take a look at these two snippets below.
The first one:
Look how messy it is if your code is not testable.
By doing TDD, since you write the test first, you have to make sure that your code is testable. You can see from the example that you don’t even test your fibonacci function. Instead, you test the side-effect of that fibonacci logic in your code, which invokes the console.log function.
The other thing is, you never know which one is failing, the console.log() or your fibonacci block when you refactor it. In this way, TDD leads us to increase modularity in our code.
Now, let’s look at second snippet.
In the second example, we can see that we test the particular fibonacci function, not the other function that spikes on it. We are confident that the function works perfectly under the conditions that we state. We are sure that if the other function invokes our fibonacci and fails, it is not from our code.
Negatives and Corner Cases — what do you expect when something’s not right: is it invoked with null? Does it throw an exception? How should it be handled? What could possibly happen in the code? What could be the strangest and weirdest thing that could happen in this loop? What test can catch that?
How many possibilities are there?
Boundaries — Should you expect that from your function? Are you sure it’s not another class’s responsibility?
My issues with TDD
Yes, it is slow indeed. Sometimes, your time is doubled since you’re writing both tests and logic at the same time. This makes how you use your keyboard important (typing speed, better shortcut usage, and so on).
And even worse —when the requirements change—you have to refactor or delete and rewrite test code you worked hard on. Which means that tests code is code you write that is more likely to be deleted in the future. And you are doing it, iteratively. DELETES. CODES. REWRITES. AGAIN. IN A LOOP!
Think about it. Why would you write code that is more likely to be deleted?
“Nope, that’s enough of this TDD thing. I’ll do it when I find a strong reason why I should spend time writing code I’m likely to delete”, I said to myself.
And that was right before I unconsciously started digging my own grave.
Why I changed my mind
The enlightenment came about two months later, when I was assigned to a group that did not implement TDD well at all.
I mean, they implemented TDD, but they left the tests broken. They didn’t bother to fix those failing test cases (which often broke because the requirements had changed). And this happened because of the most cliche reason in the world: they didn’t have time. They had to make deadlines.
After looking at the situation, I mumbled “Look, see! This TDD doesn’t work in the production world!” It made me question many things: is this TDD worth fighting for? Is TDD worth the time? Does it even deliver any business value?
After a while, I realized that the problems were growing exponentially, tasks were getting delayed, chaos was reigning, and the developer experience was getting really bad — all because they implemented TDD poorly and halfheartedly. It was even worse than not writing tests at all.
Here are some of the issues it caused:
When I added a new feature or refactored things, I didn’t know whether that code was failing or not because the test was already failing.
We do not know which tests do I fails on, because almost all of it already failing before! -_-
We were forced to have high threshold on code coverage. And make no mistake, programmers are smart and sneaky. They write tests with no expectations, like smoke tests. And that was the only test they had on that particular logic. It was like, we only knew it was failing after everything was on fire. How dangerous.
Always passing, anyway! All hail code coverage!
We used CI/CD for deployment. And we always deployed even though it was failing, which was scary: You never knew whether your production itself was failing, or if it was because you didn’t fix the tests.
Test is failing, deploy anyway!
After production, we ended up fixing strange and completely out-of-mind bugs. We had never even thought of those strange conditions before. (Ever find a situation when something in a try-catch block is failing but not throwing an exception?)
Your face when your project manager comes to you with that strange bug!
Oh, the horror!
After analyzing the situation, doing it in iterations, and reflecting on it, I realized that TDD is actually a golden nugget. If done right, it can make us better developers.
Why I now love TDD
With TDD, you have fewer bugs
You’ll hardly miss things that you can catch with your tests.
When you get a requirement, you write a test for it first. Then you run the test, and see if it fails first. When you add the logic, you see if it passes.
Seeing it fail is important, because you know what broke your code. In the long run, this practice ensures that all lines in your code are well-tested.
TDD saves you lot of time (in the future)
CI/CD relies heavily on tests. If you write the wrong tests (or too few tests) you already wasted five hours to find what errors it couldn’t catch. If you write good tests, and spend just five more minutes writing deeper and more complete conditions of your code, you’ll save time debugging it in the future.
TDD deals with the human aspects of coding
The main ones being negligence and forgetfulness. If you write all the logic directly, by the end of, say, line 190, you may forget why you multiplied a variable by 100 at line 19.
But, by doing it incrementally and stating the assertion of our code, we gradually build our understanding. This makes us understand the code and its behaviors better.
As a bonus, we have sort of living and functional documentation of our code. You can see which test is failing if you delete the previous line, and you instantly know why.
TDD helps you focus
Programmers tend to write too much code, or write code that does too much. Or they try to plan for conditions that never exist. Often, when my team practiced pair pairing, I discovered that TDD allowed us to write less code compared to other teams that didn’t do TDD. While coding, we were focused on getting the test case passed — nothing less, nothing more.
TDD also benefits your brain
You have proof of your code’s readiness for production, even before deploying it. You don’t have to worry about things you already tested for before. You don’t have to brag to your project manager about how project is going, because you can show them that the tests are passing!
However, TDD is not always your silver bullet. It takes time. You have to set up the project — such as the environment, mocks, and stubs — even before you start doing anything.
But remember, time spent on writing tests is not wasted time. It’s the time you invest now to save your time later. It’s the investment you make on the system you build, as you build code on top of more code. And you want to make its foundation as solid as possible. TDD gives you that.
In the end, it could cost you a fortune if you don’t do TDD. It may take time, but it is good for you and your team in the long run. | https://medium.com/free-code-camp/test-driven-development-i-hated-it-now-i-cant-live-without-it-4a10b7ce7ed6 | ['Ronauli Silva'] | 2018-05-28 22:43:44.118000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Programming', 'Tdd', 'Productivity', 'Technology'] |
How I Use Powerful Life Stories as Fuel for My Writing | Whether we write fiction or non, we need input for memorable output
Photo by Peter Kasprzyk on Unsplash
I had a life-changing moment in high school, but there was a two-year delay in the life-changing part of the experience. It was one of those typical assemblies where some guest speaker shares educational slides about how bad it is to do drugs or join a gang — the kind most teenagers tune-out and the kind administrators drool-over.
I don’t remember the assembly… because of what happened.
There was a guy next to me. I didn’t know him. The auditorium was full — elbows-deep in teenagers. My high school was huge. Bigger than my first college. My class alone had twelve hundred students. So, this guy whom I didn’t know, wouldn’t stop cat-calling and two-finger whistling.
The auditorium was silent — save for Captain Whistles.
It was clear he wanted attention and had no tools beyond being a douche. I’m not a fan of confrontation and was even less-so in high school, but I couldn’t take it anymore. After ten minutes I finally turned and shushed him.
I don’t know what I expected to happen, but being choked wasn’t on the list of possibles. Whistles picked choking anyway. Nonchalant. As if he were making a sandwich or putting on mismatched socks — the guy reached over my head in a split-second and choked me until I saw stars. He whispered kind things like I’ll break your neck right here, and I should kill you for that. Maybe a nobody tells me what to do, kind of statement.
My journalism skills for remembering quotes weren’t so good in that moment. But his pep-talk went something like that.
The guy was sweaty. I could smell him too. Being that my head was cradled in his armpit like a newborn. Somehow all that trauma, no matter how old, makes a permanent, embossed notary stamp on your brain.
I couldn’t breathe. I did my best to resist. I coughed and struggled. Then — he let me go. Like it was another Tuesday. And returned to his cat-calling. As if to show me he was still in charge. Eventually, some form of authority took him away, but no one saw the choking.
So, that happened. Standard high school stuff. Kids are horrible to each other. But the choking wasn’t the life-changing bit. The part that stopped me cold — the life-changing part, was two years later. The summer after I graduated, Whistles made the paper. Turns out, in the middle of the night the same guy choked a cab driver to death. For money. Whistles went to prison. Apparently choking people was his hobby.
I don’t remember the guy’s name. I don’t feel it therapeutic to look him up either. I still think about him choking me sometimes and I’d rather not cement the memory deeper.
As crazy as it sounds I do owe the strangler a bit of gratitude.
A cab driver died and I can’t remove the weight of that incident. A young guy went to prison, because he probably led a horrible life. But I got to walk away with a strong story. The story is mine. I can package it any way I wish and re-tell it as many times as someone will listen.
Story is currency for humans. | https://medium.com/the-book-mechanic/how-i-learned-to-use-powerful-life-stories-as-fuel-for-my-writing-9817ddc7706 | ['August Birch'] | 2019-04-10 13:41:52.818000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Self Improvement', 'Books', 'Writing', 'Life'] |
WHY DO WE USE KOTLIN ANDROID DEVELOPER? | Kotlin is an open-source, general-purpose, static copy programming language that ties functional programming and object-oriented to the Native, Android, and Browser. To better understand the programming language, enter the Best Kotlin Online course in the city and get to know more about it.
Many developers use Kotlin over Java, which conforms to the same byte code as Java and can communicate with java’s natural ways. Here are a few major advantages of java.
Using Shortcode
The shortest code is a low risk of coding errors. In Kotlin, the readability and the shortcode will be improved. Instead of ignoring lengthy code bugs, you should focus solely on the reasoning and consistency of the code.
Java Unity
Most Java libraries and development frameworks are combined correctly with Kotlin, as it simplifies the translation to Kotlin by Android app development organizations.
You can conveniently write codes in Kotlin, and even transfer Java codes to Kotlin if you’re private with Java. This is the primary reason that most of the developers in Android are switching to Kotlin. Study Kotlin with industry experts from the basic to advanced Kotlin App Creation levels at Kotlin Online Course.
App production cross-platform
Kotlin has been retaining the capacity to create smartphone applications and to develop Android software. Kotlin lets you write the Gradle code in Kotlin to encourage the mobile device developers to create an iOS app as well.
Kotlin’s capabilities are multithreading and parallel data updates. You then may opt to eliminate the need for constant change using the ideal immutable objects and functions.
Kotlin is most likely to become an Android app developer’s common option. In India, Android Developers, both Java and Kotlin, are a leading Android app development firm. However, most developers now rely more on Kotlin than on Java. Practice the full Kotlin technique in a limited amount of time.
Certification in Kotlin
Join in FITA one of the reputed concerns which are training the students with professional trainers in Kotlin online course and gain your knowledge in this technology. | https://medium.com/@sdiyasanthoshi/why-do-we-use-kotlin-android-developer-905793b85f92 | ['Diya Santhoshi'] | 2020-12-07 06:45:00.791000+00:00 | ['Kotlin', 'Training', 'Education'] |
Community Spotlight: Ryan Ko | Tech workers from across the Bay Area have joined TechEquity’s network and are giving their time, skills, and financial support to make their communities more equitable. We’re proud of our growing community full of smart, passionate, engaged citizens and we want to show them off!
Ryan Ko
Meet Ryan
I’m a Bay Area native from Fremont. A software engineer by training, I work as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where I advise governments, foundations, and companies on topics ranging from IT to organizational strategy. I moonlight as a progressive activist. With the little spare time I have, I play basketball, poker, and chess, as well as root for Bay Area sports teams.
What is your professional passion these days?
My professional passion is helping governments more responsibly deliver services to its citizens. Lately, I’ve been focusing on the large IT systems that drive health and human services such as Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF — working with my clients to ensure cost-effectiveness and quality of service delivery.
What does it mean to you to be a responsible citizen while working in tech?
Technology is responsible for so many wonderful advances in society — but each successive technological advance has significant implications (e.g., the impact of automation on employment, something I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching). As part of the tech community, I feel that awareness and understanding of these implications, from income inequality to digital privacy, is critically important. I try to stay abreast of these issues and pitch in where I can.
How has TechEquity impacted civic participation?
TechEquity is showing the first signs of a truly grassroots movement, led by rank-and-file members of the tech community. I can’t wait to see what the organization and team accomplishes next.
Why is it important for the tech community to become more civically engaged?
If we don’t — Silicon Valley will have some serious black marks marring its otherwise brilliant history. Simple as that. | https://medium.com/techequity-collaborative/community-spotlight-ryan-ko-69907f3945f6 | ['Techequity Collaborative'] | 2019-12-18 20:31:01.046000+00:00 | ['Bay Area', 'Tech', 'Community Spotlight', 'Tech For Good', 'Techequity'] |
A strategy for altcoins position trading | Introduction
Altcoins trading has the potential for incredible profits. Every crypto trader is inevitably attracted to that. Unfortunately, trading altcoins unlocks the potential for losses, both in BTC or USD.
Trading altcoins is like a 3D chess. Altcoins price movements are correlated together between themselves and also to BTC, especially when BTC is dumping. Combining together all these elements can be tricky and confusing, particularly at high timeframes where emotional aspects of trading are very strong.
Crypto 3D Chess is puzzling
It’s imperative to have a strategy that helps to navigate these uncharted territories, by considering that: “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes”. The strategy I expose here fits in the position trading category and it is suitable for normal guys with a regular life. Decisions are taken at daily levels. 5–10 minutes per days should be enough to check the indicator and act accordingly if needed.
Let’s start to explain the indicators we are using.
Buy Market Percentage Indicator
The core of the strategy is based on an indicator developed by TurtleBC, the Buy Market Percentage (BMP).
BMP graph
TurtleBC calculates high timeframes trend following signals for every altcoin pair. The graph shows the percentage of coins that are a “buy”.
We will use this graph to buy the fear (when BMP is low) and sell the greed (when BMP is high).
Note: there is an alternative BMP chart developed by @whocrypto. It follows the same principles but it’s a bit faster.
Hull Moving Averages Indicator
The BMP indicator performance is then augmented by using a strategy based on Hull Moving Average (HMA). Hull Moving Average reduces lag compared to other moving averages (like SMA and EMA) by giving more weight to latest price movements.
İsmail developed a strategy using two signals (HMA55 and 80) applied to daily graphs. It works on BTC and alts aggregate marketcap (which can be visualized on CoinSignals).
The strategy is very simple, you just need to check the daily close of the price compare to the two HMA signals. Rules are the following:
Short signal: if the daily candle closes convincily under the HMA55 trend line a short signal is generated.
Long signal: if the daily candle closes convincily over the HMA80 trend line a long signal is generated.
HMA strategy example
The Strategy
The strategy distinguishes five specific phases:
1. ACC — Accumulate alts
The ACC phase occurs when the BMP is under 10%. This is the right moment to accumulate alts using your hard-earned BTC and USD. In this phase alts are over-sold, people are desperate and they capitulated on their bags. This phase offers the best risk/reward. You basically want to buy the fear.
But how to accumulate alts?
Performing a single all-in with market buys is never an effective strategy for alts, especially the ones with paper thin order book.
In last three years the median duration of ACC phase was around 23 days. An effective strategy should be to accumulate by dollar-cost averaging (DCA). Every day you buy alts using 5% of your allocated funds. This reduces the risk to buy a local top.
2. HOLD — Hold alts
After you accumulated the alts you will start the HOLD phase when BMP is over 10%. During HOLD you just need to do nothing and wait.
Seems easy? Wrong, it is is very difficult. In the HOLD phase the hype will increase and you will be tempted to enter new bags and trade more frequently. Don’t do that. Resist the temptation because in the HOLD phase the risk/reward for new bags is already less optimal than ACC.
Note: after HOLD phase you could go back to ACC. In this case don’t sell your portfolio. If you have additional USD and BTC you can try to average down the more promising alts in this second ACC phase.
3. TRIG — Hold alts and get ready to sell
After the HOLD phase you will reach the TRIG phase when BMP is over 75%. Usually the hype on alts is reaching the maximum level, everybody believes his coins will flip BTC and will talk about lambos, moon, etc. In this phase you still don’t need to anything, but you need to mentally prepare to sell your alts portfolio. This is also hard, there is a high risk you got attached to your altcoin. It’s crucial you get mentally ready to sell.
4. USD — Sell to fiat & 5. BTC — Sell to BTC
In this phase you will sell your altcoins directly to fiat or BTC. The sell signal is given when BMP is under 25% or when the HMA on alts is short.
It is vital that the selling action is promptly performed. In your mind these signals should be interpreted as a “get the fuck out” signals. When alts start dumping is usually a savage move.
You will then use the HMA strategy on BTC to decide if to sell to fiat or BTC. You will sell to fiat if HMA BTC is short or to BTC if HMA BTC is long.
Sometimes it is better to sell to fiat because the alt dumping is triggered by falling price of BTC. Remember: BTC is the king.
You will then switch between phase 4 and 5 until the conditions are met to reaccumulate the altcoins and start again the cycle.
The workflow is condensed in this diagram:
Strategy workflow
As an example the strategy applied to 2018 market gives the following phases:
Strategy example on 2018 crypto market
Backtesting
You are probably wondering if this strategy effective. Me too.
Let’s perform a backtesting on 2017 and 2018 data. You can see the identified phases and the USD returns for every phase. From March ’17 the strategy returns a 470x of the initial USD allocation.
Alt strategy backtesting
For comparison purpose I added a backtesting of the HMA55/80 BTC strategy. By just swinging between BTC and USD according to HMAs you can get a fair 19x in USD.
BTC strategy backtesting
The pure BTC strategy is less risky but the alt strategy shows a USD 25x higher performance.
By knowing these facts you can then decide which portion of the portfolio to allocate to high risk/reward alts strategy and which one to a less risky BTC strategy.
Bonus strategy: Portfolio rebalancing
During HOLD phase you can further increase your portfolio performance by taking advantage of the bull trend volatility.
My advice is to use Shrimpy (referral link), an automatic rebalancing tool. Shrimpy will automatically sell and buy tiny portions of your alts in order to keep them at a prefixed value. Accordingly to their research the optimal performance is achieved by having a 20+ alts portfolio which is rebalanced every hour. This technique should outperform 2–3x a simple HODL of your alts during the HOLD phase.
Hourly rebalancing of a 20 coins basket gives enhanced performance. (source: Shrimpy)
Conclusions
This strategy is using high time frames. You will never catch bottoms and tops but you should be able to follow it with minimal daily time investment.
To track the performance I opened a 1 BTC position on a 20 coins basket at the beginning of September ’18 and I’m regularly posting the results on Twitter. | https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-simple-strategy-for-altcoins-trading-4ef161b77a8c | ['Ether Schtroumpf'] | 2020-01-22 09:17:41.920000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Portfolio', 'Altcoins', 'Bitcoin', 'Strategy'] |
Doyle — One of the World’s Best Auctioneers of Art and Collectibles | Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons User Romacat / CC BY-SA 4.0
New York City is not only the capital of the art world but also the capital of the global auction market. It is where the most valuable and important works of art and antiques are being sold by the world’s leading auctioneers. One of the best and most prominent auction houses located in New York City is Doyle that has long been a go-to place for all lovers of high-quality art and collectibles.
Doyle — One of the World’s Best Auctioneers of Art and Collectibles
Doyle is an American auction house specializing in fine art and collectibles, jewelry and silver, furniture and decorations, stamps and coins, and a variety of other valuables in many different categories. Doyle was founded by the late William Doyle in 1962 and at the time was known as William Doyle Antiques.
Today, Doyle is regarded as one of the leading auctioneers and appraisers of fine items in the world, which offers nearly 40 sales each year. The auction house is headquartered on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, not far from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and has representative offices in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and other US states. Doyle also serves international clients all over Asia and Europe.
Through the years, Doyle has held many important sales of estates from the royalty, celebrities, famous musicians, and Hollywood stars, including Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Louis Armstrong, Bette Davis, James Cagney, and Douglas Fairbanks, among others. The auction house also serves notable institutions, such as Columbia University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, providing them with auction and appraisal services for their collections.
Known for its exceptional service, expertise, integrity, and professionalism, Doyle is indeed one of the world’s best auction houses specializing in art and collectibles. It is a must-visit place for both seasoned collectors and art enthusiasts. | https://medium.com/@fineartshippers/doyle-one-of-the-worlds-best-auctioneers-of-art-and-collectibles-a002f50a5233 | ['Ilya Kushnirskiy', 'Fine Art Shippers'] | 2020-12-26 21:57:25.197000+00:00 | ['Auction', 'Fine Art', 'New York', 'Collectibles', 'Art'] |
The Best Wifi Router Price Specification and Review — GoodsPoints | We’ve been experimenting with several Wifi routers for several days. After testing more than 10 routers over 150 hours, we’ve determined that the best router for wirelessly connecting your laptops, Desktop, and other smart devices. These Wi-Fi devices was faster than anything else we tested at both close and long-range, it’s reliable, and the stress of handling multi wireless devices simultaneously. So let’s look at the details.
The Best Wifi Router Price Specification and Review
The best Wi-Fi Router in the world
TP-Link’s Archer A20 AC4000 is easy to set up and has three wireless bands instead of the usual two, which helps it handle more connections at once. It’s big, but it is our top performer, and it includes advanced features, such as link aggregation, that will appeal to the technically inclined.
TP-Link’s Archer A20 AC4000 Smart WiFi Router -Ultimate Tri-Band Performance Router, VPN Server and Advanced Security by HomeCare. It’s Superior Processing Power 1.8GHz CPU and Gigabit, Beamforming, Link Aggregation.
Ultra-Fast Processing System: An clock Speed 1.8 GHz and 64-bit CPU handles all AC4000 Mbps WiFi Speed: 1625 Mbps on both 5G+ bands and 750 Mbps on 2.4G bands. Bufferless: MU-MIMO, No More Buffering, and Ultimate Tri-Band enable the router to connect more than 10 devices at a time. Secure Your Network: A free lifetime subscription of HomeCare and Malware protects your network from malicious attacks. Easy Setup: By intuitive Phone UI and smart Device your networks is ready to go within a minute. Gigabit Wired Speeds: One WAN and Four LAN Gigabit ports bring wired speeds to the maximum and Link Aggregation even doubles it to 2.4Gbps
Amazon $189.99 eBay US $189.97
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It’s most power full and good frequency provider. It’s 4×4 dual-band Gigabit wifi router, It has powerful parental controls, MU-MIMO, It has threat Prevention, Virtual Privet Network (VPN), It has bandwidth management, It has expandable coverage with mesh wifi.
Blazing fast wifi with up to 2.55 Gbps combined wireless bandwidth to supercharge your Internet user experience. Synology RT2600ac is a powerful wireless router for homes and Offices seeking to understand, control, and More secure their network. Its coverage area easily expandable with additional Synology MR2200ac.
If you’re looking to build a robust, non-compromising, secure home network, this is the router to get.
Engineered for performance
The latest 802.11ac Wave 2 standard, RT2600ac enables up to 800 Mbps 2.4 GHz and 1733 Mbps 5 GHz radios, respectively. Its Reach 2 Gbps combined bandwidth with Dual wide area network (WAN) and easily optimize and maintain your Privet network with minimal performance loss even with android app/iOS-based traffic control.
Specification:
1.7GHz Dual-Core CPU, Quad-Stream Powerful WiFi Dual Band and AC2600, Wave 2 With MU-MIMO and Beamforming, Hardware Acceleration Engine Layer 4 & 7.
Read More: An effective way to increase immunity in the human body — Ways to Prevent Corona Virus
Google Nest Wi-Fi Router 2 Pack (2nd Generation) — 4×4 AC2200 Mesh Wi-Fi Routers with 4400 Square fits Coverage Area.
Speed: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz/5 GHz dual-band simultaneous, Dual Gigabit Ethernet ports Connectivity, Advanced security chip system, Nest Wifi point with Google Assistant, strictly privacy control.
Read More: The way Artificial Intelligence can destroy us — Stephen Hawking
NETGEAR Nighthawk X10 AD7200 802.11ac/ad Quad-Stream Wi-Fi Router, It has 1.7GHz Quad-core Processor and Plex Media Server.
Fast Wi-Fi performance up to 2500 squire ft wireless coverage area with AD7200 speed (Tri-band up to 800Mbps + 1733Mbps + 4600 Mbps — for 60Gz band devices).
Features:
Its Recommended Up to 45 Devise.
Wired Ethernet ports.
Loaded with advanced technology.
USB connections.
Smart parental controls.
Graphics Coprocessor 1.7 Quad-core. Number of USB 3.0 Ports 2
Read More: Best Video Sharing Site To Earn Money by Uploading Videos — Earn Up To $1000 Per Month
Linksys Mesh WiFi Router for Home AC2200, Future-Proof MU-MIMO Tri-Band fast Wireless Router.
Features:
It provides up to 2,000 Square ft. coverage area.
It’s supported Upto 20+ wireless devices.
Enjoy 4K HD streaming high quality without buffering.
WiFi speeds up to 5 GHz ( 2.2 Gbps, 400 Mbps + 867 Mbps) + (2.4 GHz / 867 Mbps)
ASUS RT-AC5300 Tri-band WiFi Gaming Router, MU-MIMO Superfast, theft, and Ai Protection Lifetime Security. Ai Mesh compatible with Mesh WiFi System.
Feature:
Tri-band technology Dual 5GHz with the latest 802, 11AC 4×4 and coverage area up to 5, 000 square feet.
Its multifunctional printer support (Windows only)
Wi-Fi Speed up to 5300 Mbps.
Very Large Home Wi-Fi Coverage.
It has four Gigabit Ethernet ports.
ASUS Ai Mesh Compatible
Asus Rt-ac3100 Ieee 802.11ac Ethernet US $266.88 | https://medium.com/@nancyflora247/the-best-wifi-router-price-specification-and-review-goodspoints-cbb8dfcda86a | [] | 2020-08-04 19:40:52.798000+00:00 | ['Best Wifi Routers', 'Wifi Router', 'Electronics', 'Wifi', 'Wireless'] |
Goblin Valley | We didn’t mean to linger, but the desert has a way of luring you.
Our day trip stretched into the afternoon. Then, three hours into wandering, Jack finally admitted we were lost. Cell reception didn’t work this far south, and someone must have stolen our car. What else could explain its absence? Everything looked the same in the desert, but I knew we parked beside that particular mesa. If we hadn’t, then we’d been walking in the sun longer than I thought.
Jack scowled at the orange beast sinking beneath the horizon, burning the sand to red and gold.
I leaned against the rocks in the shade, shivering at the sudden chill of the stone. “Let’s just get some rest. We can try again tomorrow. At least we have our sleeping bags in our packs.”
It took a bit more coaxing, but Jack settled down with me, cuddling into our blankets and sleeping bags. Nothing about this trip was as I’d expected — not the odd loneliness of the roads lacking even bones, nor the way time escaped us. This unfortunate development was the worst so far. At least I had him, though.
As the sun’s light rolled away, the stars glittered above us like pinpricks in midnight velvet. At some point, I fell asleep, and Jack was gone.
I called out to him. His pack was still beside me, his blankets unmoved. My heart crawled into my head, into my ears, as I tried not to panic.
“Jack?”
Silence. Only the stars and their great hovering moon looked down at me, glazing the sand in silver dawn.
Behind me, I heard a rustling.
“…Jack?”
Not behind me. Underneath me.
I thought I heard the sound of laughter, almost like children. Then the land opened and swallowed me whole. | https://medium.com/salt-city-genre-writers/goblin-valley-eaea6253687 | ['Sarah Murtagh'] | 2019-11-11 23:27:44.519000+00:00 | ['Mystery', 'Fiction', 'Short Story', 'Flash Fiction', 'Horror'] |
20 Global Inclusive Innovators Named; Grand Prize to be Awarded Nov. 21 | What does the future of work look like? From Egypt to California; Kenya to Peru, innovators are using technology to solve social problems and to include more people in the digital economy.
Examples of these business plans — in the categories of financial inclusion, technology access, job matching, and income growth — were prominently displayed at regional celebrations around the globe this month. It’s all part of MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) global tournament. For the fourth year, MIT’s IIC will award $1.6 million annually to organizations that are using technology to revolutionize the future of work and create a more equitable economy.
On September 20, Liquid Telecom hosted the IIC Africa Celebration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A selection panel of regional leaders chose four IIC African winners — with ideas such as empowering daycare workers, and digitizing grocery inventory. Each will go to MIT for the final round of the competition on November 21. There, they will join other regional winners — including four from the U. S. and Canada announced in Toronto on September 18, and winners from Latin America named earlier in the month. In October, winners will be named in Asia and Europe, as well.
The IIC accelerates innovation-driven entrepreneurship for a more inclusive and prosperous economy. Since 2016, $178.9 million in cumulative revenue has been generated, $1.05 billion in cumulative capital has been raised, and over 6,800 jobs were created by the IIC’s 100 winning organizations. All regional winners receive $20,000 and a paid trip to MIT, where they vie to win the $250,000 Global Grand Prize in their category. The remaining eight finalists in each region are awarded $5,000 each.
The 2019 Africa winners are:
Winners celebrate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Financial Inclusion; Social Lender
Social Lender provides access to formal credit with a proprietary algorithm based on a user’s mobile, online, and social media platform reputation. The algorithm performs a social audit and creates a Social Reputation Score to each user. Many users can now borrow from banks and other financial institutions for the first time.
Income Growth & Job Creation; Tiny Totos
This Kenyan enterprise helps set standards across Nairobi’s informal childcare market. It uses innovative technology to benefit underserved preschool children and working mothers in the poorest sections of the city. Tiny Totos has been working since 2014 to improve informal daycare. For instance, the phone app helps managers record income and attendance and track standards and child health.
Skills Development & Opportunity Matching; Taskty
Taskty is Egypt’s largest online marketplace for home services of all types for consumers. It connects workers with jobs and provides increasing economic opportunity.
Technology Access; Shopit
Shopit digitizes informal grocery stores in low-income South African communities and links them to the formal economy. Traders use Shopit to access wholesalers’ catalogs and exclusive deals. They order all their stock directly from their phone and get it delivered to their doorstep within a few hours. Wholesalers use Shopit to increase the visibility of their catalogs and products.
Watch the full video of the event here.
U.S. and Canada
MaRS Discovery District hosted the IIC U.S. & Canada Celebration on September 18, featuring leading speakers from the local and regional ecosystem. Held at the MaRS Centre Auditorium in Toronto, Ontario, a selection panel chose four regional winners that will go to MIT for the final round of the global tournament and gala celebration.
The winners in each of four categories are:
Up & Go is the first booking app in the U.S. owned by domestic workers, empowering them to increase wages, build assets, and compete in the digital gig economy. It was developed by this Brooklyn, N.Y. based organization.
Income Growth & Job Creation; JobGet
Boston-based JobGet is an efficient, mobile platform that enables millions of low-income jobseekers to find their next career within seconds and get hired within hours. On JobGet, users can create a profile, apply to hundreds of jobs and chat with employers all within five minutes.
Skills Development & Opportunity Matching; Skillist
Skillist is a skill-based, identity-blind hiring platform that connects companies seeking entry-level talent to relevant, often-overlooked jobseekers, such as the millions of Americans without four-year college degrees. The application process makes it easy for businesses — such as Wayfair — to uncover and evaluate entry-level candidates.
Technology Access; Aira
Aira employs a humans + machines approach, harnessing artificial intelligence and remote human agents to facilitate employment success for the blind. Based in San Diego, Calif., Aira uses the latest technologies to connect people who are blind or have low vision with highly trained professionals who provide visual information on demand.
Watch the full livestream video of the event, including MIT IDE Director, Erik Brynjolfsson’s remarks, here.
Read more about the IIC and its mission in this report. | https://medium.com/mit-initiative-on-the-digital-economy/inclusive-innovators-awarded-in-north-america-africa-a6de5fe9df03 | ['Mit Ide'] | 2019-10-28 13:31:01.053000+00:00 | ['Inclusive Innovation', 'Fintech', 'Digital Economy', 'Future Of Work'] |
Can I Get Pregnant Using Birth Control Pills? | Birth control pills
If you are a sexually active couple, you need to consider many aspects before choosing the appropriate contraceptive method. These aspects include effectiveness, safety, availability, and acceptability. Many females take birth control pills to avoid unintended pregnancy. They are a type of contraception that is 99% protective against pregnancy if taken correctly and regular on time. Birth control pill normalizes menstruation, reduce the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer. The birth control pill is also called “the pill” because they come in pill shape, and women take it (by mouth) one pill daily. They are considered an effective technique of birth control. However, several reasons like vomiting, missing the pill, and taking certain medicines can decrease the pill’s effectiveness, which may cause unintended pregnancy.
Types of birth control pill
Combination pills
The combined oral contraceptive pill includes synthetic forms of feminine hormones that prevent the egg’s release during menstruation. Pregnancy can happen if sperm get into the ovum. Contraception works to stop this pregnancy by keeping the egg and sperm distance or halting an egg’s discharge, called ovulation.
Progestin-only pills
Progestin-only pills are also called mini pills. They contain only progestin without estrogen. These pills are the best option for those women who can’t use estrogen due to health issues such as strokes or blood clots. Progestin-only pills don’t contain inactive pills; they have all active pills in the cycle. If your age is 35 years and you are a smoker as well, the mini pill is a suitable pill for you.
How to take birth control pills
Choose a suitable time in the day for your first birth control pill. Progestin-only pills consist of 2 types of pills. First is a 3-hour pill which you should take within the same three hours of the same time every day. Second is 12-hour progestin-only pill which should be taken within 12 hours of the same time every day.
In case of taking combined pills, take one pill daily for 21 days consecutively. After that, don’t take any pill for seven days. You would start your period during these seven days. Start your next pills’ pack on the 8th day, whether your periods finished or not.
How do birth control pills work?
A combination pill prevents your body from the ovulation process so that your ovaries become unable to release an egg each month. They also thicken cervical mucus in your body. The mucus is liquid with your cervix, facilitating sperms to reach the uterus for fertilizing an egg. The thickened mucus prevents sperms from entering the uterus.
Mini pill or progestin pill works in several ways. They help to thicken your cervical mucus and by thinning your endometrium. The endometrium is the lining in the uterus where an egg establishes after fertilization. Suppose this lining becomes thinner, an egg can’t be established, which will protect you from pregnancy. Moreover, a mini pill is also helpful to stop ovulation.
Effectiveness of the birth control pill
The above mentioned both birth control pills are very effective if you take it appropriately and daily. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these pills’ success rate is 99.9% when used correct and regular. However, nine women out of 100 would get pregnant in the case of irregular use. Taking the pill regularly is difficult; that’s why 9 out of 100 women have unwanted pregnancies each year. The pill is effective if you take it regularly at the same time daily. For best protection, you should take progestin pills within a three-hour time-span daily. However, combination pills are somewhat flexible because you can take them on the same day within 12 hours.
Why you get pregnant using birth control pills?
While the birth control pill is considered very effective in preventing pregnancy, but few factors can decrease its effectiveness. Therefore, the result turns into an accidental pregnancy.
Vomiting: If you vomit, the pill will reduce its effectiveness. Due to vomiting, the pill either comes back or not properly absorb in your body. In case of vomiting, you must take another pill to retain its effectiveness.
Missing: If you miss pill a day, your hormone level may increase, and get pregnant. That’s why manufacturers propose to take the pill on a daily basis for effective results. If you can’t take the pill daily, you should consider other birth control methods.
Variation in time: The birth control pill is effective when you take it regularly and at the same time daily. At the same time, usage can maintain your hormone levels stable. You should take the pill within the same three-hour time daily. In the case of missing, you should avoid having sex or use other birth control methods.
Certain medicines: Some medicines, like certain antibiotics or herbal supplements, can affect pill efficiency. If you are taking some herbal supplements or antiseizure and anti-HIV drugs, then you should use backup contraception like a condom. In that case, consulting your doctor is the best suggestion.
How to prevent pill failure?
Read the packaging of the pill and carefully follow the instructions.
Use period tracker apps, which are also helpful in providing pill reminder.
Always try to take the pill within the same time daily.
If you experience irregularity in pills, use a backup method of birth control like condoms or pulling out.
Keep extra stock of pills at your home to avoid irregularity in case if existing pack runs out.
Benefits of birth control pills
Combination pills help to normalize or lighten your menstrual cycle. They are suitable for women with heavy or irregular periods.
They make periods lighter and shorter and protect you from anemia.
They protect you all the time. You are tension free about birth control during intercourse.
They are effective than other birth control methods.
You can stop them anytime without any hurdle and can get pregnant if you want.
Moreover, they prevent your skin from acne, protecting bones from thinning, endometrial and ovarian cancer, and severe menstrual pain.
Progestin pills have some other benefits, such as useful for those who can’t bear estrogen therapy. They are effective in birth control for women who smoke or have a history of blood clots. They are the appropriate birth control method for breastfeeding mothers. Moreover, women who are older than 35 years can use progestin pills.
Side effects of birth control pills
Although birth control pills are effective and safe for women, they also contain some side effects. Using birth control can decrease your sex drive. Every woman reacts differently to the hormones as some feel nausea. They may cause you bleeding between periods or breast tenderness.
If you face these side effects for more than a month, you should talk to your doctor. The doctor may suggest another birth control pill.
Conclusion
The birth control pills are very effective to prevent pregnancy when you take correctly and constantly. But they lose their effectiveness in the case of irregularity; vomiting or taking interfering medications. The pills are also helpful to protect you from several problems like uterine and ovarian cancers, migraines and acne. Some women face pills’ side effects like decrease of sex drive, breast tendering and bleeding, but these issues are not permanent. It will be great if you choose the pill’s brand according to your doctor prescription. | https://medium.com/@zalmy/can-i-get-pregnant-using-birth-control-pills-94482e8796c7 | ['Zalmy Shams'] | 2020-12-11 16:42:43.091000+00:00 | ['Birth Control', 'Contraception', 'Birth Control Pill', 'Pregnancy'] |
Financial Flops: A shocking 30% of Americans don’t have a safety net greater than $400 | Commissioned by World Finance and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found on average, Americans need a minimum of $10,726 in savings in order to feel financially comfortable. Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash
Half of Americans (55%) would qualify 2020 as a personal financial disaster.
The survey asked 2,000 Americans what their financial status and future financial goals for 2021 were after 59% said 2020 was a year of financial setbacks for them.
Seven in ten said their financial priorities have changed from the start of 2020 to now. For 63 percent, this year has permanently changed their financial priorities.
More than six in 10 (65%) of people say they’re depending on 2021 to recover financially from the setbacks they’ve experienced this year.
For nearly four in 10 (37%) respondents, that includes making serious cutbacks.
Nearly three-quarters of people (74%) have had to shift their financial priorities this year because of emergency expenses and medical expenses.
Half said putting more money aside has gained new importance to them due to their experiences in 2020. Almost as many (48%) said saving for an emergency fund was a new priority this year, as well.
Commissioned by World Finance and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found on average, Americans need a minimum of $10,726 in savings in order to feel financially comfortable.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents believe it will take longer than a year to reach just one of their financial goals. On average, people think it will nearly be 2024 before their goals are met.
Of the employed respondents (59% in total), seven in 10 say they need a raise at their job in order to make ends meet. Over 60 percent (62%) said they plan on taking on a second job in 2021 to meet their financial goals next year.
For 60% of respondents, rebuilding their savings tops the list of financial resolutions to accomplish in 2021. It’s closely followed by becoming debt-free (56%), improving their credit score (53%) and starting an emergency fund (51%).
More than half (55%) of Americans say they need advice on how to budget properly. Nearly three-fourths (74%) of them hope to improve their financial literacy in 2021.
Three in ten plan to set up automatic savings to make their money dreams come true.
Only 15% of people say they have an excellent knowledge of finances. Over 40 percent (41%) say their knowledge is good, but not the best. Close to two-thirds of all respondents (63%) regret not taking their finances more seriously sooner.
“Ringing in the new year provides the opportunity to reflect, learn and plan for financial resolutions as we look ahead to 2021. We encourage Americans to take advantage of available financial literacy resources to create manageable budgets that fit their immediate and long-term needs,” says Chad Prashad, president and CEO of World Finance.
Nearly 30% of Americans do not feel that they have the safety net or resources available to cover a financial setback greater than $400.
Over half (54%) of Americans have used credit cards to borrow money for a short-term expense. But a third of Americans fear high-interest rates and an inability to repay when taking out a short-term loan.
“The new year represents a fresh start, new beginnings and the opportunity for Americans to prioritize their financial well-being and start getting back to the good in life. World knows taking out a loan can be an intimidating process. When faced with a financial emergency, it is important to have a reputable partner to turn to for a quick solution,” says Prashad. “An improved credit score is important to increase their options as well as increase their credit limits and reduce interest rates.”
Forty-five percent of respondents expect to take out a loan for one reason or another in 2021. Nearly half of respondents ranked the ability to get cash fast the most important criteria when considering taking out a personal/short-term loan.
WHAT ACTIONS ARE PEOPLE TAKING TO MEET THEIR FINANCIAL GOALS?
Making serious cutbacks 37% Begin investing 34% Meeting with a financial advisor 31% Setting up automatic savings 30% Taking out a loan 27% Taking a second job 26% Moving 23% Consolidating debt 22% Return to school for myself 11% Selling valuable items 9%
CREDIT SCORES FOR AVERAGE AMERICANS
Subprime 500–600 26% Prime 661–780 20% Near prime 601–660 19% Deep subprime 300–499 15% Super prime 781–850 13% No credit 7%
>> Download the video and infographic for this research story <<
NOTE: All news copy and multimedia on this SWNS account is free to use as you see fit. Where research has been conducted, we ask that you credit the company which commissioned it. | https://medium.com/@pitch-20575/financial-flops-a-shocking-30-of-americans-dont-have-a-safety-net-greater-than-400-a81c93d314ea | [] | 2020-12-22 21:07:26.649000+00:00 | ['Research', 'Money', 'Personal Finance', 'Banking', 'Data'] |
Healing Your Daddy Issues 101 | Photo by Derek Thomson
I’m sorry your dad was a piece of shit but now it’s time to become your own damn daddy.
I can be this blunt because this is my journey, too. Like you, I’ve got daddy issues out the wazzu, and I’ve made some poor relationship choices because of it.
It doesn’t have to stay this way, though. It’s possible to fill your daddy deficit with healthier things than the emotionally unavailable narcissists you’re used to stuffing in there.
It’s possible, dear reader, to permanently heal your daddy issues in a way that makes you stronger than you ever would have been without them.
Welcome to Healing Your Daddy Issues 101.
The role your dad was supposed to play.
When you were a kid, your little child heart was only ever asking one thing:
“Am I okay? Is it okay to feel the way I feel? Is it okay to be me right now?”
