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Crypto Airdrops Oct 22 | Crypto Airdrops Oct 22
Two new token drops ✌️
Via ATNET Airdrops.
Twelve New LATOKEN Airdrops
There are currently twelve new token airdrops on the LATOKEN exchange (DigiByte, Coinway, Payzus, Bitfxt …). All of them are live now and end between 29 Oct and 4 Nov.
If you sign up with the link below you get 50 USD fee credit.
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ByBit Signup Bonus 10 USD + MORE Rewards After Signup! (no KYC)
Until Oct 31, 2020
ByBit is a trading platform that offers perpetual swaps of large cap cryptos without KYC (Be mindful of risks and legal implications).
In October 2020, you get 10 USD worth of BTC sign up bonus — you need to sign up and deposit at least 0.02 BTC.
There are more bonuses waiting in the Rewards Hub after you sign up.
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Also read: | https://medium.com/cryptolounge/crypto-airdrops-oct-22-158d268d81b4 | ['Atnet', 'Airdrops', 'Trading'] | 2020-10-22 03:29:52.144000+00:00 | ['Cbdc', 'Airdrops Alert', 'Bybit', 'Airdrop', 'Latoken'] |
Doing good doesn’t guarantee it back | The age old saying “Karma is a boomerang” sounds good, most of us would have a story or at least heard one which reinforces it. A brief explanation of this adage would be — You did an action and apart from the short term consequences, you think that somehow the ‘universe’ will remember and it will come back to bite you in the behind or pat you on the shoulder. Most of us accept this to be true and base our actions and beliefs on it; This makes people in-general a tad bit better and less self-centred.
This has more to do with how we look at correlation and causation. Let’s take an example, say you like to sit beside the window and read books at your leisure. You observe something strange happening. This is exactly what you see — When people on the street carry an umbrella with them, it rains. This always holds good, like every time you see people running around with umbrellas, it rains. This could be an absolutely earth shattering finding. So according to you, all we(as a species) have to do to stop droughts is to make it mandatory for people to carry umbrellas with them.
While reading the above scenario you would have smiled and thought who would be so dumb to come to this kind of a conclusion. People carrying umbrellas and the act of rain are correlated — they will happen together most of the time. Here is the most important part of this whole illustration, direction of causation— the probability of rain(or at least the dark clouds) is the cause for the appearance of umbrellas and not the other way around. It looks so obvious to us here but not so obvious in everyday life.
Now let’s boomerang back to Karma. Consider you did a good deed just for the pleasure you get out of helping others and another person did the same thing but just for social media and didn’t enjoy it even a little bit. The latter would get attention and praise from a wider audience than the former. Whom do you think will get the Karmic benefit in their life ?
The answer is neither. Let’s shelf the Karma points table system which aggregates your overall (good & bad)deeds in life and consider just this one event to keep things simple. And don’t even get me started on our inter-birth Karma points or the points of our ancestors being bestowed upon us.
The deeds’s intended result for you is satisfaction and for the other person is people adoring and complementing them in their post. Both of their needs are met. Now going into the unintended consequences(which we attribute to Karma) is where we can let our imaginations run wild and connect events which are in no way even related to the deed. We would have seen dozens of videos where a small help goes around and comes back to help the person who started it. For things to work out that perfectly is impossible and you would only be fooling yourself by telling something happened because of your actions a few years back.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter if you do a good thing. Of-course it does, even if it just brings a smile on another person’s face, it’s what this world needs now. Post your good deeds on social platforms, so that someone gets inspired to get out and do positive things. Doing good things produces ‘happy hormones’ such as Oxytocin, Serotonin and Dopamine in our body which improves our mental and physical health — that satisfaction you get, that’s because of these hormones. So the more often you help out, more doses you’ll get of them.
All I’m trying to say is — Help others in anyway possible; Do good deeds as much as you as possibly can with the reason being that it make you feel good and not just in expectation of some payoff at a later point in your life or don’t get disappointed/turn bitter saying life has been unfair to you in-spite of all the things you did. Be a positive force because you can make a difference, not because it could remediate for the bad things you did or would do — it won’t. | https://medium.com/@aravindhkumar-rs/doing-good-doesnt-guarantee-it-back-c4db28621d77 | ['Aravindh Kumar'] | 2020-12-27 12:37:19.339000+00:00 | ['Humanity', 'Life Lessons', 'Reflections', 'Self Improvement', 'Life'] |
Jigstack Integrates Chainlink Price Feeds to Secure Exchange Rates for Decentralized Crowdfunding | Jigstack Integrates Chainlink Price Feeds to Secure Exchange Rates for Decentralized Crowdfunding Team Jigstack Follow Jul 23 · 5 min read
Jigstack has set out to build one of the best-decentralized crowdfunding applications in the DeFi industry, referred to as Lemonade. Optimizing our Lemonade platform requires accurate exchange rates during crowdfunds so teams can set stable funding goals while users can pay on-chain in cryptocurrencies.
We’re excited to announce that Jigstack has taken a major leap towards achieving this goal by integrating Chainlink Price Feeds on Ethereum mainnet. Lemonade’s crowdsales now have a built-in connection to Chainlink’s industry-leading price oracle solution, starting with access to real-time exchange rates for ETH/USD.
Chainlink was our top choice because it’s the most widely used and time-tested oracle solution in the smart contract industry, already securing tens of billions of dollars in value across DeFi. Chainlink utilizes high quality data and multiple layers of decentralization to ensure precision, availability and tamper-resistance of its price feeds, ultimately protecting our users against unexpected events like exchange downtime, flash crashes, and data manipulation attacks via flash loans.
Understanding Jigstack and Lemonade
Jigstack is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that streamlines the Ethereum DeFi scene by providing various Ethereum-oriented solutions for new projects. Users must hold STAK, our native token, in order to participate in the Jigstack DAO and partake in community governance. By focusing on decentralization and user empowerment, the Jigstack DAO puts the control in the hands of teams and individuals rather than creating an artificial barrier to entry for the cryptocurrency industry.
Jigstack’s mission is to standardize the fractured DeFi ecosystem and create tools for token launches, crowdsourcing, NFT, Crypto Gifting, and more by provisioning an umbrella of revenue-generating services such as our DeFi launchpad Lemonade, staking platform Stakbank, NFT marketplace Gallery, and decentralized marketing and affiliate solution Ethlink.
Lemonade is the first DeFi product launched and governed by the Jigstack DAO, introducing a seamless platform for projects to launch crowdsourced tokens without technical knowledge. There is a myriad of customization options for projects to choose from when deciding how to launch their tokens, and each token is compatible with any Ethereum wallet currently on the market.
Why Chainlink
A critical requirement of Lemonade is the ability to accurately price new tokens in reference to established crypto and fiat currencies. By integrating the Chainlink ETH/USD Price Feed and potentially more in the future, new tokens can be accurately priced at a fixed USD amount yet purchased at a proportional value of ETH. This allows teams to raise a fixed amount of fiat yet offer on-chain crowdfunding in crypto.
We decided to move forward with Chainlink as our go-to oracle solution because it’s optimized to provide our members with several valuable features not present in other solutions, including:
High-Quality Data — Chainlink Price Feeds source data from numerous premium data aggregators, ensuring broad market coverage through price data that are aggregated from hundreds of exchanges, weighted by volume, and cleaned of outliers and wash trading. Chainlink’s data aggregation model generates accurate global market prices that are inherently resistant to inaccuracies or manipulation from any single or small set of exchanges.
— Chainlink Price Feeds source data from numerous premium data aggregators, ensuring broad market coverage through price data that are aggregated from hundreds of exchanges, weighted by volume, and cleaned of outliers and wash trading. Chainlink’s data aggregation model generates accurate global market prices that are inherently resistant to inaccuracies or manipulation from any single or small set of exchanges. Secure Node Operators — Chainlink Price Feeds are secured by independent, security-reviewed, and Sybil-resistant oracle nodes run by leading blockchain DevOps teams, data providers, and traditional enterprises. Chainlink nodes have a strong track record of reliability, even during high gas prices and infrastructure outages.
— Chainlink Price Feeds are secured by independent, security-reviewed, and Sybil-resistant oracle nodes run by leading blockchain DevOps teams, data providers, and traditional enterprises. Chainlink nodes have a strong track record of reliability, even during high gas prices and infrastructure outages. Decentralized Network — Chainlink Price Feeds are decentralized at the data source, oracle node, and oracle network levels, generating strong protections against downtime and tampering by either the data provider or the oracle network.
— Chainlink Price Feeds are decentralized at the data source, oracle node, and oracle network levels, generating strong protections against downtime and tampering by either the data provider or the oracle network. Reputation System — Chainlink provides a robust reputation framework and set of on-chain monitoring tools that allow users to independently verify the historical and real-time performance of node operators and oracle networks.
As our Lead Ethereum developer Kaue Cano explains: “Many DeFi projects have experienced problems with poorly designed oracles in the past, which they ultimately rectified by outsourcing their oracles to Chainlink. Since data accuracy and transparency is vital for fair crowdsales, going with Chainlink gives our members strong guarantees around having reliable pricing at all times.”
About Chainlink
Chainlink is the industry standard oracle network for powering hybrid smart contracts. Chainlink Decentralized Oracle Networks provide developers with the largest collection of high-quality data sources and secure off-chain computations to expand the capabilities of smart contracts on any blockchain. Managed by a global, decentralized community, Chainlink currently secures billions of dollars in value for smart contracts across decentralized finance (DeFi), insurance, gaming, and other major industries.
Chainlink is trusted by hundreds of organizations, from global enterprises to projects at the forefront of the blockchain economy, to deliver definitive truth via secure, reliable oracle networks. To learn more about Chainlink, visit chain.link and subscribe to the Chainlink newsletter. To understand the full vision of the Chainlink Network, read the Chainlink 2.0 whitepaper. Want to discuss an integration? Talk to an expert.
Solutions | Docs | Twitter | Discord | Reddit | YouTube | Telegram | GitHub
About Jigstack
Jigstack’s vision to bring back wholeness, simplicity, and understanding to the users. The Jigstack protocol aims to do this by developing a suite of productive flagship DeFi products that are all governed under a single Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).
Jigstack is positioned as the DAO of DeFi. The platform is the “One Stop Shop” for everything DeFi, and on top of that, it offers an interactive and interesting interface for users thereby allowing them to easily understand each product and how to interact with it, thus gaining exposure to the DeFi ecosystem in a safe and effective manner.
Read more about Jigstack here
Website | Discord | Twitter | Telegram Group | Telegram Channel | Linkedin | Github | https://medium.com/jigstack/jigstack-integrates-chainlink-price-feeds-to-secure-exchange-rates-for-decentralized-crowdfunding-6f6b6ad572fd | ['Team Jigstack'] | 2021-07-23 12:00:06.749000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Defi', 'Jigstack', 'Partnerships', 'Blockchain'] |
Lock it carefully! | So, to avoid getting into said issues above, we use locking all over our application where needed. But there was one place where locking produced an error while running specs that were caught by our CI tool although the specs were passing locally.
Turns out the locked object somehow became dirty (modified) and locking a dirty object raised an error.
Locking a record with unpersisted changes is not supported. Use `save` to persist the changes, or `reload` to discard them explicitly.
Make sure to reload or save any modified changes to your object before locking it. | https://medium.com/@zain-butt/lock-it-carefully-15c7f7e1f89a | ['Zain Butt'] | 2020-11-07 22:22:05.644000+00:00 | ['Rails', 'Race Condition', 'Locking'] |
Mike Pence Quotes as Dennis the Menace Comics | Mike Pence Quotes as Dennis the Menace Comics
“Pence the Menace” is the comic literally nobody asked for
Vice President Mike Pence has said a lot of things that are pretty hard to take! I thought some of them might go down a bit easier coming from America’s most lovable and mischievous boy next door.
But I was wrong about that! So very wrong. “Pence the Menace” should never have seen the light of day and I’m truly sorry. | https://medium.com/sharks-and-spades/mike-pence-quotes-as-dennis-the-menace-comics-3f8ac0f1ec8b | ['Jack Shepherd'] | 2020-08-31 23:11:05.307000+00:00 | ['Comics', 'Humor', 'Culture', 'Election 2020', 'Politics'] |
Too Many Small Steps, Not Enough Leaps | I was driving home the other day, noticed all the above-ground telephone/power lines, and thought to myself: this is not the 21st century I thought I’d be living in.
When I was growing up, the 21st century was the distant future, the stuff of science fiction. We’d have flying cars, personal robots, interstellar travel, artificial food, and, of course, tricorders. There’d be computers, although not PCs. Still, we’d have been baffled by smartphones, GPS, or the Internet. We’d have been even more flummoxed by women in the workforce or #BlackLivesMatter.
We’re living in the future, but we’re also hanging on to the past, and that applies especially to healthcare. We all poke fun at the persistence of the fax, but I’d also point out that currently our best advice for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic is pretty much what it was for the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic: masks and distancing (and we’re facing similar resistance). One would have hoped the 21st century would have found us better equipped.
So I was heartened to read an op-ed in The Washington Post by Regina Dugan, PhD. Dr. Dugan calls for a “Health Age,” akin to how Sputnik set off the Space Age. The pandemic, she says, “is the kind of event that alters the course of history so much that we measure time by it: before the pandemic — and after.”
In a Health Age, she predicts:
We could choose to build a future where no one must wait on an organ donor list. Where the mechanistic underpinnings of mental health are understood and treatable. Where clinical trials happen in months, not years. Where our health span coincides with our life span and we are healthy to our last breath.
Dr. Dugan has no doubt we can build a Health Age; “The question, instead, is whether we will.”
Dr. Dugan head up Wellcome Leap, a non-profit spin-off from Wellcome, a UK-based Trust that spends billions of dollars to help people “explore great ideas,” particularly related to health. Wellcome Leap was originally funded in 2018, but only this past May installed Dr. Dugan as CEO, with the charge to “undertake bold, unconventional programmes and fund them at scale.” Dr. Dugan is a former Director of Darpa, so she knows something about funding unconventional ideas.
Leap Board Chair Jay Flatley promised: “Leap will pursue the most challenging projects that would not otherwise be attempted or funded. The unique operating model provides the potential to make impactful, rapid advances on the future of health.”
Now, when I said earlier that our current approach to the pandemic is scarily similar to the response to the 1918 pandemic, that wasn’t being quite fair. We have better testing (although not nearly good enough), more therapeutic options (although none with great results yet), all kinds of personal protective equipment (although still in short supply), and better data (although shamefully inconsistent and delayed). We’re developing vaccines at a record pace, using truly 21st century approaches like mRNA or bioprinting.
The problem is, we knew a pandemic could come, we knew the things that would need to be done to deal with it, and yet we — and the “we” applies globally — fumbled the actions at every step.
We imposed lockdowns, but usually too late, and then reopened them too soon. Our healthcare organizations keep getting overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, yet, cut off from their non-pandemic revenue sources, are drowning in losses. Due to layoffs, millions have lost their health insurance. People are avoiding care, even for essential needs like heart attacks or premature births.
Our power lines are showing. The the hurricane that is the pandemic is knocking them down at will. We might have some Health Age technologies available but not a Health Age mentality about how, when, and where to use them.
Dr. Dugan thinks she knows what we should be doing:
To build a Health Age, however, we will need to do more. We will need an international coalition of like-minded leaders to shape a unified global effort; we will need to invest at Space Age levels, publicly and privately, to fund research and development. And critically, we’ll need to supplement those approaches with bold, risk-tolerant efforts — something akin to a DARPA, but for global health.
Unfortunately, none of that sounds like anything our current environment supports. The U.S. is vowing to leave the World Health Organization and is buying up the worlds’s supply of Remdesivir, one of the few even moderately effective treatment options. An “international coalition of like-minded leaders” seems hard to come by. Plus, only half of Americans say they’d take a vaccine even when it is here.
If COVID-19 is our Sputnik moment, we’re reacting to it as we did Sputnik, setting off insular Space Races that competed rather than cooperated, focused narrowly on “winning” instead of discovering. We will, indeed, spend trillions on our pandemic responses, but most will be short-term, short-sighted programs that apply band-aids instead of establishing sustainable platforms and approaches. We’re reacting to the present, not reimagining the future.
Credit: Darpa
Darpa’s mission is “to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security,” and it “explicitly reaches for transformational change instead of incremental advances.” Her background at Darpa make Dr. Dugan uniquely qualified to bring this attitude to Leap, and to apply it to healthcare.
The hard part is remembering that it is not about winning the current war, or even the next one, but about preparing for the wars we’re not even thinking about yet.
Most of our population are children of the 20th century. Our healthcare system in 2020 may have some snazzier tools, techniques, and technologies than it did in the 20th century, but it is mostly still pretty familiar to us from then. If we truly want a Health Age, we should aspire to develop things that would look familiar to someone from the 22nd century, not the 20th.
Every time I read about the latest finding about our microbiome I think about how little we still know about what drives our health, just as our growing attention to social determinants of health reminds me how we need to drastically rethink what the focus of our “healthcare system” should be.
Not more effective vaccines but the things that make vaccines obsolete. Not better surgical techniques but the things that make surgery unnecessary. Not just better health care but better health that requires less health care. If we’re going to dream, let’s dream big.
That’s the kind of Leap we need.
Please follow me on Medium and on Twitter (@kimbbellard), and don’t forget to share if you liked the article! | https://kimbellard.medium.com/too-many-small-steps-not-enough-leaps-d25caa18a20 | ['Kim Bellard'] | 2020-07-27 22:25:28.161000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Innovation', 'Health', 'Future', 'Healthcare'] |
Why I Let a Stranger Choose Where I Was Going on Vacation | And How Consumer Research Predicted That I Would
Pre-Sunrise at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Credit: Sonya Shen
My trip to some unknown destination happened because I was tired. I was tired of overthinking and over-planning. I was tired of searching for and tracking flights in Google. I was tired of browsing for places to stay and calculating what would be the best deal. I wanted to think less and just go.
My friend told me about Pack Up + Go, a travel agency that plans entire 3-day trips for its customers. The catch? The destination is a surprise. We decided to go for it. We took a survey about our travel preferences, selected a budget, picked a date to leave, and paid. And then we waited.
Then, on an early morning in August I opened a large white envelope from Pack Up + Go, and saw a warning printed on the cover page to not look at the rest of what was in the envelope until the day of the trip. I obliged and returned the papers into the envelope, wanting to preserve the surprise the way it was meant to be. On the day of my departure, I made my way past the first page and saw printed in big, bright, bubbly words, “You’re going to Denver!”.
I’m going to Denver, I thought. I didn’t have time for the words to sink in — a few minutes later, I was on my way to the airport, catching a flight to Denver that had been arranged and checked in for me.
When I had told people that I would be going on a trip and that a company was planning it all for me, the first thing they asked was where I was going. “I don’t know,” I would say, pausing a beat. “It’s a surprise”. Responses ranged from “I don’t like that”, to “Can you pay more to find out where you’re going?”, and “So what made you want to do this?”. At the time, I didn’t really know why, other than “Why not?”.
Now, nearly a month later, I’ve reflected on what led me to decide to go on this vacation and what I gained from it. This trip allowed me to:
1. Take a Low Commitment Micro-cation
I love traveling, but due to resource limitations (time and money, mainly) it can be difficult to take time off for a long trip to some exotic location. Recently, I’ve found that I’ve been booking more frequent, shorter trips for things like friends’ weddings, ease of getting away, and budget reasons. I also have more of these trips to look forward to, instead of having to wait longer for a break.
According to the 2019 Vacation Confidence Index released by Allianz Global Assistance, 57% of Americans did not take a leisure trip longer than four nights in the last year. Some of the reasons for taking these “micro-cations” in lieu of longer trips include preferring to take more frequent shorter trips than fewer longer trips (26 percent) and not wanting to spend money on longer trips (19 percent).
Whatever the motivation, many other travelers are also jumping on this trend as well, prompting Travel + Leisure to ask, “Are Micro-cations the Newest Millennial Travel Trend?”
2. It Forced Me to Narrow Down My Options
When you were a kid, did you ever close your eyes, spin a globe, and then point at a random spot on the globe? You’d open your eyes, lift your finger off of whatever location you chose, and that’s where you’d be “going”. This kind of felt like that.
Before my friend recommended Pack Up + Go, we were tossing around suggestions about where we should go and when. These discussions always seemed to increase our options instead of narrowing them down. It looked like our trip was heading towards the dreaded “We Should Totally Meet Up Sometime And Then Never Do” territory until Pack Up + Go was presented as an option. It felt freeing to cross that item (“Decide where to go on a trip”) off my to-do list.
We live in world with many choices and that extends to our travel options. And studies have shown that the more choice doesn’t necessarily make us happier.
Once we were on the trip, my friend and I only stuck to recommendations that came in our trip packet (also included in the white envelope that announced our destination). This wasn’t done consciously but it felt so good to be unchained from Yelp reviews, trying to find the best restaurant to go to, the best things to do, the best anything. There was no FOMO when I wasn’t even aware of all the options.
3. It Saved Me Time Which Would Have Been Spent Planning
Planning vacation takes time and energy. I planned a bachelorette party for 11 women once. The stress of it, plus working full-time, and having other normal life commitments, led to me getting an ocular migraine while in the drive-thru at In ‘n Out and swearing to myself that I would never plan a trip for 11 people again. I can’t enjoy this burger if I die, I thought to myself as blind spots appeared in my field of vision, blinking furiously like pixels on a malfunctioning computer screen. This isn’t worth it.
