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Why the name Decred is awesome | Several people have questioned the name “Decred” in the last three years. Their reasoning: investors will only invest in digital currencies with catchy names, and since “de” has a negative connotation they may ignore Decred.
It seems that these people don’t understand what Decred really stands for. Decred is a blend word of “decentralized” and “credits”. But what exactly are “decentralized credits”? And why is it a great name for a digital currency? To find out, let’s dive into the history and future of money!
A brief history of money
It is believed that money, as a store of value and medium of exchange, first emerged from the trade of animals and grain. This was followed by the arrival of commodity money during the Bronze Age, where commodities such as gold, silver, salt or shells were traded.
Every object had two uses: the original purpose for which the object was designed, and secondly as an item to trade or barter. Bartering was a system where items were directly exchanged for other items. Because items exchanged weren’t always an exact match in value, it was common for people to be either left in debt or credit. As a result, some have suggested money was created to replace the need for barter.
Anthropologist David Graeber argued against this suggestion. His research indicated “gift economies” were common during the beginnings of the first agricultural societies, where humans used elaborate credit systems. In this view, money emerged the moment when the obligation “I owe you one” transformed into the quantifiable notion of “I owe you one unit of something”.
Either way, it was proto-money — items made of the precious metals (such as jewelry) — that eventually became most popular as store of value and medium of exchange. Precious metals were more divisible, portable and durable than commodity monies such as shells.
While many people thought that gold and silver had value due to their scarcity and use case in jewelry, not everyone was of this opinion. In pre-revolutionary America, traders quickly learned that gold and silver were of no use to the people who originally lived there. Instead they used beaver pelts as a currency in exchange for items they needed.
It should be clear that during these times there was no need to rely on any third party to store or exchange value. People were all in control of their own money. Money had value because people assigned and asserted it.
Shells were used as commodity money.
Back to reality
Even though proto-money gained most popularity, it wasn’t without issues. Gold and silver weren’t always easily divisible, and it was difficult for the average person to verify the weight and purity. This often led to fraudulent metals being circulated, such as pyrite (fool’s gold).
As a consequence, authorities such as kings, emperors, and governors began minting gold and silver bullion coins, to be used as a medium of exchange and store of value — the dawn of standardized coinage.
Minted coins brought about a number of improvements to money. It meant money could change hands in a more secure manner, with much less frequent need for weighing. Furthermore, although these coins were not always identical — most bearing their own unique imperfections — they did bring about a vast improvement in fungibility compared to proto-money. For this reason, civilizations quickly adopted and became reliant upon minted coins.
Bankers began to hand out notes of credit for gold or silver coins deposited with them. These receipts included the name of the depositor and promised to pay him or her on demand. At some point the words “or bearer” were added after the name of the depositor, which allowed notes to change owner.
The benefit of not having to trust or rely on third parties when exchanging and storing value had to be traded off against the requirement for money that was easy to use. It could now be divided into small, transportable units with a specific authenticated value.
One thing led to another, and here we are, carrying around worthless metallic discs and pieces of paper in our wallet that the authorities control entirely. This type of money is known as fiat money.
Fiat money is a currency that has been established as money, often by government regulation. It only has value because an authority maintains its value.
The future of money
When we consider the future, we often look at science-fiction (Sci-Fi) stories and movies. While comic books and novels do not accurately predict the future, they often offer a surprisingly relevant insight into things to come.
The use of “credits” is common in futuristic Sci-Fi settings. In fact, there is a well know cliché pointed out by the popular futurist and comic book writer Sam Humphries, who said: “In any science-fiction movie, anywhere in the galaxy, currency is referred to as credits”.
The first use of “credits” in Sci-Fi can be traced back to the novel “Galactic Patrol” by Edward E. Smith, first published in 1937. Smith wrote “Bid, one thousand credits per packet of ten. Offered, none at any price”.
The first published explanation of what a “credit” represents was in the science fiction novel “Space Viking” by Henry B Piper, published in 1962. Piper wrote, “Our currency is based on services to our society. Our monetary unit is simply called a credit”.
In the popular Star Wars movies, the concept of “credits” is also used and presented as a form of electronic money.
Back to the future
Today, money has already entered the digital realm: fiat money primarily exists on databases controlled by the banking industry. We use plastic cards with chips to exchange value and we have to trust our banks to carry out these transactions. In its physical form, fiat money is represented by metallic coins and banknotes, also referred to as cash.
Luckily a new phenomenon is emerging: decentralized, digital money based on cryptography. This type of money — sometimes called cryptocurrency — represents something fundamentally different, something more versatile.
The birth of cryptocurrency has eliminated the need to rely on authorities when exchanging value. We no longer need to use commodity money or fiat money to store or exchange value. We now have a choice.
Cryptocurrency evolved from all previous forms of money:
Its units are divisible, durable, portable and fungible.
It is censorship resistant and secured by cryptography.
It has guaranteed scarcity and a transparent rate of supply.
However, a cryptocurrency is only as strong as its protocol and its social layer (a decentralized collective of miners, developers, investors, and users). Just like in the old days, we are again in control of our own money.
Our money has value because we assign and assert it.
In 2009, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to launch. Early 2016, after identifying three fundamental challenges within the Bitcoin ecosystem and developing several unique features, Decred launched.
Behind the name Decred
Legend says that the early founders and organizers tacotime, _ingsoc and Jake Yocom-Piatt were brainstorming on the topic of “decentralized credits” when they thought of the name Decred.
Decentralized
Decentralization is important for blockchain-based cryptocurrencies such as Decred, Bitcoin or Litecoin. The more decentralized a cryptocurrency is, the more resistant it is to censorship or control from a centralized entity. A decentralized network is more secure since it is harder to attack.
The most valuable projects are those that have decentralized development, decentralized funding, and decentralized decision-making (governance). Decentralization is the missing piece of the puzzle that allows us to eliminate the requirement for a third party when storing and exchanging value.
Credits
Although many people now associate “credit” with credit cards (or the ability to obtain loans), understanding its place in the history and future of money makes it all the more meaningful.
Back when fiat money did not yet exist, credit systems were used to keep track of who owed what to whom. Much later, around the time of the global gold standard, notes of credit were issued as proof of stored value.
Perhaps more interestingly, the concept of “credits” is commonly used to refer to money in futuristic Sci-Fi settings, for example in Star Wars.
Decentralized credits
It seems only natural that the most significant feature of cryptocurrency is brought together with a word that describes money as it once was — before third parties became involved — and as it has been envisioned for the future.
Conclusion
Decred (DCR) stands for decentralized credits. It has taken decentralization to a whole new level — it is money that is developed and governed by us! The Decred treasury ensures we no longer need to rely on authorities to give us a medium of exchange and store of value. We have decentralized credits.
Who knows how far this project will reach? In a distant future, intergalactic travelers might pay for their drinks in DCR! 🚀 | https://medium.com/decred/why-the-name-decred-is-awesome-9627ae9b4e2 | [] | 2019-06-14 10:30:26.448000+00:00 | ['History Of Money', 'Decentralized', 'Decred', 'Bitcoin', 'Decentralization'] |
Demystifying Spark’s Stream-Stream OUTER Join | Photo by Francisco Gonzalez on Unsplash
Real-time analysis & recommendation is always a fancy idea in data science. Nothing is more exciting than serving the most up-to-date machine learning prediction to our beloved users, right? One way to achieve real-time is to use a spark stream job, write to a low-latency DB as new data comes in. Often times, we want to enrich that new user data with some metadata or even recommendations, we can either create a UDF to call an external API based on the unique user identifier to pull the data, or have that enriching data ready as a table to join back. If we take the latter approach, we end up with two choices. Either we have a static table, which is pre-computed and loaded at the start of your service, the downside is if you want to refresh that table with new recommendations, you need to restart the service because a table(DataFrame) in Spark is immutable and if you re-use that table more than twice, Spark will automatically cache it for you, even if you try everything to unpersist it. This is how Spark’s DAG works internally. The other option is to make that static table a streaming one, meaning you write the new recommendation somewhere and watermark it and ask Spark to pick the new data as a stream. This is called stream-stream join in Spark. Everything is not that easy as it appears when it comes to if you want to do an Outer join.
I have spent a whole day on the second choice and try to understand how outer-join outputs results. Yes, you heard it right, I literally spent a whole day figuring out how left-join works. Crazy, right? But consider the problem setting, we are dealing with streaming data, streaming makes everything a lot harder. I will talk about some issues that I saw along the way and post some code and results at the end. | https://medium.com/swlh/demystifying-sparks-stream-stream-outer-join-8fcbcd4a9e59 | ['Tony Liu'] | 2020-12-19 09:57:34.141000+00:00 | ['Streaming', 'Big Data', 'Spark', 'Data Science'] |
Combining base learners of different types into a single meta-learner in an simple & intuitive way | Combining base learners of different types into a single meta-learner in an simple & intuitive way
I always believe in democratizing AI and machine learning, and spreading the knowledge in such a way to cater the larger audiences in general to potentially exploit the power of AI.
One such attempt is the development of the R package for meta-level ensemble learning (Classification, Regression) that is fully-automated. It significantly lowers the barrier for the practitioners to apply heterogeneous ensemble learning techniques in an amateur fashion to their everyday predictive problems.
Before we dwell into the package details, let’s understand a few basic concepts.
Why Ensemble Learning?
Generally, predictions become unreliable when the input sample is out of the training distribution, bias to data distribution or error prone to noise, and so on. Most approaches require changes to the network architecture, fine tuning, balanced data, increasing model size, etc. Further, the selection of the algorithm plays a vital role, while the scalability and learning ability decrease with the complex datasets. Combining multiple learners is an effective approach, and have been applied to many real-world problems. Ensemble learners combine a diverse collection of predictions from the individual base models to produce a composite predictive model that is more accurate and robust than its components. With meta ensemble learning one can minimize generalization error to some extent irrespective of the data distribution, number of classes, choice of algorithm, number of models, complexity of the datasets, etc. So, in summary, the predictive models will be able to generalize better.
How can we build models in more stable fashion while minimizing under-fitting/overfitting which is very critical to the overall outcome? The solution is ensemble meta-learning of a heterogeneous collection of base learners.
Common Ensemble Learning Techniques
The different popular ensemble techniques are referred to in the figure below. Stacked generalization is a general method of using a high-level model to combine lower- level models to achieve greater predictive accuracy. In the Bagging method, the independent base models are derived from the bootstrap samples of the original dataset. The Boosting method grows an ensemble in a dependent fashion iteratively, which adjusts the weight of an observation based on the past prediction. There are several extensions of bagging and boosting.
Overview
metaEnsembleR is an R package for automated meta-learning (Classification, Regression). The functionalities provided includes simple user input based predictive modeling with the selection choice of the algorithms, train-validation-test split, model valuations, and easy guided unseen data prediction which can help the user’s to build stack ensembles on the go. The core aim of this package is to cater the larger audiences in general. metaEnsembleR significantly lowers the barrier for the practitioners to apply heterogeneous ensemble learning techniques in an amateur fashion to their everyday predictive problems.
Using metaEnsembleR
The package consists of the following components:
Ensemble Classifiers Training and Prediction
Ensemble Regressor Training and Prediction
Model Evaluation, Model Results (Observation vs. Prediction on test data) & new unseen data prediction and Disk write I/O performance charts & saving prediction results
All these functions are very intuitive, and their use is illustrated with examples below covering the Classification and Regression problem in general.
Getting Started
The package can be installed directly from CRAN
Install from Rconsole: install.packages(“metaEnsembleR”)
However, the latest stable version (if any) could be found on Github, and installed using devtools package.
Install from GitHub: if(!require(devtools)) install.packages(“devtools”) devtools::install_github(repo = ‘ajayarunachalam/metaEnsembleR’, ref = ‘main’)
Usage
library(“metaEnsembleR”) set.seed(111)
Training the ensemble classification model is as simple as one-line call to the ensembler.classifier function, in the following ways either passing the csv file directly or the imported dataframe, that takes into account the arguments in the following order starting the Dataset, Outcome/Response Variable index, Base Learners, Final Learner, Train-Validation-Test split ratio, and the Unseen data
ensembler_return ← ensembler.classifier(iris[1:130,], 5, c(‘treebag’,’rpart’), ‘gbm’, 0.60, 0.20, 0.20, read.csv(‘./unseen_data.csv’))
OR
unseen_new_data_testing ← iris[130:150,] ensembler_return ← ensembler.classifier(iris[1:130,], 5, c(‘treebag’,’rpart’), ‘gbm’, 0.60, 0.20, 0.20, unseen_new_data_testing)
The above function returns the following, i.e., test data with the predictions, prediction labels, model result, and finally the predictions on unseen data.
testpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[1]) table(testpreddata$actual_label) table(ensembler_return[2])
####Performance comparison#####
modelresult ← ensembler_return[3] modelresult
####unseen data###
unseenpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[4]) table(unseenpreddata$unseenpreddata)
Training the ensemble regression model is the same as one-line call to the ensembler.regression function, in the following ways either passing the csv file directly or the imported dataframe, that takes into account the arguments in the following order starting the Dataset, Outcome/Response Variable index, Base Learners, Final Learner, Train-Validation-Test split ratio, and the Unseen data
house_price ←read.csv(file = ‘./data/regression/house_price_data.csv’) unseen_new_data_testing_house_price ←house_price[250:414,] write.csv(unseen_new_data_testing_house_price, ‘unseen_house_price_regression.csv’, fileEncoding = ‘UTF-8’, row.names = F) ensembler_return ← ensembler.regression(house_price[1:250,], 1, c(‘treebag’,’rpart’), ‘gbm’, 0.60, 0.20, 0.20, read.csv(‘./unseen_house_price_regression.csv’))
OR
ensembler_return ← ensembler.regression(house_price[1:250,], 1, c(‘treebag’,’rpart’), ‘gbm’, 0.60, 0.20, 0.20, unseen_new_data_testing_house_price )
The above function returns the following, i.e., test data with the predictions, prediction values, model result, and finally the unseen data with the predictions.
testpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[1])
####Performance comparison#####
modelresult ← ensembler_return[3] modelresult write.csv(modelresult[[1]], “performance_chart.csv”)
####unseen data###
unseenpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[4])
Examples
demo classification
library(“metaEnsembleR”) attach(iris) data(“iris”) unseen_new_data_testing ← iris[130:150,] write.csv(unseen_new_data_testing, ‘unseen_check.csv’, fileEncoding = ‘UTF-8’, row.names = F) ensembler_return ← ensembler.classifier(iris[1:130,], 5, c(‘treebag’,’rpart’), ‘gbm’, 0.60, 0.20, 0.20, unseen_new_data_testing) testpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[1]) table(testpreddata$actual_label) table(ensembler_return[2])
####Performance comparison#####
modelresult ← ensembler_return[3] modelresult act_mybar ← qplot(testpreddata$actual_label, geom= “bar”) act_mybar pred_mybar ← qplot(testpreddata$predictions, geom= ‘bar’) pred_mybar act_tbl ← tableGrob(t(summary(testpreddata$actual_label))) pred_tbl ← tableGrob(t(summary(testpreddata$predictions))) ggsave(“testdata_actual_vs_predicted_chart.pdf”,grid.arrange(act_tbl, pred_tbl)) ggsave(“testdata_actual_vs_predicted_plot.pdf”,grid.arrange(act_mybar, pred_mybar)) ####unseen data### unseenpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[4]) table(unseenpreddata$unseenpreddata) table(unseen_new_data_testing$Species)
demo regression
library(“metaEnsembleR”) data(“rock”) unseen_rock_data ← rock[30:48,] ensembler_return ← ensembler.regression(rock[1:30,], 4,c(‘lm’), ‘rf’, 0.40, 0.30, 0.30, unseen_rock_data) testpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[1])
####Performance comparison#####
modelresult ← ensembler_return[3] modelresult write.csv(modelresult[[1]], “performance_chart.csv”)
####unseen data###
unseenpreddata ← data.frame(ensembler_return[4])
More Examples
Comprehensive demonstrations can be found in the Demo.R file, to see the results run Rscript Demo.R in the terminal.
Contact
If there is some implementation you would like to see here or add in some examples feel free to do so. You can always reach me at [email protected] | https://medium.com/@ajay-arunachalam08/combining-base-learners-of-different-types-into-a-single-meta-learner-in-an-simple-intuitive-way-26cd225332ce | ['Ajay Arunachalam'] | 2020-11-10 20:24:08.351000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Ensemble Learning', 'Regression', 'Classification'] |
PUBG Mobile Pro League SEA Season 2 Scrapping and Analysis Using R. | Loading library, scrapping and Prepare Data.
Because I only do scrapp on single page, so I don’t need to make a function. In the data preparation step, I added a new column, namely placement points based on team placement for each round and total points (kill + placement point).
The data have been prepared can be seen below.
Visualize.
In this section, I transform the data into a graph/plot to make easier to understand.
From the Line chart above, it can be seen that the team competition in rounds 4 to 11 is very tight, but the first position can still be maintained by Aerowolf Limax (AW LIMAX) from Indonesia and finished in 2nd place. Team Secret Jin (TSJ) from Thailand won 4 times WWCD managed to finish in position 3, Team Bigetron Red Aliens (BTR RA) from Indonesia became the champion of PUBG Mobile Pro League SEA Season 2 with WWCD 4 times.
The team with the most consistent position in the upper (lower better) placement was Aerowolf Limax. Out of 15 rounds, 11 of them were in the top five, although without WWCD this team was able to occupy the Runner Up.
Based on the barchart above, Bigetron Red Aliens became a champion with 197 points, which is a big difference from the Runner Up Aerowolf Limax points. The top 5 teams received an invitation to an even bigger tournament, the PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC). The global tournament was attended by the best teams from each region, including China, Korea-Japan, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Europe and America.
From the top 5 teams, Aerowolf Limax excels in overall placement points, while Bigetron Red Aliens excels in total kills. Both of these teams are from Indonesia and must be watched out for by other teams in the next PMGC tournament.
From this tournament, the teams with higher placements (lower better) have relatively more kills. Overall, each round the team only got kills under 10, only a few got more than 10 kills.
Bigetron Red Aliens in a certain round reached nearly 20 kills. Even the 5 rounds played got more than 10 kills. The greatness of the Bigetron Red Aliens team in getting kills was extraordinary. Very deserving of the title of champion. | https://medium.com/@amrirohman/pubg-mobile-pro-league-sea-season-2-scrapping-and-analysis-using-r-e1480e2422ae | ['Ahsan Amri Rohman'] | 2020-11-11 14:25:43.296000+00:00 | ['Pubg Mobile', 'Dataviz', 'Data Analysis', 'R Programming', 'Pmpl'] |
Where I Am From | Where I Am From
Photo of the Redwood Forest
During one writing class I took, the teacher challenged us to write a “Where I Am From” poem.
At the beginning I was a little skeptical, because she gave us a template to write the poem, based off of Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon. I thought, “Who writes poetry off of a template?”
But after doing the exercise, I changed my mind. It was an eye-opening experience taking a deep look into my identity. I think everyone should have a “Where I’m From” poem.
The Template
The “Where I’m From” template has become pretty popular with writing teachers. It’s structured, but allows plenty of room for creativity. You may have seen it before, but in case you want to try your own “Where I’m From” poem, here is the template.
I am from ______________________________
(specific ordinary item)
From ______________________ and ________________________
(product name) (product name)
I am from the _____________________________________________
(home description)
___________________ , _________________ , ____________________
(adjective) (adjective) (sensory detail)
I am from _________________________________________ ,
(plant, flower, natural item)
___________________________________________________________
(description of above item)
I’m from ________________________ and ________________________
(family tradition) (family trait)
From ___________________________ and _________________________
(name of family member) (another family name)
I’m from the ___________________________ and ____________________
(description of family tendency) (another one)
From _________________________________ and _____________________
(something you were told as a child) (another)
I’m from __________________________ , ___________________________
(representation of religion or lack of), (further description)
I’m from _______________________________________________
(place of birth and family ancestry)
_______________________________ , ___________________________
(a food item that represents your family) (another one)
From the _____________________________________________________
(specific family story about a specific person and detail)
The _________________________________________________________
(another detail of another family member)
______________________________________________________________
(location of family pictures, mementos, archives)
______________________________________________________________
(line explaining the importance of family items)
My Own “Where I’m From” Poem
My own “Where I’m From” poem, despite being written from a template, is one of my favorite creations.
Why?
Because it’s me. | https://medium.com/@cassandrasigmon/where-i-am-from-f18fab9b5eb2 | ['Cassandra Sigmon'] | 2020-12-22 20:53:46.383000+00:00 | ['Family History', 'Poetry', 'Memoir', 'Creative Non Fiction', 'Personal Growth'] |
Write for Us | Write for Us
Image created by the author using Canva
· About Us
· What Stories We Accept 📚
· Submission
· How to be Added as a Writer ✒️
· Contact Us 📧
About Us
A Thousand Lives is a publication devoted to spreading the word about books. Underpinning our ethos is the belief that a good book can change the world. And for this to happen, and for everyone to benefit from books, we, as writers and readers, must spread the word.
Whether that’s in the form of traditional book reviews, author profiles recommendations or listicles — our central aim is to provide stories where readers will benefit from reading about a book they are yet to discover.
We believe reading is an educational tool — regardless of the genre — and want to spread awareness about great books to likeminded people. | https://medium.com/a-thousand-lives/write-for-us-c8c5c97e65d | ['Violet Daniels'] | 2021-03-04 19:25:47.638000+00:00 | ['Reading', 'New Publication', 'Publication', 'Fiction', 'Books'] |
A Week in Writing #249. Welcome to my weekly musings about my… | Okay, this seems to be sounding like a broken record but didn’t get to everything I wanted to this past week. Now, in this case, I was sort of under the weather with a cough and a bad back (I know, poor pitiful me). I know, neither was really that bad, just enough to slow me down.
I did manage to do some writing on The Runaway. Like I did with Familiar Stranger, I’m sort of going back through the manuscript, rewriting what I had already rewritten in an effort to get a running start back into the book. I know where I want it to go, it’s just getting it back on track is all. As I know you know, it’s a very interesting process to go back through what you’ve written. It’s actually my favorite part of the writing process, making it better. There are little things that I’m changing so far that I think are improving the writing.
No new queries for Broken People this week and no new contact with the editor on the above mentioned Familiar Stranger. I guess he’s still alive, at least he’s still listed on the company where I think he works. As I mentioned in last week’s post, my mother actually called the guy but never heard back from him. While that’s sort of embarrassing on a certain level, my mommy fighting my battles and all, she is the one who introduced us. She thought he would at least call her back. I’m wondering if he’s changed his cell number, which is all we have. Now the big question, do I call him at his place of employment? I’m reticent to do that but it has been over a year since I’ve heard from him. That might be my only recourse. I’ll have to weigh that for a bit.
Published my first non-Batman review in a month with Blondie Johnson (1933) on Trophy Unlocked. I’m still working on my review of Sabrina, but I did finish and publish one for Rocketman, the new Elton John bio/fantasy film that just came out.
I’m writing this all down a day earlier than I usually do since on June 2nd, Powers Squared will be attending our first Con, San Fernando Vally Comic Book Convention. I’m a little apprehensive as I’m not sure how much the Free Comic Book Day signing prepared us for this. I’m hopeful that this will be a good intro into Comic Book Cons. We are not ready for anything major like WonderCon or Comic-Con; we’re not even ready for the Long Beach Comic-Con, which is pretty costly.
The goal is to get signups for our mailing list, though we will have books to sell. I feel like we’re such newbs going in. But that means we have a lot to learn, which is actually a good thing. I’ll be sure to write more about this experience in next week’s blog post, so there will be something to look forward to.
We did get some inked pages from Rachel this past week, jpegs, not tiffs. We asked for one small change to one panel. We did pass along to her some positive comments we received when we posted her thumbnails on Instagram, as part of our Peek-of-the-Week we started with our newsletter. While we first publicize it in our newsletter, we do post it on Instagram later in the week to be sure. The comments were pretty positive and we thought she should know.
Trevor finished his pages for Issue #10, so that’s in its last steps. Paul and I need to review those as well. But that will have to wait until next week as well.
Because I wasn’t 100 percent, I didn’t listen to any of the ComixLaunch ListLaunch podcasts, so I’ve got to get back to that this next week. I hate to say it, but I really seem to wrangle with the homework, as in I don’t want to do it. Some things never change, I guess.
So much to do and so little time. | https://medium.com/@davidhankins/a-week-in-writing-248-abf44121307c | ['David Hankins'] | 2019-06-10 03:44:24.615000+00:00 | ['Con', 'Comics', 'Writing', 'Writers Life', 'Writing Reviews'] |
What Men Had To Say About The Messages They’ve Gotten Around Masculinity | The responses to my writing prompt
Photo by Tim Bogdanov on Unsplash
On February 28th I asked guys to write something about the types of messaging that they’ve gotten about what it means to be a man. This was a companion piece to a similar writing prompt for women. Here’s a link to what the women said, but the response from the men was even more varied and I heard from more of them.
I got responses from 7 men in the form of stories and 3 with long comments. Thanks to Saroosh, Garrison Black, Brian Fehler, Wyatt Edward Gates, Pablo Pereyra, Patrick weseman, Michael Murphy, Dave Murray, and patrick clarke for giving us your thoughts and sharing your experiences.
by Saroosh
“I was a late bloomer, not really looking at girls until age fourteen. This worried her, getting me quizzed regularly and sometimes asked if I was gay. At 12 or 13 I discovered that she had gotten me a subscription to playboy. The first time she spotted me with a girl she kicked into overdrive. The first sign was the box of condoms I came home to find on my bed. This was soon followed by periodic bursts of unwelcome questions and even less welcome advice.”
by Garrison Black
“Men are often told to be emotionally impenetrable to the point of being near automatons. So in control of our emotions that no one should ever be able to detect what we are feeling. Whether we’re happy, sad, scared, overjoyed, depressed, or terrified on the inside the outside should only show cool, calm, and collected. Visible emotions are a no-no, especially crying. Crying is for girls.
In fact, the only real emotion men are expected to show is anger.”
by Brian Fehler
“Those are the types of aggressions that friends and allies outside the LGBTQ community see and recognize as harmful.
Less visible to those friends and allies are the deeply-ingrained attitudes that inform our social norms and interactions. Interactions that may seem harmless, may even seem playful or friendly, but are really acts of harmful policing of gay men’s masculinity, a policing that needs to stop.”
“I couldn’t make out the words over the chatter of my teammates at first, but I could tell Dad was angry.
Then the coach said, louder, spitting out the words: “Not a kid like that, I don’t. I don’t need sissies on this team!”
by Wyatt Edward Gates
“It isn’t just sports, though, but all things: the Real Man must always compete in all things as if his identity depended on it, because for Real Men, it does. That same former SEAL I mentioned earlier was asked ‘what is life like as a SEAL?’ His one sentence answer was ‘you compete in all things, constantly.’ Competition is part of the nucleus of manhood. Nothing matters for its own sake, only winning matters. If there is no way to win at it then it isn’t for men. E.g. dancing for the sake of enjoying the motion of bodies is feminine, but dancing to get an award can be coerced into the manhood script.”
by James Knight
“Where did the bullshit originate that says that men do not have emotional needs just like women do? That “manly men” do not show emotional weaknesses. That men aren’t allowed to cry. That “real” men are not sensitive. That men have to always be tough.
Young boys, like girls, cry and are emotional by nature. But their parents, especially their dad, tells them that men are tough and shouldn’t cry. If you cry, you are a “sissy”. Men suck it up and don’t show their emotions.”
By Pablo Pereyra
“Mea Culpa: My mother would tell me, girls in clubs are sinful and easy, never go with a girl you have met at a club. There was no need to worry, I would never learn how to talk to those beautiful women dancing and expressing themselves as people, and not as objects to be consumed. How do you talk to an object?”
by Patrick weseman
“It happens to me all the time. I am told that I am not tough enough because I don’t go around acting macho all the time. I am just me and I try to be calm and think things out instead of acting on my primal urges. I just try to be me.
Also, being a person of color you are supposed to have an image and I don’t have one. I am a simple man who dresses simply. I have no piercings, no tattoos or anything like that. I don’t spend a lot on haircuts and nothing is matched.”
by Michael Murphy
“My mother was more pro-active in trying to define who I would be as a man than my father and grandfather. I think that my Mother felt gender repression. She often said, “I should have been born a man so that I could have been a General.” This motivated her to push me to grow up prematurely. I think she wanted me to fulfill her disappointments concerning my father. My dad was often on job assignments out of town and he was the quiet type who didn’t talk too much about feelings or manly expectations or anything like that.”
by Dave Murray
“Fatherless, my primary male influences in childhood were my maternal grandfather, born at the end of the 19th century (a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do), uncles, scout leaders, coaches and my male friends who were under the influence of working class fathers. Maleness in the form that is criticised on Medium. Then came my drill instructors. I cannot over emphasize their influence. It was beyond what they understood as their goal was to make me a Marine. They had just returned from Vietnam. Harsh fighting on the rock pile.”
by patrick clarke | https://medium.com/inside-of-elle-beau/what-men-had-to-say-about-the-messages-theyve-gotten-around-masculinity-4fafed683c45 | ['Elle Beau'] | 2020-03-17 16:47:17.649000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Essay', 'Writing Prompts', 'Masculinity', 'Men'] |
File Download in flutter. | File download in Flutter.
The below gif represents, how to download or view a file in Flutter.
I have created a sample file model.
class FileModel {
String id;
String name;
String fileUrl;
FileModel({
@required this.id,
@required this.name,
@required this.fileUrl,
});
}
2. Using the file model, I have created a list called fileList and added a few items to the list.
List<FileModel> fileList = [
FileModel(
id: '1',
name: 'image',
fileUrl:
'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/JPEG_example_flower.jpg',
), FileModel(
id: '2',
name: 'image1',
fileUrl:
'https://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphicthumb/tulip_flowers_highdefinition_picture_01_166861.jpg'
), FileModel(
id: '3',
name: 'image2',
fileUrl:
'https://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphicthumb/tulip_flowers_highdefinition_picture_01_166861.jpg',
), FileModel(
id: '4',
name: 'pdf file',
fileUrl: 'http://www.africau.edu/images/default/sample.pdf',
),
]; 3. So, I have displayed list of files inside column. Column(
children: fileList.map((file) {
return _fileRowWidget(file);
}).toList(),
) 4. Inside column I have return a _fileRowWidget to display filename and download button. Widget _fileRowWidget(FileModel file) {
return Row(
children: [
Expanded(
child: Container(
margin: EdgeInsets.all(15.0),
child: Text(file.name)),
),
InkWell(
onTap: (){
_onTap(file);
},
child: IconButton(
icon: Icon(Icons.file_download),
),
)
],
);
} 5. Ontap of download button, _onTap(FileModel file) function is call. _onTap(FileModel file) async {
String fileURL = '${file.fileUrl}';
String fileType = fileURL.split('.').last.toLowerCase();
if (file.fileType == 'jpeg' ||
file.fileType == 'jpg' ||
file.fileType == 'image' ||
file.fileType == 'png') {
showCupertinoModalPopup(
context: context,
builder: (BuildContext _context) {
return _imageViewWidget(file.fileUrl);
});
} else {
await launchUrl(url: fileURL);
}
} This is the main function which required parameter file. Using file url we can get the file extension which is stored in string fileType.According to extension I am checking the filetype. If file extension is jpeg, jpg, image or png only open file otherwise call launchUrl function. First we have to look into widet _imageViewWidget(file.fileUrl).This widget displayed image and close button, ontap of close button it will pop the context. Widget _imageViewWidget(String fileUrl) {
return Material(
child: BackdropFilter(
filter: ui.ImageFilter.blur(
sigmaX: 1.5,
sigmaY: 1.5,
),
child: GestureDetector(
onTap: () => Navigator.pop(context),
child: SafeArea(
child: Container(
color: Colors.transparent,
padding: EdgeInsets.fromLTRB(
30.0,
50.0,
30.0,
50.0,
),
child: Column(
children: <Widget>[
Flexible(
child: PhotoView(
backgroundDecoration: BoxDecoration(
color: Colors.transparent,
),
imageProvider:CachedNetworkImageProvider(fileUrl),
loadingBuilder:
(BuildContext context, ImageChunkEvent event) =>
showLoader(),
),
),
Center(
child: IconButton(
icon: CircleAvatar(
backgroundColor: Colors.orange,
child: Icon(
Icons.close,
color: Colors.white,
),
),
onPressed: () => Navigator.pop(context),
),
)
],
),
),
),
),
),
);
} To display image I have used PhotoView, for that I have added dependency in pubspec.yamal file. Also added dependency for cachedNetworkImageProvider for chaching the network image. 6. If the filetype is not image, then call function launchUrl().
for that we have to first add dependency of url_launcher. static Future<Null> launchUrl(
{@required String url}) async {
try {
await launch(url);
} catch (e, s) {
print(' Unable to open url');
}
}
In this way, we can view or download the file. | https://medium.com/nonstopio/file-download-in-flutter-ad5932779f3 | ['Snehal Masalkar'] | 2020-12-01 12:32:30.105000+00:00 | ['Flutter', 'Flutter App Development', 'Mobile App Development', 'Download', 'Mobile Apps'] |
Recrooiter highlight: Nikola Stojic | Why do we celebrate our recruiters?
Because we are not successful without our team of recrooiters. They are the driving force behind our business, they are also part of the reason we started in the first place.
Our founding members came from high ranking positions in the recruiting world and realized it was time for a change in the industry, a move towards easier and reliable tools, that celebrate a more human approach.
That’s why our recrooiters are so valuable and why becoming one can be a great option for those looking for a side gig that will fill their pocket and not drain their energy.
Who is our celebrated Recrooiter?
We are thrilled to be working with people like our highlighted recrooiter, Nikola Stojic, whose background is in law and tech. Yes, that’s right, law and tech. That’s the secret to Recrooit’s success: highly specialized recruiters that go beyond just talent hunting. They have an intimate knowledge of the industry, sometimes even more than one. They personally know great quality candidates and have made a name for themselves in the job niche. They are Recrooiters.
Nikola is from Serbia and now lives in the capital city of Belgrade. Although his first professional path was more oriented towards law he soon found himself connected to the tech world when
My professional background has mostly to do with the legal profession and technology. Before becoming L.L.M. It was quite an interesting road trip. I’ve started working on my first business project, a software store for Windows, together with a friend back in 2009. Since then, I have always tried to combine the two things I love, law, and tech. From working with startups to interning in a law firm to improve business/legal skills it was always and still is quite an interesting journey on finding a way to combine them.
How did Nikola start recruiting?
“Well, to be honest, it started quite accidentally. While I did my master’s thesis in Employment and Social law and specialized in it, back in 2014 I didn’t have any concrete plans. So, my friend called me and asked me if I had the time to help out an NGO that was looking for an IT guy with a good understanding of the law. A few months later at the NGO, we needed to get candidates to fill empty spots for different sectors within the organization. When you get to that point, you have a large number of people circulating, doing interviews with them, and learning on the spot how it all works without any previous experience.”
How did he join the Recrooit team?
“I was writing a post on LinkedIn about how the ATS is getting too robotized and that there is no personal interaction with candidates. Nevena Sofranic (founder of Recrooit) saw the post and we had a conversation about what are the problems in recruiting and how ATS could be changed.”
Like the majority of people at Recrooit, Nikola’s favorite part of the process is communicating with others, whether it’s a candidate or a company representative.
“It’s great to hear gratitude from candidates you hired, as well as hearing the feedback that they are doing well at their new job.”
The tools we give our recrooiters
We rely on amazing professionals to complete Recrooit’s mission. That’s why we work really hard to create a platform that offers them the best advantages. The way Recrooit’s platform is designed is to be an organic approach for recruiting talent; while supporting natural workflows for communication and networking is the greatest asset we provide.
This is a huge part of what attracted Nikola to join as a recruiter for Recrooit, as he puts it:
For Recrooiters, it is:
“The opportunity to use everything they already learned previously to find the right candidates for the position. For example, using boolean in this case will allow recruiters to save time and get better at sourcing.”
What stood out for Nikola was the question & answer tool which allowed him to have seamless communication with both the candidate and the company.
Other standout tools:
Linking to job posts: these links maintain the recrooiter’s ID attached to them so that any candidate that applies with it and gets hired, will earn the recrooiter a reward. This alternative medium makes sharing job postings as easy as copy and paste.
Because Recrooit acknowledges that recrooiters are busy, want solutions fast, and are tech-savvy, we created a streamlined process. No bells and whistles, just results.
Why becoming a recrooiter is the right choice for you?
If you have a connection and a network in the industry because you are in it currently or just know someone who is the Recrooit can become your new side gig. Recrooit is a streamlined, easy to use platform that makes the recruitment process fast and organic. Share a link with your network or just upload a CV and fill a short form and you can earn a bounty.
If you’ve asked yourself any of these, then you need to consider becoming a Recrooiter:
How do I make more money?
What can I do to have more income and not spend hours doing it?
What good are all these contacts for?
How can I help my friends and myself with work?
What do I do to join Recrooit?
We cant wait to have you on the team! | https://medium.com/recrooitblog/recrooiter-highlight-nikola-stojic-9f78dd256bbd | ['Maryann Superlano'] | 2020-12-07 16:20:38.045000+00:00 | ['Talent', 'Recruiting', 'HR', 'Jobs', 'Side Hustle'] |
“You Need To Pick A Side” | My friend became frustrated as he asked me questions about my political views trying to figure out what side I am on and in exasperation he said, “You have to pick a side. You can’t continue to not stand for anything.” And I responded that I stand for the values within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
We’re so conditioned to think in terms of ‘this or that’ that we often feel uncomfortable with or confused by those who don’t fit into our neat little boxes.
Martin Luther King, Jr was one of those people who didn’t fit into any particular political box. He certainly didn’t come up with his vision for humanity by listening to either the Democrats or Republicans — both sides initially opposed civil rights.
So much of the media goads us into an ‘us vs them’ ‘right vs left’ perspective and uninvestigated it seems to make perfect sense. After all, those people on the other side have such different values than we do — right? It then makes sense to see them as our adversary. To explore any other perspective doesn’t often even cross our minds.
Divisiveness feels empowering. Anger feels like it will eventually get us where we want — and feel we need — to go. Although this ‘us vs them’ approach never really works we hold out hope that next time, surely next time, it will.
This ‘common enemy perspective’ at a certain level makes us feel good not only because we feel we are right but also because we feel those people over there are wrong. It feels enlivening to gather with others who agree with us and who are against those who don’t.
It’s so easy to go with the status quo and become addicted to those voices pitting us against each other and it’s often not so easy to see our way out. Not the way out to the opposite point of view but the way out of all polarizing views. The way out to a completely different kind of view which is not against anyone.
Rather than a ‘common enemy perspective’ it’s possible to see from a ‘common humanity perspective’, which is the view Martin Luther King Jr. held for humanity. He wasn’t against any one— he was against those systems that were unaligned with our common values. His fight for civil rights was not only for black people but for those white people that were caught up in the indignities of systemic racism.
MLK reminded us that we’re at our best when we stand in a circle aligned with our common values rather than on opposite sides pointing fingers. It was the power of his unifying vision for humanity that cut the engine to legal systemic racism and it will be the power of this same vision that will ‘turn our ship ‘round right.’
MLK said, “There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available” — and we are one of those remedies that is readily available.
We, united, are what we are waiting for.
There is really no other way. We just simply can’t move forward divided.
Unified in our common values we are that readily available remedy. | https://medium.com/the-national-discussion/you-need-to-pick-a-side-7ae51bb5bb01 | ['Dhyana Stanley'] | 2020-11-23 13:11:52.458000+00:00 | ['Martin Luther King', 'Politics', 'Unity', 'Peacebuilding', 'Peace'] |
The Politics of Bernie Sanders | Democratic Socialist or Social Democrat?
If anyone is paying attention to American politics at this time, it would be difficult to miss the fact that we are in a presidential election year. Donald Trump, currently serving as the 45th President of the United States, is running for his second term against a winnowing field of Democratic hopefuls. Trump, despite the deep loathing of approximately 50% of the electorate, is still a powerful adversary, carrying with him not only the sycophantic support of his own party members (with some notable exceptions), but he is also brandishing one of the most effective weapons available — incumbency in what may become a disaster-recovery year, depending on how he weathers the COVID-19 response. This obviously makes a lot of people uneasy, and makes the Democratic nomination process ever more important. This is perhaps why the 2020 field of Democratic hopefuls was so large, at one time topping 24 candidates, all with the same essential message of “We must defeat Donald Trump.”
By now, in mid-March, 2020, the field has narrowed significantly, with only 2 candidates remaining — Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. At this late hour, it doesn’t seem there is much hope for Sanders to win, as Joe Biden has surged to frontrunner status amid a flurry of late endorsements, earned media coverage, and the undying allegiance of the entire Democratic Party machine. Joe Biden’s unlikely rise, after a thoroughly disappointing showing in the first three states of the primary season, is a direct result of the panic experienced by the establishment at Bernie Sanders’ impressive showing in early states, and the prospect of a brokered convention with the Senator from Vermont topping the ticket. Thus, the DNC, the mainstream media, and establishment democrats across the country scrambled to isolate and demonize Sanders, while elevating the addled-brain Joe Biden to the top of the race, insisting that only Joe Biden could defeat Trump, despite poll after poll showing that Sanders had the best odds in a head-to-head matchup with Trump.
While the establishment’s opposition to Bernie Sanders is manifold, I will focus only on the notion, shared by centrist Democrats and so-called “moderate” Republicans, that America will never elect a self-described “socialist,” and therefore Donald Trump will be assured a second term if Sanders is the Democratic nominee. Talking heads, pundits and politicians attempt, with increasing vitriol and condescension, to paint Sanders as a Marxist, communist, Cuba/Castro-sympathetic revolutionary, seeking to subvert democracy and establish a Union of Soviet Socialist Americans right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. Sanders’ challenge against rampant wealth inequality and the failures and excesses of unfettered capitalism seem to suggest his ultimate goal is to turn America into an authoritarian communist regime, invoking images of bread lines and gulags. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has even opined, live on air, that Bernie will line up the wealthy elites in Central Park — himself included — and execute them publicly.
Of course most rational Democratic and Independent voters have not fallen for this disingenuous critique of Sanders’ politics, as polls consistently showed, just a few short weeks ago, that Bernie Sanders was the strongest candidate to defeat Trump. Moreover, Sanders’ policies — the same policies that the liberal elite casts as socialist giveaways — remain extremely popular, even amongst putative Biden supporters. In nearly every exit poll conducted since Super Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly supported Medicare for All, tuition-free public colleges and universities, and $15/hour minimum wage, despite voting for the only remaining candidate that has denounced those same policies. Joe Biden even went so far as admitting, on national television, that if he was presented a Medicare For All bill as President, passed by both houses of Congress, he would veto it. Why would people still vote for that guy? Electability. The establishment, with the unyielding support of the mainstream media, has convinced people that Bernie Sanders is unelectable, because he’s a socialist.
While it is true that Bernie Sanders has for years referred to himself as a Democratic Socialist, it is important to understand what that means. Socialism is, in the easiest terms possible, a system where the public at large owns and controls the means of production, and there is essentially no right to private property. Such a system seeks to equalize every member of a society, erasing the concepts of class, and seeks (ideally) to provide life’s necessities, by collective control over all of the resources. This is the model that led to the development of communist regimes, such as the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People’s Republic of China. Although socialism is often used as a synonym for communism, there are philosophical and practical differences between these political models, but the subject is far too complex to address in a short article, and ultimately it is irrelevant to my point. What is relevant is that in virtually every instance of socialism and/or communism in modern history, we have observed the emergence of an authoritarian regime that nearly always leads to a totalitarian dictatorship, which rules with violence and oppression. Obviously, this type of system is seen as undesirable to people living in free, democratic nations, and for good reason. In most places where socialism has been implemented, it has almost always led to oppressive regimes, where the power rests in the hands of a ruling party, while the general populace languishes in poverty and fear.
It is this experience that most Americans have, as we have observed communist regimes rise and fall for the past 100 years, and every one has been seen as a failure, and a frightening reminder of the revolutionary ideas of Marx and Lenin. Communist dictators like Mao Tse Tung and Josef Stalin were brutal authoritarians who ordered the slaughter of millions of their own citizens. The image of the 20th century totalitarian police state has left an indelible impression upon the American conscience, and most people are repelled by any notion of adopting socialist policies as a result. However — and this is important — Bernie Sanders is NOT a communist. He’s not even a socialist, regardless of what definition you apply.