Unfortunately, for those of us with daddy issues, the answer was, “No. You’re not okay the way you are. And actually, now that I think about it, you’re pretty fucking annoying.”
Bummer.
Your dad was supposed to affirm your okay-ness and show you how to walk confidently in this world. He was supposed to show you that yes, sweet pea, you’re okay just as you are, in fact, you’re more than okay, you are brilliant and beautiful and strong and smart and it’s good to be you.
This is the role your dad was supposed to play for you, sweetie, and he totally bombed it, didn’t he?
I’m sorry, love. It should have been different.
But it’s not different.
So what do you do with that?
Rise up on your own.
Even though your daddy issues aren’t your fault, they are your responsibility.
Even though you’ve been beaten down, taken for granted, and treated like shit, you must find it within yourself to rise up on your own and learn how to become your own damn daddy.
It’s not fair, I know. But it will make you stronger if you let it.
Besides, at this point in your life, deary, there’s only one person that has the power to heal your daddy issues: you.
Not a lover. Not a spouse. Not a friend. Not a stranger with an adorable smile and rockin’ bod. Not even your father because the damage is already done, sweetie.
Sure, these people can help you along your journey of healing your daddy issues, but it is still your journey.
They’re your daddy issues. It’s your job to heal them.
So quit looking around the room for somebody to save you, love. It’s time for you to learn how to save yourself.
It’s time for you to learn how to be your own damn daddy.
The secret to becoming your own damn daddy.
Okay, darling, here’s the thing:
Your deadbeat dad wasn’t meant to give you something you don’t already have. Your dad was merely supposed to point you to the daddy already inside of you.
That’s right, you’ve had everything you need inside of you all along.
You have the power to affirm your own okay-ness.
You have the power to teach yourself how to walk confidently in this world.
You have the power to tell yourself yes, sweet pea, you’re okay just as you are, in fact, you’re more than okay, you are brilliant and beautiful and strong and smart and it’s good to be you.
The secret to becoming your own damn daddy is to realize you are already your own damn daddy. You just need to start acting like it. | https://medium.com/just-jordin/healing-your-daddy-issues-101-5aa4e66d5c53 | ['Jordin James'] | 2019-08-27 02:59:28.356000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Life Lessons', 'Family', 'Life', 'Advice'] |
How To Get Your Productivity Back | How To Get Your Productivity Back
Ever had one of those days when you just can’t get anything done? You seat at your work station for hours on end just trying to do one thing. But your energy is low and getting into your days’ work just seems impossible. It’s hard, isn’t it?
Well, I’ve had days like that. Today especially has been one of those days. Seating in front of my system trying to complete just one task. Then moving to my work station to try to cut out just a few plush toy designs. Realising after hours of pushing myself that today is just not my day.
I’d like to blame it on the weather and how hot it’s become in the last few days (even hotter than the usual Lagos heatwave). But that’s not just it. I kinda went into this week with a slump and feeling mentally and physically exhausted. So I dare say it’s a combination of everything.
But the fact that I was able to write this post means what I’m about to tell you works. So you can rest in the knowledge that it’s a tested and true trick. Here’s how to get your productivity back.
Stop everything
The first thing you need to do is take a break. Get off your system, walk away from your work station, just leave everything and take a break. In this time, take a drink of water, stretch out then put a call through to a friend and talk about your rut. They’d likely remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing or give you some motivation.
Take a shower
Next, take a shower, preferably a cold one if you’re in a hot environment. Silly as it sounds, a cold shower eases tension and helps you relax not just physically but mentally. If you want to go the extra mile like I did today, exercise first. Work up some sweat then take a shower.
A short nap will do you good
If you haven’t been sleeping well then it’s time to let go and take a nap. There’s a chance all the things you need to do are running through your mind so it might be hard to really rest up. What you want to do is write down a list of the things you need to do and then put that list away. Penning down your thoughts should make it easier for you to relax and go to sleep.
Wake up and try again
For me, the first three steps were all it took to get me back to a good 70%. I do this every time I’m in a rut and it works like a charm. It basically just helps me refresh, recalibrate and refocus. So once you’ve done all these, try to get to work again and see how much you can get done.
If you’re lacking focus or just down and out, I think these steps will help you get your productivity back too. Let me know how it goes. | https://medium.com/@fagoyinbooolabisi/ever-had-one-of-those-days-when-you-just-cant-get-anything-done-7119ff87bcf5 | ['Olamobisi Fagoyinbo'] | 2021-01-13 13:19:23.103000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Mental Toughness', 'Mental Rut', 'Focus'] |
每日幣讀 0313 | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/7sevencoin/%E6%AF%8F%E6%97%A5%E5%B9%A3%E8%AE%80-0313-aae49a2ff840 | [] | 2019-03-13 03:58:04.396000+00:00 | ['Sevencoin', 'Blockchain', 'News', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Scaffolding | Scaffolding
Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
Note: This was originally written and published on the internal Armakuni Slack, by Sanjaykmruk
Scaffolding generally refers to setting up some sort of skeleton for quick development of your application. Scaffolding is not tied to any platform or language. Usually, scaffolding is the first step in your application development.
Use scaffolding tools to generate project structure or to generate code or both to help you start your development.
Benefits of Scaffolding:
Easy way to set up a project. Consistent project structure or code base. Saves time.
Limitation of scaffolding:
Code generated is generic in nature. So, one needs to be careful while using them, should not be used for every situation. Hide a lot of details, which can be a negative thing if you are a newcomer and want to understand and learn the basics.
Example of scaffolding tools are: Spring initializer and Maven Archetypes
Using Spring CLI for scaffolding spring project:
brew tap pivotal/tap
brew install springboot
spring init -n=sample-webapp -d=web,data-jpa,mysql,devtools,websocket -g=com.ak -a=sample-webapp
Do you use any Scaffolding tool to expedite your development?
Which is your favoured scaffolding tool? | https://cloudnative.ly/scaffolding-45ec23a166a0 | ['Billie Thompson'] | 2020-03-06 07:01:01.383000+00:00 | ['Topic Of The Day', 'Getting Started', 'Programming', 'Best Practices', 'Development'] |
Silence is deafening | What do you hear when you don’t have a job?
What do you hear after your housing was shot into?
What do you hear when your new job has been outsourced?
What do you hear when there is no extra money at Christmas?
What do you hear when you are a teacher who finally had enough?
What do you hear if your town is suffering from the effects of poverty?
What do you hear when you can’t afford property taxes on family land?
What do you hear when you are a nurse watching the country give up?
What do you hear when you are a cop exhausted after a hard shift?
What do you hear when your child is constantly bullied at school?
What do you hear when you come home from war wounded? | https://medium.com/@teresaenglish/silence-is-deafening-2a6ff7d60dcd | ['Teresa English'] | 2020-12-18 19:06:40.115000+00:00 | ['Pandemic', 'Leadership', 'Burnout'] |
When Men Complain #MeToo Has Gone Too Far | Stories where women speak up about sexual assault make a certain kind of man, very nervous. They may not have sexual assault itself to fear, but the topic is threatening to them nonetheless.
In fact, it is the #MeToo movement itself, this historic moment of male accountability for sexual violence perpetrated against women, that makes this certain kind of guy nervous. But that begs the question: if such men have not done anything wrong, not ever sexually transgressed against a woman, what is the problem? What do they possibly have to fear?
In other words: why would they need to re-centre the conversation around their concerns when women have been waiting a lifetime for any small amount of justice on one of the biggest existential threats in their lives?
The stated concern of these “good guys” is that innocent men will lose their jobs and reputations over a construed #MeToo moment. This will be the first thing the self-appointed, “good guy” will tell you when wanting to call time on #MeToo and no doubt, what they are telling themselves. And true, that could conceivably happen.
But will it ever be an issue that is remotely as widespread, as existentially threatening, and as disturbing as the dark, ugly history of male sexual violence that women have had to carry in secret up to this very point in history?
If nothing else, the “good guys” complaint about #MeToo is just another convenient way for men to deflect from the conversation of male sexual violence and re-center the concern back to…themsleves.
I’ll tell you now guys, this is a really bad look for you.
Let’s double down on perspective:
In 2016, when an audiotape went public, with the US president-to-be outing himself as a serial sexual predator, a Canadian writer, Kelly Oxford, took to Twitter and asked her female followers about their experience of sexual assault, sharing her own in the process.
"Women: tweet me your first assaults, they aren’t just stats.”
In the first hour, Oxford had received 1000 tweets in response. Throughout that evening, one million women responded, sharing their personal experience of sexual assault at the hands of men.
Women have tweeted me sexual assault stories for 14 hours straight. Minimum 50 per minute. harrowing. do not ignore. #notokay — kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
One million responses in a single evening on a single social media thread. A dam was breaking. Devastating secrets of sexual violence, kept for years and decades, were purged as a collective unburdening took place amongst women.
The tweets made for harrowing reading as women described a culture of male transgression that often began as soon as a girl turned 12. Groped. Penetrated. Rubbed against. Exposed. Masturbated on. Stalked. Slapped. Raped. Forcibly kissed.
Did men know this was what girls had been fielding out in the world, from the moment puberty was in sight?
Many men expressed shock. No, they hadn’t known. But then, why would they? Rape culture thrives on secrecy and shame. It protects the abusers and perpetuates the lie that sexual assault is rare and women have a responsibility to avoid it, rather than men have a responsibility to stop it. It is a paradigm that traps women into traumatic secret-keeping, the psychic pain inevitably contorting their bodies, minds, and relationships as it reverberates damage down through generations of mothers.
Sooner or later, something had to give. A million stories of abuse, in a lone thread on a Friday evening, was the tip of an iceberg that continues to reveal the deep misogyny submerged below the surface; the psychic, social and cultural damage of which the #MeToo movement would need a decade of dedicated hard work to come even close to uncovering, let alone healing. | https://medium.com/write-like-a-girl/when-men-complain-metoo-has-gone-too-far-d2fc4c5dc27a | ['Mia Miller'] | 2020-11-06 15:03:05.326000+00:00 | ['Sexual Assault', 'Metoo', 'Justice', 'Feminism', 'Women'] |
Mistresses Aren’t Supposed to Cry | Mistresses Aren’t Supposed to Cry
Or have any negative emotions, right?
Photo by Celina Albertz on Unsplash
I was sitting on the couch at my friend’s house, ruminating over my recent breakup for the 100th time. I still couldn’t understand how I ended up here. Why had the man who had once declared that I was love of his life broken up with me and moved on so quickly? “You know what I find so strange”, I say out loud. “When he went through his separation, he appeared so caring and understanding of her feelings. He supported her in any way he could. He would tell me how much it affected him that she was hurt and how he had broken down in counseling sessions whenever he saw her cry. He said he would always comfort her because he loved her like a family member no matter what. But fast forward 6 months, when I was feeling low, he was anything but caring and understanding. When I got upset, he was cold and distant, when I struggled, he got angry. When I tried to explain to him why I struggled, he said he couldn’t be there for me. Why did he treat us so differently?” My friend turns around in his chair and looks at me.
“Because you were supposed to be fun, Kara! How dare you have negative feelings?”
I sit back and think about how we started out 1 1/2 years ago. Just some “fun on the side” he had said initially, but then changed his mind all too quickly. He had spoken about marriage, wanted a baby. He had left his wife, moved out.
I had been resistant for a while. I had tried to convince him that a relationship would be very different, encouraged him to stay with his wife. He hadn’t listened. He wanted me, all of me, only me, and me to be his, only his, forever. When he broke up, I asked why he had been so determined at the start. “Why are you not giving our relationship a chance, if you were once convinced you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me?” He replied:
“Well, I was so happy then, I probably just imagined how amazing it would be to always feel this happy.”
Affairs are about positive emotions
I’ve written an article before on why men that seem to have the life they have always desired, risk losing it for a little bit of fun.
In summary, I believe that affairs are rarely just about sex. For many women I know, there is a deep connection long before the actual affair starts. It’s about all the things we are lacking in daily life. When the affair starts, the feeling is intoxicating. The attention we get, the romance, secret messages, gentle touches, constant desire and sexual tension leading to the most passionate sex. The secrecy and danger of an affair alone contribute to the heightened emotions that will feel so different from a “normal relationship”, the love feels more intense than the start of a relationship that forms naturally. Everything revolves around our positive emotions, magnified by circumstances.
Affairs aren’t meant to last
That initial feeling, of being so madly in love that you struggle to focus on anything else, was never meant to last. It’s biology. We have these strong emotions and feel this way at the start of a relationship as it helps us bond. But if we continued like this indefinitely, we would struggle to work, look after our family or even ourselves. In a normal relationship, that feeling is supposed to be replaced by a deeper connection, more realistic and long-term feasible companionship type of love over time. But in an affair, the party that is betraying their significant other might soon realise that they already have this kind of love at home and whenever the romantic love starts to shift, the whole affair might start to lose its appeal.
Affairs can mean support
My ex and I often joked how I was his private therapist. He would tell me every conversation he had with his wife, word for word, I was there to listen and advise. I even wrote some exercises for him that he was supposed to do for his marriage counselling. I often tried to put myself into her shoes (because I have been in her shoes) and reasoned for her when he complained. I even supported him financially when he moved out. He reiterated frequently how he wouldn’t have managed without me. I was his only friend. But I never realised that it was a permanent role I had taken on. I just assumed that he would do the same for me when the time would come.
Affairs are about “the good bits”
In an affair, you rarely deal with the boring stuff. No mortgage, no kids, no shared bank accounts. You usually only see the other person showered, fresh make-up, sexy lingerie. And because of the little time you have together, you want to spend it having fun. So when you actually move from an affair to a relationship, you might not like what you see. Describing how you behave at home is rarely the same as actually living together. I know of one couple who have successfully managed the transition from affair to relationship and I know of a lot more heartbreaking stories that haven’t. It’s easy to fall in love with someone who you only see in the context of an affair, but oftentimes more difficult to truly love someone enough to also accept that there will be “bad bits”.
Mistresses aren’t supposed to feel hurt
I remember the know-all I had been at the start of this affair. I knew everything I mentioned above, and I promised myself not to get attached. I knew he was living a fantasy. I didn’t want anything to change or change anything. I knew the day would come, where he would realise that he didn’t really love me. I sensed that we wouldn’t work out as a couple, but he was determined to prove me wrong. And when he eventually did, I became a lot more sensitive to his criticism, lies, belittling comments and controlling behaviour. It started to hurt. Once I got angry over accusations he made and he threatened to break up if I couldn’t control my “outbursts”: “I never ever want to see your angry face again”. I didn’t understand it at the time and I didn’t understand him the way I do now. But I got the message eventually: I had destroyed his fantasy. And then, if a relationship with me also meant dealing with my negative emotions, he might as well have stayed with his wife. | https://medium.com/hello-love/mistresses-arent-supposed-to-cry-34ff0a223d69 | ['Kara Summers'] | 2020-11-20 10:48:54.676000+00:00 | ['Mistress', 'Affairs', 'Love', 'Infidelity', 'Adultery'] |
X21 Digital and MARS4 Partnership | The X21 Digital team is excited to announce the addition of Mars4 to our investment portfolio. Mars4 is a unique multiverse Interactive 3D virtual world staged on the Red Planet, Mars. It is the first virtual reality platform that leverages gamification through land ownership and exploration of the Red planet. For the first time, humanity can explore the four corners of the fourth planet virtually.
Like the top multiverse platforms in the decentralized gaming ecosystem, Mars4 plans to introduce a rich multiverse world while earning income through NFT land plots, furthermore through the MARS4 utility token ($MARS), token holders can terraform their NFT territory, buy certificates, avatars, logos, and other in-game assets within the virtual mars world.
Own a piece of Mars by grabbing your very own plot of land; however, one must act quickly as there is a limited amount of plots available for purchase, 99,888 Mars NFTs, to be exact. These NFTs have a significant use case within the virtual world of Mars4. Whenever a person buys a Mars4 NFT, they are credited with MARS tokens, which creates a unique passive income dynamic.
About mars4
Mars4 is a unique crypto multiverse. Staged in MARS, it offers a virtual reality platform offering users the unique opportunity of creating, monetizing content, and earning passive income through a first of its kind revenue-generating Mars NFT. These NFTs represent unique land plots that yield income from the in-game ecosystem.
About X21 Digital
X21 Digital is a Blockchain advisory and investment firm dedicated to helping startups accelerate their growth and exposure in the industry.
To date, X21 Digital has invested and advised several prestigious companies with exceptional teams giving the most optimal strategic advice and guidance to shortcut their path to success.
Useful Links
X21 Digital
Website: https://x21digital.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/X21_Digital
Medium: https://medium.com/x21-digital
Mars4
Website: https://www.mars4.me/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MARS4_me
Telegram: http://t.me/mars4me_official
Medium: https://mars4-me.medium.com/ | https://medium.com/x21-digital/x21-digital-and-mars4-partnership-50f611602197 | ['Fred D'] | 2021-09-02 05:36:37.138000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Ethereum', 'Btc', 'Mars', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
4 Metal Releases Of 2020 That Made Quarantine More Bearable | Royalty Free — dreamstime. Fair Use.
Let’s be honest, 2020 hasn’t been anyone’s year.
The majority of us have been cooped up in quarantine, stuck indoors, either working from home or staying in bed until 3pm.
Although, our favourite bands have been keeping us in check by releasing new music for us to enjoy until we can all get back to concerts again.
I’ve compiled a list of 4 releases from this year that kept me (and others) in check!
1: Emmure – Hindsight
Album cover. Fair use.
Released: June 26, 2020. Genre: Metalcore/Nu Metal
The four-piece from the US have always been reknown for their unique take on Metalcore, with frontman Frankie Palmieri mixing his vocal style between his mumble rapping and blistering screams.
GIF of Emmure performing “Solar Flare Homicide” Fair Use. Emmure. Vicotry Records.
Following up from 2017’s Look At Yourself, they still managed to deliver a stellar of a record with hindsight. Although a large majority of the songs are shorter efforts, songs such as Pigs Ear and Uncontrollable Descent channel the core brutality that the band have never failed to deliver. A strong album from them!
2: Trivium – What The Dead Men Say
Album cover. Fair use.
Released: April 24, 2020. Genre: Progressive Metal/Metalcore
Trivium have been a prominent competitor in the scene since their debut album, Ember To Inferno.
Matt Heafy performing live with Trivium. Fair Use.
Since then, they have gone on to release several killer hits such as In Waves and The Heart From Your Hate. With the new record, they experimented with several aspects of metal whilst sticking to their roots. It garnered a positive response from listeners, with tracks such as the title track and Catastrophist showing the world why frontman Matt Heafy has taken the band to the heights that they’ve stayed at.
3: Volumes – holywater (single)
Single cover. Fair use.
Released: January 30, 2020. Genre: Metalcore/Djent
Volumes sparked controversy when they fired former vocalist Gus Farias back in late 2019. No one knew where they would turn next, when they surprisingly announced that former vocalist Michael Barr had returned to the band.
Michael Barr performing with Volumes. Fair Use.
With no recognised guitarist (The late Diego Farias had departed from the band alongside his brother), the duel vocal battalion of Barr + Myke Terry showed that they still have what it takes to push to the heights of the scene when they dropped holywater.
4: Bring Me The Horizon + YUNGBLUD – Obey (Single)
Single cover. Fair use.
Released: September 2nd, 2020. Genre: Nu Metal/Electronic Rock
One of Britain’s biggest current rock bands, Bring Me The Horizon have expanded their fanbase within the past 5 years or so by experimenting with modern mainstream sounds as well as their usual metal formula. 2019’s amo saw the band completely abandon the metalcore scene established all the way from Count Your Blessings to Sempiternal. They have recently been working on a project entitled Post Human, with four EPs expected to be released throughout the year until they combine together to form an album.
Taken from the “Obey” music video. Fair Use. BMTH + Yungblud.
One of the singles already released is Obey, featuring English musician Yungblud. An unpredicted collaboration between the two resulted in a pleasant surprise, with their two unique musical paths intertwining to create something we didn’t know we needed. | https://medium.com/@samseabridge/4-metal-releases-of-2020-that-made-quarantine-more-bearable-6e3abd4bd81 | ['Sam Seabridge'] | 2021-01-11 02:40:39.951000+00:00 | ['Music', 'Metal', 'Rock'] |
Technical Managers as Leaders | Have you met managers or people who are great technically? However, they are not leaders?
You may have met managers within a business or met colleagues who were promoted into leadership roles. You may know them as great technical people and have great knowledge, however, they are lacking in the leadership department. Sometimes these managers are placed into roles because someone left or there was no one else available. Whilst it can be a great fix in the moment, in the long term it might not be the right solution.
There is not doubt there are some great leaders with fantastic technical skills! Making sure you have the best leader for a technical department is important.
Below are examples of questions a technical manager should answer before they take a leadership role. There are also questions you should be asking before you hire for the role:
· Difficult conversations: Can you have difficult conversations with your employees? Could you dismiss them or discipline them? Give Examples.
· Developing employees: What are your thoughts on developing employees? What are your future plans for your team?
· Communication: Can you give examples of communicating with different departments and senior leaders? Example of seeing the bigger picture and the linking technical with the business goals.
For hiring managers, it’s absolutely fine not to promote internally if that means you have the right person for your team. For the technical managers, it’s also fine to admit that you don’t want to lead if it’s not for you. Be a great technical person if that’s you, specialise and increase that knowledge. It’s all about the right fit!
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash | https://medium.com/@thesparkleexecutive/technical-vs-leader-f0ede9b7a46b | ['The Sparkle Executive'] | 2021-01-05 13:17:58.301000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'HR', 'Management', 'Leadership Skills', 'Management And Leadership'] |
An amateur’s guide to turning impostor syndrome into an asset | I’ve had a lot of success in my life. So you’d think I know what I’m doing when I turn up to work every day.
Over a decade ago I started a company straight out of university with a mate, Scott. We had no prior business experience and no grand plan. Today we have thousands of awesome employees, and millions of people across the planet use our software every day. Surely that kind of success comes from massive expertise, right?
Let me let you in on a secret: most days, I feel like I don’t really know what I’m doing.
In the early days, customers would call up asking for accounts payable, and I’d think “Are they giving us money, or asking for it?” Interviewing our first HR manager at Atlassian— having never worked anywhere with an HR department — was terrifying. More recently, I attended board meetings where I didn’t know all the acronyms being thrown around, and had to write them down surreptitiously so I could Wikipedia them later.
Turns out this feeling is called impostor syndrome. And it strikes more successful people than you realize. It’s not all bad, though. There’s a lot of good to be harvested from it.
I don’t want to throw a “begin it now” motivational poster type pep-talk at you. Rather, I want to share my own experiences with impostor syndrome and how it can be turned into a hugely positive force.
My life as a professional imposter
Have you ever felt way, way out of your depth and kind of guessed-slash-bullshitted your way though because there was no other way out? Petrified that at any moment you’ll be exposed for the fraud you are? Even though everyone around (oddly enough) you acts for all the world like you do indeed deserve to be there? That’s impostor syndrome.
It’s not just the fear of failure, either. There’s also a sense that you’re getting away with something. And if you were to be found out, you wouldn’t actually be all that upset. You’d think “Yep, well, that’s fair enough, really.”
The thing is, lots and lots of very successful people feel like that all the time.
I first got tipped off to this at the awards dinner for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year competition. When Atlassian was just 4 years old, with 70 employees, we entered the competition at the advice of our auditors — pretty much the way all good stories start. We were flabbergasted to be selected to represent Australia on the world stage. (I hadn’t even attended the first-round ceremony, because why waste an evening suffocating in a tux when I could be snowboarding with my mates instead.)
I figured I should show up for the World Entrepreneur of the Year dinner, however. So I hired a tux, invited a girl I’d just met (we’ll come back to her in a minute), and off we went. I sat next to a gentleman from Portugal who ran a $4B EU business employing 30,000 people. When I confessed to feeling like at any minute someone was going to figure it all out and send us home to Australia, he told me he felt exactly the same way.
He said all the national winners were probably thinking that same thing, and that what Scott and I should do is “Just keep going — you’re obviously doing something right.”
That was a light bulb moment for me. I thought “Wow! Other people feel like this, too. And apparently, it doesn’t go away with more success.”
Using impostor syndrome as a force for good
Impostor syndrome can strike in our personal lives as well. 10 years ago, while waiting for my flight from Sydney to San Francisco, a beautiful woman from waaaaaaay out of my league came up to me. It turned out she thought I was someone else (so in this case, I actually was an imposter!), but I desperately wanted to keep the conversation going. Taking a page from the “fake it ‘til you make it” playbook, I parlayed a case of mistaken identity into a decent first impression and a phone number.
Today, that woman is my wife and we have four amazing children. Still, I wake up most mornings and think she’s going to say “Who are you, and who gave you that side of the bed? Get out!” But she doesn’t. I consider myself lucky, and stretch myself to be a better partner than I otherwise might be. And I think she feels the same way.
Then there was the time I accidentally solved Australia’s energy problems on Twitter. Sort of.
A few months ago, I saw something on Twitter about Tesla saying they could solve South Australia’s power crisis with industrial scale batteries. Without thinking too much (I was late, and I was sleep-deprived thanks to one of the aforementioned amazing children), I fired off some tweets to see if they’d follow through on that.
In so doing, I kicked a pebble off a hill that quickly became an avalanche with me tumbling down in the middle of it. You see, Elon Musk tweeted me back saying they’d have it “installed within 100 days of contract signing, or it’s free”.
That’s when all hell broke loose. In less than 24 hours, every major media outlet in the country was calling on me for my “expert opinion” on energy. Keep in mind that when I tweeted Elon, I couldn’t describe the difference between a 1.5 volt AA battery that goes in my kids’ toys and a 100MwH grid-scale battery that could save South Australia.
I’d gotten myself in way too deep this time to back out. But I’d started something and would be damned if I didn’t see it through, lest the renewable energy movement be set back by my idiocy on Twitter.
I dove into deep-learning mode, absorbing everything I could about industrial scale batteries, storage, renewable energy and our electricity grid. I spoke with every expert I could get a phone number for. By the time things calmed down, South Australia’s battery tender had over 90 bids, and the national conversation has moved from venerating lumps of coal to debating which industrial-scale battery chemistry is the best.
By this time in my life, I knew I was an imposter. And I knew how to use that feeling. I couldn’t get out, but didn’t let myself be paralyzed. Understanding my own impostor syndrome motivated me to turn my fear of looking like an idiot into a force for good.
The beauty of not having an eject button
You might assume successful people never feel like frauds. In fact, the opposite is much more likely to be true.
The most successful people I know don’t question themselves — but they do question their knowledge. They see asking for advice as a way of testing their ideas, which makes those ideas better and helps them learn.
Sometimes it’s actually good to be so deep in a situation that you can’t press the eject button. The trick is to harness those feelings of inadequacy and use them as a positive.
I say “harness” on purpose. It’s not about conquering imposter syndrome. It’s about being aware of it.
In fact, I’m acutely aware of feeling like an imposter right now. I’m talking to you as a pseudo-expert on a feeling I couldn’t even put a name to until recently. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it? | https://medium.com/smells-like-team-spirit/an-amateurs-guide-to-turning-impostor-syndrome-into-an-asset-1bac56917d46 | ['Mike Cannon-Brookes'] | 2017-08-03 17:05:49.818000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Business', 'Impostor Syndrome', 'Personal Growth'] |
Welcome to Film and See™ | A Compendium of Film Cameras
It was 1969. I was working at a local grocery store in Los Angeles.
A friend, who lived up in the Hollywood Hills and who had access to something I did not: excess money, had a new “toy” to show off. It was an SLR camera: the Minolta SRT-101.
One of my current Minoltas. Still in mint condition!
When I held the camera, I was in awe. I peered through the viewfinder.
I clicked the shutter and advanced the non-existent film. It was sublime. I was hooked. The SRT-101 was the first Single Lens Reflex camera I ever held. But, it was not the first camera I would ever buy. That, dear reader is another story.
Over the years, I have owned and sold and re-owned numerous cameras, both film and digital.
Several years ago, as I was mentoring a family member, I extolled the virtues of film. Today, this person is professionally shooting, nearly 100% film! Film has seen a resurgence that was, as film first began to fade, unpredictable. Today, film is in its renaissance, but, it will most likely fade again, due to environmental concerns, lack of adequate consumer interest, and closure of photo labs. So, for now, we enjoy film’s color and the amazing instruments which we used during its heyday. FilmandSee™ is a celebration of film photography!
FilmandSee™, is born of a desire to present information about cameras, film and the people who shoot film as their primary photo acquisition medium. We will, I hope present information in a fun way, using the written word, but also, I hope we’re able to get a YouTube channel started up as well, to augment these articles.
Thank you for your interest. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Eric | https://medium.com/@filmandsee/welcome-to-film-and-see-e65655030014 | ['Eric Gordon'] | 2021-01-21 22:32:42.169000+00:00 | ['Film Photography', 'Camera', 'Minolta', 'Photography', 'Filmandsee'] |
An End-to-End Project on Time Series Analysis and Forecasting with Python | Time series analysis comprises methods for analyzing time series data in order to extract meaningful statistics and other characteristics of the data. Time series forecasting is the use of a model to predict future values based on previously observed values.
Time series are widely used for non-stationary data, like economic, weather, stock price, and retail sales in this post. We will demonstrate different approaches for forecasting retail sales time series. Let’s get started!
The Data
We are using Superstore sales data that can be downloaded from here.
import warnings
import itertools
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore")
plt.style.use('fivethirtyeight')
import pandas as pd
import statsmodels.api as sm
import matplotlib matplotlib.rcParams['axes.labelsize'] = 14
matplotlib.rcParams['xtick.labelsize'] = 12
matplotlib.rcParams['ytick.labelsize'] = 12
matplotlib.rcParams['text.color'] = 'k'
There are several categories in the Superstore sales data, we start from time series analysis and forecasting for furniture sales.
df = pd.read_excel("Superstore.xls")
furniture = df.loc[df['Category'] == 'Furniture']
We have a good 4-year furniture sales data.
furniture['Order Date'].min(), furniture['Order Date'].max()
Timestamp(‘2014–01–06 00:00:00’), Timestamp(‘2017–12–30 00:00:00’)
Data Preprocessing
This step includes removing columns we do not need, check missing values, aggregate sales by date and so on.
cols = ['Row ID', 'Order ID', 'Ship Date', 'Ship Mode', 'Customer ID', 'Customer Name', 'Segment', 'Country', 'City', 'State', 'Postal Code', 'Region', 'Product ID', 'Category', 'Sub-Category', 'Product Name', 'Quantity', 'Discount', 'Profit']
furniture.drop(cols, axis=1, inplace=True)
furniture = furniture.sort_values('Order Date') furniture.isnull().sum()
Figure 1
furniture = furniture.groupby('Order Date')['Sales'].sum().reset_index()
Indexing with Time Series Data | https://towardsdatascience.com/an-end-to-end-project-on-time-series-analysis-and-forecasting-with-python-4835e6bf050b | ['Susan Li'] | 2018-09-05 12:18:21.429000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Statistical Analysis', 'Timeseries', 'Python'] |
On Openness, Science and Scientific Learning. | On Openness, Science and Scientific Learning.
To paraphrase the man of the moment: “Some are born open, some achieve openness, and some have openness thrust upon them” (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night). As a practising scientist (and now academic lecturer) of the “old school”, I grew up with a closed educational system in which we paid to access the lofty levels of tertiary education (or were paid by our government); access being permitted by virtue of the rigours of, in my case, the terrifying but enlightened Scottish Ordinary and Higher level examinations. We bought the recommended textbooks, listened to the obligatory lectures, practiced the scientific art in the labs and quietly accepted our lot after each set of examinations. Later, I published my scientific findings in journals which charged our institution(s) for access (and me for copies!). In turn, then, I taught and examined later generations under the universally accepted idiom of “if it was good enough for me, it’s good enough for them”. Until, one day, grainy black and white TV images were broadcast in the early hours of the morning, espousing odd mathematical theorems and governed by odd-looking men in beards… the Open University was born — followed, a little later, by the web; and then Twitter, Facebook and all the other instruments of the devil (which I continue to eschew). I think that puts me firmly in the “openness thrust upon them” category.
Compare and contrast — today, anyone with the ability to access the web can “freely” obtain information on some of the most up-to-date scientific subjects simply by adding “wiki” to the end of every question they might choose to ask — and they can do this almost anywhere, at any time. But, from the point of view of a University educator should I not be made happy by these significant, free for all, advances? Well, yes and no. That information should be so freely available cannot be a bad thing, but the quality of that information must be assured and so “quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (“Who guards the guards?” My Ordinary Level Latin was worth something!). Our role as educators then becomes less of an expounder (and interpreter) of scientific information and more of a reviewer and proof-reader (though perhaps I exaggerate a little).
Nevertheless, if University students have near limitless access to information, from multiple, acceptable sources, then surely this must be a good thing. All else being equal, I believe it would be a very good thing, but we need to put this into some perspective. Like all good scientists I keep up to date by reading the current (peer-reviewed!) scientific papers — not so long ago that meant a photocopy or reprint which I could read in my “spare time” — and so the photocopy grew to be something I could find later when I needed to, without the inconvenience of a trip to the library (and with the paper copies now replaced by the omni-present pdf I can now even carry them around with me). However, to be able to find the appropriate reference, I had to recall at least some of the contents of the paper. The advent of Google (as an entity and a verb) has begun to replace this — I can now find the work I am looking for simply by searching the web (Medline/Pubmed, not Wikipedia, of course) with the question or keywords that led me to the paper in the first place, de novo, each time I want find the same paper — and am instantly carried to the paper, and given list of others who have cited it, or others which may be similar. Herein lies the problem — I will now recall less of the original data and more on the strategy to locate the paper (eg “I recall that I Googled with “neuroscience” and “visual” and “thalamus”, and it was the third hit”). Is this a small price to pay? Less so, perhaps, when I have ~30+ years of background material (my personal, some-what shaky “backup”) stored in my (still active!) brain — but perhaps more of a problem for the new generation, for whom this will be a principle (if not sole, and certainly un-backed-up!) resource. Thus one of the most common questions I receive from undergraduates in the run up to exam time is “do I have to remember all the drug/brain/technical words?” and I think you can guess my (ever unpopular) answer.
But am I/we being fair?
For the vast majority of our Life Science undergraduates, the basic scientific “facts” we teach are actually unlikely to be of much use in their future careers in industry, banking, computing and so on. And for the few who continue in science? Ideas change and can change very rapidly, so surely teaching them to source the most up to date information will be more useful than cramming them full of soon-to-be-out-dated “facts” — and teaching them to interpret and integrate ideas should be the main goal. However, we are then left with a real dilemma (possibly the major dilemma in tertiary education at the moment) — how to test and measure their abilities, so that we can reward and rank them appropriately. Can we “open” examinations? To some extend we do now, with more course work given and open book tests offered — but these are double-edged swords, because we cannot be sure that the result we get is truly the work of the student we are testing (sad times, indeed!). So, can we invent a new examination; a test with free access to all of the required material, but one which tests the ability of the student to reason; to adapt the material to correctly answer the question as stated? It would be possible, indeed simple, to setup a computer cluster, open under exam conditions, and provide students with questions to answer — whereby their answers, containing a log of sources utilised, would reflect their ability not just to navigate the web (under 5’s and the silver haired can do that!) but combine and reflect upon ideas — to make judgement and reach conclusions. Too far-fetched? Perhaps — particularly when we consider how we would mark/evaluate the output! And so, for the time being, I think we will have to continue the status quo, despite the fact that the Pandoras box of information is well and truly open. | https://medium.com/open-knowledge-in-he/on-openness-science-and-scientific-learning-cf183989412a | ['Kenneth Grieve'] | 2016-05-25 18:53:44.207000+00:00 | ['Teaching', 'Okhe1', 'Education'] |
Entity Developer and ADO.Net Data Providers Now Support Entity Framework Core 5 | Devart announced an update for Entity Developer and dotConnect ADO.NET data providers for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. The new versions now support Entity Framework Core 5.0.
Devart, a recognized vendor of professional database management software and world-class data connectivity solutions for various data connection technologies and frameworks, introduced support of the Entity Framework Core 5.0 in Entity Developer and dotConnect providers.
Entity Developer 6.10 can now detect many-to-many associations and table-per-type inheritances automatically when generating an Entity Framework Core 5.0 model from a database. Also, these inheritances and associations could be created manually via the corresponding editors or Model Refactoring Wizard.
Standalone Entity Developer application now targets Entity Framework Core 5.0 by default, when creating new Entity Framework Core models.
The newly released dotConnect ADO.NET data providers for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite got significant changes to their NuGet packages with Entity Framework Core functionality.
These packages now contain new assemblies for the following Entity Framework Core versions:
EF Core 1 assembly (.NET Standard 1.3)
EF Core 3 assembly (.NET Standard 2.0)
EF Core 5 assembly (.NET Standard 2.1)
At the same time these packages do not contain an assembly for Entity Framework Core 2 anymore. This assembly is now available only via the provider installer.
For more information on how these changes may affect projects, using dotConnect providers and Entity Framework Core, please visit
https://blog.devart.com/entity-framework-core-5-support-in-entity-developer-and-dotconnect-providers.html
About Devart
Devart is one of the leading developers of database tools and administration software, ALM solutions, data providers for various database servers, data integration and backup solutions. The company also implements Web and Mobile development projects.
For additional information about Devart, visit https://www.devart.com/. | https://medium.com/@peter-jackson/entity-developer-and-ado-net-data-providers-now-support-entity-framework-core-5-ffd8263bede2 | ['Jackson Peter'] | 2020-12-07 13:53:14.329000+00:00 | ['MySQL', 'Entity Framework Core', 'Postgresql', 'Sqlite', 'Oracle'] |
Introducing Beam! | This story has been published in 2018 and updated in May 2019.
Why today?
We couldn’t think of a better day to introduce our project and what we have been up to. Thursday July 19th marks the day that an anonymous developer by the handle of “Tom Elvis Jedusor” first proposed the possibility of an elegant cryptographic protocol that addressed once for both scalability and anonymity — Mimblewimble. It is only through this anonymous developer’s foundational efforts that we are able to carry the ball forward with our own implementation of Mimblewimble. Therefore we are happy to present BEAM, a novel implementation of Mimblewimble this Thursday, July 19th, 2018 — or as we like to call it, International Tom Elvis Jedusor Day.
The need for privacy
Back in 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto released Bitcoin and gave the world a great hope of an independent, non-inflationary and decentralized currency. Today, Bitcoin is still by far the leading digital currency out there. However, with time it became clear that Bitcoin’s anonymity is an illusion — all the transactions are part of the public ledger, and with today’s big data tech it is possible to trace what is going on. Nobody wants their bank account balance and transaction history to be available for everyone to see, so there emerged the need for private currencies.
Several great privacy coin projects have been developed, but they are either too computationally heavy or not truly decentralized or both. We strongly believe that financial privacy is a basic human right, and we felt that something must be done to fulfill that right. That’s why Beam was born.
What is Beam?
Beam is privacy-centric cryptocurrency based on the Mimblewimble Protocol. Beam transactions are private by default, and storing the entire transaction history is not necessary for blockchain validation. This ultimately reduces the blockchain size and improves scalability. Beam supports many transaction types such as escrow transactions, time-locked transactions and atomic swaps. Our roadmap includes dozens of features and is constantly evolving. We are striving to make Beam an ultimate Store-of-Value coin.
The team
Beam has put together a remarkable team of first-class engineers and entrepreneurs, and a strong advisory board comprised of accomplished cryptocurrency veterans. We have 10 full-time developers, a growing marketing team, and seasoned management. The technical team is led by Alex Romanov. Beam’s community is built around crypto fans, privacy advocates, entrepreneurs, investors and miners. We are actively going on building a global community who share our mission of creating a private digital currency and will maintain and improve Beam.
The technology
Beam is based on Mimblewimble — an elegant protocol released by an anonymous developer in 2016. Named after a tongue-tying spell from the Harry Potter saga, Mimblewimble uses Pedersen Commitment scheme for full anonymity and zero-knowledge range proofs to ensure the validity of transaction amounts.
To enhance privacy and reduce the blockchain size, Mimblewimble merges all intermediate outputs within a single block and across multiple blocks, thus only storing the current UTXO state and making the blockchain size an order of magnitude smaller than in other leading currencies.
Beam implemented Mimblewimble from scratch using C++.
Beam blocks are mined using memory-hard Equihash Proof-of-Work algorithm. The block time is 1 minute on average.
Who maintains Beam?
Beam is maintained by a non-profit Foundation. There is no ICO nor premine. Both the Core Team and the Foundation are funded through a block reward mechanism, with a certain percentage of coins being emitted from every newly mined block.
How to use Beam?
You can discover Beam’s user-friendly technology and products (Wallet) on the following platforms: | https://medium.com/beam-mw/introducing-beam-f35096a923ec | [] | 2019-07-19 08:35:00.511000+00:00 | ['Finance', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Bitcoin'] |
Mariam Kazi — Portfolio. Hi, potential prospect: | Hi, potential prospect:
I welcome you to my not so extensive but surely worth giving a read writing profile:
I am a social media enthusiast with a knack for creative writing — having about a year of experience in content marketing and writing.
Please see below, few of my writing samples from my previous professional experiences: | https://medium.com/@mariamkazi01/mariam-kazi-portfolio-fc558b85c10a | ['Mariam Kazi'] | 2020-12-23 14:02:41.207000+00:00 | ['Blogging For Business', 'Content Marketing', 'Content Strategy', 'Social Media Management'] |
TTC stands for Trying To Conceive | TTC stands for Trying To Conceive
Photo by Nynne Schrøder on Unsplash
There are many resources and articles to read about improving the chances of getting pregnant. I have read so many that I needed to stop myself from becoming obsessed with TTC and focus on my mental well-being and happiness — by purposefully feeding myself with content to enjoy the experience instead of turning into a TTC monster.