It turns out I’m not alone in my thinking. As Olga Khazan writes in her article “Give Up on Work-Life Balance” in The Atlantic:
“Constant pressure in my profession has made me go to great lengths to minimize how much labor I perform outside of work. I once made my boyfriend pay me for the hours I spent booking flights and hotels for our vacation.”
Planning a vacation is work. Work that I don’t get paid for and turns out, would gladly pay someone else to do.
4. It Took The Pressure Off Me to Have a Good Time
Pico Iyer writes about “The Unexpected Joys of a Trip to Nowhere” in National Geographic and mentions that one of the benefits of a trip he didn’t plan for is “that it’s cleansed of the most dangerous kind of luggage, expectation.”
Expectations can be big. Even if they start off small, they can keep expanding if unchecked. I freed up some space in the carry-on luggage of my mind to bring home souvenirs of the memory kind.
A problem that I personally struggle with is that when I plan a trip, I feel responsible for everything. If someone’s not having a good time, then I’m not having a good time. Once I left everything up to Pack Up + Go, something shifted. I was responsible for nothing. I didn’t even worry about not having a good time myself. I didn’t even care if it met my expectations because I had none. I felt lighter and more carefree. I was the self-actualized version of Amy Poehler’s character in Wine Country.
It was the small things, like landing at the airport after only getting a few hours of sleep the night before. I realized I needed coffee and the line at Caribou Coffee in the terminal was long. Whereas before, I would have bolted from the airport away from the crowds to fully enjoy my destination, I was weirdly OK not fully “maximizing” my trip hours.
I became open to down time instead of dragging myself out during my mid-afternoon slump, determined to see everything because I was on vacation, not necessarily because I wanted to. My friend and I were on the same page and discovered the series “Typewriter” on Netflix. We had a lot of fun freaking ourselves out in our hotel room and I don’t regret it for a moment.
5. It Gave Me an Experience I Would Remember
In case you haven’t heard, Millennials (and every other generation, actually) are all about experiences now. Writes Blake Morgan in Forbes:
“People want to experience all that life has to offer, and since acquiring things no longer dictates your class or status in life, millennials are simply enjoying experiences over things, access over ownership.”
We reach for experiences now, the novelty of stuff wearing off sooner and sooner. We lust over yoga retreats to Bali, discovered on Instagram, imagining ourselves swinging on a giant swing overlooking the jungle.
Did I have a great experience? Yes. I remember watching the sunrise from just outside Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I remember grabbing drinks at the hotel bar, curling up in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace, and having deep conversations. I remember our Uber driver casually mentioning his spirit guide, a chicken hawk. I remember googling “chicken hawk” and being disappointed that it didn’t look like how I pictured it. Honestly, I just remember how good I felt. In the lead up to the trip, I enjoyed the thrill of anticipation and none of the stress of planning. During the trip, I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing next. I was simply in the moment. | https://medium.com/@sonya.shen7/surprise-trip-6fa87e1ddd2 | ['Sonya Shen'] | 2019-09-09 04:50:07.839000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Marketing', 'Consumer', 'Research', 'Psychology'] |
Where MOOC’s Go From Here | The hype cycle, a phrase coined by the research firm Gartner, set out in graphical form what many in the technology industry already knew intuitively. That is, every exciting new technology starts with a wave of escalating expectations, peaks at some point, descends toward what’s known as the “trough of disillusionment,” and then, finally, after hitting the trough, when tinkerers and innovators start finding real applications that actually make sense for the new technology, the hype once again starts to increase (even if it will never again reach its previous peak).
When Massive Open Online Courses first came to education, they were not immune to the hype cycle. Businesses and organizations — from EdX and Khan Academy to Coursera and Udacity — sprang up to support and take advantage of this new technology. They were going to revolutionize education, making the best education in the world free to everyone, regardless of background, location, or ability to pay.
But with average course completion rates hovering around 15%, the hype has died down and many are wondering whether MOOC’s will ever deliver on their initial promise. In the early days of MOOC’s, the most common approach for course creators was to upload a series of videos to Youtube and let students watch them for free” strategy. This strategy had its merits. It didn’t require major investments in new technology or building relationships with existing institutions, so it could be scaled up quickly and freely accessible worldwide. But we’ve reached the limits on what this can accomplish and there’s room for growth.
THE WAY FORWARD
In the future, MOOC’s creators should consider these four changes to improve student success:
1. Deliver a concrete benefit
We know that people want to learn and better their lives, but without a structured and rigorous system to support them, failure rates in MOOC’s have proven that thirst for knowledge alone is not enough to overcome traditional barriers to education and professional development. MOOC’s can still maintain the “open” part of their acronym, they just need to have the option to earn class credit at an accredited institution or win a job offer or earn a verifiable credential. Because without a tangible benefit at the end of a MOOC, beyond learning for learning’s sake, experience has shown that other things in life take priority and people fail to persist in their courses.
2. Have proctored exams
To deliver concrete benefits to students, schools and companies need to be able to verify that a specific student learned a specific amount of material. In the world of brick and mortar, this is a relatively simple problem. But with exams delivered via the internet, MOOC’s have to incorporate some kind of proctoring service, many of which use the computer camera and specialized software to detect and report suspicious patterns of behavior. As these online proctoring services improve, we’ll be able to more easily verify that students are actually learning what the MOOC’s intended to teach.
3. Be slightly less open
MOOC completion rates and student success might improve if students are required to pay a small amount of money. While this will limit the openness of MOOC’s, charging students will leverage loss aversion — the fear of having wasted money by not completing the course — to nudge more of them toward the finish line. The payments also represent a sustainable business model which will grow the market for MOOC providers beyond nonprofits.
4. Use a social learning approach
This one’s our favorite approach here at Notebowl: create a social learning environment. Research from the ACT and other groups has shown that if you keep students engaged with their peers, they have a higher chance of persisting in school. When social interaction and engagement are at the forefront of the platform providing MOOC content, students will feel more supported and might reach out to their peers for help when they feel like they’re falling behind. And when students interact with each other and their instructors more, they start to build a sense of community that will ultimately lead to higher student success.
ON THE SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
If the educators, schools, and the companies that create MOOC’s keep these four principles in mind, this new technology will be able to do what so many early students in MOOC’s weren’t able to: finish the cycle. | https://medium.com/notebowl/where-moocs-go-from-here-e7dd21cd4e10 | ['Alec Stapp'] | 2016-12-15 13:47:35.022000+00:00 | ['Edtech', 'Education Technology', 'Education', 'Mooc'] |
The Future of Content Marketing is Already Here | Experienced marketers expect change. If you continue to use the same strategies and tactics today that worked 20 years ago, you will get buried.
It has been quietly whispered in marketing circles for the past few years that Google has been suppressing organic reach. It has been more difficult to hit the magically shrinking first page of the world’s largest search engine.
The experts at The Markup finally conducted an experiment that demonstrated what most marketers already suspected — Google shows you a lot of content to keep you on Google before showing you any organic results.
While these practices may raise ethical and antitrust concerns, you have to deal with the reality on the ground. It’s time for businesses and marketers to think about what the true state of content marketing is. Cranking out dozens or hundreds of 500-word blog posts is not going to help your business.
That doesn’t mean content marketing is dead. It means that you need to look at the purpose of content marketing is and understand how to use it beyond keywords and blog posts.
Purpose of Content Marketing
Content marketing is a way to build trust with your ideal prospects and move them into your sales funnel. Content marketing was not invented for the internet. It has existed for hundreds of years.
Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac was a form of content marketing to show off his printing expertise. Brands as diverse as John Deere and Betty Crocker have made fortunes using content marketing long before the first microprocessor was ever fired up.
We tend to associate content marketing with blog posts because that has been one of the cheapest tools in the marketing toolbox for the past 20 years. Only recently have businesses begun to embrace video and podcasts as content marketing tools.
Many marketers have gotten complacent. They acted like Google would always be around to drive organic traffic to websites if they followed a few simple best practices. While those days are long gone, that doesn’t mean blogs or content marketing are dead.
It means that you need to find new ways to get your content in front of your ideal customers. You need to be more creative and disciplined in how you showcase your authority and expertise.
Google is Killing Traditional Business Blogging
A blog used to be the best way to build almost any kind of online business. You could write high-quality posts and know that the search engine algorithms would eventually find your content. If you wanted to build an audience faster, you could just write more content.
Blogs can still be a powerful way to build a business. But, it takes much longer to bear fruit. You also can’t put up a bunch of short blogs. Your content needs to be more detailed than ever before.
You are not just competing with other blogs — you are competing with Google’s desire to drive traffic within its own ecosystem.
The best performing blog content is now skyscraper posts or cornerstone posts that are 2,000-words to 10,000-words long. These are much more expensive to produce, but if used wisely, they provide a much higher return on investment than short blog posts that now seem disposable.
You also need to do more legwork to drive traffic to your content. That means rethinking the way your sales funnels are constructed.
The Old Model and the New Way
The old content marketing model relied on organic traffic. You wrote content that people found on search engines. That content invited people to contact you or to join your mailing list. Once you had a prospect’s contact information, you could guide them through your sales funnel.
Now, organic traffic is too slow and too small. If you have enough time, six months to three years, you can still rely primarily on organic traffic to power your business. Most entrepreneurs and marketers aren’t that patient.
The new way requires you either invest in social media advertising to drive traffic to your content or to expand the channels you use to increase your organic reach. This often means branching out from blog posts and expanding into different types of media.
Content marketing is a way for you to show your audience what you can do. It provides an entrance to your sales funnel.
If your content is only generating likes, views, and shares, you are doing it wrong. Effective content marketing collects contact information, and it generates email list sign-ups.
Is Email the New Blog?
Email has always been an important part of a digital marketing strategy. If you have someone’s email, you have the key to their heart. You can reach them directly. Direct marketing is the best way to convert marketing dollars into revenues.
It used to be that you created a massive amount of content to generate email list sign-ups. Now, you need to create fewer, better quality types of content to generate email sign-ups. Instead of pushing out blog posts to social media and the blogosphere, savvy businesses now save their best material for their email lists.
Services like Substack are betting massive amounts of money that email newsletters will replace the blog as the primary form of long-term content marketing.
It is much more cost-effective to invest money in high-value content as a lead magnet to build email lists of your ideal customers than to write a million blog posts. Once you have someone on your list, you can send them the same content you used to put on your blog in an email. Your emails nurture the relationship with your audience the way blog posts used to. But, with email, you have a much better sense of how effective something is.
You also can drill down on the core needs of your audience.
Best of all, Google isn’t scraping your email content and using it to keep people in their ecosystem. Email gives you a direct line to the people most likely to buy from you.
Content Curation
Another critical difference in modern content marketing is the role curation plays. The truth is none of your customers lack access to information. They don’t need you to tell them how or why to do something. They can just ask Siri or Alexa.
What your audience needs is a way to filter all of the information out there. While every business still needs to create amazing content, they also need to focus on curating content for their customers.
Curation means you put the best of the web together in a simple bundle for people to consume. You will want to include some of your best work too. Through curation, more people will come to trust you. They will also learn to enjoy your unique brand voice.
If you love music, chances are you enjoy checking out the playlists your favorite artists make in Spotify. Those playlists are a form of curation. They are a type of content marketing.
Curation scares some businesses because they are afraid of sending their customers away. They don’t trust their customers to come back.
In March of 2020, Taylor Swift created a Spotify playlist for Women’s History Month that highlighted a bunch of other female artists. Was Swift worried that her fans would discover other artists and never listen to her music again? No, because that’s idiotic. That playlist was good for Swift’s career and it was a nice signal boost to other talented artists.
Curation shows people that you are confident enough in your brand voice and business value to highlight the great work other businesses are doing.
Reimagining Your Sales Funnel
The future of content marketing will require you to create and curate content on many different channels. You may want to use Apple podcasts or TikTok or YouTube. But, no matter where you create content, you need a sales funnel. You need a strategy behind your content marketing.
It used to be that you wanted to drive everyone to your website or blog. You still need your own website. But now you want to drive traffic to a specific lead magnet or landing page to join your mailing list. That lead magnet could be a bribe like a free PDF, or it could be a skyscraper blog post that anyone can access.
You may find that curating content helps you build your email list faster than creating all of your own original content.
However, you need to get people on your email list, and then you need a strategy to nurture those leads into becoming paying customers.
If you think this sounds almost exactly like the old way of building a funnel, you are right. The only difference is in how you are using content to get people to join your email list.
You don’t need a weekly blog anymore. You may get the results you want faster by changing the type of content you are using to attract your ideal customers.
Content marketing and direct marketing are never going to die because they are based on human psychology. However, just like John Deere isn’t using the same content strategies in 2020 that it used in 1920, you shouldn’t be using the same content strategies today that you used in 2000, or even in 2016.
The best content marketing is not dependent on Google or any other single platform to drive traffic and generate leads.
The future of content marketing requires empathy, creativity, and adaptability. Instead of churning out another basic 500-word blog post today, spend time reimaging ways to show your ideal customers you can help them.
That’s what successful marketers have always done and will continue to do. | https://medium.com/escape-motivation/the-future-of-content-marketing-is-already-here-546ab978708f | ['Jason Mcbride'] | 2020-08-16 06:53:24.532000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Email Marketing', 'Business', 'Writing'] |
Loyal Opposition | Loyal Opposition
Photo by Fabian Fauth on Unsplash
resist.
get up, you supine
the change is still
about
you and I, we love
our country.
recognize.
your advantage, your
head start is still
millennia, but we can,
we must
turn around.
reject.
move away from home
write new metaphors
to inscribe on tombs,
your children’s
future deeds.
reeducate.
look to the oppressed
fulfill the duty
of this day
complacency,
is not a choice.
realize.
if you do nothing,
you are complicit
to the lies.
we are not there yet
we are not there yet | https://medium.com/politically-speaking/loyal-opposition-26fda426da43 | ['Samantha Lazar'] | 2020-11-21 12:37:46.664000+00:00 | ['BlackLivesMatter', 'Poetry', 'Politics', 'Resistance', 'Civil Rights'] |
I’m Retired. Do I really need to keep working? | I have always worked. I worked from the age of 14. Saturday job, holiday jobs, temping for a year pre-university, vacation work as a student and then self employed after graduation, which, at the time, I thought would be my career for ever. Then, to help manage the ‘lean times’ when self employed work was scarce, I started a lecturing job (career number 2) which went from 12 hours, term-time only, to 12 hour days, full time. Even maternity leave was only 7 months off in those days but I went back part time for another 7 months until I landed the full time job that became my life for the next 20 years. I endured a couple of short periods of ‘signing on’ during career number 1 and the early part of career number 2 and hated every moment of it. It made me feel a failure, although that was a completely irrational reaction and I was one of the lucky ones who was going to get work after just a few weeks between contracts. I was also rubbish at being a ‘stay at home Mum’ as I missed the adult conversation far too much and felt very lonely when my husband was at work.
For me, work was always stimulating, challenging and an opportunity to learn more about myself and others. I was privileged to work mostly with people who were committed to what they did and we laughed together every day. It was simply great fun and someone paid me every month for this. The human contact has always been what I miss the most when I’m not working, although I always found uses for the money too. It shapes my day, gives me a reason to go to bed before midnight and. get up before 8, it probably even makes me a bit more interesting, but my work is more than a job. Work is also housework, hobbies and interests, future plans and dreams, I don’t discriminate and therefore I never resent any of it, except perhaps the ironing, which I gave up in the 80’s and haven’t done since.
Completely without any planning on my part, I stayed in the same organisation for 20 years. I became part of it’s history and it became part of me. I was appointed by one boss as a head of department of one person, (me) which was a bit of a doddle as I worked really hard for me. The department grew to 6 people, (less of a doddle as they didn’t always like work as much as I did), and I was able to take a part time sabbatical for two years alongside it, visiting other similar organisations to share best practice, while all the time, nicking their best ideas for my own. After this I was promoted to manage several departments and a few years after that I joined the senior management team under a new boss. Three years later he left and the last of my three bosses promoted me to his deputy, basically because he wasn’t keen on work and knew I’d do most of it for him.
During those 20 years and at least 4 different roles I generally thrived. I was supported to complete training and to train others. I recruited, appointed, mentored, coached many good people and even fired a few who were not happy in their work or just plain bad at it, but usually both. Until the last 18 months I was happy in mine, despite the long hours and constant pressure to be the best. It suited me. I was appreciated and I loved to see people doing well at what they do best.
Then it ended. With very little notice I had to start again on career number 3, travelling all over the UK working as a consultant and trainer. It took me a year to get established and find the work I needed and that needed me. I hated having to sell myself but during the next 5 years I was lucky to have a few periods of working in one place, alongside great teams of people who welcomed me into their organisations as a friend as well as a colleague. The rest of the time I parachuted in and out of places, trying to build the rapport needed for people to trust that what I was saying would make their lives better.
Then this ended too. Although this time it was because my husband, the man who had always known he was 3rd in the pecking order after my daughter and my work, became ill and died. I stopped work to look after him and after he gave up fighting I started again for a third time.
After the funeral and the readjustments, came the finding of new friends, the rediscovering of old ones I’d lost touch with and some of the passions I used to indulge in 30 years ago. Then I started to need something more on top of the travelling, the folk singing and theatre trips and even the love and friendship of a new partner. I needed to work again. I turned to new roles in the NHS and online assessment work for a management course. I learnt new things, honed old skills and developed my knowledge of new areas. It gave structure to my week, made me feel I was still learning, gave me something to talk about when people tired of my travel stories. It connected me, to myself, to my past, to the big world of working people out there, which was essential when the first lockdown started and we all disconnected from each other.
So do I need to work? Yes, I think I do, although the concept of ‘work’ is a very wide one for me. Planning a road trip around Slovenia or Cornwall is ‘work’ to me. Researching songs for a production with friends is ‘work’ to me. Spring cleaning, gardening and even catching up with Facebook posts or having a rant on Twitter is a kind of work, because it is all part of my daily schedule. It’s not just the paid stuff that counts as work, and I love it all. I don’t think I will ever stop. | https://medium.com/@juliapollock_42643/im-retired-do-i-really-need-to-keep-working-f846a4e04d25 | ['Julia Pollock'] | 2021-09-06 09:08:36.359000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Mental Health', 'Retirement Living', 'Work From Home', 'Employment'] |
Standard Cognition Uses Rockset to Deliver Data APIs and Real-Time Metrics for Vision AI | Standard Cognition Uses Rockset to Deliver Data APIs and Real-Time Metrics for Vision AI Kevin Leong Follow Jan 31 · 5 min read
Walk into a store, grab the items you want, and walk out without having to interact with a cashier or even use a self-checkout system. That’s the no-hassle shopping experience of the future you’ll get at the Standard Store, a demonstration store showcasing the AI-powered checkout pioneered by Standard Cognition.
The company makes use of computer vision to remove the need for checkout lines of any sort in physical retail locations. Their autonomous checkout system only requires easy-to-install overhead cameras, with no other sensors or RFID tags needed on shelves or merchandise. Standard uses the camera information in its computer vision platform to generate locations of individuals in the store-a type of in-store GPS-and track what items they pick up from the shelves. Shoppers simply exit the store with their items and get sent a receipt for their purchases.
Employing computer vision to deliver a no-touch checkout experience requires that Standard efficiently handle large volumes of data from many sources. Aside from video data from each camera-equipped store, Standard deals with other data sets such as transactional data, store inventory data that arrive in different formats from different retailers, and metadata derived from the extensive video captured by their cameras.
As is common with fast-growing markets, Standard’s data and analytics requirements are constantly evolving. Adding external data sources, each with a different schema, can require significant effort building and maintaining ETL pipelines. Testing new functionality on their transactional data store is costly and can impact production. Ad hoc queries to measure the accuracy of the checkout process in real time are not possible with traditional data architectures. To overcome these challenges and support rapid iteration on the product, the Standard engineering team relies on Rockset for their prototyping and internal analytics.
Schemaless Ingest for Running Experiments
Standard builds their production systems to access the streams of events they collect through a number of backend APIs, and the team is continually adding new API endpoints to make more data available to developers. Rockset plays a key role in prototyping APIs that will eventually be productionized and offers several advantages in this regard.
When in the experimental phase, quick schema changes are required when analyzing their data. Rockset does not require schema definition for ingest, but still allows users to run fast SQL queries against the raw data using a very flexible schema-on-read approach. Using Rockset as their prototyping platform, Standard engineers can quickly experiment with different functions on the data.
Standard also uses Rockset for fast prototyping because it can be readily accessed as a fully managed cloud service. Engineers simply connect to various data sources and ingest and query the data without having to manage servers or databases. Compared to the alternative of prototyping on their transactional data store, Standard’s cost of experimentation with Rockset is low.
Ad Hoc Analysis of Operational Metrics
Standard is constantly monitoring operational metrics from retailer partners, and their own demonstration store, to improve the efficiency and precision of their systems. Of particular importance in computer-vision-aided checkout is the accuracy of the transactions. Were shoppers charged for the correct number of items? How accurate were the AI models compared to human-resolved events?
The engineering team pulls together multiple data sets-event streams from the stores, data from vendors, store inventory information, and debug logs-to generate accuracy metrics. They stream all this data into Rockset, which allows Standard to run ad hoc queries to join across data sets and analyze metrics in real time, rather than wait for asynchronous data lake jobs.
An Environment for Rapid Prototyping and Real-Time Analytics
Standard incorporates Rockset into their development flow for rapid prototyping and real-time analytics purposes. They bring in transactional data and various third-party data sets, typically in CSV or Parquet format and each with its own custom schema, using the Rockset Write API for ingestion whenever new data is available.