Democratic Socialism is technically defined as a socially owned economy with an emphasis on the democratic control of economic institutions. In other words, as it is defined by political scientists, democratic socialism IS socialism, with publicly owned means of production and a democratically controlled economy, which is inherently at odds with capitalism. Bernie Sanders is not a Democratic Socialist either, at least by the accepted academic definition. The policies and beliefs of Bernie Sanders do not map onto the traditional definition of Democratic Socialism, because he is not advocating a public takeover of the means of production. Sanders only advocates for greater social programs and stricter regulation of the American economy, in an effort to reduce rampant wealth and income inequality and ensure that Americans can live in dignity and relative comfort in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world.
Mr. Sanders’ politics are that of modern Social Democracies found around the developed world. In every OECD nation in the world today, healthcare is provided to every citizen as a human right — except in the U.S. Public colleges and universities are free or nearly free to all citizens, except in the U.S. Social programs provide basic necessities to all people, regardless of their wealth or social status, except in the U.S. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and in virtually every other developed nation, social democracy provides a safety net to prevent extreme poverty, and to ensure the needs of the people are met. The political philosophy of these nations is Social Democracy, however it is a common misnomer to refer to such a system as Democratic Socialism. That is problematic, since most Americans recoil at the term socialism, but calling something ‘socialist’ does not make it so. Perhaps we can convince Bernie Sanders to stop using the term Democratic Socialist, but I don’t think it’s necessary. His policies and his philosophy do not equate with socialism, and that should be enough, if people care to pay attention.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this natural adversity to “the radical vision of Bernie Sanders” is that the vast majority of Sanders’ policy proposals are not even radical in America. Most of these programs have been enacted in the U.S. previously. The New Deal brought a plethora of social programs that fit perfectly into the mold of Social Democracy, from social security to medicare, from jobs programs to progressive tax structures, the U.S. used to applaud these programs. In fact, it would be more accurate to refer to Bernie Sanders as an FDR Democrat, since most of his proposals are akin to the New Deal authored by Franklin Roosevelt. The New Deal programs were incredibly popular, and they made the U.S. the envy of the free world between the 1940s and the 1970s.
It wasn’t until conservative Republicans and “moderate” Democrats began scaling back FDR’s programs that the U.S. lost its place of stewardship on the world stage. The New Deal created the first and greatest middle class in all of history — now, 40 years of neo-liberal policies have essentially vanished the middle class. The New Deal led America to be the model for an educated populace, once boasting the highest literacy rates in the world — now, 40 years of neoliberal policies have caused our education system to be among the worst in the developed world. The New Deal’s top marginal tax rates (sometimes as high as 94%) created an economic system that benefited all Americans — today, after 40 years of neoliberal policies, including massive tax cuts to the wealthy and “trickle down” economics, we have the highest level of wealth inequality in history, with millions living in poverty. In other words, the New Deal made this nation the greatest in history, only to be stripped clean by greed and corruption, causing the U.S. to now rank near the bottom in almost every metric of national success. The New Deal policies are the policies that Bernie Sanders is advocating, and they will reinvigorate this great nation to make it once again the greatest nation on Earth. And none of these policies are Socialist — they are Social Democratic, and they have been successful every time they have been implemented, in the U.S. and around the world. So, call Bernie Sanders whatever you want, Democratic Socialist, Social Democrat, or FDR Democrat, the label doesn’t define his politics — his politics define the label. | https://medium.com/the-polis/the-politics-of-bernie-sanders-3893613ff7a2 | ['Jesse Beasley'] | 2020-03-20 05:50:46.631000+00:00 | ['Democratic Socialism', 'Democrats', 'Bernie Sanders'] |
It’s Ok To Like Problematic Media | When I was in film school, I had to make a decision about Birth of a Nation. Not Nate Parker’s project. The three-hour long 1915 silent film.
Like most Americans, I had never watched the film before film school but I knew what it was about. You know what it’s about. The first blockbuster in American cinematic history is about the Ku Klux Klan restoring order to a post-Civil War South overran with uppity blacks. The film’s antagonist is emphasized to be a “crafty mulatto,” suggesting yet another tie with race and intelligence that doesn’t exist. It would be fair to say a black person may not want to see that.
The horror of black people being in charge.
But because I intended to study film and in particular, the history and portrayals of African Americans in American cinema, I decided I needed to watch this film. So I checked out the laserdisc from USC’s cinema library and watched all three hours. D.W. Griffith was one of USC’s first film instructors, so the library kept all his films in its vault.
It deserved all the praise it got.
This is my objective opinion about a film about the Klan. The same Klan that lynched one of my ancestors. The same Klan that terrorized my home state for nearly 150 years. A film that glorifies them deserves to be preserved at all costs.
I was just as shocked as you.
One of the film’s pioneering tactics was the invention of the tracking shot. A move so ingrained in modern filmmaking, it’s hard to imagine shooting anything without it. While costuming was something Griffith’s contemporary Cecil DeMille cared more about, even I was impressed by how well the Klan robes flowed against the horses. The Ku Klux Klan was literal white knights coming to save the day.
The truth is that the past sucked. But how can we justify liking something so problematic?
Easy. Take Gone with the Wind, the book and the movie basic bitches loved before Twilight. It’s a film that advances the Lost Cause myth and it shows slaves content in their servitude. Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta and was less than two generations from the Civil War, so by the time she wrote Gone with the Wind, the Lost Cause myth was firmly planted into the minds of nostalgic white Southerners. But Gone with the Wind has many problems. Even “Saintly Melanie” is a slave owner who didn’t want her son going to school with black children. And there’s a rape. And an attempted rape. Twice. And a Klan rally to protect the virtue of white women.
That moment you realize “Saintly” Melanie knew what “political meeting” meant.
Also, Rhett was in his mid-30s when meets the 16-year-old Scarlett. And Scarlett’s second husband was an even older man waiting for her younger sister. So…you got that, too.
The problem? Gone with the Wind is really, really good! Like, one of the best films in the history of cinema good. It is so good, it stood out in a year considered one of the best years in the history of cinema.
It may take you several times to realize just how good this movie is. Everything from how unappealing Ashley becomes postbellum to the O’Haras practicing Catholicism in secret (The Church was anti-slavery at that point) to the madam Belle Watling’s unrequited love for Rhett to Scarlett’s secret drinking to the horrors of war to the changing fashions from a world of excess to a post-war frugalness to Rhett and Scarlett’s failing marriage because they are both garbage people who deserve each other. Gone with the Wind even sets the stage for other Southern feminist works such as The Color Purple, Steel Magnolias, and Fried Green Tomatoes. And it passes the Bechdel test. Seriously.
Then there’s this scene that plays between Lost Cause thinking and the reality of the Civil War. Well-played!
Is GWTW a war movie, a drama, an epic, a romantic story, a film with a strong female lead? All of the above. Enjoy it guilt-free.
Then you have a movie like Song of the South, a film Disney likes to pretend doesn’t exist. And at first glance, the film doesn’t look that bad. But somewhere between the big house and the shacks the blacks stay in, it hits you. These are newly emancipated slaves that are still serving their former master. And the plantation owners act like it’s business as usual. No amount of singing negroes will get rid of that sinking feeling of racial and class inequality.
Lots to unpack here, including an early snitchin’ session.
Also, the guy that wrote the Br’er Rabbit stories down was white, like some sort of racist Brother Grimm. You could argue he had good intentions when he wrote the stories down, but given the strong influence from older African tales like Anansi the Spider, some black person would have eventually written them down at some point.
So why does Song of the South gets shoved deep into the Disney vault but Gone with the Wind still has fan fiction written about it? It’s because Song of the South was a technological achievement, but it was a mediocre film. The story is as white bread as its little boy protagonist. It took a while for Disney to get the same magic into their live-action films. Not every live-action Disney film can be Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Song of the South and Gone with the Wind take place in the same era, but Song of the South glosses over just how apocalyptic that era was. Also, there is a possibility that some former slaves didn’t leave the plantation because they didn’t know where to go. Where would YOU go if you were suddenly evicted?
Now watch this scene with THAT in mind…
Just how much of our media is problematic?
Nearly all of it. Music is a good example.
A lot of people like to bemoan that R&B is not what it used to be. Whatever decade they feel most nostalgic for, that was the best decade for R&B. Today’s R&B is all about sex. Yesteryear’s R&B was more romantic. Most of us ignore, however, that yesteryear’s R&B had a lot of songs where the man was begging for sex or a long-term relationship. Even when she’s said no. Even when she’s already in a committed relationship. As much as I love Marvin Gaye’s songs, “Sexual Healing” is literally a man begging for sex based on a case of blue balls. There’s even the often forgotten or clipped lyric informing the woman to not procrastinate because “it’s not good to masturbate.” Not according to modern medicine, but okay. Twenty years later, Ne-Yo (another singer I love) will continue that tradition of comparing a need for sex with a medical condition in “Because of You.”
Did you hear it?
In fact, with the exception of diva songs like “I’m Every Woman” or “Respect” (side note: “Respect” used to be a completely different song), some of the more progressive R&B songs involve either a man loving a woman who gets around or finding some escape from an oppressive system, usually by toxic means.
Sometimes it’s both.
Don’t get me wrong, R&B has been consistently awesome since Robert Johnson was hitting on other men’s wives. While there are few songs on the creepy level of “Every Breath You Take,” R&B has its problematic streak.
What about problematic creators?
I’m gonna ignore R. Kelly and Bill Cosby. They are persona non grata, or as we black folks like to say, their cookout privileges have been revoked. Instead, I’m gonna focus on dead people not named Michael Jackson. Let’s discuss R&B legends Sam Cooke and Chuck Berry.
Sam Cooke may have died trying to rape someone. The black community was dealing with a lot of shit at the time, so the story has entered unconfirmed legend status, like whether Robert Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband or not.
Yes, I am proud of myself for two Robert Johnson references.
But back to Sam Cooke. If he did try to rape a woman and physically attack the older black woman who shot him, then he got what he deserved. Even so, Cooke was married with children and died on a motel lobby floor with no pants. A rock star death. But you can still like “A Change Is Gonna Come.” It is a powerful song.
Chuck Berry is another legend, but unlike Sam Cooke, his dirtbag status is confirmed. The man that performed “My Ding-A-Ling” was first accused of having underaged porn. Then by breaking the incredibly racist (but justified in this case) Mann Act with a 14-year-old girl. Then he spied on women in restrooms. Johnny B. Goode was a certified creep. Let’s acknowledge that.
It’s even creepier now.
But enough about musicians. Switching to a field I’m actually an expert in: cinema.
Woody Allen. At one point I did enjoy him. But I don’t anymore. Why?
Woody Allen is a damn good writer and a decent director. But have you actually watched his films? Really watched them?
Allen’s protagonists have sexual relationships with teenagers or significantly younger women here and here and here and maybe even here. That is too much for me. I’d rather watch a Polanski film than see Allen continue to flaunt these relationships onscreen. At least Mia Farrow was treated better in Rosemary’s Baby. Yes, I realize I said being raped by your husband and/or the devil is better treatment than dating an old man with a fetish for girlish women. But he also directed Chinatown…
Just forget what I said. I’m noticing this is a thing. Cancel all of it.
Some of you may feel different and that is okay. But personally, I’m done with Allen. He attempts to normalize his behavior by writing it into scripts. I’ll still admit Crimes and Misdemeanors and Manhattan are great films, but they were made before we knew the real Woody Allen. And he’s still alive writing problematic scripts.
What about stuff kids watch?
You already know the answer to that. The UK is still coming to terms with Jimmy Savile.
ON. LIVE. TELEVISION.
But you are probably thinking of cartoons you have nostalgia for. And while you can definitely discuss if a show like Captain Planet did more harm than good, you are probably thinking of the cartoons you watched as a kid and that your parents also watched.
Ok. Cartoons are terrible. But they used to be really terrible. Disney banned Song in the South and most of its racist wartime propaganda, but have you seen Peter Pan? Lady and the Tramp? Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers? Aladdin? Disney hired Cheech Marin to harass a posh female dog onscreen in Oliver and Company, and it was both racist and sexist. And played for laughs.
It’s ok because she’s a bitch.
Cartoons with more adult themes are even worse because the joke was definitely racist or sexist, or maybe even alluded to subjects we just don’t joke about anymore.
Kids love Cab Calloway!
One subject that we don’t touch anymore are people with intellectual disabilities. For decades, cartoons made the same Of Mice and Men reference.
Does George shoot him in the head later?
And that was the joke. It was funny because Lennie from Of Mice and Men, who had an intellectual disability, accidentally killed things he liked until his most trusted friend George killed him (spoiler alert, I guess. It’s been 80 years). It was never meant to be funny. Steinbeck novels are depressing.
While we can enjoy an old Bugs Bunny film, older South Park shows, or even Tropic Thunder, we have to realize we cannot go back to making fun of the intellectually disabled for no reason. Society has decided that it’s no longer funny.
What about more contemporary forms of media?
How contemporary?
“Sex and the City.”
You mean the fantasy of four busy women always finding time to brunch every week?
“I mean its treatment of gay people, black people, and Muslims.”
Oh! Yeah, that.
Jesus Christ. Shut up!
I believe the creators now realize just how problematic Sex and the City was. Sex is a good example of realizing that society changes faster than we realize. I know plenty of black people and gay people who love the series, but I imagine it’s like watching Gone with the Wind. It’s a well-written show, but ultimately will be treated as a product of the past.
Is there some sort of graph or something that allows me to be ok with all of this?
The bar graph is our own society. And the Overton window that goes with our society.
Also, creators are more savvy and astute than people give us credit for. Take All in the Family. Fans of Archie Bunker like his frankness and conservative values. He’s turned into memes about political correctness. Bunker used racial and ethnic slurs often, but fans view him as “telling it like it is” instead of what he actually was: a joke at their own expense.
The point of Archie Bunker was to show how out of place his values were in the changing world. When audiences didn’t get it, the show pushed the envelope with black neighbors the Jeffersons and an attempted rape of Bunker’s wife Edith. But make no mistake: All in the Family was a liberal show ran by a liberal showrunner aimed at changing the minds of conservative America. Don’t believe me? Meathead is still tweeting liberal thoughts.
Creators realize how instrumental they can be in changing the social landscape, which is why some problematic media was considered progressive at the time. Movies featuring bad girls, like Psycho for example, were actively fighting the Hays Code. We have come a long way from allowing a woman to smoke onscreen to attempting to dismantle rape culture. Same with race or LGBT issues.
Going back to GWTW, there are several analyses done about the Mammy character. Despite her status as a slave, Mammy did not appear to be rattled by the white people around her. Whenever she was reprimanded by them, she’d shoot back. She may have also been the one person Rhett Butler respected other than Belle. This was the defense used by Hattie McDaniel and the filmmakers, that Mammy was no ordinary subservient slave. It’s the Uncle Tom defense. The original one.
And while the Prissy character is painful to watch, there is a small hint that she’s just doing what many slaves actually did: played dumb to get out of work.
The movie is 4 hours long. There are a lot of small moments like this.
Today, we see the strong, sassy black woman as a damaging stereotype. But we had to start from acknowledging that black women were even people. It’ll be a long trip.
I would say the key to enjoying problematic media is to ask if that piece of culture has any other redeeming qualities to it, or even what would have been a redeeming quality at the time. Then enjoy it for the archaic piece that it is.
I’m afraid that my friend who’s black-gay-trans-disabled would judge me for liking this.
Yeah, they probably will.
Do you know how many white people tell me Gone with the Wind is their favorite movie? Even if I agree that it’s one of the best movies of all time, I don’t care to know you favor a slave movie over all other movies in existence. Even if you explain yourself. As a person of color, that’s the world I live in.
Same goes for the thousands of humiliating depictions of LGBTQA or queer-representing characters, from effeminate male villains to psycho lesbians to transpeople who “trick” a non-trans person. I love Rope, Strangers on a Train, and Silence of the Lambs. But I know better than to drag a gay friend into conversations about queer villains and their obsessions with the almost-always straight protagonists.
Yeah. This is an entire filmic study.
I don’t think you really answered whether I should enjoy problematic stuff.
Yes. But on a case-by-case basis. Some media will be objectively better than others. I will defend Gone with the Wind as a product of its time, but I would not argue that it should be shown to a large audience without context. That’s part of being media literate. Cartoon Network did the right thing with old Tom and Jerry cartoons. The network did not censor the cartoons, but it issued a disclaimer that the cartoons reflect outdated racial stereotypes, including the decades’ long cartoon gag of a character’s face being blown into a minstrel character. That’s how it should be done.
Cry “snowflake” all you want, but this is Cartoon Network. Unless you have ever been a black child watching a cartoon when a surprise blackface gag pops up out of nowhere, you can’t say if the disclaimer is “overly sensitive.” | https://sharondaharris.medium.com/its-ok-to-like-problematic-media-d4e2c03aa26c | ['Sharonda Harris-Marshall'] | 2018-12-26 13:19:33.325000+00:00 | ['Sexism', 'Media', 'Art', 'Film Criticism', 'Racism'] |
The Phenomenal, Indomitable Human Spirit | By Wayne Saalman
[Photo by Zac Durant]
BE INSPIRED. BE VERY INSPIRED. So we should tell ourselves every day, for this world of ours is a treasure trove of possibilities. One need only look at what we humans have brought into existence in the realms of the creative arts and scientific innovation, and one is left marveling. Clearly, the fire of desire occupies a very special place among evolution’s prime directives, for otherwise, the intensity of that passion would not be so compelling. After all, if nature cared only that we survive, we humans would be as incapable of self-awareness as the insects, animals, birds of the air and the creatures of the sea.
Humans do more than survive, however. We thrive.
Over the centuries, we have fought against stifling heat and the freezing cold, beasts of the wild, deadly diseases and so much more. We have organized ourselves into tribes and nations, erected great governments, cities and monetary systems, invented innumerable necessities and created fantastic cultural artworks. We have also surrounded ourselves with wondrous luxuries and technological marvels. We have triumphed in too many ways to count.
That’s not all. We have tended, not only to our physical interests, but to our metaphysical intrigues, as well.
Hardcore scientific materialists doubtless believe that far too many of us delude ourselves, however, in terms of what is possible as biological entities born of sheer happenstance. Admittedly, we’re great, they say, but only in a limited manner. Yes, we can dream big in certain imaginative ways. We can seek and achieve worldly fame and fortune. We can grow intellectually and thereby become acclaimed in a specific field such as business, science, politics or the arts. We can even win our ideal lover if we are charming and persistent enough.
What no hardcore scientific materialist will agree to, though, is that humanity possesses an innate ability to achieve spiritual salvation or enlightenment, obtain psychic powers or enjoy survival beyond this physical, material world in which we now find ourselves.
Scientific materialists, of course, believe that the brain generates consciousness, as well as the sense of self we experience as human beings and that with the demise of the body these sensate qualities simply cease.
Yet, from a certain perspective, one might say that if our consciousness and sense of self are “only” the product of a physical organ known as the brain, then the dreams that brain conjures are still pretty spectacular.
According to polls, however, most of us believe that there is, indeed, an actual spiritual dimension and that our essential being is what we call the “soul”. The soul, most say, continues on after the demise of the physical body and subsequently resides in a realm that is both boundless and eternal in nature.
Despite these major differences of ideation and perception, the one thing that can be definitively stated is that even if our sense of self is but an illusory figment of electrochemical processes, it is still phenomenal and remarkable, for even an atheist can live a robust, moral, creative and fulfilling life, despite having nothing but oblivion on his or her personal horizon.
This implies that, at the very least, the human spirit is an immaterial, evanescent “something” possessed of a numinous, transcendental quality of some nature. It is a quality that is inherent to our essential being, even if that essence is limited and given to a sense of boundlessness only within the sphere of the human imagination.
While brain activity may be the source of the self-reflexive mind, the possibility exists that the psycho-spiritual complex might not only be real, but sourced in a supraluminal plane; a domain where energy and information actually move faster than the speed of light as we know it in this universe of ours. After all, neuroscientists admit, straight out, that they cannot prove that the brain gives rise to consciousness and a few have even argued that the brain may indeed be more like a radio receiver, mediating waves of energy and information external to it, rather than being the actual generator of thought and perception.
Some cutting edge thinkers have even gone so far as to propose that the one thing that may be genuinely supraluminal within our cosmos — and us — is thought itself.
Thought, of course, is an activity of the mind and if the mind is indeed sourced in a supraluminal plane, then the possibility exists that the mind may not be bound by the laws of physics as we know them. Perhaps, this can account for such “impossible” phenomena as telepathy, remote viewing, psychokinesis, clairvoyance, out of body experiences, and other events of “high strangeness”.
One of the most esteemed psychoanalysts of all time, Carl Jung, postulated that there may indeed be a supraluminal dimension and that dimension may be the source of the archetypal forces that shape psychic reality. Archetypes are a recurrent constellation of motifs within each of us that drive us toward a definitive destiny.
What archetypes are believed to do is propel us into acts of heroism, transform us into lovers, mothers, fathers, teachers, political or religious leaders, soldiers, police officers, merchants, artists, dramatic actors and comedic tricksters, among other roles (some of a dark nature, unfortunately, such as dictators, murderers, thieves and gangsters, for example).
In short, these recurrent forces are what motivate the human spirit.
Ideally, of course, that motivation is for noble ends, not for greedy nor evil ones.
Perhaps, what drives each of us to continually reach for all that we desire in this life (both the possible and seemingly impossible), is down to the particular archetypes that dominate within each of us. We must remember, however: there are karmic implications to all that we do. As we sow, we reap.
One thing is certain: the more creative we are with our personal energetic constellation of psychic dominants, the more powerful they become.
So, yes, be inspired! Be very inspired (rather than “afraid, very afraid”), I say, and create in a positive manner as you desire with boundless passion. We can do that for the duration of this known lifetime or go further and choose to create as if there is not only tomorrow, but all of eternity in which to enrich ourselves and everyone else in this amazing world of ours.
In brief, we humans are blessed in too many ways to count and that is down to one thing: the phenomenal, indomitable spirit within.
[Photo by Julia Caesar] | https://waynesaalman.medium.com/the-phenomenal-indomitable-human-spirit-c72feaad5fac | ['Wayne Saalman'] | 2019-06-01 08:11:18.196000+00:00 | ['Consciousness', 'Spirituality', 'Self Improvement', 'Culture', 'Psychology'] |
Sounds of Change | When there is brief silence,
we are all but still.
Our will, immune to human havoc and riot,
catches the shrill of lightning before it quiets,
the rattling of change pulsing through our voices,
bearing witness to the seismic shifts awaiting us.
An ancient yet familiar sound erupts,
from a subtle growl, unrecognizable at first,
amplifying swiftly into awe-inspiring thunder.
Feeling into our vocal cords, humming strongly in unity,
birthing strength to endure this mighty earthquake.
Awakening uncharted paths buried in the echo of our brains,
new vibrations fill in the holes of our history’s creaks and whispers.
Through the noise we ask questions, cutting away the static so innate,
our choices no longer fall on deaf ears, instead multiply and reverberate.
A perfect pause before that stirring beneath history’s shaky crust,
soft and slow for a seeming eternity. Then, the long awaited crescendo.
Roaring, an explosion so sudden and screaming,
Dawning sweet music conducted by the voices of infinity.
Speak loud, speak strong.
Our biggest mistake is to not speak at all.
Changes have begun, can you hear the sound?
Choosing not to shout and sing is simply to succumb to silence.
The music won’t wait, what we’ve created cannot be undone. | https://medium.com/tales-of-being/sounds-of-change-18a9ec8410db | [] | 2020-07-05 11:24:47.068000+00:00 | ['Poetry On Medium', 'Creative Writing', 'Poetry', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'Resistance'] |
Watching the Girls Go Bi | Watching the Girls Go Bi
And bye bye as well with this lady!
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels
I’ve often wondered what exactly it is about female escorts that makes an inordinate percentage of them bisexual. Are they super horny and just want to get down with everybody? Or is it all the competition they encounter working at houses that makes them resolve the conflict by simply coupling up with another girl who has one particular asset she herself wishes were hers?
Whatever…whether a large percentage of escorts are bisexual is virtually beyond debate. After almost 18 years of dealing with the girls, I can say unequivocally that a) I’ve met a statistically significant sampling and b)…that many do have sex with women as well as men.
Years ago, I was fooling around with a girl who told me in no uncertain terms that she liked women as well as men. In fact, what she really said was she seeks men out for relationships…and women for love! It’s women she falls in love with!
Maybe 10 days ago during a phone conversation, the girl informed me that she had to cut off the call as she was being rude to her new “roommate” who had just moved in. The roommate is a girl she once worked with in Brooklyn. I got the idea that maybe there was more to this deal than roommateship. And sure enough, that was the last time I spoke with her. I can guess what happened.
I told this little anecdote to one of her colleagues and the girl responded with some confusion “you were going out with so-and-so? You know she’s gay, right?” I feel complimented that at least for a hot minute, this girl had swung to the other side with me. But alas, her true colors came shining through. What are ya gonna do?
I relate this today because recently I met somebody’s “husband,” who intellectualized the difference between having semen versus “pussy juice” on her face and in her mouth. For her, PJ was preferable. I did not inquire as to her sexual orientation. I didn’t need to! | https://medium.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-escorts-but/watching-the-girls-go-bi-f068906c7c8b | ['William', 'Dollar Bill'] | 2020-12-28 16:20:41.164000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Memoir', 'Besexuality', 'Culture', 'Sex'] |
How to Configure AWS Route 53 | by Serguey Martinez, Staff Engineer
Photo by Procreator UX Design Studio
If your architecture is based on microservices it’s a really good idea to buy a domain in Route 53 and make the connections with API gateway so that you can enjoy URL’s like:
dev.mydomain.com/docs dev.mydomain.com/microservice-basePath dev.mydomain.com/another-microservice-basePath prod.mydomain.com/docs prod.mydomain.com/microservice-basePath prod.mydomain.com/another-microservice-basePath
In this quick tutorial, I’m going to show you how to configure AWS Route 53. The first step is to buy a domain:
Next, go to AWS certificate manager and request certificates for the subdomains that you will need. Heads up that AWS requires you to have TLS encryption.
So, choose the email owner to verify the certs:
Then, wait for them to get issued…
Once you have the certificates issued let’s go to API gateway -> custom domains -> create .
The domain name here should be something like dev.mydomain.com or api.example.com depending on the certificates you requested.
Choose the appropriate certificate and create the custom domain:
You can map now which API rest will handle which basePath.
In the example below if we try to access the URL https://dev.mydomain.com/docs it will delegate the request to swagger-dev API:
In this case, swagger-dev has the following structure. Remember that if you are mapping X basepath in this case docs , then you don't need to create another X basepath in the API where the requests are being delegated.
The last step consists of creating a record in Route 53 hosted zones. Whenever you buy a domain a hosted zone is created for you automatically. You can see your name servers (NS) and start of authority (SOA). On very rare occasions you have to touch those configurations — be careful not to do it now.
Go to Route53 -> hosted zones -> your domain -> create record -> simple routing . As the record name you should put the name of the subdomain: api , dev , etc.
In route traffic to , choose the API gateway alias you created in custom domains for a specific service:
Summary
We just created the recommended flow that will support a microservices development with Route 53 and API gateway. Due to the limit of cloud formation resources set to 200 we can split our services into microservices with dedicated business logic. | https://medium.com/tribalscale/how-to-configure-aws-route-53-c8fa99ce66fb | ['Serguey Arellano Martínez'] | 2020-12-02 21:34:07.907000+00:00 | ['Aws Route53', 'AWS', 'How To', 'Microservices', 'Tutorial'] |
Project Lighthouse — Part 1: P-sensitive k-anonymity | Introduction
In June, the Airbnb Anti-Discrimination product team announced Project Lighthouse, an initiative with the goal to measure and combat discrimination when booking or hosting on Airbnb. We launched this project in partnership with Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization with over 7 million members, as well as with guidance from other leading civil rights and privacy rights organizations.
At the core of Project Lighthouse is a novel system, being used in the United States, to measure discrepancies in people’s experiences on the Airbnb platform that could be a result of discrimination and bias. This system is built to measure these discrepancies using perceived race data that is not linked to individual Airbnb accounts. By conducting this analysis, we can understand the state of our platform with respect to inclusion, and begin to develop and evaluate interventions that lead to more equitable outcomes on Airbnb’s platform.
We focus on measuring inequities with respect to perceived race (instead of self-identified race) because discrimination is often a result of one person’s perception of another. Additionally, the data collected for Project Lighthouse will be handled in a way that protects people’s privacy and will be used exclusively for anti-discrimination work.
The goal of this series of blog posts is to provide a high-level overview of the system we have developed. Our work so far has been focused on two objectives:
Design a privacy-centric process that utilizes anonymized perceived race data. Ensure that the resultant data can be used to accurately measure potential experience gaps in the product.
In this post, we will focus on how we can use data that satisfies p-sensitive k-anonymity to calculate acceptance rates by guest perceived race.
Our use of p-sensitive k-anonymity is just one part of the privacy-by-design approach we’ve taken to protect our users’ privacy. Other privacy features of the program include user notice and choice — our community can opt out of participating. This project has also benefited from the amazing work done by the Airbnb Security Engineering team to keep all users’ data secure.
The second post in this series shows how we verify that this data can lead to accurate estimates of the impact of product interventions.
These blog posts are intended to serve as an introduction to the methodology underlying Project Lighthouse, which is described in greater detail in our technical paper. By publicly sharing our methodology, we hope to help other technology companies systematically measure and reduce discrimination on their platforms.
Setup
We designed Project Lighthouse to help us understand potential experience gaps in the product — that is, where one demographic group may experience the product differently from another. For example, we could use Project Lighthouse to investigate potential differences in reservation acceptance rates experienced by perceived demographic groups.
Throughout the rest of this post, we’ll work through an example using made-up data of how we calculate acceptance rate by perceived race while preserving user privacy. We’ll first present a methodology that is simple but not privacy-preserving as a counterfactual; then we’ll present our actual methodology, which takes steps to anonymize data.
We’ll demonstrate both methodologies on six fictional Airbnb users:
Michael
Stephen
Gerard
Nora
Suzanne
Aoife
Each fictional user has provided Airbnb with a profile photo. Each user has also attempted to make several bookings on Airbnb; each attempted booking has either been accepted or rejected. Michael, Stephen, and Aoife each have 6 accepted and 2 rejected bookings; Nora and Suzanne each have 4 accepted and 2 rejected bookings; and Gerard has 2 accepted and 2 rejected bookings.
Figure 1. A fictional set of six Airbnb users.
Each of the boxes in Figure 1 contains information that we may have about an Airbnb guest: a user-submitted profile photo and first name, the number of times a booking they’ve attempted has been accepted, and the number of times a booking they’ve attempted has been rejected.
Simple approach
If we simply tasked a person to label each guest with their perceived race based on their first name and profile photo, then we could easily calculate the exact acceptance rate for each perceived race.
Figure 2. A fictional set of six Airbnb users with associated perceived race labels.
For example, in Figure 2, the acceptance rate for guests perceived as “X” is 67% and the acceptance rate for guests perceived as “Y” is 75%. Therefore, the acceptance rate gap between groups X and Y is 8%.
The downside of this methodology is that Airbnb would have a database that contains a 1:1 mapping between each user and their perceived race. Unfortunately, such a database could cause significant harm to our users if a misactor (someone who intentionally or unintentionally uses the system in a way for which it is not designed) got access to it, as it could allow a misactor to target our users based on their perceived race. Thus, we would like to avoid having this 1:1 mapping, and instead store only the minimum amount of data required to compute the acceptance rate gap.
Privacy-centric approach
To achieve this, we embedded privacy into the design of Project Lighthouse. Specifically, a core component of Project Lighthouse is the preservation of a privacy property called p-sensitive k-anonymity.
We chose p-sensitive k-anonymity primarily to mitigate the risk of a type of data breach called certain attribute disclosure. Certain attribute disclosure occurs if a misactor is able to obtain users’ perceived races at scale.
Our desire to prevent this type of event narrowed our focus in our system design process to properties such as k-anonymity, instead of others such as ε-differential privacy. (ε-differential privacy is best suited to prevent membership disclosure, which means that a misactor has determined whether a user is present in a dataset, and probabilistic disclosure, which means that a misactor has increased their knowledge of users’ attributes through an attack, but not to the point of being certain.)
To explain p-sensitive k-anonymity, let’s examine the following table, which represents the same set of fictional users as in Figure 2.
Figure 3. A transposed version of Figure 2, with first names and profile photos removed.
Removing user IDs — as has been done in Figure 3 — would not be sufficient to protect user privacy. A guest could still have a unique number of accepted bookings and rejected bookings, resulting in a misactor being able to discern their race. For example, if a misactor got access to this table, knew that Gerard was present in the table, and knew that Gerard had been accepted 2 times and rejected 2 times, then they’d know that Gerard’s perceived race is “X”, because the only row where “Number of Accepts” = 2 and “Number of Rejects” = 2 has “Perceived race” = “X”.
Next, let’s k-anonymize our dataset:
Figure 4. A k-anonymized version of Figure 3. The underlined cells are where changes were made in order for the dataset to satisfy k-anonymity.
K-anonymity means that there are at least k instances of each unique pair of (number_of_accepts, number_of_rejects) in our dataset. Specifically, our dataset is now 3-anonymous (so k = 3) because we can confirm that each unique pair of accepts/rejects — (6, 2) and (3.33, 2) — appear at least 3 times in the dataset (in rows 1, 2, 6 and rows 3, 4, 5, respectively).
The text in three cells in rows 3, 4, and 5 in Figure 4 are underlined to show exactly which numbers were changed in order for the dataset to satisfy 3-anonymity. There are many ways we could have modified the dataset in order to achieve k-anonymity; in this case, we averaged the original contents of the underlined cells — 2, 4, 4 — to get 3.33.
Finally, let’s p-sensitize our dataset:
Figure 5. A p-sensitized version of Figure 4. The underlined cell is where a change was made in order for the dataset to satisfy p-sensitive k-anonymity.
P-sensitive k-anonymity means that, in addition to satisfying k-anonymity, each unique pair of (number_of_accepts, number_of_rejects) has at least p distinct perceived race values. Specifically, our dataset is 2-sensitive 3-anonymous because each unique pair of accepts/rejects has at least 3 rows (k = 3) and at least 2 distinct perceived race values (p = 2): (6, 2) is associated with 2 perceived race values (“X” and “Y”), and (3.33, 2) is associated 2 perceived race values (“X” and “Y”).
The text in one cell in Figure 5 is underlined to show exactly which perceived race label was changed in order for the dataset to be 2-sensitive. There are many ways we could have modified the dataset in order to achieve p-sensitive k-anonymity; in this case, we changed the original content of the underlined cell from “X” to “Y”.
Our dataset is now p-sensitive k-anonymous:
Figure 6. The final p-sensitive k-anonymous dataset.
As a result of this transformation, we have substantially reduced the risk of exposing users’ perceived races to bad actors. Unfortunately, this data anonymization process has a downside: it may have jeopardized our ability to accurately calculate the acceptance rate for each perceived race. Our example demonstrates this risk: in the anonymized dataset, the acceptance rate for group X is 68% and the acceptance rate for group Y is 72%, as compared to acceptance rates of 67% and 75%, respectively, before anonymization occurred.
To explore this risk, we designed a set of simulations to understand how taking steps to anonymize data would affect our ability to measure the acceptance rate gap. With these simulations, we verified that our approach can still lead to accurate estimates of acceptance rates for guests of different perceived races. Our next blog post covers these simulations — including our methodology, results, and conclusions — in greater detail.
Project Lighthouse
The privacy property of p-sensitive k-anonymity is a core component of Project Lighthouse. Another core component of Project Lighthouse is that, to associate perceived race labels with the p-sensitive k-anonymous data, we are partnering with an external research partner. This partner provides us perceived race labels based on human judgments rather than a machine learning model.
We made this decision because we believe the best way to determine perceived race information is using human perception and not machine learning. The use of algorithms, facial recognition technology, or machine learning for something as sensitive as race would require careful consideration and input from, among others, civil rights and privacy organizations. Were we to consider doing so, we would seek their guidance and support in addition to making sure our users are informed.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we described how we analyze anonymized data to measure Airbnb acceptance rate gaps that can be attributed to a guest’s perceived race. We juxtaposed our own methodology against a simpler one to demonstrate the privacy benefits of our methodology. We hope that the system within Project Lighthouse — described in greater detail in our publicly-available technical paper — can help other technology companies systematically measure and reduce discrimination on their platforms.
Project Lighthouse represents the collaborative work of many people both within and external to Airbnb. The Airbnb anti-discrimination product team is: Sid Basu, Ruthie Berman, Adam Bloomston, John Campbell, Anne Diaz, Nanako Era, Benjamin Evans, Sukhada Palkar, and Skyler Wharton. Within Airbnb, Project Lighthouse also represents the work of Crystal Brown, Zach Dunn, Janaye Ingram, Brendon Lynch, Margaret Richardson, Ann Staggs, Laura Rillos, and Julie Wenah. Finally, we’re grateful to the many people who reviewed our technical paper, on which this blog post is based.
We know that bias, discrimination, and systemic inequities are complex and longstanding problems. Addressing them requires continued attention, adaptation, and collaboration. We encourage our peers in the technology industry to join us in this fight, and to help push us all collectively towards a world where everyone can belong.
Want to learn more? Part 2 of the Project Lighthouse series is available here.
For more information about Project Lighthouse, visit: https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/a-new-way-were-fighting-discrimination-on-airbnb-201 | https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/project-lighthouse-part-1-p-sensitive-k-anonymity-c6ee7d79c4f9 | ['Skyler Wharton'] | 2020-09-09 00:45:02.600000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Discrimination', 'Security', 'Privacy', 'Data'] |
Easy steps to share an external USB drive on your Raspberry Pi | This guide is tested on all versions of Raspberry Pi available.
In order to share a drive you need to perform the following steps:
Connect the drive and find its UUID and Type Create a folder to mount the drive Change ownership of the new folder Mount the drive to the folder Test the mounted drive Install Samba server Change Samba configuration to add a new shared folder Accessing the shared drive Change Raspberry Pi configuration to auto mount the drive when Raspberry Pi restarts
Connect the drive and find its UUID and Type
Insert the drive on the USB Port on your Raspberry Pi
Connecting the external drive to Raspberry Pi
Go to Raspberry Pi console and type this command
blkid
Output of the command will be something like this
pi@hostname:~ $ blkid /dev/mmcblk0p1: LABEL_FATBOOT="boot" LABEL="boot" UUID="<some-uuid>" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="<some-part-id>" /dev/mmcblk0p2: LABEL="rootfs" UUID="<some-uuid>" TYPE="<TYPE>" PARTUUID="<some-part-id>" /dev/sda1: LABEL_FATBOOT="EFI" LABEL="EFI" UUID="<some-uuid>" TYPE="<TYPE>" PARTLABEL="EFI System Partition" PARTUUID="<some-part-id>" <Drive Path>: LABEL_FATBOOT="<External Drive Label>" LABEL="<External Drive Label>" UUID="<USB-DRIVE-ID>" TYPE="<TYPE>" PARTUUID="<USB-DRIVE-PART-ID>"
Note the part in bold which will be the the drive details. This means that the drive is successfully connected and accessible. Copy the following details from the output as they be used in next steps (Note: the values I have mentioned is for representation purpose only and will be different for you)
Drive path: <Drive Path>
UUID: <USB-DRIVE-ID>
Type: <Type> (Most commonly it is vfat)
Create a folder to mount the drive
Create a folder by running this command
sudo mkdir /media/usbpendrv
In the command, part in the bold is the folder name. You can choose any name you want.
Change ownership of the new folder
Change ownership of the newly created folder. This step is necessary as without that the contents of the drive will not be accessible to the pi user.
Run this command
sudo chown -R pi:pi /media/usbpendrv
Note pi:pi in the command. Here first pi is the user name and second pi is the group name.
Mount the drive to the folder
Run this command to mount the drive to the created folder
sudo mount <Drive Path> /media/usbpendrv -o uid=pi,gid=pi
Path in bold is the drive path copied from step 1
Test the mounted drive
Go to the folder where the drive is mounted now and test if you are able to access and write to it. You can use the following commands to test. These commands create and delete a folder named “testfolder”.
cd /media/usbpendrv mkdir testfolder cd testfolder cd /media/usbpendrv rm -rf testfolder
Now, we have already tested the mounted drive. It it time to create a shared folder on Raspberry Pi and access it on the network.
Install Samba server (Skip this step if running RetroPi as it already has it pre-installed)
Samba server is a tool to share a folder on the network. It is one of the oldest and greatest tool to do the job. Also, it installs the script to add a system service during its installation to auto run itself when Raspberry Pi restarts.
Before installing, update Raspberry Pi with these commands
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Refer Raspberry Pi site for more advanced commands
After update is done, install Samba server with this command
sudo apt-get install samba samba-common-bin
Change Samba configuration to add a new shared folder
To add the configuration, take backup of existing samba configuration (/etc/samba/smb.conf)
sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.old
Open samba configuration
sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
Add the following to the samba configuration, save and exit from it
[shared]
comment = Shared with all
path = /media/usbpendrv
browseable = yes
writable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777
force user = pi
directory mask = 0777
force user = pi
If in the external drive, you want to share only a specific folder rather than whole drive then instead of giving the mount point of the shared drive /media/usbpendrv use the folder path instead /media/usbpendrv/<path>
Restart the samba server
sudo systemctl restart smbd
This step completes sharing the drive on the network, so let us test it.
Accessing the shared drive
On the computer where you want to access the shared network drive, use the following steps:
On Mac:
Open Finder
Go to Go → Connect to server…
Enter the Name/IP Address of the Raspberry Pi on the network using the below syntax.
if the name of the Raspberry Pi is “raspberrypi” then path will be smb://raspberrypi if the IP Address is “192.168.0.32” then path will be smb://192.168.0.32
Entering path for the Raspberry Pi
Press “Connect”
Choose “Guest”
Selecting user credentials
Press “Connect”
In the next screen, you will see “shared” as selected
Selecting shared drive folder
Press “OK” and you will see a drive mounted in the finder
Mounted shared folder
On Windows
Open up File Explorer and then right-click on This PC (in the left pane). From the resulting context menu, select “ Add a network location ”
” A new wizard will open, one that will walk you through the process of creating a shortcut for a new network location within File Explorer.
Enter the path in the following syntax //<IP Address>/shared
Follow next steps adding name for the share and you are good to access the shared drive.
On Linux
To access the shared folder you need the following command
smbclient //<IP Address>/shared
or
mount -t cifs //<IP Address>/shared <mount point>
Change Raspberry Pi configuration to auto mount the drive
The last steps is to change the Raspberry Pi configuration to auto mount the external drive every time Raspberry Pi restarts. To do so, follow the following steps:
Open /etc/fstab in a editor
sudo nano /etc/fstab
Add the following configuration, save and exit
UUID=<UUID from Step1> /media/usbpendrv <Type from Step1> auto,nofail,noatime,users,rw,uid=pi,gid=pi 0 0
Note the following:
Enter UUID and Type copied from Step 1 Ensure that the text is added in a single line. The text shown above is wrapped by the page but is in single line.
Restart Raspberry Pi
sudo reboot
After Raspberry Pi is rebooted, you will have the shared folder accessible across network and ready to use. | https://medium.com/@perminder2k/easy-steps-to-share-an-external-usb-drive-on-your-raspberry-pi-d1fec3123562 | ['Perminder Singh'] | 2020-12-27 21:10:39.768000+00:00 | ['Raspberry Pi', 'External Hard Drive', 'Home Projects', 'Samba Server', 'Fun'] |
Check my data science portfolio …still on the making but getting ready …. https://github.com/panditadata/Another-WorldBank-With-A-Little-Bit-Of-Spice/ | panditadata/Another-WorldBank-With-A-Little-Bit-Of-Spice
Coursera Project to calculate basic statistics of a World Bank Dataset The indicator selected to do all the stats… | https://medium.com/@panditadata/check-my-data-science-portfolio-still-on-the-making-but-getting-ready-18cdc7c1b69c | ['Panditadata Panditadata'] | 2021-01-31 19:01:51.993000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Data Science Portfolio', 'Statistics'] |
Don’t ruin your website with a badly designed logo | Your logo might be restricting your website’s performance!
Your logo might be restricting your website’s performance!
If you’ve invested in an awesome website, don’t ruin it by sticking with an outdated logo that isn’t crisp or tailored to your new site. In the past, we’ve noticed some clients try to avoid the need for a new logo because they think it isn’t necessary.
That’s why we’re here to give you a gentle nudge — and explain why your unprofessional logo could be killing the web design process and your business profits.
Seven reasons you need a professional logo
A logo may seem like a small part of your business, but it is important for so many reasons. Here are seven reasons why every business requires a professionally designed logo:
Logos can be used to grab attention Logos are often a part of your first impression Logos are a core component of your branding The best logos are memorable and recognisable (there are even board games where you have to guess the logo!) A well-designed logo will separate you from the competition Consumers prefer consistency and your logo can provide that across your platforms and marketing materials And of course, it is simply expected by consumers
What makes a professional logo?