After my miscarriage, my hubby and I have been trying to conceive for 4 months to this date. A lot goes on during this time — guessing when is the fertile window, keeping track of my ovulation cycle, trying to have sex naturally without pressure, consuming health supplements like folic acid, CoQ10, and vitamin C, exercising at least 30 minutes 3 times a week, switching my daily coffee consumption to drinking tea, eating less processed foods, reducing my intake of cold beverages, and abstaining from drinking alcohol.
The lifestyle change resulted in me getting rid of my addiction to coffee and fast food, feeling less need to drink alcohol, and improved my physical and mental state. But it gets challenging sometimes when it is difficult to get the mood on during your fertile window and face demotivation when your menstruation comes at the end of each cycle.
To manage the stress that can turn me into a TTC monster, I turn to watching television series which poke fun at pregnancy and motherhood. I also started reading books on pregnancy and working mothers for inspiration. I often found laughter and inspiration as the best de-stressors and motivators.
Sometimes, we can put ourselves in a box that we forget to look from the outside in. The TTC box is no different. If you do not manage it, you will be sucked into a spiral of negativity and helplessness. Purposefully creating a mental shift will help you to remain objective and positive about your situation.
I have also found journaling and writing to help create the much-needed mental shift by putting the situation in my own words. Most of the time, my inspiration to write arises from what I watch and read. So, purposefully feeding yourself with content that is helpful and relevant to your situation can help you process it more easily.
Here are what fed my soul in the past 4 months while TTC:
Netflix Shows To Watch
Yummy Mummies — This is a good show to learn all the pregnancy terms while watching four young mothers-to-be in Australia living ridiculously lavish lives. It makes you take life, becoming a mother, less seriously when you can see how women like that can also become mothers (sounds mean, but honestly, they can give you a good laugh). Their friendship reminds me of the camaraderie of female friendships in Sex and the City, but the narrative is about having babies. Workin’ Moms — Despite the main actress’ odd-looking mouth (which will grow on you), it is refreshing to see female characters playing out not so typical motherhood roles in a sarcastic manner. I have to admit that I was frustrated by how crazy some of the characters can be but eventually realized that it was because these were women acting in a selfish manner that we would normally see and laugh off in male characters. I was annoyed at Kate Foster at first because of her mouth and the words that came out of it, but later realized why I felt this way — I needed more of her not-giving-a-hoot-about-what-anyone-thinks-of-her confidence. Not even her ridiculous mother can affect her. Atypical — This is a heart-warming comedy-drama about Sam, a teenager on the autism spectrum. Parenting a child on the spectrum can be difficult and challenging, and this show presents parenting ups and downs in an enlightening and humorous way. Sam inspires you to have courage in life and face your fears with stories of Antarctica and facts about penguins as antidotes to the chaos in his world.
Books To Read
Clemmie Hooper’s How to Grow A Baby And Push It Out: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Pregnancy And Birth — I highly recommend this book. It is filled with lots of practical information without overbearing you about the whole process. It is also filled with short stories of other mothers and their experiences, making for a light-hearted but encouraging read. This book makes me feel less afraid of getting pregnant and the delivery process. In my opinion, the best gift for mothers-to-be. Annie Ridout’s The Freelance Mum: A Flexible Career Guide For Better Work-Life Balance — If you are considering freelance work or continuing to work after having a baby, this book helps give you ideas and perspectives on how you can be an effective working mother. Even if you are not considering freelance work, the tips provided in this book can help you to achieve the work-life balance needed as a mother. It helps to feel more prepared when the day comes that a mother has to choose between engaging in work and fulfilling motherly duties. Michelle Obama’s Becoming — When you face an identity crisis or emotional crisis after a miscarriage or while TTC, this book reminds you of who you are and why becoming you is the best gift that you can give yourself every day. Reading about her life and how she became a mother and a career woman is enough to inspire you to live the best version of yourself. Michelle encourages you to own your life story because no one has the same experience as you do and live your life mindfully. This book is a mood-lifter for me when I feel disempowered.
As someone who is TTC, it is important to be realistic as well. I understand that I am over 35 and that my chances of getting pregnant are not the best. If I never get pregnant, that is okay. I can find other things to do in life.
At least, I know that my mind is ready for pregnancy, and I am hopeful for the day to come. While trying, though, it is important always to remember that your mental health comes first. Manage it, and you can live well while TTC. It makes it easier. | https://medium.com/modern-parent/ttc-stands-for-trying-to-conceive-ee9c1f5aa1a8 | ['Sylvia L. Inthoughtful'] | 2021-01-04 00:42:15.151000+00:00 | ['Fertility', 'Parenting', 'Family', 'Trying To Conceive', 'Pregnancy'] |
No National Liberation without Women’s Liberation: translating Algeria’s feminist bloc | Photo by Youssef Alfarabi, for Libération; the title is taken from the banner.
“ Algeria is a laboratory: everything here is re-invented, even language, which, joyfully, we twist, we stretch, in order that it speaks the epoch” — Rosa Moussaoui, 4 April, for l’Humanité.
Below are two declarations from one such re-invention. In the first (Fr), the Algerian Women for Change towards Equality (نساء جزائريات من أجل التغيير نحو المساواة; AWCE) announce themselves. In the second (Ar), published three weeks after, the group responds to attacks against their weekly bloc.
In a 19 April report, Malia Bouattia details the Algerian state’s 9 April repressive turn, including police assaults against women protestors; however, the second declaration here refers to 29 March attacks, without identifying the group or tendencies involved.
Al-Muzāharāt is currently arranging an interview with the AWCE, on their ‘revolution within a revolution’ (Moussaoui), and its antagonists.
—
16 March Declaration
We are currently living through a magnificent, popular, peaceful uprising against the current political system. The huge presence of women at the rallies is testimony to a profound transformation of our society, and demands the recognition of women’s rights, in an equal Algeria.
This system has ruled absolutely since independence, and used all coercive and autocratic means to defeat every impulse for change and democratisation of the country. Besides the destruction of the Republic’s institutions (health, education, justice, culture, etc.), and the beggaring of political life (the corruption, the authoritarianism and social injustices), this system has practiced a Machiavellian strategy of maintaining and reinforcing inegalitarian thought and practice throughout society — for which Algerian women have paid a high price, at the symbolic, formal and concrete levels.
Indeed, the history of the Algerian struggles testifies to a huge engagement of women in all the just, decisive struggles the country has fought: the War of National Liberation; the construction the of the independent Algerian state; the October 1988 revolt; the trade union, student and democratic struggles before and after October 1988; and the struggle against the armed intégriste [‘Islamist’] groups through the 1990s, etc.
Side-by-side with men, women have conceived, developed, and lead these fights, in the hope of building an egalitarian society, and of seeing the concrete equality realised during those difficult moments becoming an indisputable gain.
Unfortunately, this promised equality has not yet arrived. The mass education of girls and procession of qualified graduates; our still more significant presence in the world of work; and even the legislative change and rulings, grasped after decades of struggle, have still not allowed women to escape their minorisation [i.e., women’s minor status, as codified in the 1984 Family Code] and second-class status across the institutions, in a society that remains patriarchal.
The active, unconditional participation of Algerian women in the 22 February Movement compels us to reaffirm our determination to change the current system, in its entirety, including its sexist, its patriarchal, and its misogynist elements.
On the 16 March, a meeting of Algiers women was held. From this debate, and a wider consultation, came the following:
We, the women signatories of this declaration, are convinced that the building of our collective future will not happen without full and complete equality between men and women, without gender, class, regional or religious distinctions.
We must continue to always be present with our colleagues and neighbors, in order to continue this beautiful mixité [‘mixedness’; an obsessive fear of the Front islamique du Salut] in all the marches, but also to render our demand for equality more visible.
We have decided to form a feminist bloc, which will be in place every Friday from 1pm, outside the main entrance of Algiers I university.
We encourage and support similar initiatives across all of Algeria, and we subscribe entirely to all declarations which believe that equality between men and women is one of the priorities for changing the current system.
We call on all women who recognise themselves in this appeal to add their signatures to ours, to join the feminist bloc here or elsewhere, or to initiate them (as conditions permit), and to participate in our meetings, the date and place of which will be publicly communicated
We call for a joint representation of women to be taken into account for every citizens’ initiative towards the ending of this crisis.
We condemn all harassment during demonstrations.
—
April 7 Declaration
The declaration follows the violent attacks that women of the feminist bloc were exposed to on Friday 29 March in the capital, the ensuing serious threats against the physical and psychological well-being of many women (including women outside the bloc), and, in addition, the online attacks and harassment that continue up to the time of writing.
With regards to the Friday 5 April protest, Algerian Women for Change Towards Equality decided to maintain the feminist bloc without raising banners, in order to avoid any form of violence or appropriating [of the bloc], and so that we are not used as an excuse to disturb the peaceful image of the popular movement.
On 5 April the feminist bloc was begun between 12.30 pm and 13.30 pm without any incident, in front the main entrance of Algiers I university, in the capital, and provided a genuine space for discussion and dialogue between men and women protesters, after which we joined the larger protest.
Algerian Women for Change Towards Equality announce the following:
We have not abandoned our legitimate demands for social justice.
We condemn any form of violence directed towards protesters, especially women, whether during or after the demonstrations.
We are not the exclusive representatives of the feminist movement in Algeria, and therefore cannot be held accountable for the activities of other groups, including the group responsible for distributing leaflets concerning the Family Code
We reiterate that our initiative intends neither to represent nor to be the voice of all Algerian women, but rather to advocate for a society that values and strengthens equality between citizens.
We reiterate that our civil, national, and independent initiative is a product of the will of a group of women, the majority of whom are militants who do not belong to any organisation, whether at the national or international level.
We are aware that the current regime has tried and still tries to politicise social issues to create division between the opposition movements.
We reject every accusation against us directed towards us of dividing and splitting the unity and cohesion of the popular movement — we remain alert to this.
We salute the solidarity and support of all types that we have received from women and men who have condemned violence, and have joined our rally.
Signatories to the16 March Declaration:
Fatma Boufenik, Teacher-researcher at University Oran 2; founding member of Femmes Algériennes Revendiquant leurs Droits (FARD; Algeiran Women Demand their Rights); Amina Izarouken, feminist; Faïka Medjahed, psychoanalyst, member of the Wassila network; Souad Bensaâda, feminist militant; Belhacene Atiqa, feminist; Kahina Arezki, resident doctor; Louisa Ait Hamou, feminist, lecturer; Leïla Saadna, feminist militant, producer and teacher; Amel Hadjadj, feminist militant; Fatma Oussedik, sociologist, feminist; Sanaâ Hamadouche, feminist; Sara Bouchair, feminist militant; Farida Bouchenaf, feminist militant; Dalila Bouchenaf, feminist militant. | https://medium.com/@almuzaharat/no-national-liberation-without-womens-liberation-translating-algeria-s-feminist-bloc-6d2e50bc0fbf | [] | 2019-10-04 19:46:59.675000+00:00 | ['Algeria', 'Protest', 'Translation', 'Feminism', 'Revolution'] |
Tomorrow {Capitulo 13} Jujutsu Kaisen (Subtítulos en Español) | Tomorrow {Capitulo 13} Jujutsu Kaisen (Subtítulos en Español)
Tomorrow
Episode 13 | Tomorrow | Nanami saved the tiger cane by preventing Masato’s blow with a short hair. Here, the tiger cane and Nanami make breathtaking attacks to ensure that Masato is exorcised. Masato tries to hunt down the tiger cane mentally using a modified human, but the tiger cane overcomes it. Masato, who was forced into a convoluted attack, felt “death”.
Watch On ►► http://dadangkoprol.dplaytv.net/series/377543/1/13
Yuuji Itadori is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a friend who has been attacked by Curses, he eats a finger of Ryoumen Sukuna, taking the Curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with Sukuna. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Satoru Gojou, Itadori is admitted to the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, an organization that fights the Curses… and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a Curse to exorcise a Curse, a life from which he could never turn back.
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/tomorrow-capitulo-13-jujutsu-kaisen-subt%C3%ADtulos-en/tomorrow-capitulo-13-jujutsu-kaisen-subt%C3%ADtulos-en-espa%C3%B1ol-8ed002c56303 | ['Donald T. Dudley'] | 2020-12-26 14:55:10.361000+00:00 | ['Animation', 'Anime'] |
Feminism Does Not Negate Chivalry | Feminism Does Not Negate Chivalry
Why men’s manners matter to me as a feminist.
Photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash
Chivalry was born of necessity. Women’s fashion dictated the need for men to do things like open doors for women. Women wore huge, structured dresses and attire that made it almost physically impossible for women to open doors themselves.
No longer are we enslaved to clothing that deters us from functioning as a normal member of society. This doesn’t mean that all acts of chivalry need to go by the wayside or be seen as an act of aggression toward liberated women.
Chivalrous acts like the opening of doors have taken on a new meaning for me. I see them differently now. Simply, even when we’re able to freely move about spaces in comfortable yoga pants, women are still physically more vulnerable than men.
This has nothing to do with the strength of our spirit, our intellectual equality, or our drive to succeed. It’s a matter of women feeling less safe in the world than men.
Many men don’t realize exactly how different the world feels when you’re a woman. This was never more clear to me than in a recent conversation with a male friend.
I have a large Torch Glow Bougainvillea outside my bedroom window. It’s about five feet tall and covered in lots of sharp, one to two-inch thorns. My friend couldn’t understand why I would put such a nasty thing outside my window.
Beyond the fact that it’s gorgeous and lets me see vibrant magenta flowers the moment I wake up, it serves a purpose. I planted it there intentionally.
“What if you had to get out your bedroom window?” he asked. I chuckled.
I told him that I was not concerned with getting out of my window, I was more concerned with someone get in. The bougainvillea is a deterrent. Men don’t get this.
As women, we look for the most well-lit parking space. We walk with our keys in between our fingers. We check our back seats before getting into our cars even when we know we locked them.
Opening a car door for a woman means that we get safely inside the car. I know that the likelihood of someone grabbing me in the seconds it takes me to open my own door while a man opens his own door is slim. I’m realistic and don’t run around the world wringing my hands. But, I value that sense of safety and the kindness shown to me when someone else considers it.
The same goes for opening the door to a building. Guiding a woman through a door safely is ensuring that no harm comes to her. This is not a bad thing.
I’m a strong woman, physically. I can shove my own bodyweight off me and pull twice that much off the floor. Regardless of this, I can’t imagine that my ability to fend for myself would translate to being in harm’s way, and having a man stand back and say, “Oh no. You said you go this.” It doesn’t work that way. That wasn’t the point of our fight for equal rights.
I feel bad that men have become afraid of backlash from opening doors, helping a woman with a coat, or pulling out a chair. I don’t know a single man that does these things because he thinks less of a woman.
Acts of chivalry make me feel valued. Being a feminist and being treated well are not two separate ideas.
I served on a board of trustees with some wonderful, professional men who held me in as high of regard as I held them. They respected my opinions and never made me feel like I wasn’t welcome in the boardroom.
They were kind to me and always chivalrous. When I came to the table for drinks after a long day of meetings, they stood. A chair was pulled out for me. When I got cold, a jacket was offered.
Just because I’m a feminist, it doesn’t mean I have to be one of the boys.
I don’t appreciate chivalry because I think I’m a special, precious little flower. It’s not a control mechanism. I appreciate it because it lets me know someone cares enough about me to do something nice.
More than anything I’m an advocate of just being nice. It feels good to wander the world acting kindly to other people, be they strangers or people we’re with whom we have a close relationship.
Having manners means we respect others and want to extend them a courtesy. Man or woman. It shows a certain level of class and decorum.
Respect and kindness were not bargained away with our right to vote, or choose, or to be able to keep our jobs if we’re pregnant, nor should they be denied because of what we’ve gained in being asked to be taken seriously. They’re timeless qualities that lead to meaningful actions and, more than anything, they’re appreciated. | https://medium.com/fearless-she-wrote/feminism-does-not-negate-chivalry-49c6457a35ce | ['Vanessa Torre'] | 2020-10-06 17:00:05.406000+00:00 | ['Equality', 'Women', 'Gender Equality', 'Society', 'Feminism'] |
Python 3 Bootcamp Course by Colt Steele | Colt Steele has recently launched a Python 3 Bootcamp course on Udemy. We believe its going to be one of the bests and should reach our users. What makes the course a must have is the instructor, one of the prestigious names in online teaching.
The previous bootcamp course by Colt Steele the complete web development bootcamp (Link) is still the no.1 course. We highly recommend any course that Colt Steele offers to the learners, simply because of his teaching style.
Through this bootcamp Colt Steele gives you a unique interactive Python experience with nearly 200 exercises and quizzes.
More About Python3 Bootcamp
This is not just another Python course, its the best of all. All the new developments and additions to Python language are covered in the course. Python 3 is the way ahead for developers and that is what this course covers throughout. Anyone who want to learn Python from scratch, this the only course they should take!
Here’s what the course offers to learners:
25+ hours of Video
115 articles
1 supplemental resource
135 coding exercises
Lifetime access once you enroll
The course is updated regularly to make sure it covers the new Python developments
Certificate of completion
Apart from the above, you also get the discussion forums to interact with other subscribers of this course. You can participate in discussions to clear yours and others doubts.
The course is brand new, within the first week of launch it became the best seller. Following are the stats of this Python3 bootcamp:
Best Seller in Python Programming
12,293 subscribers already
Feedback score 4.7/5 after 2042 ratings
Last updated in May 2018
The above stats for any new course are really astonishing! The feedback score for the course is one of the highest among all Python courses. These stats will change overtime, to see the real time numbers please go here.
Know about Colt Steele
Colt Steele is one of the top Udemy Instructors at the moment. Within the very first year of his teaching he got the best newcomer Udemy instructor award in 2015.
Following are some of his numbers and recognition:
Has 323,000+ online subscribers
After 84,000+ reviews, he maintains a feedback score 4.7/5 (One of the toppers)
His students work for giants like Google, Salesforce, Square to name a few
Worked at Udacity as a Senior Course Developer
Helped hundreds of people become web developers
Colt Steele went to New York University for his education. He currently lives in San Francisco California.
Conclusion
Yes, if you want to master Python programming with all the modern developments and additions, this is the only course you need. Go ahead and enroll now, we highly recommend it! | https://medium.com/python-programming/python-3-bootcamp-course-by-colt-steele-1c1bb65933a1 | ['Todd Stewart'] | 2018-05-08 08:31:18.804000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Programming', 'Python3', 'Python Programming', 'Bootcamp'] |
A Serial Killer is on the Loose | Hearing the terrifying screams in the middle of the night, the son rushes to his dad’s bedroom, where he bumps into a masculine figure with a smooth face and long blonde hair.
The son pulls off the dad’s blonde wig to silence his mom’s bloodcurdling screams.
The dad feels unsafe. | https://medium.com/random-awesome/humor-short-story-a-serial-killer-is-on-the-loose-6d0e5de2f20f | [] | 2020-10-23 17:14:21.167000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Family', 'Fiction', 'Short Story', 'Funny Stories'] |
College Grads on the Hunt For a Job … | Six Steps to Stay in the Game
If you’re a recent graduate and worsening job numbers are getting you down, don’t slack off in your search.
You need to be both realistic and energized.
There will be better times ahead.
In the meantime, though, it’s no wonder you might get discouraged. There’s little doubt that the most recent labor statistics show fewer jobs than expected.
According to the New York Times:
“The Labor Department reported Friday that employers added 245,000 jobs in November, fewer than half the number created in October. The pace of hiring has now diminished for five straight months.
“While many of those knocked out of a job early in the pandemic have been rehired, there are roughly 10 million fewer jobs than there were in February.”
While so many job seekers have been hit hard, college and university graduates who’ve been job hunting for months now are facing some of the biggest challenges. Months have passed with some not having the chance to land jobs and start building a full-time work and career history.
If you’re among the fortunate and are in discussion with a potential employer, make sure that you do everything possible to keep in close contact, show your excitement about the opportunity and communicate regularly. The competition is tough and you need to stand out. Don’t get complacent.
If you’re a recent graduate and might have slacked off even a little in your job search, get back in the game. And even more aggressively.
After all, time’s a-wastin’.
Here are six steps to make sure you’re not left behind:
1. Take stock of what you’ve been doing over the past few months — If you’ve been binge watching Ozark or Kim’s Convenience, stop. Save that for another time. Get out and volunteer. Or get a part-time job. Better yet, be entrepreneurial and show others that you’re energetic and able to be productive even when the job openings are slim.
2. Freshen up that resume — Time has passed since graduation. Your resume needs to be current. Add a section to talk about what you have been doing since you received your diploma and how that has changed your view on the economy, work and supporting yourself. You might find that your energy in these challenging times actually becomes your strongest calling card.
3. Show your entrepreneurial spirt and determination — Start a tutoring service, one student at a time. After all, those college English and math classes give you a leg up in helping elementary and high schoolers improve their grades or get ready for their SAT’s. Or start a business mowing lawns or shoveling snow. Everyone needs a helping hand. And you will earn some money in the process.
4. Think about your career goals — Are they still on target for you? Maybe your original plans don’t excite you as much as they did before. So what do you want to do? Go in a new direction? Maybe it’s time to think about a career in public service, the military or a role with an NGO or another kind of organization. Or, perhaps, it’s time to take a specialized course, go to grad school or earn a certificate in a particular digital skill.
5. Practice your zoom skills — Whether you find using zoom comfortable or not, take the time to practice for an interview. It is much more than a chat. Get your own zoom account. Use it to practice with a friend or someone whose opinion you respect and who will be candid. Even have your friend film the zoom discussion so you can see yourself. Sit up straight. Look directly at the camera. And consider what’s in the background. Does it reflect something memorable about you? You’d be surprised at what interviewers remember about their zoom interviews.
6. Last but not least, smile — Good times or tough ones, your self-confidence and excitement about each job opportunity make you stand out. Your attitude says volumes about the energy you bring and your self-confidence. Your smile helps interviewers imagine you as a positive addition to the team, eager to work with colleagues to do what is necessary to get the job done.
Above all, stay in the game. Use the coming weeks and months to get a leg up on others and put yourself in front.
Energy, determination and enthusiasm win the day …every day. But especially when the going gets tough.
NOTE — This essay draws on the advice and guidance in my most recent book, Ramen Noodle Resume, written specifically for new college graduates. Available on amazon. www.ramennoodleresume.com | https://medium.com/@chris-komisarjevsky/college-grads-on-the-hunt-for-a-job-97fc0460996b | ['Chris Komisarjevsky'] | 2020-12-07 22:48:01.059000+00:00 | ['Resume Writing', 'Job Search', 'Resume', 'Job Hunting', 'Ramen Noodle Resume'] |
JEF’s Cocktail with the Italian Ambassador Benedetti | The Italian Ambassador in Israel and the Jewish Economic Forum hosted a networking cocktail on Wednesday evening at the Ambassador residence in Ramat Gan.
The JEF introduced the newly appointed Ambassador to the business community. Among the guest many important top managers of large international groups from the Banking, Real Estate and Technology fields.
JEF Chairman Jonathan Pacifici stressed the important role of Italy as one of the major business partners of Israel.
Ambassador Benedetti thanked Mr. Pacifici for the help in the startup phase of its mandate.
JEF’s Chairman Jonathan Pacifici and Italian Ambassador Gianluigi Benedetti
Tasting Netofa Wines
Mr. Moshe Sharashov and Italian Ambassador Benedetti | https://medium.com/jewish-economic-forum/jefs-cocktail-with-the-italian-ambassador-benedetti-3db12a437d9c | [] | 2018-01-23 14:56:14.135000+00:00 | ['Italy', 'Jef', 'Israel', 'Business', 'Jef Activities'] |
Community that matters, The Beauty of Closeness | The world is in constant change. What was new yesterday may be now a forgotten memory due to the fact that everything moves and disappears from our problem-filled minds at an exhilarating pace. Nowadays, we tend to isolate ourselves within our community due to the lack of time we experience.
Have you ever got home and felt like there was something missing? As if you did not cause enough impact, that you could have done much more during your day? Have you not questioned yourself about what you should be doing more in order to feel good and accomplished? If so, you better keep reading this.
We have lived in communities since the beginning of our existence. These form bonds and when these bonds are used for good, a feeling of unity is created. It is how the world started: together. Taking part in a group or association in your community and using what you are and what you’ve been taught over the years to help it may be one of the most powerful and difference-making weapons on our arsenal. The important question is: Are you making enough effort to actually create impact and to change your community for the better? If not, go ahead and do it. Be present, change the world and create change wherever you go.
In Rotaract, we tend to have this thought. Being present in our community is the most important thing for us. We want to feel that we are always close to our people, helping them whenever needed and making sure that we make a difference in their lives. We want to make them feel like they’re not lost or unwanted, and that they’re loved and important in our community.
This feeling is considerably noticeable when we visit ASAS or a nursing home. ASAS is an association that takes care of children that have been, or still are, exposed to family problems. When visiting, we tend to do several activities with them and there’s something that always gets me shook. Despite being exposed to these problems, these kids never seem to be unhappy. Their lives may not be perfect but they seem to end up making them more than just that, in their own way.
I remember one of the first times I visited ASAS. I wasn’t that much older than the kids there, which was probably why it was so important to me. Since that time, we’ve been making monthly visits, organising trips with them, celebrating important dates such as Halloween, Christmas and Carnival. For example, last Halloween we got them to cut and paint spooky masks so they’d wear in a parade here in our city and they loved it. It’s like I referred previously, we never feel the need to do crazy things all the time with them because we know that the simple things and the closeness between all of us can cause more impact than doing something extremely complex that would eventually bring no meaning at all to our and to their lives.
It is when we visit these kids that I get the feeling that this closeness is what brings us together. Something as simple as helping someone in need may make their day, creating undeniable bonds of friendship and love. It is this feeling that matters in a community. The feeling that we all got our backs, mutually. That we’re so close that it feels like we’ve known each other for years.
This proximity and mutual help is what turns the world into a better place. It is the beauty of closeness. It is what changes lives, and surely, it is the path we can and should all choose.
Francisco Andrade
Rotaract Club Santo Tirso, Portugal | https://medium.com/@rtcstotirso/community-that-matters-the-beauty-of-closeness-c313d725a447 | ['Rtc Santo Tirso'] | 2019-10-08 21:56:17.695000+00:00 | ['Inspiration', 'Change The World', 'Social Impact', 'Rotaract', 'Community'] |
One Year of Learning React in One Article: 5 Tips for Beginners | React
For the past year, I focused on learning React for my PWA’s. This was 12 months ago — today, I’m teaching you five tips I learned in the last 12 months that helped supercharge my React Development.
1. Use Typescript!
My first dabble into React was using JS. While JS has come miles from where it started, the dynamic typed nature of it brings many problems that can never be fixed by cool ES features. Time and time again, I was passing in a prop or a variable that was undefined and getting runtime property access errors — it’s just not possible to expect a human to find every single time a variable might be undefined.
The switch to Typescript made me 10x as productive as before — no longer did I spend hours debugging in a programming session. Typescript compiler would catch most of my runtime errors that would have reared their ugly head in JS at compile time. For those of you just starting learning React, skip the month-and-a-half of hair-pulling debugging and console.log('is' + var + ' undefined?') 's - go straight to the type-checked heaven that is Typescript.
There are those that argue that Typescript is just slower to prototype. That typing variables takes longer than writing a simple let t = MyObj() . I find that after an incredibly short learning curve that is learning Typescript, you actually prototype faster than using JS - this is because you can be confident that you have the properties you need on your objects and that they're actually there when you need them, instead of being undefined or tied to the prototype of the object.
If you were to listen to one tip on this list, writing TypeScript would be that one that puts you 10 steps ahead.
2. Use Functional Components for Efficient, Readable Code
Coming from Flutter, class components were a much quicker learning curve than functional. At first, I avoided functional components — hooks were hard to learn, passing arguments into functional components was confusing and having setState variables for each state variable was confusing.
I do spend some time on Reddit, though, and 100% of r/React were sold on functional components. I decided to bite the bullet and write my next component as a functional one due to the unanimous love for them.
I never wrote a class component again.
Take the following component, for instance:
IMyComponentProps {
prop1: string
prop2: string
prop3: string
}
interface IMyComponentState {
state1: number
state2: number
state3: number
}
export class MyComponent<IMyComponentState, IMyComponentProps> {
this.timer: NodeJs.Interval
componentDidMount() {
this.timer = setInterval(() => this.onRefresh, 200)
fetchApi().then((data) => this.setState({ state3: data }))
}
componentDidUnmount() {
clearInterval(this.timer)
}
onRefresh = () => {
fetchApi().then((data) => this.setState({ state3: data }))
}
build(): JSX.Element {
return <OtherComponent onClick={this.onRefresh.bind(this)} />
}
}
Let’s take a look at what’s wrong here:
That’s a lot of code to make an API call every 30 seconds.
The .bind() calls are ugly, but are necessary for the code to function properly.
calls are ugly, but are necessary for the code to function properly. Around 30 lines of code for a simple class component.
a lot of this , which is notoriously confusing in TS/JS. (although TS will save you from some difficulties of this )
A functional component can make all that better:
IMyComponentProps {
prop1: string
prop2: string
prop3: string
}
export const MyComponent = ({ prop1, prop2, prop3 }: IMyComponentProps): JSX.Element => {
const [state1, setState1] = useState(0)
const [state2, setState3] = useState(0)
const [state2, setState3] = useState(0)
let timer: NodeJS.Interval
const onRefresh = () => fetchApi().then(setState3)
useEffect(() => {
timer = setInterval(onRefresh, 200)
return () => clearInterval(timer)
})
return <OtherComponent onClick={onRefresh} />
}
one third the code
easier to follow
can fit in more succuient ES6 features
no worrying about this
All around a better deal, and honestly, not that high of a learning curve either. Perhaps more advaced hooks will require more learning, like useRef , but those are not necessary and only helpful - and don't have class component equivalents.
Learn functional components ASAP — it’ll make you a better developer.
3. The Best State Management Solution: Unstated-Next
This point is one of the more controversial ones. If you don’t know what a state management solution is, here’s my one sentence intro: Sometimes, you need to share state between components (for instance, the username of a logged in user or if they’re logged in or not) and it’s not practical to pass around a username to hundreds of components — instead, you have some sort of higher-scope store to store the data so many components can access it.
I’ve met many, many Redux fans — they love the rigidity, and if that’s you, that’s fine! But I’m a fan of making a change in one place and having it just work. With Redux, I find myself stuffing a bunch of state variables in a single Redux Store, so that I don’t have to rewrite all that boilerplate.
Unstated Next is by far the simplest state management solution. I’m not going to write a full Unstated Next tutorial, but there wouldn’t be much of a tutorial. The readme is all you need to read, and you know everything you need to know.
Unstated Next is the simplest state management solution of all time, and does everything redux does.
4. Snowpack > Create React App
Create React App isn’t bad by any means — it’s actually great at what it does. But I do think there are other great-er options out there. For instance, the one I have been using lately is Create Snowpack App. Create Snowpack App has blazingly fast compilation speed. Create React App, on larger projects, takes a little bit of time to compile. Create Snowpack app has O(n) compilation time because it only recompiles the file that you changed. This means that a huge project will have the same compilation speed of a smaller project - something that CRA can't promise you. After feeling the pains of CRA on larger projects, CSA was the no-brainer alternative. I haven’t looked back.
CSA is a huge change that will turbo boost your next project.
I built my own CRA boilerplate — it has my favorite eslint configuration and a few tsconfig changes I like to work with. You’re free to run this command for the boilerplate :)
git clone https://github.com/antholeole/snowpack-boiler.git
5. Just Build!
The best tip I have is to maximize your coding time. While all these tips will supercharge your development, you have to learn your methodologies. The only way to do that is to develop on your own, without a tutorial working on a project that inspires you.
For instance, one of the personal changes I made is that my eslint config doesn’t allow semicolons. If you like semicolons, that’s perfect and don’t be afraid to carve your own path.
Here are some things you’ll have to decide in your front end journey: | https://levelup.gitconnected.com/five-tips-from-one-year-of-learning-react-3e2d4c9c5379 | ['Anthony Oleinik'] | 2020-11-23 04:17:43.981000+00:00 | ['Beginners Website Design', 'Typescript', 'React', 'Frontend'] |
From Enthusiasm to Accomplishment-Speedy delivery of iOS 14 Widget | The Beginning of Our Journey
Wednesday, 16 September 2020 was the day Apple officially announced the launch of iOS 14. There were a lot of exciting features and capabilities announced that day. But, from all of those features announced, there was one feature that caught our eyes: The Widget. It was simple, informative, compact, and clean. We knew from the start that this feature would be quite useful for our users. Therefore, in the spirit of Tokopedia DNA #FocusOnConsumer and #GrowthMindset, We have decided to create a few widgets for our beloved users in order to bring the best experience to tokopedia users.
In Tokopedia, we are very hungry and eager to keep on learning and trying out new and exciting features. We love being challenged and trying out things that we have never done before. Therefore, when the iOS 14 and widgets were announced, we were beyond excited and cannot wait to implement this capability on our beloved Tokopedia application.
The First Step
We started the widget project by first discussing it with our internal teams (Design, Business, and Development team). Meanwhile one of our developers did some proof of concepts on the widget. During the discussion, ideas sparkling here and there. We got a lot of ideas on what and how we should display information in the Widget. Now, we have to narrow down the idea and pick the most relevant and important for our users.
The project itself started in around the middle of August, and the team had less than 1.5 months to create the widget from scratch. This is for us to become one of the early adopters. We would like to support and be able to utilize the power of iOS 14 from day one while being the leader in the technology field. Since the widget is a newly launched feature, there were very few references for the team to learn about the widget.
Design Thinking & Process
The road we have traveled as a team was not an easy journey, it was only possible for us to accomplish the widget project by working together as a team. But, a lot of people may ask a question like “Why order tracker widget? Or Why chat widget?” Of all use cases available in our Tokopedia apps, why did we choose those two use cases to be shown on widgets?
Providing Order Tracking Capability
Let’s start with the Order Tracker Widget. Before the development processes. The design team conducted research beforehand to locate user pain points when using Tokopedia apps, particularly in the order section. They came up with lots of ideas and sticky notes came in handy for visualization of data and ideas. They wrote, removed, scratched those notes
Reading from the image can be hard and it is partly written in Bahasa, so let me help you to understand. Below are some of our pain points:
User does not know the ETA of their order
Important push notification order tracking are mixed with other push notifications
Too many entry points and efforts just to track order (Have to pass multiple pages first)
Order has always been the most important thing in our user shopping journey, it is personal, it is their product, it is what they are expecting. So keeping track and seeing updates of every order placed is an endorphin source for the users. This factor alone is more than enough to encourage us to create even better shopping experiences for our users, and therefore we have decided to create a widget for order tracking.
Providing Chat-Responsive Capability
The first prototype for chat widget
Coming up next, we have a chat widget. Based on our research, users want to take a quick glance at their chats, they want to be relevant. With this widget, users can view their messages at a quick glance without opening the Tokopedia iOS App. iOS Widget is configurable, so the next logical thing is to support switching between a buyer and seller perspective. You can get a quick look at your messages both as a buyer and seller.
After continuous development and receiving feedback from all parties, the widgets have undergone a series of improvements both from UI/UX and Technical sides. Thanks to those feedbacks, the widgets have been meticulously improved so that they could display simple, informative, and clean information.
Hurdles & Challenges
Creating a dent is never without difficulties nor without challenges. Embracing the unknown territory with newly acquired skills added the hurdles for us, exponentially! But afraid not, we have even more awesome team working hand in hand.
The Sleek & Beautiful SwitUI
SwiftUI has been around for a while, but this is our first time embracing this for our Tokopedia app. Tokopedia as an ecosystem needs to support as many users as possible, therefore we are still supporting iOS 11 which limits us from adopting SwiftUI into our main app. The chance to adopt SwiftUI itself already sent us through the roof!
But, this provides another problem in itself. Since this is our very first time there is a lot of ground to cover. We spent some time after work to close our knowledge gap. Having a grasp of the new concept of writing UI while writing production-ready code is proven to be challenging.
Blessings in Disguise
Tokopedia adopted Bazel to further speed up the building and compiling time of the Tokopedia iOS application [Read more here]. Bazel empowers us to deliver even faster and flexible development cycles. But this also created an issue back then. Particularly for the widget on provisioning profiles and entitlements parts. Integrating the new extension target type to the build system is proven to be challenging too.
On top of that, our in house CI/CD system needs to be upgraded too to use Xcode beta and then again once Xcode GC and release version is there. Our DevOps team is more than happy to assist us with this and do all the integrations, testing, and rolling them out. They did it in a way that does not affect our day to day development at all.
Sharing Sensitive Information Between Main Application and Extension
Keychain access is native storage provided by Apple to store sensitive user information. During the widget development, our team encountered an issue in accessing user login data stored in the keychain when the phone is locked. This renders us unable to refresh the widget data within a designated time frame. The Keychain itself has the capability to be accessed even when the phone is locked. But that will require us to modify the metadata of the Keychain. That will require us to migrate all the data stored in old Keychain containers into a new one with correct metadata in place. The migration needs to be done in all of our users’ phones in production 😱. Yet, we managed to pull off this extremely dangerous and risky move! 🤘
Supporting older iOS Version and error handling
Since WidgetKit is a new framework and available only for iOS 14, we also need to think about how to safely access WidgetKit specific code. This is especially important because we don’t want users of older iOS versions to experience less stable apps. Another thing we need to tackle is how to handle errors gracefully. Obviously, we don’t want our users to be confused with strange error messages on the widget.
These are just some examples of all issues encountered during our widget development. Frankly speaking, there are definitely some other minor issues that the team faced during the development. However, with solid teamwork and collaboration, the team can show our #GrowthMindset and finally release the widget to bring the best experience for Tokopedia users.
Last but not least, let’s meet the team behind the iOS widget. Please join me in saying thank you to these guys for their awesome work and collaboration🤘 | https://medium.com/tokopedia-engineering/from-enthusiasm-to-accomplishment-speedy-delivery-of-ios-14-widget-7476a311a200 | ['Gior Fasolini'] | 2020-11-06 07:04:42.181000+00:00 | ['Innovation', 'Apple', 'Software Engineering', 'Widget', 'iOS'] |
Some Japanese Americans Are Republicans Because of FDR | Some Japanese Americans Are Republicans Because of FDR
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat
The majority of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated in camps during World War II were able to move on and live productive lives. They were the younger generation. They became part of the model minority because they proved themselves to be good citizens who were patriotic and law-abiding. They were able to forgive, but they always remembered the hardships which resulted from the mistreatment of being denied their freedom.
The older generation of immigrant Japanese people who were imprisoned in the camps suffered greatly. Some were never able to recover. Many could not regain the economic stature that they had before the war. The younger generation said that they felt most sorry that their parents had to endure such an injustice of being unfairly incarcerated.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the war with Japan. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This gave the military commander in certain areas the authority to remove any persons from their homes. The order was a racist move used against people of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast of the United States. It was not used in Hawaii or the inland states.
Many Japanese Americans are Democrats because they are a racial minority. They believe in the ideals of the Democratic Party because they themselves and their families have been oppressed. Although many tend to be conservative and some are wealthy, they are generally concerned with civil rights for all people. Racism has affected them.
There are many Japanese Americans who are Republicans because they believe in the ideals of the Republican Party. There are some who are Republicans mainly due to the fact that President Roosevelt was a Democrat. They feel that he and the Democratic Party were responsible for the huge injustice done against them with the incarceration during World War II. They are unable to forget that unfortunate period of their lives for which they may blame Roosevelt and the Democrats.
During the period of Redress when Japanese Americans sought to obtain an apology from the government for the grave injustice done to them during World War II, a commission was set up to study the issue. The findings of the commission were that the causes of the incarceration were: racism, war hysteria, and a failure of government leadership at that time.
When the Japanese American Redress issue came up before Congress, most Democrats voted in favor and most Republicans voted against it. Democrats were the ones who supported the Japanese Americans in their quest. Traditionally, Democrats have been more favorable to minorities and their issues. Some Japanese Americans are still Republicans because of President Roosevelt and their unfortunate experience during World War II.
There are a variety of reasons for people to choose one political party over another. Many are influenced by the past experiences they have had with government and the people in power. Although it is best to affiliate with a party that is closest to your own ideals, it is difficult to discard your personal experiences.
[ For more information, check out www.thejapaneseamericanstory.com and The Japanese American Story As Told Through A Collection Of Speeches And Articles] | https://medium.com/illumination/some-japanese-americans-are-republicans-because-of-fdr-2fd5812653b4 | ['Floyd Mori'] | 2020-11-27 04:49:54.470000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Injustice', 'World War II', 'Republican Party', 'Racism'] |
Argumentative Philosophy: Can There Exist Negative Arguments? | Say you’re in a trolley car. You’re the driver, and at the end of the track you see five workers in your path. The mechanics fail, your brakes don’t work, you lose control and you are heading straight for the workers who are about to be run over to death.
You have two choices: run in to the five workers, or swerve to a side track that’s about to approach a few metres ahead, but in doing so run in to one worker who would be in your path if you chose the latter option. [1]
What would you do?
John Stuart Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism claims individuals should make decisions that will lead to the greatest benefit for society as an aggregate whole. In maximising utility, you put pleasure over pain and happiness over sorrow. In simple terms:
“Greatest good for the greatest number.” [1]
The logical thing to do in this situation is to divert your path and choose the option that would cause one death over five. One family grieving instead of five. One family compensated for their loss instead of five. Obviously, this would lead to the least grief caused in this situation, and the least cost to the economy as a whole.
The thing about philosophy is not only asking what are the possibilities of certain situations and how they relate to morality, it is also dissecting the reasoning behind certain sets of arguments put forth by philosophers of the past, and in doing so coming up with our own definitions of what is right and wrong and logical and insensible.
In ‘An Introduction to Political Philosophy’ by Jonathan Wolff, the introduction argues whether governments should have the political right to control human beings — to subject us to punishment and justify their powers in doing so. He then delves into how Hobbes states society would be if a government system didn’t exist; if, as he puts it, we were in a ‘state of nature’. Its counterpart, the ‘Law of Nature’, is then put forth in order to explain how, if humans were to be in our natural state, the constants of violence and fear would understate the freedom we have for making our own laws — as every one else who is ‘free’ would want to do the same thing. [2]
In ‘Freakonomics’, authors Levitt and Dubner states that humans are motivated by incentives. [3] This basic law of behavioural economics means that, in a state of nature, every one would do what benefits them the most, as each and every individual would have their own moral codes to abide by, and as a result go to the utmost distance to fulfil their need to satisfy their own sense of individualism.