For feature prototyping, engineers build an experimental API, using the Rockset Node.js client, that is refined over multiple iterations. Once a feature is mature, it is converted to a serverless function, using Google Cloud Functions, in their online production system in order to present data as an API to developers. This flow allows the engineering team to move quickly, with no infrastructure required, when developing new functionality. Standard productionizes several endpoints a day using this methodology.
In the real-time analytics scenario, data from disparate sources-structured data managed by Standard and unstructured third-party data-is loaded into Rockset. Once ingested into Rockset, engineers can immediately perform SQL queries to measure and analyze operational metrics. Rockset offers the Standard team an ideal environment for ad hoc queries, allowing engineers to bring in and query internal and external data sets in real time without having to worry about indexing the data for performance.
Constantly Improving Checkout Accuracy and Product at Standard
Standard’s Rockset environment allows the team greater speed and simplicity when developing new features and verifying the accuracy of their AI models. In a nascent market where correctness of the computer vision platform will be crucial in gaining adoption of its automated checkout system, the ability to constantly improve accuracy and product functionality gives Standard an important edge.
“The team at Standard is always looking to increase the accuracy of the computer vision platform and add new features to the product. We need to be able to drive product improvements from conception to production rapidly, and that involves being able to run experiments and analyze real-time metrics quickly and simply,” says Tushar Dadlani, computer vision engineering manager at Standard Cognition. “Using Rockset in our development environment gives us the ability to perform ad hoc analysis without a significant investment in infrastructure and performance tuning. We have over two thirds of our technical team using Rockset for their work, helping us increase the speed and agility with which we operate.”
As Standard continues to evolve its AI-powered autonomous checkout offering, the team hopes to bring even more data into its platform in the future. Standard will extend the same rapid development model, enabled by Rockset, to incorporating new types of data into its analysis. Its next project will introduce user behavior event streams into its analysis, using Rockset’s SQL engine to join across the multiple data sets being analyzed. | https://medium.com/rocksetcloud/standard-cognition-uses-rockset-to-deliver-data-apis-and-real-time-metrics-for-vision-ai-a080180352c7 | ['Kevin Leong'] | 2020-01-31 21:56:22.117000+00:00 | ['Real Time Analytics', 'Computer Vision', 'AI', 'Data', 'API'] |
Daniela En Mexico City | Era como un leap de fé.
Como “Emily in Paris.”
Except my name is Daniela. And I work in public relations. And by ancestral inspiration, faith, and a little bit of moxie, I asked to live in Mexico City for three months. And the universe said yes.
Really. I woke up one morning in March and my first thought was: “I need to go to Mexico.”
“What?”
“You need to go to Mexico.”
“Que locura es esta?” I said to myself.
And so the adventure for the adventure started. I texted my friend, Diego, a Paraguayan native and my Latino Brother From Another Mother who always makes me work to get in a word during our fast-paced conversations.
“Go,” he said to me. “Learning Spanish is a game changer for you.”
Then, I started to think about it as I looked around my one-bedroom apartment in St. Louis. The knowledge I’d have my second Moderna vaccination in my arm by the end of the day emboldened me. The world was still WFH (working from home) with the pandemic, and, well, what better time to go than now? I didn’t know anyone in Mexico City, but I’d fallen in love with it when I visited in 2018. My phone plan worked. It was in the same time zone and the sprawling, cosmopolitan city had fast internet and Airbnbs to rent. What else would I need?
The truth is, I’d been dreaming about an international adventure most of my life, but just never had the guts — or ganas — to follow through on actually leaving for an extended period of time. And during the pandemic, I’d swapped my wanderlust for Spanish-language soap operas. It also helped me learn the language.
Last summer, I stumbled on La Reina del Sur, the hit novela that has inspired the English version of “Queen of the South” on the USA Network. Except Kate del Castillo’s version of Teresa Mendoza had way more gusto for me than the English version. She was raw, naively in love (been there, not with a narcotraficante, but…) and later found herself in danger. She was fierce and compassionate, even as she was fighting classism and the patriarchy. She took me to Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar — and I found myself learning about geography and culture I was never taught about in school. Teresa was successful because she did things her way.
During that time, I would take walks around Tower Grove Park in the summer evenings, listening to Latin pop music on my headphones, thinking about what if I were walking through the Bosque de Chapultepec, instead of TGP? What would it feel like? Smell like? What if those tropical looking-flowers could transport me to another place?
When I think about my wanderlust, I remember I am a child of the diaspora. I am connected to lands far away. I know that part of my life’s purpose is to reconnect to the language, the land and the traditions of the diaspora — including Puerto Rico, Latin America and Africa. My ancestors know this. In the roots of these cultures, it is understood that we stand on the shoulders of the ones who came before us. If we listen, they are here, trying to guide us with love and the lessons they learned so we don’t have to repeat them.
I recently learned my Abuela Lila had taken her pentecostal ministry to Guatemala in the 1970s. My cousin, Myra, lived in Mexico City for a couple of years in the 90s to work on her Spanish. And my sister took a six-month sabbatical to learn Spanish and travel across the Caribbean and Latin America in the early 2000s.
While my adventure may seem novel(a), I’m really just on track with my ancestral mission.
In short: I’d been dreaming about adventures afar. And yeah, they were inspired by some fictional chingonas. But as the heroine of my own story/novela/comedy-drama, I decided it was time for me to finally commit to learning Spanish, and taking the adult study abroad trip I’d wanted, but never knew how to make happen — or had the tetas to ask for — until this year.
Era como un leap de fé. Y por fin brinque. | https://medium.com/@vdanielavv/daniela-en-mexico-city-dd8163be265 | ['Daniela Velázquez'] | 2021-08-28 18:30:12.793000+00:00 | ['Expat Life', 'Mexico', 'Cdmx', 'Women Traveler', 'Travel'] |
Bitcoin Regulation: South Korea is Making Progress | On June 8th, the South Korean Advisory Committee met to develop a legal framework for national crypto exchanges. Following the Coinrail Market’s recent hack, the South Korean government is enforcing stricter investor protection guidelines: Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML).
Crypto-exchanges are recognized as financial institutions
With the intention of developing new strategies for traditional financial institutions, the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) has included crypto currency exchanges in the discussion to find new ways to regulate the emerging market. The South Korean government is taking steps to implement new KYC and AML guidelines for financial institutions on the $ 33-million hack of the Korean crypto-exchange Coinrail. Currently, the Korean Free Trade Commission is not authorized to access or monitor cryptographic exchanges and their clients.
An interesting twist is that the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) now recognizes crypto exchanges as big financial institutions, so that the legitimacy around the Bitcoin market continues to grow. However, this also means that the crypto exchanges are subject to the same scrutiny as commercial banks and stock exchanges. This also makes sense after it has recently become known that Bitcoin exchanges have offered the respective ICO projects to artificially influence the volume to appeal to investors. A KFIU spokesman described the impact of looming regulation and said to CCN:
“Under current regulations, there are clear limitations in preventing money laundering on crypto exchanges because the only way authorities can spot suspicious transactions is through banks. If the bill of lawmaker Jae Yoon-kyung from the Democratic Party of Korea passes, local authorities will be able to impose identical regulations on crypto exchanges that are implemented on commercial banks.”
Korean government is reluctant to legitimize cryptocurrencies so far
In an article released last year, Korean media company Hankyoreh revealed that the Korean authorities encouraged policymakers to develop earlier stricter laws to regulate the cryptocurrency. At that time it became clear that the Korean government deliberately renounced a regulation in order to shift the legitimacy of the markets.
Long-term effects
As the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries grow rapidly, a regulatory framework is needed to make the market more transparent and accessible. Institutional investment companies such as Goldman Sachs and the NYSE are gradually using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a new asset class. The entry of institutional companies and the regulatory development will be the prerequisites for the worldwide launch of cryptocurrencies.
Japan is already taking on a pioneering role to create a regulatory framework. It seems as if the Asian region is trying to create market conditions in the near future to be considered a future blockchain valley. | https://vidrihmarko.medium.com/bitcoin-regulation-south-korea-is-making-progress-1543c7ed52ea | ['Marko Vidrih'] | 2018-06-20 20:15:57.952000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain'] |
Trading on high volume | This is part 8 in a series of articles on the Nefertiti trading bot. If you don’t know what Nefertiti is or does, please refer to part 1 in this series.
Nefertiti comes with a built-in strategy that is simple but proven; buy the dip, then sell those trades as soon as possible, preferably on the same day.
However, some traders might prefer an alternative strategy. Starting with Nefertiti 0.0.34 we’re pleased to announce that you can now automatically trade the coins that are trending. | https://medium.com/nefertiticryptobot/trading-on-high-volume-fd9ab6f334ed | [] | 2020-02-21 18:15:21.865000+00:00 | ['Golang', 'Bots', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Social Media Monitoring by Schools | Social Media Monitoring by Schools
As if the citizens of the US were not already over monitored by Internet companies, advertisers, phone companies, employers, authorities, cable companies, and oh yes those smart meters, it seems they are starting in on our kids too. Children are being introduced to surveillance on social networks and don’t seem to understand the problem, which […] | https://medium.com/@aenlagency/social-media-monitoring-by-schools-d1039ec2ea1c | ['Aénl Agency'] | 2020-12-24 18:20:27.840000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Facebook Marketing', 'Google Marketing', 'Spotify Marketing', 'Hip Hop'] |
Non-Profit Showcase: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex | Non-Profit Showcase: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex
Every year, volunteers give a combined total of 2.2 million hours of their time to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
For more than a century, the organization has worked hard to match at-risk youth with mentors who can provide guidance, encouragement, and opportunities. Across Canada, young people face a variety of adversities, including mental health issues, poverty, family violence, and identity issues. The goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to help their mentees overcome these obstacles and reach their full potential.
Big Brothers Big Sisters first came to Windsor-Essex in 1966, though it was known back then as Big Brothers and focused mostly on matching young boys without fathers to male role models. Six years later, a Big Sisters organization was formed to help girls in the same way. The two separate groups finally joined forces to officially become one entity in 2005. Today, they have a dedicated team of employees and volunteers who take pride in their accomplishments as a group.
“Our work is transformative,” said Becky Parent, executive director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex. “Mentoring is extremely rewarding but you can see the power it has on people’s lives at all levels.”
Through the mentoring services provided by the organization, youth are able to find higher paying jobs, grow their self esteem, improve their overall health, accomplish lifelong dreams, and feel a greater sense of belonging and acceptance in society. Some of the programs offered by Big Brothers Big Sisters include mentoring both in and out of school, one-on-one or in groups, and mentoring through health focused activities. Parent, who began her career 25 years ago with the organization, has seen firsthand the impact it has had in the community.
“A really proud moment is when one of our kids graduates from high school and goes on to post-secondary,” said Parent. “Or when one of our young people receive the CIBC Youth Vision scholarship. Or when one of our mentors, now successful and happy, comes to volunteer to give back to another mentee. This is very fulfilling as we know our work truly was successful.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters is especially in need of male mentors to partner with young boys. According to Parent, boys wait three to four times longer to be partnered with a mentor than girls. The organization also gladly accepts donations.
To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters, visit their website and participate in their online orientation. You can also follow them on Facebook. | https://medium.com/@Shopivo/non-profit-showcase-big-brothers-big-sisters-of-windsor-essex-661ad6368b91 | [] | 2019-02-07 14:14:21.680000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Inspiration', 'Charity', 'Featured', 'Nonprofit'] |
Why Not Change The World? | “God wants you to be in the world but so different from the world that you will change it. Get cracking.” — Mother Angelica
Never think that you can’t do anything to change the world. You can always do something, and you can always start where you are.
Sometimes we tend to think that only the big people can change the world — the rich ones, the influential ones, the powerful ones.
But you have power deep within you. Power from above which no one could ever take away.
You can do something. You can change from within and you can be that spark of hope you wish to see.
Remember that it took but one Man to overcome death forever and save all mankind. It took but one Man to restore paradise and blot out sin forever.
Wake up from your slumber and make an offering of yourself. Do everything you can. And leave the rest to Him who can still make miracles happen. | https://medium.com/the-catholic-refuge/why-not-change-the-world-861d1d242a5e | ['Jocelyn Soriano'] | 2020-12-26 00:02:19.334000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Christianity', 'Catholic', 'Personal Development', 'Life Lessons'] |
The Honest Truth about Filmmaking | You are pursuing filmmaking? You want to be a filmmaker and make a career out of it? I guess we’re in the same boat. But, first, let me introduce myself. I am Lance and currently studying Arts and Communication because I think it’s the best way to achieve my dreams in filmmaking.
Yes, you’re right it’s boring, why should we study in college or university in the first place when there’s a lot of free stuff online that you can learn from. Filmmaking is about expressing your emotions, your stories to tell the world at least for me because we only live once, it is a way for us filmmakers to be remembered, to leave something behind that can ignite that fire in future generations. Let me tell you the truth about filmmaking, it’s not about needing money or skills to create something incredible, because worrying about those things won’t make you a better creator either. You don’t need to believe everyone saying that “to become a good creator means you need an expensive camera or advanced editing software”, what you need is to take action. That’s the simple and hard truth. It doesn’t matter if you have the equipment or skills when you don’t take action on taking the first step.
Take action, now. Be consistent and something unique that they can’t help but notice you. A great looking film is useless without a good story. Never waste your time whining, remember we only live once, it’s up to us how we use our time wisely. | https://medium.com/@lanceeugeniobusiness/the-honest-truth-about-filmmaking-6b7ffe55b195 | ['Lance Aldreen Eugenio'] | 2020-12-16 22:00:42.946000+00:00 | ['Filmmaking', 'Filmmaker'] |
Are Online Poker Earnings Taxable in India | In India, the Public Gambling Act of 1867 prohibits running or being in charge of a public gaming house, and also prohibits visiting gambling houses, except for licensed casinos in Goa and Sikkim. This prohibition also applies to popular casino games like roulette, teen-patti, andar-bahar, etc played at unlicensed gaming houses. Experts believe these restrictions also apply to playing these games online.
However, poker is a game of skill. A player uses his/her knowledge, training, attention, experience, or expertise and the final outcome is influenced by one or more of these factors. While games of skill may have an element of luck or chance, as long as they are predominantly influenced by skills, they are not considered ‘gambling’ and do not break the laws prohibiting gambling. Poker has been recognized as a game of skill by several High Courts in India, and meets all the criteria related to “games of skill” laid down by the Supreme Court of India.
Taxation of online poker: Income Tax
Players in India must declare their online poker winnings and pay a 30% tax on that winning amount along with surcharge if applicable and education cess @ 3%. For any player winning more than Rs 10,000, taxes will be deducted from their winnings. TDS is deducted when a player has a winning of over Rs.10,000 in a session of poker. For online poker, it is mandatory for the site to deduct 30.9% of TDS on the total winning, before they reach a player. Once a player receives the amount after the tax deduction, he/she is not liable to pay any other tax on the amount received, since the TDS has already been deducted. The sites that deduct TDS will provide a certificate as a proof of the same to the player.
Some poker sites have spent a lot of time understanding the applicable tax laws and evolving policies that help players minimize their tax liability while fully adhering to all applicable laws. The best policy is probably the one by 9stacks.com, which uses a “dual chip system”. In this system a player will have 2 kinds of chips in their account, user chips and poker chips.
User chips: this is the link between a player’s bank account/credit card and 9stacks. Whenever a player deposits money using one of their payment gateways, the company credits an equivalent number of user chips in the player’s user balance. The user balance cannot directly be used to play poker and is freely withdrawable at any time, so a player can transfer any amount from their user balance to their bank account at any time without any TDS implications.
Poker Chips: a player’s poker balance is what they use to play poker on cash tables or tournaments. They can do so by moving some or all of their user chips to the poker balance, where they will show as an equivalent number of poker chips. If the player starts playing with these chips, any additional chips won are also in the poker balance. Wins and losses over a period of time can be set off within the poker balance. When a player wants to make a withdrawal, the session is completed and they move all their chips from the poker balance to their user balance after the game cycle ends. If the net winnings exceed ₹10,000, the company will deduct TDS at 30% and transfer the remaining to the user balance. This system is very efficient for players as losses and wins within a session can be set off and only net winnings are taxable, regardless of the length of the session. Secondly, wins from poker tournaments and losses from poker cash tables (or vice versa) can be set off within the same session.
Taxation of online poker: GST
From a tax point of view, online poker sites are nothing but a platform that provides a service to their customers, consisting of IT infrastructure, game operations including a good user interface design and overall user experience, data security, easy transfer of money in and out, and matching of players to different games. Accordingly, online skill games like poker are liable to GST. As per the GST Act, they fall under ‘all other services not specified elsewhere’ category and are subjected to a 18% GST rate. GST is charged on the rake (service fee) charged by the online poker operator, and is paid by the online portals from the service fees charged by them, and not separately collected from players.
In 2019 the Bombay High Court ruled that daily fantasy sports games depend upon a user’s skill and judgment and is undoubtedly a game of skill. The same judgment is also applicable for poker as it is also a game of skill. The court further ruled that GST is not applicable on the entire deposit received from a player but only on the consideration which is payable / collected for the supply of goods or services or both within the platform — i.e., the service fees charged by the poker platforms. | https://medium.com/@ungligames/are-online-poker-earnings-taxable-in-india-848b5a2c87b7 | [] | 2021-11-30 10:34:23.092000+00:00 | ['Poker', 'Poker Game', 'Game Of Skill', 'Poker Online', 'Poker Table'] |
Study Notes on D&T and AdaScale | Detect to Track and Track to Detect
First, we are going to talk about “Detect to Track and Track to detect”. Along with the development, the procedure of video detection is usually divided into several phases. Complex multi-stage algorithms are proposed. And these algorithms are still getting more and more cumbersome each year. Most algorithms cannot do detection and tracking at the same time. With these background in mind, this paper proposes a model called D&T, which has the following three contributions:
Build an end-to-end ConvNet model for simultaneous detection and tracking
Introduce object co-occurrence features across time to ConvNet during tracking
Achieve high accuracy in both detection and tracking by linking the frame-level detections
Let’s see what the model is like and how it achieves the advantages stated above. Before we get into that, if you are not familiar with R-FCN and RoI Pooling, reading the paper and many other explanatory medium posts would be helpful.
Architecture of Detect and Track (D&T) approach
The above picture shows the model architecture, which basically is built on R-FCN and extended for multi-frame detection and tracking. The model is constructed by two identical R-FCN structures and a correlation module in the middle. The workflow is following specifically.
Two frames in a video, frame at time t and frame at a later time, are input into the model.
Detection: Inputs get through the same R-FCN object detection framework, which is constructed by a feature extractor (i.e. a stack of conv-layers) followed by a region classifier and a regressor in parallel. In this procedure, candidate regions are proposed by an RPN. The feature maps of interested regions get into RoI pooling. Then the pooled features are fed to the classifier (to do object classification) and the regressor (refine bounding boxes).
Tracking: The correlation module takes the intermediate position-sensitive regression maps from both frames as input and outputs the box transformation from one frame to the other. To track multiple objects at the same time, correlation maps are computed for all positions, and RoI pooling is applied to feature maps for track regression.
An example is shown on the bottom below.
Schematic of our approach for two frames at time t and t + τ .
The paper gives a nice example to explain the overall workflow. Here I quote one paragraph: “The inputs are first passed through a fully-convolutional network to produce feature maps. A correlation layer operates on multiple feature maps of different scales (only the coarsest scale is shown in the figure) and estimates local feature similarity for various offsets between the two frames. Finally, position-sensitive RoI-pooling operates on the convolutional features of the individual frames to produce per-frame detections and also on a stack of individual frame-features as well as the between frame correlation features to output regression offsets of the boxes across the two frames (RoI-tracking)”.
The correlation module in the middle of two R-FCN models is actually a regressor using the frame feature maps and correlation feature maps as input to predict the offsets and scales of the object in the frame at a later time.
The loss function of the model has three parts: object classification, bounding box regression, and transformation (offset and scale) of the object between the two frames.
Loss function. The loss in red box is for transformation
Here, we should pay more attention to the term in the red box, which is the loss for transformation. Note that, this term is calculated only for the objects shown in both frames. And the transformation is defined as the relative offsets and log of relative scales of the objects as shown below:
Definition of Transformation
Transformation in parts. Where B stands for a bounding box. (x, y) is the center coordinates of the bounding box. w for width, h for height
Usually, object detection involves the tradeoff between detection accuracy and the number of frames to use due to memory limitations in GPU hardware. In the paper, they use the in-frame tracks to increase precision and reduce the number of frames processed in one iteration. Since video usually contains a lot of redundant information and objects move smoothly as time, it is reasonable to use the predicted tracking information to link detections and build long-term object tubes.
Several tubes (paths) across time are possible in a video. To find the best path, we first define the class-wise linking score, combining detections and tracks. The score is affected by how confident an object belonging to a class in two frames and how much the bounding boxes in two frames are overlapped.
class-wise linking score that combines detections and tracks across time. D for class detection, c for class, t for time, i is an index, T for tracks
The p in the red box stands for the confidence scores for class c in two frames respectively. And the term in the blue box is the pairwise score representing transformation, which is defined below.
Pairwise-score: The pairwise term evaluates to 1 if the IoU overlaps a track correspondence represented by T with the detection boxes represented by D is larger than 0.5.
The optimal path is the one maximizing the scores over the duration T of the video. It is defined as:
There are many methods that can be applied to find the optimal path, e.g. Viterbi algorithm, which is a dynamic programming algorithm. Then, the detection scores in the tube (path) can be re-weighted by adding the mean of the 50% highest scores in the tube, so that the scores are boosted for positive boxes on which the detector fails. Imagine the detector fails to detect an object in the frame at time t, but it manages to detect the same object in frame t-1 and t+1, then the reweighting process would give the false negative detection in frame t a higher score, which could make it a true positive.