We’ve covered why you should have a professional logo, but what makes a logo professional? What is the difference between having a go yourself and paying a professional to create your logo for you?
Aside from convenience, we can provide two further answers.
The first thing that makes a logo professional is in the graphic design. The best graphic designers, using sophisticated software, can make logos appear sharper. The logo you receive will be crisp and easily adjusted in size to suit your different platforms and business stationery.
The other aspect of a professional logo is not seen — but it is felt. Have you ever noticed that the biggest companies in the world have really simplistic logos? You probably feel you could have sketched them out yourself. And that could be true, but what you don’t see is the discussions, marketing research and even testing that goes into those simple logos.
That’s why WEBPRO logo services combine design and marketing professionals to create logos that can improve your bottom line.
Bad logos can restrict website design!
Here’s the biggie…
You might not realise it, but web designers build websites on central aspects of the existing company brand. And a logo is one aspect that gets a lot of attention.
When our WEBPRO experts start thinking about a client’s new website, we take a look at their logo and make it central to the design process. The logo is likely to determine the website’s colour scheme and even the fonts and images that we choose. It may even influence the layout of the site and the different shapes that are present throughout.
This means if you stick with an old, outdated logo, you are restricting the creative capabilities of the web designer or developer (unless you don’t mind your logo sticking out like a sore thumb). Consequently, logos have a direct impact on the aesthetics, functionality and performance of a website.
What else should you expect from professional logo design?
Professional logo services aren’t just about good graphic designers and marketing experts. You should also receive a personalised service where your creative agency tries to get to know more about your business and your logo vision. If they’re not asking questions about your business and expectations then be concerned.
Don’t settle for one concept either, ask for at least three initial concepts before receiving final submissions. The logo design process should be as much about talking as it is about doing.
WEBPRO offers expert logo design
If you want personalised logo design services from a combination of graphic design experts and marketers, look no further than WEBPRO. We have designed and created some exceptional logos that are looking fantastic on our clients’ websites. Get in touch to discuss your’s!
Recap: Keeping a badly designed logo on a new website is like getting into great shape but then wearing your old baggy clothes. Don’t do it! Your old logo could be restricting the web design process and causing you to limit your website’s success, which is why professional logo services should typically be considered at the same time as web design services.
P.S. Using a creative agency to design your logo and your website from under one roof could achieve even better results. | https://medium.com/@webpro-london/dont-ruin-your-website-with-a-badly-designed-logo-8c2a1c468237 | [] | 2021-06-08 15:04:17.959000+00:00 | ['Branding', 'Graphic Design', 'Web Pro', 'Website Design', 'Logo Design'] |
How We Test Client Web Projects With Minimum Effort For High Value | A Problem of Balance
When working at an agency, it can be really hard to maintain balance; on one hand, you want to deliver features, and on the other, quality and adhering to best practices.
In an ideal world, you want to push new features to production every sprint, if not more often. However, the more complexity involved, the higher the risk of new features breaking other parts of your application.
You could hire a dedicated person to set up a quality checklist, maintain that list, and check off its boxes after every new release. While there is some merit to manual testing, it’s hardly a scaleable solution, and at best should be used in addition to automated tests.
This post describes how we, at CLEVER°FRANKE, approach testing while building interactive, web applications for our clients.
Context: most of our client projects are in active development at our studio for three to five months before we finish it and start a new project.
Automated Testing
I’m not going to write about the benefits of writing tests for your application. There are enough resources on the internet that explain the why. What’s more interesting is the practical approach of actually implementing automatic testing in real-life projects.
Unit testing React components
You could argue that a React component is a unit, and I’d agree to some extent, seeing as props go in and a representation of the updates DOM comes out. In that sense, let’s discuss how we unit test our React components.
We tried to do this vigorously at first using a combination of shallow rendering tests and full-rendering tests through Enzyme. We found while it’s not impossible to write valuable tests with Enzyme, our experience writing tests was just not so great. Instead of quickly writing a test and going on with our jobs, it felt like an eternal fight Jest and Enzyme all the time.
We made the decision to stop writing unit tests for React components. Not because we don’t value good tests, but because the effort of writing those tests was working against us.
Instead, we focused on writing unit tests for smaller, helper functions that are used throughout the application.
A good example of this is our custom number formatting helper used throughout the application. This is an isolated piece of functionality where we can assert a given input (a number) always returns an expected output (a string).
Unit tests for a custom helper function which takes a number as input and return a human readable string for the User Interface
Snapshot testing
We use the snapshot testing feature, introduced by Jest in 2016, quite extensively, especially for dumb components, where we find it a match made in heaven.
When testing (UI) React components, what we care about is that when we feed-in specific props, our components return the expected DOM representations. Whenever the output of a component changes unexpectedly, that’s an indication of a bug, or we need to update our snapshots.
At first, we considered snapshot tests a ‘good enough’ replacement for writing tedious unit tests with Enzyme. However, several months later, we came to the conclusion that snapshot tests are in no way a suitable replacement for actual unit testing at all.
One particular case in which we found this valuable, and the only reason we still use snapshot tests today, is how it shows the direct impact of changes we introduce with styled-components. You can immediately see if changing the style of a component has unintended side-effects (or expected side-effects) on other components.
This is a powerful tool when composing styled components and using theme providers.
Snapshot test of a custom React component extending React-Routers Link component with new functionality.
Discovering react-testing-library
A few months ago we discovered a library called react-testing-library. Now, after trying it out in some projects, we came back on our decision to stop writing unit tests. We like it for a few reasons, but one of the biggest ones is convenience. Compared to Enzyme the API surface is quite small, and you only need to learn two or three methods to actually write valuable tests.
The library is built on the idea that a developer should test components in roughly the same way a real user would, without having to worry about implementation details. This ensures that you don’t need to rewrite your tests as soon as implementation details of React change. Better still, the API of react-testing-library makes writing these kind of unit tests relatively straightforward!
Getting started writing unit tests with this library is relatively easy and straightforward. It feels like a fresh start in our codebase and we recommend trying it out in your next projects!
End-to-End testing
Just testing the units or components alone does not cover everything. An application consists of many components working together. This is where naive state management or side-effects in your application can result in nasty bugs. Of course, this is exactly the issue we faced after a huge, refactoring sprint. We were certain the components in isolation were still working as expected thanks to the unit and snapshot tests. We were however, unsure if the application as a whole still worked as expected. This is where end-to-end testing shines.
We tried solving this in an automated fashion before. We even added one E2E solution to our now deprecated, open-sourced starter package for Universal React Applications. Unfortunately, we found none of those solutions really helpful in the end. They were either based on outdated browsers, lacking documentation, or simply too hard to configure and use. We’re looking for a solution that requires minimal effort from our developers to create really solid tests.
Thus, we reverted back to manual testing every single time. We’d prepare a new release of a product, deploy that to a QA environment, and invite people internally to break it. While we did squash a lot of bugs, this is an error-prone, repetitive, and not a scaleable solution.
After working on the recent refactoring round, we decided we needed a solution to solve this once and for all. What we want is an easy to use, documented, stable solution to test our complete application.
Eventually, we found Cypress.
Painless end-to-end testing
Cypress is a next generation front end testing tool built for the modern web. We address the key pain points developers and QA engineers face when testing modern applications.
Things that used to be hard using other solutions, are now really easy using Cypress. Stubbing external resources, waiting for data to load, providing sane timeouts for tests to fail, debugging, Cypress takes care of almost everything.
Here’s a screencast of cypress running basic tests in a GUI on the District Department of Transportation website, one of our client projects.
Cypress running tests on one of our client projects
The GUI is an amazing tool. It shows you an overview of available test scripts, it allows you to pause and resume testing, inspect the application you’re testing with a web inspector, and it even features time travel. Want to go back in time to see how your DOM looked in the middle of your test just before throwing an error? No problem!
Of course, a GUI is nice but E2E testing needs to happen on your continuous integration service as well. Cypress comes with a CLI mode, suitable for running tests in your CI/CD environment. Implementing it is relatively easy thanks to the configuration examples. | https://medium.com/clever-franke/how-we-test-client-web-projects-with-minimum-effort-for-high-value-f855198c99f3 | ['Jan Hoogeveen'] | 2019-01-16 16:04:18.758000+00:00 | ['Testing', 'Web', 'React', 'JavaScript', 'Data Visualization'] |
My Writing Is Not Flowing | No two days are the same when you are a writer. No, really.
Sometimes you wake up refreshed and motivated to submit three articles to three different publications, but you progressively lose energy as each finger touches the keyboard.
Other times you wake up feeling drained, unhappy and unmotivated, yet your words flow beautifully.
You can’t anticipate which scenario is most likely to take place. An overwhelming feeling of helplesness takes over in both situations, as you’re left wondering what is the best course of action to take.
I’ve found that I can go a few days without writing creative content. I don’t beat myself up when it happens. However, when it comes to Know Thyself, I have no mercy on myself. I beat myself up each time I fail to come up with new content, new ideas and new opportunities to support my contributors. I am so fiercely passionate about the work I put into the publication and I hold myself at such high standards, that each time I go through an unmotivated phase I feel like I’m letting my writers down.
As you can tell, it’s not the healthiest mentality. My loved ones suggest I take a break, but it’s not a break I long for. Getting away from Medium for a while would be a temporary solution to an issue that has far deeper and thicker roots than is noticeable at a first glimpse.
When I first began writing on this platform, I did it to vent my emotions. That was the only reason. I needed to allow myself to be vulnerable, raw, real. The more I shared, the less baggage I carried around. I don’t know when or why I’ve stopped doing it. I assume it’s partly because the publication took over and “managing it succesfully” became my number one priority.
I think I’ve stopped writing for myself. And I think I need to start doing it again…
May sound silly, but it’s similar to motherhood: your children’s wellbeing comes first and everything else follows. Mothers know how tricky it is to maintain balance. They also know they need to make time for themselves. Does that mean they always do? No, not really. But every now and then, life forces them to pause.
Life is forcing me to do the same. The only way I can regain my motivation is to begin venting again. Maybe a little less structure will help as well. Actually, writing this article already made a big difference.
If you are going through a similar phrase, admit it to yourself.
Write about it. Sing about it. Dance about it.
Anything that helps you vent it. | https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/my-writing-is-not-flowing-d225b87f2f89 | ['𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊.'] | 2020-09-26 13:24:07.068000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Short Story', 'Inspiration', 'Lovethyself', 'Energy'] |
Ethically leverage people’s natural mental loopholes | Did you read the words in the triangle correctly?
Read it again, see if your brain might have played a trick on you…
Did you skip over the extra “THE”? (Be honest, most people do).
If you noticed it the first time, congratulations — you’re in the minority.
But if you didn’t notice it, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you can’t read.
That’s just how our brains are wired.
This is just one example of the many ways our brains can be tricked.
We have a lot of loopholes in the way we think.
You Can Take Advantage Of These Loopholes To Get Whatever You Want.
What if I told you that you could ethically leverage people’s natural mental loopholes to write better copy and get what you want in life?
Let me know in comments if you’re interested, will then share more insights on this. | https://medium.com/@digitalbigwings-connect/ethically-leverage-peoples-natural-mental-loopholes-e605328784d1 | ['Digital Big Wings'] | 2020-10-19 22:21:51.571000+00:00 | ['Mind Tricks', 'Mind', 'Mindfulness', 'Copywriting', 'Copywriting Tips'] |
Lasting words | I need someone that challenges me and doesn’t blindly support me. Because that is the only way we each can grow. People say I’m difficult, to where I will most likely fight at every turn. Because with everything, my passion can’t help but show.
I know that I once laughed at the thought of you being president. And in no way was it a lack in believing what you’re capable of. Rather trust how you will impact and leave the world, can only be equal to a President. Just in a different smaller white house.
Obama, Ali, Oprah, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson. I have a fascination with game-changer and in dough time. I too plan to be one I am a person most devoted to my wife, a creative art form that puts out to the world and continues the legacy that pre-dates parents and all I look to achieve as a benchmark for my children. Unforeseen circumstances are what I have had to deal with personally and professionally in my life. The death of a best friend, a loss of job, and doubt if I would ever amount to what my full potential is? Problems we can all relate to and coin as “shit happens”. But know that I’m gone. Looking back I wouldn’t change a thing.
The opportunities I was afforded in life. Were already made to happen, assuming I took the traditional path. I glad to say I didn’t rather instead took what allowed me to grow and become the best I can be. While I won’t be around to friend to most father, son, brother, and husband to the ones I love. In the end, it never was about me, when it came to the gifts I gave, the moment spent with every person in my life. The gifts of all the smiles and open hearts are what I hope and pray that I leave filled with love.
May the memory of me never be forgotten if only when looking back at the most embarrassing time. To my kids, know that you all don’t have to be the persons I want you to be. Become the best people you each want to be. Just do walk a path of faith awareness and much gratitude. I think your mom would agree to that. My love, you all are only equal to hers. A woman, what was there for me matter what it was. I was the happiest when I was around her. Even if she often had the biggest smile. She was the biggest reason why I was able to make the most of my life. So goodbye, farewell, Peterson out. | https://medium.com/@peterson-blanc/lasting-words-cddc11dad8c | ['Peterson Blanc'] | 2020-12-21 00:49:36.364000+00:00 | ['Words Matter', 'Remakes', 'Words', 'Legacy', 'Destiny'] |
Chalkboard Thoughts — Dec 11, 2020 — Episode 2 — The Vaccine! | I’ve been observing people’s enthusiasm for the vaccine, celebrating Margaret Keenan and William Shakespeare (real name) for being the first people in the world to receive the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine. As a consequence there’s this massive optimism of being able to get back to normal, whatever that might look like, whilst many nations including us in the UK, are still witnessing very high number of infections and only last night (13th March), I heard about Germany closing down, basically for Christmas and the New Year to keep infections in check. Germany was held up as a model nation for having controlled the virus, but unfortunately they also have succumbed to this dreadful pandemic. | https://medium.com/stayingaliveuk/chalkboard-thoughts-dec-11-2020-episode-2-the-vaccine-c804fd1f5574 | ['Michael De Groot'] | 2020-12-14 16:35:08.369000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Shareyourstory', 'Stayingaliveuk', 'Covid 19', 'Chalkboardthoughts'] |
Lane Detection And Lane Departure-The Next Gen Technology | Lane Detection And Lane Departure-The Next Gen Technology
Introduction
Lane detection is one significant method in the visualization based driver support structure and capable to be used for vehicle routing, cross power, crash avoidance, or lane departure warning system. Different road condition that create this difficulty more complex include dissimilar variety of lanes (straight or rounded), occlusions cause by obstacle, fog, darkness, illumination change (like nighttime), and so on. Therefore it is the method to locate lane in the picture and is a significant enable or attractive skill in different automobile application, include lane departure recognition and warning, travel control, cross-control, and self-directed driving. A lane departure warning system(LDWS) is a technology designed for warning a driver when the vehicle begins to depart from its lane. An effective lane detection system will navigate autonomously or assist driver in all types of lanes like straight and curved, white and yellow, single and double, solid and broken and pavement or highway lane boundaries. The system should be able to detect lane even under noisy conditions such as fog, shadow, and stain.
Lane Detection
According to wikipedia,
“A lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles, to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts.”
As I mentioned earlier, lane detection is a critical component of self-driving cars and autonomous vehicles. It is one of the most important research topics for driving scene understanding. Once lane positions are obtained, the vehicle will know where to go and avoid the risk of running into other lanes or getting off the road. This can prevent the driver/car system from drifting off the driving lane.
LANE DETECTION TECHNIQUES
Hough Line Transformation
Hough Transform is a technique used for extracting features that can be used in image analysis and digital image processing. Traditional Hough Transform is basically used for identifying lines in the images. There was a difficulty in detecting straight lines, circles etc. in automated analysis of digital images. The edge detector has been used in pre-processing stage for obtaining points on image that lie on desired curve but due to some problem in image, some of the pixels were missing on desired curve.
Hough Transform
Edge Detection
This method is based on the idea of identifying points in an image at which image brightness changes sharply. Edge is defined as organized set of curved line segments. This set consists of points at which brightness of image changes sharply. Edge Detection is a tool used in image processing for feature detection and extraction.
However it is not always possible that ideal edges can be obtained from real life images of modern complexity. An edge detection algorithm called canny edge detector is used to detect edges in an image. This method uses multiple stage algorithm and aims in discovering the optimal edge detection.
Canny Edge Detector
Code for Canny Edge Detection
img = cv.imread(‘image.jpg’,0)
edges = cv.Canny(img,100,200)
images = cv2.imshow(“result”,edges)
Types of Lanes
1. Traffic Lane : Lane for the vehicles moving from one destination to another. 2.Express Lane : Used by faster moving traffic and has less access to exits/off ramps
3.Reversible Lane: To match the peak flow direction of vehicles is changed. Periods of high traffic flow are accommodated by this lane.
4. Auxiliary lane : Used for separating entering, exiting or turning traffic from the through traffic.
In some areas, for non-moving vehicles lane adjacent to curb is reserved
Lane Departure Warning System consists of
1. Systems which warn the driver if the vehicle is leaving its lane with visual, audible, and/or vibration warnings (lane departure warning, LDW)
2. Systems which warn the driver and, with no response, automatically take steps to ensure the vehicle stays in its lane (lane keeping assist)
3. Systems which assist in oversteering, keeping the car centered in the lane, and asking the driver to take over in challenging situations.
Benefits
1. Gives assistance and details to pedestrians and drivers
2. Uniformity of the markings is an important factor in minimizing confusion and uncertainty about their meaning
3. Allows vehicular drivers to drive safely
Limitations
1. Lane departure warning systems and lane keeping systems rely on visible lane markings. They typically cannot decipher faded, missing, or incorrect lane markings. Markings covered in snow or old lane markings left visible can hinder the ability of the system.
2. UNECE regulation 130 does not require LDWS of heavy vehicles to work under 60 km/h or to work in a curve with a radius lower than 250 meters.
3. Lane departure warning systems also face many legal limitations regarding autonomous driving.
4. As stated previously, this system requires constant driver input. Vehicles with this technology are limited to assisting the driver, not driving the vehicle. Lane departure warning systems biggest limitation is that it is not in complete control of the vehicle. The system does not take into account other vehicles on the road and cannot replace good driving habits. | https://medium.com/@nikhil108/lane-detection-and-lane-departure-the-next-gen-technology-38c4cb73c25c | ['Nikhil Saste'] | 2020-12-19 12:31:26.288000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Image Processing', 'Computer Vision', 'Machine Learning'] |
Home Camera Security System Nashville TN | 877.740.1411 | Are you interested in purchasing a home security system? Nashville is home to some of the best home security systems in the nation and you should consider having one installed in your home if you are concerned about your safety. If you are not sure whether you want to go with a wireless system or not, you can take a look at our comprehensive Nashville home security systems guide. In this article we will take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages that go along with having a security system installed in your home.
Photo by PawełCzerwiński on Unsplash
Secure Your Home.
“A home security system is basically a complete surveillance system meant to secure several points of entry such as windows, doors, etc., in a building or house. A security monitoring system can be either monitored or un-monitored. In case of monitored security, the signal sent by the alarm is received by a central monitoring station and a signal is sent to the control panel of the building where the sensors are located and a message is immediately sent to the monitoring station if the sensor is triggered.
The advantages of having a home security system are many. For one, it allows you to sleep better knowing that your home and family are protected against intruders and thieves. This will also give you peace of mind because you will know that your home and family are secure from harm. There is also the added benefit that a monitored security system helps to reduce the cost of insurance for homeowners. Insurance companies consider a home security system as an effective form of protection, because it significantly reduces the risks of burglary, vandalism, smoke damage, fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. The central monitoring station, which is responsible for sending signals to the control panel or receiving signals from other sensors on the property also cuts down on the costs incurred for maintenance and other emergency services.
A wide range of home security systems offer different features and benefits. The most common home security systems today are the type that are made up of closed circuit video cameras and door sensors. Closed circuit video cameras allow a monitor to be placed near the entrance to the house and can be remotely controlled via the computer or cell phone. Door sensors are installed at random places inside the home and trigger the alarm when they detect movement such as the opening of a door or window. The monitoring system then activates the closed circuit camera and sends a signal to the control panel if any action is detected.
Most modern security systems have motion detection features. Motion detection is an important feature in finding the best home security systems since it alerts the monitoring company of an illegal entry. The camera will usually have a night vision setting so that it can see in pitch dark areas such as alleyways and store buildings. If a burglar attempts to enter the home undetected, the system will send a signal either way to the control panel or to the local authorities.
Most home alarm systems today come with two-way voice capabilities, which means they can communicate with a live person on the other end by simply speaking into a microphone. These microphones can be placed nearly anywhere in the house and can trigger the siren and notify the monitoring company if any door or window is opened while the system is activated. Other options available include sensors for window and garage doors that can detect whether or not the door is opened and will alert the security company. Most sensors will alert the monitoring center if a door or window is opened while the system is activated.
Wireless sensors are also available that do not require any external power source and have long range. These home security systems work great in areas where a home alarm system might not be effective such as an apartment complex or a shopping mall. A public wi-fi network is available that allows for a person to leave their security information on a public server and allow a monitoring center to have full access to all the information. This type of security is much more expensive than a traditional home alarm system, since there is no need to have a backup generator that would power up the entire home security system when it is deactivated.”
Reliable Home Security Systems with the Latest Technology.
“Homeowners in Georgia are now able to take advantage of cutting edge technology to provide their home with the most reliable home security system that money can buy. Thanks to the Internet, a homeowner in Georgia no longer has to travel hundreds of miles away to a security monitoring center to have his home secure. Thanks to satellite television, a home security system for Georgia is as close as a phone call away. Thanks to the latest technology, home security systems for Georgia are now able to monitor the twenty-four hours a day and provide the most reliable protection available for homeowners.
Satellite TV gives a home security system for Georgia the ability to watch what is happening in real time from any location in the world. A home security system for Georgia that includes this feature will alert the homeowner when doors or windows are opened while it is being monitored. This makes it possible for the home to be secured before it is opened and while the doors or windows are open. With the latest technology, even a security monitoring center will be unable to steal the family’s possessions in an emergency without being detected.
It is important for every homeowner to keep his or her family and home safe. Home security systems for Georgia have helped make this possible. When a family is burglarized, there is no way to protect the house and the people inside of it without the latest technology. A home security system provides the ultimate defense against intruders. For the safety and protection of the home and family, all Georgia residents should invest in a home security system today. The peace of mind that it provides means a homeowner doesn’t have to worry about what happens when he or she is gone for the day.”
Fire and Smoke Monitoring.
“A home security system, consisting of a series of detectors, cameras, alarms, and a control panel, is designed to provide high-quality protection for your home against fire and smoke emergencies. A monitoring system which includes a plurality of detectors usually situated at different remote points, each detector receiving a trigger switch that is normally open and that simply opens when smoke or any other unusual condition, like fire, is detected. Fire and smoke alarms, installed in the house and at least one additional fire alarm positioned in the house, will alert and awaken the family members within the home. The homeowner is alerted immediately by an audible siren and via a monitor placed by the system provider, so that he/she is immediately able to respond to the emergency.
Fire and smoke detectors, normally fixed at the entrance of the house, are provided by either circuit breakers installed at various doors and windows or by a separate system, which must be manually activated. If you are opting for a system that offers continuous monitoring, where your home is constantly monitored, you may have to switch the detector switches on and off from time to time. It is advisable to ensure that there are no obstructions in the path of the detector switch, such as curtains, furniture, drapes etc before putting it in action. For effective monitoring, the front and most visible door and window openings need to be covered. This means that, for normal domestic installation, the front door and windows need to be left open, as well as the usual places, namely the bedrooms, the dining room, living room and the kitchen.
Fire and smoke detection systems use different types of detectors, namely, the infrared (infrared) detectors, photoelectric detector, and carbon monoxide detector. In this context, it is crucial to understand how these different detectors work so that appropriate installations can be made. Infrared detectors detect heat or changes in temperature, whereas photoelectric and carbon monoxide detectors use electrical resistance to change in temperature. Fire and smoke detection systems use both types of detectors to locate any signs of fire and smoke. As a result, one needs to understand the fundamentals behind fire and smoke detection and monitoring in order to decide upon an appropriate system for a specific building or establishment.”
Home security systems comparison.
“Home security systems comparison is a big part of buying a home system. Most people spend so much time comparing security companies that they forget about the most important things when it comes to a home security system. One of these most important things to compare is what kind of system they have to offer. Wireless Home Security Systems Comparison is vital because there are many different types of home security systems available on the market today. If you don’t take the time to compare them and get an idea of what you are looking for then you may never buy a system for your home if you don’t know what you are looking for.
In this article we have broken the systems down into their most basic parts, features and how each one compares to the others. Overall, wireless home security systems comparison provides your protection with 24-hour professional-level monitoring and several advanced security features which make home protection easy and effective. There are three main types of wireless home security systems which include keychain alarms, wireless camera alarms and wireless intruder alarms. These are the more basic units which are great if you are only looking for basic protection. The keychain and wireless camera alarms on the other hand are great if you need extra protection around the house or if you want to monitor your outside perimeter at all times. In the last category we have intruder alarms, which are probably the most popular choice amongst home owners today.
When you do your home security systems comparison, make sure to look at the company’s reputation and track record. Also consider how long they have been in business and how many people they service. This will help you determine how reliable they are and whether or not you can trust them with your valuables. It’s also a good idea to check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any complaints filed against the company in the past. Keep these above factors in mind when comparing home security solutions and you will end up with the best system that suits your needs.”
How much do home security systems cost.
“One of the most common questions that homeowners ask when they are considering a home security system is, “”How much do home security systems cost?”” Unfortunately, there is not one easy answer to this question. In general, you will end up spending more on your home security system if you choose a company that provides a good warranty and good after sales support. The reason for this is that in the rare event that your home security system malfunctions or breaks down, you will be far happier if you know that you have good customer service representatives available to assist you in the unlikely event that your home security system breaks down.
Another area that you will need to take into consideration when you are figuring out how much a home security system cost is the actual hardware that you will need to install in your home. This may include components such as door and window alarms, motion detection lights, a video surveillance camera, access control systems and several other components. These items can add quite a bit to the total cost of a home security system. There are some ways that you can keep the cost of your home security system low and one of these is by choosing a home security system with a built in battery backup.
When you consider how much do home security systems cost, you will also want to take a close look at how long the warranty lasts. It is very tempting to go with the lowest quote that you get online or in the phone book, but you may end up regretting your decision later. A lot of companies will offer you an installation warranty with your home security system, but it is best to opt for one that is longer than just a few months. You should be able to find home security systems cost estimates on the Internet easily.
When you are asking yourself how much do home security systems cost, it may also be wise to factor in the cost of hiring a professional alarm company to install your home security system. Alarm company employees are not just amateurs who happen to know how to install home security systems. They are trained professionals who know how to protect your home and family from a number of threats. If you want the best protection possible, you will likely want to hire an alarm system company to come out to your house at least once per month and service it while you aren’t at home. You should be able to get an estimate of how much the alarm system will cost you before you commit to anything, so be sure to ask questions. Most alarm companies will work with you after you have made your initial purchase.
How much do home security systems cost will be different if you live in a high crime area or if your home is in an area known for break-ins. Another thing to consider is how much you plan on protecting your home with a security system. If you only need protection from burglars or other invaders, you should probably not invest in one of these expensive devices. However, if you want to secure your home against home invasion or a variety of other risks, these devices can be very useful and must be included in your overall home security plan.
As mentioned at the beginning, home security systems are designed to protect you and your family from a variety of different dangers. The costs involved with getting a home security system installed will depend on how extensive your coverage area is and what features you choose. Be sure to get an estimate from a number of different companies before choosing a home security system, because they can vary greatly in price. Getting a home security system installed by a good company can also help you save money in the long run by having it regularly inspected and maintained to make sure you’re getting the most for your money.”
Wireless home security cameras systems reviews.
“Wireless home security systems reviews can help homeowners make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing the right home security system. While most people are content with the seemingly seamless performance of wireless home security systems, there are those who would like to be able to take wireless security systems outside of their homes for added protection. Outdoor security systems are becoming increasingly popular because they provide homeowners with a sense of peace and security that just can’t be bought. When it comes to finding the right home security system for one’s home, however, it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
For instance, while it might make perfect sense to install a wireless home security system in a multi-purpose room like the kitchen, it might actually make more sense to install a wireless home security system in the family room. This is because there will likely be more electronics and equipment in this room than in a bedroom or basement, so there will be a greater temptation to overlook a potential security issue. It’s also a great idea to try and install your home security system in places like the garage, shed, attic, workshop, yard maintenance trailer or even near the pool if you happen to have one. These types of installations are also less likely to be reached up due to weather conditions. For these reasons, it’s important to read reviews on home security systems before committing to one company.
Wireless home security systems reviews should be full of information about the product itself and how it works. Reading through customer testimonials can help homeowners understand what features they should expect to have on their new home security system. A good product will come with a user manual that is easy to understand and that includes important safety tips and guidelines.
Wireless home security systems reviews should also explain how the wireless components of the system work. Some companies use infrared technology, while others use radio frequency. Knowing the difference can help homeowners decide which type is best for them.
Wireless home security systems often need to be connected to electricity in order to work. As an owner, it’s important to know whether or not the equipment you purchase will work well in areas where there’s no electricity. If you live in a remote area where there’s no electricity, consider installing a security system that uses cell phone towers. These products are actually quite affordable. Most people who own one never have a problem installing them themselves. Just make sure that the model you choose has at least two-ways to communicate with the police and emergency medical services.
It’s also important to note whether or not the home security system comes with free lifetime technical support. If so, you’ll be able to find support personnel online anytime. The key is to buy a home security system that you’ll be comfortable using. There are lots of options out there, so take your time to look through all of them before making a final decision.”
Call Now- 877.740.1411 | https://medium.com/@homesecuritycamera8777401411/home-camera-security-system-nashville-tn-877-740-1411-ce3ed9eca916 | ['Home Security Camera'] | 2021-02-23 07:38:00.892000+00:00 | ['Home Monitoring', 'Home Security Systems', 'Arlo Camera Setup', 'Security Camera'] |
Welcome to Our Mission | Let’s get right down to it.
You feel stuck in life, unsure where to go or what to do next. Maybe you’re flat out afraid.
Enjoying a full and abundant life can feel elusive, but it doesn’t have to. And it doesn’t have to be a mystery.
The media today is full of trendy fads. Financial freedom, diet and exercise, and relationship advice to name a few, but we’re more unhappy and more unhealthy as a society today than ever before.
On top of that, the world is sick emotionally and spiritually.
It’s time to put an end to that.
Welcome to our mission, and I hope you find here just what you need to take your life to the next level.
The mission of Change Your Mind Change Your Life is to offer you short and uplifting articles to help you shift your thought, so you can see real change in your life and health.
The answers you’ve been looking for are inside you. We’re here to help you discover them.
Never forget — progress is always happening, and it’s always possible. If anyone has told you otherwise, stop listening to them! It is never too late to heal your life.
Best Regards,
Dr. Christine Bradstreet 🌴
| https://medium.com/change-your-mind/what-exactly-do-i-do-76a1a1372ce5 | ['Dr. Christine Bradstreet'] | 2020-05-25 14:06:10.798000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Healing', 'Advice', 'Inspiration'] |
$ORO: THE FUTURE OF GOLD BACKED TOKENS DoYouKnow ❓ The concept of digital gold first entered the… | $ORO: THE FUTURE OF GOLD BACKED TOKENS
DoYouKnow ❓
The concept of digital gold first entered the markets in 1999 when Doug Jackson found E-Gold, a company that sold "Digital Gold" to its customers. It was successful( amassed millions of users) but was largely unsustainable due to constant security attacks by hackers and inability to keep up with the growing traffic. It eventually crumbled to stiff competition.
OpenDefi powered by Oropocket is a platform built on blockchain technology that let’s you invest in real world assets like Gold,silver etc. These assets are 100% liquid ,insured,audited everyday and stored in reputable vaults around the globe. Its native/Gold backed tokens is $ORO.
With #OpenDefi you can:
1. Invest in Gold and Silver
2. Stake your assets and earn a yield
3. Spend your assets in real time with asset backed debit cards
4. Acquire quick loans against your assets.
#OpenDefi also presents you with advantages like:
• Zero Price Slippage
• Instantaneous transfer
• No hidden fees/ low transaction fees
• Low barrier entry
Do you wish to own physical gold today hassle free?
Download the Oropocket app today and start trading.
Invest wisely. | https://medium.com/@obiorahkamsiyo/oro-the-future-of-gold-backed-tokens-doyouknow-the-concept-of-digital-gold-first-entered-the-5d13fd727c6e | ['Obiorah Kamsiyo'] | 2020-12-24 20:34:40.565000+00:00 | ['Oropocket', 'Defi', 'Gold', 'Blockchain', 'Token Sale'] |
The sublime art of gifting | Pic: Amina Filkins, Pexels
Sometime in October, dear friend Honey, asked me if I would be interested in experiencing a workshop on using tech tools to bolster my own workshops, online. Only a few days earlier, her boss had shared her idea of offering this workshop as a gift to a teacher, in the year of the pandemic. Having never received a gift like this, I was wary at first. What is the catch, I wondered? What do you need from me? I am very grateful for this opportunity, but there is nothing like a free lunch. Or is there?
Honey reassured me that there were no expectations. Not that I minded. I would have readily done whatever was required, because I was desperate to learn how to use online tech tools. This was the first time I was getting a gift from a stranger! But I had nothing to fear. Through the seven sessions of the workshop on ‘Accelerated Learning’, I experienced a sense of joy and freedom that is hard to explain.
The thing is they treated me just as they treated anyone else — paid or not! And in that I learnt a very valuable lesson. The power of gifting lies when there is no hint that it is a gift. It is done very normally and life goes on. There are no expectations. Just the expectation that the course will be of use to me in my work.
Thank you Melanie, Shilpa & Honey of ‘The Learning Gym’ for this incredible gift. Yes, the workshop experience was an amazing gift in itself, but more importantly I learnt from you - the art of gifting. | https://medium.com/@flyinghigh/the-sublime-art-of-gifting-276ab3a3e5d3 | ['Rajesh P I'] | 2020-12-26 05:46:20.682000+00:00 | ['Compassion', 'Learning', 'Joy', 'Life Lessons', 'Gifting'] |
Tis’ the time to make some real connections! | They say, while on social media focus on how to be social and not how to do social!
Well, the statement above clearly describes today’s scenario.
In this day and age, we all are actually running in a race that isn’t about who reaches the first but who reaches the first and put-it all up on social media to brag about or make enough likes out of that post.
Isn’t it?
Nothing seems organic now!
The pasta you eat to the movie you see doesn’t seem to be organic these days but pushed upon the social media to just cast a flickering impact and not a lasting one.
Why is it so? Have you ever paid any heed to all of this that is happening with you and around you?
If you have not, let us list down the factors that make your social media experience just reel and not real at all!
The social media platforms wherein you like to showcase yourself, your thoughts don’t provide enough value to you or to your life! These platforms do not help you to actually network and bond over as you are constantly in the race of getting more likes, followerships, comments etc. The REAL you, which you don’t present online because of the notion,” log kya kahenge” always remains hidden.
And many such factors which cause you to just make connections on these platforms but not the meaningful ones!
Well, what’s the solution then? How do you start with some organic networking and meaningful connections at your hand?
Sell Your Frustration!
Yes, at Sell Your Frustration, our main aim is to foster connections that are borne not out of compulsion, comparison or peer pressure but from the heart!
You read it right! Don’t believe us?
Then, give the following points a read :
On SYF, you can be real YOU. Yes, you can speak your heart out, share your thoughts, feelings, frustration and not feel judged. How come? Because at SYF, we have a community of like-minded people looking forward to helping each other by any means! Get a wider perspective by having a discussion with the SYF community members over your problem. Whether you are dealing with a breakup or you hate your current job or you just want to vent your feelings, SYF is the place for you! Where you shall an opportunity to not just expand likes and followership but your thought process. SYF gives the most vulnerable part of the society, STUDENTS, an amazing platform to share what’s going on their mind and the stress without having qualms of getting judged by their parents, friends or relatives. SYF believes in the concept of being there when someone needs aid! After all, together we all achieve more! SYF proudly promotes conversation about mental health, therefore, invites everybody to unload their tensions on this social media platform and get support from fellow SYF members.
Therefore inviting you all to join SYF where you don’t need to worry about the comment you posted or about the stress you shared. Looking forward to meeting you all at SYF where your lives aren’t chained by the likes, loves, comments and followers of your own but sheer kindness! | https://medium.com/@sellyourfrustration/tis-the-time-to-make-some-real-connections-8303bee78628 | [] | 2019-12-02 14:57:10.142000+00:00 | ['Help', 'Mindfulness', 'Social Media', 'Share', 'Reality'] |
Stroke of Midnight | Before, we would sit side by side,
drinking cups of steaming tea,
watching jays and finches flit
about the feeder dad built,
and you’d tell me how the drab
muddy days of spring could be rescued
by one red robin’s return.
And this morning, I found myself praying
for one bright breast on the lawn,
but your face remains still,
untouched by the bird’s bright antics
that had once lit your smile. | https://psiloveyou.xyz/stroke-of-midnight-bd97eeadcab | ['Roy Reichle'] | 2021-01-06 16:53:54.689000+00:00 | ['Stroke', 'Poetry Sunday', 'Poetry', 'Mothers', 'Aging'] |
Freelancer | That weekend was one of the best memories I have of Freelancer. For three days we played practically non-stop, exploring the galaxy, taking missions together and eventually attempting the most lucrative and dangerous trade route in the game. We were not prepared for the journey and were frequently defeated by pirates along the trade route, but working together to try and achieve that “big score” made us all feel a little bit like Han Solo. Three days of Freelancer with no sleep and little more than pizza and fizzy drink had left us exhausted, but these are the types of memories that remain with you forever.
Freelancer has given me countless hours of enjoyment over the years. The open-world, although simplistic by today’s standards, was exactly what I was looking for in 2003. Not only that, but the game was supported by a vibrant and active modding community for many years after its release (some of whom are still active today).
Freelancer’s aesthetic was very much science-fantasy rather than science-fiction. A popular style in many space-sim games at the time (and a style that continues today) was to replicate the famous NASA images that depicted the non-visible spectrums of our own Universe. Games like Freelancer took that approach to the extreme, and the result was that every region of the game’s Sirius Sector had a unique feel. Bretonia, modelled after Victorian Era Great Britain, was painted in endless shades of brown, resembling the thick smog of the Industrial Revolution. Meanwhile, Kusari space was modelled on Japanese culture, and this influence was reflected in the design of their ships and space stations. Rheinland reflected the industrialist, utilitarian German Empire, while Liberty featured an approachable modern Western aesthetic, to appeal to Freelancer’s key market. In hindsight, this stereotyping was perhaps somewhat simplistic, and even a little insensitive (unintentionally, I’m sure). However, setting that aside, it was this sharp delineation of style that gave the game a lot of its flavour. No matter who you were, every player could find a place in Freelancer that felt like “home”. | https://fat-studios.medium.com/freelancer-d80350c80e81 | ['Gavin Annand'] | 2019-10-11 23:51:35.991000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Games', 'Video Game Journalism', 'Videogames', 'Games History'] |
Start Your Day With Intention By Answering these 4 Questions In The Shower | Start Your Day With Intention By Answering these 4 Questions In The Shower
A simply powerful practice
Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash
How do I want to feel today?
How do I want to be today?
What do I want to receive today?
What do I want to give today?
Intention
What I know for sure is intention is everything.
How do I want to feel? Radiant. Vibrant. Strong. Free. All of this rolled into one loving woman.
Being not Doing
How do I want to be? Loving, kind, gentle, respectful to myself and others.
That means taking a pause before I raise my voice.
That means saying a blessing in the car before I begin the morning commute.
I will be a container of light for the kids in my classroom.
The give and take of life
More often than not, what I give is really what I want to receive.
What drives me crazy is the same thing I want, on some level.
My go-to gift is to have a conversation without any agenda. No fixing, no judging, no ingratiating. And yes, I would love to be able to just have a conversation and be heard.
What I crave is what I give.
What I crave is the same as everyone else. I want to be heard, noticed, and to know that I matter and make a difference.
Be Specific
I am very specific — I mean it is 4 questions in the course of one shower. We are talking 15 minutes tops! Unless it is the day I deep condition my hair then it might be 20.
I want to feel vibrant as I answer kids questions and extend the understanding I also want for myself.
or
I want to feel radiant as I walk in the sunshine.
Wait, that was only 2 questions answered. And that’s ok because Grace is a wonderful thing to give and receive everyday. The offering of grace and love is always a great start. | https://medium.com/mindful/start-your-day-with-intention-by-answering-these-4-questions-in-the-shower-6105b8bf557 | ['Renee Tarantowski'] | 2019-12-31 01:13:45.078000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Meditation', 'Spirituality', 'Productivity', 'Love'] |
How Can I Get Money Without Borrowing Money Or Working For It? | Believe it or not, our homes are full of items we have bought over the years, and from time to time, we look for ways to get money, and we ask ourselves the question: “how can I get the money”? We often need extra money for important reasons, like to pay an unexpected bill, or purchase a new washing machine, or have the car repaired or maybe just for a vacation.
In this article, I will show you ways to raise money without working or borrowing money from the bank. We will be resourceful and creative in our approach to “how I can get money” today.
How Can I Get Money By Thinking Outside The Box
Like I said at the beginning, we all have homes full of unused items, so let’s start by having a good rummage through our house. That means emptying everything out of the garage, in the loft, or the wardrobes, under the beds, and in the shed.
Once we have emptied these areas, we need to decide what we want to keep, what we want to sell, and what we should throw out. Remember, one man’s rubbish is another man’s gold.
Below are some suggestions of where you could sell the unwanted items that you no longer need or want.
How can I get money from eBay?
The eBay auction site is a good place to start as you can place your items in an auction for between three and ten days. You will, however, have to accept the money that you get when the auction finishes. Alternatively, you could decide to sell your item in an auction with a reserve price or a ‘buy it now’ option, which lets you decide what the minimum amount you would accept for your item.
You can also buy some items from eBay using eBay coupons and resell them on eBay and make huge bucks.
How Can I Get Money From A Car Boot?
It’s really simple as you can sell anything as long as it fits in your car. Car boots sales generally cost $5 for the day, and all you need is a folding pasting table, a flask of hot coffee, and a warm coat. You can sell anything from an old screwdriver to a present that “aunt Maggie” gave you or those wooly socks your mother bought you made from some poor goat in Africa.
But you should be careful because people buying at car boots sales want to buy your items for nothing. So be aware and don’t let the buyers bully you into a giveaway sale.
If you want a good price for your items, you can try selling your items on eBay or placing it on Craigs List within your area.
More Of “How can I get money” Ideas
Sell unwanted jewelry for scrap for cash
Sell items in good condition to a pawn shop for cash or just pawn it to buy back another day. But be aware that this is an expensive option.
Sell your old unused mobile phones online through an online comparison website to get the best price
You can even sell your old and unwanted CD’s, DVD’s and old LP records online.
Sell any hardback books on Amazon for cash
Sell old car batteries to your local scrap yard for cash
Some shops will buy any clean unwanted clothes, belts, handbags, blankets, etc. and they pay you by the weight normally around 60 pence a kilo.
They are full of items we have bought over the years, and yet for some unknown reason, we continue to hoard these unwanted and unused items that we no longer need or want. It’s easy to keep putting things away in a place that we don’t need to look at very often. Today most families use their garage as an extra store room and not a garage to park their cars in.
These tips will surely help you make money without borrowing money or working for it. You can also make money by trying shopping with coupon codes and reselling the items | https://medium.com/@couponlimit/how-can-i-get-money-without-borrowing-money-or-working-for-it-8bca744bbcd3 | ['Couponlimit - Unlimited Discounts'] | 2020-07-21 02:59:13.451000+00:00 | ['Saving Money', 'Saving Tips', 'Save Money', 'Tips'] |
Identifying Outliers | 2. Using Moving Average Mean and Standard Deviation as the Boundary
Like in the first method, we need to get the boundary first and apply the boundary to the dataset. This time, a moving average mean and standard deviation (std) will be employed. To calculate the mean and std, a 21-day window is chosen, as that represents the average trading day in a month. You can choose any days, but the sensitivity will vary.
To get the mean and std, it is easy with one line of code in Pandas:
d1[['mean', 'std']] = d1['simple_rtn'].rolling(window=21) \
.agg(['mean', 'std'])
There are too many NaNs . The next step is to remove them:
d1.dropna(inplace=True)
Let’s draw a graph and find out where the boundary lays:
What happens if I use three times the std instead?