About our political system, made up of governments and intergovernmental organisations, Hobbes argues that our great advantage is that:
“it creates conditions under which people can securely follow the Laws of Nature.”
With just a few pages into Wolff’s novel, I am already presented with an array of arguments that question the very basics of my beliefs. It is true that philosophy, instead of providing us with set and logical reasoning as to satisfy our questions to the variety of ambiguous concepts forming humanity — such as morality and right — often only makes us more confused. As Micheal Sandel, the lecturer leading the Harvard series on ‘Justice’, says:
“Philosophy teaches us and unsettles us by confronting us with what we already know.”
Nevertheless, curiosity persists.
Linking back to the trolley car case: what’s the right thing to do?
With there being ‘consequentialist moral reasoning’ and ‘categorical moral reasoning’, whether one identifies morality with what would happen if a certain action is taken, or place morality in certain duties and rights and overlook its possible results, is entirely subjective.
With this ‘fact’, we can plead that everything ever created is subjective. The notion of objectivity is also, in fact, a subjective notion.
By delving in to morally contradicting arguments, and in the process forming our own arguments, we are able to cross boundaries by not taking things at face value. It’s essential that our own opinions are constantly being formed and changed on subject matters that may or may not make sense to us.
The fact that such variety can exist when approaching a concept blows my mind. In fact, this fact is perhaps the only fact about which I’m completely sure of.
When a person refutes a claim, a negative argument is said to be formed. However, with something as obscure as philosophy, can there even exist such as thing as the right answer?
I can spend years arguing a philosophy. What would I achieve at the end — if there is one — of it?
For example, take death. We all have our own beliefs on what happens when we die: reincarnation, the afterlife etc. Even so, this topic is only viewed from the perspective of the living. What does it matter chasing after a question that can never be answered? [4]
It seems futile at times — to think. But I believe we all have our reasons for doing so. I, for one, derive extreme annoyance when things are ambiguous to me. As do many other people. But I also find it entertaining; hence why I take Literature for A Levels.
Saying that things are black and white, but also realising that shades of grey exist in our morally ambiguous and subjective world, may not be enough. It’s essential that we dive into the why and how of things .
But then again, that’s what I think :)
For me, what I believe is the basis of philosophy is presented by this quote from Wolff:
“In short, studying how things are helps to explain how things can be, and studying how they can be is indispensable for assessing how they ought to be.”
-Shree
[1] Harvard University (2009) Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY.
[2] Wolff, J. (2006). An Introduction to Political Philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–16.
[3] Levitt, S.D. & Dubner, S.J. (2009). Freakonomics. New York, NY: HarperCollins, pp. 16.
[4] Mason, J (2012), Death and Its Concept, https://www.philosophersmag.com/opinion/17-death-and-its-concept | https://medium.com/@onetwoshree/argumentative-philosophy-can-there-exist-negative-arguments-dc90c3b69be6 | ['Shruti Dubey'] | 2020-05-18 04:17:39.946000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Law', 'Morality', 'Life', 'Education'] |
How to Engage with Families During COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Schooling | How to Engage with Families During COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Schooling
In fall of 2019, Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) organized and launched their second extremely successful family engagement survey to learn how families want to be engaged with by their schools. The survey team engaged a diverse set of 1,419 participants who were majority world language speakers and majority people of color in Southeast Seattle.
Southeast Seattle Education Coalition 2019 Family Engagement Survey
SESEC co-designed the survey in six phases over twelve meetings in 6–8 months at 117 local schools with over 20 project partners including:Aki Kurose Middle School, Beacon Hill International School, Bilingual Educator CApacity (BECA), CISC, City Year, Cleveland High School, King County Kinship Collaborative Launch, Maple Elementary, Seattle Public Schools and foundry10.
READ: Family Engagement Survey
Communication Preferences of Dominant and Majority Families
The survey co-designers defined participants in the following terms:
Dominant: Being in a position of systemic power and privilege. More specifically, exerting control over educational practices, policies, and research to reinforce hierarchies between social groups.
White | Full-price Lunch | Non-Immigrant | Primary English Speaker
Majority: Being in a position of democratic potential and possibility. More specifically, transforming educational practices, policies, and research to support historically oppressed and overlooked social groups.
Person of Color | Free or Reduced Lunch | Immigrant | Primary Non-English Speaker
While Dominant families would prefer to communicate by email, Majority families in Southeast Seattle prefer to hear from their child’s school by phone or in-person meeting.
Southeast Seattle Education Coalition 2019 Family Engagement Survey
Slow Down and Build Relationships
“When we shared this data with families of color many of them said the data resonated. They saw themselves in the data and understood the results. As an example, some of our immigrant families said receiving information in-person and via phone allows them to ask questions, an email or flier doesn’t allow for this relationship building. So, what does this mean for our schools and for all of us today? It means we need to slow down and take time to build relationships. Relationships are the glue that holds our communities together and it gives us the empathy to want to create change.” — Erin Okuno, SESEC
READ: Close the Relationship Gap by Erin Okuno
Back to Virtual School: Fall 2020
The results of this second comprehensive and inclusive survey illuminate how to engage with diverse families in the Southeast Seattle community. As we go back to school this fall, Erin Okuno, Executive Director of SESEC reminds us not to generalize and use the data to make assumptions about all school communities.
“As we return to school in a ‘different’ way, remember that universal approaches don’t work — ask your families of color, immigrant families, world-language speaking families, etc. what they want school to look like, and involve them in the planning process.” — Erin Okuno
READ: Returning to School During COVID-19 by Erin Okuno
Make Space for the Nuance of Every Individual
To meaningfully engage school families, we must bring together a diverse group of stakeholders and thoughtfully get to know the nuance of each person and group, says Mindy Huang SESEC Coalition and Communications Manager.
“The approaches of our different CBOs and schools may not work for yours or others elsewhere. That means you just have to find another one that does, not try to shove your constituents into a box and force it. Relationships don’t work that way. Humans do not work that way. Our communities have not survived and thrived under these conditions by trying to live that way. To be culturally competent and live true to our values of community, we strive to find and understand the nuances that each and every individual and group brings to the table.” — Mindy Huang, SESEC Coalition and Communications Manager
READ: There is No Magic Bullet by Mindy Huang
Preparing for the Future
We know that COVID-19 will not be our last community crisis. There will be natural disasters and many unforeseen events to come. The question SESEC wants us all to be asking is “how can we respond smarter, more compassionately, and with stronger attention to racial equity?”
Here are Erin Okuno’s 33 questions to ask yourself and your community to prepare for the next emergency:
READ: Now is the Time to Start Planning for the Next Disaster
Learn more about the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition and the Family Engagement Survey Data here .
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Linkedin: @foundry10 | https://medium.com/the-foundry10-voice/how-to-engage-with-families-during-covid-19-stay-at-home-schooling-251a70fbf4f7 | [] | 2020-09-03 03:51:07.589000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Children', 'Family', 'Education', 'Community Engagement'] |
The Agile dilemma: is it always right? | It seems like every week someone is either doing a full out take-down of Agile or preaching something akin to “You’re doing it wrong!” I get it. Peak in management magazines like Harvard Business Review and Agile reads like the next Innovator’s Dilemma — even for non-tech companies. Yet just about everyone agrees that Agile’s principles get a lot of things right.
Where things go wrong is often in the specific implementation: in the adherence to a particular model that doesn’t fit, a lack of leadership buy-in, or something else altogether. At the end of the day does it matter? Does it matter what big principle the team is operating under if users like the product, the team is happy, and the stakeholders are supportive?
Does it matter what big principle the team is operating under if users like the product, the team is happy, and the stakeholders are supportive?
I’m going to try to convince you the answer isn’t just a “it depends,” but is a solid yes. First, a story.
Not too Agile. Not too Waterfall. Finding the Space Between.
Imagine for a moment that you’re a product manager who has received a set of high level priorities from senior leadership. These priorities — somewhere between requirements and problems to solve — must be met by a certain date, must include certain sets of data, and must address the needs of a specific audience. Initially this sounds like the kind of thing that Marty Cagan would call a “High Integrity Commitment” that a product team must be able to take on. But there’s a catch — there are no plans to release the product until all the priorities and other features are designed, tested, and built. It’s an eight month window for the product team to do their work. Sounds like Waterfall, right?
Not quite. The team has plans to design and test a series of increasingly high-fidelity prototypes with different users. They work in sprints with all the normal activities you’d expect to see. The team is larger than average (about 15), and stacked more with designers, UX researchers, and policy experts than developers. That’s just how things fly at the org. They incorporated earlier user research into their selection of some of the other features they want to build and have a few assumptions they want to test. Sounds pretty Agile, right?
In general, people on the team are excited to be working on it. They recognize that their work is driven partially by org priorities and stakeholder interests and partially by user research that they’ve done. They’re excited to be working with new people and honing skills they’re looking to develop.
We come back to the question: does it matter if this team is running a hybrid model?
Agile matters because the solution is probably wrong
Great user research can help you avoid big errors. Testing with prototypes will get you feedback that will increase the chance that your hypotheses for how to meet your users’ needs are right.
But once you release, you’re likely to quickly realize where you were wrong. Where some assumptions were just off or where what people said they would do was very different from what they actually did. Where maybe you overestimated their desire to switch to something new. Where even with the ‘right’ data, it wasn’t necessarily the right data for the situation and practice.
Maybe you get lucky and the majority of the features you created fulfill the needs you were addressing — but how does that land for the stakeholders who needed to see it all, for one specific scenario and who now need an alternative?
To zoom back out for a moment, Agile isn’t just about iterative design and user research. That work is hugely important and often undervalued. But the difference between user research and live experiments are night and day. This is just human behavior, and our biases and irrational behaviors are predictable but not always preventable.
Discovery means Experimentation
When I talk with product managers, project managers, scrum masters, data analysts, and data scientists, just about everyone has a different definition of what an experiment is. I find this funny because if you talk to researchers in just about any commercial or academic area, they basically all have the same definition: a set of unknowns you test starting with a hypothesis. The other thing those researchers share? They assume they’re wrong and expect to test things many, many times.
So how can we as people doing product things help channel the scientific researcher way?
Do your research. I’m not advocating for skipping user research, just for understanding what types of assumptions it is best posed to address. Test with the right level of prototype. As I’ve written about before, prototyping is not a linear process from low- to high. Some tests need a live-data prototype that’s going to require developer time. Other tests could be just fine with design-only methods. Release to a limited audience. Run experiments in production with a limited group of users to get both qualitative and quantitative feedback. There is simply no substitute for this step and the best companies are doing it by the hour. (Seriously, there are hundreds of simultaneous experiments being run when you log on to site like Amazon, Netflix, or Google.) Share what you’re learning. The only way you’re going to build trust with your users and stakeholders is if you share what is and isn’t working. If you feel like you need a long window to do your work, there might a deep trust issue that needs to be addressed first. Break the work up into multiple empowered product teams. Maybe this should come earlier, but one way to create space to test and pivot within a product is for teams to have the autonomy and flexibility to do so. Having just one team (one PM, one group of designers, one team of developers) creates too many dependencies to disentangle the work efficiently. Maybe they’ll have better coherence and coordination, but those problems can be solved in other ways. Listen to the data, but follow up in person. Data from your experiments are hugely important in helping you understand where your hypotheses were right and wrong. But they don’t help you with the ‘why’? Look at your analytic tools, your logs, and develop a new set of questions you want to ask users in your test group.
The Agile Effect on Design and Engineering Culture
There’s another subtler, but I’d argue equally important reason for an Agile approach: culture. While the research on this is still developing, a group of Lean and DevOps experts pulled together surveys, interviews, and other data to lay out a set of findings on what the strongest dev teams shared in common in a book Accelerate. The result?
Teams that practiced more elements of Continuous Delivery, Continuous Improvement, and broader Agile practices outperformed others, stayed together longer, built better products, and were happier.
Maybe you get lucky. Maybe those things matter less to your PMs, DBAs, engineers, and designers. But in the long run, that’s not what the research suggests. | https://uxdesign.cc/the-agile-dilemma-is-it-always-the-way-9458988f0c3 | ['Josh Dormont'] | 2020-02-22 21:59:00.158000+00:00 | ['Product Management', 'UX', 'Agile', 'UX Research', 'Lean Startup'] |
I can relate to your sharing. | I can relate to your sharing. I read 2 stories by now. On a good day, I also have the feeling of suicide, I want to end my life when I feel good, rather than when I’m hopeless. I mean, I want control over the situation… Btw, I had suicidal thought at 14 years old. I just thought of suicide a few hours ago, impulsively (jumping from the bridge). I find sympathy & hope from your article. Thank you. | https://medium.com/@victornguyen_22363/i-can-relate-to-your-sharing-17f58a6b7017 | ['Victor Nguyen'] | 2020-12-09 09:27:23.930000+00:00 | ['Suicide', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology'] |
Why It’s Important That Women Like FKA twigs Speak on Abusive Relationships | Why It’s Important That Women Like FKA twigs Speak on Abusive Relationships
Abuse doesn’t recognize status. Everyone’s experience matters.
Many of us know the statistic. Over 43 million women and 38 million men have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
You may have been one of those 81 million people. I have.
But who am I? I’m a college-educated woman in psychology, no less. Someone raised in a staunch Catholic family where divorce wasn’t an option. I make a decent living working my 9 to 5, meaning I would have been able to survive on my own. So why did I stay, you may ask? There are many many reasons.
In the end, I am no one. I am just one of the 81 million people who have lived this experience.
Do you know who else is one of 81 million ? FKA twigs [born Tahliah Debrett Barnett].
Her experience doesn’t matter more because she’s a celebrity.
Her experience isn’t more traumatic because it’s in the public light.
But her decision to share her experience publicly is so incredibly important because it supports the fact that abuse can happen to anyone. | https://medium.com/fearless-she-wrote/why-its-important-that-women-like-fka-twigs-speak-on-abusive-relationships-85664a758de9 | ['Estrella Ramirez'] | 2020-12-16 15:26:07.124000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Self', 'Abuse', 'Mental Health', 'Healing'] |
Can Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) replace Venture Capital? | It’s a global debate. Can Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) replace Venture Capital on an international scale?
In 2016, ICOs raised $96.3m. In 2017, it went up to $4bn. Already in the first month and a half of 2018, the figure stands at just short of a billion dollars.
Proving themselves to not just be a fad, ICOs have demonstrated themselves to be a fully irrefutable and dynamic way of raising funds. But where do venture capitalists stand on them?
This new way of fundraising has divided VCs across the world — some see it as the next step on the evolutionary journey, others view them as a threat to the current staus quo. Could ICOs replace the entire venture capitalise private equity process, or could the two co-exist harmoniously?
Jon Matonis, founder of Bitcoin Foundation, says in order to survive, VCs will have to take on an adapt-or-sink approach — as the ICO train shows no signs of slowing down.
The venture capitalists that are embracing ICOs are making the system work for their operations by implementing certain criteria, which Matonis explains in this video: | https://medium.com/hip-property/can-initial-coin-offerings-icos-replace-venture-capital-fa1aa44b7319 | ['Hip Property'] | 2018-02-16 11:19:48.897000+00:00 | ['Private Equity', 'Hip Property', 'Jon Matonis', 'ICO', 'Venture Capital'] |
What the Hell? | I work part-time in a church office. My duties mostly revolve around prepping for Sunday (printing bulletins, setting up check in stations, making sure the visuals are all in the right places, etc.). We have a weekly staff meeting on Mondays at 10am. We are currently using Zoom because — you know. Something happened on one of those Zoom calls that I’d like to tell you about.
We are located in rural MN and so we reopened earlier than most. When we reopened in late June, many church members were, rightly, concerned about the irresponsibility of that decision. Trust me, I would not have made that call. But it happened and our attendance was fairly low for several weeks. Mind, we had been live-streaming our Sunday services since March so we had a decent amount of people “attending” from home.
I guess that wasn’t good enough for a certain pastor on our staff. One day, a fine summer morning, at the close of our staff meeting, he ended in prayer by directly telling god that people watching online wasn’t the same as coming to church. And in his little mind, people NEED to come to church. So he told god to (and this is literally a direct quote I wrote down because I was so shocked by it) “make them miserable until they come back to church.”
… I just… What the hell? I’m sure the number of reasons for people not coming to church is somewhere in the quadrillions, and we can add this instance to the list. | https://medium.com/@marilla-lahr/what-the-hell-cf5429927199 | ['Marilla Lahr'] | 2020-12-18 15:56:13.465000+00:00 | ['Prayer', 'Pastor', 'Religion', 'Deconstruction', 'Church'] |
Benefits of companies registration in India | There are several benefits of companies registration in India. Let’s have a look at all of them:
· Easy transfer of ownership: If there is a proprietorship, then there is no option to transfer the business from one owner to another. This is so because the registration had been done in the name of the owner of the proprietorship firm. However, in the case of a company, transferring shares is extremely easy. Also, the person who is holding the shares can act as the real owner of the Company.
· Separate legal entity: Company is a separate entity. So it exists differently from the owner of the Company. There is no relation between a company and the life of the owners. The company will continue to work even though owners keep on changing.
· Limited liability of Company: When a loss is incurred in business, the owners have to bear the liability of the loss. But in the case of a registered company, the company owners are not liable to pay for their losses. The company will provide that amount to outsiders which can be incurred from the Company itself. There is no right to claim money from the directors or shareholders.
· The capacity for borrowing: A registered company can always enjoy better borrowing facilities. Issuing of debentures is allowed for Companies. Also, it can accept deposits from the public. A company can even take the help of banking and financial institutions.
So if you are an entrepreneur and want to taste success, then use your innovative mind and go for companies registration in India. Company Formation India is a facilitator agency that helps in the completion of the registration process of Companies.
Also Read, | https://medium.com/@cformationindia/benefits-of-companies-registration-in-india-28dfe9b463e0 | ['Company Formationindia'] | 2020-05-20 09:40:09.441000+00:00 | ['Company', 'Company Registration', 'New Company Registration', 'Company Formation'] |
Yakima Feb 2018 | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/andytillo/yakima-feb-2018-f26fbec7779e | ['Andy Tillo'] | 2018-02-19 04:57:27.312000+00:00 | ['Yakima', 'Wind', '360'] |
A Dark Day in America’s History | Photo by Zurem Meru on Unsplash
It’s difficult to convey the gravity of the actions that took place on Thursday, December 10, 2020, when 126 elected Republican Congressmen, plus other elected state officials, added their names to an Amicus Curiae Brief, seeking to overturn the results of a legitimately decided U.S. Presidential election. Although on Friday, December 11, 2020, the Supreme Court justices, three appointed by Trump, rejected the Texas lawsuit case with no dissents, the stench of what happened remains.
l It might be useful to take some time to review the text of the lawsuit and those who attached their names to what many respected commentators, scholars, reporters, and other elected officials are calling a seditious act. To be clear, the act of sedition is described in the language of the Espionage Act of 1917. U.S. federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered into World War 1. It has been amended numerous times over the years. The federal law against seditious conspiracy can be found in Title 18 of the U.S. Code (which includes treason, rebellion, and similar offenses). You decide:
According to the statutory definition of sedition, it is a crime for two or more people within the jurisdiction of the United States:
To conspire to overthrow or destroy by force the government of the United States or to level war against them.
To oppose by force the authority of the United States government; to prevent, hinder, or delay by force the execution of any law of the United States; or
To take, seize, or possess by force any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof.
The legal challenges involving election fraud and irregularities were heard and should have been heard. They were rejected, and on Friday by the highest court. No matter your political perspective, we all have looked to the highest court of the land, including President Trump, to settle wicked matters facing this country. Not all of its decisions sit well with millions on the other side of an issue, nevertheless, its authority is respected. Make no mistake, to reject this case speaks volumes as to whether the justices considered the lawsuit as having merit. We should ask ourselves, why would the highest court in America, with the majority of conservative appointed justices, reject the case if it had merit? Are they too part of the grand scheme to “steal the election?”
Thursday was an especially dark day during a period of so many. I, and millions of Americans, wondered how we arrived at this point in our history, where elected officials would attach their names to a document and an effort to overturn a legitimately decided election. The seriousness of this act requires that I repeat this over, and over again.
We came perilously close to the destruction of our grand democracy, which is why many would argue that this threat cannot go unanswered. It is true that the election results (306 electoral votes vs. 232, and over 7 million more than the opponent) and the responses by our legal institutions, provided a buttress to the threat of our democracy, this time. However, a terrible affront to our nation took place by the very officials who swore an oath to defend the United States and the constitution.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me, God.
How ironic is it that those 126 congressmen acted as domestic enemies against the Constitution of the United States by being active participants in an attempt to subvert it? The next time our weakened institutions may not hold up.
We did not wake up one morning to find ourselves at this point in our history. We have been inching toward a disaster zone for some time now. We have relied heavily on a system of goodwill, decency, and traditions that have been bent, stretched, and broken. We now know that a host of government activities require that laws be attached to explicitly guide behavior. To this end, we must engage in courageous discussions resulting in specific outcomes.
In relation to the elected officials who signed their names to the Amicus Curiae Brief, although many would argue that we must now be laser-focused on the monumental problems facing our country, absolutely true, but we cannot dismiss or ignore the consequential decision made by elected representatives to overturn a legitimate election, with no fraud or major irregularities found. In order to protect our democracy from such future threats, is it not necessary to hold appropriate hearings to determine the legal consequences, if any, or decide on appropriate punishment? What are the consequences if we do nothing?
Thursday, December 10, 2020, was a dark and pivotal day in our nation’s history. It served as a warning.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/politics/read-house-republicans-texas-supremecourt/index.html
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Oath_Office.htm | https://medium.com/@sharpervision/a-dark-day-in-americas-history-8db28563ccb9 | ['Lisa Paisley-Cleveland'] | 2020-12-31 02:42:30.922000+00:00 | ['Supreme Court', 'Undermine', 'Sedition', 'Oath Of Office', 'Presidential Election'] |
The Strange Mr. Allan | Clemons steps in the classroom first.
“Good morning, everyone!” she says.”We were running late this morning because we wanted to give your new teacher a big Merritt High welcome. We expect all of you to do the same,” she warns. “Don’t make him call the principal on his first day. And don’t make me come back here. “ Miss Clemons may be the youngest teacher on staff, but she gets as much respect, if not more than her elder colleagues. She pats the man on the back, gives Lia a friendly wave, and walks back to her class.
Lia smiled back and waved. She wishes she can leave this class with her.
The classroom rushed to silence when he stepped to the center of the room. He is looks nothing like any of the students expected. Mr. Allan is a large man. His skin is pale. Ghoulishly pale. This man looks like he only experienced five seconds of summer. His hair is a mountain of raven black hair swept behind his ears. He has large brown eyes in sunken sockets, a snub nose, and full cheeks. They did not complement his obvious sleep-deprived appearance. A few freckles sprinkled across his nose and forehead. They make him look somewhere between very young and very old. He stood about three inches shorter than the door. His shoulders are broad, sort of like a linebacker. There is a slight slouch in his posture.
As the willowy man enters the room, he says nothing. His rosy lips pressed tight into an expression that looked angry.
Or anxious.
His sunken black eyes are taking in the room. The more he surveys the room, the darker the bags under his eyes appear.
The atmosphere went terribly cold. Lia had a jacket on, but she could still feel a chill through her sleeves. She, along with the rest of the class, staring back at the ominous man.
“Um… good morning?”A red-headed girl named Laya shakily greets from the back of the classroom. “I have an assignment.”
The man has spoken. Not the voice Lia imagined in the moment of silence.
But she is familiar with the way he articulated his words. Timid and quick-witted, reminds Lia of her Uncle Theo.
“What happened to Mrs. Acker?” A red-headed girl asks. She plays the role of a suck-up in any class. Mostly because the girl is as smart as two peanuts and thinks her kindness to her elders is a part of her intelligence. Plus, Laya’s parents are rich. They can be paying for her grades. The teachers here will give her a grade bump for pity and pocket change.
“She’s gone.” Mr. Allan replies.
“Did she die?” Laya asked. Lia is rolling her eyes at this point. She could have sworn she saw Laya out in the going-away party, throwing streamers with everyone else. She just wanted to get a head start.
“No, but by the way she looks, she could any minute.” There is a pause before the choral of laughter. Lia’s mouth dropped to the floor. She tried not to laugh. Mrs. Acker is old, but she is not dirt. It was still a good joke. She may like this teacher.
“I have an assignment.” Mr. Allan says again, the classroom rushes to silence.
His long legs fan out in a stride towards the desk. His limbs flail as he walks, and his hair bounces a beat off from the movement of his arms. Where did Merritt High get this character? He moved like a ghost.
Lia stops paying attention to the man. Lia withdrew her attention to her notebook. Now she is scratching lines, circles, and words into an old story she wrote the last week of summer break.
Mr. Allan looked up past the monitor and as if a light flickered in his head. He pretends to not acknowledge her vigorous pencil scratching in the quiet.
He bounces out of the chair with the paper roster hanging from his hands. He grabs a worn green expo marker from the board to write out his name. His penmanship is crisp and eccentric, much more legible than Mrs. Acker’s. Lia wonders if she is going to spend this class comparing Acker to Allan.
“Hello, class. My name is Elliot Allan. I am your new English teacher. Please call me Mr. Allan.”
He looks down in his hand as he speaks. Lia tries to lean away from her desk to see what Mr. Allan was holding. It looks like a little black book. Her eyes widened when she realized it wasn’t black. The book is smoking.
There’s something strange about Mr. Allan.
“ I should call the roll now.” he snatches the stapled pieces of paper from his back pocket. His exhausted eyes wander from the class to the roll. Even his eyes darkened. Lia feels herself clutching the rail of her desk.
“Andrews.” the teacher shouts. A brunette boy wearing a black and green hoodie with a popular energy drink logo raises his hand from the middle of the classroom.
“Okay, Anthem? Anthem, That’s an interesting last name.”
“Here!” The boy with the gray slouchy beanie says.
“Auste. Ballyck, oh no… Berke…Bess…” Allan reads half of the roster before chucking the stack of papers back on the desk.
“Okay. Every seat is full except one. It looks like everyone is here. Let’s get to work!” | https://medium.com/illumination/the-strange-mr-allan-d021fc48c6f2 | ['Bambzi Ellis'] | 2020-11-11 21:34:50.574000+00:00 | ['Fiction', 'Mysterious', 'Supernatural', 'Series', 'Short Fiction'] |
Explore What’s HOT at ALAX’s Booth in China Joy 2019! | First time China Joy and we cannot stress our excitement enough!
ChinaJoy — Highly industry-recognised event is landing in Shanghai this August! Save the date and markdown our booth now!!!! We will be attending this huge event held from 2–5 August 2019 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Mark our booth: BTOB AREA, A564.
We are SUPER excited to present the first look of our booth at China Joy 2019 and cannot wait to meet and connect with industry players in this HUGE Asian market!
To celebrate our first time at China Joy, ALAX has come up with a brand new selection of souvenirs including Tote bag, keychains etc! Hints: the keyring with Mascot — MAX is our personal favourite!
During the course of the event, we will be launching our new app: ALAX Merchant. This app is not for gamers and only for the token distributors who will sell AIA token for us. Want to dig into details about this new app? Ask as much as you want at China Joy!
Ensure you mark down your booth and come to say hello to us at Booth: A564 BTOB area.
Heads up for more updates and details for China Joy 2019!
The latest information about this event will always be updated on our social media channels, please follow it! We look forward to seeing you in person at ChinaJoy! | https://medium.com/alax-io/explore-whats-hot-at-alax-s-booth-in-china-joy-2019-c95c8d41c4b7 | [] | 2019-07-30 06:00:10.518000+00:00 | ['Alaxblog', 'Android', 'App Store', 'Shanghai', 'China'] |
"Man Bites Dog” | The title of this article is what a call a “head turning headline”.
It is quite similar to the one below.
“Get opens with bad subject lines"
That's a subject line from my inbox.
It grabbed my attention so I opened the email.
Why?
It uses a powerful but effective attention grabbing trick.
What's that?
Contradiction.
Yes.
Contradiction is one of simplest ways to write head turning headlines or subject lines.
How is it done?
Put 2 ideas together that are not usually the case.
For example...
"Man bites dog" is attention grabbing because that's not usually the case.
It's a strange occurrence.
"half dead makes $2000 a month lying lifeless in the hospital"
Is quite a contradiction.
Because it gets you thinking how a half dead man can still make money.
There are many other examples of contradiction headlines.
Like the...
"one legged golfer" ad by John Carlton.
So how do you wrote yours?
Step 1
Determine or know what's normal
Step 2
Research your project to find a contradiction that is opposite the normal.
Here's how I did it a few years back.
I wrote a sales letter for freelance writer who was selling a freelance course.
I asked him.
"What was your worse grade in school?"
"an E" he said.
With that information I turned that info into this headline...
==
“How A Complete Newbie From The UK (Who Had An “E” in English) , Made $4,465 In One Month From Freelance Writing”
...And Made Over $2000 To $4000 For 8 Months Straight..
===
Next time you work on a project, find out and research properly to know if you can use a Contradiction headline.
Thank you. | https://medium.com/@mkakan/man-bites-dog-22ac52a762e3 | ['Mkpouto Usua', 'Mk Akan'] | 2020-11-14 17:00:30.104000+00:00 | ['Copywriting', 'Selling', 'Direct Response Marketing', 'Headlines', 'Advertising'] |
A Brush with Cancer Research: Translating good grades to much more | PPS: It is important to mention that at the time of accepting the offer, my hyperactive imagination may have lured me to believe that the research I do at TTCRC as an undergrad researcher could actually save a life and other similar mildly heroic thoughts that I had SO naively entertained before my first day on the job!
The first week of work at TTCRC was humbling because not only did I find myself struggling to keep up with the medical jargon that biologists and doctors so eloquently used to describe their experiments but I also learnt of the incredibly high standards of performance that newly developed experimental “AI” solutions for the medical domain must meet before they are even tested with actual patient samples.
PPS: As a computer engineering undergrad, who did not take biology in high school, referencing and reviewing research literature from medical journals like BLOOD was a painful experience that most definitely bruised my self esteem.
On a more serious note, during the first week at TTCRC, I spent my time learning about ‘Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia’ (ALL), a type of blood cancer that is prevalent in children, in greater detail. I learnt that the pressing need to study drug response for this specific illness is to tackle the problem of unaffordable medication that many ALL patients face in India. This gave me clarity on the “big picture” problem this research aims to address and ultimately played a significant role in keeping me motivated throughout my time as a Research Fellow. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity of working at the Tata Translational Cancer Research Centre to complete my undergraduate thesis. Most of all I am glad that I got a chance to apply what I learnt in class to solve a problem that truly matters.
Through this article I’d like to share two main takeaways from my time as a fledgling undergrad researcher.
Takeaways:
#1 “Can I explain this to a child?” is a handy learning metric.
During my time as a Research Fellow, there were instances when I had to explain my approach or the limitations I faced, to doctors and biologists who were obviously not familiar with any Machine Learning lingo. I found myself stumped at times, not knowing how to explain technical terms to them. So I devised a question that now serves as a binary learning metric of sorts for me, namely — Can I explain this to a child? Only if the answer to this question is a YES, I assume I’ve actually understood the concept well enough to express it in its simplest form with an example or analogy. For quick self analysis before meetings or presentations, I made it a point to break down technical concepts related to my work to the point where expressing the concept in the simplest way possible with an example wasn’t a challenge. This not only helped me communicate better, it also improved my own understanding of concepts. | https://medium.com/@swatiiikanwal/a-brush-with-cancer-research-translating-good-grades-to-much-more-270c58d489dc | ['Swati Kanwal'] | 2020-12-18 16:12:00.194000+00:00 | ['STEM', 'Cancer', 'Research', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Women In Tech'] |
What is Feature Scaling & Why is it Important in Machine Learning? | Understanding the effects of different scalers
Photo by Fleur on Unsplash
In this section, we will learn the distinction between normalisation and standardisation. In addition, we will also examine the transformational effects of 3 different feature scaling techniques in Scikit-learn.
Normalisation
Normalisation, also known as min-max scaling, is a scaling technique whereby the values in a column are shifted so that they are bounded between a fixed range of 0 and 1.
The formula for normalisation is as follows:
X_new = (X - X_min) / (X_max - X_min)
MinMaxScaler is the Scikit-learn function for normalisation.
Standardisation
On the other hand, standardisation or Z-score normalisation is another scaling technique whereby the values in a column are rescaled so that they demonstrate the properties of a standard Gaussian distribution, that is mean = 0 and variance = 1.
The formula for standardisation is as follows:
X_new = (X - mean) / std
StandardScaler is the Scikit-learn function for standardisation.
Unlike StandardScaler, RobustScaler scales features using statistics that are robust to outliers. More specifically, RobustScaler removes the median and scales the data according to the interquartile range, thus making it less susceptible to outliers in the data.
Normalisation vs standardisation
Here comes the million-dollar question — when should we use normalisation and when should we use standardisation?
As much as I hate the response I’m about to give, it depends.
The choice between normalisation and standardisation really comes down to the application.
Standardisation is generally preferred over normalisation in most machine learning context as it is especially important when comparing the similarities between features based on certain distance measures. This is most prominent in Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a dimensionality reduction algorithm, where we are interested in the components that maximise the variance in the data.
Normalisation, on the other hand, also offers many practical applications particularly in computer vision and image processing where pixel intensities have to be normalised in order to fit within the RGB colour range between 0 and 255. Moreover, neural network algorithms typically require data to be normalised to a 0 to 1 scale before model training.
At the end of the day, there is no definitive answer as to whether you should normalise or standardise your data. One can always apply both techniques and compare the model performance under each approach for the best result.
Application
Now that we have gained a theoretical understanding of feature scaling and the difference between normalisation and standardisation, let’s see how they work in practice.
To demonstrate the effects of MinMaxScaler, StandardScaler and RobustScaler, I have chosen to examine the following features in our dataset before and after implementing feature scaling:
ZN
AGE
TAX
B
Original vs MinMaxScaler vs StandardScaler vs RobustScaler
As we can see, our original features have wildly different ranges.
MinMaxScaler has managed to rescale those features so that their values are bounded between 0 and 1.
StandardScaler and RobustScaler, on the other hand, have rescaled those features so that they are distributed around the mean of 0. | https://towardsdatascience.com/what-is-feature-scaling-why-is-it-important-in-machine-learning-2854ae877048 | ['Jason Chong'] | 2020-12-30 19:46:37.732000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Scikit Learn', 'Data Preprocessing', 'Feature Scaling'] |
Is Tableau Really Better Than Power BI? | Reactions to using Tableau for the first time; from a Power BI user.
When getting started in data visualization, one of the first major decisions you need to make is what Business Intelligence (BI) tool you want to learn (or at least, learn first). There are approximately 5,678,234,987 BI tools out there, but the two heavyweights are Tableau and Microsoft’s Power BI.
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash. Owie
Now, not to overdramatize (but I’m going to overdramatize), but the Tableau vs. Power BI debate is a strongly divided camp. Like the Yankees vs. the Red Sox or Voldemort vs. Potter. There are some dataviz folks, mostly freelancers, who are well versed in both, but everyone has their favorite.
True confessions: when I first started learning about BI tools, I wanted to learn Tableau.
Tableau is cool. Tableau is what everyone is always talking about. Tableau has an Iron Viz competition, for goodness’ sake. I mean that name alone makes it sound badass. To me, Power BI seemed like the lame little brother who was desperately trying to follow in his hero’s footsteps. Power BI could maybe get you what you needed, but it wasn’t going to be pretty.
As fate would have it, because of a series of constraints (namely, budget, and Microsoft-embeddedness in my organization) I got “stuck” with Power BI.
Fast forward just over a year later, and, through some McGivering, Power BI has been able to do everything we have needed. But a part of me still felt left out of the cool kids’ table because the more you get involved in dataviz, the more you hear about Tableau. So, I decided to give it a whirl and see what all the fuss is about.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Trying out Tableau
First, I downloaded Tableau Public (you can download it for free here, which might seem counterintuitive to the above conversation with my manager, but Tableau Public would not be suitable for my work because, as the name suggests, you have to make everything you do and all of your data public). Then, I headed over to Makeover Monday to get a dataset with which to work. If you haven’t heard of Makeover Monday, it is an awesome project with a weekly challenge to makeover a published data visualization with an openly available dataset. Write thank-you notes to Eva Murray and Andy Kriebel at your earliest convenience.
As I was making my way through the challenge using Tableau, here were my reactions:
1. How in the heck do I clean my data?!
When you load a dataset into Power BI, you immediately go into Power Query where you can do all sorts of data cleaning (either by point-and-click or by using the M language — more on that here). Apparently, you need Tableau Prep for this in Tableau, which is an additional cost. Not today, Satan. Luckily, this week’s Makeover Monday dataset is already formatted nicely so I don't need to do much.
Good luck Charlie reaction GIF from Giphy.
2. Only ONE visual per sheet?!
Tableau seems to force you to create only one visualization per sheet. As in one chart. As in one metric. Once you have created 237 sheets, you can then combine them into a dashboard. As someone who likes to do side-by-side comparisons of different versions of a visual all at once, this is a real pain in the keister.
Having to make allll the sheets
I have become immensely grateful for the ability to create multiple visuals in a sheet at all once. Instead of having to create multiple sheets with multiple visuals to then make a dashboard, in Power BI, you essentially just start building the dashboard itself from the ground up.
3. When I create a calculated field it is added as a column to my data?!
In Power BI, you create measures or calculated columns (more on that here). The two options have very different implications for the performance of your dashboards. If I create a calculated field in Tableau and then go back to my data view, it shows up as another column! For most of my calculated fields, this doesn’t even make sense…For example, if I create a calculated field “2020 Exports,” it is added as a column with a bunch of nulls — Tableau, explain yourself!
Why would I want Total 2020 Exports as a column, Tableau?!
Aside from the nonsensical-ness of this, I’m not sure what the performance implications are, but they can’t be good.
That being said, I can appreciate the added simplicity of having only one option in Tableau: a “calculated field.” When first starting in Power BI, it took me a while to get a handle on the circumstances when I would want to create a “calculated column” or a “measure.” If I didn’t have to weed through those differences in Power BI, I might not have even noticed that this handling of calculated fields in Tableau seems strange.
4. I have to create a DUPLICATE FIELD if I want to display it as a different color?!
I will give it to Tableau that it can be nice that, once you add your 237 sheets into a dashboard, you can change some of the formatting to all visuals at once. This can be super handy!
However, if I want to display a certain field, let’s stick with 2020 Exports, as black in a table but gray in a bar chart, I have to create a DUPLICATE 2020 Exports field. Two. Of the exact same field. So that they can be two different colors in two different visuals.
This is completely foreign to a Power BI user who can customize the color and other characteristics of each field per each visual. The way field is displayed in one visual (e.g., a bar chart) is completely independent of how that same field is displayed in another visual (e.g., a table).
Photo by Rajshri Bharath KS on Unsplash
I feel like this was probably intended to be some kind of stop-gap for those newer to dataviz, because, in most cases, it is a good practice to have the same field be the same color across visualizations. But, there are plenty of situations where it makes all the sense in the world to have the same field be different colors in different visualizations and it’s my dashboard and I should be able to do what I want.
5. Tableau Community is great… and so is Power BI Community.
Both Tableau and Power BI have a “Community” portal where users can post questions or issues that they are having and other users can respond. The two communities are similar and, when you search for Tableau and/or Power BI and the name of your issue, the first couple of results are almost always postings in the respective community page.
Unsurprisingly, Tableau Community is active and robust with all the resources you can imagine. I had to do much Googling as I was working my way through this Makeover Monday (which I also had to do when I was first learning Power BI, and still do) and I was able to find the information that I needed to accomplish my goals. But, I also realized that I am able to do the same thing when I run into an issue with Power BI. Considering that Power BI is far lesser known than Tableau, this is all the more impressive.
Sidebar: Because I’m like that, I tested loading the landing page of each community: Power BI: 3.24 seconds and Tableau: 7.5 seconds. Time is money, people!
Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash
However, beyond the general support/troubleshooting community, the community at large is much stronger for Tableau. Tableau users have a dedicated conference, community challenges, and other fun activities and events with which Power BI just cannot compete.
IMHO, this is an area where Power BI really falls flat. When you see a super-cool-out-of-this-world-gorgeous data visualization, it is almost always in Tableau, and if it isn’t in Tableau, it is much more likely to be made in a data visualization tool other than Power BI. This makes it much more difficult to inspire new users because it can be harder to get Power Bi specific inspiration.
Conclusion
I learned three things from this experience:
1. It was painful, but also really fun to work with a new tool.
2. I want to keep experimenting in Tableau outside of work.
3. I haven’t been giving Power BI enough credit.
It is hard not to be wooed by Tableau. There is no denying it, it is really pretty. And because more design-centric people tend to gravitate towards Tableau, the dashboards that you see are beautiful.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t also create beautiful things in Power BI and Tableau certainly has its cons.
If you are first starting out, I would encourage you to pick just one to start with. Trying to learn both at once will be all kinds of confusing and once you learn one, it will be much easier to learn the other. As you are learning and testing and want to at least start with a free solution I would pick:
Tableau if:
- Straightforward data
- Limited data cleaning required
- Want to go bowling with bumpers/have guide rails in place
Power BI if:
- More complex data
- Data cleaning required
- Want more direct control and customization
Regardless of which tool you end up using primarily, I encourage you to play in both. Keep banging your head against the wall, it gets so much better!