In the paper, the model achieves 75.8% mAP (mean average precision) in single image object detection task and 79.8% mAP in video testing. | https://medium.com/@rl3070/study-notes-on-d-t-and-adascale-da1e1927c726 | ['Ruizhe Li'] | 2020-11-27 14:29:32.685000+00:00 | ['Video Processing', 'Convolutional Network', 'Computer Vision'] |
Queer Sources of Adult Creativity | Adolescent Taboo
Queer Sources of Adult Creativity
How teenage sexual frustration might lead to ultimate vocation
Harrow schoolboys, copyright Mark Draisey Photography, used with permission
Does anyone else love the striped socks, the bared legs, and the bear hugs of an all-boy boarding school? Or is it only me? Part of the appeal is that these boys are in a place famous for queer sexuality, though fairly few of them will identify as queer later in life. They’re in a place famous for privilege, but they’re undergoing something universal too. Their awkward and uncomfortable sexuality-in-the-making is pointing toward a future where something else is being made. What’s often overlooked about this period in everyone’s life is the growth of potential vocation and adult creativity that emerges from the increase of erotic feelings in our teenaged emotional lives.
My hypothesis is that everyone’s adult ingenuity and imagination lives in a direct relationship with the birth of their sexual selves. I’d like to explore that hypothesis in relation to two stories. One is the boarding school life of one of Britain’s greatest poets, Lord Byron. The other, pretty ridiculous by contrast, is my own experience at a suburban high school in central Ohio.
These are both experiences that now would be described as queer. What may’ve been experienced initially as a disability turns out in both cases to have been something of an advantage. The early taboo on same-sex sexual attraction also led early to adult vocation, both in Byron’s life and in mine.
1 Lord Byron at Harrow School, 1801–1805
Byron arrived at his boarding school with a bad foot and no father. He was thirteen and a spoiled brat. He hated it and prolonged his stays away from Harrow as much as he could.
By the time he was sixteen things had changed dramatically. As an older boy he was able to attract a small group of younger boys who looked up to him. There were intense relationships with these younger boys that he described in verse. He disguised the gender and the names of the people involved.
He had romantic friendships with two boys who, like him, had come early to their titles, the earl of Clare and Lord Delawarr. Byron struck his new school friends as absurdly proud of being a lord. They called him “the old English baron” to tease him out of it. Inevitably there were misunderstandings between them, and these too made their way into Byron’s first poems.
Many of his early verses are those of a kid who liked lying on gravestones. They dwell on death and dying as the only ways of preserving schoolboy love. Recall that in the early nineteenth century love between men was forbidden. If it didn’t always lead to death, if discovered it almost always led to disgrace. As a result the teenaged Byron concluded that the dead are better off than we are. Away with the tears which we fruitlessly shed — Let us mourn for the living, not weep for the dead.
He also imagined a mutual death with one of his closest friends. He rested his head on this boy’s chest. I’ll make my last, cold, pillow on thy breast; that breast, where oft in life, I’ve laid my head. Death is a way of his being able to sleep with this boy forever, without interference from a judgmental society. Together in one bed of earth we’ll lie!
Sex between schoolboys was both against the rules and customary at British boarding schools. It had to be kept secret because boys caught doing it were punished. Their parents were told. There were expulsions. They were branded with public shame it was hard to live down, no matter how ancient their titles.
Byron always claimed that his schoolboy romances were pure and Platonic. They were matters of the heart not the body. Whatever happened they were times of intense erotic imagination. He also discovered examples of legitimate same-sex desire in the ancient languages and history Harrow boys had to study. The god Apollo loved young Hyacinth. The Roman emperor Hadrian loved handsome Antinous. Byron compared one magnificent boy he knew to the Roman king of the gods. Equal to Jove that youth must be, greater than Jove he seems to me.
As an adult writer Byron considered his adolescent passions so key to his adult creativity that he penned two memoirs of his early love life. His later friend, Hobhouse, ensured that one of these, and perhaps the more important, was destroyed soon after Byron’s death. Why destroy an account of a Platonic schoolboy friendship?
It’s certainly more likely and more fun to conclude that Byron had both Clare and Delawarr backwards and forwards, in their striped socks and out of them, on gravestones and elsewhere, before they all left Harrow. Neither of them was ashamed either then, or later. Byron himself always remembered his last year at Harrow as among the happiest times of his life.
Decades later when Byron met Clare by chance on an Italian highway, he described the few minutes they spent together as one of the most memorable scenes of his life.
The risks Byron and these boys took if they did have sex with one another, nevertheless, would have been considerable. Those chances taken were good training, for Byron certainly, and maybe for the other two as well. They helped to make for happiness and bravery both in their later love lives and in their later careers. Byron’s love life always depended on risk taking, even when he was far beyond his schooldays.
Coping with the taboo surrounding schoolboy love drove Byron into poetry. It was the origin of his adult persona of injured, misunderstood soul who longed only for wild romantic fulfillment. The hypocrisy of forbidding at a British boarding school what most boys did anyway was the first of multiple British dishonesties about sex that drove him ultimately into exile. He found his later identity as a man and a poet by outraging conventional British opinion on sexuality and marriage. This also underwrote his fame and success as a writer. Was he always happy doing it? No. But he’s not one of the four principal romantic poets for nothing. His whole achievement rests on breaking the rules of poetry as he found them. That rule breaking began at his boarding school.
2 Bill Kuhn at Whetstone High School, Columbus, Ohio, 1972–75
In my own high school days, there were no boy-lords. There were no nearby graveyards for writing poetry. I chose to stand out, instead, by wearing a plaid jacket with a polka-dotted shirt for my senior picture.
Bill Kuhn, long suppressed photo, used by permission of the sitter
Many of my friends were having their first sex in high school, but I wasn’t. I was going through the motions of dating girls occasionally and refusing to come to terms with my homosexuality on a full-time basis.
Columbus, Ohio was scarcely a desert when I was growing up. My father was a professor and Columbus is a university town, but I knew no gay people and there were no role models in the media. I wasn’t brought up in any church, but every teenaged boy I knew made it clear that to be gay was an abomination, even if he couldn’t spell it, or use the word properly in a sentence. I was blind to the other, and contradictory messages these boys were sending me.
Like Byron I developed language as the most important of my maturing sexual organs. I did well in English, French, and Latin. I knew that good grades were my ticket to more urban and sophisticated places where people like me probably existed. I got a writing award and this captured the attention of a big university that was far away. I was invited to apply.
I found the first elements of my vocation in understanding that both sexually and creatively I had to get out of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve always been sexually most at home hundreds of miles and ideally an ocean away from where I grew up. Byron too ultimately found the kind of love life he wanted to lead only in exile from England.
I was reluctantly attracted to boys when I was in high school. One played the trumpet. Another was good at every sport he tried. A third was a classic student government type. I didn’t dare to try being friends with them then, but I developed the language that allows me to reveal that one of these boys repeatedly slugged me in the shoulder to try and get my attention. Another, from under his thick mane of dark hair, shyly asked for my help in chemistry. A third, whom I used to watch undressing in the locker room, made a surprising concession when pressed by a girl we both knew. He admitted that he and I looked alike. Maybe we were alike in other ways? I collected those images in my mind when I was a kid and stored them away like erotic baseball cards in a secret shoe box.
I kept them with me when I quit my first real job to go abroad and write short stories. They soothed me and put me to sleep at night in the midst of what I knew was a risky maneuver. They were at the heart of an intellectual project I began in grad school where I tried to explain the appeal and endurance of the British monarchy. It’s only years of writing about royalty that has made me see how much I imagined that rank and distinction would repair the self-loathing I developed in high school.
Sweet, foiled, teenaged desire. You made me what I am today. You gave me books and the ambition to write them. You gave me writing and the will to explore things so taboo that the teenaged me couldn’t even have put them into words. But now as an adult I can.
What did adolescent desire give you? And how does that relate to the adult you’ve become? If you look at your most creative self, are there some links to the sexual teen you once were?
Byron once wrote to a friend to amuse him. He described all the debauched nightlife of his London season and concluded I am buried in an abyss of sensuality. Buried he might’ve been, but in that abyss he was also born. His adult creativity was uniquely linked to what he went through as a schoolboy.
Just as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has tips that may be applied beyond the queer world for dressing, cooking, and decorating, I’d like to think that these two stories of queer, hyper-sensitivity to the sexually forbidden may have more universal appeal. Consider whether you too don’t employ the sexually taboo of your adolescence as the raw material in your adult creative genius. It’s possible that queer people, who often have to meet and bear their burden early in life, may also have the advantage of being early introduced to the source of their creativity. | https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-sources-of-adult-creativity-3c924f665623 | ['William Kuhn'] | 2020-07-12 16:45:40.827000+00:00 | ['Creative Non Fiction', 'LGBTQ', 'History', 'Creativity', 'Sexuality'] |
Third Eye in your hand! | Multi-Class Object Detection on Mobile Video Stream, using Deep Learning ConvNets, to assist the blind or to signal an incoming threat, without radars.
How do robots ‘see’ the world? Yeah, using cameras.
But how do they identify objects? It requires Computer Vision algorithms or more adept Deep Learning techniques applied on camera-video input, so as to differentiate features of the object under surveillance.
This technique can be very useful to assist the blind and the elderly, if deployed on their handy mobile. Objects are detected via smartphone’s camera, identifies them and reports back audibly to the user, thus helping the blind navigate and perform daily tasks with greater ease. Same technique can be used in defense, to locate an enemy aircraft, invading home skies.
Trending AI Articles:
Defence mostly rely on RADAR technology to track and estimate distance, based on the time taken by the signal to bounce back off the target, similar to SONAR and LIDAR. But visual technology is the cheapest of the three and has more ability to classify objects.
Courtesy: Image obtained from http://isee.robots.place/
This blog aims to demonstrate two of the many object detection applications.
a) Assist Blind: Detect household objects (Online Video Stream from mobile)
b) Aid Defense: Locate Jet Fighters, flying the skies (Offline Video Mode)
Thus, this post enable you to detect shapes of your choice in both offline and online mode, i.e. from recorded videos and mobile live camera as well.
The source code of this project can be found in GitHub here.
To detect an object of your choice, we need to follow these steps:
Data Generation: Gather images of similar objects. Image Annotation: Label the objects with bounding box. API Installation: Install TensorFlow Object Detection API. Train & Validate Model: Using annotated images. Freeze the Model: To enable mobile deployment. Deploy and Run: In mobile or virtual environment.
Data Generation
Lets assume, the object you want to detect is a flying fighter jet. Find out and save images of flight from https://images.google.com/ and download some videos of jets flying the skies, to make the offline video input.
Use Lossless Cut to cut out relevant portions from video and MP4Joiner to join video-bits without loss. The video thus created becomes the test data. Now extract some frames from created video using Video to JPG Converter. The extracted frames, along with saved images from google, are batch processed by IrfanView to make the filenames consistent and image dimensions similar, which becomes the train data.
Sample Training Data
Image Annotation
By now, we have the train and test images. But the exact location and type of objects in the images has to be explicitly labelled. The bounding boxes can be drawn using Label Box or Label Image software, the output of which are saved as XML files, corresponding to each image.
For multi-class classification, give different label names for different objects in the image. This information is saved in the generated XML files. Add all the categories to label_map.pbtxt in \data folder and modify NUM_CLASSES variable in code, accordingly.
Label Image Software being used to annotate objects in the image
For the purpose of this blog, I have downloaded around 125 random images of chair and took 75 images of chair using my mobile cam. Around 100 images of fighter jets are also download from multiple sources. The whole data-set of 300 images are manually annotated to specify object location and type.
Now we need to convert the generated XML files to a format suitable for training. Download the project from here and use FoodDetection.ipynb to convert the generated XML files to CSV. Generate TFRecord files using code adapted from this raccoon detector to optimize the data feed. The train &test data are separately handled in the code. Modify the train folder name in the TFRecord generator .py file, if you wish to train other data-sets.
TFRecord is TensorFlows binary storage format. It reduces the training time of your model, as binary data takes up less space and disk read more efficient.
ipython notebook FoodDetection.ipynb
python generate_tfrecord.py
mv test.record data
mv train.record data
API Installation
We will use MobileNet model for the neural network architecture and Single Shot Detection to locate the bounding boxes. Mobilenet-SSD architecture is designed to use in mobile applications.
We replace MobileNet instead of VGGNet as Base Network, as they are efficient for mobile & embedded. Base network does feature extraction, SSD does classification & localization i.e. drawing bounding boxes (Courtesy)
To install TensorFlow Object Detection API, download and unzip TensorFlow Models from the repository here and execute the commands below.
cd models/research/
pip install protobuf-compiler
protoc object_detection/protos/*.proto — python_out=.
set PYTHONPATH=<cwd>\models\research;<cwd>\models\research\slim
cd ../../
Train & Validate Model
Download the pre-trained Mobileset SSD model from here and retrain it with your dataset to replace the classes as you desire. Re-training is done to reduce the training time.
Once the environment variable is set, execute the train.py file with a config parameter. Let it train till MAX_STEPS=20,000 or until loss is stabilized.
python train.py -logtostderr -train_dir=data\ -pipeline_config_path=data\ssd_mobilenet_v1_custom.config
Freeze the Model
To serve a model in production, we only need the graph and its weights. We don't need the metadata saved in .meta file, which is mostly useful to retrain the model. TF has a built-in helper function to extract what is needed for inference and create frozen graph_def.
To export the graph for inference, use the latest checkpoint file number stored inside “data” folder. The frozen model file, frozen_inference_graph.pb is generated inside output directory, to be deployed in mobile.
rm -rf object_detection_graph python models/research/object_detection/export_inference_graph.py -input_type image_tensor -pipeline_config_path data/ssd_mobilenet_v1_custom.config -trained_checkpoint_prefix data/model.ckpt-19945 -output_directory object_detection_graph
Detection on Offline Videos:
To do object detection on recorded video, modify test.py as below and execute
Put the annotated images of chair in train and test directory inside “chairs” directory
Location and probability of chair objects are accurately detected when frames are fed offline
Deploy and Run
Download TensorFlow Android examples from here. Using Android Studio, open the project in this path and follow the steps below.
Update the tensorflow/WORKSPACE file in root directory with the API level and location of the SDK and NDK.
android_sdk_repository (
name = “androidsdk”,
api_level = 23,
build_tools_version = “28.0.3”,
path = “C:\Users\Anand\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk”,
)
android_ndk_repository(
name = “androidndk”,
path = “C:\Users\Anand\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk
dk-bundle”,
api_level = 19,
)
Set “def nativeBuildSystem” in build.gradle to ‘none’ using Android Studio
Download quantized Mobilenet-SSD TF Lite model from here and unzip mobilenet_ssd.tflite to assets folder: tensorflow/examples/android/assets/
Copy frozen_inference_graph.pb generated in the previous step and label_map.pbtxt in \data folder to the “assets” folder above. Edit the label file to reflect the classes to be identified.
Update the variables TF_OD_API_MODEL_FILE and TF_OD_API_LABELS_FILE in DetectorActivity.java to above filenames with prefix “file:///android_asset/”
Build the bundle as an APK file using Android Studio.
Locate APK file and install on your Android mobile. Execute TF-Detect app to start object detection. The camera would turn on and detect objects real-time.
Object Detection Output: Quick Preview
The source code of this project can be found in GitHub here.
Conclusion
The above system trained on multiple household categories can help navigate visually impaired inside the home, using personal mobile phones. Users can interact with the app via voice and app can talk to user with Google Text to Speech. Once object location and type are detected, distance to the obstacle can be estimated by,
a) Triangle Similarity technique: In constrained environments
b) Stereo Camera or Ultrasonic Sensor: to estimate depth
c) 3D Depth Sensing Camera: on mobile or wearable gadget
Object detection is used in video surveillance, people counting, self driving cars, face detection and also in Defense as demonstrated in the video.
References
Rajalakshmi R, & Vishnupriya K, (2018). Smart Navigation System for the Visually Impaired Using Tensorflow. Retrieved from IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395–4396 (Vol-4 Issue-22018)
Don’t forget to give us your 👏 ! | https://becominghuman.ai/third-eye-in-your-hand-850b77e1d45a | ['Anand P V'] | 2019-05-11 07:26:58.728000+00:00 | ['Object Detection', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'AI', 'Convolutional Network', 'Deep Learning'] |
FedEx Gears Up for All-Out War With Amazon | FedEx CEO Smith was taking a week off with his family in February when emails suddenly started flooding his inbox. “It wasn’t much of a vacation,” he recalls. “I was on the phone day and night.” The immediate crisis was that China and other Asian countries were grounding flights and quarantining pilots who landed there, throwing operations at FedEx — the world’s largest cargo airline — into turmoil. Smith, a self-proclaimed “logistics network geek,” oversaw a massive juggling of the company’s 670 aircraft, 5,000-odd package sorting facilities, 180,000 ground vehicles, and half million employees, in order to try to work around the restrictions.
As the pandemic took hold in the U.S. in March, the juggling expanded to diverting employees and packages away from facilities in the hardest-hit areas, like New York City, and finding a way to move personal protection equipment to health care organizations. The company directed more than 150 flights and 1,000 ocean cargo containers to move PPE into and around the U.S., and set up 28 new flight legs just to process Covid tests. “We can flex our networks better than anyone in the business,” boasts Smith.
Meanwhile, FedEx’s customer help lines were being flooded with callers mostly looking for the answer to one question: Are you delivering packages? In spite of some initial delays, the packages were still getting through — even on Sunday, a new service FedEx happened to roll out just before the pandemic hit, and which turned out to be a special boon for shipments of perishable food items to consumers who were cut off from in-person shopping. It didn’t hurt that FedEx employees were also declared essential workers.
FedEx’s reputation for fast or reliably on-time shipping services goes back to its founding by Fred Smith in 1971, famously inspired by a paper he wrote as a Yale undergraduate. The paper described a delivery service for urgent or valuable items — think medicine, jewelry, or high-tech parts — that involved flying all packages to one central location every night for sorting, and then flying them back out for delivery the next day. In other words, Smith had dreamed up a service that was almost comically inefficient, but fast and dependable. (Legend has it that Smith received a “C” on the paper, but he himself has never made that claim.)
After founding Federal Express to do just that, Smith ensured the company became one of the first in the world to exploit information technology strategically, pioneering then-radical innovations such as bar-code scanning and sharing tracking data online. That tech-forward sensibility continues today, including the company’s September announcement that it can now use Bluetooth sensor chips on packages to let customers track almost every inch of the journey in real time.
FedEx pricing is complex — the company’s standard pricing list is 79 pages long — and further varies with an array of discounts and surcharges. But to use some rough, typical numbers, the increases and surcharges levied since the start of the pandemic have already added about $3 to the $14 cost of shipping a relatively small, light package via FedEx Ground, with more increases scheduled for the holidays and beyond. UPS and Postal Service rates, while up, remain a few dollars cheaper for small, light packages in most cases. (While the high-urgency FedEx Express is the heart of the company’s business, FedEx Ground is its cheapest and slowest service, which competes more directly with the Postal Service and UPS.)
The percentage of consumers who do more than half their shopping online has nearly tripled from 16% to 45% since the start of the pandemic — and 73% of new online shoppers say they enjoy it more than they expected.
A few dollars is a big difference on an e-commerce order of, say, $25, and FedEx’s pricing disadvantage tends to grow with package size and weight. But while an $11 shipping fee might be cheaper than $14, it’s still a lot to pay for shipping on a small order — especially when you’re running a small business. Chandler Tang opened her San Francisco artsy gift shop PostScript in November last year, only to have to scramble to throw up an online store just four months later when the pandemic hit. After a self-taught crash course in shipping, Tang went with USPS for most in-state sales, and UPS for more distant customers. What about shipping via FedEx? Never, insists Tang. “It would cost at three times as much as the Postal Service,” she says, adding that FedEx makes it too difficult for small businesses to negotiate the corporate discounts that makes FedEx’s services more competitive.
But while FedEx might have less small-business-friendly pricing than its competitors, the bigger problem is that shipping is just too expensive for an economy that’s increasingly buoyed by e-commerce. Glenn Gooding, president of consulting firm iDrive Logistics, estimates that in recent years about half the packages shipped by FedEx and UPS have gone to homes rather than businesses. But during the pandemic, he says, that’s jumped to as high as 80% with rocketing e-commerce sales. This trend is only likely to grow. A Pitney Bowes survey found that the percentage of consumers who do more than half their shopping online has nearly tripled from 16% to 45% since the start of the pandemic — and 73% of new online shoppers say they enjoy it more than they expected. FedEx itself has predicted this growth rate in e-commerce in past years’ earnings reports; but the company estimated it would take three years longer to reach this level. In other words, the pandemic has been a powerful accelerant for an ongoing trend.
As shoppers move to buying more and more online, the added costs of shipping will become a bigger and bigger inhibitor. Sucharita Kodali, an e-business analyst at research firm Forrester, notes that the average e-commerce order is for about $50, making shipping costs of $8 to $20 a real burden. “Consumers are highly price sensitive, and delivery fees can make the difference,” she says.
When Tang, the gift-shop owner, first started shipping early on in the pandemic, she offered it for free, but after a few weeks of losing money on the deal she began tacking on a $5 fee for local deliveries and $10 for all others. “We had a surge of orders from people who wanted to beat the shipping charges, and then we had a big dip when the fees kicked in,” she says. “I’d say we’re losing about a quarter or third of our customers because of the fees.” And that’s in spite of the fact that her fees don’t cover her own shipping costs. To try to recapture some of those customers, Tang is experimenting with dropping the fees on larger orders, while raising item prices to recover some of the costs.