Hmm… a bit of an overshoot. Let’s change it to two times the std:
That is about right! Now is the time to look for those outliers: | https://medium.com/better-programming/identifying-outliers-part-two-4c00b2523362 | ['Ke Gui'] | 2020-12-06 02:27:34.072000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'AI', 'Data Science', 'Programming'] |
We need to talk about data governance (and introduce Alvin) | We need to talk about data governance (and introduce Alvin) Alvin Follow Jan 8 · 6 min read
It’s easy to understand why data driven companies are embracing self-serve analytics; when individuals have autonomous access to insights, better decisions can be made faster — theoretically at least. It falls on BI teams to act as the mediators between raw data and the insights generated from it. From our conversations with these teams, this comes with some pretty significant challenges.
Organizations are now packed full of demanding data ‘customers’, who have come to rely on data to do their jobs. Keeping them happy whilst balancing other considerations such as privacy and security can prove tricky, particularly in the face of tightening privacy regulation (GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California) and an increasing threat from cyber attacks.
“Moving fast and breaking things” isn’t all that cool when it comes to leaking sensitive data, or misreporting numbers to the board. The answer? Companies of all sizes, including startups and scaleups, are looking to implement some form of data governance.
Data Governance: maximizing access to the high-quality data stakeholders need to drive business value, whilst minimizing risks.
Currently, tools that try to address these pains trend towards the enterprise; bundled features, a high price point, lengthy setup and plenty of maintenance. These tools are not really fit for purpose in rapidly scaling, time poor companies, and are often over-kill when it comes to solving the real ‘hair on fire’ problems.
Internally, we define data governance as maximizing access to the high-quality data stakeholders need to drive business value, whilst minimizing risks. This encompasses very specific challenges, with different personas and use cases. It is our belief that these need to be met with tools that respect the workflows of today’s data professionals, with use case driven features powered by automation.
Data democracy without data governance — data anarchy?
The shift towards self-serve analytics it’s often referred to as ‘democratizing data’. Some companies have adopted data catalogs to promote this culture, making data assets searchable across teams and departments, and providing additional context such as sensitivity and quality. Enterprise data catalogs have been around for a while, but we’ve also seen data-driven companies such as Lyft (Amudsen), LinkedIn (DataHub) and Netflix (Metacat) build their own open-source solutions, having found nothing on the market to meet their needs.
So what is the relationship between data governance and data democracy? To stretch the analogy, in any democracy, it is the role of the government to put in place the rules and structures needed to ensure it survives, and you could say the same about data governance. With no governance you get ‘data anarchy’; a free for all with little to no control.
Even with a simple setup consisting of a data warehouse (e.g. Snowflake) and a data visualization tool (e.g. Looker), without good governance things can get out of hand quickly. Unused and similar versions of tables and dashboards can clutter the environment, causing a lack of trust, with no single source of truth — as well as driving storage and compute cost. Keeping track of what columns and dashboards contain sensitive data, and who has access to it, becomes a major challenge. When changes cause an important dashboard to break, BI engineers can expect a flood of messages from stressed out colleagues.
A typical Slack back and forth when something goes wrong
Where to start in automating data governance? Know the flows.
For BI teams to work effectively, they need to understand how data flows. For instance, they may want to delete a column that is no longer relevant. However, this has the potential to break an ETL pipeline or a C-level dashboard. Without a tool that can perform impact analysis, BI teams have to choose between painstakingly mapping out data flows manually, making the change and hoping for the best, or simply avoiding changes altogether!
In most cases, the BI team doesn’t need a company-wide enterprise data catalog with all bells and whistles — they need to understand how data is flowing, where it is flowing and who is using it. In enterprise data catalogs, essential features like cross-system and column-level data lineage either don’t exist or are only included in the top-tier pricing. Open-source data catalogs are looking towards it, but it is a technically challenging problem (as we know from experience!).
There is, of course, lots to learn from data catalogs and the open-source community— in fact, any useful metadata product needs a catalog at its core. As data flows can be seen as a graph with edges between nodes, it is evident that you cannot talk about flows without an index of data entities such as tables, columns, and dashboards. The flow of data occurs on a timeline as statements or jobs are issued causing data to move between entities. This becomes truly powerful when data entities have been tagged, for example with location or sensitivity. Suddenly we can start tracking where personal data is trickling into dashboards and ad-hoc queries automatically.
To truly understand data flows, usage data must be treated as a first-class citizen. Queries, jobs, and dashboards must be parsed and structured. Usage data is what makes the product opinionated. This is analogous to how Amazon gives you suggestions based on your search and purchase history.
What is Alvin — and what is our mission?
In our past lives at data focused startups, we experienced first hand some of the big challenges facing big data. Alvin was started with the belief that companies are no longer competing on how much data they collect and store, but on its quality and how they leverage it. We’re currently two founders (Martin and Dan), recently backed by a top nordic VC, and are now growing the team (shameless hiring plug!).
Alvin automates key aspects of data governance — freeing up time and head-space for BI professionals to focus on the true value-creating activities. Our core technology analyzes data flows and interactions between systems and people. This will power a range of modules, each laser focused on a specific challenge, including data lineage, access management, privacy and financial compliance, cost control and logging.
Our first module delivers plug and play data lineage to BI teams, answering questions such as:
What are the upstream and downstream dependencies of a column? (Column-level lineage and transformations)
What dashboards are using this table or column? (Cross-system lineage)
What columns are in use, and what are they being used for? (Column usage classification: JOIN/WHERE/GROUP BY)
Will deleting this table break dashboards that are actively used? (Usage-based impact analysis)
How has this flow changed since last week? (Lineage time travel)
A teaser of our column level data lineage module (connected to Snowflake)
We have spent the last year or so fully immersed in the space, building our core tech, talking to BI teams and conducting pilots. We’ve seen how easy it is for highly skilled BI professionals to get stuck doing tedious tasks that could be automated, as much as 40% of their time in some cases. With so many competing priorities in scaling companies, implementing a fully fledged enterprise solution is unlikely to make it to the top of the list, so BI teams continue to operate below their true capacity.
By building Alvin to be zero setup and modular, we aim to break this cycle and take data governance beyond the enterprise. With a BI team focused on innovating and inventing, scaling companies give themselves the best chance of data-driven success. | https://medium.com/alvin-ai/we-need-to-talk-about-data-governance-and-introduce-alvin-c6c915a3e152 | [] | 2021-04-14 13:33:22.996000+00:00 | ['Big Data Analytics', 'Data Lineage', 'Data Governance', 'Business Intelligence', 'Data Catalog'] |
The Cost of ‘Free’ Water | Note: The original version of the article was published on December 23rd in “The Daily Guardian”.
Credit: Walter Alternatives
In the last few weeks, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections have been covered extensively in the news. In the run-up to the elections, various parties revealed their manifestos in order to attract voters. Free water supply was a common promise in the manifestos of all the parties. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) promised free water for all up to 20,000 litres, while the Indian National Congress promised up to 30,000 litres of free water for all.
Free water as an election promise is nothing new. The Arvind Kejriwal — led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) promised the same to voters in the national capital in 2013. Several parties, including the INC in Rajasthan, have promised voters the same. Undoubtedly, the right and access to clean water is a human right and any political party in power should ensure the provision of the same for all. So shouldn’t the promise of free water supply by a political party be a great thing? However, this is not the case. We must remember that providing access to clean and safe water (especially a problem in rural areas) is a very different promise than providing free water supply as an election promise to all in an attempt to capture votes. The promise of free water supply often has conditions attached to it, such as the fact that recipients must have a metered water connection or connection to a piped water supply network. Due to the same, poorer sections of society and those living in rural areas who currently suffer the most from non-availability of water cannot avail the benefits of such a scheme. Let’s have a look at how the free water schemes implemented in Rajasthan and New Delhi have fared so far.
INC’s Free Water Promise in Rajasthan
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot addressing during a public rally in Jodhpur, on April 9, 2019. Credit: Prokerala
Prior to the 2019 Rajasthan Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from the INC announced a free water scheme for the state. Under the scheme, consumers living in urban areas would not be charged for using water (up to 15,000 litres) and in rural areas, the supply of water up to 40 litres per capita per day would be free of cost. Certain fixed charges would be levied on customers for meter service and innovation charges.
Now the question that arises is how successful was the scheme? The implementation of the free water scheme in Rajasthan was done quite differently from that in New Delhi, leading to a unique set of challenges. In June 2019, following the election, the Public Health and Engineering Department of Rajasthan (PHED) announced the scheme would only be applicable for those who already have a metered connection. This would mean that a significant portion of customers who do not have a meter, and who would arguably benefit most from the scheme would be left out. As of August 2019, in the city of Jaipur alone, around two lakh consumers did not have a metered connection. As per PHED officials, no information had been provided to install new meter connections. In fact, in 2018, under the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government, 70,000 water meters were to be installed in Jaipur as part of the smart city project. However, this was much less than the requirement, and out of the 70,000 meters, only half were installed.
However, the problems of the scheme do not end here. The free water scheme put tremendous pressure on the PHED department, which had already been in losses over the years. For instance, in the year 2018–19, the revenue generated by the PHED was a mere Rs. 390 crore, in contrast to the expenditure of around Rs. 2,410 crores. The department spends on salaries, maintenance and repair, contract charges, delivery system, chemicals, while its only source of revenue is water bills collected from customers. A free water scheme such as the one announced reduces their income further. This begs the question: who really ends up paying for the “free” water being received by people?
AAP’s Free Water Promise in New Delhi
New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in the capital. Credit: Twitter@ArvindKejriwal
In 2013, as part of the AAP’s first manifesto, the party promised 20,000 litres of free piped water per household per day. The scheme was finally implemented in 2014, and once again during the run-up to the 2019 Assembly Elections in New Delhi, the incumbent Arvind Kejriwal made the same promise to Delhiites. This was coupled with the promise of 24*7 water supply as well.
Responding to public interest litigation (PIL) in February 2019, the AAP government told the Delhi Assembly that the Rs. 400 crore water subsidy (for the year 2017–18) was benefitting 5.3 lakh residents of Delhi. In fact, the party also mentioned that the scheme had led to an increase in water conservation as customers wanted to avail the benefit of the scheme by reducing their consumption. They also reported that the implementation of the scheme led to an increase in the number of functional water meters across the city.
Based on these findings, it would appear that the scheme had been a success. However, was that really the case? Just months after that, in September 2019, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is a specialised forum for effective and quick disposal of cases related to environmental protection put out a statement saying the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) needed to take steps to prevent wastage of water in the city. What did the tribunal say? As per the monitoring committee (consisting of a retired high court judge and representatives from the DJB, Central Pollution Board and Central Ground Water Authority) reporting to the tribunal, various housing colonies were misusing the Delhi government’s scheme of providing 20,000 litres of water free of cost every month. These findings were in stark contrast to what the AAP government said earlier in 2019.
The monitoring committee also found that after extracting 20,000 litres of free water, several colonies were using borewells and tubewells to extract more water and avoid paying tariffs. At the time of the report, there were 17,062 illegal borewells in the city. This has increased to 19,000 as of July 2020. Not only this, but the committee also noted that the overuse of groundwater for drinking, irrigation and domestic purposes has led to its rapid depletion across the city. In fact, the water table has dropped more than 300 feet in many parts of the capital.
What did the NGT recommend?
Due to the alarming findings of the report, the tribunal recommended that a ‘polluter pays’ principle should be applied to fine those who wastewater. The report filed by the committee went on to describe, “In case water consumption is highly excessive, the consumer should be charged with higher tariffs for overuse.” Instead of having a free for all system, the panel recommended that there should be a system whereby those who use more, pay more. The system of more consumption, higher the tariff, along with an efficient monitoring system for water consumption, would minimise water wastage.
Understanding the cost of free water
In the past few years, various political parties across the country have been using ‘freebies’ ‘ such as free water supply to lure voters, many of whom probably don’t even have access to piped water supply and/or a metered water connection to avail the benefit of such a scheme. While political parties continue dangling the carrot of free water supply, not only is it leading to the wastage of water, but also taking away from the key issues of drinking water supply and water-borne diseases prevalent in the country.
Against the global average of availability of freshwater of 7,600 cubic metres, India only has around 1,545 cubic metres available. 85% of rural households and 50% of urban households are dependent on the usage of groundwater and due to water wastage, the water table of many cities is depleting faster than one can imagine.
While promising free water can help lure voters for parties in the short term, the impact this has on the environment and future water supply cannot be ignored. Economists and environmentalists alike have criticised using the bait of “free water” to capture votes, as this policy is ineffective in reaching those who actually need it and leads to further water wastage. | https://medium.com/@polstrat/the-cost-of-free-water-5441e407ee41 | [] | 2020-12-23 07:13:18.255000+00:00 | ['Indian Politics', 'Delhi', 'Water'] |
Customer Segmentation: Unsupervised Machine Learning Algorithms In Python | Business Problem:
A primary goal for any company and business is to understand their targeted customers. How their consumers operate and use their services. Every consumer may use a companies services differently. The problem we’re trying to solve is to define this delivery company’s consumers. To define certain behaviors and methods these consumers use the companies services for.
Data Exploration:
We were fortunate enough to be given a dataset of a startup delivery company. The dataset is a private dataset, therefore we won’t be linking it. The recorded data is data that has been collected in a span of six months. It’s divided into three sheets users,payment and orders.
Figure1: Orders data sheet columns and data types
The following is the orders data sheet, to give an idea of the data types we’re mostly working with. The orders data sheet contains 2604 records and 26 columns. The users contains 4663 records and 12 columns while the payment data sheet contains 3169 records and 6 columns.
To know a little more about the data before starting to implement our machine learning algorithms, we created a few EDA plots.
Figure2: Order status
Which product are user’s mostly using the app’s services for?
Figure3: Orders Pie chart
What is the time line for registered users ?
Figure4: Line graph of registered users over time.
Data Preparation:
We started by checking if there were any missing values.
Figure5: Missing values in the orders data sheet.
As the figure shows there are 6 columns with missing data points. The following code will demonstrate how we dealt with the missing values.
Next,we decided to divide the orders into 6 distinct categories for easier analysis, as shown in the figure below.
Figure6: Separating the orders into 6 categories.
Considering that there are three datasheets to work with, we read each data sheet using pandas dataframe then combined all three into one dataframe.
Figure7: Combining 3 dataframes into one.
Model Implementation:
Initially, before we decided to go with the customer segmentation route we were planning on implementing a supervised machine learning algorithm.However, we later realized that picking out an optimal target to base the supervised algorithm on wasn’t a suitable method given this dataset. After a few hours of brainstorming, we decided to do customer segmentation using two clustering algorithms: K-means and DBSCAN . Furthermore, we decided we’d like to test out the two different models.
Imported libraries:
We then went on and chose our features for the two clustering algorithms. we selected the most affected features related to buyers, such as Number of Orders , Total amount paid by this buyer , Number of orders paid Cash , Number of Orders paid by Card , Number of orders paid using STCPay and Count of unique product categorical ordered.
Note: STCPay is a digital wallet used in Saudi Arabia. Similar to Apple Pay.
Note: The clustering algorithms and EDA were conducted on two different google colab sheets that’s why the dataframe names differ from the figures shown above.
The next step was to scale the data and reduce the dimension using PCA.
We decided to reduce number of features before training our models. We used PCA technique for features reduction process. First, we created a Scree plot to help us to select the best number of components for PCA.
Figure8: Scree Plot.
As figure 8 shows, the best number of components for our PCA is 3,it describes the data best.Preserving 80% of the data’s variance.
After successfully choosing the right number of components,it’s time to fit the PCA with 3 components to our chosen features.
K-Mean:
Now, we start building our clustering model using K-mean algorithm. The most important parameter for K-mean algorithm is number of clusters. So, we should decide how many clusters we have in our data. There are many ways to select the best number of clusters for K-mean algorithm, in this project we applied two methods called Elbow method and Silhouette Analysis method.
1.Elbow method:
Elbow is the common method used to determine the best value of K. This method calculates the variance between data points within a cluster using the Sum of Squared Error. The best value of k to select is the point of inflection on the curve. As we see in the Elbow plot the best k for our model is 5.
Figure9: K-means Elbow Plot
2.Silhouette Analysis Method:
This method calculates the average silhouette value for each data point in the cluster, this value represents how similar a data point is to its own cluster. The range of this measure from -1 to 1. A value of 1 means the sample is far away from the neighboring clusters. The negative value refers to samples that might have been assigned to the wrong cluster.
The following GIF illustrates the idea of Silhouette Analysis Method, each row on the Silhouette plot represents one data point in the scatter plot and the X-axis refers to silhouette coefficient value. The red line indicates the average silhouette coefficient value for all samples in clusters. The cluster that has a high silhouette coefficient value is the best to choose. Finally, from the silhouette coefficient results we decided to go with 5 clusters.
Figure10: Silhouette Analysis
After the implementation of the elbow and silhouette analysis methods, we start building the K-mean algorithm with 5 clusters.
Below is a 3D scatter plot of the clusters created by K-means.
Figure11:K-means Clusters 3D Plot
DBSCAN:
For detecting outliers and anomalies in our dataset DBSCAN(density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise) is the most productive.The two determining parameters of DBSCAN are the eps and min_samples.
The eps is the distance that determines a data point’s neighbor. Points are neighbors if the distance between them is less than or equal to eps. To determine the right value of eps 3 methods were used: sklearn’s NearestNeighbors,k-distance elbow plot and an eps visualization.The optimal value for the eps is at the point of maximum curvature.
The min_samples is the number of points to form a cluster .It is determined based on domain knowledge and how big or small a dataset is. Given the number of dimensions of the dataset, min_samples is chosen.A good rule of thumb is minPts >= D + 1 and since our dataset is 3D that makes min_sample=4.For larger datasets minPts >= D*2.
There are 3 main data points in DBSCAN the core point, border point and finally what DBSCAN is good at detecting the outlier point. The core points are points within the eps’s radius. The border points are points that are accessible from the core points and with a less number of min_samples.An outlier is a point that isn’t a core or a border point.
Figure12:DBSCAN 3D Plot
In order to gain confidence regarding the eps value we went with the Elbow plot method again and an eps visualization graph.
Figure13:Eps Elbow Plot
Let’s zoom in on the plot:
Figure14:zoomed eps Elbow Plot
Figure15:Eps visualization graph
As the elbow plot and eps visualization graph show, the optimal value for eps is 1.
Results:
Using the K-means algorithm with a cluster count of 5 we see that the customers in cluster 3 prefer to pay using STCPay rather than card or cash in comparison to the other 4 clusters. In contrast customers in cluster 0 prefer to pay with cash the most.Cluster 0 also has the highest number of orders with 2072 orders while cluster 1 has 93 orders, being the least amount of orders out of the 5 clusters.In terms of profit cluster 0 generates the app the most amount of profit followed by cluster 3,2,1, and 4.
Using the DBSCAN algorithm with a cluster count of 5 we see that the customers in cluster 3 prefer to pay using STCPay rather than card or cash in comparison to the other 4 clusters. In contrast customers in cluster 0 prefer to pay with cash the most.Cluster 0 also has the highest number of orders with 2053 orders while cluster 2 has 26 orders, being the least amount of orders out of the 5 clusters.In terms of profit cluster 0 generates the app the most amount of profit followed by cluster -1,2,3, and 2.
A few actionable insights found that the delivery company could execute:
As seen from the K-mean results, the number of orders created by buyers in cluster 1 is greater than in other clusters, with an average number of is 46 orders during 6 months. This is a large number of orders for buyers, so it is possible these accounts are stores registered as buyers. We observe the same with cluster -1 in DBSCAN, with an average of 10 orders during 6 months for an individual buyer.
Most buyers pay with cash. In this case, maybe the buyers don’t know about the availability of different payment methods through the app. So, the marketing team should focus on clarifying the power of the app by providing different payment methods.
For more information regarding the code and it’s implementation, please visit our github repository:
Or you could checkout our dashboard to view the full insights that we’ve found: https://customer-segmentation-tuwaiq-2.herokuapp.com/
Note: The dashboard is a Dash App dashboard hosted on Heroku cloud server, it might take a few minutes to load.
Future Work:
Considering that the collected data was data of six months time, the models would be more robust with more data points to plot. The algorithms could be optimized in the future by feeding it more data. The company now may market to each segmented customers appropriately and show different advertisements to different customer segments. | https://towardsdatascience.com/customer-segmentation-unsupervised-machine-learning-algorithms-in-python-3ae4d6cfd41d | ['Lama Ali Alzahrani'] | 2021-07-15 12:46:09.434000+00:00 | ['Dbscan', 'Kmean', 'Unsupervised Learning', 'Clustering', 'Customer Segmentation'] |
Screen time, emotional health among parents’ top concerns for children | Washington [US], December 21 (ANI): A new national poll gives a glimpse into parents’ greatest concerns about their kids in the pandemic-era with the top concerns being screen time, unhealthy eating, and depression. High on the top 10 list: overuse of social media and screen time, internet safety, unhealthy eating, depression and suicide, and lack of physical activity.
Almost half of the parents also describe COVID-19, the disease itself, as a “big problem” impacting kids, coming in at №10, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at Michigan Medicine.
“This is an especially challenging time for families, with many children experiencing significant changes in routine that may negatively impact their health and wellbeing,” said Mott Poll co-director and Mott pediatrician Gary Freed, M.D., M.P.H. “Parents’ biggest concerns for young people seem to be associated with changes in lifestyle as a result of the pandemic.
COVID-19 has turned the world of our children and teens upside down in many ways and this is reflected in how parents rate health issues in 2020,” added Mott. But there are key racial and ethnic differences among families when it comes to worries about children’s health, according to the report. Black parents rate racism as their №1 health concern for children and teens, with COVID-19 coming in at №2. Racism ranks sixth among Hispanic parents, with COVID-19 at №8. Racism does not make the top 10 health issues for U.S. children among white parents and COVID-19 much lower on among their concerns.
These differences are likely due to African-American and Hispanic communities being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in the U.S., Freed says. People from minority groups have been more likely to contract COVID-19, gotten sicker and died of the virus at significantly higher rates than white individuals.
Systemic racism has also been a national focus, as massive demonstrations protesting racial injustice swept the country over recent months. Black parents are also the only group that rates gun injuries and unequal access to health care as a top 10 concern. Meanwhile, white parents are the only group to rate lack of physical activity in the top 10. “Families’ backgrounds and experiences likely shape what health concerns they prioritize as most pressing for American children today,” Freed said. The nationally-representative report is based on responses from 2,027 parents with children ages 18 and under.
A closer look at top health concerns highlighted in the report: Screen time Freed says it’s not surprising that the top three issues on parents’ list of concerns are related to screen use. Children are spending more time online because of virtual school or not being able to spend time with friends in person.
But he says parents should worry less about the amount of time children are using devices and more on how they are using the technology. “It’s important for children and teens to maintain social and family connections that we know are critical for their emotional well-being, especially during a time when they are feeling stressed or isolated,” Freed says. “Technology may be an important vehicle for those connections.” Still, parents should set clear ground rules and boundaries about how and when children can use devices to ensure it’s not disrupting sleep habits, replacing healthy habits like physical activity, and that children’s privacy is protected.
They should also watch for any signs of cyberbullying and other types of online abuse, which also made the top 10 list. “Parents need to have ongoing conversations with their children and teens to guide them on safe internet practices,” Freed says. Emotional and physical health Some parents reported great concern about kids experiencing increased negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, or depression, which may be related to or exacerbated by lifestyle changes caused by COVID-19.
“Parents may notice changes, such as increased behavioral issues in younger kids or more moodiness or lethargy from older kids and teenagers,” Freed said. In these situations, parents should encourage children and teens to talk about their feelings, and find healthy outlets to help them cope.
Changes in routine and social isolation from COVID-19 may also affect a child’s physical health. Inconsistent sleep habits may particularly increase the potential for unhealthy eating and reducing outside physical activity-all issues parents identified as top health concerns.
Families should try to maintain routines, especially keeping regular sleep schedules and helping teens resist the temptation to go to bed much later than usual and sleeping in later, Freed said. Most experts also recommend intentional “unplugged” times to spend together as a family and getting outside daily, even for a brisk walk, as much as possible.
But parents should also look for red flags that kids need more help to manage feelings, such as comments about how they might hurt themselves or experiencing dramatic shifts in usual mood, appetite, or sleep. In these cases, families should reach out to pediatricians and consider enlisting the help of therapists or other health professionals.
Children who have lost family members to COVID-19 may also need special attention and mental health services to help in how to understand and cope with their loss, Freed says. Racism Families should recognize the emotional toll of racism on children and teens. The impact of racism may be reflected in physical problems, such as disparities in the rates of diseases among different populations, and also in children’s mental health.
Children targeted by racism have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and behavior problems, research shows.
“Although racism directly affects specific populations, its impact on children’s health is a societal concern. It’s important for parents to recognize the detrimental consequences of racism for children in our communities,” Freed said. Finding ways for young people to get involved either through safely participating in protests or supporting groups or causes that aim to fight racism can be valuable, Freed says.
“Racism can instill a sense of helplessness in both children and teens. When young people are empowered to stand up to racism, it can make a big difference by showing them they can be part of a solution,” he said. (ANI) | https://medium.com/@parenthood7/screen-time-emotional-health-among-parents-top-concerns-for-children-af9ceaea02d9 | [] | 2021-09-13 09:31:59.421000+00:00 | ['Children', 'Kids', 'Parenting', 'Baby', 'Pregnancy'] |
5 Ways An IT Consulting Company Can Help Your Business Grow | 5 Ways An IT Consulting Company Can Help Your Business Grow Visualmodo Follow Dec 22 · 3 min read
To survive in any industry, your business has to continue growing. Even when you have dominated your market, your business will require additional creativity and innovation to stay on top. Growth is always a continuous process. In this article, you’ll see five ways an IT consulting company can help your business grow.
There are many ways to grow your business, but there is always a limit to how well you can enact these practices. When it comes to your IT department, it may be difficult for an in-house IT team to do the kind of job an IT consulting company can do for you. Here, we will briefly discuss five ways an IT consulting company can help your business grow:
Let You Focus on Core Business Functions
When you hire the right IT consultant, you can be sure that they will handle every IT-related issue for you and your team. Depending on the contract you sign, an IT expert can step in to manage the IT sector of your business entirely. As a result, you’ll be free to concentrate on your core business function and make the right decisions for your company. This directly leads to business growth with IT consulting.
Keep Your IT Infrastructure In the Right Shape for Optimum Performance
Furthermore, a reliable IT consulting company will do everything necessary to get your IT infrastructure into the best possible shape. Considering that information technology is fundamental to most business models, their services can make a difference in your business dealings. Regardless of the industry you belong to. An optimal IT infrastructure will always facilitate business growth. It is something you should aim for, and contracting IT consultants is the best way to achieve this.
Optimize Your Online Presence with IT Consulting Business
In the last two decades, a lot has changed about the way businesses are run. These days, the online presence of a company is as significant as its physical presence. In some instances, an online presence is even more relevant. A reliable IT consultant will help you optimize your website and boost your online presence. This will help your business make the right first impression on prospective customers or clients. It will also help position your business as an authority in your business field with IT consulting.
Develop and Implement IT Strategies
As mentioned in the introduction, your competition will also be trying to outdo you in the push for growth. You will need some strategies, and an IT consultant will handle IT strategies for you. Being strategic gives you an edge over the competition.
Improve Your Marketing Efficiency
Currently, digital marketing is the most efficient way to get to customers. Your IT consulting company can handle your digital marketing endeavors and ensures that it is as efficient as possible. When your marketing endeavors are efficient, business growth is inevitable.
Endnote IT Consulting To Grow Business
Whether you are an emerging or established business, IT consulting companies can help you in several ways. They can keep your IT infrastructure in excellent shape, optimize your online presence, and improve your marketing endeavors. With this, you can focus on other essential aspects of your business. | https://medium.com/visualmodo/5-ways-an-it-consulting-company-can-help-your-business-grow-c1072cf5336b | [] | 2020-12-22 02:29:23.590000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Business Strategy', 'Busines', 'It', 'Consult'] |
Women’s Health Services Available to Immigrants in America | It is a well-known but equally saddening fact that the women’s health services available to immigrants in America are below average. There are a lot of reasons that constitute this. But before diving into those, let’s have a look at what is wrong here. Immigrant women are at a higher risk of suffering from a lot of health ailments. That is not just related to physical ailments, but mental and emotional ones as well.
Refugees and migrants have to go through and endure the burden of both moving out of their homeland and becoming migrants to a new country. They also have to go through cultural differences as well as linguistic differences. Getting the mandatory awareness of a different community and health system is another stressful thing they ensure. For example, certain legal immigrants from the Middle East or Central America may not legally be refugees but have still experienced the same pain of conflict and survival. Because leaving one’s home country and being an immigrant in America is extremely stressful. It takes a massive toll on the physical, mental and emotional health of the immigrants.
In addition, refugee women seem to be at greater risk of post-arrival physical and mental crises. Starting a new life, taking care, and raising a family in a foreign land is much more distressing than it sounds. It takes a toll on the health of women and they soon start to develop some kind of health ailments. It makes it all the more mandatory for women’s health services to be readily available to immigrants in America. It is widely observed that Immigrant women of childbearing age throughout the United States, have to experience substantial obstacles in accessing adequate and reliable healthcare coverage and treatment regarding maternal and sexual health services as compared to the native women of America. There are a variety of policies and structural frameworks that are behind this saddening and worrisome phenomenon. Immigrant women are deprived of their right to avail quality healthcare and maternal care facilities in the US.
Evidently, many laws and procedures actively block and deprive most immigrant women of affordable health care services. A lot of lawful immigrant women are not able to get themselves enrolled in the programs such as Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) unless they complete a period of five years in the US. That is quite disturbing, the five-year limit for this is quite unfair, to say the least. There is a slight relaxation, in case an immigrant woman is pregnant or is of childbearing age, but that too is not satisfactory as it completely depends on luck and other factors involved.
Immigrants are always treated as outsiders; no one owns them as a part of the nation. It is seen that the status of being an immigrant woman greatly affects the women’s sexual and reproductive health coverage. They are not provided the necessary medical care and consideration, which often results in distressing outcomes. In a research, it was proved that the status of being an immigrant woman serves as a notion of being less likely to go through unplanned or preterm births, as compared to the native American women. Immigrant women are at low risk of HIV and even breast cancer as compared to the native ones. But, still, that doesn’t eradicate or tone down the need to have reliable and quality women’s health services to be available to immigrants in America.
As indicated, regulatory barriers have led to disparities in the healthcare insurance of immigrant women. By the year 2016, almost thirty-four percent of the 6.4 million immigrant women that belonged to the childbearing age were uninsured as compared to the native American women of the same age. Additionally, it was also seen that the immigrant women in the US were increasingly seen as not being able to seek insurance coverage. Another shocking fact to note here is that more than five percent of immigrant women who luckily got access to the insurance coverage were planning to not use it because of the threats they have received because of the cultural, linguistic, territorial differences as well as their status of being the “outsiders” in America.
The inequality and disparity between native US women and immigrant women in the US are shocking and saddening at the same time. In a research, it was found that only a handful of immigrant women were lucky enough to get access to contraception care or information in the prior years, as compared to two-third of native United States-born women. Research further indicates that foreign women are less likely to undergo other medical treatments and preventive measures. That includes mandatory tests to diagnose and avoid cervical as well as breast cancer, hepatitis B screening, vaccination, and other such diagnoses. Immigrant women, especially those who are deprived of health insurance coverage, are also substantially less likely to receive expensive treatments and tests such as mammograms, etc.
All in all, it is quite saddening and worrisome to acknowledge the inequality and disparity the immigrant women have to go through. These women are the lifeline and backbone of their families. Their health and wellbeing should never be ignored, no matter what. Even if we gauge this on humanitarian grounds, it is still not acceptable to see them go through this kind of treatment. Instead of making things harder and harder for immigrant women, the US government should start working on policies and frameworks to ensure that all lawful immigrant women are receiving the best healthcare facilities they deserve. The US is home to a myriad of immigrants, belonging to different hometowns, thus, the US should treat those immigrants as a part of the nation and not outsiders. The Women’s Health Services Available to Immigrants in America is by no means satisfactory and quality, it is lacking behind in so many ways. If you want the country to progress, give the immigrant women the right to have access to proper medical care to ensure that you are developing a healthy and well-brought-up nation. | https://medium.com/@tehreemalfoy/womens-health-services-available-to-immigrants-in-america-c5dae85d300b | ['Tehreem Fazal'] | 2021-09-10 07:39:21.519000+00:00 | ['Women', 'America', 'Muslim', 'Womens Health', 'Immigrants'] |
Why You Should Use Real Books to Teach Children to Read | On the go? You can listen to the audio version of this article.
The premise behind Teach a Child to Read with Children’s Books is that teaching reading should be authentic and engaging and when you use real children’s books as your foundation for your program and lessons, you are creating lifelong readers who will be strong, active, independent readers who love to read!
Parents who’ve implemented this strategy tell us that this is the case.
When children learn to read using only prescribed phonics readers, they will be missing out on a lot of important things that make readers love to read. Here are just a few things missing from packaged phonics readers.
Check out the difference in quality and beauty between a phonics reader and a real book for children: | https://medium.com/raise-a-lifelong-reader/why-you-should-use-real-books-to-teach-children-to-read-f1daa51ac241 | ['Mary Gallagher'] | 2020-01-24 02:08:47.449000+00:00 | ['Childrens Books', 'Education', 'Reading', 'Parenting', 'Homeschooling'] |
Implementation of Spring-Boot Data Redis for caching in my application | Redis, which stands for Remote Dictionary Server, is a fast, open-source (BSD licensed), NoSQL, in-memory key-value data store use as a database, cache, message broker, and queue.
Redis supports the following features:-
· Replication
· Lua scripting
· LRU eviction of keys
· Transactions and different level of on-disk persistence
· Provides high availability using Redis Sentinel
· Automatic partitioning with Redis Cluster.
· Automatic failover
Why Redis cache over Memcached?
Redis cache provides Snapshots, Replication, Transactions, Pub/Sub, Lua scripting, Geospatial support features which are not provided by Memcached. Memcached could be preferable when caching relatively small and static data, such as HTML code, images and small metadata sets.
How to implement Redis cache in our project?
Step 1:- Project initialization
We need to initialize a spring project with below maven dependencies:-
· Navigate to site “https://start.spring.io/”
· We will fill the below detail and include spring web and Redis dependencies then we will click on GENERATE CTRL button
· Open this project in your favourite spring boot or java editor
· Open pom.xml file and add the below jedis dependency
Jedis is the client library in java for Redis. It is light-weight and easy to use. But, there are other popular client libraries(i.e. lettuce and Redisson) are also available to connect with Redis which offers some unique features like thread safety, transparent reconnection handling and async API calls.
Step 2:- Maven Dependencies to use Redis
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-redis</artifactId>
<exclusions>
<exclusion>
<groupId>io.lettuce</groupId>
<artifactId>lettuce-core</artifactId>
</exclusion>
</exclusions>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>redis.clients</groupId>
<artifactId>jedis</artifactId>
</dependency>
Project Structure:-
Step 4:- Open file “SpringBootRedisCacheApplication.java”
Step 5:- we need to create a connection factory bean to connect to Redis client using JedisConnectionFactory. This connection factory class comes under package “org.springframework.data.redis.connection.jedis”
@Bean
JedisConnectionFactory jedisConnectionFactory() { RedisStandaloneConfiguration redisStandaloneConfiguration = new RedisStandaloneConfiguration("localhost", 6379); return new JedisConnectionFactory(redisStandaloneConfiguration); }
Here we need to provide the Redis server configurational detail. In my case, I’m using default local configuration and default port(i.e. 6379).
Step 6:- Create an instance of RedisTemplate class and pass the jedisConnectionFactory bean. RedisTemplate can be used for querying data with a custom repository. This class is under package : org.springframework.data.redis.core.
@Bean
RedisTemplate<String, User> redisTemplate() {
RedisTemplate<String, User> redisTemplate = new RedisTemplate<>();
redisTemplate.setConnectionFactory(jedisConnectionFactory());
return redisTemplate;
}
Here I’m using User detail to keep in the Redis cache. This class expect two type parameter
K — the Redis key type against which the template works (i.e. String)
V — the Redis value type against which the template works(i.e. User)
Step 7:- Create a User class with below data members
package com.example.springbootrediscache.models; import java.io.Serializable; public class User implements Serializable { private String id;
private String name;
private Long salary; public User(String id, String name, Long salary) {
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
this.salary = salary;
} public String getId() {
return id;
} public void setId(String id) {
this.id = id;
} public String getName() {
return name;
} public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
} public Long getSalary() {
return salary;
} public void setSalary(Long salary) {
this.salary = salary;
}
}
Step 8:- Create Spring data repository for this class
· Create a UserRepository interface
public interface UserRepository {
void save(User user);
Map<String,User> findAll();
User findById(String id);
void update(User user);
void delete(String id);
}
· Create UserRepositoryImpl class
@Repository
public class UserRepositoryImpl implements UserRepository { private RedisTemplate<String, User> redisTemplate;
private HashOperations hashOperations; //to access Redis cache public UserRepositoryImpl(RedisTemplate<String, User> redisTemplate) {
this.redisTemplate = redisTemplate;
hashOperations = redisTemplate.opsForHash();
} @Override
public void save(User user) {
hashOperations.put("USER",user.getId(),user);
} @Override
public Map<String,User> findAll() {
return hashOperations.entries("USER");
} @Override
public User findById(String id) {
return (User)hashOperations.get("USER",id);
} @Override
public void update(User user) {
save(user);
} @Override
public void delete(String id) {
hashOperations.delete("USER",id);
}
}
Step 9:- Create a UserController API controller to expose the endpoint
public class UserController { @Autowired
private UserRepository _userRepository; public UserController(UserRepository userRepository){
_userRepository = userRepository;
} @GetMapping("/all")
public Map<String, User> GetAll(){
return _userRepository.findAll();
} @GetMapping("/all/{id}")
public User GetAll(@PathVariable("id") final String id){
return _userRepository.findById(id);
} @PostMapping("/add")
public User add(@RequestBody User user){
_userRepository.save(new User(user.getId(),user.getName(),80000L)); return _userRepository.findById(user.getId());
} @PostMapping("/update")
public User update(@RequestBody User user){
_userRepository.update(new User(user.getId(),user.getName(),1000L)); return _userRepository.findById(user.getId());
}
}
Here I’m using @Autowiring annotation to inject dependency of UserRepository.So that I can be able to access all the methods which I’ve declared inside the UserRepository interface.
Step 10:- Start Redis server:-
· We need to navigate to the folder location where we have a Redis server
c:\redis-server\windows\Redis-x64–3.2.100
· Click on the “redis-server” then the server will start, we will see below screen
Step 11:- Start this application
Step 12:- Since in this project I’ve configured swagger and I’m using port: 8083, so my API endpoint will be something like this
http://localhost:8083/swagger-ui.html
Step 13:- After accessing the API links we will see below four endpoints
You can download the code from my Github repository: spring-boot-redis-cache-demo-project
Usecases:-
· Caching — It provides an in-memory cache facility to decrease latency, increase the throughput of the application.
· Chat system or massaging system — It supports a pub-sub model with pattern matching.
· Gaming leaderboards — It has implemented Sorted sets to handle time-series data by using timestamps as the score.
· Session stores — It has in-memory data stores with high availability and persistence.
· Media- streaming — Redis can be used to store metadata about users’ profiles and viewing histories, authentication information/tokens for millions of users, and manifest files to enable CDNs to stream videos to millions of mobile and desktop users at a time.
· Geospatial — It is used to log location-based features such as drive distance, drive time etc.
· ML — It provides fast in-memory data store to build, train and deploy machine learning model.
Redis cache limits
It has no limit on storing data on a 64-bit system but, on the 32-bit system, it can only store 3 GB. So, once cache reaches its memory limit, we should remove the old data to make some space for the new one.
Conclusion, in this section we understood what is Redis cache, its capabilities and implementation using Spring-boot data Redis | https://medium.com/@kumarshivam-66534/implementation-of-spring-boot-data-redis-for-caching-in-my-application-218d02c31191 | ['Kumar Shivam'] | 2020-04-25 18:36:31.848000+00:00 | ['Cache', 'Spring Boot Data Redis', 'Spring Boot', 'Redis'] |
Bernie Sanders Blasts Goldman Sachs’ Claim It Does ‘God’s Work’ | Bernie Sanders, Vallejo CA Rally on 8 May 2016. (photo by Shelly Prevost from San Francisco, United States)
“Lloyd Blankfein said Goldman Sachs does ‘God’s work.’ Is that what he called it when Goldman Sachs made millions pumping up the cost of food for starving people across the world?”
Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein traded jabs over Twitter on Friday, a reflection of the Vermont senator’s disdain for recession-era Wall Street executives who were not punished after the subprime mortgage crisis.
“During the Wall Street crash an estimated 15 million families lost their homes. Lloyd Blankfein didn’t lose his home or his job. His bank got an $824 billion taxpayer bailout and Blankfein became a billionaire,” Sanders tweeted.
Sanders has frequently admonished Goldman Sachs and other “too-big-too-fail” banks for intentionally misleading investors about the risks of their mortgage-backed securities in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis. Almost none of the top bankers were criminally prosecuted despite clear evidence of fraud, and the banks’ executives gave themselves multimillion dollar bonuses immediately after being rescued by a massive taxpayer bailout.
Blankfein makes an entry on Sen. Sanders’ list of “anti-endorsements,” a collection of negative statements made about the Democratic Socialist by various billionaires and CEOs.
“It has the potential to be a dangerous moment,” the former executive is quoted saying on Sanders’ website, referring to the senator’s presidential candidacy.
The list demonstrates Sanders’ uniquely adversarial campaign; instead of courting big-money donors, he openly challenges them.
“Lloyd Blankfein said Goldman Sachs does ‘god’s work.’ Is that what he called it when Goldman Sachs made millions pumping up the cost of food for starving people across the world?” Sanders tweeted, posting an article from Business Insider about how the investment bank made $400 million off of food speculation from 2007–2012, contributing to spikes and crashes in the market and driving impoverished people into starvation.
“Don’t know why Sen. Sanders picks on a retiree like me. I think he’s always looked down on me because he grew up in a fancier neighborhood in Brooklyn,” quipped Blankfein in response.
“Actually, my concern has to do with the fact that you had no problem getting bailed out by working Americans, while you’ve been picking on them by advocating for cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security,” Sanders responded.
“Didn’t know I was against all those necessary and well-established social programs. Actually, I think we have more in common than you think….,” tweeted Blankfein, “two self-made millionaires from Brooklyn who lean a bit to the left!”
Sanders then posted a video of the former Goldman CEO speaking in an interview: “Entitlements have to be slowed and contained,” Blankfein said, “Because we can’t afford them.”
“Sry, didn’t think slowing expansion of entitlements in a dismal economy meant I was for getting rid of those programs,” contended the former executive. “I support those programs and GDP growth!”
The Twitter clash wasn’t the first time Sanders and Blankfein traded barbs — Sanders disparaged the former CEO in February for stock buybacks, which is when a company buys back its own stock. Sanders and other critics argue buybacks disproportionately help the rich while detracting from investment in research and development.
Sanders’ anti-endorsement list shows the particular enmity several politically active billionaires reserve for the senator.
“We love all 23 candidates. No, minus one. I profoundly dislike Bernie Sanders. He thinks every billionaire is a crook. He calls us ‘the billionaire class.’ And he attacks us indiscriminately,” said billionaire and prominent campaign financier Haim Saban.
Home Depot co-founder Kenneth Langone went a step further, saying: “In 2016 I saw Bernie Sanders and the kids around him. I thought: ‘This is the antichrist!’”
Sanders quotes President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on his anti-endorsement page: “They are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred.”
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Read the original article and sign up for our newsletter at https://citizentruth.org | https://medium.com/citizen-truth/bernie-sanders-blasts-goldman-sachs-claim-it-does-god-s-work-936798278e6c | ['Citizen Truth Staff'] | 2019-07-15 19:14:01.762000+00:00 | ['2020 Election', 'Bernie Sanders', 'Big Banks', 'Goldman Sachs', '2008'] |
Surviving Japanese language (日本語) １０１ | I came to Japan with practically zero formal education on the Japanese language and I have just been studying it for five months. I’ve never dreamt of going to Japan, but I’m always fond of its culture, especially as shown in anime and dramas. I was also able to grasp some basic expressions, such as ありがとうございます、すみません、はい、among others. However, when I passed the Monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholarship and got accepted into the University of Fukui as a Research Student and due to the fact that I might stay in Japan for two years, I knew I had no choice but to learn the Japanese language.