***I reserve the right to completely reverse everything I just said a year (or week) from now when I’ve learned more about Tableau.***
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash
I’m a People Analyst who loves data viz. Usually, I work in Power BI, but on days like today, I venture over to the dark side. I would love to hear more about your tool of choice and why. Where do you get inspiration for your next Power BI dashboard? How do you organize your sheets for creating a dashboard in Tableau? Find me on Linkedin or Twitter or leave comments below. Let’s get this party started! | https://medium.com/nightingale/reactions-to-using-tableau-for-the-first-time-9e24510a7b6a | ['Jenna Eagleson'] | 2020-11-20 15:54:44.443000+00:00 | ['Data Visualization', 'Tableau', 'Business Intelligence', 'Power Bi', 'Tools'] |
There is something in the blood… | According to clinical or biochemical definition the blood is a connective tissue that flow in closed blood vessels, connective tissue because it connects all the body by supplying oxygen ,nutrients hormones etc to their destination but the blood also has some social definition i.e center of feelings.
Have u ever thought from where the feelings come from? The heart hasn’t a brain or some thinking sense then what does this means that, I don’t want to do this and that etc. why we use the word of WANT, even sometimes our mind is contradicting even we know that it would be hazardous etc. but why we do that, why we say I WANT ….
I think the word WANT belongs to heart. Let’s focus the nature, have u ever thought why the women is soft hearted than a male. Her kind behaviour affection and politeness, why is this more than a man?? It’s because the creator has added something in her blood and this is transfering to generations to generations.
Even a scientist conducted an experiment on a cat that he placed the food from some distance to her and let her to go to get that but there were hurdles in the way and those were electric shocks, the cat didn’t tolerate that and died after 3–4 shocks. Then he again experimented and this time instead of food he kept kittens and what did he see, that the cat crossed all the seven electric shocks and died very near to her kittens.
So, concluding this that there is something inside the blood that has its social value and is a reason of feelings — not yet discovered. | https://medium.com/@hico.ice193/there-is-something-in-the-blood-ff6d8660ec5e | ['Haiqa Masoud'] | 2019-03-21 20:51:52.146000+00:00 | ['Curiosity', 'Thinking', 'Science', 'Health', 'Social'] |
GOP Is Addicted To Phony Scandals | GOP Is Addicted To Phony Scandals
One of the biggest obsessions of the modern GOP and right wing media — along with deficit financed tax cuts for the wealthy — are phony Democratic scandals. The GOP and its accomplices in the right wing media have been trying to create Democratic scandals since the Clintons emerged on the national scene in 1992. On closer inspection, every one of these scandals has turned out to be bogus.
Between 1992 and 2001, the “liberal” mainstream media and three GOP special prosecutors investigated Bill and Hillary Clinton at a cost to the taxpayers of $70 million. For eight years, we heard a lot about Whitewater, FBI files, Rose law firm files, the travel office firings, the death of Vince Foster and Monica Lewinsky. At the end of the day, all of these “scandals” fell flat. The Clintons were charged with nothing and Bill Clinton left office with a 65% approval rating.
This GOP obsession with phony scandals resumed during the Obama Administration. The right wing became especially fired up about the tragic deaths of four Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in 2012. (Interestingly enough, the GOP was silent about the 13 embassy attacks during the Bush 43 Administration and the deaths of 61 Americans in those attacks.)
Eight Republican majority Congressional committees investigated Benghazi and failed to confirm any of the conspiracy theories generated by the likes of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Yet every Republican I know still fervently believes in those conspiracy theories.
The Clinton private email server was discovered in conjunction with one of the Benghazi investigations and became the biggest issue in the 2016 election campaign. The “liberal” media fell for this bogus “scandal” hook, line and sinker. According to a study by the Columbia Journalism Review: “In just six days, the New York Times ran as many cover stories about Hillary Clinton’s emails as they did about all the policy issues combined in the 69 days leading up to the election.”
In any event, the Clinton email server was investigated by then lifelong Republican James Comey and she wasn’t charged with anything. As a matter of fact, there were no indictments during the Obama Administration. It was the cleanest Administration in U.S. history.
Despite the fact the GOP controlled all three branches of government during the first two years of the Trump Administration, they still couldn’t get over the fact that Hillary Clinton wasn’t charged. Phony scandals allegedly involving Hillary Clinton are still a regular topic on Fox News and AM radio. Anytime there is bad news about Trump and/or the GOP, Fox puts Hillary Clinton’s emails (and other imaginary “scandals”) front and center.
In 2017–18, the Republicans were absolutely convinced that the Justice Department Inspector General’s report would prove that Comey went easy on Clinton and she should have been charged regarding the use of the private email. Alas, once again, the GOP’s conspiracy theories proved to be wrong. (Are we beginning to see a pattern here?) The 2018 Horowitz report concluded that with respect to the FBI’s handling of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of email: “The Justice Department found no evidence political bias affected the investigation.”
The Inspector General also investigated the much ballyhooed tarmac meeting of 2016 between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch. The DOJ Inspector General found that there was “no evidence” that Clinton and Lynch discussed the email investigation or “engaged in any other inappropriate discussion.”
That Horowitz report didn’t convince the House Republicans so they opened up their own investigation of Comey’s investigation of the Clinton email controversy. The House Republicans issued their report on Friday, December 28, 2018. It was a quintessential Friday night document dump aimed at drawing as little attention as possible.
The two year investigation produced a seven page letter which revealed no new insights as to how the federal law enforcement agencies allegedly erred. According to the Politico website: “ Gowdy and Goodlatte also say they can’t conclude based on evidence they reviewed whether a case could have been brought against Clinton. That cuts against the pro-Trump orthodoxy that enough evidence already existed to charge her.”
Incoming House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff reacted to yet another failed GOP investigation as follows: “This is how the House Republican effort to undermine Mueller by investigating the investigators ends. Not with a bang, but with a Friday, buried-in-the-holidays whimper, and one foot out the door.”
The lesson here is to never believe GOP allegations of Democratic scandals. The Republicans and the right wing media are addicted to phony scandals because their followers believe them — regardless of the facts. The GOP uses them to mobilize voters and the right wing media gets higher ratings. It’s just that simple.
The challenge for us as Democrat is that the “liberal” mainstream media is gullible and frequently believes the GOP hype. The fecklessness of the mainstream media probably cost Hillary Clinton the 2016 election. As Democrats, we need to pepper both the local and mainstream media with letters, emails, Facebook posts and reply tweets debunking the phony scandals. Like the GOP, we need to work the referees. It works. That’s why the GOP does it. We can do the same! Now let’s get it done! | https://medium.com/@dennispcrawford/gop-is-addicted-to-phony-scandals-f820dde108cd | ['Dennis Crawford'] | 2018-12-31 16:56:33.697000+00:00 | ['Hillary Clinton'] |
8 Signs You Are An Effective Communicator | Let’s face it — communication isn’t easy. If it were, life would be so much easier, both professionally and personally. We ALL want to master communication and be brilliant at it, but the reality is the majority of us couldn’t be further away from being master communicators. No, you say? You think you are an effective communicator? Well, all effective communicators have certain traits in common that make them so effective — check against the greats, they have all these qualities. How many do you have?
1. YOU LISTEN
A huge part of being a great communicator is actually, surprise surprise, LISTENING! As Charlie Kaufman once said “ Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating”, and he couldn’t be more right!
Great communicators pay attention to what others have to say, and always take that into account. It’s not always about you. If you find yourself cutting people off or always thinking about what to say next instead of actually listening to the other person, you’re not a very good communicator!
2. YOU ARE APPROACHABLE
If you’re someone people generally feel comfortable around, congratulations, you just might be on your way to being an effective communicator! When people communicate effectively, other people tend to be more comfortable around them and find it easier to approach them, because they feel like they will be listened to, and also that their needs will be addressed.
3. YOU ARE OPEN-MINDED
Great communicators are generally open-minded, in that they understand that not everyone they interact with comes from the same background as them, and therefore may not have the same ideas as them. This allow them to listen to and welcome the ideas of others and not be stuck-up that their perspective is the only and right perspective.
4. YOU INSPIRE OTHERS
People mostly feel inspired and like they have gained knowledge, clarity, perspective or motivation after talking to an effective communicator. Even if you don’t sway audiences and motivate millions, even if you can make the difference in one person’s life by inspiring them, you’re on the right track to becoming an effective communicator.
5. YOU ARE PROMPT
The people who are best at communication are also extremely prompt in their communication. Whether it is returning phone calls, following up on a deadline, sending out an email, or even replying to a text or Whatsapp message, doing it promptly is a sign that you take communication seriously and value other people and their time. Being prompt might not seem that important, but it is what sets the average people apart from the great communicators.
6. YOU ARE RELIABLE
A lot of people are “all talk” — which means, that they cannot be relied on. A good communicator knows that effective communication is to no end if your actions cannot be relied on to follow up the communication. If you promise to send an email, send. If you promise to catch up with a friend, follow up on that promise and set a meeting up. Effective communicators respect the trust people place in them and respond accordingly.
7. YOU ARE PATIENT
An excellent communicator also knows that everyone communicates differently, and therefore it is important to be patient and handle different kinds of people in the manner that best suits them. Understanding that different styles of communication exist, and that not everyone has the knowledge or privilege to be an excellent communicator, allows effective communicators to be patient and become better communicators themselves!
8. YOU ASK QUESTIONS
People with excellent communication skills know that it is very important to ask questions, but that it is more important to ask relevant questions and at the right time. Asking questions not only makes you seem more intelligent, but it shows that you were listening, and that you are involved with the communication — that it matters to you. The honesty and authenticity of that adds a layer of trust to your communication to make it more effective.
Did we miss out any other points? Leave a comment and let us know! | https://medium.com/@nunchicomm/8-signs-you-are-an-effective-communicator-c21f099ce9f9 | ['Nunchi', 'The Communication Consultants'] | 2020-11-16 06:03:45.623000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Leadership Skills', 'Communication Skills', 'Communication', 'Success'] |
The Effectiveness of Grass | The Effectiveness of Grass
Upon your feet
Meadow at Nine Thousand, Hopping to Space, by John Levin
I think the Earth has found me,
though I didn’t realize
I was so lost.
Green grass tickling my feet,
hard soled heavy shoes
forgot, now tossed.
I bent knees, hips, torso straight, so low,
just to jump as high as I can,
so high I needn’t land.
Hop into orbit,
zooming round and round,
look at Space around me.
No one makes a sound.
Earth below attracts me,
gravity feels like sex.
I’m nuttier than a nut-hood nut,
arms outstretched and flexed,
Breathing Space itself,
friend to satellites in orbit,
lazy, weightless, stateless.
Wow, this is the life!
Joy unbound
and gateless,
forgetting all that strife.
******************
You don’t need to go
into orbit, though.
That really is a stretch.
Just unbundle your hard hard shoes,
and let your feet be blessed. | https://medium.com/genius-in-a-bottle/the-effectiveness-of-grass-8e60ee08daa0 | ['John Levin'] | 2020-12-13 21:28:21.045000+00:00 | ['Tantra', 'Poetry', 'Energy Meditation', 'Enlightenment', 'Meditation'] |
Goals | Goals are meant as a guide
A road map to show the way
With no guidance
There is no direction
Goals are like a pathway
Giving us something to achieve
With no goals
What have we to look forward to
Where is the direction
It like a roller coaster
Or a mountain
Full of peaks and valleys
Goals can change
Keep them within your sight
When you lose direction
Your goals can be lost | https://medium.com/@peteraedwards/goals-dcfd40d0206c | ['Peter Andrew Edwards'] | 2020-12-17 20:13:14.603000+00:00 | ['Poet', 'Poetry Writing', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Poetry', 'Poems On Medium'] |
7 Years of Hell | 7 Years of Hell
Part 2
When I say Fox was manipulative, I don't think a lot of people understand the extent of it. The first year he did a lot of love bombing mixed with gaslighting. I wish I'd have known about mental abuse then, because I can recall one moment where it would have been so clear. We got into an argument. About what, I can't remember. But, by the end of it, he'd brought up his past and how I was acting reminded him of something terrible that happened and I felt guilty. Then, he came to me as a shoulder to cry on, comforting me, loving on me, telling me how I was so sensitive and sympathetic and that kind of "cruelty" was out of character for me so he was sorry that he got me so upset. I was so confused by it all, I left without a word and took a drive. I was walking around a park when I got a mile long text about how much he loved me and how things were going to get better. He said all the right things. It was well worded and poetic and filled with raw emotion. Ladies and gentlemen, that is how you build a trauma bond. I was so in love. From then on, everything was "worth it" and "no one understands like I do" was the mantra I used to defend him to everyone else and even myself.
When issues arrose with my family, it became a favorite tool in his box. They didn't like him from the get go. I should have trusted their instincts. Many of friends even withdrew from my life when it became apparent he wasn't going anywhere. In the long run, he convinced me that I didn't have many real friends and my parents wanted to control me. Since he didn't fit into the stereo type of a manly man they hated him and wanted to drive wedges between us. If I listened to them, I'd never achieve my dreams and never go anywhere. Anything he could say, he would to make them seem like the manipulators. It quickly became us against them.
When we moved to Texas to live with my aunt and she escalated to manipulative and dramatic means of splitting Fox and I up, it served to solidify everything he was telling me. Every one was the enemy. I could't trust anyone but him, the person I should have trusted the least. So, when we returned to Montana and my family made a few small gripes about him, I jumped on the plan to seek our fortune and dreams in California where his family lived. I didn't realize how bad of a choice that was. The isolation it led to was the ground work for the first time he'd get away with raping me, and the memory repression I would suffer.
TW rape, near death experience, sodomy, mental abuse
I often wonder what would have happened if I'd have recalled the first time? I remember it now. So clearly. I was living with Fox in his RV in California, apart from my family and every one I knew. I was sick, probably on the verge of heat stroke. It had been over 100° all week and I stayed outside most of the time out of fear of running afoul of Fox's brother in law whose property we stayed on. Fox had agreed to help around the place in lue of rent and was failing to make good on it. Since he had a habit if vanishing, I was left to contend with family I barely knew being justifiably angry. I opted to hide in the hot RV. I was barely conscious when Fox returned from wherever it was he frequently disappeared to for hours. I tried to tell him something was wrong, that I didn't feel well. He didn't even respond. He didn't say a word. When I felt his hands lift my hips into the position he desired, I tried to roll away. Weak, breathless protests were about all I could muster. My head and stomach were both spinning. I was incapable of putting up any kind of fight. I couldn't even cry out in pain. To add insult to injury, he opted for anal penetration, which was something I'd continually refused him. As soon as he found me in a weak enough state, he merely took it for himself and that remained his habit. He took what he wanted as I fought for consciousness. After what seemed like forever, he rolled me over and completed his deed vaginally. I never understood why he did that. Maybe it his way of limiting the evidence or he was trying to "make up" for what hed done by changing to a more intimate position. It's one of the many things I'd like to have him answer for. Once he'd completed his act, he silently rolled off me and fell asleep, still ignoring my condition as well as the tears now streaming down my face and my body quaking violently with pain and fear.
I wonder to this day if I'd have even made it through to morning if it hadn't rained that night and the window hadn't been open and the screen broken out. If he hadn't left me naked and pressed against the wall. Funny how the little things add up. I regained consciousness to the feeling of cold water splashing my face. I remember sitting in the door of his RV while he slept peacefully, unfazed and unconcerned with the heinous crime he'd just committed against me. I can almost still feel the rain on my skin and taste the cheap, rolled cigarette I was smoking as I contemplated calling for help. But, I'd turned my back on my family, or so he'd led me to believe. Chosen him over them. I know now that if I'd have made the call, I'd have been home for Sunday dinner. I hate myself for that stubbornness. For doubting my support system so much. I could have been free then and there. Instead, I let myself be isolated. This would not be the last time I betrayed myself and my mind followed suit. By morning, I had no recollection of his violation.
As far as I am aware, he didn't repeat his crime again until we had returned to Montana and I became pregnant with my first child. | https://medium.com/@clearoufley/7-years-of-hell-b87822c5fe49 | ['Chrystin Roufley'] | 2020-12-09 14:53:46.574000+00:00 | ['Rape', 'Domestic Violence', 'Emotional Abuse', 'Narcissism', 'Domestic Abuse'] |
Farm Laws 101 | Farm Laws 101
How things worked
Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC), set up by various states in the country, were essentially where the farmers’ first sale of agricultural produce happened. These “mandis” were instituted in an effort to protect farmers from exploitation by large retailers. The produce collected at the mandis were then sold out by auction. The mandis operated on the sale of produce at/above MSP or the Minimum Support Price, fixed by the government, twice a year, for every crop with recommendations from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). MSP has historically protected the farmers from the fluctuating market rates and the unpredictable monsoons by promising a minimum income on their produce.
The laws
The Essential Commodities Act 2020 amends the Essential Commodities Act, which was initially established to regulate the supply of foodstuff, fuel, and drugs against the backdrop of hoarding or black-marketing. The new amendment act delists certain commodities, allowing for their regulation only during a natural calamity, war, or super-inflation. The Farmers’ Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 provides a legal structure for farmers to engage with retailers on a contract basis and details a dispute resolution procedure. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Act 2020 allows farmers to work outside the framework of the mandis, sell their produce to retailers not restricted to their trade areas, and promotes e-trading. It doesn’t allow state governments to collect cess or fees from the farmers, traders, or online retailers on this produce.
What’s happening
The farmers from Punjab and Haryana had been protesting against the farm reforms, touting them to be “anti-farmers” and suggesting that these laws would leave the farmers at the mercy of large money-minded corporates. In line with their protests, the farmers of Punjab staged a “Rail Roko” for almost a couple of months, disrupting the supply-chain of agricultural goods and produce from within and outside the state. While there was a shortage in the supply of fertilizers and other necessities, the piling up of food grains that couldn’t be transported also caused trouble in terms of their storage. Consequently, mission rail roko had to be aborted. Following this, on failing to get the support of their state governments, on 25th November, these farmer unions decided to pressurize the Centre by marching to New Delhi (“Delhi Chalo”). These protesting farmers clashed with the police, at Haryana’s border and within Delhi, who then employed the use of water cannons, tear gas, barbed wires, and sand barriers to stop the protesters, causing at least three casualties. Notwithstanding the police’s measures, the farm unions reached the national capital demanding to repeal the laws. While talks are still on between the farmer unions and the Union Ministers, a consensus is yet to be reached with the Centre proposing to amend the laws and the farmers unwilling to compromise for anything short of repealing the laws.
Photo Credit: PTI
As many as 500 farmer unions are protesting all over the country, with 2–3 lakh farmers converging along the borders of the NCR, and many transport unions representing truck, bus, and taxi drivers coming out in support of these farmers, threatening to stop their services if these farmers are not heard.
What needs to be understood
While the first two laws do not particularly concern the farmers, it is the third law that has caused this ugly upheaval. The FPTC Act, prima facie, should be welcomed by the farmers because it weeds out the middlemen at the mandis; but the farmers look at it as a path for the government to back away from the MSP-based procurement system. Although the government says that it has no intention to do so and will continue procuring their produce, and if so, the farmers question the necessity of such a law in the first place. The APMC mandis acted like a cushion for the farmers, buttressing their livelihoods during the uncertain market and monsoon trends. Subjecting the farmers to the vagaries of competitive markets with storage and contract related issues would leave them beholden to the monopolies of large corporates.
But why are only farmers from Punjab staging these protests?
The states of Punjab and Haryana are highly dependent on the Indian government to procure their grains at the MSP. About 90% of rice and wheat produced in Punjab is procured by the government, with the Public Distribution System (PDS) being the lifeline of this North Indian state.
Rice Procurement as a percentage of Production in different states
Rice Procurement by the GOI from different states
Government’s Obligations
The government needs to procure the produce from these two states just as much as these states need the government to do so, if not more. This is because of its obligations under the PDS and National Food Security Act (NFSA). Support under the NFSA is a legally binding right. There are around 80 crore beneficiaries, with almost 60 lakh beneficiaries being added this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year nearly 51 million tonnes of rice and 40 million tonnes of wheat have been procured (most of it from Punjab), more than 15 and 14 percent respectively, over the last year to account for the migrants displaced due to the Covid-induced lockdown. This is about 44% of the total rice produced and 37% of the total wheat produced in the country. Thus, the government needs to procure in large quantities from these farmers because it cannot afford to go to the open market where the prices will immediately skyrocket.
It might seem that the government rushed into passing these laws without having consulted farm unions or having drafted a very well laid out plan, and there also arises the question of federalism. Agriculture is essentially a matter of the states, and many experts, including the farmer unions and the opposition parties, think that the government has overstepped with the passing of these laws. But it is clear that doing away with the procurement system will serve no good to either the farmers or the government. It is, therefore, imperative that the government resolves the issue and puts an end to the ongoing crisis at the earliest.
Glossary
Written by- Chinmayi Lanka
Analysis by- Vignesh Vasudevan
Illustration by- Sai Krishna | https://medium.com/@chinvv9899/farm-laws-101-a718a41d6ece | ['The News Story'] | 2020-12-11 12:37:50.030000+00:00 | ['Farmers', 'Agriculture', 'News', 'Protest', 'Policy'] |
How To Perform Marketing Audit By Yourself — Mobiteam | There are, definitely, a lot of other examples and case studies related to marketing audit. They differ from each other due to specific cases that are highlighted and most of the time it is difficult to find a marketing audit that suits your case. In this article, we will talk about the marketing audit and how to perform it by yourself.
Instead of writing the entire theory and answering questions such as why you need it and when it is best to perform one, we will approach the questions that are a part of the entire marketing audit process.
So, let’s start with top priorities, and in all cases, clients come first.
#1 Clients
Who is your client? Identify client profile and find out what are the client’s needs, interests, demands, and requirements. Why does the client need the product or service you provide? For further work, you will need this information in the work process with managers of customer care and sales.
The more detailed you are able to answer the above questions, the more efficient your marketing audit will be, so here is a free tip — take your time and find all possible details that may help you and your business.
#2 Product
Now that you have all client information, the next step is to understand your products and services. The more features and properties the product has — the larger the marketing audit report.
Set the full list of products and services you provide and all their properties and features Visual identity and design. Does your product have a unique brand style? Is the product customized somehow and it differs from everything else? Do you have a unique selling proposition or slogan? If yes — name it Identify the product’s advantages compared to other similar products Product’s purpose. Does your product serve a purpose? If yes, describe it Do you produce your product by yourself or just resell it? How can you save money in producing, managing, and selling your product? Do you use the latest or up-to-date technology in product development? Have you performed a sales analysis? If yes, describe it
#3 Sales
Next after figuring out with products, come sales. Identifying and analyzing all aspects of the sale process can help the business progress. So, here are the sales-related questions you should ask yourself:
How do you search for your clients? Do you use a sales script? Have you ever analyzed your/your sales manager’s work? If yes, describe How often do you answer customers’ calls and questions? Do you consider the client approach is correct, calm, and friendly?
#4 Work with clients
Besides understanding who is your client and target audience, it is also important to understand the entire process of working with them. At some point, business owners find out that they could’ve done more to attract them, or to convert visitors into customers.
So, here are the questions that would change your mind when talking about the interaction between your business and customers:
What other benefits your customers have besides owning the product they purchase? How do you make your customers return to you for another product or service? Do you have a set of rules and principles when interacting with customers? Do they like other products of yours, or they come only for one? How much money do they spend on average? Is there anything that would make a client go, or choose another product from the same segment? Why?
#5 Pricing
Pricing impacts marketing big time. There is marketing for big prices and marketing for small prices. You can’t expect having great results when setting incorrect pricing for your products and services. This is why, we have prepared the next set of questions to ask yourself, and these are all related to the pricing:
Name the prices for your products. How is the price set and what it is made of? Define a clear structure of your prices. How flexible your price can go? What are the minimum and maximum prices for your products? Are the prices the same for all customers or there are some preferential prices for special clients? Why? What kind of payment systems your business has integrated so far? Do you plan to add or remove some? Why? Does your business have special promotions on holidays or other special occasions? Why? Does your pricing policy depend on the period of time or other important factors?
#6 Market
Knowing the market is as important as knowing your products and clients. Your business has to be up to date with trends and competition — otherwise, you risk losing customers. Big companies, technologies, and innovation usually set the trend waves, so following them can give a big boost to your company progress and sales. Here is a list of questions related to the market that can help you with the marketing audit:
How do you sell your products (Shops, eCommerce, network)? Have you thought about trying other alternatives? Why? Do you provide delivery services? If yes, under what circumstances? How does your selling platform look like compared to other marketplaces? How are the visitors welcomed by your business, compared to competitors? Is your business up-to-date with the latest trends and tendencies? Have you used something innovative in the process of selling your products or services? If yes, why? Why is your business more attractive than your competitors? Could it be more attractive?
#7 Advertising
Having a good knowledge about all of the above-mentioned key-factors is important. But, promoting and being aware of your advertising possibilities is also an advantage. These are the question related to advertising and promotion
Do you have a budget for advertising? If Yes, how much and on what channels? What type of advertising is more effective, according to your experience so far? Does your business have a loyalty program? Why? What discounts you made so far, and why? Analyze all online resources where your business is present. Would you buy products or services from them? Does your business have a mobile app? Why? Does your business use email marketing? Are there any related products or services attached to other products you sell? How do you convert your visitors into customers?
So far, so good. Yet the list of questions for marketing audit can continue, as you may want to add more, customized questions to your business. Generally, performing a marketing audit by yourself is recommended once a year at least. But, if you don’t have enough time or not sure you can handle the entire process, let us do it for you. With Mobiteam, you are in good hands.
Read the full article: https://mobiteam.de/en/how-to-perform-marketing-audit-by-yourself/ | https://medium.com/@sobieski/how-to-perform-marketing-audit-by-yourself-mobiteam-82152dc0f7a3 | ['Marcel Sobieski'] | 2021-01-25 08:59:53.643000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Wordpress Web Development', 'Web Design Company', 'Marketing', 'WordPress'] |
Capitalizing Bien Vivir & The Good Life Pledge Economic Healing Through Return, Repair & Restoration | Capitalizing Bien Vivir & The Good Life Pledge Economic Healing Through Return, Repair & Restoration StartingUpGood Follow Dec 4, 2020 · 9 min read
By: Brady Press
This post is part of a series highlighting sessions from the SOCAP 2020 Virtual Global Impact Summit. Continue reading for information on impact investing and the future of capitalism.
Key Takeaways
Our current financial system is designed to be extractive and exploitative. It doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s the way it is operating right now
We need to give assets, wealth, land, control, ownership, etc. back to BIPOC communities. The origins of our country — African enslavement, Jim Crow, mass incarceration, native genocide, land theft, persecution of refugees and immigrants, etc. — are wrong and have created a deep need to rebuild wealth in the communities
It’s important to use the tools of finance to empower communities rather than assume that the people who currently hold resources know what’s best
Summary
To address the converging crisis facing humanity and the planet, and to undo the wealth inequality that has generated so much harm in our world, transformative and bold action must be taken to return productive assets to the communities most harmed by the current economy. This session presents a dialogue with two innovators who are advancing integrated capital strategies to collectively return, shift and mobilize over $3 billion in assets toward creating a restorative and regenerative economy through building community wealth and power.
Speakers
Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Beneficial State Bank
Regan Pritzker, Co-Founder, Kataly Foundation
Taj James, Co-Founder, Full Spectrum Capital Partners
Background
Regan Pritzker, Co-Founder, Kataly Foundation
President and Co-Chair of the Investment Committee at the Libra Foundation; works with her family to move assets in alignment with real progressive radical values in philanthropy and political giving
A leader within the overall transition movement, taking leadership from communities to move progressive wealth holders and philanthropists to rethink their ethical framework for private investment
Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Beneficial State Bank (a certified B Corp)
A leader in service and restoring social justice and environmental well-being; active in numerous social enterprises and philanthropic endeavors
Founding Director of Tomcat Ranch Educational Foundation, which is working to build a sustainable food system with folks who haven’t had access to capital and resources
Session Notes
Taj James (TJ): What is it going to take for everybody to be able to access the good life?
Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Beneficial State Bank (a certified B Corps)
We need to give stuff back to the BIPOC community — assets, wealth, land, control, ownership, etc. I realized at an early age there was something seriously wrong in the origins of our country and later realized that was African enslavement, Jim Crow, mass incarceration, native genocide, land theft, persecution of refugees and immigrants, etc.
I will always be learning, but I have tried to experiment in various sources of capital, starting with banking and looking at how access to loan capital could rebuild wealth in the communities that have been hurt the worst
From a philanthropy standpoint, I shifted in the early 2000s to focus on good food, good money, good energy and establish organizations and companies at the heart of those important and overlapping sectors to gain the insights of actual actors in those systems
From there grew Beneficial State Bank, Radical Impact Partners, Bright Path Capital Partners, Tomcat Ranch Educational Foundation and Ranch and numerous political organizations including Next Gen America, Need to Impeach and ultimately a presidential campaign
We learned a lot, but all of these organizations were white led because we started them and operated them for some time. This led me to think about: how do we shift not just loan and philanthropic capital but equity capital, venture, private equity? By simply giving it back — making equity grants, pledging donor advised fund assets in support of bond financings
How can we get capital back to communities from which it was stolen and give them back the control they deserve?
Regan Pritzker, Co-Founder, Kataly Foundation
I grew up in wealth privilege, but had a bit of a reckoning when my parents started the Libra Foundation in 2005 — our family asked each other, how do we represent our values in philanthropy?
I was reticent — didn’t want to be defined as a wealth holder or donor; didn’t see myself reflected in my concept of philanthropy
As a Foundation, we focused on human rights, and I was inspired by the grantees. Eventually I found my place and became interested in the responsibility that I had as a steward of this wealth, whether I liked it or not
I increasingly became exposed to the history of genocide and the invention of whiteness to justify racial capitalism and began thinking about how we are investing this money that is in an endowed foundation
The more I looked into investing for social justice or human rights, etc. the more impossible it seemed. Our current financial system is designed to be extractive and exploitative and it doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s the way it is operating right now
I’m continuously trying to step into the power that I have and use it responsibly to push the field of philanthropy forward and ultimately transform the systems of our economy because you can’t separate out environmental health and wellness from the wins you make in gender equity or incarceration without looking more holistically at the systems that we’re working inside of
I had already decided to give away $10 million in a way that was working in partnership with movement leadership and to move that capital not into an endowment but in a way that would really transfer into either community-governed projects or land ownership or regenerative projects that could help build wealth and power and cultural wellness
I found out in 2018 that I would be inheriting $445 million — so I am giving this money away through a foundation structure, but we think of it as a transitional container for that project and have been trying to experiment with different ways to move decision making to communities that are closer to the issues we’re trying to address
My role as a trustee and founder of this project is to be talking to this community of funders and investors about rethinking the ethical framework and the risk assessments that we do. If we want to live in a world of justice, peace and equity then we can’t play by the same rules
We’re always expecting other people to take on the risk and accumulate income generation and wins that will accrue back to us as the wealth holders and investors
TJ: Both of you do a great job of grounding your work in listening and taking direction from community partners. Who are some of the people and what are some of the places that have inspired you to help move forward? And why do you think doing this work through relationships is so critical?
Regan Pritzker, Co-Founder, Kataly Foundation
Building a relationship is an ongoing process. How do you work through problems? How do you work through conflict? How do you represent the needs and interests of others when there’s conflicts or confusion?
It’s a place of vulnerability and the need to build trust is ongoing, especially as a white person who grew up with wealth privilege
We need an interconnected solution that also looks at a regenerative, restorative, caring economy that’s based on relationships, trust and deep democracy
Looking at the Kataly website is a good place to start. The Restorative Economies Fund represents the work our of CEO Amakka Ogbo and highlights all the grants we’ve made
Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Beneficial State Bank (a certified B Corps)
I grew up in a pretty white, segregated bubble. Relationships and meeting people with different experiences has been critical to my work. Through relationships, I’ve become involved in the Regenesis Project, Historic Calyborn Temple, Allensworth California — the first black community in California started by Colonel Allensworth as a vision of a black community built on mutual self-aid and self-determination that was then attacked by white supremacists, Felicia Gaston in Marin City who has been running youth leadership development programs for almost 30 years , Catherine Flowers — we just received a McArthur genius award for her incredible activism around the right to clean water and sanitation systems in Lowndes County, AL, etc.
We’re working on a Black History Month Project for the West to make sure we reveal the stories of Allensworth, Marin City, Port Chicago, Vanport, Portland, etc.
All of these communities have come together to share best practice and to provide inspiration to change the way we’re making resource shifts
We are going to continue making grants, particularly those that allow communities to develop their capital absorption ability, but we intend to shift assets so that those communities can hold their land in communal ownership and develop their business base with their own equity and build thriving communities, not just surviving communities
TJ: Is there more you can say about how the SOCAP community thinks about investment?
Regan Pritzker, Co-Founder, Kataly Foundation
It’s important to use the tools of finance to empower communities rather than assume that the people who currently hold resources know what’s best; don’t confuse your fiduciary responsibility with an inability to move resources permanently into the hands of others
Especially if you’re in a philanthropic setting, it’s your duty to stay close to mission. The tides are shifting; the time is now. You have permission to give that money away. You do not need to have a perpetual endowment, you do not need to give away only 5%. You can think bigger and do more.
On the investment side, we need to start thinking of ourselves as allies for social revolution and not as gatekeepers — it’s a mindset shift. What is the role you have to play in breaking us out of the internalized cultures and expectations that maintain the status quo?
Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Beneficial State Bank (a certified B Corps)
The challenge I want to put out there is the one I’m trying to achieve myself — Tom and I took the Giving Pledge, but it needs to be more than that. I’d like to, hopefully, given the assets under my control, shift a third of them to community ownership so that the communities that have been hurt and harmed and that know how to heal themselves have the power to do that.
I have made a commitment of $100K to the communities I spoke of plus one more (the Friendship House New Village based on self-healing in San Francisco). To use them as an example, I’m giving $100K to their pre-development and capital absorption strategies to get the project ready to take over a block in the mission building treatment centers, tribal spaces, support services, etc. in coalition with black and brown communities and then to follow on the pledging of $1M of donor advised fund assets to a non-profit bond financing so that we can leverage that money 4–5 times out of my amount of low-cost capital
I’m doing this with 5 communities total including Urban Tale through Cooperative Richmond and Clayborn Temple efforts
I would love for 4 more donors to join me in this strategy of a $100K grant for capital absorption purposes and a $1M pledge of a DAF asset over a ten-year period to back that kind of access to low-cost capital which all wealthy people already have. We’re just opening up the finance markets in a more egalitarian way
Capitalism is part of the problem and if we don’t change it, it’s going to kill us all. We need to take back financial instruments to be public purpose and nature and community benefitting
I would also like to be part of policy moves to make it more possible for us to reenact long-standing business models and new ones, so that we can get to new definitions of property rights, like land should be owned communally and kept in the hands of those who steward it or the big natural monopolies of the world (Netflix, YouTube, Google, etc.) should be owned by platform cooperatives where each of us who shop, share, query, create content, etc. earn a tiny micro equity share so that when everybody owns a little bit of everything and nobody owns too much of everything, we thrive
I intend to be very busy on the policy and innovation front as well, in ally ship with black and brown communities who stand to benefit from changing these massive systems
Amakka Agbo, leader of the Kataly Foundation, has charged us with two things: disaggregating capital from capitalism, and wealth is something not meant to be accumulated but meant to be shared
Want to know more?
For more SOCAP content, visit full session recordings on YouTube or see here for other Starting Up Good summaries of our favorite recordings. | https://medium.com/startingupgood/socap-fireside-chat-capitalizing-bien-vivir-the-good-life-pledge-economic-healing-through-ab18e1fd444b | [] | 2020-12-04 23:10:27.833000+00:00 | ['Impact Investing', 'Socap', 'Philanthropy', 'Sustainable Investing', 'Capitalism'] |
Flask YouTube Audio Downloader | Make virtual environment in anaconda
conda create --name yt-downloader python conda activate yt-downloader
Installing required libraries
We will be installing flask framework for parsing and getting web requests, youtube-dl library for getting official video URL and downloading to server side and flask-cors for handling cross site origin resource error that appears when we fetch data from third party websites.
pip install flask
pip install youtube-dl
pip install flask-cors
Flask initial setup
app.py
Implementation
Now let's improve on to above code and write that actually downloads the audio
See it working
This project is hosted in https://yt.caretsys.tech/ | https://medium.com/caret-systems/flask-youtube-audio-downloader-d9cf6c4d6662 | ['Anil Poudyal'] | 2020-12-12 14:40:03.860000+00:00 | ['Youtube Downloader', 'Download', 'API', 'Flask', 'Python'] |
The Muse Oak and Art | How the verse wields its silly nouns, verbs; a plethora of adjectives. How we try.. for greatness! Nowhere near, my dear. Today I see some real crap writing. I can’t say who, of course and I know I really shouldn’t belittle a fellow artist but. And there needs to be a BUT.. just look.. what trite tope type of tipsy trodden on its tattered titties.. come here hell and her masters, mistresses, mindfuckers I will eat your heart and spit it out to show you how the truth never hurt anyone and everyone is yours today! | https://medium.com/artrock-sexual-manifestations-queer-madness/the-muse-oak-and-art-a6a34e0c1465 | ['Mimi Bordeaux'] | 2020-12-28 08:43:18.506000+00:00 | ['Poetr', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing', 'Love', 'Life'] |
Clarity, consistency, relevance and differentiation. How to get the most from your Brand Definition Workshop. | What’s the point of defining your brand?
It’s all in the title. Really, it is! Your brand is how you influence the way people perceive you and your organisation. You can’t control the way they think about you but you can control your actions and your message. We expand on this in our recent articles about brand and reputation but the key to a powerful brand is clarity and consistency. That doesn’t mean that you need to say the same thing over and over again, it means that you need to show the world the same core principles that inspire everything you do. When you get this right, you will stand out and you will be relevant to your audience. They’re the ones that matter, after all.
“Tell us about the day!”
If you insist! A Puck Creations’ Defining Your Brand Workshop is just like any other workshop really, at least any other workshop in which you have loads of fun, are constantly engaged and learn more than you could have ever imagined. There is a lot of work involved too. Mainly for you, we’re here to guide. We’ll set you up with exercises throughout the day that get you thinking about the key areas of your brand and we’ll get you to consider them differently.
“How do you do that?”
Mainly with mind control. OK, if we’re honest, we haven’t learned that yet so we’ve found other ways that are just as effective. Before we meet, we’ll ask you to bring in team members that focus on different areas of the business. Often, the problem with setting up brand guidelines is that it all comes from the marketing team and nobody else has an input. That rarely turns out well. Another problem is that even when the right people do get together, some voices are louder than others. We facilitate the workshop in such a way that everyone gets their say. After each exercise, we all chat and offer feedback before YOU come to a decision. We’ll use your decisions to create a beautiful but more importantly, informative, brand guide.
“What are the key areas of focus in the workshop?”
WHY! Your WHY or purpose as some call it is a focal point of one of our exercises but it’s intertwined with how you do things (your strategy) and what you do (your tactics). We also work on your vision of the future, your core values, who you’re speaking to, how you’re speaking to them and where you sit within your industry. Sounds simple, right? It is, really. You could work on a lot of these areas by yourself but we set up the exercises to function a little differently. We make sure that everybody in the room gets a say, we make sure that each area is properly understood and we make sure that you leave the room (or Zoom in many cases) on the same page as each of your colleagues. Take a look at King Puck’s Wisdom to get a feel for the topics we cover.
“What do we need to do to get the most from the brand definition day?”
Give the day your full attention. It’s really as simple as that. Stay away from your devices if we are doing an in-person workshop and if we’re doing a remote workshop, turn everything off except the video conferencing tool. We’ll have lots of breaks so if you really need to check messages etc. you can do it then. Otherwise, be present, respect the timings and respect everyone in the room. We’ll guide you through everything else.
“What will we get from the day?”
You will receive a brand guide, which we’re sure you’ll love because as they say, it’s what’s inside that counts:
A defined brand, which leads to…
A clear and consistent message, which leads to…
Potential clients who will trust you and be more likely to buy from you.
Your brand guide will there for you to reference and refer back to when you are communicating in any way, both internally and externally. It will also be there for anybody who is communicating on your behalf (such as Puck Creations when we write content for you that makes your audience think, feel and take action) to ensure clarity, consistency, relevance and differentiation.
Are you ready?
We’ll look forward to seeing you soon. If you’re not signed up to a Defining Your Brand Workshop yet or if you need more information, [email protected]. | https://medium.com/@puckcreations/clarity-consistency-relevance-and-differentiation-323a86e65d41 | ['Stefano Capacchione'] | 2020-12-22 14:30:21.927000+00:00 | ['Branding Strategy', 'Brand Definition', 'Branding', 'Brand Workshop', 'Brand Strategy'] |
Rethinking Your 2021 Sales Kick Off With a Membership Mindset | The time leading up to American Thanksgiving is often especially busy, with a combination of major conferences, ambitious sales goals and, of course, planning for the upcoming year before people check out (physically and/or mentally) for the holiday season.
You’ve probably spent some time already thinking about your goals for next year, and what you are committing to your board and stakeholders.
A key ritual of setting the year up for success for many organizations is the Sales Kick Off (SKO).
But this year’s event is likely going to look a little different.
I was inspired by my friend and colleague David Meerman Scott, co-author of Standout Virtual Events to rethink the SKO. David provides some excellent tips for running a quality virtual event, including the right equipment, how to prep a speaker, and how to think about the whole program as part of a whole.
In this article, I look at the SKO from a different angle. I took a step back to really focus on the “Forever Promise” organizations make to their sales teams and which has resulted in the “product” of the SKO event. The Sales Kick Off is a time to educate, engage and inspire the team to maximize the likelihood of hitting all sales objectives in the coming year.
Given that people are working remotely, and not able to gather in person this year, how do you educate, engage, and inspire your team?
Start with the goal in mind. You are not “designing a Sales Kick Off Meeting”. You are setting up your team for a successful year.
Start with the goal in mind. You are not “designing a Sales Kick Off Meeting”. You are setting up your team for a successful year. Your “forever promise” to your sales team is to give them the resources and experiences to help each person exceed their quota. Don’t limit yourself by trying to recreate the in person event digitally.
Get creative about tactics. Brainstorm everything you could possibly do to achieve each of the sub-goals — educate, engage, inspire. Remember, you are no longer limited by a fixed time and place to achieve these objectives, so you can get creative. Let’s take them one at a time.