So consumers ultimately pay for the shipping one way or another. Or do they? That notion — along with everything about e-commerce shipping — becomes a little convoluted when Amazon enters the picture. | https://marker.medium.com/fedex-gears-up-for-all-out-war-with-amazon-e59caa31b8e3 | ['David H. Freedman'] | 2020-12-04 15:25:31.599000+00:00 | ['Fedex', 'Amazon', 'Business', 'Ecommerce', 'Pandemic'] |
4 Points to Consider While Designing Elasticsearch Cluster | Elasticsearch is an open-source, RESTful, distributed search and analytics engine built on Apache Lucene. Since its release in 2010, Elasticsearch has quickly become the most popular search engine and is commonly used for log analytics, full-text search, security intelligence, business analytics, and operational intelligence use cases. A few months back, I got a chance to try Elasticsearch when we were trying to implement search functionality in our platform, these are the insights I got while working on it.
1. Difference between Elasticsearch and Other Relational Databases
Elasticsearch is a powerful Open Source, Distributed, RESTful Search Engine, which implies, it is not intended to be and should never be used as a primary database. Given a search query, It is expected to return results in less than 1 seconds (roughly). To work it that way, it is designed and functions very differently from primary relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc. That is why the thought process while designing the Elasticsearch structure should be different than the primary relational database structure.
Few key differences in thought processes
Relational Databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL favors ‘Normalization’ while Elasticsearch favors ‘Denormalization’.
This is a bit correlated to the above point. Relational Databases offers Inner or Outer joins to keep data consistent and to keep Tables less cluttered. Elastic search has a way of providing ‘joins’ features using Nested Attributes and Parent/Child Attributes but it might make search query slow which defeats the purpose of using Elasticsearch in the first place.
Elasticsearch supports One-to-One and One-to-Many relationships but it does not support Many-to-Many.
2. Add only ‘Searchable’ Fields to the Elasticsearch
If the primary database has 10 fields and from which, search functionality is needed on only 5 fields, then add those 5 fields only to the Elasticsearch. It will help in keeping the index size at optimum.
3. Many-to-Many Relationships in Elasticsearch
Elasticsearch does not support Many-to-Many relationships. There is an easy way to implement it but can be cumbersome if not designed correctly. To handle Many-to-Many, we need to convert it to One-to-Many form which is supported by Elasticsearch. The solution to that is Duplication! Duplication! Duplication!
Many-to-Many relationship
This can be transformed into one-to-many as below:
One-to-Many Relationship
Users are duplicated to transform the problem into one-to-many. It implies if there is an update for ‘User 1’, then all the duplicated rows related to ‘user-book #’ need to be updated too with the latest info.
Few tricks to minimize the updates:
Duplicate resource which has less probability of getting updated. For example, in most of the platforms, ‘User’ info can have less chance of getting updated on a regular basis than other dependant fields (in this case, books)
This is where #3 from above is very important too. If we have a restricted scope of fields for search functionality, then the number of updates in Elasticsearch can be reduced significantly.
4. Keep Elasticsearch as the Last Resort
First of all, you should first check the scale of data to verify Elasticsearch is actually needed or not before moving to it. Setting up the Elasticsearch structure is expensive and is an ‘additional overhead’ to maintain. If the scale is not on a considerably large scale and can be implemented by other simpler but fast implementations then that can be considered first. For example, relational databases like Postgresql provide full-text search functionality for search which is pretty fast and you can get advantages of relational database features like ‘joins’. Elasticsearch has a way to provide ‘joins’ functionality but as it should be avoided as it is a costly operation that might affect search time. Check out this awesome blog for more details regarding Postgres Full-Text Search. | https://medium.com/swlh/4-points-to-consider-while-designing-elasticsearch-cluster-ddc2b823a5dd | ['Mukul Chaware'] | 2020-01-17 12:33:13.664000+00:00 | ['DevOps', 'Architecture Design', 'Backend Development', 'Elasticsearch', 'Database'] |
FINALLY! There Are More Digital Nomads to Date! | FINALLY! There Are More Digital Nomads to Date!
Searching globally used to be weird…now it’s normal.
Before the pandemic, a lot of the time, if someone said they were willing to date someone from “anywhere,” it was a red flag. Scammers and spammers searched for unsuspecting victims globally, and I mean, let’s be honest: Not many people want a long-distance relationship.
I’m sure spammers and scammers are still an issue, but the pandemic has forced everyone to stay at home…which means, oddly enough, that you can browse the entire world. After all, if you’re going to take a risk getting a virus meeting a man, why not go for a change of location while you’re at it?
If you’re stuck at home day after day, do you want to meet up with a man who is down the block…or a man who has space in his tropical home? Or perhaps in a European city? Why just change your fuckbuddy, when you can have a change of scenery?
Also, there’s a bit if a fantasy element to it. Whereas before we were more concerned with meeting the liars and scammers, now we might be more hopeful.
Maybe there’s a prince out there after all — or at least, a kinky partner who is also bored in lockdown. | https://medium.com/are-you-okay/finally-there-are-more-digital-nomads-to-date-2de3cb15ba64 | ['Lisa Martens'] | 2020-12-25 18:13:47.321000+00:00 | ['Dating', 'Social Media', 'Relationships', 'Love', 'Digital Nomads'] |
How To Witness Astronomy’s Once-In-A-Lifetime Planetary Alignment On December 21 | All throughout the year, two bright lights have stood out in the post-sunset skies.
Earlier this year, on March 31, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn appeared in the southeastern portion of the sky, separated by only 6 degrees and joined by the planet Mars. By the end of December, these two planets will have migrated to the southwestern portion of the sky, and their positions will overlap entirely. Mars is nowhere in the vicinity any longer. (E. SIEGEL / STELLARIUM)
Jupiter, our largest planet, is unmistakably bright in the south/southwest.
The appearance of Jupiter through a high-powered telescope is unmistakable, but a quality amateur telescope can also reveal features such as its horizontal bands, its great red spot, and the largest of its natural satellites: the Galilean moons. (© CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Nearby, slower-moving, yellower Saturn joins it, just a few degrees away.
Although ground-based telescopic views of Saturn cannot compete with Hubble’s view, the planet’s yellow color, it’s brilliant ring system, and even its largest moon, Titan, can be visible from a humble amateur setup here on Earth. (SSPL/Getty Images)
On December 21, both worlds approach the same skyward position.
Looking towards the southwest skies from the northern hemisphere, an observer would see the sights in the sky shift as shown by viewing the heavens at the same time from November 30 to December 28, 2020: about 1 hour after sunset. Jupiter and Saturn make their closest approach on the night of December 21, 2020. (E. SIEGEL / STELLARIUM)
As Earth overtakes the outer planets, their relative positions shift.
An accurate model of how the planets orbit the Sun, which then moves through the galaxy in a different direction-of-motion. Note that the planets are all in the same plane, and that the inner planets complete their orbits more quickly than the outer planets. From the perspective of an inner world, the outer worlds will appear to be overtaken periodically. (RHYS TAYLOR)
Jupiter passes Saturn, from Earth’s view, just once every 20 years.
First writing in 1606, Johannes Kepler used his new elliptical theory of planetary orbits to predict the upcoming great conjunctions quite accurately: from 1583 and 1603 (which had been observed already) to the next eclipses in the series. These predictions would be borne out by observations taken after Kepler’s death, and his calculations are still valid today. (JOHANNES KEPLER / PUBLIC DOMAIN)
This time, however, they’ll achieve their closest alignment since 1623.
Jupiter and Saturn are the largest planets in our Solar System, and will appear to almost align perfectly with one another as seen from Earth during the night of December 21, 2020. This will be their closest alignment since 1623. (LUNAR AND PLANETARY INSTITUTE)
This year’s great conjunction brings them within just 0.1° of each other.
If you were to view Jupiter, night-after-night, at the same time from December 13, 2020 through December 28, 2020, this would be the view you would see. The other bright point of light is Saturn, which should appear in the same binocular field-of-view or wide-field telescope view during this time. (E. SIEGEL / STELLARIUM)
At magnitude -2.0, Jupiter appears brighter than everything except the Moon and Venus.
While you won’t see views of Jupiter like this from a pair of binoculars or a simple, small telescope, getting to know the night sky and connect with the Universe is an irreplaceable joy. On December 21, 2020, Jupiter and either 3 or 4 of its Galilean moons, depending on when you look and where you look from, will be visible with Saturn appearing very close nearby. (SEBASTIAN VOLTMER (PROCESSING) AND GERRIT KERNBAUER (DATA/IMAGE))
At magnitude +0.64, Saturn shines just 9% as luminous as Jupiter.
Saturn and its spectacular rings, as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 4, 2020. Saturn itself appears similar to how it will seem to us on December 21, 2020, but the configurations of its moons will be quite different. (NASA, ESA, A. SIMON (GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER), M.H. WONG (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY), AND THE OPAL TEAM)
These worlds will be viewable together through binoculars or a wide-field telescope.
The seven extraterrestrial planets of the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Each one was independently photographed in 2019 with a Maksutov telescope from Mannheim and Stockach in Germany, with sizes accurate to what’s visible from Earth. For the first time in our lifetimes, Jupiter and Saturn will simultaneously be visible in the same telescopic field of view. (GETTY IMAGES)
But the most spectacular alignment occurs after sundown on December 21, 2020.
After sunset on December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will emerge, brilliant and extremely close. To many casual skywatchers, they will be indistinguishable from a single point, although those of us with good seeing and excellent visual acuity may be able to “split” this apparent double planet with naked eye vision. (E. SIEGEL / STELLARIUM)
On solstice night only, both planets and their moons will appear in the same high-magnification telescope’s frame.
On the night of December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close to one another, just 0.1 degrees apart, that these two worlds and many of their moons will be visible in the same field-of-view of a relatively high magnification telescope. This will be one of the most spectacular astronomical events of our lifetime. (ASTRONOMY CLUB OF ASHEVILLE / ASTROASHEVILLE.ORG)
If you’re gifting a telescope or binoculars this holiday season, give it in advance of this unique astronomical occasion.
The Celestron Firstscope (L) and fellow Forbes contributor Chad Orzel’s (then) seven-year-old daughter (R) using it. Even a small amateur telescope like this will be able to get excellent views of Jupiter and Saturn together, along with their brightest moons: Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto (for Jupiter), and Titan (for Saturn). (CELESTRON / CHAD ORZEL)
The next ultra-close conjunction won’t occur until 2080; for some skywatchers, this will be a twice-in-a-lifetime event, after all. | https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-to-witness-astronomys-once-in-a-lifetime-planetary-alignment-on-december-21-a38690d34462 | ['Ethan Siegel'] | 2020-12-07 15:01:14.065000+00:00 | ['Astronomy', 'Jupiter', 'Saturn', 'Space', 'Planets'] |
Study Tips for college students 2021 | Study techniques to improve productivity
Many students go through their academic career without ever knowing how to study. The study regime of a typical student goes like this:
Are you guilty of it? Because I know I am. Yet, time and again, research has proven such studying methods are ineffective. And more crudely, a waste of time.
Most have the misconception that the materials they are digesting aren’t stored in their memory. But this isn’t the case. The problem is that we are unable to retrieve the piece of information from our brains. Here’s an analogy: Think of your brain as a bottle to store things. As you read and digest information, more and more data are stored in the bottle. However, during an exam, we are unable to retrieve the information from the bottle.
How to study effectively?
It’s time to ditch those re-reading, highlighting and cramming sessions. The key here is to practice the retrieval of information through 2 main techniques — Spaced repetition and Active Recall. It may seem quite daunting at first, but don’t worry as I’ve shared tools that will aid you in your learning techniques.
1. Spaced Repetition
What is it?
Last year, I came across a studying technique called “ spaced repetition” and it has completely transformed how I learn. Spaced repetition is a method where the subject is asked to remember a certain fact with the time intervals increasing each time the fact is presented or said.
Put simply, you want to space out your learning to retain information better. The most commonly time intervals are as follow:
First repetition: 1 day
Second repetition: 7 days
Third repetition: 16 days
repetition: 16 days Fourth repetition: 35 days
Nonetheless, I’m not saying you’ll have this information permanently stored in your brain forever. Because forgetting is a part of life! The fundamental goal is to resist the Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve.
How to do it
You could either use an excel sheet to track your spaced repetition schedule or use the good old calendar on your phone! Set the time intervals to your timeline as the recommended time interval isn’t a cookie cutter.
2. Active recall
What is it?
Active recall is a powerful strategy that forces you to retrieve chunks of information from your brain. And in doing so, you subconsciously partition and organize the information in your brain into categories. This way, during examinations, you’re able to recall your course materials really quickly.
How to do it
You could use note-taking apps or a hardcopy notebook to take notes. Notion is a good example of this. It is a highly popular application that allows for note-taking, reminders and so on.
I’ve been using Notion for a few months now and I absolutely love it. The toggle function allows me to set questions as headers and if I’m able to recall the answer, I’ll leave the toggle close. If not, I’ll leave them open. Furthermore, the app is completely free for students, simply sign up for a Notion account with your school email here. There are also numerous free templates available. | https://medium.com/@sydteo/study-tips-for-students-533bd0e8fdf1 | ['Sydney Teo'] | 2021-02-01 15:46:21.808000+00:00 | ['Students', 'Study', 'Study Tips', 'Productivity'] |
New Demand in Web Hosting Services Market is expected to Reach US$ 275.15 Bn by 2027, With Rising Number of Websites Worldwide, says Absolute Markets Insights | New Demand in Web Hosting Services Market is expected to Reach US$ 275.15 Bn by 2027, With Rising Number of Websites Worldwide, says Absolute Markets Insights purvesh jain Dec 21, 2020·4 min read
The Internet has expanded exponentially over the last decade, and there are no signs of slowing down. In 2014, the Internet saw billions of websites. Today there are more than 1.5 billion of them. In just five years, the total number of websites has grown by half a billion. With rising demand of websites day by day number of websites is substantially increasing this in return is propelling overall demand of web hosting services market worldwide. Web hosting is an infrastructure service that allows you to design, integrate, operate and manage all of the infrastructure components needed to run web-based applications. This includes Web server farms, network access, data staging tools, and security firewalls. Web server farms are used in a web hosting infrastructure as a means of building flexible and highly accessible solutions. One of the key issues with web server farm management is content management and load balancing. Owing to the exponential growth of the web and the growing demand on servers, the hosting of web content is an increasingly common activity. In web content hosting, providers with a significant amount of resources, such as Internet bandwidth, discs, processors and memory, amongst others, offer to store and provide web access to documents from organisations, businesses and individuals that lack the resources or expertise to manage a web server. Thus such factors are propelling the demand of web hosting services market.
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Cloud hosting is a new type of hosting platform that enables customers to host efficient, scalable and secure hosting based on clustered load-balanced servers and utility billing. Cloud hosted websites can be more stable than alternatives, since other cloud-based machines may compensate for the downtime of a single piece of hardware. Local power failures or even natural disasters are also less troublesome for cloud-hosted sites, since cloud storage is decentralised. Cloud hosting also allows providers to charge users only for services used by the user, rather than a flat fee for the amount that the user plans to use, or a fixed upfront hardware investment. Cloud platforms provide major advantages over conventional hosting. Traditional hosting solutions enable customers to purchase or lease the equipment they need to run their applications. Such infrastructures are also built to cope with optimum utilisation, which means that more capex is required as they expand. In a downturn situation, under-utilized servers this process is costly. Therefore, there is a rising adoption of cloud technology in the web hosting services market.
Worldwide emerging technological innovation penetration in developing economies such as India and China is observed to be one of the prime factor propelling the market demand of web hosting services market. Developing Asian countries are witnessing significant rise in total number of small to medium sized enterprises that extensively rely on online business model. Continuously increasing demand of online business approach is anticipated to drive the market demand in the forecast time frame. More than 98% of the enterprises in Asia are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus such factors are driving the growth of web hosting services market.
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The detailed research study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the global Web hosting Services market. The Web hosting Services market has been analyzed from demand as well as supply side. The demand side analysis covers market revenue across regions and further across all the major countries. The supply side analysis covers the major market players and their regional and global presence and strategies. The geographical analysis done emphasizes on each of the major countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America
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Global Web hosting Services Market
· By Type
o Free Web Hosting
o Shared Hosting
o Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
o Dedicated Hosting
o Cloud Hosting
o Others (Colocation Hosting, Self Service Hosting etc.)
· By Deployment
o Public
o Private
o Hybrid
· By Connectivity
o Ethernet
o XDSL
o MPLS
o VPN
o Fiber
· By Application
o Intranet Website
o Public Website
o Mobile Application
o Others
· By Service Type
o Managed Service
o Professional Service
· By Region:
o North America
· U.S.
· Canada
· Mexico
· Rest of North America
o Europe
· France
· The UK
· Spain
· Germany
· Italy
· Nordic Countries
§ Denmark
§ Finland
§ Iceland
§ Sweden
§ Norway
· Benelux Union
§ Belgium
§ The Netherlands
§ Luxembourg
· Rest of Europe
o Asia Pacific
· China
· Japan
· India
· New Zealand
· Australia
· South Korea
· Southeast Asia
§ Indonesia
§ Thailand
§ Malaysia
§ Singapore
§ Rest of Southeast Asia
· Rest of Asia Pacific
o Middle East & Africa
· Saudi Arabia
· UAE
· Egypt
· Kuwait
· South Africa
· Rest of Middle East & Africa
o Latin America
· Brazil
· Argentina
· Rest of Latin America
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Absolute Markets Insights strives to be your main man in your business resolve by giving you insight into your products, market, marketing, competitors, and customers. Visit …
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Phone: +91–740–024–2424 | https://medium.com/@purveshjain8/new-demand-in-web-hosting-services-market-is-expected-to-reach-us-275-15-1a6ebe57f014 | ['Purvesh Jain'] | 2020-12-21 07:32:47.693000+00:00 | ['Web', 'Market', 'Research', 'Web Development', 'Hosting Service'] |
Interval | Kevin Keeney is a writer of poetry, fiction, and real-life ramblings. He publishes stories in Unlocked Words and other select publications on Medium. | https://medium.com/illumination/interval-7d57947b1869 | ['Kevin Keeney'] | 2020-06-24 14:48:32.873000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Self', 'Life', 'Depression', 'Poetry'] |
MongoDB — Can not connect the database by Mongodb ODBC Driver Windows | Hello Friends,
So many users are complaining that they cannot connect to the Mongodb with the ODBC Driver so today I am gonna write this tutorial as I was also stuck with the MongoDB ODBC connector issue on windows and did not find any help over the internet. So after debugging lots of hours i finally able to connect with the MongoDB ODBC with my server. So, first of all, you need to download these prerequisites.
Download and Install Community Server https://www.mongodb.com/download-center/community
Download and Install https://www.mongodb.com/download-center/bi-connector
Download and Install https://github.com/mongodb/mongo-odbc-driver/releases
Go to Environment Variables and add these ones to the Path
C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\4.0\bin
C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Connector for BI\2.1\bin
Now create a mongosqld query you can read more about this here https://docs.mongodb.com/bi-connector/master/reference/mongosqld/#bin.mongosqld
mongosqld --mongo-uri "mongodb://13.251.86.51:27017" --auth --mongo-username lucian --mongo-password sFEUOTB6 --mongo-authenticationSource admin
Open Command Prompt and run the above query until it fully samples the whole schema and shows you all the collections names in the cli like this
After that open ODBC Administrator and Create a System DSN you can read more here https://docs.mongodb.com/bi-connector/master/tutorial/create-system-dsn/
Now Test the connection. That’s all. 🙂
I hope you found my article useful. Please don’t forget to clap the article. | https://medium.com/khanakia/mongodb-can-not-connect-the-database-by-mongodb-odbc-driver-windows-1d27c276d338 | ['Aman Khanakia'] | 2019-10-30 07:58:22.683000+00:00 | ['Mongodb'] |
Best dash cam in India 2021 for max security! | Looking for the best dash cam in India? I have shared 3 of the best dashcam in different price range one of them will surely be perfect for you.
DDPAI X2S Pro Dual Channel (₹ 14,999)
Features
Digital 2 Channel Camera: Front Camera F1.8 WQHD 1440P 25fps; Rear Camera F2.2 Full HD 1080P 30fps
D2 Save Technology: Dual emergency storage backup system that ensures emergency events are saved even when Micro SD card has failed
IPS (Intelligent Protection System): Advanced low-voltage protection from both software and hardware, High Temperature Protection from intense summer heat, Wide working temperature range from -25°C to 85°C
Super parking mode with time lapse recording that provides your car long time protection. Hardwire and add-a-circuit fuse kit included
3rd Generation Remote Snapshot: Take a picture or 10s video with just a click. Photos are automatically downloaded whenever the DDPai app is connected to the camera.
Why you should buy it:
It is the most expensive one but it worth the pricing. Main feature that I like are:
Built- in high quality Wi-Fi allows direct connection to smart phone and lets you playback, download and view the camera’s footage in real time. It allows you to download videos without the hassle of remove SD card and connecting to PC.
It comes with a third-generation remote snapshot button, just one click to save an image, and a 10-second video clip (5 seconds prior to and subsequent to the clicking). No matter which video format is selected for recording, the captured photo resolution is always the highest.