Preliminaries: Learning the かな characters
The acceptance letter I received from the University came with a workbook and a reminder that we should, at least, learn ひらがな and カタカナ before the start of classes. So a month prior to coming to Japan, I studied the かな characters and learned the proper strokes and filled in my notebook with these characters until I was able to remember most of them. I did this almost every day during my free time until I can visualize the characters anywhere I go. I began translating letters and signs on the road to かな characters. Kanji, however, is a different story.
The four-month intensive Japanese language course(s)
As a Research Student, I had to take the Japanese intensive course program first for six months before entering my research program. As a beginner, I needed to take the みんなの日本語１ Integrated Grammar class. I also had to take Writing, Speaking, Reading and Kanji classes. I was also allowed to take Research Class with Kuwabara-先生。
The Japanese classes were very helpful. The daily exercises and homework given by the 先生 did not just help us memorize the vocabulary and sentence structures but also allowed us to use the Japanese language in real life situations. Slowly, my classmates and I were using the forms and sentences we learned in classes in our conversations. But I still felt that they were not enough so I had to devise my own methods and habits of learning the Japanese language.
Just a bit of a disclaimer. These methods worked for me because I am a multitasker. Honestly, I have more trouble spending my free time wisely (or rather, lazily). More or less, I’ve spent most of my time studying 日本語 and integrated it in everything that I do (e.g., watching anime, listening to music, hanging out with friends).
Learning Japanese through textbooks
The みんなの日本語 textbooks are effective materials in learning the language. The textbook introduces new vocabulary words and grammatical forms every chapter, and some basic expressions that you can use in conversations. It is also paired with a workbook where you can assess and practice what you’ve just learned in class. The workbook comes with a CD, which contains audio files that you can listen to so you can be familiar with the conversational Japanese language.
As a linguist, I also analyze Japanese language (e.g., how words and sentences are formed, what patterns do each form follow) and it gives me a deeper appreciation and understanding of the language.
Watching anime and movies, listening to music in Japanese
Another effective method of learning a new language is through watching TV shows in the language. This method helps you to be familiar with the pronunciation, the intonation, just like how the native speaker should sound. It also teaches you the various nuances of the language (e.g., slang, colloquial terms and basic expressions used in daily conversations and the contexts where you can use the forms) that you might not be able to learn easily from textbooks.
My method (this might not be advisable for others):
I watch anime and Japanese movies while I study. Although it would be difficult to read the subtitles while I am reading a book, the sound coming from the show helps me tune in. But most of the time, it keeps me distracted. If you’re not much of a multitasking person, you can also listen to songs in Japanese.
Using technology, e.g., mobile applications
Nowadays, there are a lot of mobile applications that are handy and can speed up learning a language. Below are some of the applications that help me learn Japanese.
Writing ひらがな and カタカナ mobile applications. These applications help you remember how to write the characters. They also come with mnemonics and pictures that enable you to better remember. They also have proficiency assessment tests so you can assess your learning. Google Translate Handwriting Mode. This mode of Google Translate is very useful in identifying the reading of a Kanji character. It allows you to draw on your screen and provides suggestions. Yomiwa/Imiwa? or Shirabe Jisho. Such applications function as a dictionary, and can you provide the different meanings of a Japanese character. It also shows you the proper strokes of writing a Kanji character.
4. Language Learning with Netflix and other related applications. If you have a Netflix account, a Google Chrome extension called Language Learning with Netflix can also help you learn the language. The application allows you to use subtitles in more than one language, for example, English and Japanese. Coupled with Google Translate, which I use to write the Kanji characters, the application can help you learn new forms if you have plenty of time. You can also choose Romaji if you’re not yet used to reading Japanese かな. There are also other applications that have the same function as the Language Learning with Netflix.
5. Duolingo and other language-learning applications. It is a language-learning application that allow beginners to practice different aspects of the grammar for 15-minutes or more daily.
Writing in Japanese
Aside from Writing class, I’ve already started using Japanese in writing my report and reaction papers for my Reading class. We were required to read a Japanese book every two weeks and write our impression about the story. Our teachers allowed us to use English but I’ve decided to write in Japanese. This helped me practice and remember かな and use new forms and vocabulary I acquired from the Integrated Grammar class. My 先生 was also very generous in correcting my mistakes. It boosted my confidence and motivation in learning the language.
The act of handwriting helps you better remember the Japanese characters. In my case, my hand have become familiar with the strokes and my eyes have become quicker in reading the characters. This also contributes to learning the language faster.
It is also the same with learning Kanji. The more often you write, the quicker you can memorize the characters. It is advantageous, especially in learning Kanji, because the characters have different reading, depending on how they are used. At first, I’ve tried to decipher the pattern but I’ve failed.
Conversing in Japanese
As a beginner, I didn’t have much confidence in my conversational skills in Japanese. But later on, as I have acquired more vocabulary and learned different forms and sentence structures, I have begun to converse with my fellow international students in Japanese. Even though I still make a lot of mistakes and forget the correct form, speaking Japanese is a practical way to immerse yourself and to assess that you, indeed, have learned the language. I’ve also attempted to hold conversations with my Japanese 先生 and other Japanese native speakers. I also talk to my friends who also went to Japan as exchange students.
My internship at an elementary school has also been a perfect opportunity for me to immerse myself in a Japanese-speaking environment. Currently, I’m following a Japanese Grade 1 class and I’ve been afforded a chance to converse and practice my Japanese speaking skills with Grade 1 students.
I came to Japan without formal knowledge of the Japanese language. After roughly five months, I still find myself wanting to learn the language. This desire intensifies as I’ve found myself often frustrated of not being able to read the signs and understand what the Japanese people are talking about. But this also motivates me to work hard and study more. | https://medium.com/@serkuyamhaws/surviving-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E-%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%91-2b49e0f9e756 | ['Mhawi Rosero'] | 2021-01-04 06:38:35.977000+00:00 | ['Duolingo', 'Japanese Language', 'Foreign Language Learning', '日本語', 'Japanese'] |
Time to Rest, Time to Energize for 2021 | Divergence and Convergence
Dear friends, I’m tired now. I have been in a cycle of 7 years divergence. I have broadened my scope and my view big time. Because I knew the puzzle pieces would only click in place for me if I would walk the most unconventional paths of all. I made my heart lead the way. She knew where I was going better than I did rationally myself.
My next 7 years will be about convergence. I will focus my mind on what I want to create in the world. My path. My passion. The regenerative future for our grandchildren by creating as many wise lakes as possible and making broad rivers of honest conversations flow between them.
I go silent now for a bit. In the coming weeks, you might see a poem here or there appearing from my hand. But don’t expect big explanations or solutions (yet). I have to marinate first to give them the impactful voice they deserve.
For now, I want to thank all my loyal readers. I’ll be back in the next year, don’t you worry. Also, I want to thank the editors of all publications that have expressed their confidence in me and my sometimes radical views of the future.
Thank you for accepting me as a writer, for publishing some of my stories, and for rejecting some of my other stories. It has sharpened my writing voice big time.
It has told me which publications will allow me to paint the full picture of the regenerative, flourishing future I see. A special mention here for Dr Mehmet Yildiz and his foresight to create Illumination, Illumination-Curated and Technology Hits with the visionary words: Diversity, Synergy, Fusion, and Serendipity.
And applause from me to all my sister- and fellow-editors who make these publications into the success they are now. These three pubs are very open to my sometimes too-far-ahead-of seeming-reality views. And they dare to dream with me of an impactful future.
Other publications are not that far yet, they are more stuck in the past.
When I write how the new, regenerative business models are void of the toxic triggers of scarcity, many people don’t believe me. But these business models with a heart already exist. And they will grow fiercely in the next decades
are void of the toxic triggers of scarcity, many people don’t believe me. But these business models with a heart already exist. And they will grow fiercely in the next decades Just ‘money as a goal’ and ‘scarcity to create value’ are no longer the future . But of course, when I write about that, not many business people and not many consumers are understanding what I say (yet). So I have to explain it even more clearly in the next years
. But of course, when I write about that, not many business people and not many consumers are understanding what I say (yet). So I have to explain it even more clearly in the next years A qualitative, systemic, and symbiotic view of science is still rare. Although it is growing. Building on the shoulders of the past generation of great scientists. In the future, scientists will use those tools instead of just leaning on the quantitative, measurable, reductionist parts they now adore so often
is still rare. Although it is growing. Building on the shoulders of the past generation of great scientists. In the future, scientists will use those tools instead of just leaning on the quantitative, measurable, reductionist parts they now adore so often Inspiration and freedom of choice will be the new marketing instruments . They will replace the practices of manipulation and pushiness that are now flooding the scene. Pull-marketing with a clear conscience. I see it happen in real business life. And it’s making companies that understand it grow faster than most
. They will replace the practices of manipulation and pushiness that are now flooding the scene. Pull-marketing with a clear conscience. I see it happen in real business life. And it’s making companies that understand it grow faster than most Technology that supports life and enhances health will be the innovations of the future. Low-tech will be accompanied by high-tech. Rational knowledge will accompany heart-and-soul-wisdom to create this technology
will be the innovations of the future. Low-tech will be accompanied by high-tech. Rational knowledge will accompany heart-and-soul-wisdom to create this technology Risk assessment and insurance will stop to keep us stuck in the past. They will learn how to use flow in their systems
will stop to keep us stuck in the past. They will learn how to use flow in their systems We will build new, decentral money systems with tokenization and energy supply, and regenerative soil. Many groups are already experimenting with a universal basic income for all in this way
with tokenization and energy supply, and regenerative soil. Many groups are already experimenting with a universal basic income for all in this way And politics, societies, and individuals will start to realize that there’s one truth only. We live as diverse humans on this beautiful planet called Earth and we have to create our future with the laws of nature, diversity, and inclusivity
As you can understand, my focus in the next years will be on the publications that allow these views to grow and help bring flow to the debate about why, how, and what.
I will remain a loyal fan and writer for the publications Activate the Future, Age of Awareness, Climate Conscious, Change Your Mind Change Your Life, Be Unique, The Environmental Reporter, Permaculture Women, Tiny Life Moments, and Weeds and Wildflowers.
You have a special place in my heart, you have built important communities, supported me all the way and I appreciate your guidance and trust in me! jenny andersson Stephen Muskett, M.S.Ed Sean Youra Danny Schleien Dr. Christine Bradstreet Abhay Salvi Saanya Khunger Winifred J. Akpobi Samuel Avraham Heather Jo Flores Keno Ogbo and Dennett. You all rock!
Furthermore, I want to thank all the other editors and pubs, and writers who have been my mirrors. Who challenged me to write poetry. Who have supported me when I was insecure about English as my second language. Who have cheered me on and have given me constructive criticism to hone my skills. Thank you all!!! I’ll write again in your pubs when I have enough time for it.
And I will, of course, now and then, feel the lay of the land in the big, more conventional pubs. The ones like The Startup, Better Marketing, The Ascent, Creative Cafe, P.S. I Love You, and The Writing Cooperative. You have accepted me as a writer, published my work occasionally, but more often told me my vision of the future and the actual happenings in the world was out of line. Not true at all! You could not publish these ‘far-form-reality’ dreams.
That’s okay. You gave me an important mirror. You told me what part of the story was already accepted for the conventional, narrow-minded reality of today. We’ll see how we relate to each other in the coming 7 years. But thank you anyway for your past (sometimes constructive) criticism.
More and more, people will become open to The Great Transition. The next seven years will be revealing a lot. I just hope that many people will find acceptance for diversity and serendipity in their hearts. And start contributing to the regenerative future we will all be creating together.
And all the while I’ll just be writing and doing. Dreaming of vast horizons. Landing on our harsh, current-day soil and having everyday conversations. I’ll tell you about the transition paths from the broken reality towards the regenerative future. And about the brave people, companies, and politicians that are already walking these untrodden paths.
My dear loyal readers, keep having active hope. We will build a new world together. I’m sure of it.
I’ll tag some of the names I’ve had personal contact with in the past 2 years on this platform. Trista Selma Elisabeth Amy Michele Rebecca Rebecca Zelam Dew Tree Agnes Agnes Jenine Adelia Kaia Yael Maria CR Annelise Nicole Caroline Melissa Charlotte Gurpreet Lanu Aurora Annick Neha Noma Sherry Paul Bill Kathryn Joe George Jessica B. A. Tony Rasheed Henery Chowa FILZA Cigdem Amber Julia Primavera 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 Simona Tamela Jayne Infiniti Russ Salam Ravyne Martine Fred Sinem umair Liam The Maverick Thewriteyard Stuart Maria Sumera Ntathu Arthur Britni Dipti Eliot Dr John Holly Salam Daniella Ryan Do The Green Helen Jo Ann Kevin Nicole Kim Priya J.J. Roz Jyssica Radha Upen Suzanne Tre René Terry Jill Eli Shin Karen ◦•●✿ Christina
If we did talk and you’re not on this list, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten you! Just reach out more often and as soon as I see your name, I’ll remember you. And we can take it from there and have some meaningful conversations again. I appreciate you all! Thank you for being on this journey with me!
Have a great time relaxing, recuperating, energizing, and spending time with your family and other loved ones for now. We’ll speak to each other in the new year. A new beginning awaits us…
Warm regards, Desiree. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/time-to-rest-time-to-energize-for-2021-89c159f5fd90 | ['Desiree Driesenaar'] | 2020-12-19 15:08:37.778000+00:00 | ['Innovation', 'Future', 'Regeneration', 'Science', 'Business'] |
My M1 MacBook Air Has Developed a Fault | My M1 MacBook Air Has Developed a Fault
I want to preface this by saying that I love my M1 MacBook Air. I absolutely love it.
But recently, it developed a fault.
A couple of nights ago, I noticed that there was a little alert listed under my battery percentage. It read “service recommended.” Now, I thought this was odd for a computer that was barely three weeks old.
I hadn’t experienced any unusual battery drain; in fact, the battery life of my M1 MacBook had been better than literally any other computer I’ve ever owned in my life. But it still was concerning to me that my computer thought there was a problem.
Ok, I want to pause here. Probably the first of many pauses or sidebars or amendments I’ll make in this story. I want to point out that despite my computer telling me there was an issue, I loved that my computer was telling me that there was an issue. I don’t recall any of my previous Windows laptops or Chromebooks ever once telling me to check the battery out. Even when it said it wasn’t working properly, I couldn’t help but love this computer.
My first thought, honestly, was that it was a Big Sur bug. I never once thought there was an issue with the battery itself, but rather that Big Sur thought there was a problem. But I didn’t want to bet my computer’s life on that theory, so I reached out to Apple support.
(And again… I loved that this was as simple as clicking on the battery alert… ok, enough gushing)
Apple’s Chat Support was quick to respond, and they took a look at my system information. According to my system information, I’ve only ever charged the laptop 9 cycles (it is rated for 1000). It said my Mac battery capacity was 100%, where any new battery should be. And right underneath that… Service Recommended.
Apple Support agreed with me; this brand new computer shouldn’t be having any issues whatsoever with the battery, and yet it was telling us that the battery needed servicing. And they agreed that it could be a software bug, but since it was such a new device on the market, we needed to have their engineering department look at the computer and pinpoint the cause of this issue. After all, it was better for me to fix it while it was still within the return window and under their warranty, rather than waiting and finding out there was a problem and having to use Apple Care to repair it down the road.
Ok, pausing again. I love how Apple’s support team is looking out for my best interests. A lesser company would probably have fought a little against replacing a brand new device. At the very least, I’m always prepared to fight for the servicing I need with many companies out there, but Apple always feels instantly ready and willing to help. There’s a reason why I am beginning to stick with their products.
The first recommendation was to take it into an Apple Store and leave the computer with the Genius Bar so they could look at it. Of course, we are in the middle of a pandemic and the holiday season, so this was easier said than done. We couldn’t find any available support appointments for the next week. And though I could keep checking, I decided it would probably be faster in this case- and safer for me- to mail the computer back to Apple for servicing.
The support agent agreed, however, since it was such a new device, she recommended instead that I just exchange it for a brand new computer. That way I didn’t have to wait for my computer to be examined and repaired, and I would have a fresh machine instead of one that needed to be repaired three weeks out of the gate.
I was connected to Apple’s Sales team to process the exchange. Here’s where I would have hit another roadblock with any lesser company. I was actually a few days past the return window for this purchase. But Apple once more worked their magic, and within a minute I had an email with a return label and a confirmation that a new MacBook Air would be sent to me once they received this one back. Huzzah!
There was only one thing left to do: remove my files. If you’ve read a lot of stories about the M1 MacBooks, you might know where this is going.
On the many Intel MacBooks that I looked at over this last year, cleaning the hard drive and reinstalling macOS was a fairly easy process. Granted, it wasn’t as straight-forward as it is on other devices- Windows, Chrome OS, and even Apple’s own iOS allow you to reset the device and clear off your crap with just a few clicks. On a MacBook, you have to reboot in recovery mode, erase the hard drive, and then finally reinstall macOS.
Again, that’s how it works on an Intel MacBook. I learned quickly that this isn’t so on the new M1 variant. Firstly, the function of restarting the computer and then holding Command+R to inter recovery mode did absolutely nothing. Instead, you have to hold down the power button while it boots up. Once there, Recovery Mode looks familiar but apparently doesn’t act the same. I clicked on my hard drive, clicked “Erase” and… nothing. Not “nothing” as in there was nothing on my hard drive after that- this was “nothing” as in nothing happened.
Once more, I turned to Apple Support, and they were able to quickly walk me through clearing off my hard drive properly. But we both became stumped when it would not allow me to install Big Sur again- it seems that in clearing my hard drive, I also cleared out my authorization to make changes on the computer; in short, my password no longer meant anything to the computer because that, too, was deleted. After a few more minutes of troubleshooting- including allowing the support agent access to my iPad so he could see my computer screen using the tablet’s camera, we came up with nothing. This time, that meant there was “nothing” on the computer and also “nothing” coming to mind on how to fix it.
In short: do NOT follow the Intel MacBook steps to erase and reinstall macOS on an M1 computer, because you’ll be left with a beautiful, expensive paperweight.
This would likely not have been the end; had I only been trying to reset the computer, I would at this point have probably been directed to take it in for servicing; ironic, since this is how the whole thing started. And certainly, Apple technicians would have either found a way to reinstall macOS on this laptop or they would have replaced it for me. But since I was already on the road to exchanging the laptop anyway, Apple Support instead directed me to go ahead and mail back the paperweight and complete the exchange. The good news was that my files were definitely no longer accessible.
So now, I’m waiting. Through all of this, as I’ve said multiple times, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Apple’s willingness to help; even though my MacBook Air had a problem, I have no problem with getting another one from them. In fact, if anything, this experience has cemented me as a permanent Apple customer. It’s nice to know that their support team will work miracles to help.
I know that’s not everyone’s experience with Apple. But that’s been mine. Even before this, I have always loved that I can take my device to an Apple store for help if I need it. Their products are expensive, but I think a part of that cost is paying for the option to have experts at your fingertips when something goes wrong.
But I’m sure as hell going to put Apple Care on the new MacBook as soon as it arrives. Of course, I’m hoping I don’t have the same problem with the next computer, but I definitely want to make sure it is fully covered in the event this happens further down the road when I’m no longer under the protection of having just bought it. Likewise, I’m hoping- but not expecting- that Apple will be able to let me know what went wrong with this computer. I’m very curious to know if it was a bad battery or just a fault in the programming causing the “check engine” light to come on.
In any case, I felt it was important to share this experience since the M1 MacBooks are so new. For the most part, my MacBook Air worked just as I would expect any MacBook to work, and in most cases, it outran the Intel one I had earlier in the year. But we are definitely in uncharted territory, and I’m sure we’re going to be learning about any quirks of this new system over the next few months.
Until my new MacBook arrives, I’m stuck writing on the old Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 that originally prompted me to start looking for a new computer. It isn’t a bad machine… but it certainly is not a MacBook. | https://medium.com/@joshuabeckthewriter/my-m1-macbook-air-has-developed-a-fault-e82393ee2541 | ['Joshua Beck'] | 2020-12-11 03:10:12.168000+00:00 | ['Gadgets', 'Tech', 'Apple', 'Computers', 'Technology'] |
Extreme Abecedarian | Extreme Abecedarian
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
A
Boy
Called
David
Encouraged
Family
Going
Home
In
July
Keep
Learning
More
Now
Online
Preparing
Quizzical
Reading
Stuff
That’s
Used
Viewing
Xrays’
Yellow
Zones
Note: I challenge all of you out there to try to do your own Extreme Abecedarian. Good luck!
__________________
Thanks for reading. (Copyright Terry Mansfield. All rights reserved.)
Check out my online daily newspaper, “The Social Media Daily” (it’s free), and stay up-to-date on the fascinating world of Social Media, Marketing, and related topics.
These are my most popular pieces: | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/extreme-abecedarian-64b5184de7c3 | ['Terry Mansfield'] | 2021-02-18 10:05:54.793000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Abecedarian', 'Words', 'Letters', 'Poetry'] |
Game of Human | Book Review: The Ph.D. Grind | Recently I read the [The Ph.D. Grind: A Ph.D. Student Memoir](http://read.pudn.com/downloads796/doc/3141880/pguo-PhD-grind.pdf) by Phillip Guo. The book is a memoir about the six-year-long Ph.D. program of the author at Stanford University.
The author spent the first three years working on a project called Klee which he is not interested in at all and made no paper published about it. Later on, he explored based on his own interests in programming efficiency and built five different tools to improve programming efficiency, and finally combined these five projects into his dissertation.
In this memorial, the author reflects on his programs and talk about several useful tips and common properties about Ph.D. program and academia. Compared with the book The A-Z of the Ph.D. Trajectory, this book is more private and more emotional instead of only a reference book.
From my perspective, what impressed me most from the book is that we should remember that everyone in this academic game (advisor, professor, colleague, classmates..) is human-being instead of some academic/writing machine — — It is straightforward but ignorant easily. They have their own motivations or purposes. When the author tries to propel one project with his advisor, the project doesn’t align with the research field of his advisor. So though the advisor agreed with his proposal, the professor doesn’t so focus on this project which leads to the failure.
Another example is ‘Klee’ itself. The advisor of the author is tenured, which the advisor can take risks of making difficult and long-term projects. But the cycle of a Ph.D. program is pretty short, it can be dangerous for a student to devote to such a project with the risk of no output in five or six years. The inconsistency of the purposes of the advisor and students thus leads to the failure (drop) of the student.
The book is helpful also in many other aspects. The author talks about how the process of the publication of the paper and the process of the whole Ph.D. program from the view of a student. What’s more, the book discusses what we should do if some paper gets rejected.
The book is about the Ph.D. program in the computer science department, but it did show some common features of any Ph.D. program. And I’d like to recommend the book to any Ph.D. student. | https://medium.com/@wglite/game-of-human-book-review-the-ph-d-grind-ca89b2d56981 | ['Wei Guo'] | 2020-12-26 22:28:25.796000+00:00 | ['PhD', 'Book Review'] |
Dream’s to Never Wake Up To | (alarm blaring)
“Fuck”
(I snooze my alarm; 30 minutes pass)
(alarm blaring)
(turns off the alarm rolling over)
“Shit, what day is it?”
Pulling my phone closer to my face I know there’s nothing to look forward to today. Three emails, five texts, and one reminder: each is a reason not to get up. In addition I have class in 30 minutes and it’s a 45 minute commute to get to school. A list of excuses run through my mind. Covid-19? I got in an accident? My father isn’t doing well? I just wanted to find a way to patch this already broken day and move on.
“Here we go…” I mumble as a roll out of bed.
Once on my feet I realize that class was not an option for today. How many days have I missed? Six? I know there has to be some type of attendance policy, but I paid for this shit and it’s a pandemic. I always use phony justifications to cope with my problems in life or they’d accompany me forever. So, what’s the harm in a day off? Plus, if I take the day off, I can relax with a four hour gaming session.
“Siri, call Ke.”
“Calling Ke.”
Yaketsuku or Ke and I have been best friends since we were in grade school. Our relationship has always been unique as we are completely different, yet so similar at the same time. Over the years after high school we began to drift apart, each going our separate ways. He was never the school type, but I encouraged him to go to college regardless; instead, his passion resided in fashion. Creating a startup clothing business, he’s the type of person to jump into something without any prior knowledge and within seconds feel comfortable in that space. Despite having a ton of other friends, Yaketsuku was like blood to me, someone I wanted to be, but even more, he was someone I wanted to grow with. This is why, despite our distance, we never let anything falter our friendship. Gaming, dreaming, and weed were our main ways of connecting, and when they came, together we were an unstoppable force.
(I call Yaketsuku)
“Yoooooo, what’s good?” I ask.
“Shit, you know the vibes, hop online,” Ke replies.
“Bet, I’m already on,” I say.
“On my way,” Ke says before hanging up.
Grabbing hold of my controller I slide the headphones over my head. I feel the weight of the day wash away; it’s gaming time, and my character needs work.
(I enter the game chat)
“Whattssssss good, nigga? What are we getting into? I’m tryna catch some dubs,” I exclaim.
“Shut yo dumbass up, we all know you ain’t on shit,” Ke as laughter filled his voice
“You right, you right.”
“Swear, you ain’t got class today?”
“Not even bro, how about you?”
“Hell yeah I gotta log on now. This online shit is cake bro.”
“Yeah I don’t know about it, I miss the human interaction forreal I am struggling to find motivation.”
“I get that, bro, you be having your shit right regardless. Always on that nerd shit.”
His words cut deep as I know I barely got up for class at this point. My past actions have propelled me to heights I could never imagine, also serving as a double-edged sword bringing me lower than I have ever been. I was a living lie; I was a nerd that doesn’t even show up to class.
“Yeah bro, I be doing my thing.”
We game all day, letting the hours pass as if we’re kids over summer break; it’s the only thing that takes me away from the burdens of the day. By the time I look up at the clock it’s already 4:00 P.M. and I have yet to accomplish anything productive. I mean, I did get my character from level 45 to 50, but sadly in our society those are numbers to distract us from the ones that actually count. Whether it’s a percentage for a grade or the revolving check you get from selling your life, numbers dictate success. Success, the biggest burden which lay on my shoulders. It is what I always dreamed of as a kid and chased in my young adulthood. But to what end?
This means it’s time to get at it. With two quizzes and a project on the line, how else could this day get any better? | https://medium.com/@keyshawn62599/dreams-to-never-wake-up-to-898e56fed33c | [] | 2020-12-25 15:02:33.757000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Life Lessons', 'College', 'Life', 'Fiction'] |
On Writing & Publishing Anxiety | The next morning, I woke up feeling a slight pressure filling my chest.
I immediately recognized it. Hello, anxiety — my old friend. It’s been a while since I felt this way so I decided I would meditate. After a few moments, I had a small breakthrough: I’m feeling anxious because my work is published and I can’t delete it if I wanted to.
Now, hello to the perfectionist in my head.
With online posts, I can easily archive or delete them. I can’t ⎈⌘⌫ a printed book —and that lowkey freaks me TF out. But it’s not like that’s what I want. That’s just not an option for me. So if my work isn’t good enough, I can’t change it.
Right now, I have about 50 drafts on Medium. And while I write more than the average person, I think the fact that I always don’t share them, I’m struggling with the idea of my work is physically ✨ p u b l i s h e d ✨.
Do you understand what that means?
My words. My personal journey. P-R-I-N-T-E-D. In a book. With more than one copy. For thousands (if not, millions) of eyes to see.
As soon as I realized that, this is what I spiralled into:
Did I share too much?
Can the readers relate to it?
What will the biggest takeaway be for the readers?
Will my words have a positive impact?
Am I qualified to write about personal growth?
Does the chapter flow?
What do people who know me IRL really think?
I know. I know. I KNOW. Spiralling doesn’t solve problems. It’s also hard to stop it once you’re on a roll. But there are ways to slow your thoughts down:
Legit slow TF down. Reflect and release—doesn’t matter how you do it. I like to write them down like a letter to myself. Listen to feel good/meditative beats—or whatever makes you feel good. I help myself to a good serving of R&B/Soul. If this is a pattern, post kind reminders or keep a preventative routine for the next time that works for you. I’m still figuring this out. So far, I text/call a friend, vent and get it out of my system, and go back to #2.
I keep having to remind myself that there’s no right or wrong answer to any of the questions I obsessively asked myself.
Higher Me understands that it’s a matter of belief. Do I believe that my words will change someone’s life? Maybe eventually. Current Me believes a variety of things because nothing is certain and what is control? But taking a step back, I do believe that by owning my story, I’m taking my power back. I went through what I went through and that’s the truth. | https://medium.com/@anniengu/on-writing-publishing-anxiety-285cf6681ccf | ['Annie Ngu'] | 2020-12-25 18:25:51.111000+00:00 | ['Anxiety', 'Life', 'Writer', 'Storytelling', 'Authors'] |
Blogging Guide: Professional Advice To Help You Succeed With Blogging | Among the most well-known techniques to inform people about your own life is maintaining a weblog or blogging. Blogging may involve journal-like admissions about your lifetime, a topic you understand about, photographs or a mixture of all three. Keep reading to learn some excellent strategies to maintain your site participation to readers and possibly, make yourself a little cash.
Ensure you always post when conducting a site. If you do not post content frequently, then your website traffic will diminish relatively fast. Take a guest post or get info submitted, too, so your viewers can interact and supply feedback. In case your readers are pleased with your answer, they’re more inclined to return.
Produce a blogroll. Making such a list raises your site’s worth for readers since they might have the ability to find the content they could not locate on your blog. Should you use your site for promotion, a blogroll will also raise your credibility in the market.
After blogging, you need to ensure you create your RSS feed as straightforward as you can. You can’t expect different readers to locate it if it blends in with the text in your blog. That is why you need to set it in a prominent place on your site and attempt to create use of the orange RSS icon when possible.
You ought to be adding fresh content to your site daily. If you would like to maintain your website prominent with all the search engines, you should consistently post new entrances. Be sure that what you write is helpful, not only a great deal of fluff to state you made some entry.
Read Complete Article, Click Here. | https://medium.com/@onlinepixelz/blogging-guide-professional-advice-to-help-you-succeed-with-blogging-d797078a6028 | ['Rohit Kumar'] | 2021-04-26 04:27:59.643000+00:00 | ['Blogging Advice', 'Blogging Tips', 'Blogging', 'Blogging For Business', 'Blogging Competition'] |
The Curse of “Should” and What to Say Instead | I was sitting on my couch, indulging in some Black Raspberry Chip, watching the last episode of Tiger King (because I had to see what everyone else was talking about and then ended up rubbernecking the rest of it), when a thought popped into my head, I should really stop eating ice cream every night. The thought was all too familiar and, quite frankly, one I often ignore. I mean, it’s my life, my pint, right?
But then, in a moment of clarity, I asked myself why. Why is it that I should stop eating ice cream at night? Because it’s not healthy? Because it’s an unnecessary expense? Because it’s just too freaking cliché to sit on a couch in my underwear watching Tiger King? Quarantine or not, I was falling into a pit of self doubt. Here’s where I went wrong:
“Should” is a dangerous word and needs to be removed from our vocabulary effective immediately.
The word “should” implies that we’re supposed to be doing something other than what we’re doing right now; that whatever it is we’re currently occupied with is unworthy or meaningless. “Should” attaches itself to external motivations rather than encouraging a healthy relationship with your own needs. Lemme ‘splain.
When I said, “I should stop eating ice cream every night,” it wasn’t because I actually wanted to restrain myself from diving into the world’s tastiest ice cream. I promise you, I had no second thoughts about how much I was enjoying that. No, it was because I knew that eating ice cream wasn’t going to help me lose the extra pounds I feel compelled to shed for the betterment of my post-quarantine debut and, perhaps more importantly, my pants. That’s right, my brain suggested I stop eating ice cream every night because it was worried about one thing and one thing only: my appearance.
By saying “should”, I was reflecting what someone else might want for or expect of me, rather than what I genuinely wanted.
Look, social distancing is hard and COVID-19 has thrown us into some uncertain circumstances. I mean, I’m cooped up with a body builder who lives off of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. And let me tell you, my metabolism doesn’t work like his. Not even at half the pace. Plus, this has been quite an emotionally draining and at times stressful experience. So, yeah, I’ve put on a few pounds. And it sometimes feels like a slap in the face when I see myself in the mirror or try to stuff my thighs into leggings. But here’s the real truth behind why it hurts:
When all this is over, I presume that people are going to notice I don’t look the same, and whether or not it’s conscious, I assume they will judge me for it.
Let’s recap: the reason I dread seeing my reflection is because I’m worried about what other people will think when social distancing lifts and the world starts to function again. My fear is that I’ll be perceived as the girl who couldn’t keep her life together enough to make healthier choices. I’m assuming that to other people it will appear as though I did nothing for over a month but sit on my couch in my underwear eating ice cream. See where I’m going with this? The underlying reason for my “should” was anyone except myself.
I love what fitness, life, and food freedom coach Mik Zazon says about that totally normal beautiful extra bit of weight you might carry. “It’s your life. It’s the late night pizza with friends, your favorite memories, travel, and freedom.” It’s what happens when you’re living a life filled with the things that bring you joy. Even if what brings you joy is working out, we’ve all been here at one point or another.
These extra few pounds are the time I’ve spent decompressing from my otherwise chaotic and, honestly, overwhelming lifestyle. It’s eating regular, full meals rather than a granola bar (or, worse, nothing at all) on the run from one appointment to another. It’s the hours of writing and further development of my business, the lazy hours of watching Netflix to distract myself from how crushing the world can feel right now, and the quality time I get to spend with loved ones. It’s the evenings on my balcony, sipping a glass of wine, wondering what the world will be like when this is all over.
“Should” has a tendency to encourage us to forget about what makes us happy.
Right now, those extra few spoonfuls of ice cream and afternoon naps are bringing joy to my life. So are the evening walks with my boyfriend and the occasional run when I find the energy. Yes, everything in moderation, and life is about balance, but right now, if a little bit of Graeter’s adds enjoyment to my day, then to the freezer I go. Not to mention, that “should” is a pretty meaningless intention. More often than not, after we say we should be doing something, we say, “but it can wait,” or, “but it doesn’t matter right now.” Oh, you really think I was going to put down the ice cream after thinking to myself that I should? That’s cute.
Take a moment to think about something you regularly say that you should be doing. Is it something you want? Or is it what others want for or expect of you? Is it something that’s important to you? Or does it merely serve to present you in an ideal way to the rest of the world? But, more importantly, would the thing you should be doing actually make you happy?
Instead of “should”, try using one of the following:
“I want…”
“It is important to me that I…”
“I find value in doing…”
“It would be meaningful for me to…”
It will bring me joy to…”
This is not a time to inflict guilt for not doing the things you feel compelled to in the name of fitting in with, relating to, or impressing others. There is never a time for that, but especially not now. You are an incredible, beautiful, and worthy person who deserves to focus on the joy in your own life rather than compare to the joys of others. Just because your neighbor goes for a socially distant run, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with watching another episode of Tiger King. Your neighbor is not you, and you are not your neighbor. So, instead of “should”ing your way into doing something your neighbor might do, think about what would bring you joy and go do that, instead. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-curse-of-should-and-what-to-say-instead-d1564cc40fce | ['Erin O Neil'] | 2020-05-03 11:05:20.649000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Wellness', 'Self Talk', 'Covid 19', 'Self'] |
Выходные с книгой. Читаем | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/about-books-in-telegram/%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5-%D1%81-%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B9-%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%BC-e8ce7f0e3fba | ['Книжное Притяжение'] | 2020-12-27 15:42:27.270000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Telegram', 'Книги', 'Список', 'Lists'] |
Why Learn Spanish and How to Reach C1 Level? | Learn Spanish from Experts
Why learn Spanish?
450+ million people speak Spanish, the second most commonly spoken language worldwide after Chinese.
Spanish is the official language of 21 countries, including nations in Central & South America, Europe, and Africa.
Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language, so speaking it along with English & Chinese gives you the ability to do business almost anywhere in the world.
Have a unique advantage in the United States to access the Latino market by learning Spanish; the USA is home to over 40 million Spanish speakers.
Spanish is one of five romance languages, with linguistic similarities, learning another language like French or Portuguese will be easier.
Learn about Latin culture and gain a new perspective of the world and life.
Enjoy the Latin world’s diverse musical and theatrical entertainment industry, with top-selling movies and music from across the Hispanic world.
How to Reach C1 level in Spanish?
Based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), Helppo expects students would advance in the following way with a professional Spanish language tutor (on average, every student’s needs are different):
A1-A2: 40 hours of private classes.
B1-B2: 60 hours of private classes.
C1 and beyond: 20+ hours of private classes.
For Intermediate level students and beyond
If a student has already been learning Spanish, our experienced tutors will evaluate their skills and determine at what level to review and advance.
If a student has already been learning Spanish, our experienced tutors will evaluate their skills and determine at what level to review and advance. Lessons will include a mix of grammar, key phrases & vocabulary, reading & writing, and conversation practice.
Students at Helppo can benefit from practicing their Spanish skills with bilingual tutors (English & Spanish) based in Latin America or Spain.
Elementary & high school students can also get support with their Spanish homework and our teachers can adapt their curriculum to meet the student’s academic needs.
Take a Free 30 Minute Spanish Trial Lesson with one of our Awesome Helppo Tutors! What do you need to do? | https://medium.com/@helppoonlinetutorial/why-learn-spanish-and-how-to-reach-c1-level-7b1df65ecb95 | ['Helppo Online Tutorial'] | 2021-10-30 22:26:09.969000+00:00 | ['Learn Spanish', 'Online Tutoring', 'Spanish', 'Online Learning'] |
Getting Closer To Mega Project | There are many social issues that we are facing in our surroundings and I try to overcome these issues and link this issue too with my mega project problem. There are many topics in which we need to work for the betterment of society with the help of the people and government. My main focus is to select the topic which has a huge impact on the poor communities. I see many of the peoples cannot have enough money to buy food for in this situation. Shortage of food.
Problem statement.
In the recent situation of Pakistan in the pandemic, people have did not enough money to give the food to their children to fulfill their need for food and it is difficult for them to survive for the life
Problem Statement
It’s the greatest poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as …
Causes
In worldwide there are 821 million peoples is struggling on the daily basis for hunger every day. Many factors played the role in the creation of hunger worldwide. Poverty, Food shortages, War & conflict, Climate change, Poor nutrition, Poor Public Policy, Economy, and Food waste.
Shortage of Resources
Effects
When the children are hungry they increase the possibility of hospitalized for children and they face high risks of the health condition likes asthma and anemia. When the children grow up and do not get enough food to eat face problems in the disease of diabetes and high blood pressure which have an adverse effect on the overall health of the children.
Malnutrition
Solution
1. Creates more jobs, raises funds, and share the prosperity.
2. Improve government income-support programs for struggling families.
3. Target supports to especially vulnerable populations.
4. Work with states, and nonprofit organization to expand and improve the participation in the nutrition programs.
5. Make sure all families have convenient access to reasonably priced, healthy food.
Working together to reduce poverty and hunger
I believe this process helps me a lot in my satisfaction and achieve my determination towards goals. I feel happy to help someone in his difficult time. I shall be very thankful for Amal to providing me this type of the task in the mega project which helps me to experience the challenges which I face in the real life in future.
Thank you
Waiting for the feedback | https://medium.com/@adnan-shabbir177/getting-closer-to-mega-project-47808d09ca06 | ['Adnan Shabbir'] | 2020-12-25 13:10:23.929000+00:00 | ['Amal Academy', 'Amal Fellowship', 'Megaprojects'] |
Did Someone Say Rugby Sevens Analytics? | Our Mechanics
Automated Data Collection
(1) Identifying critical features from broadcast video.
Figure: Broadcast video frame (left) with YOLOv3 object detection (right)
YOLOv3, a well-known pre-trained machine learning model used for object detection, was used to identify key features from the broadcast video. This machine learning model can detect players on the field. YOLOv3 was select for its processing speed and high accuracy. YOLOv3 processes each frame of the video to capture each identifiable pre-trained class for ‘person’ and ‘sports ball’. OpenCV image processing records the X-Y coordinates of each ‘person’ and ‘sports ball’ class identified by YOLOv3, as illustrated in the figure above. The X-Y coordinate is translated onto the orthogonal rugby view (as seen in the figure below). However, translating the points from the ‘broadcast frame’ to the orthogonal view requires understanding the x,y coordinates relative to the entire rugby field, i.e. not just the camera frame of reference. Step 2 will explain how to determine the location on the field that the camera is looking at.
Figure: Top-down orthogonal Rugby field view
(2) Deciphering current zoom and pan angle of the stationary broadcast feed.
We implemented a novel approach to determine the field of view of the stationary camera. A trained custom classifier, using a deep learning neural network, was deployed to predict the field of view of the stationary camera independent of the zoom and pan angle of the broadcast camera. To train the classifier to recognize the location the camera is looking at, requires generating a series of image clips labeled with the x,y coordinates on the field.
To generate a dataset for training a panoramic image covering all angles of the broadcast camera is needed. This panoramic photo is constructed manually by stitching individual frames from the broadcast video together to create a complete panoramic view of the field. The image is then processed manually using ‘photo-shop’ techniques to remove all the players from the field. The result is a 1280x720-pixel panoramic image used to generate image clips for training purposes. We generated 48,343 image clips for training/validation and 4,790 in the test dataset.
Figure: Panoramic photo divided to create training data for image classifier (not-to-scale, for illustrative purposes)
(3) Translating broadcast feed into 3D space, applying geometric projection and translation to map the points on orthographic field projection.
Once we understand the bounds that the camera is looking at, we need to map the coordinate on the panorama to the rugby field using a mathematical operation. The mathematical formula reprojects the points from the panoramic view to the orthogonal view, as illustrated below.
Figure: panoramic view to an orthogonal projection
(4) Extracting actions from the points on the map orthographic view (Tagging Model)
With points, players, and ball tracking in each frame, rule-based logic determines potential actions to tag. Our implementation included a single rule to tag ‘try automatically.’ This rule used the x,y coordinates of the players to detect crossing the try line and automatically record a ‘try’. Because we had difficulty tracking the ball, we assumed any player crossing the ‘try-line’ was doing so to score a try.
Additional rules can be implemented, and also other classification algorithms could be developed to tag all potential actions; these are areas for future development. Because we were only able to extract a single action from the dataset, we used Rugby Canada’s manually collected dataset as a substitute for automatically collected data to build sports AI models.
Machine Learning Models
In-Game Win-loss model
An in-game win-loss model was created to predict a win or loss at any point during gameplay. The model can predict the win probabilities of team Canada throughout the game and assist in coaching strategies to effect team wins. To train this model, we used play-by-play data from Rugby Canada. The input features included: scoring timeline, number of seconds elapsed in the game, home team score, away team score, and opposing team name. The trained Random-forest model accuracy was 85%.
The model was operationalized as an interactive widget in Jupyter Notebooks that could be used by Rugby Canada analysts.
Figure: Example insights from in-game win/loss model “CAN vs USA”
Game win-loss models
The game win-loss probability models were the primary tool for us to extract KPIs, understand trends, and draw insights on what helps the Canadian Rugby team win games. We started with understanding the features by visualizing game stats based on collective team summary statistics (such as line-break involvement, tackles, and conversions) and results. We used logistics regression and xgboost to predict the probable outcome of each game. We performed hyperparameter tuning with 5-fold cross-validation, using gridsearch and random search to extract the best predictions. To interpret the results and understand feature importance, we used logistic regression as our primary model output. We were able to achieve 85% accuracy, an 86% f1 score.
Based on the model coefficients, we identified six main features that affected team Canada’s game outcome.
We explored odd ratios and log-odds (evidence) to interpret the results. We decided to use evidence to calculate results as we can add up all the variables and understand how much evidence we have. For example, if the action X coefficient is +5.8, this will equal 25.1 of evidence towards action X effecting team wins.
As an expanded step, we added the players and created a new model that combined all player-action features into one dataset. To ensure we give higher weighted importance to players playing against higher-ranked teams. We created an adjusted game stats dataset that multiplied each game stat by the opposition team’s degree of difficulty. The degree of difficulty is based on the opposition teams’ overall win% in rugby world seven tournaments. For example, if an opposition win percentage is 82%; all game statistics against this team will be multiplied by 1.82.
Using this dataset and through feature engineering, we created over 600 variables, but through correlation checks, elimination of low variance features, outliers, high missing value features, and excluding any limited minutes players. We were able to reduce the dataset to 282 features.