Educate. What do your sales folks need to know in order to be successful? This probably falls into three categories. They need to understand the products that you’re offering, and all related details. They need to have the skills sell effectively. And they need to know what resources they have in case they run into a challenge. Engage. You want your sales team to be proactive about their work, and connected to the organization and to their peers and broader network. You need to establish the right habits to succeed in this new reality. How can you use this moment at the start of the year to get your team into a healthy rhythm? Inspire. Most salespeople are extroverts who gain their inspiration from other people. It’s hard to recreate that feeling of connection and shared values over a Zoom or via email. So you will have to be creative in “filling your team’s emotional tank.” And you probably don’t need to do this just once, at the start of the year, but on an ongoing basis.
Bring in the Whole Team . Traditional SKOs are often limited in who can attend, either because of travel costs, competing commitments, space constraints or all of the above. If you’re digital, though, these constraints go away. On one end of the spectrum, it means you can bring out the big guns, and invite top clients, executives and industry experts to speak. And on the other end of the spectrum, you can include the support team and adjacent functional areas like marketing, product, and services where useful.
. Traditional SKOs are often limited in who can attend, either because of travel costs, competing commitments, space constraints or all of the above. If you’re digital, though, these constraints go away. On one end of the spectrum, it means you can bring out the big guns, and invite top clients, executives and industry experts to speak. And on the other end of the spectrum, you can include the support team and adjacent functional areas like marketing, product, and services where useful. Make it Modular . You don’t need everyone for everything. So you could ask your marketing team to attend the session on “practicing your pitch” for example, but not for the discussion on commissions. Or you could bring in a few executives to role play scenarios without taking up their whole day. You could even do your own series of “Ted Talks” bringing in a bunch of people to each talk for 15 minutes
. You don’t need everyone for everything. So you could ask your marketing team to attend the session on “practicing your pitch” for example, but not for the discussion on commissions. Or you could bring in a few executives to role play scenarios without taking up their whole day. You could even do your own series of “Ted Talks” bringing in a bunch of people to each talk for 15 minutes Create Opportunities for “Lean Forward” Moments . TV is a Lean Back medium. You just lounge on the couch and watch. iPhone Apps are Lean Forward experiences. The “audience” is a “user” or “player”. How can you make your Sales Team into Players? Can you gamify the experience? Can you give them avatars, or create opportunities for interaction and meeting new people? I recently attended a “Speed Mentoring” event hosted by my college alumni association, where I was able to have 8 1–1 meetings of 5 minutes each in less than an hour. It was totally exhilarating. Or maybe you want to create a mini “exception handling” tournament, giving team members an opportunity to compete by having to respond in front of the group to a randomly-drawn sales challenge. And by keeping chat open, and maybe having sales leaders moderate the chat, you can create an opportunity for a second conversation to happen while the speakers are speaking.
. TV is a Lean Back medium. You just lounge on the couch and watch. iPhone Apps are Lean Forward experiences. The “audience” is a “user” or “player”. How can you make your Sales Team into Players? Can you gamify the experience? Can you give them avatars, or create opportunities for interaction and meeting new people? I recently attended a “Speed Mentoring” event hosted by my college alumni association, where I was able to have 8 1–1 meetings of 5 minutes each in less than an hour. It was totally exhilarating. Or maybe you want to create a mini “exception handling” tournament, giving team members an opportunity to compete by having to respond in front of the group to a randomly-drawn sales challenge. And by keeping chat open, and maybe having sales leaders moderate the chat, you can create an opportunity for a second conversation to happen while the speakers are speaking. Stretch it Out. We know that there’s a “half-life for enthusiasm” after nearly every in-person event. You walk out of the conference feeling excited and on top of the world. And then you get back to your desk, and your to-do list and promptly set aside all of your best intentions from the event. With a virtual event, you don’t have to cram everything into a single week. You can schedule follow up meetings, booster-shots to ensure that the new habits stick.
Bill Gates recently predicted a 50% decline in business travel, even after the pandemic, while Rafat Ali of Skift is proposing a more modest but still significant 10–15% lasting contraction.
Back in March, I thought it was just going to be a few weeks of this social distancing. It looks like it may continue for a while. And even if we are soon able to enjoy the confidence that would come with widespread use of vaccines, it’s unlikely we will go back to how things once were. Bill Gates recently predicted a 50% decline in business travel, even after the pandemic, while Rafat Ali of Skift is proposing a more modest but still significant 10–15% lasting contraction.
What that means for us, is that how we do business is evolving. By focusing on the “what and why” goals, and being flexible on the “hows” we have an opportunity to take a great leap forward. Rethinking how to achieve our sales goals by reimagining the traditional Sales Kick Off is just one way of making this happen. | https://medium.com/swlh/rethinking-your-2021-sales-kick-off-with-a-membership-mindset-f20b72989397 | ['Robbie K Baxter'] | 2020-12-05 00:22:37.024000+00:00 | ['Business Travel', 'Team Building', 'Virtual Events', 'Sales', 'Goals'] |
SnapML in Lens Studio: ML Component Breakdown | Model Compatibility
First things first, in order to get an ML model inside Lens Studio that you’ll be use creatively, you’ll need to ensure that the model is compatible with SnapML. But what does this mean, how can you tell if your model is incompatible, and what can you do to fix it?
In essence, there are two parts of model compatibility that you need to be aware of: model file format, and model layer compatibility.
**An additional, but important note: ML Assets (Lens Studio’s term for model files) must be under 10MB to use in Lens Studio
Model File Format
Machine learning models can take many different forms. There are model file formats that are broadly compatible across server-side deployment targets (cloud servers, on-premise servers, etc), and then others that are designed for mobile or embedded devices (i.e. smartphones, dev boards like Raspberry Pi’s, other AI-capable “smart” devices).
These file formats all depend on what the target platform or device accepts. For instance, for iOS native applications, Core ML (.mlmodel) is the model framework and type you’d need to work with. For native Android, you’d use a TensorFlow Lite model type (.tflite).
For SnapML, there are two ML model types that are compatible: Protobuf files (.pb) and ONNX files (.onnx). These model types can be created by converting from TensorFlow and/or PyTorch, which are the two primary deep learning frameworks/libraries for ML engineers and researchers.
While the Lens Studio team might add new model types to support in the future (fingers crossed for .tflite), currently, your model will need to be successfully converted to either .pb or .onnx.
The Lens Studio team has recently updated their SnapML docs to include instructions for exporting your ML models from both TensorFlow and PyTorch into formats compatible with SnapML.
Export from TensorFlow
Export from PyTorch
Model Layer Compatibility
Though model conversion can be a bit fraught, there are clear and known methods for doing so. A more ongoing and iterative concern that Lens Creators will need to grapple with is the compatibility of the “layers” that make up their models.
Broadly speaking, an ML model layer (or more specifically, a neural network model layer) is a set of mathematical operations that take the data you feed into said model and help produce the intended output. For instance, many computer vision neural networks contain “convolutional layers”, which can be visualized in the image below:
While the technical specifics are a bit outside the scope of this post, you can imagine neural network layers as mathematical layers through which data passes and is processed, all in order to produce the desired output (i.e. an accurate prediction).
So if you’re building your own models, whether from scratch in TensorFlow or PyTorch or from other existing pre-trained models, you’ll need to regularly consult with this layer compatibility chart in the SnapML docs:
What’s more, this compatibility is broken down by mobile device platform (iOS, Android) and by processor. To get the most out of your ML-powered Lenses, and to ensure they work properly, you’ll want to work with model layers that are compatible with at least the CPU, and, if possible, the GPU/NPU (the use of advanced hardware will generally lead to better model performance).
This is something to pay particular attention to when working with pre-trained models and Notebooks you pull from external sources or from locations where you can’t immediately verify compatibility — some of these pre-trained models, though optimized for mobile platforms, might need to have some layers removed/adjusted if they aren’t supported by Lens Studio. This can then lead to the need to retrain models, as removing network layers can significantly (and adversely) affect performance.
Model Import
Once you have a model built and exported with both supported layers and in a compatible format, you’ll need to import it into Lens Studio. If you import a model into a completely blank project, you’ll need to do quite a bit of manual work (including material graphing, scripting, etc).
So if possible, we’d recommend starting with a template project that most closely matches your use case. We have a number of [specific pre-trained templates] at Fritz AI, and any custom models trained will already be configured. Lens Studio also offers a number of helpful templates that make it easier to import custom ML models built with their provided Python Notebooks (typically iPython or Jupyter Notebooks, to be precise).
When you create an ML Component Object (from the top left Objects panel), you’ll automatically be prompted to import your trained model file — in my case, as you can see below, through Finder on my MacBook.
Because I trained my model using Fritz AI, I didn’t have to worry about configuring the import — as mentioned above, Fritz AI does all that work under the hood.
But if you’re bringing in your own custom model, the best thing you can do to ensure that your model makes it into Lens Studio unscathed is to make sure everything is compatible up front as you’re training it — with supported layers, a model architecture supported by and optimized for SnapML, the expected number of channels, etc. | https://heartbeat.fritz.ai/snapml-in-lens-studio-ml-component-breakdown-80d2e2b596ee | ['Austin Kodra'] | 2021-01-28 19:15:48.856000+00:00 | ['Lens Studio', 'Heartbeat', 'Snapchat', 'Augmented Reality', 'Machine Learning'] |
Authors I Love | A Few Authors That I Love
Please ignore that the books are about real estate, and simply enjoy the aesthetic of green to blue color
The following list is in alphabetical order by last name.
Candace Bushnell
-Horoscope Sign: Sagittarius.
-She wrote a column called “Sex and the City” from 1994 to 1996. It went from a column to an anthology to a TV Show and two movies.
-She has written nine novels.
-“In New York City, in my life, there was really a feeling that without your girlfriends, you could not survive.”
-SATC Quote: “Man may have discovered fire, but women discovered how to play with it.”
-From Is There Still Sex in the City: “In the middle-aged softening, you can’t really tell who was a beauty in their twenties from someone who was plain; nor can you believe that the bald guy who now looks like a potato was once a hot stud. And vice versa. He can’t believe you ever had long hair and a body someone would want to see in a bikini. In this syndrome, it’s common to go to parties and run into old friends whom you haven’t seen for a while and who don’t recognize you. Happily, you’ll find yourself able to return the favor all too often.”
Nora Ephron
-Horoscope Sign: Taurus.
-She grew up in a family of writers.
-Her last book has essays “What I Won’t Miss” and “What I Will Miss,” which could have been a subtle way to indicate that she was going to pass away.
-She was Oscar-Nominated three times for: Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle.
-Her films “consistently featured women in strong, decisive roles”, according to the Academy of Achievement. I completely agree.
-Her mother says, “Everything is Copy”, and the biggest goal is to, “turn it into something. You must not be the victim of what happens to you. You must own it. You must get above it”, especially if you are a woman. This quote (and the following ones) is from a video interview on The Academy of Achievement website.
-“That thing that writers have, which is that third eye. Whatever horrible thing is happening to you, there is always this other thing thinking ‘Hmm better remember this, this could be a story one day.”
-“It has moved you from the ‘boohoo’ aspect of things to the ‘wait until I tell you this part of the story’. You do not ever want anyone to feel sorry for you.”
-“My advice to everyone is to become a journalist,” when asked what her advice is to the youth.
-“We all grow up in narrow worlds. And then we go to college and that’s also a narrow world.” She thought that journalism helped to open the narrow world.
-What are you gonna write a movie about when you’re 22 years old? I’ll tell you what, you’re gonna write about your coming of age movie and then you’re gonna write your summer camp movie and then you’re gonna be out of things, because nothing else would have happened to you.”
-“You are the butter to my bread. You are the breath to my life” –Julie and Julia
-“I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”- When Harry Met Sally
F. Scott Fitzgerald
-Horoscope Sign: Libra.
-He was believed to have dyslexia. He was a bad student and often skipped class when he was at Princeton University.
-His wife Zelda was his inspiration for the flapper girls he wrote about. Sadly, he suffered from alcoholism and Zelda had a mental breakdown.
-He fell in love with Zelda on September 7th, 1918. He kept a detailed “Outline Chart of My Life” that included the date in it (History.com).
-He never owned a home. He moved often and during 1920 and 1940 lived in: New York City, Minnesota, Long Island, Paris, The French Riviera, Rome, LA, Delaware, Switzerland, Baltimore, and North Carolina.
-He worked as a screenwriter for MGM, and worked on Gone With the Wind without credit.
-He died of a heart attack at age 44 in the middle of writing The Love of the Last Tycoon.
-“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” -The Great Gatsby
Emily Giffin
-Horoscope Sign: Pisces.
-She has written ten novels.
-She hates driving (me too).
-And is obsessed with fonts (me too).
-Her favorite foods include: Avocados, deviled eggs, and hummus.
-Her favorite month is January.
-“When you’re in love, sometimes you have to swallow your pride, and sometimes you have to keep your pride. It’s a balance. But when the relationship is right, you find the balance.” Something Borrowed
Nick Hornby
-Horoscope Sign: Aries.
-British author and screenwriter/producer of An Education and Brooklyn.
-“You are a blank sheet of paper when you are young.” The people around you write on the paper boldly when you are young. They really influence you.
-“All art aspires to the condition of music” –Walter Pater. He believes that music can be incredibly articulate. Hence, I think High Fidelity is quite articulate with all the music references throughout.
-He has a column in the magazine Believer called, “Stuff I’ve Been Reading.”
-On his website he says, “everything changed for me when I read Anne Tyler, Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, and Lorrie Moore, all in about ’86-’87…voice, tone, simplicity, humour, soul.”
-He likes to, “write in horrible little two-and-three sentence bursts, with five-minute breaks in between. Check for emails during each break, and get irritated if there aren’t any.”
-He has a dog.
-“What came first — the music or the misery? Did I listen to the music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to the music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?” — High Fidelity
Nancy Meyers
-Horoscope Sign: Sagittarius.
-“Outline, outline, outline.”
-Her outlines for each film she writes are 50–80 pages, with: lines of dialogue, scene descriptions, jokes, and staging. She uses the outlines to determine: pacing, structure, and act breaks.
-She has two signs on her desk that say, “pace” and “gut.”
-“I think you’re only going to get noticed by following your own instincts and doing original work, and writing the thing that only you can write.”
-She has written: Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, The Holiday, and The Intern.
-“Harry Sanborn: Some people consider rap poetry.
Erica Barry: C’mon, how many words can you rhyme with bitch?” –Something’s Gotta Give
Liane Moriarty
-Horoscope Sign: Scorpio.
-She has written eight novels.
-She is from Sydney, Australia.
-She has written children’s books too.
-She is a lover of coffee and chocolate and skiing.
-“They say it’s good to let your grudges go, but I don’t know, I’m quite fond of my grudge. I tend it like a little pet.” Big Little Lies
Lauren Weisberger
-Horoscope Sign: Aries
-She worked at Vogue. The Devil Wears Prada is loosely based on Anna Wintour, and Lauren’s time as an assistant for Anna.
-She has a Maltese named Stella.
-They are going to make The Devil Wears Prada into a musical.
-She has written 7 books.
-My favorite book of hers is When Life Gives You Lulu Lemons.
-“Peace out, L.A.! Goodbye, wheatgrass and early-morning mountain hikes and hideous highway traffic and surfing culture and most of all people who either didn’t understand or didn’t like sarcasm. Hello, dirt and bagels and taxis and self-deprecation and edge. It was good to be home.” When Life Gives You Lulu Lemons
Concluding Thoughts:
Most of my favorite authors have written for the screen (or in Nancy’s case, has solely written for the screen…but I secretly hope that one day she writes a book). Evidently, journalism is also quite important for some of my inspirations in the writing process, particularly Nick Hornby, Candace Bushnell, Lauren Weisberger, and Nora Ephron. If you have made it this far, thank you for reading. I will leave you with a question: does knowing more about the author (before you read their work) influence your opinion on their work and/or how you interpret it? | https://medium.com/@tiffaniesnyderofficial/authors-i-love-9d11577bfd26 | ['Tiffanie Snyder'] | 2021-01-12 22:25:50.019000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Fun Facts', 'Novel', 'Screenwriting', 'Authors'] |
React + d3: Implementing a Pie Chart | In the last post, we talked about implementing a simple line chart with tooltips using d3.js and React. Today, we will be looking into how to create a Pie Chart.
Creating a new component
The basic structure of our <PieChart /> component will look like this:
import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
import * as d3 from 'd3';
function PieChart(props) {
const {
data,
outerRadius,
innerRadius,
} = props; const margin = {
top: 50, right: 50, bottom: 50, left: 50,
}; const width = 2 * outerRadius + margin.left + margin.right;
const height = 2 * outerRadius + margin.top + margin.bottom; useEffect(() => {
drawChart();
}, [data]);
function drawChart() {
// draw the chart here
}
return <div id="pie-container" />;
}
export default PieChart;
Let us take a look at the different props it will be using — margin and outerRadius are used to calculate the width and height of our pie. By having innerRadius greater than 0, we can very easily convert our pie chart into a donut chart as well 🍩 😄
Our component will render a div element which will be containing the Pie Chart.
drawChart function will be responsible for actually drawing our pie chart. It will be called every time the data prop changes.
Defining the data
PieChart will accept an array of objects for the data prop. This is how it will look like —
const data = [{ label: 'Apples', value: 10 }, { label: 'Oranges', value: 20 }];
Drawing the Pie
Now, let’s populate the drawChart function. Everything below will go inside this function:
Creating a color scale
First, let us define what interpolations is —
Interpolation is the process of estimating unknown values that fall between known values.
const colorScale = d3
.scaleSequential()
.interpolator(d3.interpolateCool)
.domain([0, data.length]);
The d3-interpolate module provides a variety of interpolation methods for blending between two values. Values may be numbers, colors, strings, arrays, or even deeply-nested objects.
The scaleSequential method maps a continuous domain to a continuous range defined by an interpolator function. We are using the d3.interpolateCool color scale but you can use any other as well.
d3.interpolateCool
d3.interpolateWarm
In simple words, any value falling between [0, data.length] will be mapped to a value in the given color scale. We will be using these colors so that each sector of our pie has a different color.
Appending SVG
// Remove the old svg
d3.select('#pie-container')
.select('svg')
.remove(); // Create new svg
const svg = d3
.select('#pie-container')
.append('svg')
.attr('width', width)
.attr('height', height)
.append('g')
.attr('transform', `translate(${width / 2}, ${height / 2})`);
We first clear the previous chart before drawing a new one (remember drawChart is called every time the data changes?)
We append an svg inside the div element we rendered. We also append g inside the svg to group our elements together to apply easy transformations to them. We translate this group of elements to the center of the svg
Defining the generators
const arcGenerator = d3
.arc()
.innerRadius(innerRadius)
.outerRadius(outerRadius); const pieGenerator = d3
.pie()
.padAngle(0)
.value((d) => d.value); const arc = svg
.selectAll()
.data(pieGenerator(data))
.enter();
d3.arc doesn’t actually draw any arcs yet but it is used to create an arcGenerator which will be used to draw the sectors of the pie. Similarly, d3.pie doesn’t draw the pie but it used to compute the necessary angles to represent our data as a pie.
We then enter the svg group with the computed data. Now, we are ready to actually draw the pie.
Adding Sectors and Labels
// Append sectors
arc
.append('path')
.attr('d', arcGenerator)
.style('fill', (_, i) => colorScale(i))
.style('stroke', '#ffffff')
.style('stroke-width', 0); // Append text labels
arc
.append('text')
.attr('text-anchor', 'middle')
.attr('alignment-baseline', 'middle')
.text((d) => d.data.label)
.style('fill', '#ffffff)
.attr('transform', (d) => {
const [x, y] = arcGenerator.centroid(d);
return `translate(${x}, ${y})`;
});
We append a path for each sector. If you notice carefully, we have used the index of each data item to map to the color scale which is used as a fill color for the sector.
Next, we append text elements for each data item and position them using arcGenerator.centroid which returns the center of each sector. That’s it!
This is how your pie chart will look like ✨
Here’s the entire source code for this component — | https://medium.com/@ihsavru/react-d3-implementing-a-pie-chart-dc7bf13ff418 | [] | 2020-10-10 11:11:46.115000+00:00 | ['D3js', 'React', 'Charts', 'JavaScript', 'Data Visualization'] |
The New Economy Real Estate Model — A Soft Sell Concept | As far back as the 1970’s Sears imagined a booth in their stores where a client could purchase stock and even land. It was a strong take a gander at the future from one of the world’s biggest retailers. All they needed to do was to get the buyer to go to their stores to work together. This was a significant test tossed down to both Wall Street and Main Street USA. The majority of us most likely never heard or recall this methodology, and it never got off the ground. Individuals simply didn’t compare Sears with stock or land; they were a retail establishment.
In reasonableness to Sears, the advances and comforts didn’t exist to empower the arrangement. Singes may have likewise thought themselves too enormous to come up short. That subject seems to be a steady.
Gee, apparently history does in fact rehash itself, and maybe at shorter and shorter interims. It might be amusing that by accelerating forms and the rate at which things can change, the exercises of history are lost at a speedier rate. Did that bode well? In the event that it did, you might be thinking somewhat like me — you’ve been forewarned.
In the 1980’s the effective realtor turned out to be progressively autonomous and required less and less administrations from the financier firm. As they asserted an increasingly elevated segment of the business expense, edges for the land financier started to contract. Some extraordinarily high financing costs similarly affected the home loan banking industry. Except if purchasers had no way out, they didn’t take on these swelled home loans. The home loan industry actually contracted alongside their overall revenues. We as a whole realize that land cycles; it goes up and it goes down. The bend is seldom smooth, and is punctuated by sharp turns toward some path. Most highlights of the land business respond rapidly to the conditions in the market that influence it. Presently we have the foundation for the following endeavor to make a products showcase from the land procedure.
In 1974, the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA), as revised, was passed. It opened the entryway for combinations inside the business. To encourage rivalry, organizations were controlled to forestall maltreatment in the business and to hold costs to the buyer lower. It was practically amusing that the very demonstration that was passed to forestall mishandles, in a way opened the entryway. I don’t have a clue about that it has exactly been exhibited that RESPA really brought down expenses or forestalled manhandles. With HUD as a guard dog, there was minimal genuine authorization, and despite the fact that fines were required, industry rehearses at last were left to the states to oversee. It took a very long time to sift through it, and Wall Street just a couple of months to make it yesterday’s issue.
The point for referencing RESPA was that it permitted what was classified “controlled business substances,” a term later changed to “associated business elements.” The home manufacturer and the land financier could now have a hostage home loan and title business. The hypothesis was this would by one way or another make efficiencies and economies bringing down the cost and improve administration to the shopper. It didn’t. With the entirety of this vertical coordination, every last one of the autonomously overseen organizations was trapped in the equivalent budgetary wringer.
What was not thought about was the professional patterned nature of the model. At the point when one business was down so were the others. The upside was champagne and roses, yet the drawback practically ruled out brew and carnations. There were different oversights also. Not understanding the hazard models for organizations outside of their center abilities was only from time to time given the center it merited. Few additionally grasped dealing with the business with a similar enthusiasm they had for their center model.
The outcome was that a significant number of these subsidiary courses of action have fizzled, and the business model for how exchanges are overseen stays a lot of equivalent to it has since the post WWII period. Positively innovation has improved frameworks, yet not about to the degree that it could. The serious natures of the individual areas of the land business keep the advancements exclusive and along these lines parochial. A 21st Century model for the business will originate from some place outside of the center land industry. Next came a far an increasingly sorted out and efficient endeavor to make a ware showcase in the land field.
The boldest procedure to commoditize the private land advertise originated from an organization called National Realty Trust (NRT). NRT has experienced various name changes. In the mid to late 1990s NRT was known as Cendant (CD). The CEO of Cendant, Henry Silverman was a Wall Street visionary who got wares. He was enormous in the rental vehicle business (Avis) and in cordiality with a string of inn establishments. Mr. Silverman saw the land as an item that could be diversified and efficiently approached securing national land stamps, for example, Coldwell Banker (Residential), Century 21, ERA and Sotheby’s. Along these lines they additionally obtained set up local land organizations. They were and remain the biggest single gathering of land organizations in the business.
Cendant encountered a bookkeeping embarrassment in the most recent decade and lost its catalyst. It never entirely recuperated from the outrage, and the organization separated its advantages into four gatherings. The land organizations were offered to the Apollo Management Group. Apollo has been assailed by the delicate land advertise and a suit recorded via Carl Icahn over an obligation trade plan. With the proceeding with money related and legitimate issues, they bumble alongside the same old thing. They are not in a situation to lead the land business into the 21st Century. This technique included getting in upstream in the exchange by “owning” the guard work. It required colossal measures of capital, and innovation was developing to give an unquestionably increasingly productive less capital serious stage to rise. The Internet makes anybody with the vision and the idea to be a potential player.
Permit me to present Soft Sell Solutions LLC, an inventive idea for the 21st Century model for land. Manufactured with many years of experience and inside industry information, the idea is supportable by existing innovation, showed buyer practice and purchase in. The vision and enthusiasm to convey a flawlessly coordinated framework stands prepared to integrate the dissimilar procedure.
The third article right now Controls the Real Estate Process makes way for a 21st Century approach. | https://medium.com/@Editingcarphotos/the-new-economy-real-estate-model-a-soft-sell-concept-b7bfb82ed925 | ['Editing Car Photos'] | 2020-02-20 12:42:53.073000+00:00 | ['Home Improvement', 'Homedesign', 'Home', 'Real Estate', 'Home Decor'] |
Prioritizing Customer Results With A Live Course: What Works For Yes and Yes’s Sarah Von Bargen | Business Models
The Nitty Gritty
Why Sarah decided to offer her online course Bank Boost in a live setting using weekly emails and live Q and A sessions
The values and psychology behind her product pricing and how she markets the live courses in a low-key way without webinars
Why she goes offline for a couple days at a time to work on content — and how that frees up the rest of her time to work with clients and so much more
How she plans to market her live courses in the future
What Sarah’s different streams of income look like
Sarah Von Bargen writes and teaches about “the space where money and happiness meet.” In this episode of What Works, Sarah walks us through her decision-making process to transform one of her popular eBooks into an online course and everything else that goes into promoting and running it.
We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode.
Why take things live?
“It’s a values-based thing. It doesn’t feel good to me to take hundreds of dollars from someone and then they don’t use the thing that I sold them. I believe in the work that I do, I believe in my course, and I know that if they did the course, it would be life-changing. But if I can make some tweaks on my end, and help them get to the place that they want to go, why wouldn’t I?” — Sarah Von Bargen
Why did Bank Boost go from an eBook to an online class? Well, Sarah wanted to create an opportunity for her audience to not only benefit from the information — but to work through it along with a community of like-minded people going through the same thing.
While small business owners might shy away from turning a DIY experience, like working through an eBook, into a live curated one for their customers or clients, Sarah says that it’s not that much extra work. When the course is running live, Sarah spends about 20 minutes engaging and liking posts while her assistant answers questions.
When she and her assistant aren’t chiming in, the community members step up to the plate every time. “The community that I’ve worked really hard to create is incredibly supportive,” says Sarah. “If somebody posts something in the Facebook group asking a question, 9 times out of 10, I don’t even need to be the one to weigh in and answer it because everybody is so excited to share their insights and advice.”
Marketing live online courses
“Because of the price point and because it’s such an easy yes, I do not do any webinars. I know when I’m going launch and the 2–3 weeks leading up to it I write blog posts that touch on the topic of finances. Then I make sure to include at the top that Bank Boost is opening again and to get on the wait list.” — Sarah Von Bargen
The Bank Boost online course costs $35. Yep, that’s it. As Sarah declares on the sales page: “That’s less than most impulse purchases at Target. I didn’t want you to go into debt in order to learn how to save money!” Awesome.
Because the price is a no-brainer, Sarah skips the webinars. Instead, she focuses on sharing in Instagram Stories, in her free Facebook group, and in her weekly Sunday link round-up. She also sends emails to her list — and particularly any subscriber who joined by way of a finance opt-in.
To promote the course, she also updates her website banners and popups to promote it and her Facebook header. Then, once the course is open, she sents out an email to the waitlist.
Listen to this episode to hear more from Sarah Von Bargen on how to promote an online course, pricing your products, and how to make time for content writing. | https://medium.com/help-yourself/prioritizing-customer-results-with-a-live-course-what-works-for-yes-and-yess-sarah-von-bargen-f4bab5834cc7 | ['Tara Mcmullin'] | 2018-10-23 14:51:42.239000+00:00 | ['Business Strategy', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Business', 'Marketing', 'Podcast'] |
Tenure at Illinois: a Learning and Labor of Love Letter | 2020 was a Dickensian year for me: it was the worst of times, it was the best of times. It was the year of the pandemic, widespread civil injustice, raging forest fires, and an election that tested the fabric of American democracy. It was also the year I got tenure.
My parents and I in my office in Siebel Center, on my first day as a faculty member in 2014.
A close mentor at MIT once told me, “tenure shouldn’t exist…so if you get it, never give it up.” Academic tenure is one of the last, inviolate bastions of intellectual freedom in modern society. I’m extremely lucky — and privileged — to be granted the opportunities it affords.
So how will tenure change my approach to my work? Very little, thanks to the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois.
Starting my academic career, I was impatient: there were dozens of weird, unconventional ideas I wanted to explore. When I’d talk about them with colleagues, a common refrain quickly developed: “you should wait until you get tenure.” But my department never said that to me: not once. As a junior faculty member, I probably did everything the unwritten tenure playbook says you are not supposed to do: start a company, create your own field, work on multi-year research projects, spend almost no time writing grants, wear couture pajamas to class, collaborate closely with your significant other.
When I was on the job market, I asked all the schools I interviewed at how they made tenure decisions. Most mentioned publication records, reference letters, and metrics like citation count and h-index. When I visited Illinois, John Hart said something different:
“It’s simple. We award tenure based on impact: we want to see that you’ve put your unique stamp on the world. As long as you do that, we’ll be happy…and there are lots of ways to measure it.”
I’ve never forgotten what John said, but what’s even more striking in hindsight is that it turned out to be true. I was always a reluctant academic: the inexorable “publish or perish” rat race held little allure for me. The idea of putting my passions on hold for six or nine years to garner citations seemed to vitiate the very freedoms a tenure-track job promised. But I could get behind measuring impact.
My research is about design. David Kelley, the founder of IDEO, defines design as “a process of making impact on the world by doing this kind of creation of something new to the world and then getting it out there.” The last bit — getting it out there — is the hardest part: it requires constant vigilance, doesn’t increase your publication/citation count, and often results in failure (after three years and two-and-a-half million dollars, I had to shut my startup down). But that’s the impact I care about: creating things that real people use, and derive value from.
In my career, I’ve found a number of ways for an academic to get work out there: found a startup, open-source code and data, release an app, partner with industrial researchers, or productize your research at an established company. I’m fortunate that my department has been my loudest cheerleader along the way: publicizing my startup’s fundraise, my collaboration with Jeff Nichols at Google to release the world’s largest repository of mobile app designs, and even the proposal that resulted in the addition of the bubble tea emoji 🧋 to the Unicode 13 standard. When I requested leave this year to join UserTesting as their Chief Research Scientist to productionize my latest design-mining work, my department chair never suggested that I should wait until my tenure case had been decided.
Academia is a paradox. Contrarian ideas are so often the kernel of innovation, but the academy’s pressure to conform is real. So why go against the grain? ’Cause it was all that rang true. The truth is, this is the only way I know how to be.
During this season of giving thanks — in a year where things to be thankful for are in short supply — I want to express my gratitude to the University of Illinois, my department, my students, and my colleagues, for encouraging me to be a faculty member on my own terms.
Founded in 1867, the University’s motto is “Learning and Labor.” For me, it has been a labor of love. 💌 | https://medium.com/@ranjitha/tenure-at-illinois-53cdf2106e56 | ['Ranjitha Kumar'] | 2020-11-26 21:51:14.805000+00:00 | ['Computer Science', 'Academia', 'Tenure', 'Hci', 'University Of Illinois'] |
Briars | Briars
Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash
Some labyrinths are found in our minds.
Instead of leafy verdant cover,
binding as steel but soft
beneath the fingers we trail over it,
this boundary is rough. Hewn
from thickets grown of time
and pain. Notched ridges made smooth,
relentless touch a marker of my journey.
I seek reprieve
and escape from what I’ve known.
Prudence mislaid, I stumble
through the warren of my thoughts.
Lost in a maze, yearning
for what can never be,
emotions on the precipice.
A heart wedged in briars
no bloom to caution me,
one wrong move
bloodshed the consequence.
Risk outweighing reward
I search for safety amid these steps,
longing for safe passage
to that remote isle of dreams.
The clock ticking ever louder, shadows
telling the tale of a forlorn heart. | https://medium.com/loose-words/briars-6dc517d4f05e | ['Christine Kelly'] | 2020-12-16 15:04:18.573000+00:00 | ['Time', 'Poetry', 'Relationships', 'Free Verse', 'Love'] |
How can CBD help you have better sleep? | CBD oil for sleep and insomnia
CBD is a chemical compound naturally found in the cannabis plant and CBD can also be derived from marijuana or hemp. CBD products have helped people with multiple mental and physical ailments. Cannabidiol based products can particularly have a soothing effect on the central nervous system and hence CBD products are useful in treating a range of mental health issues including Depression, Anxiety and Insomnia.
This is specifically important because, as per a recent survey, about 66.8 percent of the people worldwide are suffering from anxiety, lack of sleep and/or depression. As per MHFA England, 80–90% of people who attempted suicide are suffering from mental distress. In the UK, men aged between 40–49 years have reported the highest rates of suicides.8 The intensity of anxiety and depression have also further increased in patients, because of the widely prevalent working from home culture and blurring of professional and personal lines, throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
How can CBD help your sleep and insomnia?
Insomnia and sleep disorder can cause low energy levels, loss of concentration, fatigue and mood changes. People can experience sleep related issues or problems because of multiple reasons. These can be due to psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or due to continuous consumption of caffeinated drinks, certain medications, or due to some external factors such as noise. Though the external factors might be temporary, the issues such as Depression, Anxiety and stress causing insomnia, can have huge effects on a person’s wellbeing.
CBD helps by managing the main causes of sleeplessness, including Mental health disorders, such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression.
One of the major causes of depression is low serotonin levels in patients. Serotonin affects a range of functions in the body, including a person’s emotional state and feelings of well-being or happiness. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (widely known as antidepressants) are currently available and prescribed for depression, however, they can have multiple side effects on the body. CBD has a positive interaction with serotonin receptors in the brain and can help to keep the serotonin levels balance. CBD has been found to have the possibility of helping patients suffering from anxiety as well. Anxiety is also linked to low serotonin levels, and hence CBD’s impact on maintaining the balance of serotonin levels in the body, can have a positive impact on anxiety.
A recent 2019 study included 72 participants, of which 47 subjects were experiencing nervousness and 25 with the problem of poor sleep. The patients were administered 25 milligrams (mg) of CBD in capsule form every day. After one month of delivery, 79.2% of CBD administered patients showed positive results with alleviated anxiety and 66.7% with better sleep results.4
Another study, which compared CBD with a placebo, utilized a dose of 160 mg of CBD. The study observed an increased duration of sleep in patients with 5 mg of the insomnia drug, along with 40, 80, and 160 mg of CBD as compared to the placebo with the insomnia drug.2
In another investigation, conducted on the effects of cannabidiol, it was depicted that cortisol levels reduced more significantly when 300 or 600 mg of CBD oil was taken by the study participants. The outcome suggested that the release of cortisol in the body is affected by CBD, probably acting as a sedative.2
Another clinical investigation published in a journal included 409 insomnia patients and rated their insomnia symptoms on a scale of 1 to 10 in which 10 represented the most severe case. Early symptoms were being rated as 6.6 on an average. The results from the study demonstrated that the CBD reduced the symptoms of insomnia in large pool of patients.3
Patient success stories
· Hayley was suffering from sleep related disorders for a long time and tried everything to get rid of her insomnia. She tried melatonin and experienced that even a small overdose of melatonin resulted in creating extra pressure on her temples and impacted her mental health, when she wakes up in the morning. She even tried Benadryl, however, post-Benadryl she started feeling fatigued and felt as if each of her cells was begging her to get back in bed. She also tried taking Ambien, however, experienced dangerous side effects with it. At last, after trying everything, she took CBD, and she could feel the calming effect it had on her. She could sleep more easily and had a noticeable positive impact on the body.5
· Laura had been facing the problem of insomnia and she had been staring at the ceiling for many nights. Laura’s insomnia began when her anxiety spiked during an extra stressful holiday season. It then quickly turned into a vicious cycle of worrying, which made her unable to relax enough to fall asleep. Eventually, she sought out a psychiatrist to help with her mental health issues. The doctor felt that they needed to treat her insomnia along with her anxiety to see real improvement. Hence, her doctor prescribed her a sleep aid. Laura says the prescription sleeping pills helped her stay asleep, but she was still having a tough time turning off the anxiety to have a sound sleep. Hence, her psychiatrist recommended that she try cannabidiol (CBD) oil, taking one dose in the morning to help manage her anxiety throughout the day, and then a second dose right before bed. She has been doing that and now she enjoys a peaceful sleep without being disturbed due to anxiety attacks.6
Conclusion
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018 stated that cannabidiol (CBD) is generally safe for the majority of people and has shown no signs of dependence or abuse or evidence of any other public health-related problem. WHO also informed the public that CBD may help in managing multiple chronic conditions, including insomnia.6 Numerous studies have also established that CBD plays an important role in sleep and sleep neurophysiology. Ongoing research and studies would further establish CBD’s clinical efficacy in sleep related disorders and would help drive its adoption among insomniac patients.
Sources:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326553/
2. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/cbd-and-sleep#research
3. https://www.sleepassociation.org/sleep-treatments/cbd/
4. https://www.healtheuropa.eu/do-you-think-cbd-can-help-you-sleep-better/95200/
5. https://elemental.medium.com/why-cbd-oil-is-my-sleep-aid-of-choice-decc1ab855f7
6. https://www.thehealthy.com/sleep/insomnia/cbd-oil-sleep-insomnia/
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7388834/
8. https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/research-and-evaluation/mental-health-statistics/ | https://medium.com/@leafplus/how-can-cbd-help-you-have-better-sleep-fccec835fcde | ['Leaf'] | 2020-12-22 22:24:27.165000+00:00 | ['Insomnia', 'Sleep', 'Cbd Oils', 'Cbd', 'Help'] |
Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, and Others: Cloud Data Warehouse Tools Compared | From simple mechanisms for holding data like punch cards and paper tapes to real-time data processing systems like Hadoop, data storage systems have come a long way to become what they are now. For over 30 years, data warehouses have been a rich business-insights source. Is it still so? With all the transformations in the sphere of cloud and information technologies, it may seem as if data warehousing has lost its relevance. Quite the opposite. Though there are countless options for storing, analyzing, and indexing data, data warehouses have remained relevant.
When reviewing BI tools, we described several data warehouse tools. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the top cloud warehouse software, including Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift. We’ll review all the important aspects of their architecture, deployment, and performance to help you make an informed decision.
Before jumping into a comparison of available products, it’s a good idea to first get acquainted with data warehousing basics.
What is a data warehouse?
A data warehouse is defined as a centralized repository where a company stores all valuable data assets integrated from different channels like databases, flat files, applications, CRM systems, etc. A data warehouse is often abbreviated as DW or DWH. You may also find it referred to as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW). It is usually created and used primarily for data reporting and analysis purposes. Thanks to the capability of data warehouses to get all data in one place, they serve as a valuable business intelligence (BI) tool, helping companies gain business insights and map out future strategies.
To learn more about data engineering check our article or watch a video
Data engineering, explained
According to Bill Inmon, the data warehousing pioneer, there are several defining features of a DW:
Subject-oriented signifies that the data information in the warehouse revolves around some subject as compared to a data lake. It means that a warehouse doesn’t contain all company data ever but only subject matters of interest. As an illustration, a particular warehouse can be built to track information about sales only.
Integrated means that the data warehouse has common standards for the quality of data stored. For instance, any organization may have a few business systems that track the same information. A data warehouse acts as a single source of truth, providing the most recent or appropriate information.
Time-variant relates to data warehouse consistency during a particular period when data is carried into a repository and stays unchanged. For example, companies can work with historical data to know what sales were like 5 or 10 years ago in contrast to current sales.
Non-volatile implies that once the data flies into a warehouse, it stays there and isn’t removed with new data entries. As such, it is possible to retrieve old archived data if needed.
Summarized touches upon the fact the data is used for data analytics. Often, it is aggregated or segmented in data marts, facilitating analysis and reporting as users can get information by unit, section, department, etc.
Data warehouse architecture
The architecture of a data warehouse is a system defining how data is presented and processed within a repository. Warehouses can be divided into those following a traditional approach to storing and processing data versus modern cloud-based ones. Cloud systems are designed to fill in the gaps of legacy databases and address modern data management challenges. Let’s go through the architectural components of both.
Traditional data warehouse architecture
Traditional or on-premise data warehouses have three standard approaches to constructing their architecture layers: single-tier, two-tier, and three-tier architectures. The most common one is the three-tier model, composed of the bottom, middle, and top tiers.
Three-tier data warehouse architecture.
The bottom tier is represented by systems of report, usually relational database systems. A variety of back-end tools make it possible to extract, clean, transform, and load data into this layer. There are two different approaches to loading data into a data warehouse: ETL and ELT. Both processes include the Extract, Load, Transform functions but with a different sequence.
The middle tier serves as a mediator between the database and the end-user. It is a home for an OLAP (online analytical processing) server that converts data into a form more suitable for analysis and querying.
The top tier is referred to as the front-end or client layer. It contains an API (Application Programming Interface) and tools designed for data analysis, reporting, and data mining (the process of detecting patterns in large datasets to predict outcomes).
Cloud data warehouse architecture
Being relatively new, cloud warehouses more commonly consist of three layers such as compute, storage, and client (service). The compute layers comprise multiple compute clusters with nodes processing queries in parallel. Compute clusters are the sets of virtual machines grouped to perform computation tasks. These clusters are sometimes called virtual warehouses. In the storage layers, data is organized in partitions to be further optimized and compressed. The client layers are responsible for management activities. Although cloud-based data warehouse vendors often use slightly different approaches to constructing their architectures.