Go to AMAZON
70mai Smart (₹ 7,499)[Recommended]
Features
📷【 1944P FHD 】Featuring 6 Lens, F1.8, 1944P HD with WDR 140° wide angle that adjusts exposure & captures more detail both in darkness or strong light, producing super clear and vibrant images.
❗ 【 Awesome Picture Quality with Defog Algorithm 】Effectively reduce distortion or degradation of images and reproduce a clear vision while driving in snow, smoke and haze environment.
🎤【 24-Hour Parking Monitoring 】Time Lapse Recording @1fps in parking mode will ensure long time video recording. Note: Requires 70mai Hard Wire Kit (to be purchased separately)
📁【 Built-in G-Sensor 】Once the G-Sensor detects a collision, 70mai will automatically lock the video to Emergency File to prevent it from being overwritten, which can be used to restore accident scene.
📱【 Advanced Driver Assistance System 】Boost your driving safety with real-time alert which warns you when veering off the lane and when about to hit another vehicle ahead.
Why you should buy it:
Its pricing is perfect for everyone and on top of that you are not losing any premium feature you are getting from dash can who are more expensive than this.
Sensitive SONY IMX335 sensor and powerful Hi3556 V200 make an extraordinary camera for your recording.
Dash cam will automatically start recording when there is a collision being detected by the built-in G-sensor. It will remind you to check the event video when you go back to the car.
Go to AMAZON
Blueskysea B1W (₹ 4,999)
Features
MINIATURE SIZE：The B1W mini stealthy car camera is only 90mm/3.54in x 29mm/1.14in x 38mm/1.50in without LCD screen. The small size and all black form factor make it is more stealthy. Support 64GB max Micro SD card (Not included in package)
360° ROTATABLE CAMERA BODY：Camera body of the B1W drive recoder supports 360 degree rotation, making it easy to adjust lens angle if necessary, allowing inside or outside of the car video recording
SUPER CAPACITOR: The B1W car camera video recorder uses dual super capacitors instead of a lithium battery, which is a safer and more reliable choice to operate in hot environments
BUILT-IN WiFi: The B1W car dvr with WiFi function can connect to view footage, download videos, and change settings via an APP on your iphone or Android device Note: Please use the car power supply, cigarette lighter socket, not the laptop for the power source
PARKING MODE FUNCTION: The B1W dashboard camera comes with parking mode function, which triggered by G-sensor. When an impact is detected by the G-sensor, the camera starts video recording 30 seconds automatically. (The hardwire kits needed for Parking Mode is not included in standard package, buyer needs to buy it separately.)
Why you should buy it:
It is one of the cheapest and best options for you, even if it’s cheaper there are ton of feature you will get with this dash can.
Camera body supports 360° degree rotate,much easy to adjust lens angle if necessary. Its size only 90mm x 29mm x 38mm,without LCD screen.The small size and all black form factor make it is more stealthy.
Mode up of 6 layers glass, provides stunning, clear and non-deformed images. 150° degree ultra wide angle lens,equipped with low light sensor, enhances video quality at night.
Go to AMAZON
[I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You will get the discount offer at no extra cost to you.] | https://medium.com/@hemantsri/best-dash-cam-in-india-2021-for-max-security-7c30236fb09c | [] | 2021-03-25 09:32:48.205000+00:00 | ['Dash Cam Reviews', 'Security', 'Dashcam', 'Security Camera'] |
The Future of LGBTQ+ Equality Depends on Biden’s Presidency | In the 21st century, LGBTQ+ rights have been advanced by the Supreme Court in historic ways. From the 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas that struck down the last of the nation’s sodomy laws to the most recent Bostock v. Clayton County that provides employment protections, the Court has been a crucial ally in the movement towards equality. These rulings have not come easily or quickly, leaving plenty of time for lower courts and state and local governments to fill in the absence left by a stalled Congress.
Employment nondiscrimination is a key part of the Equality Act, which is collecting dust on Senator Mitch McConnell’s desk adding one more item that requires our tears and vigilance. With the Supreme Court often ruling in favor of LGBTQ+ rights, it’s tempting to hold up the belief that it is safe to abandon the exhaustive nature of this fight. If the highest court will protect LGBTQ+ Americans, then why maintain an urgent advocacy that could be better spent at other, less likely causes?
The LGBTQ+ granted marriage equality by a single vote — Justice Anthony Kennedy’s vote — in Obergefell v. Hodges. Five years later, the court ruled in favor of the employees in Bostock v. Clayton County 6–3. This would effectively ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender, providing essential protections for the 52% of LGBTQ+ Americans who lived in states without such laws. In a surprise swing, both Justice Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Court’s four liberal justices in favor of the employees.
As joyous as the June 15th morning was when the Court released their opinion on Bostock v. Clayton County, it remains incredibly dangerous for us to accept this as the norm, a safe avenue for LGBTQ+ rights still needs to be expanded and granted. Despite what previous rulings might say, this 6–3 decision was a fluke; it was never supposed to happen.
Gorsuch was nominated because he satisfied the quota of a judge who would champion conservative causes in the Court. Citing that despite the original intent of the writers of the law, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender is a form of sex discrimination is an unexpected stance.
Trump, who nominated Gorsuch for his judicial seat, sent a letter to the Court expressing his adamant support for the employers, not the employees, condoning the supposed right to fire an employee for an immutable fact of life. As such, no one would be remotely surprised if Gorsuch voted to uphold the cases’ original rulings and the same could be said of Roberts. Just five years earlier in 2015, Roberts wrote the dissenting opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges. These men would hardly be held up as LGBTQ+ allies; we can’t place the very livelihoods and safety of millions of Americans in their hands.
The crucial contributions the Supreme Court has made in terms of LGBTQ+ equality are undeniable, but it would be foolish to believe that this is where it stops or that we can expect similar rulings in the future. The security of LGBTQ+ lives can not be held over dangerous waters because of a few moments of calm.
Beyond the haphazardly held pride flags and the opportunistic rallying cries, Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that his administration does not see value in LGBTQ+ lives.
The Trump-Pence administration has a strong track record of stripping away what little security and legal rights LGBTQ+ Americans hold. Most recently, the Department of Health & Human Services finalized a rule that would strip transgender Americans of protections in healthcare. Just weeks after his inauguration, Trump withdrew federal protections for transgender students in public schools, and the following years haven’t been remotely kinder. Adoption agencies that receive federal funds can turn away LGBTQ+ families seeking to adopt on the basis of religious freedom. Prior to the Court’s June decision, federal contractors could discriminate against LGBTQ+ employees. The depth of Trump’s intentional action to strip away the rights and humanity of LGBTQ+ people is impossible to ignore and overlook. It cannot be set to the side without there being dire, irreversible consequences.
As Congress remains inactionable, with lower courts deciding the fates of LGBTQ+ Americans and with Trump flooding open seats with reliably homophobic and transphobic judges, we can know with the utmost certainty that this fate isn’t positive.
This is why Trump’s re-election remains so dangerous. In four years he can potentially fill even more seats in the Supreme Court, cementing a conservative majority and all but promising a more discriminatory future for coming generations. Worst of all, he can do so without concern for re-election. Trump has a pass to nominate who he wants without fear of political consequences. With the inevitable havoc he will continue to unleash, Trump’s strikes against the LGBTQ+ community could fly under the radar of many Americans.
Regardless of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, which remain above all curious outliers to the current expectations of the Court. How are LGBTQ+ Americans ensured protections under an administration that has taken seemingly every step to steal away the decades’ long fight for equal treatment? The answer is simple, it’s that we can’t ensure protections during a Trump presidency. This is why we need Joe Biden.
He has a reliable, extensive record of not just tolerance, but of advocacy and advancement for LGBTQ+ equality in America. Under a Biden presidency, we would not only see four years of restoring what was lost. We would have the opportunity to witness historic strides towards a truly equal America through the creation of a framework that works to protect LGBTQ+ Americans, even years after Biden leaves office. Our hope wouldn’t be hinged on the potential of a swing vote at the last chance to grasp at protections, but rather we would be granted the ability to finally rest in knowing that the Judges he appoints and the officials he surrounds himself with are on our side.
As it stands, it would take nothing short of a miracle for the Equality Act to reach the President’s Office. If that were to happen, the likely threat of a veto looms over with a laughable chance of a Congressional override. This worry disappears under a Joe Biden presidency. For only the second time in history, LGBTQ+ Americans would have an ally in the most powerful office in the world. We could finally wake up every morning knowing that we won’t be greeted by headlines of diminished rights, but rather of newfound equality. | https://medium.com/joes-journal/the-future-of-lgbtq-equality-depends-on-bidens-presidency-47cd6f6a899f | ['Emily Crofoot'] | 2020-07-16 02:42:47.212000+00:00 | ['Opinion', 'Supreme Court', 'Trump', 'Joe Biden', 'LGBTQ'] |
Top Bollywood Celebrities and their Hobbies | We often wonder what our favorite Bollywood celebrities do in their leisure time, don’t we? Agreed, many of you must be thinking that Bollywood celebs are already so busy with shooting and travelling, why would they need to do anything extra?
When it comes to Bollywood celebrities, it’s no exception! Our favorite filmy stars are not only good at acting but also at their unique hobbies.
Want to know more about your favorite Bollywood celebrities and their hobbies? Read On!
Akshay Kumar: Mixed Martial Arts
Who doesn’t know that Akshay Kumar is a champion in Martial Arts, Kung Fu and Aikido? Before making it big in Bollwood, the philanthropist actor was trained in Taekwondo and he still continues to be a role model for millions who want to practice this art and stay in great shape, physically and mentally.
When it comes to fitness, the Khiladi knows no bounds and likes to hone his martial skills in his leisure time to stay agile and active as ever. Now you know the secret behind his amazing physique and eternal charm, don’t you?
Related: Top 5 Martial Arts Schools and Classes in Delhi NCR
Aamir Khan: Music
What do you think Mr. Perfectionist does in his spare time? Well, no prize for guessing, he loves to play Chess. Another interesting thing he does in his leisure time is drumming. Surprising, isn’t it? After seeing the chocolaty hero playing guitar in the famous song ‘ Papa Kehte Hain’, who’d know that Aamir has a thing for drumming!
Seems like Aamir can not only surprise people with his acting skills but can also teach a thing or two about his hobbies! In fact, the Bollywood actor in fact showed off his drumming skills during the promotional event for Peepli Live.
Related: Top 10 Music Schools in Delhi
Alia Bhatt: Painting
The latest and one of the youngest heartthrobs of millions of fans worldwide, the cute and cheeky Alia Bhatt loves to pursue her hobby of charcoal painting in her spare time. The talented actress has not only great acting skills to her credit but also boasts of an inspiring knowledge about colours, painting materials and crafts!
Alia is known to paint in her free time which helps her relax, de-stress and express herself creatively. What about you? When are you learning something new?
Salman Khan — Painting
Don’t judge a book by its cover, they say! While at first glance it might look like Salman Khan has no love bigger than the love of cinema or fitness, little did we know that he also has a hobby for painting in his life! The ‘ Bhai’ of Bollywood is popular for gifting amazing hand-made paintings to his near and dear ones on special occasion and he also has a dedicated collection of all his artwork over the years.
Seems like Salman has an artistic side which is all about colours, brushes and compositions which help him stay creative, feel good and also do his bit for philanthropic causes in life.
Related: Top 10 Art and Craft Classes in Delhi
Hrithik Roshan: Photography
The ‘ Dhoom’ heartthrob has stolen millions of fans with his acting and looks on the camera but did you know that he also has a thing for the camera behind the scenes? Yes, Hrithik Roshan enjoy photography as a hobby in his free time and is considered as an avid photographer in his circle.
Talk about some being photogenic as well as photographic at the same time — that’s Mr. Roshan for you!
Related: 7 Must Follow Photography Blogs for every Photographer
Diya Mirza : Pottery
The former Miss Asia Pacific, Dia Mirza has pottery as her hobby in life. What started as a preparation for her role in a movie ‘Alibaug’ soon developed into an interesting activity for Dia Mirza.
In fact, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as Dia has confessed that she also has numerous other interests and hobbies which she likes to pursue during her free time including a love for Indian classical dance as well. Way to go with your hobbies, Dia!
Also Read: Your Guide to the Best Pottery Classes and Courses in Delhi
Deepika Padukone: Badminton
The daughter of ace badminton player Prakash Padukone, the beautiful Deepika Padukone is no less of a skilled badminton player in her own regard! An actress who has impressed critics and fans alike with her acting prowess and mesmerizing presence on-screen, Deepika has openly shared her love for sports, especially badminton.
Did you know that she has played badminton at national level and would’ve been a professional player today if modelling didn’t happen! Talk about a great transition from the badminton court to Bollywood, Deepika!
Abhay Deol: Interior Designing
Given his innate inclination towards character driven acting, Abhay Deol has a unique hobby for interior design and wood carving. As selective as he is when it comes to choosing his films, it is known that Abhay possesses a keen interest towards art and interiors and has even taken up a professional course in wood carving in New York.
Sources have stated that the actor is taking his passion for interiors to the next level and is now busy building his very own eco-home in Goa. Now, that’s a good way to enjoy your hobby and contribute to the environment, Abhay!
Shahrukh Khan — Gadgets
Just like his stardom, the ‘King Khan’ has an unsurmountable love for technology and gadgets. A self-proclaimed tech geek, SRK likes to enjoy his free time with his kids playing video games and trying out the latest gadgets while away from a shoot or the silver screen.
From cars to cool tech pieces, SRK has an envious collection of gadgets that anyone would love to own. His passion for technology is not hidden from the world and we hope the Badshah of Bollywood continue his love affair with everything tech!
Kangana Ranaut — Cooking
The ‘Queen’ of millions of hearts, Kangana Ranaut likes to enjoy her leisure time with cooking for herself and we’ve heard that she has also cooked some amazing delicacies for her co-stars and shooting staff while on set!
A self-proclaimed foodie, Kangana has a culinary hobby which she says was developed from her childhood days. Luckily, her cooking chops are as good as her acting skills and we aren’t complaining a single bit!
Related: Here’s Why Baking is a Happy Hobby for your Soul
Vidya Balan: Poetry
The sensational and glamorous Vidya Balan is an amazing actress but did you know that she is also a thoughtful poetess? Vidya shares a keen interest for poetry and likes to pursue her hobby in leisure time. According to her, she had developed an inclination towards poetry from an early age and still loves to write poetry when not on the set or on a shoot.
Additionally, the multi-talented Vidya Balan is also a good mimic and likes to impersonate famous personalities for entertaining!
What’s your Hobby?
No matter what hobby does your favorite Bollywood celebrity pursues, it’s time you should pick up a hobby or a creative skill too. Wondering about the benefits of having a hobby? Some will make you smarter, some will make you healthier but one thing’s for sure — they’ll all definitely make you ‘better’!
it’s all about discovering the joy of learning something new in life and making the most of our leisure time.
If you feel inspired to join a hobby class near you, start your search with MillionCenters.com — an online platform to discover the best hobby classes and learning centers near you!
So, what are you waiting for? Search, Explore, Connect and start learning today!
Originally published at https://www.millioncenters.com. | https://medium.com/@betterthinkingsolutions/top-bollywood-celebrities-and-their-hobbies-f28aa55bdd67 | ['Better Thinking Solutions'] | 2020-12-21 12:27:53.027000+00:00 | ['Celebrities Hobby', 'Celebrity News', 'Hobby', 'Hobbies And Interests', 'Celebrity'] |
STEP BY STEP: DEVELOPING YOUR HARDWARE OR IOT TECHNOLOGY INTO A PRODUCT | During the past 10 years, I worked in academia, finance and engineering and it always takes me a long time explaining to startups, researchers and investment banking friends what it takes to bring a great idea or a lab technology to market. They all are great professionals and smart people, but it always seemed to me that they hold separate puzzle pieces and it is hard for them to figure out how to put them together, i.e. to bring innovation to market.
Typically, academics are concerned with where and how much investment they need to raise in order to commercialize their lab technology while investors frequently call me to ask “is that technology good to invest in?” After learning more about startup technology, I always draw for them a particular R&D roadmap and certain milestones one should achieve in order to be ready to enter the market with new technology. This roadmap can be applied to every technology startup to answer the question “is the technology ready for investment and scale up?” It is called TRL or “Technology Readiness Level.”
Nowadays the word “innovation” is usually associated with the “tech startup”. The concept of a “tech startup” is still closely connected in our minds with software products and services (Uber, Facebook, Airbnb, ect). Much less is known about hardware startups, however, as we have witnessed a commoditization of hardware in the past 10–15 years, such that traditional hardware companies (like Dell and IBM) are seeking to provide solutions and services, rather than selling only hardware.
The new emerging trend is the combination of hardware and software technologies, enabling new business models that are scalable and have a much greater potential to reach unicorn status. This trend is set for both deeptech (based on substantial scientific advances and high-tech engineering innovation) and IoT startups. My work at EnCata is all about bringing innovation from labs and inventor’s minds to the market by means of engineering and product development.
The TRL innovation development roadmap was invented by NASA in 1974. Back then, Stan Sadin, a NASA employee, created a system for evaluating the readiness of the technology for the spacecraft Jupiter Orbiter, one of the most ambitious technological projects in the United States. The system gradually became NASA’s main methodology for evaluating their research and development projects. And in the 1990s, the U.S. Air Force successfully borrowed this approach and sliced it into nine levels, each of which was called the “Technology Readiness Level” or TRL.
Today, the TRL evaluation approach has received wide international recognition. This framework is now extensively employed by NASA, the European Commission and many other institutional organizations involved in innovation development.
And I am still surprised how little innovators from Academia, startup tech founders and investors know about TRL.
Table created by EnCata
The TRL is perfectly applicable for any hardware, IoT or deeptech startup. It is actually applicable to a software product (but in this article let’s concentrate on essential tough tech). So the TRL terminology provides a more accessible and universal understanding of the startup progress to investors and lays out the research and development plan.
What it looks like in practice?
As an example, let’s use a new light electric city mobility vehicle — a pretty cool example provided it is a consumer product that has some level of engineering complexity and technology in it. In the following TRL-exercise, the ‘technology’ will mean a set of engineering technologies and solutions fused together in order to aid transportation for a human being with a light urban electric vehicle.
TRL-0. Idea
As you know, bicycles have been around for 200 years and the first electric-powered bicycles were available about 100 years ago. So your idea is not exactly new, and your idea is to make another e-drive vehicle.
Harvard Business Review USA — January-February 2020
TRL-1. Basic research
You have been going around with your very own idea of how your light electric vehicle will change the city transportation landscape and how wonderful it will be cruising at 40 mph (65 km/h), shuttling from point A to point B and be able to recharge within 2 minutes. You know what questions need answering and you have done some basic research to support your product idea both with numbers, publications and some technical ‘back of the envelope’ calculations,
So TRL-1 is all about the idea, which is still broad, and one should not rush to patent this idea, but instead start thinking about what comes next in terms of R&D, product features and multiple other things. In my view, it is a great pity that some people rush for patents at this stage, wasting time and valuable resources with the result that 45% of patents were determined to be fully invalid and 33% to be partially invalid, as shown in the following study.
The first electric bicycle patent
TRL 2. Concept formulation
TRL-2 stage is characterized by multiple products renders of the future product. At this stage, some people start to produce patent applications and scientific and engineering papers (some produce white papers). TRL-2 technology level is very speculative since there is literally no or very little experimental proof existing for the technology.
And you decided to move ahead with the new light electric vehicle idea and start concepting your future e-cab. Say your future urban vehicle will be a two-seater, and it will have some cool design features and it should get the fastest charge. In order to achieve the latter, your CTO and you decide it will utilize supercapacitors as a power source (why not supercapacitors? I have a PhD in electrochemistry and for the sake of TRL demonstration, I choose this cool technology to be at the core of our “urban vehicle”. Read more about the supercapacitor-powered e-bike project report by CALTECH students John Chen et al.
Urban e-vehicle concept developed by CityQ startup
It is common for the automotive and aerospace industries to produce car and aircraft “concept cars” or “mock-ups” for demonstration at various fairs in order to attract potential customers and investors. I would rather call these “concepts” or as TRL-2 concepts under NASA methodology.
So your light e-vehicle project all of a sudden is about bringing together a novel supercapacitor technology into the new vehicle design.
TRL 3. Proof-of concept.
Validating your basic technology at TLR-3 is crucial in many ways for your future project as at this stage you need to prove that you can move beyond theory (most projects never do!) For deep-tech projects, TRL-3 is about the physical demonstration of your nice academic research into the simplest prototype, called proof-of-concept prototype (POC). Some people can use terps POP (proof-of-principle) or POT (proof-of-technology) instead of POC.
So TRL-3 stage requires demonstration of your core technology and (in our made-up case of the light urban e-vehicle) that prototype would be somewhat similar to chassis + with a chair attached + simplest power management system which will be able to power the prototype for a 3–5 min drive.
Garages, labs and makerspaces are ideal to build POCs, as it typically requires basic craftsmanship and engineering skills from those who build them. POC just needs to demonstrate that your nice idea and the well-thought concept is actually feasible. For the purpose of building a crude TRL-3 prototype, I recommend using kits and materials you can find in the nearest DIY shop. Single-board microcontrollers and mini-computers such as Arduino and Raspberry are very helpful, as well as using the cheapest components and donor devices from places like Alibaba.
We thank Ivoras’ electronics for the image
… And do not forget these [super]capacitors to power your POC prototype! These can actually be ordinary capacitors (if you manage to pack them properly) with the simplest charging system one can acquire (remember that you need to just demonstrate that you can move your chassis by electromotive force from point A to point B, separated by 1/4 of a mile)
TRL 4. Component and/or Breadboard Laboratory prototype
Image source
Congratulations! Reaching the TRL-4 stage means either you have secured some investment (most likely FFF), or received a grant, or you are so self-motivated that you invest your own cash into this project.