The same approach was used to extract predictions and results, as mentioned above. We were able to achieve accuracy and an f1 score of 76%. Again, the logistics regression model was the chosen model to interpret results, and evidence was used to calculate the player-action effect on team wins. Summary statistics by player, visualizations of player-action evidence were extracted to understand each player-action’s overall importance on effecting the game outcome. Based on the total combined evidence, we were able to rank the Canadian rugby players based on their overall results combining positive and negative impacts. These sports analytics models helped understand the role and impact of having a player on the field beyond his number of involvements (tackles, tries scored, etc.).
Player Clustering Model
To understand the similarities between players. We used average per game adjusted action stats, combined with individual players’ roster metrics such as height, weight, and speed. We used unsupervised machine learning to cluster players into groups. Using A Centroid model (K-Means), we checked the manual elbow method to get the lowest inertia score (how far data points within a cluster are far away from each other), equal to 51.4. The highest silhouette score (how far the data points of one cluster are from datapoints of another cluster), equal to 0.2. We were able to cluster the Canadian Rugby team into five main groups. Based on a small sample size of 20 players, the differences in data points between clusters are 20–50%. We were able to derive key insights that can segment players into groups based on speed, defensive, and offensive actions. This clustering model will also help identify where new players are most similar to veteran players and where they fit within the team.
Player Action Combination Model
Although we looked at individual player action impact from our win-loss probability model, we want to understand how players interact with each other in different combinations on the field. Finding out who operates better as pods in matches against varying opposition; will assist the coaching staff in recognizing how interactions between players’ actions affect the game outcome. The player action combination model was built using the same adjusted data used for the win-loss probability model. To fit the data into a market basket analysis approach, we transformed the player-action stats per game into four categories, no action, low, medium, and high. The transformed stats are based on the 40th and 80th percentiles of each action variable. For example, any player action stat higher than zero and lower than the 40th percentile is considered low. The new dataset was divided into a team win and team loss datasets. Each dataset was encoded to fit into the association rules learning algorithm (Apriori) and a minimum support threshold of 6%, we were able to generate a 5000+ set of interactions. We analyzed the players’ action interaction based on how likely a players’ action occurs based on another player’s action (Confidence) , how frequent players’ actions occur together (Support), as well as the degree of association between actions (Lift). | https://medium.com/swlh/did-someone-say-rugby-7s-analytics-e2b6e6c9e123 | [] | 2020-12-02 02:46:33.779000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Sports Analytics', 'Predictive Analytics', 'Computer Vision'] |
Can I make a living trading forex? | Yes, of course!
Forex is a place where traders can speculate and earn money on price movement. Forex is a job absolutely the same as other jobs, IMHO.
Let’s compare Forex trader with cashier in the store, bank employee, and forwarder in a logistics company:
Beginner who wants to work as a cashier will have to learn how to use cash machine, count money and customer communication, only 3 main functions. It will take not more than 1–2 weeks to become good cashier in a store. It will bring money for living. Beginner who wants to become bank worker will have to be familiar with financial sphere, probably pass banking courses, work with specific computer programs, be ready to communicate with customers, and work with money. Become good bank employee will take some weeks. The higher position in the bank, more need to learn and know. It also will bring money for living. Beginner who wants to be a forwarder in a logistics company, will have to do more functions. As minimum need to learn information from Internet or pass some courses — to understand how logistics works, etc. Then it is necessary to start communicating with customers, offer good services conditions, provide specific information about cargo, documentation and so on. It will take some months to become advanced worker in this profession. It will bring money for living as well. FOREX — Beginners who want to become successful Forex traders and earn money for living will have to:
MAIN rule — don’t expect that Forex will bring you profit when you start trading, so you have to get somewhere money for living, while you are learning Forex and reach the point when Forex brings you amount of money that is comfortable for living.
learn Forex information by their own, searching it in Internet, watch some courses, or visit a local city Forex courses. Everyone choose his or her own learning method.
Practice trading on Forex terminal that you chose. I recommend to practice on demo account, so you could increase your trading skills and experience without spending money.
Find or build your trading method that will have loss-profit ratio as minimum 1:1+, so you could get more profit rather than loss.
After you reach the aim for getting more profit than loss, you move to real account and start trading.
Strictly follow your trading strategy rules, don’t trade on emotions, and control money management. In a result Forex trading will bring you profit for living.
Some traders are fast learners and start trading Fore after several months, but some learn slowly and it can take years. Don’t give up, and always go forward.
You can see now that any job you would do, need to learn, and every profession need different information and time for learning. In any profession you will earn money for living.
So, Forex can also bring you profit for living, everything depends on you.
Wish you to be independent Forex trader!
Hi Trader,
Please take some time to view myfxbook.
Demo account been running non stop for 12 months averaging 20% a month.
http://www.myfxbook.com/members/Virtuo/mt4-vit-demo-01/3287325
Live account had been running for 7 months averaging 19% a month.
http://www.myfxbook.com/members/Virtuo/mt4-vit-01/3287333
Price .
The price is 500 usd this includes the EA and my personal set files for 5 pairs which is all you need to make 10%-20% a month. | https://medium.com/@dubsment/can-i-make-a-living-trading-forex-b116ae3399f | ['The Dubsment'] | 2019-07-10 07:49:01.004000+00:00 | ['Trade', 'Forex'] |
Certain Poor Shepherds | Through streetlamp pools,
and snowflake swarms,
glide numb and frigid feet.
Green glow of yule,
red blossom bows,
warm carols ringing sweet.
Just off the main,
down alleys dark,
the burg’s forgotten souls
lie huddled in
their wraps too thin,
adrift in tides of cold.
No shopping rush,
no trimming scene,
no pageant breaks the drone.
But steady howl
and longest night
creep closer to the bone.
Joy to the World
belongs to those
tucked inside chapel doors,
away from grime,
stiff matted hair,
and seeping, stinking sores.
Yet hope resides
in kettle plinks,
those heralds of goodwill.
Word spreads the news
of place and time
where one may have their fill.
The morn arrives,
the kind hearts flock
to set the feast in place.
Two strange worlds meet
o’er tables full
for first time face to face.
Let not those eyes
escape our minds
so often hid from sight;
take them with you
as you head home;
think of them christmas night. | https://medium.com/@aarondebee/certain-poor-shepherds-d603ca8700dc | ['Aaron Debee'] | 2020-12-20 22:00:15.349000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Humanity', 'Poverty', 'Poetry', 'Christmas'] |
Building a Brand’s Real-Time Social Strategy | As a relatively new medium, social media is a world where platform features, public usage, and platform popularity change in an ever-revolving, neck-breaking pace. In order to adapt to this unstable environment, it is necessary for social managers to continuously update their social strategies every few weeks to ensure that they are optimizing their content’s potential on social.
One strategy though, that has remained relatively constant in this space, is real-time social content.
Why bother?
Developing a real time social strategy can greatly benefit your brand by:
Improving Brand Presence
Reaching a Greater Audience
Raising Page Engagement
Potential for Earned Media (PR/Buzz/Mentions )
Developing Brand Personality
Staying Relevant
So what should be your RTS (real-time strategy) plan of attack?:
Step 1: Understand your Audience
Regardless if you’re creating a plan for always-on content or RTS, a precursor to every social strategy should be a good foundation of data. Working with your analytics team, identify who’s engaging with your content to create a snapshot of your engaged social community. After identifying your most engaged audience, expand your research to further understand their social behavior, likes/dislikes, and lifestyle. This can help focus the range of trending topics and events that would feel authentic to the brand and in turn positively resonate with your audience.
Step 2: Create a Cultural Calendar
After identifying your engaged audience’s social behavior, map out key holidays and events relevant to your brand to form a cultural calendar. These dates can be broad (i.e Christmas, Mother’s Day, Fourth of July) to more brand specific (i.e National Gym Day). Get creative! The more unique your holiday is to your audience, the better.
Extra Points: When engaging with highly celebrated holidays, add paid promotion to your posts to give your content an extra push to stand out from the rest of the brands who are also trying to take advantage of the same holiday/topic.
Step 3: Be Proactive.
Plan social content around relevant moments.
Use your cultural calendar as a checklist of potential opportunities for your brand to pre-plan posts that are relevant to the holiday/topic. Doing so gives you more time to creatively ideate and better flesh out awesome social ideas that, when executing, still feels timely and relevant. Use this pre-planning stage to also ensure that your content’s legal and brand approvals are confirmed so you can ensure that your content is as timely and relevant as possible.
*Extra Points: For high profile events like the Super bowl, consider simultaneously having legal, creatives and strategy in one room during the event to quickly take advantage of any pop-up opportunities to integrate your brand into trending social conversation.
Step 4: Be Reactive and Flexible.
Stay alert and look for social opportunities.
As comprehensive as the cultural calendar is, not every trend, news story, and platform update can necessarily be planned for. Knowing this, use some time in the morning to do a sweep of trending topics, social conversations, news stories, and what brands are posting in your competitive set to ensure that you’re not missing any opportunity to post something related and timely. Afterwards, periodically check on trends throughout the day and stay attentive as missing out on inserting yourself in a blatantly related trending topic can have repercussions as well (i.e don’t end up like Red Lobster.)
Step 5: Be Authentic.
Remember to keep the “social” in social media.
One thing that I’ve seen brands forget to do on social, is the need to be “social”. When developing your RTS, remember that these social channels should not be an exact extension of your print/tv/traditional executions but instead an opportunity to integrate a more personal, consumer facing version of your campaign. A study done by Forbes in conjunction with Elite Daily echoes this need for an authentic voice by showing how Millennials value authenticity as more important than content, with roughly 43% of millennials ranking authenticity over content when consuming news. (link)
Step 6: Optimize
Develop learnings to help guide, focus, and improve your brand’s future real-time social strategy. During your reporting cycle, work with your analytics team to pull insights on how your real time content performed.
Questions to ask yourself include:
What audience did my RTS posts reach?
How did they perform against your brand’s always on content?
Did my target audience positively engage with the content?.
What worked/didn’t work?
Keep in mind that real time content won’t always yield amazing results. Regardless, these learnings are vital to understand how to better improve your later RTS strategies. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the one writing an article on RTS strategies in the future. | https://medium.com/comms-planning/how-to-improve-your-brands-real-time-social-strategy-198f26d2910b | ['Errol Villasanta'] | 2016-04-27 00:45:34.362000+00:00 | ['Advertising', 'Social Media', 'Social Media Strategy'] |
no. 20 — Survival Sounds by Rubblebucket | Rubblebucket brings pure fucking joy wherever they go. I’m not kidding. I have never been sad at a Rubblebucket concert, and I have been sad at a lot of shows. The first time I saw them live was also the first time my family and I smoked weed together. We all went to the Green River Festival in Massachusetts, where Rubblebucket was headlining. This is a very classic Pioneer Valley festival, so I had a lot of friends who were also there with their parents. It was just past dark, my family and I huddled in a little grove of trees and shared our first bowl[1], but certainly not our last. After smoking together, I decided I actually did not want to be high around my parents just yet, so I went off to find my friends at the front of the crowd waiting for the set to start.
It was fucking bonkers. Rubblebucket puts on a great show. The lights, the balloons, the horns, the choreographed dances, the audience participation, it all filled my heart so much I thought it would burst[2]. This album is called Survival Sounds, but it does more than survive. This album creates space for thriving. The lead singer wrote most of these songs as she underwent chemotherapy, lending these songs a deeper undertone of gratitude that radiates outward to whoever listens.
The next time I saw them live was in Baltimore. None of my friends would commit to going to the show with me, and I was about to go alone until my roommate decided to join. It was just the two of us in the crowd at the Ottobar, and the whole audience danced together in such a communal, lovely way, that I forgot where I was. Rubblebucket has the ability to transport you out of whatever environment or mood you came into the show with. After, I felt so much closer to the roommate who came with me. I honestly felt like we had gone through some kind of life-changing acid trip together, despite the fact that we were very sober[3].
The most recent time I saw them, I convinced my boyfriend to drive up to Massachusetts for a festival Rubblebucket created. The lineup had enough bands we loved to make it worthwhile, and my sister and family friend Helen[4] had a booth selling their jewelry and ceramics, so we got to hang out with them between sets. We were both tired and grumpy from a long day in the heat, but I convinced James to stay on his feet for their set. His face as all the balloons and confetti and pure energy surged through the crowd was proof that it was worth the wait.
I really suggest you listen to this band whenever you need a boost, and whenever the world can accommodate touring again, do everything in your power to see them live. It’s a pure, life-affirming experience that this short essay can’t do proper justice in describing. “Sound of Erasing” and “My Life” are my favorite songs on this album. “Came Out Of A Lady” on their earlier album Omega La La is also a deep classic.
Listen to this album here
[1] In college, when I accidentally left this bowl in a dining hall and Public Safety confiscated it, I asked for it back citing it as a “family heirloom”. I don’t think I was wrong, but they did not give it back.
[2] Pardon the cliché, it’s just true
[3] Not to be one of those people who are like “you don’t need drugs to get high!!!!” cause that’s a high horse I do not ride on
[4] Go look at my sisters handcrafted jewelry here and Helen’s beautiful ceramic pieces here | https://medium.com/@jennasylvester/no-20-survival-sounds-by-rubblebucket-8ba232af39c6 | ['Jenna Sylvester'] | 2020-12-07 01:53:53.932000+00:00 | ['Album Review', 'Nonbinary', 'Music', 'Live Music', 'Personal Essay'] |
Happy Birthday My Babydoll | POETRY| BIRTHDAY | HAPPINESs
Happy Birthday My Babydoll
Your mom loves you mostest
Credits – Image by Author.
Twenty Five years ago
You came into this world,
My pretty little baby,
Adorable precious doll.
We clicked the moment we met,
Just like my first sight of you
when I held you in my arms.
You reflected love right from the start,
Thus each year by year you have captured my heart,
With you from the Start entertainment is just beginning,
As we know in our life you add all the grinning.
The way you hold our hearts in your palm…is the best thing ever,
And when there is the time you believe in something, you take a firm stand,
As you know you want to do it first hand,
Because You are a stunner whose beauty’s been evident from the start…
But do you know my baby doll what I’m most proud of?
It’s your nature and what’s in your heart.
As your mom, I can try to count all the things you have done,
counting from start to finish – one after the other,
but it’s not just your talents my babydoll,
It’s all about the way that you shine,
even though I’m constantly boasting; the fact that you’re all mine…
You are our heart and the faith that we share,
it’s the way that your jokes make one cry with laughs, and so does all your care,
It’s your kindness and love that you have towards others,
That makes me so proud that I am your mother!
And so as I sit through all these memories today,
trying to wish you Happy Birthday in “my” own little way
I marvel at it all…as I know in the end,
Twenty-five years ago, I gave birth to my very own Best Friend! | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/happy-birthday-my-babydoll-6cf65be673a8 | ['Geetika Sethi'] | 2020-10-21 18:06:31.054000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Daughters', 'Memories', 'Family', 'Love'] |
Twisted Winter Air | Fiction writer. Coffee enthusiast. Writer of romance, mystery, and humor. Discover more at Patreon.com/danleicht and DanLeicht.com
Follow | https://medium.com/the-coffee-pot/twisted-winter-air-b99028f2086 | ['Dan Leicht'] | 2020-10-26 12:42:05.358000+00:00 | ['The Coffee Pot', 'Poetry', 'Haiku', 'Poem', 'Winter'] |
Manhattan housing market is coming back this holiday season | Via Pinterest
Manhattan’s sales and rental markets are making up for the pandemic slowdown with some hyperactive activity in the last days of 2020.
According to a new UrbanDigs report, Manhattan’s sales and leasing activity is picking up and remains elevated over the same week in 2019, an indication that the suppressed demand is being released.
The report finds the number of new sales contracts increased again for the third week in a row. The number of deals, 238, is a 26 percent increase over the same week last year. In fact, the report finds the number of contracts signed for fall 2020 has already eclipsed fall 2019.
Deal activity is increasing into the holiday season, suggesting that the typically quiet weeks of late December and early January may be unexpectedly busy. New listings continued to fall in anticipation of the upcoming holidays.
In the Manhattan rental market, new signed leases increased 16 percent over the previous week. Renters are looking for deals in the normally quiet late fall. The number of new rental listings dropped, and landlords may opt to hold some listings back for the more robust spring season. | https://medium.com/@beatriznyc/manhattan-housing-market-is-coming-back-this-holiday-season-3f932b1ea402 | ['Beatriz Moitinho'] | 2020-12-22 19:42:07.394000+00:00 | ['NYC', 'Holidays', 'Real Estate', 'Real Estate News', 'Nyc Real Estate'] |
Microstrategy Buys More Bitcoin, Now Holding 124,391 BTC | Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy has bought more bitcoin for its corporate treasury. The latest purchase for 1,914 coins has raised the company’s total cryptocurrency holdings to 124,391 bitcoins. CEO Michael Saylor recently said that he expects the price of the cryptocurrency to eventually reach $6 million.
Microstrategy Has Purchased More Bitcoin
The pro-bitcoin Nasdaq-listed company Microstrategy has purchased 1,914 more BTC. With the latest purchase, the company now holds 124,391 bitcoins. Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor announced Thursday via Twitter:
Microstrategy has purchased an additional 1,914 bitcoins for ~$94.2 million in cash at an average price of ~$49,229 per bitcoin.
“As of 12/29/21 we hodl ~124,391 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.75 billion at an average price of ~$30,159 per bitcoin,” he detailed.
The price of BTC fell slightly Thursday. At the time of writing, it is hovering at about $47,398 after losing 1.4% over the last 24 hours. At the current price, Microstrategy’s BTC stash is worth about $5.9 billion.
The pro-bitcoin CEO of Microstrategy personally owns about 17,732 BTC. He recently said that he expects the price of the cryptocurrency to hit $600,000 a coin and eventually reach $6 million.
Saylor repeatedly said that bitcoin will replace gold. “Once upon a time, gold was the most desirable store of value. Now bitcoin is taking its place,” he tweeted earlier this month. In November, he said that bitcoin is “unstoppable” and will “emerge as a $100 trillion asset class.” Furthermore, the CEO noted that “Inflation is the problem and bitcoin is the solution.”
What do you think about Microstrategy buying more bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. | https://medium.com/@bitcointidings/microstrategy-buys-more-bitcoin-now-holding-124-391-btc-6ca19eef96c8 | [] | 2021-12-31 00:44:31.028000+00:00 | ['Corporate Treasury', 'Featured', 'Bitcoin Investing', 'Buying Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin Purchase'] |
New for Agents: ListPacks®, Premium Shareables, ListReports LIVE, and more! | New for Agents: ListPacks®, Premium Shareables, ListReports LIVE, and more!
From ListPacks® to ListReports LIVE and more, you won’t want to miss this update on our newest features for agents.
ListPacks®
Instantly share curated, customizable collections of listings on social media or directly with your buyers.
Capturing new leads has never been easier, or more delightful. With just a few clicks, agents can now share beautiful “packs” of listings with their buyer community.
Choose from pre-made categories such as “Homes with pools” and“Single-level homes”, OR set simple preferences to create your own custom ListPacks.
Everybody enjoys looking at homes — serious buyers and lookie-loos alike. ListPacks® provide consumers a truly differentiated experience with unique features including our interactive neighborhood infographics. Even better, each listing prominently displays your contact info, keeping viewers tightly connected to you when they’re ready to express interest in a particular property.
Ready to get started? Click here to start sharing ListPacks® now! | https://blog.listreports.com/new-for-agents-listpacks-premium-shareables-listreports-live-and-more-c62bb0a4816 | ['Ryan Terrigno'] | 2021-06-14 18:14:58.591000+00:00 | ['Real Estate', 'Startup', 'Tech', 'Technology'] |
Letters to My Younger Selves | Letter to Myself at 19
Dear Sweet, Naïve Danika,
Take a breath and just listen: Stop judging people. Just stop that shit right now!
That book you read and those teachings you’ve embraced — they weren’t meant to be used to show the world and the heavens that you’re better than others.
Or maybe they were. Damned if I know.
But one thing I do know for sure is that in one year you’ll learn, in the hardest way possible, that your belief that girls who get themselves in trouble deserve the consequences is absolute and utter bullshit. Figuring this out will almost kill you.
Obviously, you will survive, but the sooner you can embrace and practice both compassion and self-compassion the happier you’ll be.
Letter to Myself at 29
Dear Self-loathing Danika,
Have you forgotten what I told you at the end of the letter I sent you when you were 19? Apparently, you have so I’ll tell you again: Practice self-compassion.
It sucks that all the specialists, with all their tests, say you’ll never be able to have a baby. Being told you’ll never carry a fetus past three months sucks. Grieve that, but stop believing that your infertility issues are a direct result of what happened when you were twenty. The self-loathing is unproductive and desperately misguided.
Listen carefully: This is not God punishing you.
And guess what? All those doctors were wrong. So don’t give up your apartment because three weeks before you’re meant to leave for a year in West Africa, working with OXFAM, you’ll learn that you’re three months pregnant and six months after that you’ll have no more reason for self-loathing — but lots of reasons to question experts!
Letter to Myself at 39
Dear Dumbass Danika,
I’m sorry, but I can’t stop laughing at you. What were you thinking? First off, encouraging your husband to have an affair? Really, how did you expect that would end? I know, I know, little miss Pollyanna, poly-danika thought you could have the best of all worlds. Of course, it won’t work out the way you expect but the lesson comes from what you do next. That’s why I’m writing to you.
Get this through your thick head: Age forty is not your Best Before Date.
Seriously…you’re smarter than buying into that whole pop culture BS that you’ll be undatable, unlovable and unfuckable the day you hit forty… so give yourself some time to grieve the end of what was a pretty good marriage.
And, no, three weeks is not enough time after a fourteen-year relationship. Dr. Phil was right on this one, as much as you’ll hate to admit that.
What you’ll be happy to know is that you don’t need a man to survive. You’ll rock the whole single mom thing. And you’ll kick-ass as a fully financially and emotionally independent woman once you give yourself a chance to try.
But still, I have to remind you about this little-not-little thing called self-compassion? You’re a smart woman, but Jesus, you can be a dumbass, sometimes. Take your own advice and practice some self-love. Please. This is getting boring.
Letter to Myself at 49
Took you long enough! I was starting to wonder if you’d ever get here.
Enjoy the next fifty years! You’ve earned it. | https://medium.com/love-and-stuff/letters-to-my-younger-selves-1207585f8929 | ['Danika Bloom'] | 2020-04-29 18:03:41.344000+00:00 | ['Ideas', 'Humor', 'This Happened To Me', 'Advice', 'Life Lessons'] |
Is DeFi Addicted to Clones? | Imitation is nothing new. Animals use it for survival, artists wield it for inspiration, and businesses rely on it for success. It is particularly prevalent in technology, and the crypto space is no exception. Since Bitcoin’s creation, developers have tried to copy and improve upon the original idea, and we can partly credit blockchain’s prosperity to those who believed in the idea and set out to make it better. But if imitation is the highest form of flattery, crypto must be among the most sycophantic arenas in the world.
Some of the earliest Bitcoin clones include Litecoin and DOGE, which both copied Bitcoin’s architecture and tweaked it ever-so-slightly (commonly referred to as “forks”). There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, and it can make crypto really fun. Forks have also contributed to the overall health and growth of the space by building communities and empowering individuals. However, DeFi seems to have an obsession with imitation, and it may be hurting investors in the long run.
Watching the advent of new ideas is one of DeFi’s most exciting aspects, and 2020 has been a wild year in that regard. The emergence of protocols like Uniswap, YFI and Ampleforth has challenged our assumptions about how finance works. Unfortunately, these pioneering concepts have led to hundreds of copycat projects who might not have your best interests at heart. Today, we’re going to discuss why new ideas in DeFi are worth researching, but how to avoid getting caught in the hype and losing.
Reflection or saturation?
One of the trendiest DeFi projects lately has been reflect.finance (RFI), which achieves “frictionless” liquidity mining by taxing every buy and sell transaction and distributing it back to token holders. In other words, you don’t have to do anything except hold the token to receive your rewards. Your share is sent directly to your wallet, cutting out the need for adding liquidity or staking tokens. It’s a clever way to streamline the process, but there are some caveats.
First of all, projects like RFI wither if there’s low volume; low volume means fewer transactions, and fewer transactions mean less tax generation. When token holders realize that the value is going down and the tax isn’t offsetting their losses, an exodus occurs. Some projects have tried to solve this by only taxing sell-side transactions (thereby encouraging people to hold) or by sending a portion of the tax back into the liquidity pool to increase its size. In almost every case, however, these projects have slowly dried up as investors move onto the next shiny new clone. The end result is a heavy pump when the token lists, followed by a fast descent once investors lose interest.
RFI’s performance compared to several clones
The problem
We’ve seen this cycle happen before. Previously, Ampleforth kicked off a swell of ‘elastic supply’ protocols (in which the token supply isn’t fixed and routinely adjusts to hit a target price). Before that, Statera jump started the idea of DeFi index funds, and YFI popularized liquidity mining. Early adopters usually did extremely well, but latecomers haphazardly latched onto unscrupulous clones in hopes of duplicating others’ gains.
This hurts long-term investors and creates distrust between them and developers. Furthermore, it exasperates and exhausts buyers. Improving through imitation does inspire innovation, but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of investors’ money and trust. By the same stretch, traders need to understand the risks of plunging into zero-utility clones that provide no real benefit to the DeFi ecosystem. Understanding what is valuable and what is fraudulent will prepare them for the next cycle.
The solution
Leading DeFi platforms usually achieve success because they solve an existing problem or engineer new ways of profit-making. However, most investors can’t dedicate all of their time and resources to keep up with DeFi’s break-neck speed. At YIELD App, we believe the DeFi ecosystem’s next logical step is sourcing the best market-neutral strategies to let users stay on top of the market without having to constantly monitor it. Ultimately, YIELD App provides users with seamless access to DeFi’s best function: A way to generate a passive income that exceeds anything possible in traditional finance.
Altcoin and DeFi trading is particularly difficult when Bitcoin surges
DeFi is an exhilarating space, and the next year will undoubtedly feature some exciting and unexpected developments. However, knowing what protocol is best at what time takes a painstaking amount of time and effort. YIELD App makes open finance accessible, safe, and reliable for everyone regardless of their technological background. Furthermore, you can sit back and make profits without wading through the endless barrage of new (and often risky) projects. For more information about how YIELD App can benefit you and take the stress out of DeFi investing, check out our page about the YLD token and calculate your rewards! | https://medium.com/@yieldapp/is-defi-addicted-to-clones-7bfbda663ad0 | ['Yield App'] | 2021-02-16 17:35:41.239000+00:00 | ['Token', 'Defi', 'Yield Farming'] |
The Encounter (Draft 1): | An unlikely moment of compassion…
Image copyright: Satyavani Pippalla Akula
It was getting dark. The sun was setting. The sky was displaying dramatic spurts of merrier and brighter reds and pinks. Quite in contrast to the sky, dark grey clouds of pain, confusion and sorrow were rising from my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was embarrassed. I realized I was on a busy street. How could I cry here? What if someone I knew saw me? I looked up. The city was bustling with activity. No one seemed to notice me. Just then I heard a “Hi “. My voice was choked so I forced a smile and waved back. That person had walked past without waiting for my response. “Was it my tears or was he just lost in his own world?” “I better find a quieter place”. I moved away from the crowds.
There was a quiet spot with a bench next to a large tree. The big branches shielded me from the busy road. A big electrical outlet covered the window of the adjacent building. Amidst this sanctity I plopped myself. My sorrow was overwhelming. It had welled up like a dam after a storm. My floodgates opened. I gave myself permission to cry. I burst into tears. Sobbing my heart out. And then I heard it. The slow trickle first. I paused. Uncontrollable tears were trickling down but my voice was hushed. Was someone around? There was silence. And then I heard it again. This time there was no mistaking. It was gushing of water, like a sudden opening of the tap. What was that? I stopped crying. The sound stopped for a few seconds and then it happened again. like a controlled body of water, tricking out in spurts. Water that couldn’t be contained and then suddenly the gushing sound became louder, like it just had to rush out. As the suspicion hit me, the smell rafted. How dare someone? I stood up in disgust. There he was. On the other side of the electrical outlet, dirty, beaten up, in clothes so torn that the multiple layers couldn’t hide his skin. He seemed just as shaken. His pants were hastily pulled up Our eyes locked.
He quickly looked away. Shame poured out of his eyes. I felt sorry. Did I violate his privacy? Poor man. Relieving himself on the street. Was he homeless? Did he have to do this every day? In that split second tornado of thoughts, his eyes shifted back to me and my breath stopped. That gaze…gentle as my dad’s. Soft eyes of a kind man sensing the pain of another. My heart relaxed. In silence. We both stood there, for a moment oblivious to our surroundings…FEELING UNDERSTOOD. | https://medium.com/@4moredraftstogo/encounter-1eb7662106b8 | ['More Drafts To Go'] | 2020-12-25 18:36:43.390000+00:00 | ['Short Read', 'Compassion', 'Short Story', 'Homeless', 'Loneliness'] |
7 Ways to Actually Learn Something From Coding Tutorials | How to Get the Most Out of Your Coding Practice
1. Unless you’re a true beginner, avoid big overview-style courses
There are a ton of “complete guide to web development”-type tutorials and those can be great, but if you’re past the point of starting from zero, try to limit signing up for them. They take a whole bunch of time to get set up and usually will teach you a lot of bare basics. Most won’t get to concepts that will push you to learn until you’ve already spent hours coding along without getting much out of it.
2. Focus on tutorials that teach you something you want to use
If you are enticed by an overview set of tutorials like that, look through the included courses or modules and make sure that a significant amount of the course covers topics you’re either unfamiliar with or that you specifically want to practice. Don’t waste time learning how to create a variable for the 18th time. If you’re not learning something from it, skip ahead to the sections that get interesting.
Tip: Think through an idea for a project you’d like to build or a feature on a website you’d like to know how to code. Look for tutorials that will help you build that actual thing.
3. Don’t copy-paste the entire tutorial
The whole point of doing a coding tutorial is so you can practice writing code. If you are just copy-pasting what someone else wrote to see it work, you’re not going to be developing any of the nice muscle memory you get from typing it yourself. Learning a coding language is a lot like learning a spoken language, and you need to get your fingers used to forming the syntax and seeing meaning rise from it.
4. Explore as you go
As you work through each step, when you come across something you haven’t seen before or don’t understand, stop for a second and Google it a bit. In your code or in your own notes, try to write out what the concept is and why it’s used here.
Note: The way the writer of the tutorial explains a given concept may not be the way you need to hear it. That doesn’t mean you’re dumb or even that the instructor is bad! It may just not be the way you need to hear it so it clicks.
5. Interactive coding IDEs are awesome, but learn how to set up your own environment too
I love coding IDEs and have so much respect for learn-to-code platforms that put the work in to make really good ones. They make it easy for anyone to get online and learn the fundamentals of coding without needing to get into the details of setting up a development environment. Some great ones that come to mind are Flatiron School’s Learn.co platform and Codecademy’s integrated lesson/IDE format. I spent a lot of time on both sites when I first dug into learning to code.
What you miss, though, is seeing how to get started on a project without the training wheels of an IDE. It’s highly educational and even gratifying to get something running locally on your machine. You should give it a try! It gets you much closer to understanding how code gets out into the world.
6. If it’s a bad tutorial, stop and find a better one
If you get into a tutorial or coding course and it’s not what you expected, it’s poorly written, or you’re not learning something you’re interested in, leave the course. Don’t waste time typing out code that doesn’t matter to you.
Tip: No one is keeping score. No one’s grading you. Your hiring manager won’t check that you finished every tutorial you ever started. If it’s not right for you, move on!
7. Build something completely new with it
This is the one that trumps all the others. The best way to get the most out of any tutorial is to take whatever you learned and put it into action in a project.
This one will help you develop context for the knowledge you received from the tutorial. You’ll find gaps that you need to fill — the specific way the tutorial implemented a function or UI element might not work once you move it to a different setup. Play with things and get something working!
Tip: Building and playing with ideas I learned from tutorials is when I’ve made the most coding understanding breakthroughs. It will make you think about why something works in the tutorial example and more readily come to your mind when you are presented with real-world problems to solve down the road. | https://medium.com/better-programming/7-ways-to-actually-learn-something-from-coding-tutorials-b6cdddace26f | ['Jessi Pearcy'] | 2020-10-01 17:44:45.126000+00:00 | ['Coding', 'Technology', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming', 'Learning'] |
Intransigent Coffee Addiction (Cup 2) | Obstacles and Motives Pave My Compassionately Boundaried Way
I GUESS???? — Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
In Cup 1, I described my decades long intransigent addiction to coffee. A cup a day is fine for many, but while healing from a boatload of chronic conditions, it’s not fine for me.
The definition of addiction includes knowing something isn’t good for you and doing it anyway, despite your highest wishes. Compulsive use despite knowledge of harm. I hate to say it, coffee, but that’s you and me.
I’ve explored my motives, both for and against coffee, multiple times. Being on an elimination diet for years still hasn’t eliminated my conditions, and in reaction to that chronic deprivation, coffee has become my yum and my yuck. My motivations are deep and wide, as is my awareness, and yet I struggle to be guided by them.
Ryan Holiday’s “The Obstacle is the Way” is on my long reading list, as the title gives me hope. Having discussed avoidant personality behavior with my therapist, meaning the tendency to turn to physical distractions to avoid difficult feelings, I’ve even done EMDR (trauma-processing work) on it. Even though I understand my triggers, they still get me. I’m starting to think that my worst enemy is a physical one within, which I can not see.
My gut has its own boom and bust cycle. I do well, fall, do poorly, and then rinse and repeat. I’m no longer sure if my splurges on coffee are causing these busts or a result of them. I think maybe it’s both.
I’m working with a functional medicine practitioner. It’s well known that bugs in your belly can control your brain. I don’t mean that conspiratorially, rather simply that we now know that food cravings connect to the unseen microbiome. While there are some basic food practices that are widely advised, working with the microbiome is still relatively new and not common practice in conventional medicine. Laboratory testing for it is expensive and not always available.
In my situation, it’s not a simple fix of taking high quality probiotics. I’ve got problems with absorbing nutrients. Even though I eat well, coffee binges not withstanding, what I eat is not readily informing my body’s functions. There are layers to this. I’m working on it but I’ll spare you the rest of the details. You’re welcome to request more information via the comments, though, if helpful.
The main point here is to explore how I am keeping hope alive when the struggle seems larger than me. Motivation helps as does compassion. Even while I sit here writing with my morning coffee, even as I read this and wonder what’s real and what’s just an excuse for bad behavior, I still haven’t given up. For now, my focus is on compassionate boundaries.
I keep my one cup to the early morning. I commit to hydrating well daily, including at least one or two cups of water before drinking my coffee, as it often helps stem my desire for more and also mitigates some of the physical symptoms that coffee causes me.
As I slowly recommit to my daily health practices, coming off a bout of intense chronic fatigue, I think about visualizing life without coffee as being easy and normal. I imagine a life where coffee is on super special occasions, holidays and rare late night gatherings, maybe a very occasional birthday cake or two. A life where my gut, my moods, and my other habits are more stable.
And, I’m writing you here to share the struggle. Hopefully, my third cup in this series will come down the line. There I will share what I’ve done to make this vision a reality. I look forward to calling it “The Final Cup”! | https://medium.com/@chronicallywell/intransigent-coffee-addiction-part-2-bef2efb04e46 | ['Sybil Sanchez'] | 2020-12-18 19:34:03.788000+00:00 | ['Addiction', 'Coffee', 'Chronic Illness', 'Functional Medicine', 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'] |
Here’s a Guide to Organising Successful Virtual Events | Here’s a Guide to Organising Successful Virtual Events
A few months ago, virtual events were adopted as a means to minimize costs while reaching large numbers of participants and these provided a great way to host large-scale events digitally. In times like these of #Covid19, with thousands of events being canceled, we need to be at the forefront with virtual events to make sure our long-term work can continue happening.
Our first virtual event focused on introducing participants to virtual events and we explored options and tips for carrying out successful virtual events that are all explored in this blog. We kicked off the WhatsApp workshop with introductions and dived into the basics and explored what a “virtual event” really is.
What are Virtual Events?
A virtual event is one where an individual attends a session online rather than in-person. Virtual events could be online conferences, webinars, exercise sessions, cooking lessons, Yoga and Dance Parties using any of the very many available conferencing tools or social platforms. Virtual events can be equally effective as In-Person events, the only difference is that there is no physical venue/audience in the former. However, it’s important to note that they may both require the same efforts to make them happen, though costs for virtual events are considerably lower as there are no catering, venue or transport expenditures!
Virtual events could be online conferences, webinars, exercise sessions, cooking lessons, yoga and dance parties using any of the very many available conferencing tools or social platforms.
Next, we dived into the best tips and practices one could follow in order to conduct successful virtual events.
Before the event
Step 1: Choose an easily accessible Channel
Let your audience know which platform and format you are going to reach them with, use one that allows them to stay connected from the beginning to the end. You might be wondering where to start planning your event, with so many platforms available. We have made some quick lists to help you out! Here are 5 platforms each for smaller team meetings and for larger events like a conference.
When choosing the right platform, always go for that platform that works well for and includes all the necessary features you need. Examples of features include; chat, Q&A, live polls, the ability to upload slides or additional content and many more which can altogether transform your event.
Different platforms have their pros and cons, for example, Skype is free but allows a max number of 50 people to join. Others have poor security or might have fun features like funny backgrounds. For Google Hangouts, up to 150 people can participate in a chat, but only 25 people can participate in a video call at once.
Step 2: Choosing the right time
Similar to face to face events, one has to put a lot of effort into picking the right date and time for a virtual event, regardless of size or platform. Before proceeding to the next step of advertising your event, do a little research and ensure that there are no competing events or holidays that would interfere with the attendance.
Step 3: Advertise and market your event!
It’s important to understand your target population and use effective marketing channels. Using online tools, you can reach more people at a lower cost, than traditional advertising. You can as well show interactive guides like video tutorials on how to sign up for the event, how to make payments and how to connect to the platform. Keep in mind that there may be many concurrently occurring virtual events competing for their time, so make sure to highlight why yours is relevant.
Step 4: Register your Participants
Collect basic attendee data to plan a great event. Use platforms like EventBrite or even a simple Google Form to keep track of how many participants might show up.
Step 5: Create Engaging Content
Virtual events rely on content, be sure to curate content that is consumable, present it in the easiest way possible and ensure its engaging.
Just like when planning a physical event, you need to put in the work to draw, engage and give value to your audience. Which brings us to our next area;
During the Event
Now that we have explored the best practices for planning and organising events, next we will dive into the best practices to follow during the virtual event. This section will look at various areas of keeping participants engaged and the various guidelines which control the way the events should be conducted;
1. Keeping Attendees Engaged
You know that moment someone is standing and presenting in front of an audience, and they look up and everyone is on their phone? Yikes. The distraction when someone is on their computer is even higher. Let’s look at how to encourage more focused attention and interaction.
We recently had a brainstorming session with the Digital Human Rights Lab and using different room links of Jitsi, were able to break out into smaller groups, and after the exercise, came back together to discuss the results. You can do a similar activity on Zoom.
2. Etiquette and Protocol for virtual events
To help you keep your virtual event productive and professional, the following guidelines need to be followed;
3. Privacy Concerns
As the event organiser you need to understand the areas of concern in cybersecurity for your event. You should always know that breaches can happen and must put measures in place to prevent them. As an organizer, consider:
Website Encryption, so that information submitted through your site is only readable by you.
Only collect relevant information from participants
Be sure to use a secure platform
For example, Jitsi Meet is free, open-source and encrypted. However, it allows a maximum of 75 participants in a chat.
Additionally, you should also let your attendees know they too play a role in ensuring data privacy. This can be done through ensuring that they adhere to the following;
Keeping their computer systems up to date and installing all necessary updates
Avoiding disclosing very personal information
Avoiding downloading any content from a person or an untrustworthy source
After the Event
When you’re done, are you really done? We’ve put together some notes on keeping the momentum going after your virtual event is done.
Follow up on the social media chatter about the event using a hashtag and give input where necessary
Post-event survey to understand participants experience
Thank everyone involved both participants and speakers
Share meeting outcomes with attendees
Make webinars public for those that missed if the content is not sensitive
Provide means for continued engagement and networking amongst participants
A post-event survey is one of the very important aspects after the event, as it is meant to gauge attendee satisfaction. It should be sent out preferably within 12-hours after the event. When designing such as survey, consider asking questions like:
How effective were the different sessions?
Did they like the content?
Whether they have any additional feedback, be ready and happy to receive both positive and negative feedback and use it to better your events.
The key to running a successful virtual event is to start right from the beginning. Before you even start planning your event, ask yourself “Why am I hosting this event? What do I want my viewers to take away?” “Who are my attendees” and these should help you plan an event that works for you. Although virtual events will never be able to replace in-person gatherings, sometimes they are the only option.
Written by Phillip Ayazika and Neema Iyer, Pollicy | https://medium.com/pollicy/heres-a-guide-to-organising-successful-virtual-events-7ac6b2a6b386 | [] | 2020-04-22 09:22:20.371000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Civictech', 'Africa', 'Uganda', 'Virtual Events'] |
The Path of Five Ranks | The Path of Five Ranks
Lake Tahoe
Seeing Two is our First wrong View
Can I be wrong about this Me and You?
So we sit and we bow and finally break thru
Rearranging this Life there is much to do
Then comes the day when all One is wrong Too!
Like a Box and its Lid this One and Two
At Peace with our Nature now we feel True | https://medium.com/@monkeno/the-path-of-five-ranks-97caa327cf4 | ['Monk Enō'] | 2021-02-28 04:43:19.287000+00:00 | ['Rhymes', 'Zendorhymes', 'Buddhism', 'Poetry', 'Dharma'] |
Icons8 Photos 2.0. GitHub for Free Stock Photos | All that considerably limits the potential of creators that need photo content but have no time, skills or budget to make a custom photo shooting.
Solution: Diversity of Models for Customizable Photos
When we first released Icons8 Photos, it already offered the photos that were created to harmonically work together and looked consistent. Also, we wanted to go beyond the limits increasing the number and diversity of photos with a simple idea: to make 100 images in the studio, add 100 backgrounds, and get 10,000 photos. In fact, the number strives to infinity if we combine various people, photographed and 3D-rendered props, and 3D-rendered interiors.
That’s what we did. Yet, we got a bunch of comments that our stock missed some characters and that we have more white models than any others. And it was a solid complaint. Though we were doing our best: casting different models, planing photo stories, shooting in Moscow and Buenos Aires, it wasn’t fast enough to fulfill all the requests. We were searching for a way of creating a diversity of photos faster. So, we decided to mask models and objects and combine them. It gave us more stock pictures for sure, but it was just 10 photos masked per day. Still quite slow. Then we implemented AI-based masking. Got much faster.
Next step was to build a Photo Creator that allows users to compose realistic collages from our photos. | https://blog.prototypr.io/icons8-photos-2-0-github-for-free-stock-photos-6e2ead8c24f2 | [] | 2019-08-14 10:33:08.952000+00:00 | ['Content Marketing', 'Photography', 'Design', 'User Experience', 'Resources'] |
Check Out the Baby Cold Remedies! | Whenever your baby is sick, it will panic all the time. There might be some things that might disturb the baby such as a fever, stuffy nose, runny nose, crankiness, sleep problems and so on. If you took your baby to the doctor, and it has been diagnosed with cold, there’s nothing much you can do about it. Cold is something that can last for about 10–14 days and it seems to linger even after the infection is gone. The baby’s first cold 2 months can be quite irritating for the parents as well. Keeping your baby safe from cold is what you can do for him/her. While your baby is suffering from fever or cold, you can buy newborn boy winter clothes for the baby like the snow onesies, overcoats, fluffy pom-poms, head covers, socks and so on to protect them from the chilly weather.
Steps to protect your baby from the cold weather
Keep yourself comfortable — This is something that can be achieved if you help yourself. The first step is to keep yourself away from the infection because only then you can keep the baby safe and be there for him/her with 100% availability. Wash your hands properly, keep the surfaces clean and get the extra rest in order to be there for the baby. Make sure that you are eating well and keep yourself hydrated so that the body can try to fight off the germs that you might encounter keeping in touch with the baby.
— This is something that can be achieved if you help yourself. The first step is to keep yourself away from the infection because only then you can keep the baby safe and be there for him/her with 100% availability. Wash your hands properly, keep the surfaces clean and get the extra rest in order to be there for the baby. Make sure that you are eating well and keep yourself hydrated so that the body can try to fight off the germs that you might encounter keeping in touch with the baby. Keep the baby comfy — Keeping your baby comfortable while he/she is suffering from fever is a must. You can keep the suction or a saline bulb to help the baby in unstuffing its nose. This must be done especially before the baby goes to sleep. This will help him/her in getting a good night’s sleep. Learn about the medications that your baby can use and feed your baby properly in order to help it gain all the strength that is required. Also, learn about the medications that you are feeding your child with. Always consult a doctor if you are not able to help you baby even after safeguarding the baby in a better way.