Cloud data warehouses can be categorized in multiple ways.
By the type of deployment:
Cloud-based data warehouses that use the computation power and space presented by cloud providers.
Hybrid cloud data warehouses adopt cloud capabilities while still allowing the use of on-premises solutions.
By generation:
The 1st generation data warehouses are built using the SMP architecture or Symmetric Multiprocessing where multiple processors are attached to a single node.
The 2nd generation Data Warehouses separate the compute and storage layers, relying on the MPP (Multiple Parallel Processing) architecture with multiple nodes processing different queries at the same time.
The 3rd generation data warehouses add more computing choices to MPP and offer different pricing models.
By the level of back-end management involved:
Serverless data warehouses get their functional building blocks with the help of serverless services, meaning they are fully-managed by third-party vendors. The term “serverless” doesn’t imply that there are no servers at all, but rather that a person or a company using the system doesn’t buy or rent any physical or virtual servers.
DWs with servers, meaning a person or a company can rent, set up, and manage virtual servers for warehousing.
While traditional data warehouses are still alive and kicking, especially for storing sensitive data or working with close integrations of related structured data types, they lag behind modern cloud solutions big time. The variety of data explodes and on-premises options fail to handle it. Apart from the lack of scalability and flexibility offered by modern databases, the traditional ones are costly to implement and maintain.
Modern cloud solutions, on the other hand, cover the needs of high performance, scalability, and advanced data management and analytics. At the moment, cloud-based data warehouse architectures provide the most effective employment of data warehousing resources.
How to choose cloud data warehouse software: main criteria
Data storage tends to move to the cloud and we couldn’t bypass reviewing some of the most advanced data warehouses in the big data arena. To provide the most relevant information and unbiased opinions, all the data warehouse solutions are going to be compared based on the same criteria.
Criteria to consider when choosing cloud data warehouse products.
Architecture. Cloud-based data warehouses differ, and so do their approaches to organizing architectural components. And yet, pretty much all of them rely on massively parallel processing or MPP. There are shared-nothing or shared disk MPP architectures.
In a shared-nothing architecture , nodes (processors) work independently and don’t share disk space. Different data is processed in parallel on different nodes.
, nodes (processors) work independently and don’t share disk space. Different data is processed in parallel on different nodes. In a shared-disk, the processing is also performed on different nodes, but, as the name suggests, they are connected by a single memory disk, meaning all cluster nodes have access to all data.
Shared-nothing solutions are great if you are a large-scale company, with millions of users to serve daily. They also require a more intricate partitioning strategy and, ideally, avoiding operations that span across multiple storages. In many cases, a shared-disk architecture may be enough. However, in today’s world, there are warehouse designs that can use both approaches simultaneously, like Snowflake.
Shared-disk and shared-nothing architectures displayed.
Performance and data processing speed. Better performance reduces expenses as quite a few providers charge for the time you use their compute powers. So, you may want to find out how much time it takes for each solution to run queries. Another important factor resides in whether a product supports concurrent querying that speeds up performance.
Scalability opportunities. Scaling allows companies to take control of their system performance and storage bandwidth, which optimizes the usage of resources and saves money. Depending on the type of scaling used by vendors (horizontal or vertical), you will either add more machines to your pool of resources or add more power such as CPU or RAM to your existing system to meet your needs.
Offered security measures. From keeping a data warehouse compliant with the required data protection regulations to providing advanced user access management, a vendor you choose must employ all the needed measures to protect sensitive data.
Third-party integration support. Data warehouses often integrate with other systems. It is a good idea to check if it is possible to integrate a particular DW with your existing software tools as it can speed up the process of data migration into the cloud.
Data loading. It’s a good thing to learn what types of data injection and what access methods the solution provides. Will it be possible to ingest data in real-time or in batches? Since we are comparing top providers on the market, they all have powerful data loading capabilities, including streaming data.
Support for data backup and recovery. To minimize worries about your data, it is better to ask your vendor what disaster recovery and data backup measures they provide upfront.
Deployment scenarios. Based on business needs and budget, companies have to decide which deployment option suits them best: on-premise, cloud, or hybrid. What’s more, the ease of data warehouse deployment and its further use also should be taken into account.
Implementation process. Each company has its own needs and available resources. Consequently, the service implementation process is one of the determining factors for a business. What configuration opportunities does each solution offer? Is it easy or difficult to implement? Is it time-consuming? What specialists are required to handle a data warehouse and what would their expertise level have to be? Remember that all of the warehouse products available require some technical expertise to run, including data engineering and, in some cases, DevOps.
Price. Find out if a vendor offers a free trial to test the waters before a purchase. Is it a flat-rate or on-demand model? Also, be attentive as some packages don’t include all the functionality.
Comparison of the top data warehouse software products.
Snowflake: for corporations in search of the easy deployment and configuration
Initially built on top of AWS (Amazon Web Services), Snowflake is an all-inclusive cloud data warehouse for structured and semi-structured data provided as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). As a customer, you don’t need to select, install, or manage any virtual or physical hardware, except for configuring the size and number of compute clusters. The rest of the maintenance duties are carried by Snowflake, which makes this solution practically serverless. Unlike traditional warehousing offerings, Snowflake provides more flexible, faster, and easier-to-use data storage and analytic solutions.
Architecture. Snowflake’s architecture is natively designed for the cloud and combined with an innovative SQL query engine. Combining the characteristics of traditional shared-disk and shared-nothing database architectures, Snowflake comprises three core layers such as database storage, query processing, and cloud services. There is a centralized data repository for a single copy of data that can be accessed from all independent compute nodes.
Snowflake architecture illustration. Source: Snowflake
Performance. Thanks to the concept of separate compute and storage, Snowflake allows for concurrent workloads, meaning users can run multiple queries at a time. The workloads won’t impact each other, which results in faster performance (according to one of the benchmarks, Snowflake is capable of processing 6 to 60 million rows of data in from 2 seconds to 10 seconds).
Scalability. Snowflake enables seamless, non-disruptive scaling (both horizontal and vertical) powered by multi-cluster shared data architecture. It doesn’t require the involvement of a database operator or admin to scale as the software handles all the scaling automatically per business demand. That’s a huge advantage for smaller companies with limited resources.
Security. Snowflake is highly secure and fully compliant with most data protection standards, including SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2 for all Snowflake editions and PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITRUST for the Business Critical Edition or higher. The system also provides controlled access management and high-level data security (all data and files are automatically encrypted).
Integrations. The system provides native connectivity with multiple data integration, BI, and analytics tools, including IBM Cognos, Azure Data Factory, Oracle Analytics Cloud, Fivetran, and Google Cloud, to name a few.
Data loading. Snowflake supports the ELT and ETL data integration approaches, meaning data transformation can happen during or after loading. The ELT approach helps with capturing raw data and then finding the best use case for it. It’s important if you plan on designing machine learning models. The files can be loaded from cloud storage like Microsoft Azure or Amazon S3. Snowflake is also a good choice for data streaming. But keep in mind that all providers we compare here support data streaming. So, it’s not going to be a differentiating feature in this article.
Data backup and recovery. The platform uses fail-safe instead of backup. Fail-safe offers a 7-day period during which Snowflake recovers data that may have been damaged or lost due to system failures.
Implementation. Snowflake is considered one of the most intuitive and simplest to use data warehouse products and it evokes a serverless experience. Having inherited a lot of relational database features and combined them with cloud principles, the service promises a quick and easy start. The platform allows for creating and maintaining multiple data warehouses using one account. The sizes of the compute cluster per warehouse can be configured in detail. All of this sounds great, but configuring Snowflake still requires solid SQL knowledge and skills as well as a good understanding of data warehouse architecture. To help you out, Snowflake provides explicit documentation as well as opportunities to become a certified Snowflake expert.
Price. Snowflake provides tiered pricing that is tailored to customer requirements and needs. There are on-demand and pre-purchase pricing plans. As the usages of storage and compute are separated, the latter is billed separately on a per-second basis (minimum 60 seconds).
Suitable for: Companies looking for an easily deployed DWH with nearly unlimited, automatic scaling and top-notch performance will benefit from using Snowflake.
Amazon Redshift: enterprise data warehouse tool
Part of Amazon’s cloud-computing platform, Redshift is a cloud-based data warehouse software for enterprises. The platform enables fast processing of massive data sets. Not only is it fit for quality data analytics, it also provides automatic concurrency querying as per workload demand. Regardless of some managed features that we describe in the implementation section, Redshift is a more self-managed solution meaning that engineers will have to spend time on resource and server management.
Architecture. Redshift is designed with the shared-nothing MPP architecture. It comprises data warehouse clusters with compute nodes split up into node slices. Individual compute nodes are assigned with the code by the leader node. The system communicates with client applications by using industry-standard JDBC and ODBC drivers. The technology can be integrated with most existing SQL-based client applications, ETL, BI, data analytics, and data mining tools.
Illustration of Amazon Redshift warehouse architecture. Source: AWS
Performance. While the performance is fine overall on most data types, it is quite low when using semi-structured data (e.g. JSON files). For optimal performance, it is recommended that users opt for the concept of distribution keys. These are columns used to define a database segment storing a particular row of data.
Scalability. Redshift allows for horizontal and vertical scaling. It is pre-configured to support 500 concurrent connections and up to 50 concurrent queries to be run at the same time in a cluster. That means up to 500 users can execute up to 50 queries at any given time in one cluster. In case you need to process more concurrent read queries, Redshift provides the concurrency scaling feature that automatically adds the capacity of another cluster. Different clusters can be used for different use cases while accessing the same data.
Security. With Redshift, you share security responsibilities with AWS: Security of the cloud is taken care of by AWS while security in the cloud is your responsibility. As security is of the highest priority to AWS, access to Redshift resources is controlled thoroughly at all levels. Redshift provides compliance with security standards, including ISO, PCI, HIPAA BAA, and SOC 1,2,3.
Integrations. The software tool provides robust integration opportunities with the whole AWS ecosystem, including Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon EMR, AWS Glue, and AWS Data Pipeline. Redshift partners with a huge number of other platforms.
Data loading. While supporting both ELT/ETL approaches and standard DML (data manipulation language) commands including INSERT, Redshift claims that the most effective way to load data into your tables is to use their COPY command. With this command, it is possible to simultaneously work with multiple data streams and read data from multiple data files. The platform also offers real-time data streaming capabilities.
Data backup and recovery. Amazon Redshift uses the advanced system of both automated and manual snapshots ‒ point-in-time backups of a cluster. They are stored in Amazon S3 by means of an encrypted SSL connection.
Implementation. Redshift’s query engine resembles the PostgreSQL interface. Therefore, if your company has a team of data analysts who previously dealt with PostgreSQL or similar SQL-based management systems, it will be easy for you to start creating and processing queries in Redshift for your BI. Also, Redshift automates some of the most time-consuming cluster configuration responsibilities such as data backups, patching, replications, and facilitating the administration of a warehouse. One way or another, there should be a certain level of data engineering and server management expertise to work with Redshift: A DevOps or data engineer must configure clusters and define memory, compute, and storage allocation. For these reasons, Redshift falls more to the self-managed side of the spectrum.
Price. Redshift offers various pricing plans. With on-demand pricing, charges are set per hour. While it starts at only $0.25 an hour, the final cost is calculated based on the number of nodes in a cluster. With managed storage pricing, users pay for the volume of data per month.
Suitable for: Redshift is initially made for big data warehousing. If your company deals with large scale data and your queries need quick responses, you should definitely give serious consideration to Redshift. The platform is also a good fit for businesses that are looking for a data warehouse with a transparent pricing model and little to no administrative overhead costs.
Google BigQuery fits corporations with varied workloads
Developed by Google, BigQuery does exactly what the name suggests ‒ provides opportunities for querying large data sets. This is a cost-effective multi-cloud data warehouse technology possessing machine learning capabilities.
Architecture. BigQuery possesses a serverless architecture where storage and compute are separated. The main component of BigQuery architecture is called Dremel. This is a massively parallel query engine with the functionality to read thousands of rows in seconds. Data is stored in replicated, distributed storage, and processed in compute clusters consisting of nodes. This structure provides vast flexibility and differs from traditional on-premise or node-based cloud data warehouse technologies. With such an approach under the hood, various users can put their data into the data warehouse and start analyzing that data using Standard SQL.
Representation of BigQuery architecture. Source: Google BigQuery.
Performance. BigQuery supports partitioning, resulting in improved query performance. The data can be easily queried with either SQL or through Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). According to the Fivetran benchmark, Google BigQuery shows good but not top-tier performance ‒ the average runtime of 99 TPC-DS queries (each TPC-DS consists of 24 tables with the largest one containing 4 million rows of data) is 11.18 seconds. Redshift and Snowflake showed 8.24 and 8.21 seconds respectively.
Scalability. Similar to Snowflake, BigQuery sets apart compute and storage, enabling users to scale processing and memory resources based on their needs. The tool obtains high vertical and horizontal scalability and executes real-time queries on petabytes of data relatively fast.
Security. To secure sensitive data, BigQuery offers column-level security allowing for creating policies and checking access status, Cloud DPL (cloud data loss prevention), and encryption keys management. As a part of the Google Cloud environment, BigQuery provides a huge number of compliance offerings such as HIPAA, FedRAMP, PCI DSS, ISO/IEC, SOC 1,2,3, to name a few.
Integrations. Apart from operational databases, the system allows for integration with a wide array of data integration tools, BI, and AI solutions. It also integrates with Google Cloud Platform systems, which makes it a great choice as quite a few companies these days use Google Workspace, previously known as G Suite.
Data loading. Along with traditional ETL/ELT batch data loading by the means of a standard SQL dialect, BigQuery allows for data streaming ‒ ingesting data row-by-row in real-time using the streaming API (insertAll).
Data backup and recovery. BigQuery services include data backup and disaster recovery. Users are allowed to query point-in-time snapshots from 7 days of data changes.
Implementation. As far as the usability scale, BigQuery ranks high owing to the fully-managed nature of its data warehouses, meaning the BigQuery engineering team handles maintenance and updates and takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t need a data science team at all. The platform requires the knowledge of SQL commands and ETL tools. With the right experts, the processes of setup and configuration aren’t time-consuming and you can start working with BigQuery quite quickly.
Price. As for BigQuery pricing, the platform offers on-demand and flat-rate subscriptions. Although you will be charged for data storage ($0.020 per GB per month) and querying ($5 per TB), things like exporting, loading, and copying data are free.
Suitable for: BigQuery will be the best fit for corporations with varied workloads and those interested in effective data mining. If you don’t work with very big data volumes and query response time of up to several minutes isn’t critical when you use that data to run queries, then BigQuery can be a great candidate.
Teradata: perfect for businesses needing deployment flexibility
Teradata has gained remarkable recognition as a powerful enterprise data warehouse that has provided scalable storage facilities and robust data analytics for over 35 years. It is one of the most efficient hybrid cloud data warehousing tools for processing huge volumes of data. Teradata offers deployment flexibility meaning a DW can be deployed on-premises, in a private cloud, in a public cloud, or within a hybrid cloud setting. While Teradata is more of a self-managed solution, their private cloud, called Teradata IntelliCloud, offers fully-managed services.
Architecture. Just like some other data warehouse products in the list, the Teradata engine is built on the shared-nothing MPP architecture, meaning that users can run multiple concurrent queries at a time. The architecture has four components: the parsing engine (the communicator between the client system and the AMPs), BYNET (the networking layer), AMPs (access module processors), and Disks (storage space).
Teradata architecture illustration. Source: javaTpoint
Performance. With Teradata, businesses can count on high performance. The optimized performance is also reached thanks to the employment of in-memory processing (the processing of data using RAM or flash memory). The system divides data into hot and cold where hot refers to more frequently used data.
Scalability. The system has the capability of scaling from 100 gigabytes to over 100+ petabytes of data without compromising established performance. With Teradata, the system does both vertical and horizontal scaling, meaning users can add to or remove nodes from the system as well as add or remove CPU and memory per their needs.
Security. Teradata obtains various information security features from user-level security controls to network traffic encryption. The platform is fully compliant with strict security regulations from HIPAA, GDPR, PCI to ISO 27001, FISC, and SOC 1 and 2.
Integrations. A Teradata data warehouse can be integrated with Informatica, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and other leading cloud providers.
Data loading. Teradata has a self-service solution for ingesting and administering data streams in real-time called Listener. It also supports both ELT and ETL approaches.
Data backup and recovery. Teradata provides complete data protection with its robust Backup and Restore solution that ensures an automated backup process and rapid recovery in case of operational failures.
Implementation. With Teradata, it’s pretty easy and quick to get a data warehouse up and running. Most users concur that the system is overall user-oriented and convenient. While it requires a background in the use of SQL syntax, working with database management systems, and reading architectural descriptions, finding data specialists with fitting expertise is a no-brainer both onshore and offshore. The self-managed nature of Teradata on-prem solutions should be taken into account because configuration tasks rest on the shoulders of your DevOps and data engineers. The system provides documentation for all the configuration steps.
Price. The platform offers blended (a combination of flat and on-demand pricing) and consumption (on-demand) pricing models to help businesses use their budget efficiently.
Suitable for: Teradata is the only option from the list that offers deployment flexibility. So, it will be beneficial for businesses that need both on-premises and cloud solutions, or either of the two. Those who are looking for advanced business analytics and decision making will also reap benefits by using Teradata. The system can be used to analyze huge amounts of data and provide real-time analytics.
Azure Synapse by Microsoft (formerly SQL Data Warehouse)
Created by the technology giant Microsoft, Azure Synapse data warehouse serves as a cloud relational database with the opportunity of loading and processing petabytes of data as well as real-time reporting. Owing to seamless integration with the Microsoft SQL Server, the solution is a perfect match for organizations that seek easy transitioning to cloud-based warehouse technology.
Architecture. The system is built on nodes and a shared-disk massively parallel processing architecture, providing users with the capabilities of running more than a hundred parallel queries simultaneously. The Control node gets T-SQL commands from applications connected to it, prepares queries for concurrent processing, and sends operations to Compute nodes.
Depiction of Azure’s MPP architecture. Source: Microsoft
Performance. The architecture allows for concurrent query processing. As such, users can extract and visualize business insights quite fast. If we take the GigaOm benchmark, we’ll see that Azure shows the best performance as it took the least aggregate time (2,996 seconds) to execute 103 queries.
Scalability. Azure is known for being an extremely scalable and elastic cloud service, which can be scaled up and down (horizontally and vertically) fast per requirements.
Security. Azure provides a variety of comprehensive data protection services for workloads in the cloud and on-premises. They include information security, access management, network security, threat protection, and data protection. The Microsoft service presents more than 90 compliance certifications such as HITRUST, HIPAA, ISO, NIST CSF, and many more.
Integrations. Azure has a set of integration tools such as API Management, Logic Apps, Service Bus, and Event Grid to connect with a wide array of third-party services. The system natively integrates with operational databases, BI, and ML software.
Data loading. Azure allows for ingesting huge volumes of data from over 95 connectors by creating ETL/ELT processes in a code-free environment.
Data backup and recovery. Microsoft offers a built-in solution used to back up and restore data resources called Azure Backup. It scales based on your backup storage needs.
Implementation. Azure excels at ease-of-use. Users who know Microsoft products will experience little to no headaches when implementing a data warehouse. But keep in mind that those who aren’t used to the Microsoft environment might find Azure a bit difficult to learn. For analytic workloads, a company will need specialists who have hands-on experience using SQL and Spark. While Azure Synapse allows for leveraging serverless capabilities for database resources on-demand, the solution is referred to as more self-managed. Consequently, you will need experienced data engineers to configure the warehouse. The integrated development environment called Synapse Analytics Studio is nearly code-free. Azure provides clear instructions, well-organized documentation, and useful tutorials. Not to mention an intuitive interface.
Price. As far as the pricing of Azure SQL data warehouse, it is divided into a compute charge and a storage charge. When paused, you will not be charged for compute, only for storage. There are no upfront costs and termination fees.
Suitable for: Azure Synapse is a perfect match for enterprise DWHs as it offers a great price/performance ratio. It is also a win-win solution for companies that already use Microsoft products and need seamless integrations.
Reasons to choose modern cloud data warehouse products
The business environment has become highly competitive. To stay up to the minute, organizations increasingly turn from traditional on-premises platforms to more advanced cloud-based data warehouses. Here’s why:
There’s no need to buy expensive physical hardware and hire an in-house team of specialists to maintain it.
Cloud warehouses are much easier to set up and run.
The absence of capital expenditure and low operational expenses are attractive features.
Great scalability opportunities come at more affordable prices.
The ability of modern warehouse architectures to perform complex analytical queries at a much faster pace due to their use of massively parallel processing (MPP) is an excellent option.
All of the above data warehouse vendors are worthy candidates if you need to migrate your data into the cloud. The checklist we provided here and the comparison of available products should help you assess whether or not a certain end-to-end solution fills the bill. And yet, some companies may find it difficult to decide which solution suits their workflows best or to figure out how to implement cloud DWHs by themselves. If this is the case, it is better to opt for the professional help of third-party providers with hands-on experience in data warehousing implementation and consulting. | https://medium.com/@altexsoft/snowflake-redshift-bigquery-and-others-cloud-data-warehouse-tools-compared-fc520d13b5d3 | ['Altexsoft Inc'] | 2021-04-29 15:00:45.795000+00:00 | ['Data Warehouse', 'Snowflake', 'Data', 'Warehouse', 'Bigquery'] |
The Fall of the Murdoch Wall | The kaleidoscope has been shaken, the pieces are in flux, soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us reorder this world around us… (Tony Blair, 2 October 2001)
I didn’t make it to bed on election night, so it took till Saturday morning to have the experience of waking up in this new reality. All day, I felt a lightness, like the laws of physics just changed slightly — and scrolling through Facebook, I see others trying to make sense of this strange sensation. Mixed in among these posts, though, there are others that boil down to, ‘Will you all stop smoking whatever it is you’re smoking?’
With that in mind — and with one or two sobering caveats — I want to explain why I’m convinced what happened last Thursday is among the two most important and hopeful events in British politics in my lifetime. And why that’s still true, even if you have no time for Corbyn’s politics or his party. (In which case, you can probably skip the next couple of paragraphs.)
First, the sobering bit. Labour lost — it just lost less badly than everyone expected. May is back in Downing Street, promising another five years of Tory rule, only this time propped up by the even-nastier party. There’s plenty been said already about why the role of the DUP is troubling — not least, its potential to jeopardise what must be the most important and hopeful development in British politics in most of our lifetimes, peace in Northern Ireland. Oh yes, and meanwhile, a prime minister who couldn’t manage a competent election campaign is about to embark on the multidimensional chess of the Brexit negotiations.
Now, you can come back against some of that: Labour’s vote grew by more than at any election since 1945, the party has momentum on its side, and neither May nor anyone else will be leading a Tory government for a full term. If it doesn’t fall sooner, a handful of lost by-elections will wipe out this government’s majority. (A thought sure to concentrate the minds of by-election voters — and Westminster averages about five by-elections a year.)
But I want to talk about something more important.
We’ve just had an election in which the full weight of The Sun and The Daily Mail was thrown at destroying Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party — and, by any standards, failed to do so. This is so big that, among the rest of the post-election turmoil, I don’t think we’ve grasped what it means yet.
Since the 1980s, British politics has been locked in a basement by a gang of abusers, systematic perverters of democracy, chief among them Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre. 8 June, 2017 should be remembered as the day that we escaped.
That look you see on the face of Labour MPs who spent two years opposing Corbyn at every turn — it’s the baffled gaze of battery chickens who find the door to their cage left open. Their every reflex was formed by fear of a corrupted and corrupting media. Now, they are disoriented by the possibility of freedom.
I want to talk about why the current Labour leadership is strangely well-placed to take advantage of this new altered reality — and why seeing what just happened in these terms may be more helpful, when it comes to bridging divides, than assuming that resistance to Corbyn within the parliamentary party was all about ideological divisions.
So, there are going to be four parts to this story: the first is about the British media, the second about Labour, the third about the Tories, and the fourth about what kind of an event this is — and where things go next.
The Media
When Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour party, the British press went into overdrive. According to a study by LSE researchers, only 11% of articles about Corbyn represented his views without alteration; in 74% of articles, his views were either ‘highly distorted’ or not represented at all. The leader of the parliamentary opposition was systematically delegitimised ‘through lack of voice or misrepresentation’, ‘through scorn, ridicule and personal attacks’ and ‘through association’ with terrorists and dictators.
A newspaper can be as partisan as its editor and owner want it to be, but UK broadcasters are subject to a duty of impartiality. Yet the BBC seems to have been at best powerless to stop — and at worst complicit in — the capture of British democracy by a small ring of powerful abusers. It became so systematic, so embedded in the culture, that complaints weren’t taken seriously: when the BBC Trust upheld a complaint over a report in which Laura Kuenssberg made it look like Corbyn was answering a different question to the one he was asked, the director of BBC News dismissed the finding. Eighteen months later, in the final days of the election campaign, that misleading clip was still being shared widely with nothing to alert viewers to the upheld complaint. Overall, the role of broadcasters has been to recycle and amplify the newspaper attacks on Corbyn—something Barry Gardiner called out the Today programme over early in the election campaign.
The intensity of the press attacks on the current Labour leader may have been unprecedented, but it is part of a pattern of abuse that goes back — well, how far? I’ll be 40 this year, I’ve followed every UK election since 1987 (listening to Radio 4 on a transistor radio in the school playground), and I can’t remember a time when we had a normally-functioning democracy.
But the point where it became undeniable was the 1992 election and the famous front-page claim: ‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’. Whether that was true hardly matters — for the next 25 years, British politics has been conducted on the assumption that it was. Until last Thursday.
The Breaking of Labour
Like a lot of the manoeuvres accompanying the birth of New Labour, Tony Blair’s courtship of Rupert Murdoch could be cast as a necessary evil. Yet there was always an excess to it; a suspicion that submission to Murdoch left him feeling excited, rather than sullied. The sense of betrayal which many Labour people feel when they think of Blair is usually explained in terms of Iraq, or of a preference for purity and principles over power; but when you think about what The Sun had done to Labour the last time around, the way Blair cultivated — and took pleasure in — his power-friendship with its owner was a fuck-you to the movement he was meant to be leading. And the impression of a weird edge to their relationship was bizarrely confirmed, after he’d left office, when he first became godfather to one of Murdoch’s daughters, then got accused by News Corp insiders of having an affair with Murdoch’s soon-to-be ex-wife.
Gordon Brown’s experience with the press was more straightforwardly miserable. He fretted about what Murdoch would say, but lacked Blair’s knack for flirting with Labour’s natural enemies, and his attempts came off clumsily. (Remember the time he invited Margaret Thatcher to Downing Street?) Thinking back on the tormented figure he cut, the stories of rages and sulks and thrown computer hardware, I’m wondering now—was this the behaviour of a decent man who thought politics was a serious business, but found himself trapped instead inside a game where every move had to be calculated for how it would play on the front of the next day’s Sun?
This brings us to Ed Miliband. Of all the politicians from New Labour’s ‘next generation’, he came closest to seeing the possibilities which Corbyn has now made a reality. Even his much-mocked meeting with Russell Brand in the closing days of the 2015 election campaign looks a lot less daft, given the wave of young and disenfranchised voters who showed up at the polls last week. But the instincts that drew Miliband in this direction were tripped up by a tendency to hesitation and to pessimism about politics.
Two quick stories that show this.
First, in December 2010, as the student movement started kicking off, Miliband apparently wanted to come down to the UCL occupation and talk with the students — an idea that divided his advisors, and that ultimately didn’t happen. Now, we can all guess what Corbyn would have done in his place, but the point is that Miliband’s instinct was to do the same thing — yet the supposed boundaries of what you can and can’t do in British politics, without getting destroyed, made him hesitate.
Another story… Ten years ago, I became an internet entrepreneur by accident. A small project snowballed into an educational web start-up, and by the summer of 2007, one of my co-founders was faced with a decision— was he willing to commit to the responsibility with which we were about to find ourselves? When we met, he’d been working at a think tank with close ties to New Labour — and one Sunday morning at a festival, he ran into an old friend who was now Miliband’s speechwriter. As they were talking about the choice he faced, Miliband himself strolled up and sat down beside them. Having listened for a while, he said, ‘You know, if I could start again, I’d be a social entrepreneur. That’s how you really change the world.’
And then came Jeremy Corbyn. What mattered about this Labour leader was not that he came from so far to the left, but from so far outside the game of ‘realistic’ politics which had led the likes of Miliband into that kind of pessimism about what politics could do. Meanwhile, the certainty of all the players within that game that he was headed for destruction meant he was spared the counsel of the kind of cautious advisors who fed Miliband’s hesitancy — because, for the past two years, those people just wouldn’t touch Corbyn with a bargepole.
The Spoiling of the Tories
The damage done to British politics by this decades-long cycle of abuse is obviously asymmetric—maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t see many areas in which the Tories’ desires have been constrained by the influence of Murdoch and Dacre. Yet, in their different ways, both parties have been deformed by that influence.
While the systematic abuse of democracy bred a broken generation of politicians in the Labour party, it gifted the Tories a spoiled generation:
Some of them appear to truly believe the grim picture of the country they aspire to govern peddled by papers like the Daily Mail.
Others were trained in the arts of distortion and fabrication through earlier careers as journalists and columnists—and assume these skills are adequate to the task of governing a country.
None of them has had to engage in a real democratic tussle over the direction of the country, where their opponents don’t enter the ring already hamstrung.
That’s how a party once led by Winston Churchill ends up with a prime minister who resembles a malfunctioning robot—and a clownish con-man as its leader-in-waiting.
Again, this story goes back decades—but it came to a crunch in the past year. For just when, in Corbyn, Labour at last had a leader who didn’t fear the right-wing press, the Tories found themselves led by someone who aligned herself more tightly to them than her predecessors. Theresa May sought to govern Britain as an avatar of the Daily Mail. As Anthony Barnett wrote in October, this meant a shift away from the dominance of Murdoch—which had lasted from the Thatcher era, through the New Labour years, and survived the phone-hacking scandal (in which David Cameron’s director of communications, the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, was sent to jail). More than this, as Will Davies points out, the economic irrationality of Brexit left May’s Conservatism more dependent on both Dacre and Murdoch: in contrast to Thatcherism, ‘it can’t rely on cheerleading from the CBI or the Financial Times.’
So the scene was set for the general election of 2017. It was not the threatened Brexit election—nor was it quite an election on the radical promises made by Corbyn’s Labour. (That’s what the next one will be about…) Rather, what we got was a Tory prime minister who had tied herself to the masthead of the Daily Mail versus a Labour leader with the guts to bet that the emperors would turn out to be naked. If the question was ‘Who governs Britain?’, the surge in support for Labour gave a resounding answer: not the Dacres and the Murdochs.
And yet, among the rest of the past week’s noise, not everyone has heard—with Michael Gove returning to the front bench, the chatter is of Murdoch’s influence over the Tories rising again. Well, long may that continue.
What kind of event was this election?
This feels like the angriest and the most hopeful thing I’ve written in years. Thinking about the role of Murdoch and Dacre and their co-conspirators, the hold they’ve had over democracy in the UK, I keep coming back to phrases that suggest sexual abuse—and maybe that’s distasteful, I don’t know, but the anger hits me like it did when the BBC finally had to face up to having filled our childhood afternoons with celebrity paedophiles. Maybe it’s because of how long it’s gone on, how many people have known and treated it as just how things are. And maybe I’ve no right to use such an analogy, because it’s not something that’s ever been done to me. Honestly, I don’t know.
What I do know is that we have another frame of reference for what happens when a gang of unelected bullies takes political control over a country and turns its ‘democracy’ into a pantomime, staged within limits which they get to determine. When I was a kid, half of Europe fitted that description—and then, one autumn, young people called the bluff of the people who thought they ran their countries, and it all came down faster than anyone could believe.
I’m not saying what just happened is as big as the fall of the Berlin Wall, but the hope that’s mixed with the anger is because I think it might just be the same kind of event.
What do I mean? Well, firstly, that this isn’t a swing of the pendulum. Word is that Murdoch stormed out of The Times’ election party when the exit poll was announced—and well he might, because we are never going back to a world in which he gets to determine what the Labour party can or can’t do. And that means that Britain is a democracy again—not a perfect democracy, and with an electoral system that’s badly in need of reform, but a country where real democratic change feels possible.
The generational nature of what happened matters, too. Because it gives the lie to all the smug bullshit about young people not caring—and because those young people will be back, next time around—and because, just in terms of demographics, it means that the fear-fuelled, tabloid Toryism of this election campaign is on its way out.
A wall that ran down the middle of British society has been breached, and my guess is there are still more people pouring through it in the days since the election. That breach isn’t going to go away because the Tories find a less robotic front-person.
As for Labour, it’s a strange chance that not only does the party find itself with a fearless and vindicated leader, but, in Tom Watson, a deputy leader who took on the Murdoch empire with courage over phone-hacking—making him a strikingly appropriate figure to help the party orient itself to a world in which Murdoch and his like are no longer to be feared.
A final thought (or three)
A few years ago, I sat in the office of an editor in Prague, a man who had been among the crowds in Wenceslas Square in those late autumn weeks of 1989. He’d been a student, then, and we talked about the disillusionments that followed.
‘I’ve lived 21 years under communism,’ he said slowly, ‘and 21 years under capitalism—and I can tell you what’s wrong with both.’
Did he ever regret what they had done, I wondered?
‘I don’t regret what we did,’ he replied. ‘I regret what we let the grown-ups do, after we went home.’
The fall of the Murdoch wall may be a huge thing for British democracy, but its rise was part of something bigger that stretches far beyond the rainy islands where I did my growing up. One day soon, I need to write up a set of thoughts that have been gathering for a year or so, about how we map the politics of ‘neoliberal realism’ and the search for the exits—a story that takes in the Brexit vote and Corbyn’s rise, but also the shifting political landscape in other corners of Europe.
Meanwhile, beyond all this, there is the low background roar of loss, the knowledge that we are living in an age of endings. I’m writing this late at night, after the first day of a meeting on ‘rapid decarbonisation’—and the message from the scientists here is beyond sobering. At times, it’s hard to hold in view the different scales of crisis: the unravelling of an economic ideology that’s less than a lifetime old, playing out against the backdrop of the end of a 10,000 year mild period in the Earth’s climate which happens to have encompassed all that we’ve known as civilisation, and an ongoing mass extinction, the sixth the planet has seen in its long life. All these endings are entangled with each other. We have brought about an almighty bottleneck, and it’s hard to say in what shape our kind will come through it, except that the journey will change us in ways beyond the imaginings of the things I’ve been writing about here.
But if I stare at these realities and still, despite the woeful absence of such matters from the debate in this election, see some hope in the unexpected wave that just washed through Britain’s political system, it’s because it will take waves like this—sudden ruptures that spread like rumours through the spaces of conversation and networks of relations that make up our lives—if things are to turn out better than often seems likely in the tight times that lie ahead.
I was going to wrap this up by saying something like, ‘Don’t go home and let the grown-ups fuck it up.’ But then I read Dan Hancox’s piece this morning on the extraordinary surge of grassroots campaigning that produced last week’s results, and I’m like—go home? As if you would. As if any of us are about to do that, now. | https://medium.com/redrawing-the-maps/the-fall-of-the-murdoch-wall-4f25066aec59 | ['Dougald Hine'] | 2017-06-14 09:00:19.485000+00:00 | ['UK Election', 'Politics', 'Jeremy Corbyn', 'General Election', '2017 General Election'] |
The US Election: How to be Stoic About It | I have to admit right up front that I’m a completely unimaginative practitioner of Stoic meditation. After all, there’s not much of a point in re-inventing a 3000 year old wheel. In addition to that, we have some amazing contemporary practitioners and updaters of Stoicism, including the Humanist Stoic Massimo Pigliucci and the cognitive psychotherapist Donald Robertson. The following is a quick survey of Stoic meditations from Dr. Robertson’s book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.
The key to practicing Stoicism is simply stated but oh-so difficult to do: Determine what you can change and what you can’t change. Then, do what you can about what you can change and don’t worry about what you can’t change. (Yes, the “Serenity Prayer” is a summary of this central Stoic point, without the “god” part.)
So, how to be a capital-S Stoic about the US election aftermath rather than hysterical or merely little-s stoic?
Donald Robertson outlines the meditation: Premeditation of Adversity, Contemplation of Death, Contemplation of the Whole, and Contemplation of the Sage.
Let’s apply the technique.
To begin: yes, there are people such as ballot counters and lawyers who are at the moment involved in processing the election. But most of us aren’t. I’m not. How about you? If you aren’t one of those people, guess what: you can’t change a thing. Stop worrying about it.
It’s not that simple, huh? Try these techniques:
Premeditation of Adversity. Cant stop doom-scrolling and thinking the worst? I’ll bet you’re actually not thinking the worst, and Stoics say you should: How about bloody civil war that kill hundreds of thousands, destroys the basic infrastructure of the nation, leading to widespread pestilence and famine, and invasion by — oh, let’s see — the Chinese. Compared to that, another several weeks of uncertainty doesn’t seem so bad, does it?
Contemplation of Death. Sure, the US election results will have a huge impact on the future direction of the United States. And, soon enough, you and I will be dead. Seriously. Dead people aren’t worried people. All the smoke and dust of government will mean nothing to us.
Contemplation of the Whole. Imagine a space-station view of earth. The US? Oh, hmmm. Can’t see such a thing on that beautiful green and blue planet, can you? Now, don’t sweat the small stuff. And national politics is small stuff.
Contemplation of the Sage. WWMAD? Think like a sage. What would one of the masters of Stoicism, such as the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, do? Actually, we know what he did do: He spent most of his time as the mightiest human being on the planet in military camps and on horseback fighting people who would eventually overwhelm the Empire anyway. Then, in the face of one of the worst plagues in human history, he put himself in harm’s way to improve the morale of fellow Romans. He died of the disease.
Doing what can be done and now worrying about what can’t be done. It’s simple. And the hardest spiritual practice of them all.
Go ahead: Be Stoic about it.
FirstUnitarian.org
Huumanist.org
YouTube
Facebook | https://medium.com/humanism-now/the-us-election-how-to-be-stoic-about-it-bec91fc67268 | ['David Breeden'] | 2020-11-05 16:50:56.540000+00:00 | ['Humanism', 'Unitarian Universalist', 'Stoicism', 'Election 2020'] |
Elements of a good story (or advertisement) | Last time I told you how powerful storytelling is.
If you can tell a good story, you can get people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t do. And that’s like having a superpower.
It can be hard to tell engaging stories. Luckily, all good stories contain some similar elements. Here they are.
Characters
Characters include both Heroes and Villains. In Marvel films, these roles are easy to spot, but in other stories they might be more difficult.
In a sales letter, the person with the problem is the Hero. The reader must have a reason to care for the Hero. The reader doesn’t have to love the character — they just need to care. If the reader doesn’t care about the Hero, the rest of your story is not going to matter.
A Villian serves as “the other.” It’s The Empire, the reason you can’t lose weight, or something else. Having a common enemy is a great way to get readers of all shapes and sizes behind a cause.
Setting
The setting includes the time and the place. When creating the setting, you want to provide enough detail so it feels real, but you still want to omit some details for the reader’s imagination to fill in.
What sounds like a better setting?
I grew up in the big city and often played with my friends.
Or
In West Philadelphia born and raised. On the playground is where I spent most of my days.
Plot
Characters and a setting are not interesting unless there is something happening. And that something is your plot.
Even though Seinfeld branded itself as “the show about nothing,” every episode included a plot and well as one or more subplots.
Jerry was always dating a new girl, George was probably getting fired, and Kramer was up to some shenanigans.
Without a plot, your characters are just sitting at home watching something on TV — probably something with a plot.
Conflict
Conflict serves as the catalyst for the story. Why does the story start now, why not before?
It also serves as a way to move the story forward. In a sales context, the conflict is usually the pain the buyer is feeling.
Resolution
The resolution is the reason why the story ends. When selling, the only way to resolve the story is to buy the product.
How do these work together?
Remember how I said these elements are found in every good story? You even find them in something as simple as a toothpaste commercial:
The Hero is you. You have teeth and you want to keep those teeth. Plaque and yellow teeth are Villians. The plot is your everyday life — living, breathing, and eating. The conflict is how food, drinks, and everything else is constantly attacking your teeth. The resolution? Buy this toothpaste to kill the Villains and end the conflict.
Next time you see an a or story, see if you can find these elements. | https://medium.com/@clickbear/elements-of-a-good-story-or-advertisement-ad0bd3dd59a9 | ['Josh Lee'] | 2020-12-11 07:20:12.194000+00:00 | ['Advertising', 'Storytelling', 'Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Copywriting'] |
If Your Sports’ Coach Hates You, Love Him | If Your Sports’ Coach Hates You, Love Him
Photo by Dan Myasnyankin on Unsplash
If you`re not being picked for a team you need to decide where your passion for the game lies because it’s the passion that makes your decision a simple one.
In writing about this topic it awakens my passion for sport and many memories of being treated unfairly by coaches. I`ve had the experience in life where I was not being picked when I, and even my teammates, knew I should have been picked for a team, but I wasn’t. It’s a very hard thing to take at the time. All these years later, when I recall certain moments of how I was treated it still brings up unwelcome emotions.
Of course, many people will assume that it depends on what age a player is before they should decide on quitting playing a game or not, but I don’t buy into this theory at all.
Having gone through rejection from sports coaches on more than one occasion and even now as I write I realize that there are numerous examples I can give from my experience, never the less I’ve decided on one that began the hurt for me.
From this experience, I now think the central cloud that is over any player’s decision-making process to stop playing a sport at any time must challenge their underlying passion for the game. If a player is thinking about giving up because they are not being given game time they must passionately realize that it comes down to both ‘identity’ and ‘empathy’.