Essentially, real engineering R&D starts with TRL-4. This stage is about bringing together and designing [multiple] subsystems and making sure they work separately as intended. One must start any early stage product development and engineering program with a well written/documented technical product concept. Technical [product] concept can be as simple as drafting the vehicle’s engineering architecture in a mind map and decomposing all the electric vehicle’s systems into subsystems.
At this stage, your e-vehicle project will be puzzled with choosing the right components:
brushless BLDCs vs brushed e-drives
hub-drive vs mid-drive configuration
drive train question
supercapacitor producer selection (keep asking yourself, why didn’t you choose Li-Ion or Li-Poly), assembly, power management system
chargers
chassis design
foldable vs fixed roof
suspension, brakes, power recuperation system, speed control, etc., etc.
Essentially, the project gets broken into subsystems design and a milestone achievement will be to demonstrate these engineering units and engineering mock-ups in a lab environment
TRL 5. Subsystems designed and tested in real life
To validate the engineering units and subsystem prototypes, more engineering hours will be spent in order to polish them up. TRL-5 is different from TRL-4 by achieving the performance of all the subsystems in a real environment.
Having TRL-5 successfully completed means that the R&D program has solved major hurdles. As you move further, more and more ‘classic’ engineering resources are required.
Many patentable solutions are generated at this stage, but if you are bootstrapping, it is a bit too early to hire a patent attorney. But one certainly should start developing an IP strategy at this stage!
Image source
We in EnCata utilize the following policy regarding the IP: our customers own all the IP generated throughout the development in Engineering Catalyst
TRL 6. First prototype integration (alpha) demonstrated
TRL-6 is about embodying and integrating all the previously designed subsystems into a “sort-of final looking prototype”. Design and mechanical engineers at this stage work alongside manufacturing engineers, crafting the first sexy prototype (which still is not necessarily working as intended).
Design-to-manufacturability (DFM) approach for manufacturing and assembly is typically left aside and TRL-6 prototypes are expensive as they are nearly always handcrafted.
It is good practice to demonstrate your alpha to early “alpha”-testers who will provide you invaluable customer feedback.
Outrider prototype trike ready for first tests
TRL 7. Field demonstration of the alpha
Well, by now you may have cruised around town in your new light TRL-6 electric vehicle and noted that some features did not work as intended. Maybe a charging system malfunction or cold weather prevented the foldable roof from retracting, or the speed monitor showed 100 mph speed when you were just barely moving.
TRL-7 is deemed to be achieved when — through engineering — you are able to demonstrate performance in a relevant ‘field’ environment.
If not, you continue working on engineering development further: use other components, refine electronics and firmware, or even go back to the drawing board and completely rebuild your electric vehicle.
DHL cargo bike showing off the future of package delivery in New York City. Photo: DOT
TRL 8. Final Beta prototype.
Engineering your TRL-8 or “Beta” prototype involves the DFM approach and the produced prototype(s) should have a reasonable/adequate bill of materials (BOM) price and should be relatively easy to produce at a batch scale.
In addition to the engineering development of a Beta prototype, much work is typically brought into tooling and jigs design. So beta-tests can be performed on a number of manufactured prototypes at the same time. Upon successful completion of the beta-tests, one can confidently say that his/her project has reached the TRL-8 level.
It is common that a new product or technology is brought to market at this stage, but one must stress it is still just a prototype.
TRL-8 is a great milestone achievement and, in an ideal case, startups should target the next funding round to finance volume production, sales and marketing campaigns.
Thank you for the image
TRL 9. Mass-production and commercialization
If you are ready to bring your light e-vehicle to city streets and start business operations — you are at the TRL-9. This means you are now qualified to launch mass-production in-house, domestically or overseas. For that, one should have some cash secured for both productions, marketing and distribution. Investment at this stage is called late-seed/round-A investment. In some cases, running a crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo or Kickstarter is a good idea to support your production with some upfront payments and market visibility.
Mass-production is a big topic on its own, and what becomes crucial at this stage is: planning, logistics, working capital and capital turnaround. And I shall write later another blog post about MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Level).
Image source
So, what now? Action plan below!
If you have a good technology or idea and thinking of commercializing it, consider this text as a road map. Go to the garage, coworking space or nearest makerspace / fablab. (We at EnCata have built a fablab specifically for this reason.) Start crafting your first proof-of-concept! Change the world, make it better.
If you are already working on your project and you have a working prototype (TRL 4–6) then:
hire a team of professional engineers
apply for a hardware accelerator program,
find a professional product development company or engineering consultancy (such as EnCata). They will help you move your product with confidence from this stage to TRL 8 or 9.
If you have a fully developed hardware-based product (TRL 8…9) you need investments, so do the following: | https://medium.com/encata/step-by-step-developing-your-hardware-or-iot-technology-into-a-product-8d9c9eb15f28 | [] | 2020-03-11 15:39:24.008000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Hardware', 'Engineering', 'IoT', 'Technology'] |
What Will Summer Plans Look Like? | It’s time to start thinking about summer plans, parents! We’re talking about that ever-stressful patchwork of day camps, activities, daycare, classes, babysitters, and grandparents to entertain and care for our children over the summer. Did that just make your blood pressure rise? It did mine. And let’s make the planning extra spicy this summer. Hellooooo summer planning during a pandemic! Anybody else start pitting out their shirts with stress sweat? Please tell me I’m not alone in this panic party over the summer schedule. How do we do it this summer?
Let’s start with the good news. I’m not a glass-half-full vs. glass-half-empty kinda gal, but rather consider myself a glass-has-water-in-it-to-the-halfway-point type. I like to think I’m a realist, and in real terms, I think we can be optimistic about this summer, right? The coronavirus is better understood so we know more about what protects against it. And vaccines are being distributed. I’d say we’re definitely better situated than last summer, but there’s still some trepidation about knowing what we can safely plan for. Can we travel? Can the kids go to swim lessons? Will there be a Fourth of July fireworks display? Who knows? Now we aren’t infectious disease specialists, virologists, or behavioral psychologists over here, but we are parents. (That counts for something, right?) So if you just need another viewpoint about how someone’s thinking through the process, here’s how we are looking ahead toward planning the summer months.
Look at the options — all of them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an all-or-nothing summer. I tend to catastrophize (dear God, we just finished the last piece of fruit! The children are going to get scurvy!) and so it’s easy for me to fall into a mindset of well, I guess we won’t do anything this summer, again. But there are definitely some intermediary steps between hiding in my house to avoid the virus and throwing down at the nearest college party right after flight hopping all over the world. I keep reminding myself that risk mitigation is part of our daily lives and I need to be realistic in terms of how I assess risk in regards to summer plans and Covid. For instance, do I drive a car? Yep. Do I cook over a gas stove? When I’m not ordering kids’ meals from Chipotle, yep. Did I attend Kim Kardashian’s lavish 40th birthday party prior to vaccinations and without a mask? Oddly, I did not get an invite, but wouldn’t have gone even if I had because traveling and partying mask-less prior to a vaccine is too much risk for me. (Biggest takeaway here is that I would NOT have gone to Kimmy’s party even if she had invited me and she probably understood that which is why I didn’t get the invite in the first place, mkay?) Point is, we take risks every single day. Yes, some have higher stakes than others, but going through the same risk assessment process to make a decision is an ok way to look at what you decide to plan for the summer. And it’s difficult to do this objectively — we have a lot of emotions tied into our choices around the pandemic. But I jump in my car nearly every day without a second thought to my safety (obviously after I fasten my seatbelt) and statistically speaking, there’s a fair amount of risk there.
So weigh your options and the associated risks for kid and family activities. For example, is there going to be some risk associated with your kiddo attending an outdoor day camp for a few hours every morning? Sure, but is that risk outweighed by your child’s social and emotional needs to be around peers as well as your need to be able to focus on uninterrupted work for a few hours? Maybe. That’s for you to decide. To help assess the risks involved, you may want to know how many kids are in the group, what protocols are in place to mitigate viral spread, what Covid rates look like in your area, etc. Take in all that information and weigh it against the other side of the coin — which is your child not participating — and make your decision. Just because an activity is scheduled and happening doesn’t mean it’s a completely safe bet. It most likely (hopefully) means that some extra thought and professional consultation has gone into how the activity will look this summer to mitigate risk of spreading Covid. And that’s going to require you to gut-check yourself on what you deem as a reasonable risk. And it’s ok if you and your peers and even extended family members have different levels of risk aversion and mitigation when it comes to Covid. We are all trying to make the best decisions with the information we have and that’s going to look differently for various families.
Another step to take when looking ahead to summer plans is to gather good information. Once you know what steps an activity is taking or how everyone plans to prepare for the family reunion or whatever it is that you are considering, weigh those precautions against what experts say you should do. (Again, NOT an expert on viral spread here but I can point you in the right direction!) I think we need to be cautious about hearing from a friend of a friend that her kiddo goes somewhere and “it’s totally safe”. Unless that friend of a friend is an infectious disease specialist (and maybe she is and you can tell me to mind my own bee’s wax!), then she really doesn’t have the authority to make that assessment for you. Gather your information from sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and your own trusted health professionals. These sources can give you some objective guidelines to follow. Objectivity is really important here because it helps take some of the emotional component out of the decision making process and offers clarity.
And finally, if last year has taught me nothing else, it’s the need to be flexible. Plans can crumble pretty quickly — there’s a need for someone to quarantine, community guidance changes overnight, or we’re just being super-duper cautious about a case of the sniffles. Whatever the reason, it can feel disappointing, stressful, and defeating to have something you planned for and counted on cancelled at the last minute. Try and head off those emotions and the chaos they cause by being ready with a back-up plan — an easy project stowed away that can entertain a kiddo for an hour, a new book to look through, or even an on-call relative or friend who can pop over to help out. And there’s no shame in some popcorn and a little extra screen time in these instances as well.
Even if some organized activities and many major events and gatherings we typically look forward to are not on the docket this summer or still in planning limbo, there are plenty of fun activities we can still hope to do. (And no, they don’t all involve having a pool built in your backyard but man, if there was ever a summer that I wanted a pool off my back porch, it was last summer!) It’s worthwhile to put some thought into it and get a little list ready in your back pocket should you find yourself thinking oh my gosh, what on earth are we going to do today or how can we make this actually feel like a weekend? Part of the fun of summer is the anticipation of fun things ahead. Here are a couple of family fun, very low-risk activities to keep in mind:
U-Pick farms offer an opportunity to harvest some of the best summer produce like blackberries or peaches yourself
An inflatable pool, a sprinkler, a water table, a slip-n-slide, water balloons — basically anything your kids can cool down in and do outside with some neighborhood buddies can be hours of fun
Act like a tourist and research what are the top attractions your area has to offer. I can’t tell you how many hidden gems I’ve discovered in my town this last year — hiking trails, museums with limited capacity, unexplored parks, etc.
Embrace the staycation vibe and only do carryout — no cooking or dishes for a few days!
Botanic gardens and arboretums are big, open air spaces that are beautiful venues in which to picnic and explore
New guidelines are saying that with certain precautions in place, it’s reasonable to visit those grandparents you’ve been missing this last year so go get a great big hug
Go camping or set up a tent in your own backyard
Road trip!
Spend the day on your bikes and make a whole route with stops for lunch and more
Visit your nearest creek or pond with containers in tow and collect bugs and outdoor creepy crawlies
Make a star gazing night extra special with s’mores and a telescope
Visit a nearby farm and learn about the animals and all the many jobs that are done to keep the farm operating
Work with friends or neighbors and set up a field day for the kids with one family’s bouncy castle, another family’s slip and slide etc!
Gather a group of kiddos to decorate their bikes or scooters and have a parade
Line up the perfect ice cream sundae bar, maybe even make homemade ice cream
Basically, when we look ahead toward the summer months — and I can’t stress just how much I am looking ahead to those days of warm sunshine and no virtual school deadlines — let’s try to focus on what we can do. (That sounds a little glass-half-full to me…maybe I am an optimist after all?) We can be smart about what we plan and draw good guidance from trusted sources as well as try to objectively assess the risks versus benefits of activities we choose to do. And most importantly, we can focus on the best ways to connect with those we love and have missed most over the last year. It may not be a summer full of the crowded gatherings we are used to, but it is shaping up to be better than the last. | https://medium.com/abby-finn/what-will-summer-plans-look-like-a45e7027b2d7 | ['Anna Allen'] | 2021-03-19 14:09:45.063000+00:00 | ['Moms', 'Summer', 'Family', 'Motherhood', 'Parenting'] |
A New Thought Regarding Agatha Christie’s Crime Fiction | A New Thought Regarding Agatha Christie’s Crime Fiction
Specializing in murders of quiet, domestic interest
Many years ago I had a friend who was going through an Agatha Christie binge. Actually, both he and his wife were thoroughly absorbed in reading her crime novels, ever trying to solve the crimes before Miss Marple or the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot could.
Public domain.
At the time, I was involved in other pursuits, reading “serious literature” in preparation for a writing career. I can’t lay all the blame on Covid, but my reading in 2020 has included a long list of books from the John Sanford and Agatha Christie catalogs. In reading the latter, something dawned on me that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Ah, my friend, one may live in a big house and yet have no comfort.” — Hercule Poirot
How many of you grew up in a home with maids and butlers? As I reflect on the numerous Christie stories I’ve read, I can’t seem to recall any involving a family like my own. In addition to murders taking place in exotic places, such as the Nile or on the Orient Express, we have countless stories of people with wealth, whose servants are under suspicion, or who have both city and country homes.
I can only guess that part of the appeal of her work may have been the voyeuristic aspect of peeking in on the lifestyles of the rich and, sometimes, famous. It was easy for her to write accurately about this lifestyle, for it was the lifestyle she was acquainted with. She didn’t have to make it up. In her autobiography she states that she herself grew up with three servants in her household.
“Servants, of course, were not a particular luxury-it was not a case of only the rich having them; the only difference was that the rich had more,” she wrote in her autobiography.
This is a very different set of life circumstances than my father’s grandparents were experiencing in Eastern Kentucky at the time. (Agatha Christie was born in 1890.) They were illiterate and poor, but resourceful, scratching out a livelihood halfway up the side of a mountain, and even being generous.
Yet, even growing up with a nurse and nanny, Ms. Christie claims that her family was not rich. Rich people had cars. Her family did not.
Two other areas of expertise show up in her stories. When it comes to poisons, her knowledge is vast. That is, the more stories you read, it’s surprising how many ways to poison people there are. She gained this knowledge first hand. No, not first hand by poisoning people, but by working in a dispensary during the two world wars.
Public domain.
Another area of specialized knowledge came from marrying an archaeologist in 1930. While her second husband was actively exploring digs in the Middle East, she was no doubt picking his brain and digging for details that would give veracity to her murders in Egypt and elsewhere.
She’s to be commended for her tenacity. Her first six books were rejected by publishers. Nevertheless, she persisted despite the lack of interest from editors, until a door opened in 1920 and “the rest is history.” She became a master of the craft. One title alone, And Then There Were None, sold 100 million copies worldwide.
If these are not new thoughts for you, then I suppose I’m just late to the parade. One of the first bits of advice that young writers are frequently given is this: Write about what you know. This may be why you don’t find butlers and housemaids in my stories, whereas hers are awash with them. | https://medium.com/books-are-our-superpower/a-new-thought-regarding-agatha-christies-crime-fiction-93ea26633675 | ['Ed Newman'] | 2020-11-16 08:31:54.674000+00:00 | ['People', 'Books', 'Crime', 'Fiction', 'Observations'] |
How to Hire and Retain the Best | The tasks of running a successful enterprise can become overwhelming for just one individual, so it’s critical to have the help of a strong team of employees in order to scale and grow into a flourishing company. Hiring is a continuous process for any business leader running a healthy and prosperous business. New employees are like investments, and with any astute investor one would like to see a profitable return on their time and monetary investment. From searching, interviewing, vetting, and training - to the costs of covering new equipment, insurance, salaries, benefits, and taxes, business leaders cannot afford to make bad decisions when it comes to hiring.
Potential employees who are technically capable of a position aren’t always a sure thing. Simply meeting the criteria of being educated, experienced, and skilled won’t guarantee success within that position. It’s equally important to make sure that the candidate’s personality works within the position and that they are a good fit for the company in general. It all begins with how you present the available positions offered, attracting the best candidates from the start. When seeking new employees, a company will attract better quality candidates by focusing the job descriptions on what a company can do for a new employee, whether than what the company expects from a new employee. Hiring is a two-way street, and in any successful interview, both sides should be interviewing. You have to realize that if you’re interviewing the best, they have other options too.
Priorities have greatly changed over the decades, and this new generation’s best employees aren’t driven solely by money and benefits. Company culture is playing a major part in corporate success in the new era. What exactly is company culture? Essentially, it’s the character of a company, made up by the values, charisma, beliefs, behaviors, and the overall environment. It’s the fundamental basics which make up the camaraderie that’s crucial in the workplace, intrinsically encouraging employee happiness, optimism, and ultimately prosperity. This should be a focus and selling point when seeking new employment. If your company lacks cultural bliss, you’re going to have a very hard time retaining quality employees that truly enjoy their work. No one wants to be miserable at work. As the old saying goes; “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Now of course experience, education, skill, and the ability to perform the tasks of the job are fundamentally important. But those are just that, fundamental. If a candidate lacks in one of these areas, consider the compensating factors of that person. Some people have an innate ability to problem solve, lead, or succeed at anything they set their mind to. Some of the most successful people on earth are college dropouts. And some bright and talented minds may just need a chance to gain experience. These characteristics should be noticed and considered as compensating factors. Just because you’re sitting across from the most educated and experienced candidate, doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best person for the position. This is why the interviewing process is so important. Take time to actually get to know a person, asking questions about who they are, what they’re about, what inspires and motivates them, and figure out if together, your company, your team, and that potential employee can grow together.
When hiring and building a team, that’s exactly what you should be thinking about — your team. The most successful sports teams in history are lead by all-star coaches that recruit the best talent from all over, and together they prosper as a team. You’re the coach, and as the coach you have to recruit and hire not just for the credentials and qualifications of an employee, but which employee is going to fit best within your system, your team. People with shared values and the same passion for your industry and brand, these are the people that will work together in guiding your company to prosperity and success, and together as a team, everyone wins. | https://medium.com/@ericstatzer/how-to-hire-and-retain-the-best-491fafea3640 | ['Eric Douglas Statzer'] | 2020-12-08 19:14:10.949000+00:00 | ['Business Growth', 'Interviewing', 'Recruiting', 'Hiring', 'Eric Statzer'] |
Miracle Monkey Brains Amazingly Made Bigger from Human Genes | Miracle Monkey Brains Amazingly Made Bigger from Human Genes
Marmoset Monkey — Image by Public Domain
Yes, we’ve all read the story.
How a bored doctor decided to use a few body parts lying around his lab. His boredom morphed into a famous monster, a novel, and countless movies at drive-in theaters during the 1950s and ‘60s.
Frankenstein was well ahead of his time in terms of marketing. He was probably the first monster that understood the importance of branding — as his legend will outlive every one of us.
Real-life Frankenstein story?
In an attempt to enlarge a primate's brain, scientists spliced human genes directly into a monkey’s fetus¹. Amazingly, this experiment worked.
The research team combined brilliant minds from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany and from the Central Institute for Experimental Animals in Japan. Together, they introduced a precise human gene, known as ARHGAP11B², into a marmoset monkey fetus. This enlarged the neocortex of its brain.
The neocortex happens to be the most recent region of the brain to evolve. It is the outer shell of our brain and makes up over 75% of its entirety. The neocortex is perhaps the most human thing about us — as it is responsible for all the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make us unique — this includes our use of complex languages and reasoning.
Evolving from primates
Whenever our hominid ancestors jumped from the evolutionary tree of our chimpanzee kinfolks, their brains rapidly expanded. It actually tripled in size over a period of around three million years. In fact, their brains grew so rapidly that they were cramped, and this was what caused the distinct folding of the human neocortex into the wrinkles we have now.
Scientists have always maintained that several evolutionary factors were involved, but they believe that the ARGHAP11B gene was unique to hominids. It could’ve very well provided the mental boost to our distant ancestors, such as the Denisovans and Neanderthals.
DNA structure — Image by Pixabay
The role of ARGHAP11B in human evolution
Many studies in the past have been conducted using ARHGAP11B. When it has been unnaturally expressed in ferrets and mice, neocortex enlargements were also observed. But this study was the first time it was used on a non-human primate with normal human expression levels. And it suggests that ARGHAP11B played a major role in the evolution of humans.
ARGHAP11B was created in our ancestors about five million years ago. There was a genetic mistake made during the copying of the gene ARGHAP11A. In short, there was a substitution of one nucleotide base that led to the formation of ARHGAP11B. This caused the brain’s neuron-producing cells to make more of themselves for a longer time period, producing a bigger neocortex.
Response from the study’s lead author
“We found indeed that the neocortex of the common marmoset brain was enlarged and the brain surface folded,” said Michael Heide, who was the study’s lead author. “Its cortical plate was also thicker than normal.”
Heide also added:
“Furthermore, we could see increased numbers of basal radial glia progenitors in the outer subventricular zone and increased numbers of upper-layer neurons, the neuron type that increases in primate evolution.”
Ethical concerns are being raised
The scientists refer to these human-monkey hybrids as ‘transgenic non-human primates.’ As you would imagine, not all people are pleased with these kinds of experiments on primates. It raises all sorts of ethical issues. And it doesn’t help that human genes are inserted into these animals.