— Keeping your baby comfortable while he/she is suffering from fever is a must. You can keep the suction or a saline bulb to help the baby in unstuffing its nose. This must be done especially before the baby goes to sleep. This will help him/her in getting a good night’s sleep. Learn about the medications that your baby can use and feed your baby properly in order to help it gain all the strength that is required. Also, learn about the medications that you are feeding your child with. Always consult a doctor if you are not able to help you baby even after safeguarding the baby in a better way. When you should call the doctor — If it is your baby’s first cold, then getting to see the doctor is quite obvious to confirm the diagnosis as this is often helpful as there are many infections that might have similar symptoms. In case the baby has more than a mild fever, it is essential to go to the doctor. Fever in babies, most of the times, can symptom many other infections that might require treatment and wait out might not be a good thing in that case. However, if the baby is suffering from a cold that comes with a rash or some gastrointestinal issues then this might not be cold at all. This means your baby might be suffering from some other infections and must be treated with antibiotics, but you will have to visit the doctor in order to examine the baby well.
The baby cold remedies will help you out in getting to know your baby better during the cold and fever. | https://medium.com/@dannypollard069/check-out-the-baby-cold-remedies-b895addec181 | ['Danny Pollard'] | 2019-07-11 11:27:37.098000+00:00 | ['Clothes', 'Winter', 'Health', 'Baby', 'Cold'] |
The Growing Data Opportunity | Computers are Everywhere
Because we all have super computers in our pocket, on our desk, and soon in everyday objects all around us, responsibility for information technology has become dispersed. People are taking responsibility for their own technology, and IT departments are willingly releasing power, especially as the “bottom-up” SaaS product strategy gains popularity (i.e. Slack).
As more organizations master their own data, the population of people inside organizations learning to wield that data will grow.
Companies are certainly becoming more ambitious with data but are the people being empowered? Most people don’t have access to relevant customer data and if they do it’s usually well after the fact.
Cloud computing
Companies are moving applications and databases to the cloud in droves. Cloud computing is in a deployment period.
For example, GE has already moved 1,000 apps to AWS and the question of moving the remaining 75% of their apps is one of when not if.
As more organizations adopt cloud computing, a side effect is that more of their data will be in the cloud, and this data is now staged to flow with more fluidity.
“Big data in the cloud democratizes the use of big data beyond large companies.” — Peter Levine
Data in the cloud gives you the ability to give access to anyone. And if everyone has access to the organization’s real-time data, the organization becomes more agile, allowing it to iterate more rapidly. This has an effect of flattening of the organization, fostering a collaborative culture, and making decisions quicker.
SaaS/Microservices Proliferation
We are moving towards a tipping point where more of an organization’s data is generated and stored outside of the company than within, but this varies by company.
With SaaS, this effect is fractal. If you look inside the company that you think has your data, the majority of their data (which is really your data) is in their SaaS tools, and so on down the rabbit hole (a few levels, at least.)
And even within your organization, your developers are likely adopting microservice architectures, using “the right database for the job” (read up on Hadoop, MongoDB, mySQL, Redshift, Cassandra, InfluxDB — databases are exploding). Using the right database for the job is a technically sound decision but there are side effects. There can be several databases per application, and usually these applications will not share databases with each other (a concept known as an “anti-pattern”).
This is a hard truth for some but a truth nonetheless: your data is becoming spread out and there’s no going back to centralization.
Computer cognition
Finally, the most powerful trend that is really just starting — software can learn from data. Once we see self-driving cars in everyday life, we will scrutinize every job that humans do and ask ourselves “can a self-learning computer do this work?”
In the near future, analytics and business intelligence will be “table stakes” because computers are ready to do real work for us. And machine learning is very data hungry. It wants data from as many sources as you can provide. A lot of the time, providing more data is more effective than trying to improve algorithms. There is a hunger for all data we can gather.
“Just as all real-world workflows became software, all software will become analytical. Computers will have cognition; machines will have intelligence.”
— Zetta Venture Partners
Will you isolate?
You have a choice: be on an isolated island or put your data on the wire. It reminds me of those early days of the Internet. When I would have serious conversations with large companies on whether they really needed to have a website (especially the brick and mortar companies)—conversations that I often lost (but they all came around eventually).
I see the same thing now with data. Any company that creates value also creates valuable data, and the smart ones will be prepared to share it.
“Data is incredibly valuable. It helps create superior products, it forms a barrier to entry, and it can be directly monetized.” — Leo Polovets
99.9% of companies aren’t even close to being prepared to capitalize on this data opportunity. A good early move is to begin gathering your data into a flexible, real-time firehose that you can wield in an agile way.
This is why we’re building Astronomer — to facilitate this vision. | https://medium.com/the-astronomer-journey/the-growing-data-opportunity-6f7719138c8c | ['Ry Walker'] | 2016-03-18 20:46:28.711000+00:00 | ['Cloud Computing', 'Wearables', 'Data Science'] |
Last Sunday of the Year | Interacted with 2 people today.
1st was a rare notification on Telegram this morning. I was initially quite nervous wondering if it was who I thought it was & if it’s something bad, that I ended up watching some shows 1st. But it turns out 1 of my former profs who wished me a happy christmas. The 1st & only to do so on their own this year.
He says he thought of me because he was browsing Udemy today & remembered that I used to like taking online courses in my spare time.
We had some chats & I agreed to meet him to give some inputs on the curriculum new degree he is preparing.
The second was me messaging a person who posted a comment on 1 of my recent Facebook posts. We chatted a bit & I’m glad he hasn’t ask me on why I have yet to go back this year.
It will be awkward to answer. I do miss that place more than I thought I would, but last year I have also told a mutual friend I’m unlikely to return this year, I will be going back on my word if I make a return. I’m also not sure if that mutual friend still see me as a friend. I’m not sure when to trust my hunch or when am I overthinking.
At the end of the chat, He asked for a meet up which I accepted.
Overall a good day by my current standards.
Next week will be my last work week for the year.
I hope I could survive next week at work for a brighter 2021. | https://medium.com/@ziming/last-sunday-of-the-year-50412a42dc2d | ['Ziming Lan'] | 2020-12-29 18:01:33.192000+00:00 | ['End Year', 'Education', 'Blog', 'Sunday'] |
21/12/20 (A rainy Monday) | 21/12/20 (A rainy Monday)
Hey Everyone!
I wanted to start journaling my life. I think sometimes it’s nice to reflect on the past, it makes you realise that you’ve grown into a more matured person. With this being said, I’m not the best writer or story teller so please be patient with me. :)
This morning I woke up around 8:40am, which is usually late for me but because now Im working late shifts my body clock has decided that it likes to be lazy and sleep in. I usually like to wake up early but I have more of the day to complete daily tasks and better my health. That being said, it’s sometimes nice to sleep in. I was in a rush since I had to do some last minute Christmas shopping for my Aunt. She’s doing ok, but she’s just recovering from a surgery at the moment, so my family is doing our best to help her out. I got her the doll presents that she requested, sadly there were a few items that I was not able to get, which was extremely annoying but that’s December for you. Some really good advice is to do your Christmas shopping in March. I’m telling you, the earlier the better because your going to be more organised. You seriously want to stay away from the shops in December, not the mention that everything is FULL price. Your girl is on a budget mkayyy.
I got back in time for lunch. My Dad is super awesome, he always cooks amazing meals. We had sting-ray burgers. Before you say anything, when we go fishing that’s what he catches so we eat it ;). It tasted AMAZING, I was so full after that though. Then I went to work, nothing too special. But because I work in retail and I’m fairly new to this company, I ended up learning how to print the price labels which I was super happy about. I had to make a price label for these really cool vases that look like drums :). | https://medium.com/@briggskr/21-12-20-a-rainy-monday-db3045b79f9e | ['Kayla Rae'] | 2020-12-21 14:49:22.586000+00:00 | ['Diary', 'Reflections', 'Journal', 'Journaling', 'Christian'] |
Q&A with Devan Monroe, MIT Assistant Dean, Office of Minority Education | MITili
Devan serves as the assistant dean in the Office of Minority Education (OME). He oversees professional development programs that include the Mentor Advocate Partnership (MAP), a volunteer mentoring program designed to complement MIT’s academic advisory system by helping first-year students build relationships with staff, faculty, post-docs, and graduate students. Devan works to ensure students are able to explore and pursue their passions inside and outside the classroom to live their most fulfilling post-MIT life.
The MAP program partners freshmen at MIT to help monitor their academic performance, their personal well-being, and to be supportive and provide encouragement to students who are looking for guidance when they first get to campus. The program was built on research that shows strong relationships throughout the college experience play an integral role in academic success and personal satisfaction and also fosters students who are more likely to finish their studies.
When did you first become interested in helping college students with mentorships?
As a first-generation college student, navigating the complexities of higher education felt particularly daunting, and I would not have made it through my own undergraduate experience without the invaluable guidance of mentors. Even now, many years later, I reflect on the experiences I had and lessons they taught me. In my professional life it became critical to help cultivate mentoring relationships for college students simply because I wanted to share the life-changing opportunities I’d been afforded via mentoring with others. Now I am privileged to direct the MAP program, which impacts dozens of first-year students each academic year, and also advise and mentor students directly through other OME programs.
What do you consider a successful mentoring experience for both the mentor and their protégé?
I think the beauty and impact of mentoring is that each relationship will look different, even for mentors who engage year over year. Some mentors and protégés may be in near constant contact, while others might not be in touch as frequently, yet both types of relationships are extremely impactful and powerful. For mentors, the important piece to keep in mind is that the overall goal is to provide support to a protégé as they need and that might force you to throw your preconceptions about (or previous experiences with) mentoring out the window entirely. Within MAP, we have mentors who are still in touch with their former protégé(s), sometimes over a decade later!
Are there any research studies that confirm mentor programs help students academically?
Absolutely! Mentoring has been studied across contexts for decades. In 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report indicating “effective mentorship has an overall positive effect on academic achievement, retention, and degree attainment, as well as on career success, career satisfaction, and career commitment.” Effective mentoring also contributes to students’ sense of belonging and self-efficacy.
Do successful mentors in the MAP program need to have previous mentoring experience to apply?
No! Each year, we welcome several first-time mentors to MAP. We provide training to ground mentors in some basic mechanics of a mentoring relationship and how to best assist their protégé in the MIT context. Through social events, we work to build a community that mentors and protégés can tap into to further expand their reach. My amazing team proactively checks in with mentors and protégés and is also available to provide additional support as needed.
What is your favorite thing about working at MIT?
The community. Faculty, staff, students — everyone at MIT is here because we want to make a positive impact on the world and it’s such a privilege to work in a place so vibrant! | https://medium.com/open-learning/q-a-with-devan-monroe-mit-assistant-dean-office-of-minority-education-d382f7f3367e | ['Mit Open Learning'] | 2020-12-03 14:59:51.900000+00:00 | ['Professional Development', 'Minorities', 'Mentorship', 'Higher Education', 'Education'] |
RANKING MEMBER MENENDEZ INTRODUCES RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN UGANDA | WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced a Senate Resolution calling on the government of Uganda to improve the pre-election environment and to create conditions for credible democratic elections in January 2021. The Resolution follows an escalating campaign of repression against opposition candidates and their parties by President Yoweri Museveni.
“The United States government must be clear in its rejection of the pre-election environment created by the Museveni administration, which appears on track to keep depriving Ugandan citizens of the opportunity to determine their own future,” said Menendez. “After years of unchecked human rights abuses and attacks on democratic institutions, this Resolution reaffirms Congress’s unwavering commitment to promote and defend human, civil, and political rights and multiparty democracy in Uganda.”
Since 1996, national elections in Uganda have not met internationally accepted standards for free and fair polls. President Museveni has remained in power for more than three decades after his National Resistance Movement (NRM) removed presidential term limits and age-limits for the presidency.
Find a copy of the Senator’s resolution reproduced below
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. RES.
Urging the Government of Uganda and all parties to respect human, civil, and political rights and ensure free and fair elections in January 2021, and recognizing the importance of multiparty democracy in Uganda.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. MENENDEZ submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on
RESOLUTION
Urging the Government of Uganda and all parties to respect human, civil, and political rights and ensure free and fair elections in January 2021, and recognizing the importance of multiparty democracy in Uganda.
Whereas the United States has an important interest in supporting democracy in Uganda and has consistently demonstrated support for the people of Uganda through efforts to advance good governance, economic growth, and improved access to health and education;
Whereas Uganda has been an important security partner of the United States, including through its contributions to the counter-terrorism efforts in East
Africa, and to the
African Union Mission in Somalia;
Whereas Uganda remains one of the top refugee hosting countries in the world, a contribution that plays an important role in regional stability and humanitarian protection;
Whereas more than 75 percent of Uganda’s population is younger than 30 years of age, and the political, economic, and social stability of country will be shaped by the welfare of its youth, and their access to opportunity, equality, and dignified lives;
Whereas respect for human, civil, and political rights and deepening multiparty democracy are essential to Uganda’s long-term economic prosperity and political stability;
Whereas the conduct of elections, particularly the January 2021 elections, will have a significant impact on the trajectory of democratic growth in Uganda and its relationship with the United States;
Whereas the National Resistance Movement (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NRM’’) took control of the Government of Uganda in 1986 after period of protracted conflict and has dominated the political affairs in Uganda ever since;
Whereas Yoweri Museveni has served as Uganda’s head of state since 1986, making him the third-longest actively serving head of state in Africa;
Whereas Uganda has had national elections since 1996, and multiparty elections since 2006, all of which have been won by the NRM and President Museveni;
Whereas the NRM has engineered changes to the Ugandan constitution in 2005 and 2017, which removed presidential term limits and age-limits respectively, and have allowed President Museveni to remain in power for more than 3 decades;
Whereas national elections in Uganda since 1996 have not met internationally accepted standards for free and fair polls, as the ruling party has leveraged access to, and influence over, state resources and institutions to tilt the electoral balance in its favor;
Whereas Ugandan authorities have used coercive measures, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, extra- judicial killings, and intrusive surveillance technology to intimidate and silence political opposition in the country;
Whereas in March 2020, the Constitutional Court of Uganda annulled section 8 of the repressive Public Order Management Act of 2013, but Ugandan authorities continue to obstruct lawful assemblies by the political opposition, often through violence;
Whereas the Museveni Administration has used arbitrary and partisan legal action, enabled by its control of the courts, to intimidate and silence members of the political opposition;
Whereas Ugandan authorities have not been held accountable for human rights abuses, including those perpetrated against prominent members of the political opposition, including members of parliament;
Whereas many Ugandan officials have not been held accountable for acts of gross corruption, which have been documented by Human Rights Watch in 2013 and other nongovernmental organizations (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NGOs’’), despite the existence of anti-corruption laws, including — (1) the Penal Code Act;
(2) the Leadership Code Act, 2002;
(3) the Inspectorate of Government Act, 2002;
(4) the Anti-Corruption Act, 2009; and
(5) the Public Finance Management Act, 2015;
Whereas Ugandan authorities continue to deploy a range of restrictive and onerous administrative measures against NGOs, including —
(1) the deregistration of more than 12,000 mostly local NGOs in November 2019;
(2) the freezing of the bank accounts of some NGOs in December 2020; and
(3) a broader range of actions designed to intimidate civil society, such as the denial of entry or deportation of some leaders of international NGOs in 2020;
Whereas independent media outlets in Uganda have been placed under increasing duress by the Museveni Administration through regulatory and other administrative and legal actions designed to intimidate journalists who report independently;
Whereas journalists working for foreign media outlets are now required to re-register with Ugandan authorities or risk criminal penalties and some foreign journalists have been deported from the country;
Whereas Ugandan authorities have sought to undermine digital rights, including by —
(1) subjecting people with large social media followings to onerous administrative regulation through the Uganda Communications Commission public notice of September 2020 and prior regulatory acts of the Uganda Communications Commission;
(2) imposing burdensome taxes on social media users;
(3) blocking access to social media during the 2016 elections; and
(4) prosecuting some individuals who have criticized the Museveni Administration on social media platforms;
Whereas although Uganda is home to one of the premiere institutions of higher education in Africa (Makerere University), Ugandan authorities have taken repeated action to suppress academic freedom and intimidate students and faculty that have been critical of the Museveni Administration, including by firing and jailing professors who criticize the regime;
Whereas same-sex relations in Uganda remain criminalized under section 145 of the Penal Code Act, and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘LGBTQ persons’’) face a range of direct punitive action from Ugandan authorities, such as arrest and detention, and a permissive environment that encourages impunity for attacks against LGBTQ persons;
Whereas the Museveni Administration has deployed an escalating array of repressive measures before the January 2021 elections, including placing uneven and partisan limits on the campaign activity of leading opposition candidates and arresting some candidates, which have triggered protests and the subsequent use of force by the security apparatus to put down the protests, which led to the deaths of at least 28 people in November 2020:
Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That the Senate —
2 (1) condemns the Museveni Administration’s
3 assault on democratic freedoms, including attacks on
opposition politicians, assaults on journalists and media freedoms, and burdensome restrictions on nongovernmental organizations;
4 (2) urges the Government of Uganda — 5 (A) to respect the rights enshrined in the
6 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (re-
7 ferred to in this resolution as the ‘‘Constitu8 tion’’) and relevant international obligations, 9 particularly the rights to freedom of movement,
10 expression, information, religion, association, 11 equality, privacy, and personal security; and
12 (B) to take immediate steps to improve the
13 pre-election environment and to create condi-
14 tions for credible democratic elections in Janu-
15 ary 2021 that enable Ugandan citizens the op16 portunity to freely exercise their right to vote;
17 (3) calls upon the Government of Uganda and
18 President Museveni —
19 (A) to repeal repressive laws and adminis-
20 trative actions that are contrary to the prin21 ciples of good governance, a healthy democracy,
22 and the rights enumerated in the Constitution,
23 such as —
24 (i) colonial-era laws that target the
25 LGBTQ community; and
(ii) the Uganda Communications Commission’s September 2020 public notice that, in conjunction with other regula-
4 tions, undermines digital rights;
5 (B) to allow citizens, civil society organiza-
6 tions, and political parties to assemble peace7 fully and to freely express their views;
8 © to immediately lift uneven and par-
9 tisan restrictions on political activities, includ10 ing the uneven, partisan, and violent application
11 of COVID–19 restrictions on opposition polit12 ical gatherings and rallies, and to safely allow
13 opposition parties to hold political rallies, meet14 ings, and demonstrations at times of their
15 choosing;
16 (D) to provide transparent, consistent, and
17 nonintrusive procedures for nongovernmental
18 organizations to register, and to enable them to
19 carry out programs and other legal activity
20 without interference from the state authorities;
21 (E) to safeguard press and academic free22 dom, in accordance with the Constitution and
23 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
24 adopted in Paris December 10, 1948;
(F) to condemn threats and attacks
against opposition political parties and civil society, and to ensure accountability for harass-
4 ment, intimidation, or physical attacks on mem5 bers of the opposition;
6 (G) to end the escalating campaign of re7 pression against opposition candidates and their
8 parties before the January 2021 elections; and 9 (H) to guarantee the ability of domestic
10 and international election observers to monitor 11 the January 2021 polls without hindrance;
12 (4) calls on the Secretary of State, and the
13 heads of relevant departments and agencies of the 14 United States Government to continue —
15 (A) to speak out against the Government
16 of Uganda’s efforts to undermine democracy;
17 and
18 (B) to hold the Government of Uganda ac-
19 countable for respecting the rights of its citi20 zens, in accordance with its Constitution and
21 international obligations, including by —
22 (i) considering the imposition of tar-
23 geted sanctions and visa restrictions on ac24 tors involved in undermining credible,
transparent elections, or for perpetrating or abetting human rights abuses;
3 (ii) leading international partners and
4 institutions, including those in Africa, in
5 developing and implementing strategies
6 and actions to promote and defend human,
7 civil, and political rights and multiparty 8 democracy in Uganda;
9 (iii) immediately conducting a review
10 of United States Government assistance
11 and cooperation with the Government of
12 Uganda for the purposes of reprioritizing
13 areas and sectors of assistance should neu14 tral observers determine that the January
15 2021 polls do not meet internationally ac16 cepted standards for credible elections; and
17 (iv) insisting on full and public inves18 tigations that ensure accountability for
19 acts of violence, harassment and intimida-
20 tion perpetrated against political opposi-
tion, journalists, and members of civil society, especially before and after the January
2021 elections. | https://medium.com/@w-today/ranking-member-menendez-introduces-resolution-in-support-of-free-and-fair-elections-in-uganda-71c62b8b4795 | ['Roland Cunningham'] | 2020-12-18 17:53:45.618000+00:00 | ['Uganda', 'Bobi Wine', 'Senator Menendez', 'Human Rights'] |
Best Places to Study at Emory University | The Stacks
For a student seeking a traditional study spot on campus, the Stacks is the perfect place for you! The study rooms are easy to book for group study sessions, and the individual cubicles are perfect for grinding out essays (or taking naps). Plus, you can grab a quick pick-me-up at Peet’s on the first floor if you’re gonna be pulling an all-nighter!
2. The Tables Outside of Rollins School of Public Health
If you’re trying to soak up some sun before finals season hits, check out the outdoor study space by Rollins! It has lots of seating options — both in direct sun and otherwise — so you don’t have to worry about any crazy tan lines. Plus, not a lot of undergraduate students go there, so it’s the perfect spot to study if you’re looking to avoid distractions.
3. Pitts Theology Library
Another underrated study spot, Pitts Theology Library makes it on this list because of its quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Everyone there is always super focused on their work, which motivates me to study harder. Plus, you can also reserve group study rooms in Pitts, which is a good option for finals week when every room in the library is booked!
4. Atwood Chemistry Building
It’s no surprise that Atwood is one of the most beautiful buildings on campus. Its modern architecture has such a unique feel (there’s nothing like being surrounded by chem students talking about orgo!). I especially love working in the individual study rooms on the ground floor whenever I have an hour break in between classes at White Hall.
5. Study Lounges in a Dorm you Don’t Live In
In college, your peers can be your greatest resource. Oftentimes, this leads to study groups taking place in communal areas, such as residential hall study lounges. Since most of my classmates live in another dorm across campus, this has resulted in me making the trek to Raoul Hall countless times this year. Studying in Raoul has become an increasingly common occurrence for me that the ResLife staff has even mistaken me for a resident there! Despite this, study lounges in other dorms have made it on this list of the best study spots on campus because of the incredible memories you get to make.
Written By: Michelle He | EEVM Programming Associate | https://medium.com/@eevmiqmagazine/best-places-to-study-at-emory-university-5e25c77ce788 | ['Iq Magazine'] | 2019-06-13 14:52:44.346000+00:00 | ['Study', 'College', 'Study Spots', 'Emory University'] |
Steps for installing an ideal floor coating system for your business. | I hope you already got time to check this previous post before starting on this one.
After all the inspections are conducted and you are confident to choose a solution. There are few more steps that help actualizing the proposed solution.
A-Preparing the floor
B-Treating and curing the floor
C-Installing the coating system
There are many steps involved to get your floor from left to right.
For step A) A thin or a thick membrane of the existing concrete floor is shaved off in order to; even the floor and remove buildups, get rid of all the debris and contaminations or old coatings. Usually Diamond Grinding, Shot Blasting, Scarifying process, or a combination of them is used to prepare the surface at this step.
A robust Diamond grinding machine can easily remove every particles from the floor till it gets to an even rough crust of the concrete floor. Shot blasting machine can be used for surfaces that are in a more healthy shape and condition but may require a modest resurfacing. For scarifying process, the machine uses a hammer like rotating blades to remove any old coating from the floor, or to make joint area of two adjacent slabs more level.
The step A is crucial for creating proper bonding between the coating solution and the concrete floor.
For step B) the bare surface of the concrete has to be cleaned, treated, and cured, ready for the final step. The dust that is produced from grinding or scarifying the concrete is much heavier that it may look. It generally looks like dust that you collect off a desk but in fact it is made of concrete. This dust tends to lay where it’s made. Fortunately industrial grade vacuums can be used to remove any grain of dust as soon as they are produced (in the step A). To guarantee a better outcome, the floor can be swept to collect any dust that may have been left by chance.
After finishing the cleaning and sweeping process, all the former cracks and holes have to be detected and fixed. The best way to treat cracks is to fill it with a right material that is flexible and yet strong enough to withstand the pressure of daily foot traffic. Please avoid using the same material as top coating for filling the big cracks and joints. Carefully prepared mix of special chemicals is needed at this step to provide a long lasting care for the foundation of the floor.
Step C) at this step, when the parts in both previous steps are done. It is time to apply a primer coat. The primer coat helps to fill up all the hols, pores, openings or hair cracks. This coat also helps lying down a strong skin on the floor for a better grasp of the topcoat.
The topcoat material can be different depending on the type of the usage clients have in mind for the floor. For most industrial purposes a topcoat of two-part solid epoxy and one protective urethane coat can promise many years of confidence in the flooring system. | https://medium.com/@sean.neoseal/a2-steps-for-achieving-an-ideal-floor-for-your-industry-9e9e102920d8 | ['Neoseal Inc.Ca'] | 2020-03-10 17:44:03.812000+00:00 | ['Industrial', 'Concrete', 'Manufacturing', 'Flooring', 'Coating'] |
Fail Proof Weight Loss transformation | Based on real life experiences
Fail proof weight loss transformation
January 1st is the most important day in everyone’s life, not just only as the day of New year celebrations but as the most wishful day which seeds new year resolutions with a new hope to change our entire life, Health and Fitness being one of the most wished new year resolutions.
Many of you might have planned to enroll or already enrolled new fitness programs by paying a huge sum of yearly memberships for Gyms, Fitness Clubs, Diet programs etc.
The most wished resolution becomes the most escaped thing of the past within just a few weeks. I hope to change at least a few of you through my book gum.co/IXsTg
#weightloss #transformation | https://medium.com/@mahitransform/fail-proof-weight-loss-transformation-5492a44c3056 | [] | 2020-12-12 20:14:40.744000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Fitness', 'Resolutions', 'Weight Loss', 'Transformation'] |
Building the First Digital Farming Community for Farmers in Thailand | The intrapreneurial journey in building a new business through innovation
Prelude
Being born in Bangladesh in the ’80s, I saw a different narrative of the country growing up as a child than the most new-generation urban kids born later in the ’90s. Most of the year, I was living in the lush green military bases with almost untamed natural habitats surrounding them, and our annual long holidays were spent at my maternal grandparent’s countryside home at the heart of a beautiful northern village called Rampura. One thing remained very common between both places. I would look out of my windows and see farmers cultivating their lands around the year, and would see the whole crop cycle unfolding before my eyes. When we would visit our grandparents’ place for the holidays, my days and weeks were spent with the farmers and their families in the neighborhood. I would join their harvesting festivals, their daily conversations over several cups of tea along with bhapa pitha, a local steamed rice cake made with solid chunks of molasses. I would hear the stories of great harvest and witness first hand their tears of loss from their past farming seasons. During those weeks spent over cold winter, I would join with their families for a hearty meal sitting around a clay stove that would keep us all warm as we would chatter about their hopes and dreams for a better life. This was part of almost every year of my childhood for 14–15 years.
Why I moved to dtac and took on the job to head innovation
17 years later, as I was done delivering on the promise of digitizing the largest telco in Bangladesh (Grameenphone) — building the digital channels and distribution while setting up an amazing team that would carry on my legacy — I was ready to move out of my comfort zone and explore opportunities beyond Bangladesh. The opportunity to work for dtac showed up, but there was no clear direction as to what my focus to drive as the Innovation Head would be. The task was rather to get on board and tell the management where should dtac invest next to find new business opportunities beyond the traditional telco.
Driving innovation and new businesses from a corporate (the journey of being an intrapreneur)
When I joined dtac in March 2019, I took a look around the company to see if there was anything from the existing business that I could pivot into a new business, and luckily, I found one — CSR project called ‘Smart Agri’ that dtac was already dedicating for over a decade in Thailand. The solution was simple agriculture-related information sharing with the farmers, first starting out as SMSs and later moving into a static mobile app in partnership with RBK Foundation. While the impact was still limited due to the CSR nature and focused only on dtac users at that time, the narrative to help the Thai agriculture industry at large instantly struck a chord from my childhood. All the memories from my childhood years with and around farmers started pouring in, and I knew I was clear in my vision of what we needed to do next. I showed the then management my vision to transform the Thai farmers with a digital platform that will move away from the existing CSR initiatives into a sustainable commercial model that’s most needed. We also proposed to do it in partnership with another big global corporate with no prior relationship with dtac/Telenor. It took us almost 6 months to convince everyone, and I put my own career on the line to take a bet on digital farming as a new innovation business opportunity for dtac that’s worth exploring. I was given a 6 months window to prove a POC and get a go-ahead to actually turning it into a commercial project in dtac. The clock was ticking and it was time to walk the talk!
The journey of Kaset GO
Driving innovation and building a new business in a corporate is always one of the toughest things to do. Most people within telcos often don’t come from non-telco backgrounds, and even if they do, it’s really difficult to make sense of businesses that don’t exist. However, I was really lucky to have the dtac management team to sponsor this ambition and empower me, K. Praphan, and my dtac team (including the amazing Yara team led by Andy Leong, my co-founder in this project along with Karen Chua in establishing the strategic partnership, and the rest of the talented team members from Yara) to build this dream. Not to mention the equal endorsement and strategic guidance from the Yara management. Without their sponsorship and support, this collaboration wouldn’t have come this far.
Almost the full team behind Kaset GO, and of course my eyes were closed as I was dreaming!
Kaset GO, the first digital farming community platform in Thailand, and most likely in the SEA, is the result of a unique partnership between dtac and Yara. For the first time in history, these two companies joined hands to bring their unique capabilities in delivering something novel for the market.
The journey of the Kaset GO digital platform partnership formally started back in June 2019. At that time, we didn’t even have a name, just two self-organizing teams from two different companies trying to make sense of the different cultures and ways of work while researching the farmers across Thailand for a potential solution.
Given our agile team structure from the start, we were able to move fast and set up a functional cadence for the teams to execute our first prototype. The team followed various design thinking principles to take in as many inputs as possible while we were in the field listening to the farmers, developing our HMW (How Might We) questions, drawing up countless sketches, making a paper-prototype to run very early-stage user testing, and then coming back to the drawing board to repeat the same process again. After several rounds of customer immersion, validation, and internal war-room debates, we finally agreed to test our hypothesis of building a farmer-driven community that would be the most ideal platform approach based on the inputs received directly from the farmers. With USD 100K as seed money jointly put in by dtac and Yara to build the prototype, we went back to the field and hired a 3rd party agency to run neutral research on the acceptance and validation for this digital farming platform. We only had 10 weeks to deliver a working solution and roll out our POC (Proof of Concept) alpha version of the web-app.
In November 2019, we launched our POC app called ‘Kaset Tong Roo’ among a controlled group of 149 farmers from Rayong and Chanthaburi (two provinces in Thailand). With a physical event organized to introduce the app (without branding it or revealing the brands behind it to stay unbiased), we were sitting behind the dashboard of Google Analytics, waiting eagerly to see what happens next. The result? In less than 2 months’ time, 149 farmers shared and endorsed the app within their circles reaching more than 6,000+ farmers (40x growth) organically. From only two pilot provinces, our app was being used in more than 17 provinces all over Thailand. Farmers validated the community approach and loved the expert 1 to 1 chat feature for more personal deep dive on a particular query.
By this time, we knew we were onto something, and we needed the management go-ahead to build the commercial MVP app with a faster time to market. In February 2020, we passed our management decision check-point and secured the budget to build the main product platform. And 2 weeks later, the world came to an absolute standstill with the lockdown from Covid-19. We were already hurting a lot for not being able to work under one roof as a team (Yara Digital is based out of Singapore, with few resources from Thailand), and with the Covid-19 in the scene, there was no certainty for the team to get together during the pivotal months of developing the MVP product. Luckily enough, we were already collaborating with the best online collaboration tools due to the nature of the partnership and it wasn’t difficult for us to adjust to the new normal. | https://medium.com/@salmanhossain/building-the-first-digital-farming-community-for-farmers-in-thailand-c054549cadde | ['Mirza Salman Hossain Beg'] | 2020-12-21 11:20:41.543000+00:00 | ['Agritech', 'Product Development', 'Entreprenuership', 'Innovation', 'Startup'] |
Hi, we’re all here for the failure party | Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash
What’s with certain friends only showing interest when it all goes wrong?
They hear you just had a breakup
or you just lost your job
or you’re about to get evicted
or whatever…
Where’s all the texts when everything’s going just meh…?
Where’s all the attention before you start spiraling out of control?
I guess when things seem okay on the surface, no one bothers.
It’s only when shit hits the fan that all these people start crawling out of the woodwork.
They’re like the rubberneckers of social tragedy.
They just show up at your door, like, hey — we’re here for the failure party. Oh, were we supposed to bring something?
Uh, haven’t seen you in years and now you wanna know what’s goin’ on?
You were awfully quiet when my side of the fence looked better than yours…
Were you just waiting patiently for your chance to play the patronizing comrade?
Oh, I hear you:
You can do better, man
They didn’t pay you enough anyway, man
Know your worth, man
You’ll find something better, man
BETTER?
Listen — unless you’re here to hand deliver me something better, then go home.
You’re too late.
Unless you will take it upon yourself to fucking carry me in your own arms to the summit of Mount Doom, well, then you can walk your ass right back to The Shire with all the other drunk hobbits who I don’t talk to anymore.
Because I got some real shit to deal with here, and talking to you is only making me feel worse. | https://medium.com/scuzzbucket/hi-were-all-here-for-the-failure-party-8de42744a682 | ['Franco Amati'] | 2020-12-17 03:26:03.752000+00:00 | ['Prose', 'Poetry', 'Friends', 'Scuzzbucket', 'Failure'] |
Wuthering Heights | Wuthering Heights
Wuthering heights is a heart wrenching volume. It was my first ever gothic novel and I am still waiting to read something equally horrifying. There is so much hate and torture in this book that I was filled with rage while reading it. The book even tries to take a round to the horror lane but ends with just a mystical note.
Also, after reading about Emily Bronte, I came to understand that she was not a normal child, her sister Charlotte Bronte, who is also a famed writer, has told instances of her insanely brave character. Emily’s Wuthering Heights is said to be a reflection of her diabolical thoughts. She displays a cycle of brutality thrpughout the story and was known to have been herself the same.
The ways to which one can go to seek revenge was an essential part of this story. I hope that it wasn’t a reflection of any reality because of the degree of cruelty. How far hatred can drive you is one of the significant essence of this book.
Heathcliff, the villain, is a devil in human form and it is also somewhat hinted in the story by the fact that no-one knew of his origins. I sympathised a lot with Catherine Linton, for she was one of his victims.
Catherine Earnshaw, the mother of Catherine Linton was a woman who had a mystical magnetic effect on all her suitors. She was a moody, selfish and crazy person whose madness let to her own demise. I’d rather state that she must have some mental illness which was evident from her crazy nuances. She was highly self-centered with a tint of stuborness.
Catherine Earnshaw’s daughter was tortured to such an extent by Heathcliff that her joyful nature turns sour. Forced to leave his father, kidnapped by Heathcliff, Catherin Linton is forcefully married to his dying son and is left at his mercy. Heathcliff didnt even care about his own blood and let his only son, die. Additionaly, even his son wasn’t a result of a healthy relationship. Heathcliff tricked his wife into marrying him and tortured her as well.
Catherine Linton, at times, purposefully provokes to get beaten. Her tongue becomes sharp as a sword and her smile is lost. Gladly though, she gets a happy ending.
The only sane character in this volume was that of Nelly, the caretaker. She continuously tries to give valuable knowledge to every character with whom she interacts. She’s like the only sensible lady who with her selflessness and love, cared for both the houses and Catherine. Emily Bronte tries in the beginning to give this volume a male narrator but continuously gives Nelly the Mic and as Nelly ends up narrating the whole book as a form of story to our male narrator.
Catherine and Heathcliff considered themselves one soul. Their diabolical self catered to each other. Emily made every character hateful, you can’t empathise with one for more than 3 pages. Everyone turned out to do something diabolical and violent to the other.
In the end I myself wanted to kill Heathcliff for the cruelty with which he made everyone suffer. Though you cant help but feel pity for him during the end. He suffers for his sins in a very mystical way. He loses his appetite and seems possessed. His focused sight and blabbering mouth makes it look like he's talking to an invisible person or an apparition. He loses interest in his torturous methods and retires to starve himself to death.
One might lose their mind going through this book. There are epic jaw-droping moments which are ruthless. The moor is very sad even in the joyful summer sunshine. The whole valley is like a grave with rotting thoughts and cheerful moths.
On the whole, we are deprived of more from Emily Bronte as died young but imagine what else could have been in her mind to produce something similar to Wuthering Heights or worse. | https://medium.com/@aishraj366/wuthering-heights-febacf2d2840 | [] | 2021-06-21 10:07:40.894000+00:00 | ['Wuthering Heights', 'Writing', 'Summer', 'Emily Bronte', 'Heathcliff'] |
6 Elements of Authentic Leadership | This year I stepped into my leadership in a new way, taking two cohorts of women through my Fear to Freedom programme, and leading a Mastermind of women on a mission already in my community, who wanted to continue their journey of self-evolution together with my guidance.
These women have in turn stepped up as leaders in their own lives, businesses, and communities.
During the second cohort of Fear to Freedom one member told me I was an example of authentic leadership. After I stopped blushing, I started thinking about what I see as the elements of authentic leadership, and how stepping into them has given me the capacity to scale my business and double my impact in the midst of a global pandemic.
HEART-LED VISION
I know I’m one of many working to create a world in which women step into their power. Showing up as their full uncensored self, free from inner or outer limitations. I know that this will be my life’s work and that I may never see my vision to completion. My vision is bigger than me and my time on this planet, and that’s a good thing. Plugging myself into this vision, knowing I’m part of a much bigger global shift, gives me access to a deeper reserve of energy than I would have without it.
INTENTION
Creating, launching and delivering a group programme has allowed me to scale my business and with that increase my income, which I am so grateful for, but my intention behind creating Fear to Freedom was about so much more than that.
It was about taking everything I’ve learned so far and distilling it down to it’s most potent essence, so I could facilitate a deeply transformative experience.
It was about supercharging my work with community. Because I’ve experienced first hand the power of being part of a community of likeminded entrepreneurs, with shared goals and dreams, and I wanted this magic for my clients too.
It was about dreaming into a programme that completely lights me up first and foremost, and approaching everything from the creation, to the sales, to the delivery from this lit up space.
HUMILITY
In her book ‘Untamed’, Glennon Doyle says “The word humility derives from the Latin word humilitas, which means ‘of the earth. ‘ To be humble is to be grounded in knowing who you are. It implies the responsibility to become what you were meant to become — to grow, to reach, to fully bloom as high and strong and grand as you were created to.” Rather than shrinking yourself or dimming your light.
For me being ‘of the earth’, and with full awareness that I will return to it soon enough too, means acknowledging that life does not happen to me, it happens for me — so that I may learn and grow and fully bloom.
In playing my part in this great unfolding I own the fact that I won’t always get things right. I give myself permission to fail and get it wrong sometimes. I listen with an open heart to feedback — dissecting, learning, reflecting; and being willing to adjust, change and do things differently when something is out of alignment.
SHOWING UP
This one comes with an appendage, because as you know I’m very much part of the ‘fill your own cup first’ brigade, and I don’t believe in pushing through and showing up if that’s to the detriment of yourself. Because nobody wins in that game.
However balance is important here. Of course there have been times this year when I’ve had my own shit going on and I haven’t felt 100% (Hello 2020). Authentic leadership in these times was about acknowledging what was going on for me, and making a promise to myself that I would give myself my full attention as soon as I could.
Then keeping those promises, so I knew without doubt that in showing up for others, I wasn’t abandoning myself. I wasn’t minimising my own struggles. Rather I was choosing, in that particular moment, to do my job of showing up for my clients and holding space for their emotions and challenges to surface, be held and worked through; before tending to my own.
Showing up for me in those times was about letting go of any preconceived ideas or pressures I’d placed on myself around how I “should” show up, and knowing that simply showing up as me is enough.
It was owning that I’m on this journey too, that I’m vulnerable, that I don’t have all my shit together all of the time, that I give myself permission to be enough exactly as I am. Knowing that when I do that, that’s when I really show up in my power, and regardless of whatever else is going on for me I’m bloody good at what I do.
IMPACT
The word impact gets thrown around a lot, but this year it really landed for me. I’ve been able to work with over double the amount of women I was able to reach last year when working solely on a 1:1 basis, and I now know just how much impact I’m able to have when I’m willing to step up and lead in this way.
I’ve experienced how utterly thrilling it feels to guide 23 international women entrepreneurs through a collective shift in consciousness, knowing each of them will ripple that shift outwards into their own corners of our world.
And that I’m just getting started.
SELF-CARE
I could not have done what I’ve done this year if I did not have self-care as my absolute foundation. Self-care for me means taking care of my body, mind and soul in whichever ways feel good to me.
This year that looked like deleting my apps and fully switching off at the weekends. Soaking in the bath as I allowed my thoughts to unravel from the day, week, month, life. Taking an impromptu spa break in the middle of the week. Getting out into nature every day, even in the pouring rain. Having spaces where I could be heard, seen, held, felt. Investing time and money in working through my own triggers and trauma, and evolving myself and my business.
Walking my talk. | https://medium.com/@alicecarder/6-elements-of-authentic-leadership-47dfb83e9759 | ['Alice Carder'] | 2020-12-11 20:48:31.299000+00:00 | ['Women In Business', 'Women Empowerment', 'Authentic Business', 'Authentic Leadership', 'Women Empowering Women'] |
Dark Mode with JavaScript and CSS | Instructional Guide To “Modernizing” Your Application
Gece = Night | Gunduz = Day (Language: Turkish)
Most websites have a switch that toggles between “light” and “Dark” mode, this is an unspoken rule for modern day applications. Now, I can go into a lecture about why it was created and how it’s beneficial but let’s keep this simple and light, let’s be real, this trend started because it simply just looked cooler.
Our journey starts from humble beginnings, the CSS File. What we’re going to do now is add our light or default mode css variables to the :root pseudo class. Why the root? We want to use :root because we want to avail the variables globally.
:root {
--primary-color: #302AE6;
--secondary-color: #536390;
--font-color: #424242;
--bg-color: #fff;
--heading-color: #292922;
}
What’s Yin without Yang, now for the Dark Side:
[data-theme="dark"] {
--primary-color: #9A97F3;
--secondary-color: #818cab;
--font-color: #e1e1ff;
--bg-color: #161625;
--heading-color: #818cab;
}
Congratulations, you’re a pro now, please update your LinkedIn profile before advancing to the next step! Jokes aside, what now? We have the roots set up (pun intended), how do we implement this into our code? We’re going to reference it like so:
body {
background-color: var(--bg-color);
color: var(--font-color);
/*other styles*/
.....
}
h1 {
color: var(--secondary-color);
/*other styles*/
.....
}
a {
color: var(--primary-color);
/*other styles*/
.....
}
Now, before diving even deeper, let’s navigate to the HTML File and add this component here:
<div class="theme-switch-wrapper">
<label class="theme-switch" for="checkbox">
<input type="checkbox" id="checkbox" />
<div class="slider round"></div>
</label>
<em>Enable Dark Mode!</em>
</div>
Essentially, what we have right now is but a mere checkbox. We all have our dark times, yes, but we should support our little <div>, don’t leave the page please, bear with me here, we’re almost there. Lets slap some CSS on that bad boy, navigate to your CSS File and add in:
/*Simple css to style it like a toggle switch*/
.theme-switch-wrapper {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
em {
margin-left: 10px;
font-size: 1rem;
}
}
.theme-switch {
display: inline-block;
height: 34px;
position: relative;
width: 60px;
}
.theme-switch input {
display:none;
}
.slider {
background-color: #ccc;
bottom: 0;
cursor: pointer;
left: 0;
position: absolute;
right: 0;
top: 0;
transition: .4s;
}
.slider:before {
background-color: #fff;
bottom: 4px;
content: "";
height: 26px;
left: 4px;
position: absolute;
transition: .4s;
width: 26px;
}
input:checked + .slider {
background-color: #66bb6a;
}
input:checked + .slider:before {
transform: translateX(26px);
}
.slider.round {
border-radius: 34px;
}
.slider.round:before {
border-radius: 50%;
}
Reload and Viola. Caution: you may be experiencing severe depressive disorders and reconsidering your life choices for it’s but a mere cover, a fake, a poser if you may. It doesn’t change anything at all, reality is a lie, pineapples grow in the ground, not on trees, all Froot Loops are the same flavor, and baby carrots are actually normal-sized carrots cut to a small size.