The Identity of Sport:
For me when I was growing up sport meant everything. I grew up in a sporting environment where our family business meant people flocked to play the sport that we provided. I spent hours there after school, on weekends, and on holidays talking about sport, learning from others, and advising people on how best to get the best from their game. In the evenings after school, I`d go and play the sport myself and that’s’ where I pushed myself to compete and improve to the best of my ability whilst looking forward to the weekend game and the team selection. Even our school was mad on sport as it was an all-boys catholic school and many of us dodged academic classes by being involved with several teams so playing games was a daily ritual.
So growing up it was 24/7 a sporting life until suddenly one man stole my sporting identity.
A Sports Coach Being A Bully:
I was twelve years old when I first got made an example of by a sports coach and I knew even then that he was very wrong in the way he abused mine and the team’s trust. Although I had played very well in the first few weeks of the year and I was being primed for team captaincy by some of my teammates, the coach never took to me. At the time, I didn’t know why that was.
Now I know why this was and it was nothing to do with me or my ability or commitment to his team.
I know now that other things were going on in that coach’s life and he was using his power as a coach to try to make him feel better about some aspect of his life that he felt he could not control. Essentially, he toyed with and bullied certain players on his team to make him feel better at that time in his life.
Cunningly, he waited for all the older sporting boys to merge by the school lockers before loudly denouncing any chances that I would have of playing for his team. He raised his voice and smirked at older players to show he had the power and in a few moments ruined my self-esteem and perceived identity.
Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash
A Young Player’s Self Doubt Brought On By Bad Coaching:
At the time I couldn’t believe it. I thought:
Why won’t he let me play?
and
What did I do wrong?
Many questions and no answers swirled throughout my mind. I felt imprisoned in self-doubt and I was surrounded by much older lads who I respected and wanted to be respected by for playing sport. My ambitions were that I wanted to play with these older guys in years to come. But now, because of the unfairness of one coach, they felt I had done something wrong or simply wasn’t good enough when looking back all these later, nothing was further from the truth.
At that time it played with my head as my whole life was identified by my sporting know-how and ability.
Passion Improves Performance:
For the whole year that followed, I vowed to improve and to prove the coach wrong. Although I did improve, unfortunately later in the year when we reached the final he still insisted on leaving me on the bench. We had a good team and we were poised to win for the first time in many years at that age group. All the school was excited and the coach was getting many plaudits for getting the team so far.
By half time we were being beaten by over 20 scores as I sat on the sideline alone. Then, it all changed.
Leadership From Others:
Thankfully, a parent who had much more knowledge of the game stepped in. He was a highly respected man within the game. His sons were great players for the school and one of his sons, who was one of the team’s better players, was having a horrible game and was even crying by half time such was the embarrassment of losing by so much. Something had to be done, and that father did it well.
The father of my teammate had seen me playing well earlier on in the school year before the coach had cast me aside. He knew that I had the ability and decided to kindly advise that I should not only be brought on to the team but, that I should be given a prominent role within the lineup. This meant his son could be switched to another position to give him more freedom to play. This was the new plan for the second half, and on paper, it looked like a much better tactical mission than the initial starting lineup decided on by the team coach.
Of course, in the second half we still had one big problem as we were 20 scores down, but, we made a comeback!
We outplayed the other team and came within a whisker of winning the game. Unfortunately, the referee never played much, if any, injury time and we ended up losing by one point.
Still, it reinforced my confidence that I was good enough for the team and allowed me to know that the coach was not coaching fairly.
Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash
Empathy Trumps A Coaching Bully:
One of the greatest lessons here is that if a young person is not picked to play, empathy can make things better.
If that father hadn’t shown empathy towards his son he wouldn’t have thought about intervening in the team’s lineup. Although he knew his son was a good player, somewhere in his mind, he had taught about my good performance earlier on in the school year. He had thought outside of his own son’s importance to the team and thought about how others could perform too.
By the time the final game came, he watched the game from the stand objectively and thought about all the other players on our team and how they were feeling. He knew that he could turn this feeling around.
This was a simple act of empathy in sport.
Although was only 12 years old I felt that I was always more than good enough for the team. It challenged me, but I knew deep down that the coach was wrong and that I was right. The final game proved that. That feeling I had deep down was aided by the fact I started cognitively wondering:
Why won’t he pick me for the team?
I realized that there was no legitimate reason. After all, I was the most committed player on the team, went to more training sessions than anyone, and even my teammates and some older players told me that I was good enough.
This is what sustained me to keep trying, asking ‘why?’ and looking into things from the coach’s point of view. And he was wrong.
Years later, I found out information about the coach that proved my suppositions as a twelve-year-old. Back when I was that age the coach had been going through a rough time in his personal life. He had indeed been making judgments and decisions that were emotionally fueled by knock-on happenings in his own life at the time.
Sporting Passion is Bigger Than A Bully :
My experience had led me to realize that sport is bigger than any bully, even if they happen to be the coach of a team. If you are not being picked for a team and you don’t know how it’s understandable that at a young age you don’t feel confident or equipped enough to communicate your feelings by asking why you are not on a team. In reality, other adults have to step in and see this unfairness.
But you need to continue to show passion. If you truly have a passion for the sport then you’ll realize that your bad experience will not stop you from continuing to be involved in the game.
In the end, a bully never wins, but the player can outsmart the bully and beat him at his own game. | https://medium.com/@drconorhogan/if-your-sports-coach-hates-you-love-him-29c0bd27cdc3 | ['Dr. Conor Hogan Ph.D.'] | 2020-12-20 00:32:04.138000+00:00 | ['Sport Psychology', 'Empathy', 'Sports', 'Sports Empathy', 'Sports Coaching'] |
ELECTRA: Pre-Training Text Encoders as Discriminators rather than Generators | ELECTRA: Pre-Training Text Encoders as Discriminators rather than Generators
What is the difference between ELECTRA and BERT?
Photo by Edward Ma on Unsplash
BERT (Devlin et al., 2018) is the baseline of NLP tasks recently. There are a lot of new models released based on BERT architecture such as RoBERTA (Liu et al. 2019) and ALBERT (Lan et al., 2019). Clark et al. released ELECTRA (Clark et al., 2020) which target to reduce computation time and resource while maintaining high-quality performance. The trick is introducing the generator for Masked Langauge Model (MLM) prediction and forwarding the generator result to the discriminator
.MLM is one of the training objectives in BERT (Devlin et al., 2018). However, it is being criticized because of misaligned between the training phase and the fine-tuning phase. In short, the MLM mask token by [MASK] and model will predict the real world in order to learn the word representation. On the other hand, ELECTRA (Clark et al., 2020) contains two models which are generator and discriminator. The masked token will be sent to the generator and generating alternative inputs for discriminator (i.e. ELECTRA model). After the training phase, the generator will be thrown away while we only keep the discriminator for fine-tuning and inference.
Clark et al. named this method as replaced token detection. In the following sections, we will cover how does ELECTRA (Clark et al., 2020) works.
Input Data
Overview of ELECTRA training process (Clark et al., 2020)
As mentioned before, there are 2 models in the training phase. Instead of feeding masked token (e.g. [MASK]) to the target model (i.e. discriminator/ ELECTRA), a small MLM is trained to predict mask token. The output of the generator which does not include any masked token becomes the input of the discriminator.
It is possible that the generator predicts the same token (i.e. “the” in the above figure”). It will keep tracking for generating a true label for the discriminator. Taking the above figure as an example, only “ate” will be marked as “replaced” while the rest of them (including “the”) are “original” labels.
You may imagine that the generator is a small-size masked language model (e.g. BERT). The objective of the generator is to generate training data for the discriminator and learning word representation (aka token embeddings). Actually, the idea of a generator is similar to the approach of data augmentation for NLP in nlpaug.
Model Setup
To improve the efficiency of the pre-training, Clark et al. figure out that sharing weight between generator and discriminator may not be a good way. Indeed, they only share token and positional embeddings across two models. The following figure shows that the replaced token detection approach outperforms the masked language model.
Performance comparison between replaced token detection and masked language model (Clark et al., 2020)
Secondly, the smaller size of the generator provides a better result. Small size generator not only leads a better result but also reducing overall training time.
Performance of different generator size and discriminator size (Clark et al., 2020)
Tuning Hyperparameters
Clark et al. did a lot on fine-tuning hyperparameters. It includes the model’s hidden size, learning rate, and batch size. Here are the best hyperparameters for different sizes of ELECTRA models.
Pre-training hyperparameters (Clark et al., 2020)
Take Away
Generative Adversarial Network (GAN): The approach is similar to GAN which intends to generate fake data to fool or attack models (to understand more about the adversarial attack, you may check out here and here). However, the generator from training ELECTRA is different. First of all, the correct token which is generated by the generator considers as “real” instead of “fake”. Also, the generator is trained to maximum likelihood rather than fool the discriminator.
The major challenge of adopting BERT in production is resource allocation. 1 G memory is almost the minimum requirement for the BERT model in production. Can foresee that there are more and more new NLP models focusing on reducing the size of the model and inference time.
About Me
I am a Data Scientist in the Bay Area. Focusing on state-of-the-art work in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, especially in NLP and platform related. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Medium or Github.
Extension Reading
Introduction to BERT, RoBERTA and ALBERT
Data Augmentation for NLP (nlpaug)
Adversarial Attack in NLP (1, 2)
Reference | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/electra-pre-training-text-encoders-as-discriminators-rather-than-generators-c5661f7ea0d5 | ['Edward Ma'] | 2020-09-30 00:02:01.468000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'NLP', 'Naturallanguageprocessing', 'Bert', 'AI'] |
Ever Thought about Incorporating Giftcards into your Local Business? | Ever Thought about Incorporating Giftcards into your Local Business? | www.gloverapp.co
Remember when Giftcards were only purchased as last-minute gift ideas and also for the uncertain gift shoppers? Now, Giftcards have become a trend among local businesses.
New business owners are now adopting Giftcard transactions. Some even own their own customized Giftcards for easy and discounted transactions.
Discounts are a thing among online businesses, especially during festive seasons, but lately, many small online businesses organize discounts on a regular basis and to mark special occasions like their birthdays or anniversaries.
Discount rewards can come in form of Giftcards as well. Businesses may attach a reduced price for products when customers use their Giftcards to purchase. Some of these small online businesses include DANG’s Lifestyle, Oriki, Nailed to go, and a bunch of others.
While Giftcards are still relevant for mother’s day and favorite office pal gifting, there’s no surprise that they can also function as a purchasing means.
This is to show that Giftcards are here to stay and if you’re looking for where to purchase some of your favorite Giftcards, remember that Glover is your go-to plug for all your favorite Giftcards.
For more interesting updates on our services, follow us on Instagram and Twitter. | https://medium.com/@gloverapp/ever-thought-about-incorporating-giftcards-into-your-local-business-b03525385799 | [] | 2021-07-15 08:44:55.007000+00:00 | ['Glover', 'Discount', 'Online Business', 'Gift Cards', 'Buy'] |
The Need for Configuration Management in Microservice Testing | By: Tracy Ragan
With the shift to cloud native architecture comes the shift to microservices, and this shift will disrupt business as usual for all testing from development through pre-production. Microservices change many things about how we see the world from a testing perspective. From the loss of an ‘application version’ to managing continuous tests across multiple application teams, the testing world looks very different. If you have not started thinking about what a test environment will look like in a microservice architecture, a good place to start is understanding the relationship a single microservice has to multiple applications, or in other words microservice configuration management.
An Update to a Single Microservice Can Impact Multiple Applications
As we move away from monolithic practices and into a Kubernetes microservice environment, we lose the concept of an ‘application version.’ We also lose the careful configuration management that was completed during the compile/link process performed by the continuous integration build step. Instead we are faced with lots of loosely-coupled, independent functions that talk via RESTful APIs.
Think of the problem as a puzzle. In monolithic practices, we put the entire puzzle together through a continuous build step. A very smart build manager makes the decisions around the software configuration of the application, i.e. what code updates and libraries to include and statically link. The puzzle is then pushed through the continuous delivery pipeline as a complete solution.
With microservices, the puzzle is not put together until runtime. Instead, independent functions move through the CD Pipeline in their own workflow. This means each microservice is pushed through the Dev, Test, Prod stages alone.
Once deployed, the microservices pass data via RESTful APIs. In other words, we are shifting from a static application to a fully dynamic application. The trick is knowing what applications should be tested based on an update to a single microservice.
The Microservice Magic is in Their Reuse
A solid microservice implementation means that all microservices are designed around a domain driven structure to facilitate reuse. A single microservice may be consumed by multiple applications. Think of a ‘login’ service. Each project team would reuse the login services written and supported by the Security Project Team. If one of their ‘login’ services were updated, all applications consuming the service should be retested. This means that an update to a single microservice should initiate the continuous test workflows for all dependent applications.
While the concept of API contract testing applies at the unit testing level, we have work to do to pull together our functional testing harness when a single microservice can impact several consuming applications.
A New Kind of Release Candidate
Unit testing individual APIs or microservices does not validate the readiness of a full application release. For this reason, we can never eliminate the functional testing process in a microservice architecture. If we do, we risk missing situations where one microservice is using an older version of another microservice, and that causes an adverse impact. This level of anomaly can only be found when we perform functional testing on the application as a complete product.
In monolithic environments, the application version is our release candidate. A new release candidate initiates the work done by our functional test harness, which in many cases lags behind the development sprints that perform unit testing on the API contracts. While development teams may make incremental coding changes, functional testing is based on a full release candidate, and the release of that candidate causes the execution of an entirely different set of linked test cases.
When testing microservices, this level of functional testing is still required and critical. Ideally, we want to leave our functional testing in place even when our application is built on a set of loosely coupled services. To do this, we need visibility into the ”logical application” version. In order to remain efficient at the functional testing level, we need some insights into what has changed between two application versions, allowing the functional testing to be targeted. What we want to avoid is constantly retesting everything simply because we have no reference as to which microservice caused a new release of the application version.
Re-Imagining Continuous Test
In order to re-imagine the testing process, we must go back to our roots and remember the importance of software configuration management. SCM is the process of tracking the parts of an application, their changes and how they impact the application as an entire solution. In recent years configuration management has taken a back seat, but with microservices the SCM discipline will save us from missing critical updates in microservices that impact multiple ‘logical applications.’ Microservice configuration management is the process of tracking each version of a microservice and the relationship to the consuming applications. API gateways can help, but the configuration data must also include a view above the cluster level. Remember, there could be different versions of a single microservice running across multiple clusters resulting in different versions of the ‘logical’ application on each cluster.
Yes, microservices add complexity to the testing process. As we adapt to the new requirements, the complexity will eventually be normalized. It is just going to take us some time to get there.
Interested in becoming certified in continuous testing? Check out DevOps Institute’s Continuous Testing Foundation Certification
Conclusion
Shifting to microservices requires us to re-imagine how we coordinate testing. The loss of a static monolithic application requires us to rethink how we are going to track and manage many microservices moving across the CD pipeline that could impact any number of dynamic “logical applications.” Configuration management will be key to tracking these changes even before they are ever installed into any cluster. Testing will need a process to track what impact a single service has across teams and across clusters. It is time to start understanding microservice configuration management in order for testing workflows to adapt to this new and exciting cloud native world.
A Pipeline with Automated Configuration Management
DeployHub and CircleCI have had discussions around solving this problem. You can view a demo of how it looks when you add automated configuration management to your CD Pipeline by viewing the CircleCI and DeployHub demo.
Click here to register for November 2020 SKILup Day: Continuous Testing
About the Author
Tracy is CEO and Co-Founder of DeployHub. DeployHub is the first microservice management platform designed to facilitate the sharing, relationship mapping and deployments of microservices. Tracy is expert in configuration management and pipeline life cycle practices with a hyper focus on microservices and cloud native architecture. She currently serves as a board member of the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF) where she is the elected General Member Representative. Tracy is also a DevOps Institute Ambassador. | https://medium.com/humans-of-devops/the-need-for-configuration-management-in-microservice-testing-5175dab6d842 | ['Advancing The Humans Of Devops'] | 2020-11-04 18:33:03.632000+00:00 | ['DevOps', 'Continuous Delivery', 'Microservices', 'Continuous Integration'] |
The Dilemma of Identifying as Chicanx When You Love Pop Culture | Unraveling a cultural identity gets complicated when you feel pressured to associate with the stereotypical elements and unwelcoming perceptions of influence from outside cultures
As the daughter of two Mexican immigrants, Spanish is my first language. My childhood revolved around weekend gatherings with my tios and tias in the inner city neighborhoods of Southeast Los Angeles. These adult and kid birthday parties, Sunday carne asadas, and random celebrations were where I began to embrace my Mexican ancestry.
The speakers would nearly burst at the screws blasting Los Tigres del Norte, a Norteno band from Mexico, which merely served as background noise to the fast-paced, laugh inducing Spanish conversations going on around 5-year-old me. Even after adapting to the English-speaking dominant suburbs, those evenings surrounded by la cultura remain the building blocks of my bilingual identity.
My identity as a Mexican American has always been questioned by others, sometimes by those who share the same bloodline as me.
Coming to the United States in the late 1980s from their native Mexicali, Baja California, my relatives and parents were completely new to the United States, despite living relatively close the U.S.-Mexico border. The few combined English phrases they heard in American songs, films and television helped them figure out how to effectively communicate with non-Spanish speakers along their way to a so-called “better life.”
Once they arrived in the states, all seven to eight family members moved to tiny, cramped one-bedroom apartments in Watts and Long Beach, relocating continuously for the first few years. Eventually, the family disbanded, raising enough money from working long hours at low paying, under-the-table jobs in the city to move to their own confined apartments in rough neighborhoods.
After my maternal grandmother, the family matriarch, passed in 1992 (the year in which I was born), the family both physically and emotionally grew further apart. My tios and tias focused on growing families of their own and designing better futures for their children. My parents had my older sister Nadine and me at this point, more than enough to motivate them to do the same.
My mama learned chunks of English through kitchen jargon, conversing with American customers, and accessing even more American popular culture through cable TV and the wide range of radio stations common in L.A. She set out to learn as much English as she could, accepting that learning the basics of a new language would be more beneficial than hindering it in the long run.
My mother named me after my late grandmother, her mother, when I was born 40 days after her death in 1992.
We would sit up in bed after dropping Nadine off at South Gate’s Montara Elementary School, watching early morning episodes of “Sailor Moon,” “Arthur,” and whichever cartoon was airing on PBS that morning. These lazy, overcast mornings in bed is how both my mother and I learned English, by listening and imitating Arthur the Aardvark and D.W.
After I successfully completed kindergarten and after the birth of my little sister Samantha, my family moved 60 miles north to the Antelope Valley in 1998, a less culturally diverse region in the outskirts of Los Angeles County. The mountainous views and predominantly white, suburban community of Lancaster promised new cultural and linguistic opportunities for all of us, where I spent most of my childhood and which was the beginning of me discovering my personal identity outside of my Mexican roots.
Moving away from my extended familia and the inner city was an adjustment for our growing family of five. My parents took on full-time jobs as prep and line cooks, this time working in restaurants with blonder haired, bluer eyed gueros as coworkers, who admired their work ethic and fluent Spanish.
Meanwhile, Nadine and I attended Linda Verde Elementary School, where we quickly made friends after being placed in bilingual classes. We were taught in English and Spanish by similarly tan and dark-haired bilingual schoolteachers, who reinforced the linguistic and cultural aspects of my heritage through lesson plans.
Being surrounded by Latinos at home and school 24/7 was where we felt most comfortable. But coming home to watch cable accessible channels like MTV, Cartoon Network, VH1, and Nickelodeon in the afternoon was my sister’s and my escape into a culturally new way of life. With both of our parents working through most of the day, TV practically raised me and my sisters for a brief period of our childhood.
Watching music videos of gueras like Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani from No Doubt while getting dressed for school at 7 a.m. was an unspoken rule during my transitional years into middle school.
From left to right: Nadine, my older sister, my father, and me at three years old at Santa Monica beach, 1995. I consider myself lucky to have had a father who had great taste in Classic Rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s like The BeeGees, Fleetwood Mac and Men at Work.
My mom worked diligently to assimilate to American life and enjoy the romcoms she wished she understood as a young adult herself, while my dad ensured that we remained fluent in our native tongue. One at a time, my dad would seat my sisters and me beside him to read La Opinion, a Spanish written newspaper, before driving us to Blockbuster where we would pick out a Spanish subtitled action movie for us to watch together.
I grew up eating the same homemade enchiladas, ceviche, and chiles rellenos my Mexican American grade school friends did, but while their parents listened to Vicente Fernandez, mine listened to Men at Work.
While I did not encounter many criticisms about my taste in music, TV, or films in elementary school, my preteen years were filled with judgmental whispers from my Latinx friends and even my primos who still resided in Southeast L.A.
I would be teased for prioritizing English popular culture over the telenovelas on Univision and corridos that were much more common in Mexican American households in the early 2000s. The girls I considered my best friends started to exclude me from their circle when I began listening to music more aligned with the pop punk I heard in video games than the bubblegum pop we bonded over as young Chicanas in white neighborhoods. My cousins who introduced me to 90s West Coast hip-hop called me “white-washed” for playing Green Day’s “American Idiot” on repeat.
Me and my older sister, Nadine dressed as Robin, boy wonder, and Baby Doll from the graphic novel, Sucker Punch, Halloween, 2013.
The feedback I would get by those I loved most on the things that meant the most to me weighed heavily on my mind. I spent middle school and freshman year wasting my academic potential trying to befriend the popular Latinas in my class, never successful in relating to them to as much as they related to each other.
At home, my family grew from five to seven, straining our already scarce finances and resources. The addition of another sister and brother always overshadowed the economic struggles, but it felt inescapable when trying to connect with the upper middle-class white kids who liked the things that I liked. My mom’s all-American coworkers would donate garbage bags stuffed with their kids’ hand-me-downs to our family with sincerity. My sisters and I would sift through the garments to find a blouse or a pair of shoes that fit, especially if the garment was from a brand I recognized.
Dream come true for this Mexican American horror buff. Meeting Freddy Vs. Jason at Midsummer Scream 2018
I remember thinking about how different, or “better,” my life would be if I had been born white. I thought about how easy it would be to make friends who liked watching tacky horror movies and listening to Blink-182, about how I probably would be able to afford new clothes from Hot Topic with allowance from my rich, white parents, and about how those white parents would probably never make me clean the bathroom I shared with my four siblings.
I blamed my ethnicity for a lot of the disadvantages I personally faced, ignoring the fact that while mainstream society culturally appropriates Mexican food and music for profit, systemic racism in the U.S. has historically rejected foreign heritage and traditions. From this perspective, I can understand why so many Latinx households are persistent in preserving as many parts of their culture they can, proudly and loudly.
Cumbia band La Sonora Dinamita put on a show at the Pacoima City Hall on Dia de Los Muertos 2019, leaving many Latinx in attendance, including myself, with sore feet from dancing all night.
It wasn’t until my family was able to afford the internet during my sophomore year of high school that I finally began to embrace my bicultural interests. I spent hours online downloading the alternative rock songs I heard on the local radio station, as well as the catchy cumbias I enjoyed dancing to at my cousins’ quinceneras. On YouTube, I laughed at English videos goofily dubbed in Spanish and I watched music videos in both languages. The hours I spent in front of a computer comforted me the way MTV did when I was 12.
Online I found people like me; Mexican American teenagers who struggled to maintain a strong connection to their Latin identity while enjoying the “white people” media our own raza urged us to deny. It was within that community that I realized we all had similar experiences, trying to stay loyal to the truth that raised us while being unashamed of exploring interests outside of our specific backgrounds.
When I learned about my family’s background and our history migrating across Mexico, I clearly understood that my identity runs steadily through my veins. I understood that regardless of what others think they know about me, I am the only one who knows how dearly I embrace my cultura. And while it’s not always apparent that I am bilingual based on my interests, I take advantage to express that gratitude by speaking Spanish as often as possible, rolling my rr’s and translating for those who need it.
The Mexican community in Los Angeles thrives as one of the most represented and respected cultures connected to the city. A flag that reads ‘!Viva! Mexico’ on display on Olvera Street in October 2018.
As an adult who is proud of identifying herself as a Spanish speaking Chicana, I also recognize the privileges I have experienced over darker skinned Latinos like my father, whose heavy accent distinguishes him as an immigrant. My voice, whether in English or Spanish, serves to defend and speak for those who are incapable or unwilling to speak up for themselves out of fear, and that to me is the only identity worth defending.
The imaginary barriers of interests dictated by one’s racial background and native language are just that, imaginary, created by a system that seeks to divide communities.
I have fully embraced my role as a bilingual voice for the voiceless, proud of it as I am of my heritage which raised me to stand strong and stay true to who I am, through every success and every failure.
No matter if I’m listening to Selena or the Spice Girls, those communities, those culturas that I feel inside of me every minute of every day, will never be silenced or repressed. | https://medium.com/under-the-sun/the-dilemma-of-identifying-as-chicanx-when-you-love-pop-culture-62c8f8d3e377 | ['Maria M.'] | 2021-01-12 18:43:54.822000+00:00 | ['Mexican American', 'Chicana', 'Personal Essay', 'Pop Culture'] |
Character Level Text Generation | Character Level Text Generation
A Practical Example of Character Level Text Generation with Tensorflow
Today, we will provide a walkthrough example of how you can apply character-based text generation using RNN and more particularly GRU models in TensorFlow. We will run it on colab and as training dataset we will take the “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. In another post we explained how you can apply word-based text generation. Feel free to compare the two approaches.
I wrote this article after finishing the course Natural Language Processing in Tensorflow by Coursera and deeplearning.ai.
from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals try:
# %tensorflow_version only exists in Colab.
%tensorflow_version 2.x
except Exception:
pass
import tensorflow as tf import numpy as np
import os
import time # Read, then decode for py2 compat.
text = open("11-0.txt" , 'rb').read().lower().decode(encoding='utf-8')
# length of text is the number of characters in it
print ('Length of text: {} characters'.format(len(text))) # The unique characters in the file
vocab = sorted(set(text))
# print ('{} unique characters'.format(len(vocab))) # Creating a mapping from unique characters to indices
char2idx = {u:i for i, u in enumerate(vocab)}
idx2char = np.array(vocab) text_as_int = np.array([char2idx[c] for c in text]) # Show how the first 13 characters from the text are mapped to integers
print ('{} ---- characters mapped to int ---- > {}'.format(repr(text[:13]), text_as_int[:13])) # Create training examples and targets
# The maximum length sentence we want for a single input in characters
seq_length = 100
examples_per_epoch = len(text)//(seq_length+1) # Create training examples / targets
char_dataset = tf.data.Dataset.from_tensor_slices(text_as_int) # The batch method lets us easily convert these individual characters to sequences of the desired size.
sequences = char_dataset.batch(seq_length+1, drop_remainder=True) # For each sequence, duplicate and shift it to form the input and target text by using the map method to apply a simple function to each batch:
def split_input_target(chunk):
input_text = chunk[:-1]
target_text = chunk[1:]
return input_text, target_text dataset = sequences.map(split_input_target) # Create training batches
# Batch size
BATCH_SIZE = 64 # Buffer size to shuffle the dataset
# (TF data is designed to work with possibly infinite sequences,
# so it doesn't attempt to shuffle the entire sequence in memory. Instead,
# it maintains a buffer in which it shuffles elements).
BUFFER_SIZE = 10000 dataset = dataset.shuffle(BUFFER_SIZE).batch(BATCH_SIZE, drop_remainder=True) # Build The Model # Use tf.keras.Sequential to define the model. For this simple example three layers are used to define our model: # tf.keras.layers.Embedding: The input layer. A trainable lookup table that will map the numbers of each character to a vector with embedding_dim
# tf.keras.layers.GRU: A type of RNN with size units=rnn_units (You can also use a LSTM layer here.)
# tf.keras.layers.Dense: The output layer, with vocab_size outputs. # Length of the vocabulary in chars
vocab_size = len(vocab) # The embedding dimension
embedding_dim = 256 # Number of RNN units
rnn_units = 1024 def build_model(vocab_size, embedding_dim, rnn_units, batch_size):
model = tf.keras.Sequential([
tf.keras.layers.Embedding(vocab_size, embedding_dim,
batch_input_shape=[batch_size, None]),
tf.keras.layers.GRU(rnn_units,
return_sequences=True,
stateful=True,
recurrent_initializer='glorot_uniform'),
tf.keras.layers.GRU(rnn_units,
return_sequences=True,
stateful=True,
recurrent_initializer='glorot_uniform'),
tf.keras.layers.Dense(vocab_size)
])
return model model = build_model(
vocab_size = len(vocab),
embedding_dim=embedding_dim,
rnn_units=rnn_units,
batch_size=BATCH_SIZE) for input_example_batch, target_example_batch in dataset.take(1):
example_batch_predictions = model(input_example_batch)
print(example_batch_predictions.shape, "# (batch_size, sequence_length, vocab_size)") model.summary()
Output:
Model: "sequential_4"
_________________________________________________________________
Layer (type) Output Shape Param #
=================================================================
embedding_4 (Embedding) (64, None, 256) 15616
_________________________________________________________________
gru_4 (GRU) (64, None, 1024) 3938304
_________________________________________________________________
gru_5 (GRU) (64, None, 1024) 6297600
_________________________________________________________________
dense_4 (Dense) (64, None, 61) 62525
=================================================================
Total params: 10,314,045
Trainable params: 10,314,045
Non-trainable params: 0
________________________________
Train the Model:
# The standard tf.keras.losses.sparse_categorical_crossentropy loss function works in this case because it is applied across the last dimension of the #predictions. # Because our model returns logits, we need to set the from_logits flag. def loss(labels, logits):
return tf.keras.losses.sparse_categorical_crossentropy(labels, logits, from_logits=True) example_batch_loss = loss(target_example_batch, example_batch_predictions)
print("Prediction shape: ", example_batch_predictions.shape, " # (batch_size, sequence_length, vocab_size)")
print("scalar_loss: ", example_batch_loss.numpy().mean()) # Configure the training procedure using the tf.keras.Model.compile method. We'll use tf.keras.optimizers.Adam with default arguments and the loss #function. model.compile(optimizer='adam', loss=loss) # Directory where the checkpoints will be saved
checkpoint_dir = './training_checkpoints'
# Name of the checkpoint files
checkpoint_prefix = os.path.join(checkpoint_dir, "ckpt_{epoch}") checkpoint_callback=tf.keras.callbacks.ModelCheckpoint(
filepath=checkpoint_prefix,
save_weights_only=True) EPOCHS=100
history = model.fit(dataset, epochs=EPOCHS, callbacks=[checkpoint_callback]) # Generate text
# Restore the latest checkpoint # To keep this prediction step simple, use a batch size of 1.
# Because of the way the RNN state is passed from timestep to timestep, the model only accepts a fixed batch size once built.
# To run the model with a different batch_size, we need to rebuild the model and restore the weights from the checkpoint. tf.train.latest_checkpoint(checkpoint_dir) model = build_model(vocab_size, embedding_dim, rnn_units, batch_size=1) model.load_weights(tf.train.latest_checkpoint(checkpoint_dir)) model.build(tf.TensorShape([1, None]))
Function to Generate Text:
# The prediction loop
def generate_text(model, start_string):
# Evaluation step (generating text using the learned model) # Number of characters to generate
num_generate = 1000 # Converting our start string to numbers (vectorizing)
input_eval = [char2idx[s] for s in start_string]
input_eval = tf.expand_dims(input_eval, 0) # Empty string to store our results
text_generated = [] # Low temperatures results in more predictable text.
# Higher temperatures results in more surprising text.
# Experiment to find the best setting.
temperature = 1.0 # Here batch size == 1
model.reset_states()
for i in range(num_generate):
predictions = model(input_eval)
# remove the batch dimension
predictions = tf.squeeze(predictions, 0) # using a categorical distribution to predict the word returned by the model
predictions = predictions / temperature
predicted_id = tf.random.categorical(predictions, num_samples=1)[-1,0].numpy() # We pass the predicted word as the next input to the model
# along with the previous hidden state
input_eval = tf.expand_dims([predicted_id], 0) text_generated.append(idx2char[predicted_id]) return (start_string + ''.join(text_generated)) print(generate_text(model, start_string=u"alice was not a bit hurt"))
Text Generation
Let’s see the output of the “generate_text” function!
alice was not a bit hurt, and the mock turtle had just begun
to repeat it, when a crowd out when they both be seen a a corne, the dormouse fell asleep insat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in
wonderland, though she knew she had but to open ain. gryphon. ‘it’s all her fancy, that: they never
executes nobody, you know. come on!’ ‘everybody sleepy, and nothing else to say buck the rest of the
pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners at occe, and looked at her any
more if you’d rather not.’ ‘we indeed!’ cried the mouse, the poor little thing was said to livent all a proper way of expressidy to play
croquet with the
as soon as the jury had and she tried her
best to climble yourself to say it any longle silent. the dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into
a doze; but, on before the end of the trial.’ ‘stupid things!’ alice began in a loud, indignant voice, but she stood looking at the house, and the
march hare and the hatter were having head
Comments
The “character model” takes as an input a sequence of characters and it tries to predict the next one. In our case, the characters were in lower case and we kept the punctuations. We decided to generate the 100 next characters taking as starting text the “ alice was not a bit hurt”, but we could have chosen any other starting text as well as to change the number of predictive characters since it is a parameter in “ generate_text “ function. As we can see from the output, there were some “spelling” mistakes as well as some grammatical mistakes, but for sure the generated text was surreal without meaning. Maybe because we were in Alice’s Wonderland 😉
Reference
https://www.coursera.org/learn/natural-language-processing-tensorflow | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/character-level-text-generation-63b06798f784 | ['George Pipis'] | 2020-11-03 22:25:53.786000+00:00 | ['TensorFlow', 'NLP', 'Nlg', 'Keras', 'Lstm'] |
[Event] Luna(Luna) Airdrop Christmas Event | Fellow Bithumb Users,
Thank you for your interest and participation in ‘LUNA Staking Service’.
We are pleased to announce that Christmas event as below.
1. LUNA Airdrop Event
1–1. Snapshot Event for LUNA holders
■ Conditions for LUNA holders
1. Customers who hold LUNA at the time of snapshot
■ Volume of LUNA Airdrop : 50,000 LUNA
■ Time for LUNA balance snapshot
: Everyday from 2020.12.25 (Fri) 00:00 (KST) to 2021.01.24 (Sun) 00:00 (KST) at 00:00 everyday
*Time for snapshot is subject to change due to the network conditions.
*Average of each daily balance of LUNA during December, January will be calculated.
■ Details of the Event : LUNA will be distributed in accordance with average of each daily balance rate during the event period (for 31 days)
** Balance Rate (%) = (Average of each daily balance of LUNA of member A during the event period) / Total average of each daily balance of LUNA during the event period) %
** Users who have participated in different events can also participate in this event
■ Payment date : 2021.01.29. (Fri)
1–2. LUNA Net deposit Event
■ Event Target : Customers who net deposit LUNA in the event period
■ Volume of LUNA Airdrop : 30,000 LUNA
■ Event Period : 2020.12.25. (Fri) 00:00 (KST) ~ 2020.11.18. (Wed) 24:00 (KST)
■ Details of the Event : LUNA will be distributed in accordance with each daily contribution rate of net deposit of LUNA during the event period (for 31 days)
** Net deposit = (The external deposit amount of LUNA — The external withdrawal amount of LUNA) in the event period.
**Contribution Rate (%) = (Net deposit amount of LUNA of member A during the event period / Total Net deposit amount of LUNA during the event period) %
■ Payment date : 2021.01.29 (Fri)
1–3. LUNA Airdrop Event for Trading
■ Event Target : Customers who trade LUNA at the time of event period
■ Volume of LUNA Airdrop : 90,000 LUNA
■ Event Period : 2020.12.25. (Fri) 11:00 (KST)~ 2020.12.25. (Fri) 24:00 (KST)
■ Details of the Event : LUNA will be distributed in accordance with daily contribution rate during the event period.
**Contribution Rate (%) = (Total LUNA transaction amount of member A during the event period / Total LUNA transaction amount during the event period) %
** Users who have participated in other event on Bithumb, fee free coupon users are excluded from this trading airdrop
■ Payment date : 2021.01.04 (Tue)
2. Caution
■ This event will be limited to trading of LUNA.
■ The LUNA airdorp events can be participate in duplicate, and event airdorps will be awarded to 8 decimal places.
■ Participants who use the Bithumb fee free coupon and prime members are not eligible for this event
■ If the transaction is considered as illegal or abnormal, you will not be eligible for the event participation.
■ Customers may check their LUNA payment on trading history or balance of assets.
Again, we hope to get a lot of support from you.
We will always try our best to provide convenient and safe trading service for our users.
Thank you. | https://medium.com/bithumb-official-blog/event-luna-luna-airdrop-event-2c3d7499505 | [] | 2020-12-24 02:28:42.224000+00:00 | ['Event', 'Christmas', 'Bithumb', 'Airdrop', 'Luna'] |
Book Review: Tani’s New Hone | Tani’s New Home
A Refugee Finds Hope and Kindness in America
by Tanitoluwa Adewumi
Thomas Nelson: CHILDREN’S
Thomas Nelson
Children’s Nonfiction | Christian
Pub Date 24 Nov 2020
Tani was only six when he and his family became refugees in New York City, fleeing persecution in Nigeria. He was overwhelmed by all the new things in America. But there was one new experience turned out to be the most wonderful discovery, chess! Tani studies, and practices chess for hours with joy and determination. He practices on the floor of his room at the Homeless Shelter, less than a year later he won the New York State Chess Championship, and through one act of kindness after another, found a new home.
Tani’s New Home is a picture biography best geared toward those five to ten years old. It is the real life story of a Chess Champion. This book celebrates the power of hope and hard work reminding it’s readers that we can all make the world a more welcoming and encouraging place through empathy and compassion.
Tani’s New Home is beautifully written and includes beautiful digital illustrations by Courtney Dawsonis perfect for children reading alone; story time for families, classrooms, and libraries; and celebrations of World Refugee Day.
This powerful book about chess, family, and community reminds us all that home is a place where you can follow your dreams.
I give Tani’s New Home five out of five stars!
Happy Reading! | https://medium.com/@michellereneekidwell-95261/book-review-tanis-new-hone-86359814ee7a | ['Michelle Renee Kidwell'] | 2020-12-17 18:30:30.649000+00:00 | ['Book Review', 'Biography', 'Childrens Books', 'Refugees'] |
An invitation to be a “Good Guy” | The key to advancing gender equality is Men.
10 Leadership Actions Male Allies Can Initiate Now to Advocate for Women
My work focuses on engaging “Ready-Now” men to engage in advancing women. I know many women in the workplace wonder, “Where are all the men — guys who could lean in as genuine advocates, accomplices and full conspirators in removing obstacles to gender equity?”
It’s well documented that women face numerous disadvantages in the workplace. I also have found that many men want to help but simply don’t know what to do on a daily basis to demonstrate advocacy for advancing women.
Into this landscape, my colleagues David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson recently published their second book, Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace.
In a nutshell, they write that the key to advancing gender equality is Men.
I couldn’t agree more strongly. Engaging men is the critical element to advancing women and creating gender equality within organizations.
Men still hold nearly 80 percent of the leadership roles in many companies, and we will never drive long-term systemic advancement for women without the active engagement of men. Men hold an advantage within most organizations.
In Good Guys, David and Brad have written a research-based guide for how to be a male ally to women in the workplace. I reached out to ask if gender equality is crucial to an organization’s future — and it is — then how do leaders demonstrate allyship and implement strategies to fix systems and outcomes?
The authors contend that organizational change starts with leaders (particularly men) and leadership teams, and they share 10 essential strategies to help level the playing field and support women at work:
Design clarity, transparency and accountability into your workplace. Be clear about the purpose of gender equity initiatives and transparent in communicating what they are designed to achieve, while establishing accountability for yourself and others.
Be clear about your expectations and then set the example. Plainly communicate how gender inclusion and diversity relate to your purpose, intent and values as a leader, and keep them connected to your business outcomes.
Purposefully use your influence. Use your positional power to overcome resistance to organizational change and demonstrate your support and expectations for others to support gender and inclusion events.
Be intentional in attracting diverse talent. Examine your company’s digital and print media for diverse, respectful and healthy depictions of women and men and review educational and training content for inclusion of diverse experiences.
Connect women’s initiatives to leader responsibilities. Integrate gender and inclusion initiatives with leader development training and mentorship programs and hold leaders accountable for achieving these goals as a business outcome.
Put policies and practices in place to stop sexual harassment. Be clear in your messaging that you do not tolerate sexual harassment and encourage and support victims and bystanders.
Create flexible work options that allow everyone to thrive. Acknowledge and support employees’ lives outside the workplace by placing realistic boundaries on time at work.
Carefully assess your parental leave policies. Establish formal company policies for paid family leave and conduct a formal review to ensure that they are having the desired effect and being used.
Create external accountability for your organization. Do not sponsor or participate in conferences without equal representation of women or do business with companies that don’t have at least 30 percent of board members or C-suite leadership who are women.
Get pay equity right. Set transparent hiring and salary criteria and conduct annual pay audits in your company.
These ally actions are best practices from organizations that care about creating a culture of allyship. It starts with support and commitment from senior leadership that sets the example for other leaders to embrace.
What can you do? Invite “ready-now” men into the conversation. If you are a leader take action on the 10 items outlined above. If you are a member of an employee resource group, work collectively to invite men in. Finally, if you are the only (or one of the only) women on a team, buy this book and give it to the one guy (or maybe two) who you believe could be allies for advancing women. You may quickly find out there are more men out there who want to help.
Congratulations again to Brad and David on the publication of their new book. If you know a man (or are one) who cares about gender equality and wants to do his part to build a more equal and inclusive workplace (and world), grab a copy of Good Guys. It’s full of practical ways to put your beliefs into action.
Let’s keep this conversation going and continue to invite others to take action as allies and advocates.
Gender Conversation QuickStarters — Staff Meeting in a Box on this topic.
Published By | https://medium.com/@jthalter-ywomen/an-invitation-to-be-a-good-guy-c1b4097b9267 | ['Jeffery Tobias Halter'] | 2020-12-03 16:49:24.504000+00:00 | ['Mentorship', 'Men', 'Women In Tech', 'Women In Business', 'Gender Equality'] |
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