So let’s make dreams into reality with the magic of JavaScript! Please navigate to your JavaScript File and Input the code as follows:
const toggleSwitch = document.querySelector('.theme-switch input[type="checkbox"]');
function switchTheme(e) {
if (e.target.checked) {
document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-theme', 'dark');
}
else {
document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-theme', 'light');
}
}
toggleSwitch.addEventListener('change', switchTheme, false);
What did we just do? We added in “Event Handlers” to handle accordingly the check/uncheck event of toggle-switch. You’ll notice the “data-theme” attribute we referenced in CSS above, this is where it's getting added to our root element, fascinating isn’t it? Next, let’s add a method to store the users preference for future visits:
function switchTheme(e) {
if (e.target.checked) {
document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-theme', 'dark');
localStorage.setItem('theme', 'dark'); //add this
}
else {
document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-theme', 'light');
localStorage.setItem('theme', 'light'); //add this
}
}
Here, we’re using the Browsers localStorage to store the user preference, don’t mind the details under the hood. Alas, the final step. You’ve come a long way, remember how just about 3 minutes and 34.5127 seconds ago our function was just a simple checkbox? Be proud, you helped it come this far, you’re the one who raised it into the slider it is today, please don’t cry. Let’s give it one last gift, a “cherry on top” in a sense. A way to check for saved user preference, if any, on load of the website. This will be our graduation gift to our function, say your last goodbye’s because you wont ever touch it again. Once you’re ready, add in this last piece:
const currentTheme = localStorage.getItem('theme') ? localStorage.getItem('theme') : null;
if (currentTheme) {
document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-theme', currentTheme);
if (currentTheme === 'dark') {
toggleSwitch.checked = true;
}
}
You did it, you deserve a reward yourself for having the patience and control to read this far through my witty comments and jokes, congratulations! Unfortunately, I do not have a cherry to put on the top of your head but I do have a virtual high five for you! | https://medium.com/@muhammedcelep/dark-mode-with-javascript-and-css-209f856cb06c | ['Muhammed Celep'] | 2020-04-22 07:50:41.036000+00:00 | ['Flatiron School', 'Programming', 'JavaScript', 'CSS', 'Dark Mode'] |
💙Whiteteeth going to launch in 4 days💙💰 | 🔹Public sale : July 9, 2021 block 9004900 (Before 1.5 h farming start)
🔹Farm start : July 9, 2021 block 9006727
🎉Twitter : 6.8K followers, goint to hit 7k soon
🎉Telegram : 7.5K members
🚀💰Please note that the Airdrop Event round 1 is going to end in less than 4 days
Airdrop Rules👇
😬 Join on Telegram group and channel
😬 Follow on Twitter and Retweet the pinned post with below hashtag
😬 Follow on Medium
🏥All airdrop steps should be completed.
Start Submit : https://t.me/WhiteTeethSwapAirdropBot
Start date : July 5, 2021
End date : July 9, 2021
⏳ Airdrop token distribution start on 9th July, 2021.
💙💙💙Thank you everyone and thank you to each of Whiteteeth member for your support. Let’s go to the moon together💙💙💙
🔹Website :https://whiteteethswap.finance
🔹Telegram :https://whiteteethswap.finance & https://t.me/teethann
🔹Twitter :https://twitter.com/whiteteethswap
🔹Gitbook : https://docs.whiteteethswap.finance
🔹Blog : whiteteethswap.medium.com
🔹Reddit : www.reddit.com/u/whiteteethswap
🔹GitHub : https://github.com/whiteteethswap-bsc | https://medium.com/@whiteteethswap/whiteteeth-going-to-launch-in-4-days-7dada84a49c7 | [] | 2021-07-06 07:48:53.272000+00:00 | ['Airdrop', 'Binance Smart Chain', 'Bitcoin', 'Yield Farming', 'Defi'] |
Ruminations on violence. Hate yourself Do you hate yourself? I… | Ruminations on violence
My thoughts are consumed by death: my own, my friends, my comrades, my humans. The night brings with it the uptick in energy I get from the comfortable roll of a jacket and basketball shorts to tap away mindlessly and endlessly at my well worn keyboard and drown my emotional weight in the validation I get from the process of posting. The prevailing undercurrent no matter where I manage to turn is my inability to come to terms with anything that bothers me. Closing my eyes brings forth the segment of the night dominated by horror. A set of images continually blast through my head as lights pierce through the darkness, instantly and intensely; visions of a bombed out school bus in Yemen, someone close about to make an attempt on their own life or any other scene all too visceral.
These would stir me to wake in the middle of the night and only later began to follow me to waking world. It was driving to a fast food joint for that late night fix of bullshit that I first noticed it. A business with flags near the sidewalk had me start to be pulled into panic, I couldn’t understand why at first, vision tighter, breathing tighter, grip tighter, and a draping flag that I knew was there from driving by in the daylight innumerous times and yet I knew that was a person. They were going to kill themselves, I was going to kill them. The panic stayed with me for the whole drive back to my apartment empty handed. I couldn’t believe it was something that actually happened to me, I thought I must have been making it up to myself in some weird ploy for attention from myself. Maybe I’d put too much of myself in others, maybe I thought worrying about everyone else would let me forget how much I hate me, maybe it was both. My motivation had been crushed. I stopped attending all courses where I didn’t have a relationship to keep my accountable. The visions and nightmares twisted and shifted, eventually the burned and mangled body of an innocent man lynched in Dallas would be the preeminent visage to cross my addled mind at during the dark hours. Ruminating on my own fault in spectacles of death I came to W.E.B. DuBois’s magnum opus Darkwater for a course.
Darkwater, Clear Mind — Musings on DuBois and my mental state
It hardly feels fair to box W.E.B. Dubois into any one box after I’ve finished Darkwater. Seemingly every discipline of letters is within his reach and mastery: fiction, history, humour, sociology, philosophy, theology, and poetry are all deftly on display in a tour de force. Darkwater is not a work that speaks but a work that screams to the world to pay attention, to learn and to grow. I find myself continually bereft of the pen in Dubois’s shadow; each subsection speaks so loudly in and of itself that my breath cannot help but to be cut short in the wake. I have simultaneously an overabundance of thought and an incomparability of meaning upon bearing witness to the herculean feats of the pen they would pull off.
Jesus Christ In Texas from Darkwater spoke directly to the feelings I had running through my brain, the intersection between the great forgiver of sins and the brutality of death raced without abatement throughout my 2019 so far. It is brutal to read the story of the messiah in Waco knowing the conclusion that awaits you.
Invariably understanding the horror of Jesus Christ In Texas requires a bit of knowledge about and around the evil vile mob executions that plagued America from the the end of reconstruction to the early 60s (some would now say they’re supplanted with police violence). I’ve twice borne witness to parts of Without Sanctuary compiled by James Allen, an edited collection of lynching postcards and memorabilia from the era. It is impossible to not weep as you flip through the pages. Common practice was to make sure the event was not only public but recorded and joyous for the population who did the murder. Not only would the denizens of Waco lynch Jesus, they would do it with a smile and picture to remember the event.
While the level of violence and hatred on display in every postcard collected is horrific, perhaps most troubling is the composition of the audiences. In many of the photos there are children of primary schooling age, no more than 7 or 8, gleefully absorbing the hell on the shoulder of their father. I found myself fixated on a particular postcard from Dallas. A few of those buildings in the background stand to this day, the old red courthouse off in the distance, no justice to be had under its visage. Some of those photos date to the 1960s, putting them at about the age of my own parents. If they had been in Waco instead of Salamanca or Ocotlan would they too have hung Jesus; had a glint in the eye and their sunday best on? Those kids are still alive, and in turn their kids are recent university graduates or young labourers. They work, live and continue their dominion over people of colour. What about them, would they pose for a postcard again?
DuBois gives his response as an unqualified yes later in Darkwater via the short story The Comet. The things that supposedly will bring us arm in arm with our fellow man still cannot supersede the entrenched system of racism. In turn the various possible syncretic moments of the past 99 years have not quelled the churn of the beast. When I look into the faces of certain people when they hear of another death by police brutality or the idea that black lives matter I don’t just see them, I see the pictures, I see the faces with wry smiles and the pornographic spectacle of black death they embody, faces of grandparents, a scant 60 or 70 years removed. These things happened within living memory and the framing that perpetuates them continues to live and thrive. | https://medium.com/@gramsci/portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-young-fag-4d2669888db9 | ['The Trans Napoleon'] | 2021-07-04 21:16:16.144000+00:00 | ['Sociology'] |
Creating and training a U-Net model with PyTorch for 2D & 3D semantic segmentation: Training [3/4] | In the previous chapters we created our dataset and built the U-Net model. Now it is time to start training. For that we will write our own training loop within a simple Trainer class and save it in trainer.py. The idea is that we can instantiate a Trainer object with parameters such as the model , a criterion etc. and then call it’s class method run_trainer() to start training. This method will output the accumulated training loss, the validation loss and the learning rate that was used for training. Here is the code:
In order to create a trainer object the following parameters are required:
model : e.g. the U-Net
: e.g. the U-Net device : CPU or GPU
: CPU or GPU criterion : loss function (e.g. CrossEntropyLoss, DiceCoefficientLoss)
: loss function (e.g. CrossEntropyLoss, DiceCoefficientLoss) optimizer : e.g. SGD
: e.g. SGD training_DataLoader : a training dataloader
: a training dataloader validation_DataLoader : a validation dataloader
: a validation dataloader lr_scheduler : a learning rate scheduler (optional)
: a learning rate scheduler (optional) epochs : The number of epochs we want to train
: The number of epochs we want to train epoch : The epoch number from where training should start
Training can then be started with the class method run_trainer() . Since training is usually performed with a training and a validation phase, _train() and _validate() are two functions that are run once for every epoch we train with run_trainer() (line 33–53). If we have a lr_scheduler, we also perform a step with the lr_scheduler. To visualize the progress of training, I included a progress bar with the library tqdm — it just needs an iterable. Now let’s take a closer look on what happens when calling _train() and _validate() . If you are familiar with using PyTorch for network training, there is probably nothing new here.
In _train() we basically just iterate over our training dataloader and send our batches through the network in train mode (line 56–64). We then use this output together with our target to compute the loss with the loss function for the current batch (line 65). The computed loss is then appended in a temporary list (line 66–67). Based on the computed gradients, we perform a backward pass and a step with our optimizer to update the model’s parameters (line 68–69). At the end we update our progress bar for the training phase to show the current loss (line 71). The function outputs the mean of the temporary loss list and the learning rate that was used.
In _validate() , similar to _train() , we iterate over our validation dataloader, send our batches through the network in validation mode and compute the loss. This time, without computing the gradients and without performing a backward pass (line 78–97).
Start training with the Carvana dataset
Let’s create our Carvana data generators once again, but this time run the code within a jupyter notebook. The only thing we have to change to make it work as intended, is line 3 in trainer.py from: from tqdm import tqdm, trange to: from tqdm.notebook import tqdm, trange .
# Imports
from utils import get_filenames_of_path
import pathlib
from transformations import Compose, AlbuSeg2d, DenseTarget
from transformations import MoveAxis, Normalize01, Resize
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from customdatasets import SegmentationDataSet
import torch
from unet import UNet
from train import Trainer
from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
import albumentations
# root directory
root = pathlib.Path('/Carvana')
# input and target files
inputs = get_filenames_of_path(root / 'Input')
targets = get_filenames_of_path(root / 'Target')
# training transformations and augmentations
transforms_training = Compose([
Resize(input_size=(128, 128, 3), target_size=(128, 128)),
AlbuSeg2d(albu=albumentations.HorizontalFlip(p=0.5)),
DenseTarget(),
MoveAxis(),
Normalize01()
])
# validation transformations
transforms_validation = Compose([
Resize(input_size=(128, 128, 3), target_size=(128, 128)),
DenseTarget(),
MoveAxis(),
Normalize01()
])
# random seed
random_seed = 42
# split dataset into training set and validation set
train_size = 0.8 # 80:20 split
inputs_train, inputs_valid = train_test_split(
inputs,
random_state=random_seed,
train_size=train_size,
shuffle=True)
targets_train, targets_valid = train_test_split(
targets,
random_state=random_seed,
train_size=train_size,
shuffle=True)
# inputs_train, inputs_valid = inputs[:80], inputs[80:]
# targets_train, targets_valid = targets[:80], targets[:80]
# dataset training
dataset_train = SegmentationDataSet(inputs=inputs_train,
targets=targets_train,
transform=transforms_training)
# dataset validation
dataset_valid = SegmentationDataSet(inputs=inputs_valid,
targets=targets_valid,
transform=transforms_validation)
# dataloader training
dataloader_training = DataLoader(dataset=dataset_train,
batch_size=2,
shuffle=True)
# dataloader validation
dataloader_validation = DataLoader(dataset=dataset_valid,
batch_size=2,
shuffle=True)
Please note that I resize the images to 128x128x3 using Resize() to speed up training. This will generate batches of images that look like this:
from visual import Input_Target_Pair_Generator, show_input_target_pair_napari
gen = Input_Target_Pair_Generator(dataloader_training, rgb=True)
show_input_target_pair_napari(gen)
I can then instantiate the Trainer object and start training:
# device
if torch.cuda.is_available():
device = torch.device('cuda')
else:
torch.device('cpu')
# model
model = UNet(in_channels=3,
out_channels=2,
n_blocks=4,
start_filters=32,
activation='relu',
normalization='batch',
conv_mode='same',
dim=2).to(device)
# criterion
criterion = torch.nn.CrossEntropyLoss()
# optimizer
optimizer = torch.optim.SGD(model.parameters(), lr=0.01)
# trainer
trainer = Trainer(model=model,
device=device,
criterion=criterion,
optimizer=optimizer,
training_DataLoader=dataloader_training,
validation_DataLoader=dataloader_validation,
lr_scheduler=None,
epochs=10,
epoch=0)
# start training
training_losses, validation_losses, learning_rates = trainer.run_trainer()
Training will look something like this:
Improve the data generator
Although training was performed on a NVIDIA 1070, it took 1:19 min to train 2 epochs with only 96 images (size 128x128x3) for each epoch. Why is that? The reason why this is so painfully slow, is because every time we generate a batch we read the data in full resolution (1918x1280x3) and resize it. And we do this for every epoch! Therefore, it would make more sense to either store the data in a lower resolution and then to pick the data up, or better: store the data in cache and access it when it’s needed. Or both. Let’s slightly change our custom SegmentationDataSet class (I will create a new file and name it customdatasets2.py , but you can replace your customdatasets.py with this one):
Here we added the argument use_cache and pre_transform . We basically just iterate over our input and target list and store the images in a list when we instantiate our dataset. When __getitem__ is called, an image-target pair from this list is returned. I added the pre_transform argument because I don’t want to change the original files. Instead, I want the images to be picked up, resized and stored in memory. Again, I included a progress bar to visualize the caching. If you want to run it correctly in Jupyter, please import tqdm from tqdm.notebook in line 4 in customdatasets2.py . Let’s try it out. The changes in code are the following:
# pre-transformations
pre_transforms = Compose([
Resize(input_size=(128, 128, 3), target_size=(128, 128)),
]) # training transformations and augmentations
transforms_training = Compose([
AlbuSeg2d(albu=albumentations.HorizontalFlip(p=0.5)),
DenseTarget(),
MoveAxis(),
Normalize01()
]) # validation transformations
transforms_validation = Compose([
DenseTarget(),
MoveAxis(),
Normalize01()
]) # random seed
random_seed = 42 # split dataset into training set and validation set
train_size = 0.8 # 80:20 split inputs_train, inputs_valid = train_test_split(
inputs,
random_state=random_seed,
train_size=train_size,
shuffle=True) targets_train, targets_valid = train_test_split(
targets,
random_state=random_seed,
train_size=train_size,
shuffle=True)
And it looks something like this:
The first progress bar represents the training dataloader and the second the validation dataloader. Let’s train again for 2 epochs and see how long it’ll take.
Training took about 2 seconds only! That’s much better. But there is one part we can still improve. Creating the dataset that reads images and stores them in memory takes a bit of time. When you look at the code and the CPU usage, you’ll notice that only one core is used! Let’s change it in a way, so that all cores are used. Here I use the multiprocessing library.
Before we perform training, let’s also make a quick detour and talk about the learning rate.
Learning rate finder
The learning rate is one of the most important hyperparameters in neural network training. Choosing proper learning rates throughout the learning procedure is difficult as a small learning rate leads to slow convergence while a high learning rate can cause divergence. Also, frequent parameter updates with high variance in SGD can cause fluctuations, which makes finding the (local) minimum for SGD even more difficult. To identify an optimal learning rate, we can test different learning rates empirically with a learning rate range test. Inspired by the best practices I picked up from the fast.ai course, I recommend using a learning rate finder before starting the actual training. Sylvain Gugger from fast.ai wrote a really good summary about this problem. The code that I will show you is based on Tanjid Hasan Tonmoy’s pytorch-lr-finder, which is an implementation of the learning rate range test from Leslie Smith. I only slightly modified the code and included a progressbar (yes, I like them).
Let’s perform such a learning rate range test. Since our dataset is rather small (96 images), we’ll perform some extra steps (1000). The upper progressbar displays the number of epochs and the lower progressbar shows the number of steps we perform on the current epoch.
Let’s plot the results of the test:
0.01 seems to be a good learning rate. We’ll take it. Let’s train for 100 epochs,
and visualize the training and validation loss. For that I will use matplotlib and write a function that I can add to the visual.py file.
Let’s see what the function plot_training() will output when we pass in our losses and the learning rate.
Training looks good!
Why you shouldn’t write your own training loop
Training can be carried out very easily in plain PyTorch. But you should actually do it only if you want to learn PyTorch. It is generally recommended to use higher level APIs, such as Lightning, Fast.ai or Skorch. But why? This is well explained in this article. You can probably imagine that if you want to integrate functionalities and features, such as logging, metrics, early stopping, mixed precision training and many more to your training loop, you’ll end up doing exactly what others have done already. However, chances are that your code won’t be as good and stable as theirs (hello spagetthi code) and you’ll spent too much time on integrating and debugging these things rather than focusing on your deep learning project. And although learning a new API can take some time, it might help you a lot in the long run. If you want to implement your own features anyway, take a look at this article, and use callbacks. For this series, I’ll try to keep it very simple and without the use of out-of-the-box solutions. I will only implement a very basic data processing pipeline/training loop with good ol’ PyTorch.
Summary
In this part, we performed training with a sample of the carvana dataset by creating a simple training loop. This training loop can be visualized with a progressbar and the result of training can be plotted with matplotlib. We noticed that training was painfully slow because our data was picked up very slowly by the data generator. Because of that, we changed it in a way so that data is only read once and then picked up from memory when needed. Additionally, we added a learning rate range finder, to determine an optimal learning rate which we then used for model training.
In the next chapter, we’ll let the model predict the segmentation maps of unseen image data. | https://johschmidt42.medium.com/creating-and-training-a-u-net-model-with-pytorch-for-2d-3d-semantic-segmentation-training-3-4-8242d31de234 | ['Johannes Schmidt'] | 2020-12-12 15:03:56.737000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Deep Learning', 'Semantic Segmentation', 'Pytorch', 'Tutorial'] |
Top 7 Reasons Why Filter Sponges Are Best — Sponeas | Top 7 Reasons Why Filter Sponges Are Best — Sponeas
You might have seen people using household sponges to clean tiles, bathroom floors, dishes. Medical professionals use medical sponges during operations or surgeries. Makeup artists and beauticians use cosmetic sponges to absorb foundation and blend liquid but have you ever heard about filter sponges? I bet you have seen it, but where? Let’s find out.
Aquarists or those who keep an aquarium have been using sponge filters for ages. You would laugh to know that many aquarium owners generally don’t even know how to use them or whether they exist or not. Before going further, let us know what a sponge filter is?
As the name suggests, an aquarium sponge filter is used to draw out the water from the tank. It provides mechanical filtration, while matured sponges that have bacterial colonies provide biological filtration. They are found in several shapes and sizes. These sponges are primarily used with air pumps, powerheads, and filters.
Now let us find out why sponge filters are the best for your aquarium.
Price Factor
When you visit an aquarium store, you might have noticed that filters generally require different cartridges and media while sponge filters have very few varieties. Sponge filters are usually not widespread and are very inexpensive as they don’t generate much profit.
The sponge filter setup is nothing but a sponge and some plastic housing. If you buy a sponge filter, you aren’t returning to purchase frames, electric pumps, bags, charcoal media, and many more generally used in other filters. That’s for sure. A sponge filter will be an excellent option for a healthy aquarium with a moderate or low bioload.
Simplicity
Sponge filters are known for their simplicity; the setup is just a sponge with plastic housing. The sponge provides mechanical filtration, and when bacteria colonize the filter, it provides biological filtration when you use charcoal, zeolite, and other specialized media.
Perfect For Gentle Current
Sponge filters are regarded as the best filters for aquariums if you need an extremely gentle current. Powered filtration generally kills fish, brine shrimp, and any other tiny aquatic organisms. Use a smaller air pump or regulator on either pump or filter. It will provide an adequate amount of mechanical and biological filtration without putting the aquatic lives to harm. Furthermore, sponge filters are perfect for those who are not sure whether babies will arrive in their tanks or not.
Can Easily Be Replaced Or Repaired
For beginners, it is pretty tough to find the winner in the sponge filter v/s power filter battle. But we are here to make things simpler for you guys. As we know, sponge filters are straightforward but generally don’t get damaged quite often, unlike power filters.
Electric filters need maintenance as gravels and rocks usually get stuck inside them. Furthermore, detaching pipes and hoses gets pretty tiring with canister filters. With sponges, you would only find problems such as lines of cracked plastic and decomposing sponges. Such issues can easily be identified and replaced.
Can Be Used In Any Aquarium
Sponge filters can be used everywhere: saltwater, freshwater, paludarium, shrimp-only, planted, or brackish aquarium. The size of sponge filters generally depends on the size of the tank and the amount of fish you have. The more you have, the larger you will use.
Can Work Without Any Electricity
It is hard to imagine the winter storm when the power supply cuts, right? In such situations, aquatic organisms generally suffocate and die. Unlike power filters, sponge filters remain immersed in the tank and actively break down the waste during a power cut, and bacteria don’t die entirely due to this. Also, biological filtration allows fish to remain healthy.
The Most Fastest Filter To Clean
You must be thinking about how to clean the sponge filter? Cleaning sponge filters is one of the most manageable tasks. Also, it does not even affect the colonies of bacteria. To clean sponge filters, you only need to take a small bucket, brush off the surface debris that you found on the outer layers. After that, squeeze your sponge to remove all those unpleasant substances.
Disadvantages Of Sponge Filter
As you have read multiple advantages of a sponge filter, you might be wondering if it is the best filter out there, then why has it not become the most common filter out there? Just like other filters, sponge filters also possess several disadvantages. What are they? Let us find out.
The biggest drawback of a sponge filter is the lack of chemical filtration. Generally, sponge filters have nothing to do with chemical media as they only provide biological and mechanical filtration. However, studies reveal that mechanical solid and biological filtration generally does not need chemical filtration.
Another disadvantage of a sponge filter is that it is not attractive. People would think, why use a sponge filter if it diminishes the attractiveness of the aquarium? But if you place the filter correctly, it may not look unappealing. Furthermore, these filters are generally used in well-planted aquariums as they conceal equipment such as sponge filters.
Finding the perfect bio sponge filter around you can be a tedious task as you would find numerous options in the market, but which sponge filter is best? Let’s check out.
Generally, people fall into the trap of buying the wrong sponge filter when they don’t have much information regarding that. But here at Sponeas, we provide professional service along with strict quality control. The material is quite durable, and it also maximizes the cleaning of your water source. Furthermore, these sponges can be used in several other industries such as hardware, air-conditioner, automotive, and many more. If you have any questions regarding the product, feel free to contact us at the Sponeas website. | https://medium.com/@sponeasus/top-7-reasons-why-filter-sponges-are-best-sponeas-b0a648dc8e66 | [] | 2021-11-17 04:28:16.002000+00:00 | ['Cleaning', 'House Cleaning'] |
Is Learning The New Pension?. “If you know stuff and can demonstrate… | “If you know stuff and can demonstrate that you know stuff and have been upskilling yourself with online training to do the task that we need, you’re hired.” — Ravi Kumar
New York Times opinion columnist, Thomas L. Friedman warns us about an era of “Schumpeterian creative destruction” to follow after the pandemic in his opinion piece After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits.
According to Friedman, the Schumpeterian creative destruction era will bring humans to chase after AI to remain relevant, employable and consequently, turn us into lifelong learners.
Relevant: The rapid growth in digitization and globalization is changing the nature of work and the workplace. Some jobs machines will do, others will be able to be done by anyone from anywhere, and a few will still require offices.
Employable: We are warned about our children, possibly even ourselves, being expected (and hopefully prepared) to change jobs and professions repeatedly throughout our lifetime. Therefore, to remain employable, we are to continuously keep learning.
So, why is it expected to be destructive?
Apparently, lines between employers, employees, teachers and governments will be blurred, and this may lead to certain institutions to disappear ( bye Universities?). As more people with access to computers & credit (which translate into cheap access to innovation tools), more new products and services to solve for society’s largest health, social, environmental and the economic issues will be created rapidly. Seems like a positive disruption.
The majority of Friedman’s insights come from conversations with Ravi Kumar, president of Infosys. Kumar suggests that the modularization, and digitalization of work will create opportunities for more people to compete for jobs regardless of university degrees.
In this context, the concept of “re-skilling” or lifelong learning, makes sense. Lifelong learning- from kindergarten to higher education-in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and other global challenges including the pandemic positions us too in a time perfect for innovation.
Educators and corporations must both agree that complex adaptive coalitions will become the standard business model, almost like “interchangeable parts” did for the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Curriculums are likely to narrow and focus on employability and vocational skills.
Ultimately, the idea of lifelong learning, offers opportunities to build a future that is fair, safe, inclusive and sustainable where, regardless of what new crises are to come, we will be skilled to reinvent ourselves and our value as needed.
Read the full article here.
PS, if you want to look forward to an actual $$$ pension, beyond lifelong learning, get familiar with your employer’s 401k or look into a Roth IRA and start saving today. | https://medium.com/@handshakepartners/is-learning-the-new-pension-handshake-cfd4d3eb9db3 | ['Handshake Partners'] | 2020-12-18 14:08:45.407000+00:00 | ['Social Impact', 'Employee Engagement', 'Employee Experience', 'Upskilling Employees', 'Upskilling'] |
Living Backstage at the Most Magical Place on Earth | From May 2012 until late October 2018, I was a full-time cast member at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. From November 2018 until present day, I’ve been a seasonal employee who has furtively utilized her limited park-entry benefits until the company finally releases me, though I haven’t worked a shift there since April 2019. For the vast majority of this time — save for about four months when I was on a temporary assignment as an Entertainment Captain (coordinator)— I was a full-time performer.
While in many ways this job was a dream come true, it was still a job — meaning, there were plenty of bad days mixed in with the good days. I grew up performing: dance, gymnastics, singing, piano, acting, basically anything that would get me on a stage. I spent my high school years in drama club, musicals, chorus, cheerleading, and dance team, then went on to minor in Theatre Arts in college.
Though writing has always been my one true love, performing has been my boisterous side chick. When an opportunity to audition for Disney came up, I jumped at it. I drove from Pittsburgh to Columbus on St. Patrick’s Day of my senior year of college for the open call and found out I got the job within a few weeks. I packed up my car and drove 1,000 miles south to Orlando a week after graduation, and I’m still here over eight years later.
I started my career with Disney, like so many others, as a part of the Disney College Program. Because I finished school before my program, however, I was able to stay on after, eventually transitioning into a full-time spot. This was a necessity, as the hourly pay at that time was not enough to live on, especially when one had a whole lot of student loans to pay back. I started out making about $9 an hour in 2012, and when I left I was making about $12.50 at the coordinator level. Though the unions did manage to negotiate higher starting wages towards the end of my time there, most of my 20s were spent making about $11 an hour. Because of this, overtime was not only available, but was all but mandatory if I wanted to pay my bills. It wasn’t uncommon to see Cast Members — Disney speak for ‘employees’ — working 50+ hour weeks. Some roles, like audio or lighting technicians, were commonly scheduled closer to 70 hours.
The problem here is that the cost of living in the Orlando area is far higher than the average yearly salary. This city is propped up by the hospitality industry, meaning that the majority of its residents are working low-wage service jobs. Even before the pandemic hit, it wasn’t uncommon to see people eating ramen and white rice for weeks at a time because after rent and utilities that’s all they could afford. On several occasions, I had to actually call out from work because my car was out of gas, my bank account was overdrawn, and I couldn’t find anyone to give me a ride. When I was able, I would often pick friends up and take them to work on my day off when they were in this exact same situation. If you want a more in-depth look at this issue, check out The Florida Project, a film that follows a family living in a motel near the parks. It’s fictional, but it’s absolutely a reality for far too many families in the area.
(Photo by Heather Maguire on Unsplash)
Unfortunately, as far as my day-to-day job duties, I’m going to remain pretty vague. Suffice it to say that if you saw any parade in the Magic Kingdom between 2014 and 2018, there’s a very good chance that you saw me in there somewhere. Work days started generally around 9:45am, though sometimes it was earlier depending on whether or not it was Holiday Parade season, and would often run until 12:30am if I was scheduled for a double. The sum total of a day like this was usually six shows over the course of about 14 hours, with an hour in the middle taken out for lunch. During the summer months — in Florida, May through September — we were often performing in a heat index of over 120 degrees Fahrenheit at the hottest part of the day.
I’ve seen fellow performers throw up, faint, and even go to the hospital for heat exhaustion and dehydration after one show. I was taken to the hospital on one occasion myself, though that was shortly after a major health crisis that had very little to do with the job itself. Entertainment leadership was generally excellent about taking care of the performers, making sure there was plenty of water and Powerade available, and keeping our working conditions safe, so this sort of thing was far less common than one might expect.
Injuries happen to be a common issue among performers. I’ve personally sprained my neck, upper back, left shoulder, and right knee over the course of my career. Some of these injuries had me out of commission and on “modified duty” for a month or more. Two of them were caused directly by park guests being inconsiderate, which is very common. I’ve had friends who were straight up assaulted by guests, but far too often people just don’t think about how they’re behaving when they’re on vacation. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve witnessed a child punch Donald Duck in the face while the parents continue to laugh and take pictures on their iPads, I could have retired at 26. I’ve seen Ariel get groped by creepy dads, Minnie Mouse get picked up and spun around by overly enthusiastic German athletes (the Invictus Games of 2016 was a wild time), and adult women trying to jump on Goofy’s back for a photo op. In case it needs to be said, please don’t do any of these things.
One of the best parts about working for Disney, however, is the benefits. All on-site injuries were promptly taken care of, treated, and fully covered financially. This process was extraordinarily streamlined, so none of my work-related injuries were ever issues I had to worry about outside of fitting physical therapy appointments in around my schedule. In a lot of ways, injuries are par for the course in our industry, so this is definitely not entirely on Disney, but it is definitely something to mention. However, next time you roll your ankle in the trolley tracks on Main Street, USA, just imagine having to dance on those suckers in cheap Capezios.
The absolute best part about my job was easily the people. I got to work with some of the kindest, most talented people in the country. Many of my former co-workers are people I’m still close friends with even though some have gone on to do other things. This job gave me the opportunity to meet people from every corner of the world. I can’t imagine what it would be like to travel to any random state in the U.S. and not have someone to call up for lunch. I can travel to almost any country in Europe, Asia, or Australia and have people to hang out with for the trip. I even got to spend 10 days in Japan with my best friend while she was contracted at Tokyo Disney back in 2015. I even met the love of my life through Disney. In an incredibly corny twist of fate, Disney really did turn it into a small world after all.
Also, if you’re going to Disney, please leave your bigotry at home. Everyone is gay here. Seriously. Everyone. | https://medium.com/bigger-picture/living-backstage-at-the-most-magical-place-on-earth-20d73297ac8a | ['Bre Venanzio'] | 2020-08-27 01:37:12.153000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Life Lessons', 'Disney', 'Entertainment', 'Work'] |
Devotion for Today | ******* GOD LOVES CHILDREN *******
Topic: DANIEL’S FAST “
“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way so the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetable instead.” Daniel 1:8–16.
Barbara was a conscientious mother who was willing to do whatever was necessary to provide a good home for her husband and three boys. But they had problems at home and in school. Restless plagued her sons. Feeling that the Holy Spirit led her to search for answer in the Bible, she read again the story of Daniel as he was taken to Nebuchadnezzar’s court in Babylon. Daniel’s report of the wonderful results of the experiment with a vegetarian diet encouraged her. Maybe something similar would help her family. | https://medium.com/@jasz/devotion-for-today-792df21f3fa | ['Jaswinder Gill'] | 2020-12-17 05:04:14.176000+00:00 | ['Daily Devotion', 'Prayer', 'Christian Living', 'Bible Verse', 'Jesus Christ'] |
We Fled The Trembling House | We Fled The Trembling House
A short story about women on the verge.
“And yet perhaps this is the reason you cry,
this the nightmare you wake screaming from:
being forever
in the pre-trembling of a house that falls.” — Galway Kinnell
Most days it’s hard for me to look in the mirror. My body was once a house in a constant state of repair. The kind of house that didn’t get clean no matter how much you scrubbed; a home perpetually caught in assailing storms, which flooded the basement and drowned all the rabbits. I kept the lights on by subsisting on Lean Cuisine, Starbucks, and red wine.
But the power outages — you wouldn’t believe. I had a guy come out every two weeks to fiddle with the fuse box. He left me with flashlights and full-figured bills. The lights, which had once burned bright, flickered and flared out. I was left in darkness. Faulty wiring was to blame — it was easier I guess, back then, to blame the darkness on genetics. On faulty wiring.
2.
I fell in love with a man who filled our home with Danish furniture. It was a mess of wood and expensive minimalism. After a year he said, I think I could see myself marrying you. I think.
Do you think? Make me a list, then, of the things you know, I said.
You’re almost as thin as the girls I used to date, to which I responded, I’m a size 0, were you fucking negative integers? He went on about the mess that was my family and I countered with, your father nicknamed me felatio at Thanksgiving dinner and we coped by day-drinking and hate-fucking.
And that’s the other thing, he said. You drink too much. I laughed. This coming from a man who walks around Manhattan with a scotch-filled flask.
A week later, we visited a friend of his who lived in a tony apartment building on the Upper East Side. The apartment itself was tiny, threadbare, and coming apart at the seams. I might have remembered some minor flooding in the bathroom, and when I said as much the man I loved said, you don’t get it. What mattered was the address, the lobby’s plush velvet chairs, and the doorman with gloved hands. That’s your problem, Felicia, you’re focused on the interior when you should be thinking about the facade.
The problem was I was all facade, only not enough of it. Only enough for the plaster to fill me up and whole.
3.
Someone asked me if I’ve been in love since. I think about Galway Kinnell’s The Book of Nightmares: Kiss the mouth which tells you, here, here is the world. This mouth. This laughter. These temple bones.
No, I said, no man has yet to be home to me.
4.
My mother is buried somewhere in Long Island — a grave marks her permanent address, but I’ve been denied trespass to this home because I’m the bad daughter unworthy of a mother’s love. I wrote that cruel book about her and told all of our secrets. I should have kept my mouth shut about all the alleged pain and abuse I went through. My mother’s second child, the do-over daughter, tells me this over an enraged email following my mother’s death. For the whole of her life, the do-over knew the version of my mother I barely remember — the second child’s non-fiction is my fiction and I’m too tired of making notes in the margins to reconcile the two.
Though, in private, I write my letters even though mailing them feels like sending burning paper into cold air. Or stuffing an envelope in a reindeer sack headed for the North Pole. There goes that still-beating heart burning!
5.
Years ago, I attended a wedding in Connecticut where everyone’s pain reverberated just below the surface. The bride hated her sister, who was the maid of honor and my best friend at the time. The groom hated everyone, especially the maid of honor’s husband. Before the ceremony, I stood uncomfortably in a house filled with angry tears flooding white satin and tulle. Yet everyone practiced their high-wattage smiles for the camera.
During the wedding, the maid of honor’s husband, the designated driver, drank everything in a two-mile radius. Give him another hour and he’d be hitting the turpentine.
In the car, in the not quite dark, he slurred his words while jamming the key in the ignition. The bride’s best friend and I sat in the back seat petrified until I screamed get the fuck out of the car. The best friend seethed. The maid of honor wheedled and admonished. Maybe the husband cried. I kept saying, this is crazy. I’m not getting in a car with someone who’s drunk. Our drama was on the level of a telenovela. It would take a lot of pride-crushing, face-saving gestures for the husband and wife to switch seats. They were a nuclear bunch. We rode home in silence.
They’re terrible people, the best friend whispered later than night. Now you see? It would take me years to finally see.
Come morning, the husband apologized but all I wanted to do was get in a car to New Haven while the maid of honor white-knuckled the steering wheel. I wanted to close my eyes on Metro-North and pretend the last 24 hours were part of a pilot I watched on TV.
I promised myself my home would never be a place that welcomed strained silences with open, broken arms.
6.
One winter my apartment didn’t have heat for months and I spent nights blowing cold breath into gloved hands. The windows shook from the wind and I’d put on my wool coat in the bathroom after I took a shower. Every few days a man would come into my home with a box of tools and a modicum of hope to then leave mumbling fucking foreign parts. I sat next to a lone space heater, afraid to bookend myself with another lest I torch the joint.
One night my space heater died and I called my landlord who told me to nab one from the empty apartment one floor below. I opened the door to another cold apartment but I felt warmth. The following month I moved floors and thought I’d live out my days in this heated space.
Months later, I heard a woman beating her front door with a shovel, screaming. She held the shovel with one hand and her small dog in another and I yelled from the hallway, I can call the police if you want me to. She took that as an invitation to climb up the stairs with the shovel and storm into my apartment and tell me how horrible her life was.
She said I know what you must be thinking. White woman. Black man. Shovel. I said I didn’t know what to think but it certainly wasn’t that. She said, but it’s really me. I told him to lock the door to protect himself from me because I went off my meds and had too much to drink. Do you get it? Do you see?
My cat howled in the other room. Her miniature dog fled down the stairs. She took inventory of my apartment, its contents, and said, your home is nicer than mine. Bigger than mine. Probably happier than mine, to which I replied, you don’t know that.
A month later I lived amongst boxes because my mother died and I was moving to California, 72 and sunny — a whole state warmed by a space heater.
7.
I tell people I live in a city where buildings and restaurants don’t have roofs, but everyone’s eyes glaze over and I switch topics to the popular cable show everyone’s been talking about. It’s set in a beach town in California, where all the rich people came down with the sads, and a man beats on his wife but it’s okay, completely fine, to talk about this sad, sad show because isn’t it beautiful? Don’t you just love the soundtrack? The floor to ceiling windows in their homes? People are nothing if not predictable in their desire for safety and false “normalcy.”
8.
Most days it’s hard for me to look in the mirror for it’s become a window through which I could revisit all the territories I once occupied. My reflection barely fits into the frame.
There is a fraction of an eye, a cheek, a part of a lip. It’s hard, really, to find yourself when all this memory crowds the frame. | https://medium.com/the-gathering-kind/we-fled-the-trembling-house-97cf5c8f70ee | ['Felicia C. Sullivan'] | 2020-07-02 14:21:29.099000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Mental Health', 'Writing', 'Fiction', 'Relationships'] |
On the one hand, I'm appalled by this story: what kind of credulous simpleton thinks it’s a good… | On the one hand, I'm appalled by this story: what kind of credulous simpleton thinks it’s a good idea to feed metal to a turtle!?
On the other, I’m appalled by you: those puns were painful 😀 | https://medium.com/@whereangelsfeartotread/on-the-one-hand-im-appalled-by-this-story-what-kind-of-credulous-simpleton-thinks-its-a-good-129fbeb28ab7 | ['Where Angels Fear'] | 2020-11-26 18:36:52.897000+00:00 | ['News', 'Wildlife', 'Comedy', 'Satire', 'Humor'] |
Augmented Reality: Five Ways to Connect Families Over the Holidays | Image Credit: catchoom
This holiday season family and friends are in our thoughts more than ever. The global pandemic has revoked our holiday plans and traditional routines, but one thing that hasn’t changed is our universal desire to connect with friends and loved ones.
Geenee WebAR unlocks the potential of the spatial web to connect people at any distance, place, or time. The holiday season is about the magical spirit of companionship, love, altruism, and celebration. Here are five ways that WebAR, browser-based (no app download required) augmented reality, can make this holiday season positively memorable:
1. Interactive Cards
The tradition of giving greeting cards as a meaningful expression of personal affection for another person is deeply ingrained in our culture. In the span of just a couple of weeks, over 61% of the amount of cards sent throughout the entire year will make their way into a mailbox for the Christmas holidays. Written cards enable us to share messages in between the fold of beautiful images, witty prose, and a holiday greeting. Emails accomplish this too, but Americans still send over 2 billion paper Christmas cards each year, while only 500 million e-cards are sent (Hubspot). E-cards and tangible paper cards are sentimental expressions, but both forms of expression are constrained by a 2D surface.
Rather than try to replace cards, we can amplify the experience with WebAR — type a URL or scan an artistic code, then scan the card and launch an immersive personal 3D experience, musical score, and voice-over. Bring physical cards to life with a special holiday message, story, experience, or gift. WebAR can create stunning visual effects, fun surprises and bring unforgettable memories to loved ones this holiday season.
Image Credit: The Superboo
2. Toys, Games
There are already some incredible toys and games on the market that make use of WebAR. Even if the concept of augmented reality is unfamiliar, many will recognize it from the success of Niantic’s Pokémon GO, a mobile AR game that in 2017, attracted 60 million monthly active users, 12 million of them who used the app on a daily basis.
Whether it’s a big get together or a quiet Christmas, WebAR makes it easy to share and play anywhere, and anytime. Release a WebAR expansion pack to your game or toys that will keep content fresh over the holidays and at the top of mind for kids as they enter the new year, swapping holiday stories with one another. Variable experiences can be launched in the morning, noon and evening, or even dynamically react to a user’s mood.
You might think that making a WebAR game or toy experience sounds like an impossible task to do just a few weeks out from December 25th, but check out this simple activation that our technology-powered for Star Wars, which is filled with new content, fun facts, movie trailers, quizzes and more:
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker WebAR experience produced by digital marketing agency Pretty Big Monster, powered by Geenee’s Image Recognition (IR) software. Try it.
3. Content
When it comes to the holidays, a lot of things are spur of the moment and last minute. However, WebAR works perfectly in the holiday rush. There’s no need to download an app, and content can be accessed and shared via a simple URL.
For example, enable your audience to connect with one another by powering interactive gingerbread houses that come to life with special messages, effects, photos, and interactive opportunities that capture the moment. These multi-user experiences can connect people from all over the world in a flurry of excitement.
Alternatively, give the gift of virtual travel, and teleport your audience to scenic places around the world. Lancôme presents an incredible selection of holiday treasurers from the virtual advent calendar, holiday beauty boxes, and virtual try-ons, brought to you from Paris. With WebAR, connect your global audience with a single click.
Image Source: Lancôme
4. Photos
Photos capture memories that stay with us for a lifetime. Each image forever holds the feeling of that incredible moment. Just like the physical card, photographs are another medium that is dear to our culture and storytelling heritage.
Brands like Prynt have effortlessly bridged the gap between the physical and digital worlds by bringing photos to life and supporting unique crafting and scrapbooking across realities.
WebAR is an extension of this, using the phone as a portal, a looking glass into a moment with overlaid special features such as snow, lights, stars, flurries, snowmen, and reindeer that can prance around your friends and family.
This year, WebAR can bring a new dimension to photography, a medium that brings generations, young and old, together across time and space.
Gift Wrapping
Last but not least, this Christmas, turn everything into a fun unwrapping experience with a surprise in each box. Transform objects into presents and unwrap the world with the joy of a holiday. Bring gift wrapping paper to life by animating colors and characters. Delight and surprise young audiences, enable them to discover incredible stories in the paper itself.
Christmas rapping wrapping paper!
Most importantly, we want to hear from you. What is your AR marketing strategy? How can we help you to enhance digital marketing campaigns with WebAR? How would you use AR to connect families this holiday season? You can reach the Geenee team at contact [at] geenee [dot]me. | https://medium.com/@geenee/augmented-reality-five-ways-to-connect-families-over-the-holidays-2b13165d7f39 | [] | 2020-12-17 20:34:23.901000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Christmas', 'Shopping', 'Augmented Reality', 'Webar'] |
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