This is why scientists can only use monkey fetuses for their studies, and they are taken via C-section after 100 days of growth. Letting these experiments extend past the fetal phase and allow such human gene-carrying monkeys to be born into the world would be unethical and irresponsible.
The study’s coauthor Wieland Huttner issued the following statement in a press release.
“We confined our analyses to marmoset fetuses because we anticipated that the expression of this human-specific gene would affect the neocortex development in the marmoset,” Huttner said. “In light of potential unforeseeable consequences with regard to postnatal brain function, we considered it a prerequisite — and mandatory from an ethical point of view — to first determine the effects of ARHGAP11B on the development of fetal marmoset neocortex.” | https://medium.com/@charliestephen6/miracle-monkey-brains-amazingly-made-bigger-from-human-genes-1cfa20e96b84 | ['Charles Stephen'] | 2021-02-02 15:02:36.930000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Biology', 'Science', 'Society', 'Genetics'] |
Phone Photography Tricks | Just Use These Proven Techniques To Instantly Become A “Mini Celebrity” On Social Media Sites… Without Ever Using Photoshop!
Now can take amazing photos like these on your smartphone camera. And the cool thing is, you don’t need an expensive DSLR… or even Photoshop!
Dear Friend,
If you would like to take mind-blowing photographs with your smartphone…
If you would like to dazzle and shock your friends with your shots…
If you would like to become a trick photography expert, almost overnight…
…Then this is going to be the most exciting message you will ever read.
Hi, name is Carl Hartman and I’m a professional photographer.
Some of my friends even claim that I’m a complete photography nut. But there’s been a recent change in photography technology that has really ticked me off. Here’s why…
For more than 25 years, I’ve been studying and mastering FX and trick photography.
Early in my career, I earned a mentorship with award-winning industrial photographer, Robert Thornton. I then became the editor and executive producer at Universal Studios and PBS for 12 years.
Later, I worked as the director for the live action sequences in the best-selling computer games, DOOM and Chess Wars. More recently, I won the “Best of the Best” award at PBS and the “Most Creative” award from US International Film and Video.
But thanks to some new technology, complete photography newbie’s can take photos almost as good as what I can do ¬¬- and they can do it without spending thousands of dollars and months of time learning tricks of the trade.
See, when I was first starting out, the digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) was just invented. And it quickly became “all the rage” among serious photographers. I had to scrap together $1,200 to buy my first professional camera (Nikon D230 #).
With my new DSLR, I took breathtaking special effects shots I never even dreamed of taking with my old point-and-shoot camera. Some of my photos were so amazing that my friends refused to believe I took them, until I showed them the photos on my camera.
That was 20-some years ago. Today, things are completely different.
Technology has evolved at the speed of light. While many photographers still believe they need fancy-schmancy DSLRs to capture quality photos, the honest to goodness truth is you can actually…
“Transform” Your Smartphone Camera Into A High-End DSLR!
It’s true!
Once you know how to use your smartphone as a high-end DSLR, you can use it to capture spectacular shots like these:
Not quite convinced?
Okay, take a look at the two images below.
Can you guess which one was taken by the iPhone 5… and which one was taken by the Canon EOS 7D ($1,599.00)?
Can you spot the difference?
Well, the photo on the left was taken by the iPhone 3GS (with the help of a special image enhancement app we’ll talk about in just a bit.)
Since camera phone technology has become super advanced, the qualities of the photos are nearly identical.
In fact, there’s an entire “iPhoneography” movement going on right now, where world-class photographers are ditching their regular camera equipment and snapping shots only their iPhones!
And here’s the kicker (and why I’m so ticked off): There are still loads of self-righteous photography “experts” out there who claim you need at least a Nikon D5100, telephoto zoom lenses and their 6 week evening course just to start taking great pictures yourself.
As someone who has been living, sleeping and breathing photography his entire life, I can tell you….
That’s Pure Hogwash!
I’m tired of seeing struggling photographers get beat down because they can’t fully grasp perplexing camera functions… or sit through hours of mind-numbing and boring lectures, or shell out the funds for any 6-week money-grubbing course.
I blame arrogant photo “gurus” who think they’re helping you out by offering professional photography lessons. But they’re actually scaring away new photographers with their lucrative prices and complicated instruction.
I’ve gotten so hot under the collar by this nonsense that I made it my personal mission to show everyone a much easier way to take breath taking photos…
Without using fancy lenses, lighting and other extravagant equipment…
Without needing any pricey classes and dull lectures…
And without dropping boo-coo bucks for a DSLR!
The truth is, if you own a smartphone (iPhone, Samsung, HTC, Blackberry, whatever), then you already have everything you need to take create incredible photographs that will blow away you and your friends.
Like these…
Breathtaking special effects using penlights and other, even more common, household items
Beautiful high dynamic range nature shots that look like this
Spectacular 360 degree panoramic shots that will amaze your friends
Photos that go “pop” just through tweaking the colour settings on your regular camera.
Crystal clear rapid movement shots that look frozen in time
Fantastic perspective photos with no software or extra tools.
Pictures that are filled with the invisible man.
Exquisite star trail long exposure shots.
Amazing self portrait tricks guaranteed to make you the most popular guy/girl on facebook!
Creative and vintage phone photography tricks for tumblr
How to make your pets look extra cute with these simple phone camera tricks
How to take mouth-watering food shots
In fact, the phone you already have can be an even better camera than some high-end DSLRs.
The Amazing Reasons Why The Best DSLR Camera Is…
Probably Already In Your Pocket
FACT: Newer smartphone models have ultra-sharp image quality. They can do practically everything (and sometimes more) as your standard DSLR. (Even the old iPhone 3GS — which has a “puny” 3-megapixel camera¬- can give DSLRs a run for their money. And the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are even better.)
They can do practically everything (and sometimes more) as your standard DSLR. (Even the old iPhone 3GS — which has a “puny” 3-megapixel camera¬- can give DSLRs a run for their money. And the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are even better.) FACT: Smartphones are “pocketable” and portable. You have the freedom to take pictures anywhere you go, without having to lug around heavy camera equipment. And because they’re less intrusive… you’re less likely to draw attention to yourself and get a bunch of “weird stares” whenever you take a photo. Certainly not the case with bulky DSLRs!
You have the freedom to take pictures anywhere you go, without having to lug around heavy camera equipment. And because they’re less intrusive… you’re less likely to draw attention to yourself and get a bunch of “weird stares” whenever you take a photo. Certainly not the case with bulky DSLRs! FACT: You can easily add special effects to your photos with free photo-editing apps. Then, quickly upload them to your favorite photo sharing sites with the touch of a button. There’s no hassle of transferring files to your computer or messing around with Photoshop.
When you finally discover the secrets to trick photography and special effects on your smartphone, you’ll be able to…
…Master photography basics and “shortcut” your learning curve by at least 6 months…
…Instantly apply these tricks and techniques to the very next photo you snap -Many pros have paid thousands of dollars to learn these secrets… and absolutely hate revealing them at any cost!…
…Skyrocket the activity on your Instagram, Tumblr and Flickr pages… and receive massive praise and recognition from other members on online photo-sharing communities!
The good news is, this is all possible because I just put together a complete 20 video training course. You’ll discover how to improve your “regular” shots while you also transform become a trick photography pro.
Announcing…
Phone Photography Tricks:
The Revolutionary Video Course That Shows You How To Capture Mind-Blow Artistic Images Using Only Your Smartphone
The videos are split into easy-to-follow lessons that enable you to take awesome photos and breathtaking special effects shots you and your friends won’t believe.
Like these…
This course is designed to turn a complete photography newbie into an accomplished smartphone photographer in the shortest time possible.
Each lesson contains the core essentials you need to know so you can take mind-boggling pictures with your smartphone. There’s no fluff or filler and I’m not going to waste your time with stale theory either.
I’ve taken the most crucial trick photography concepts I learned in my 25+ years of professional photography and distilled them into a potent collection of lessons that I’ll be serving you throughout this course.
Most beginners take 6 to 12 months to get through the struggling amateur stage, but you’ll bypass it completely with these shortcut secrets.
I’ve included assignments at the end of every lesson so you can apply what you learn and take stunning shots right away. These exercises will “hardwire” each lesson into your brain, so you actually get better… in a flash.
You’ll put every other smartphone users to shame.
While they still haven’t got a clue, they’ll only sit in wonder about why everyone online is absolutely mad about your photos, and not theirs.
Here’s exactly what’s you’ll discover inside Phone Photography Tricks…
Essential smartphone camera features that can instantly enhance your picture quality by 100%. (Even the most savvy smartphone addicts don’t know about these…)
How to use special focus techniques to create photographs with a subtle “meaning”…Screw this up and you can kiss any emotional impact in your photos goodbye!
The secret “depth of focus” technique… just use this to always get crisp, focused pictures — even if your subject is in motion or you have shaky hands!
How to split someone in half… If you ever want to freak out your friends, just try this simple trick…
The sneaky science behind recreating “happy accidents” so you can capture once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities… over and over again!
The “cardinal sins” of lighting that sentence you to taking lousy photos forever…
What is the stupidly simple “4x” rule and how it can turn you into a master of light…
The biggest advantages smartphones have over DSLRs… this makes professional photographers jealous!
Why a photo of a red object taken under red light will actually turn out white… and how to use this widely-ignored information to take photos that will surprise and please your friends
The 3 crucial things you MUST keep in mind if you want to capture impressive photographs everytime…
How to create interesting effects and feelings with color (or lack of color)…
How to manipulate the viewer’s emotions with a few simple tweaks… (Experienced photographic artists agree this is the “holy grail” to winning photo-contests…)
The exposure secrets that virtually guarantee your pictures never end up in the photography Hall of Shame…
Discover the secret methods for creating “invisible man” and other floating-in-the-air illusions — great for astonishing your friends…
How to easily take high dynamic range (HDR) nature photos:
And believe it or not, you’ll be able to create these spectacular images…
Without Photoshop!
That means you can create jaw-dropping images without investing $599 for Photoshop CS5.
You won’t need PhotoShop because I’ve included my course is photo-editing software that’s virtually identical.
In fact, you may find it even easier and more intuitive to use. So you can recreate some of the more “advanced” photography tricks without getting slapped in the face by Photoshop’s harsh learning curve.
You’re just a few minutes away from developing pro-level skills that will stay with you for life.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a real photography nut, or simply interested in improving your shots. As long as you have a smartphone and a desire to take some killer photos, then this course will revolutionize the way you take pictures forever.
Inside Phone Photography Tricks, you’ll also discover…
A cool trick to “fool” your phone’s exposure controls… so you can take vivid photos that you won’t be able to look away from!
How to use the dodge and burn tools to create well balanced images. (That others will swear they were taken by a professional)…
The embarrassingly simple adjustments that can instantly make an ordinary photo look 10x times as alive and vibrant. (Hint: it’s way easier than you think)
A behind-the-scenes look at how to create powerful moods with light…without having to spend hundreds of dollars on professional equipment…
Want an easy way to remove unwanted shadows in your portraits? Just use a 1-inch thick piece of white foam. (You can pick these up at your local hardware store.)I’ll share even more from my “bag of quick fixes” to help you churn out pro-level photos…
How to create the “blur effect” when photographing moving objects. I’ll show you the must-have app that makes showing off speed in your pictures a breeze
The two “under-the-radar” apps that make it dead simple to “paint with light”… watch people’s jaws drop when they find out you did this with you phone camera…
How to “miniaturize” someone and put them in common household objects… these types of photo always gets a laugh and causes a big fuss on image sharing websites
3 inexpensive and easy ways to create portraits that look like they were taken in a professional studio (No one will be able to tell that you didn’t investing even a single dime in state of the art studio equipment)…
Much, much more…
Now, you might be wondering…
“Carl, This Sounds Great, But How Much Is It?”
If you were to sing up for a typical an Intro to Photography evening class, then you’d have to spend $1000 to $2000 for the class.
Many of the online photography courses can still reach you $499 to $999 each.
… And on top of that, your professor will force you to buy an expensive DSLR camera and equipment…
What’s worse, these courses will be made up of long, drawn out instruction and uninteresting theory. Instead of having fun learning photography, you’ll feel like you’re in a boring physics lecture.
And if you ever had to sit through boring classes before, then you know just how quickly you start forgetting what you learned the weeks before. That’s money and time down the drain.
(Don’t get me wrong. These classes are fine if your goal is to become a professional photographer. But for the average person who simply wants more activity on their Flickr page, win a few photo-contests, or just take more pleasing pictures, these options are way too expensive.)
I could decide to offer this program for $200 and I would probably have countless photographers ready, eager, and willing to sign up just to get access to my more than 25 years in-the-trenches experience as a professional photographer.
But you’re not even going to pay half of that — $100.
If you grab your copy of “Phone Photography Tricks” today, you only have to make a one-time investment of $27.
Look, it steams me to no end when I see young photographers get ripped off by greedy photography “experts” and their needless classes.
It turns my stomach when I hear young photographer saying that if they don’t have a top-end DSLR, then they’ll never be able to take quality shots.
And it makes my heart break when these new guys get discouraged and drop out of photography all together.
That’s why I’m pricing this course as low as possible.
Why?
Well, when I was starting out, there were more experienced photographers who lent me a helping hand when I had questions. While I don’t have time to personally mentor every worthy candidate, I’ve decided to help as many people as I can with this program.
In fact, I’m so sure you’ll be absolutely thrilled with this program, I’m going to back up every promise I make on this page with…
Here’s how it works: Go ahead and sign up for my “Phone Photography Tricks”.
Go through the video lessons and if you’re not convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt… at any time..this amazing course is not everything I’ve just written about, then I insist you immediately contact me for a full refund.
That’s right, if you’re not totally delighted with this course, just shoot me an email within 8 weeks of today, and I’ll send back every single dime… no questions asked.
That’s how confident I am these photography techniques will supercharge” every smartphone photo you take from now on.
To make your decision much easier, I’m also going to throw in some killer bonuses. (I’m feeling extra generous.) | https://medium.com/@nelssonag21421/phone-photography-tricks-ccf7abd0c0a9 | ['Nelsson Tiong'] | 2021-06-17 14:44:48.628000+00:00 | ['Photos', 'Phone Photography', 'Mobile', 'Photographer', 'Photography'] |
Unit Testing Reducers | The tests in the examples are written with RITEway because it has a genius API that forces you to write good tests. RITEway only exposes an equality assertion, which is perfect for testing pure functions. (The examples work with Jest, too. 🃏)
I’ll let you read the code now first, and afterwards we analyse the structure of the tests.
In the example above, we combined the logic and the tests. Usually, the code would live in at least three files ( counter-reducer.js , counter-reducer.test.js and root-reducer.js ):
src/
├── ...
├── features/
│ ├── ...
│ └── counter/
│ ├── ...
│ └── counter-reducer.js
│ └── counter-reducer.test.js
├── redux/
│ ├── root-reducer.js
│ ├── root-saga.js
│ └── store.js
└── index.test.js
The first test ensures the reducer has the correct initial state. Use a createState factory function for this test and avoid exporting the initial state and using it for the assertion.
You need to ensure the initial state is correct before you use it in your tests. If you export it and use it in your assertion, an error might slip through. The initial state could have wrong keys, or the wrong initial values for correct keys or be missing keys and your tests would still pass.
The first test tests the reducer without arguments. A reducer that returns its initial state when called without arguments is not in Redux’ official reducer specification. However, it’s helpful for selector tests (- we will see below exactly how -) or to populate initial state for the useReducer Hook.
const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(reducer, reducer());
Suppose you can’t call your reducers without arguments (for example because you’re using Redux Toolkit). In that case, you can write this test by passing undefined and an empty object.
assert({
given: 'no state with an empty action',
should: 'return the valid initial state',
actual: reducer(undefined, {}),
expected: createState(),
});
Note: If you are looking for an alternative to Redux Toolkit that supports empty argument reducers, check out Autodux.
Test the action creators tightly coupled to your reducer by invoking both in your tests. Avoid action creator tests that assert on their returned action object because all you care about is how they modify the state of your reducer. Using action creators and their handlers together is the most efficient and effective way to test action creators and reducer functions.
Use a factory function like createState to set up the tests for action creators. (For selectors, directly use the rootReducer in conjunction with your actions to compose the state.) You can easily debug the factory function, which allows you to describe the exact state shape that you want. Favor a factory function over inlining the reducer's complete state because it's shorter to overwrite the relevant keys. Avoid using actions creators in the setup for your action creator tests because you don't know whether they behave correctly at that point. Sometimes (e.g. for complex reducers with many keys) you should additionally use a createPopulatedState factory function.
const createPopulatedState = ({
count: 14
/* , ... more populated values for more keys */
} = {}) => createState({ count /* , ... more keys */ });
Furthermore, notice how the action creators are tightly coupled to their actions and the case statements, so there is no need to worry about importing or using the right constant. If you have an action creator, you have its type (via incrementBy.type , or incrementBy().type - the former is compatible with thunks).
You should always write at least two tests for each action creator. One to test how it affects the reducer with no prior state (= initial state), and one to test how it interacts with existing state (of the same slice, obviously). (Sometimes you need more than one test for the “with state” scenario.)
Using createPopulatedState you can simplify your "with existing state" action creator test cases.
And best of all, if your action creator tests pass, you know that they change the state the way you intended. At this point, it’s okay to use them in your selector tests to set up state. You also want to test the selectors with your rootReducer . (For local state with useReducer , you replace rootReducer with the reducer you're testing.) Using selectors in conjunction with action creators and your rootReducer gives you confidence that:
You hooked up your reducer to your rootReducer , and you did it correctly. Your action creators work when interacting with each other (- if you use several to set up the test). Your selectors return the correct value.
You should test selectors with at least two cases, too: One with default state and one with the desired populated state. For the default state, you can call the rootReducer without arguments to get the global initial state. And again, if you can't call your rootReducer without arguments to produce the default state (for example because you're using Redux Persist), you can create and export the rootState from your root-reducer.js file.
To test the selector’s behavior with state, you can create an actions array and reduce over it to build up the state. This is an excellent technique because it works well even if your reducer depends on several pieces of state controlled by multiple actions (and slices e.g. setOffset ).
If you liked this article, you might want to follow me on Twitter and checkout janhesters.com because there is more. | https://medium.com/@jan.hesters/unit-testing-reducers-2df09bb6ba61 | ['Jan Hesters'] | 2020-10-19 19:30:20.045000+00:00 | ['State', 'Reducer', 'Riteway', 'Unit Testing', 'Redux'] |
5 lessons Jurassic Park taught me about software development | This post will reference only the -original- 1993 movie. The sequels were unnecessary cash-grabs, and I will pretend they do not exist.
And don’t even get me started on the current trilogy.
Now that we got that rant out of the way, Jurassic Park having lessons for software development (or technology, rather) is pretty unsurprising, considering the movie was based off a novel by Micheal Crichton, who frequently used plots around technological advancements going wrong.
These are 5 things I personally picked up from the movie I believe applies to our careers as software engineers.
1. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
Ian Malcolm, a character in the movie berates John Hammond on the latter’s lack of foresight in using something as powerful as genetic engineering, and that they were handling it more like a “kid that had found their dad’s gun”. John Hammond, the creator of Jurassic Park retorts that Ian is not giving him and his scientists due credit; because “they have done what no other scientists have ever done before” To which Ian replies “yeah but your scientists were so preoccupied whether or not they could that they forgot to think if they should”
I use that last phrase a lot at work.
The reason being that a lot of the complications that we see on our software projects comes from an engineer or architect using something that they could do from a technical standpoint, but is often a bad idea practically. For instance, should the team use Cassandra on a e-commerce website to store orders and shopping basket items from customers? Well, obviously, it should work. But it probably isn’t the best tool for the job.
Some other examples :
i) choosing to do microservices too early in a project when a well structured monolith is all that is needed.
ii) using unnecessary tools / frameworks into our JavaScript projects
iii) using design-patterns to solve a problem, when they are not needed in the first place.
2. Clear, intuitive architecture (and) code-bases
Ellie Sattler is in the maintenance building at Jurassic Park all by herself trying to reset the circuit-breakers to the park. But first, she needs to find out where the main switchboard is. John Hammond is in another building is trying to help her do that over radio. He has a large complicated looking schematic diagram of the maintenance building in front of him, while Ian Malcolm is there right beside him. However, John soon finds out he had directed her to a dead-end in the building. Ellie is getting frustrated. Ian sees this, and he himself is annoyed at John for not considering a simpler idea he had earlier. He thinks this has gone on far enough, and grabs the radio from John’s hand. He tells her “look above you, there should a large bundle of cables and pipes all heading in the same direction. Follow that”. Soon after doing just that she reaches the switchboard.
A good architecture diagram, or code-structure is one that could be understood and navigated just as easy as that.
Keep your architecture simple and intuitive.
Using the right tools to represent that architecture is invaluable for your future team-mates. Also, simpler things like good package structure and code organization ensures that every new-comer on the project finds their metaphorical switchboard by just following those pipes going in the same direction.
I personally use the C4 model to represent architecture, and will always advocate for clean-architecture, and feature-based packaging of code in your projects.
3. Design for failure, and test them
For people unfamiliar with the story, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park got free because a disgruntled employee had inserted a backdoor into the code and turned off all security systems guarding the dinosaurs.
John Hammond suggests that Arnold, the chief engineer of Jurassic Park’s IT systems shut down and restart the system, so that it brings the systems back to it’s original start up mode. This would be the state before the disgruntled employee had made his changes. Arnold vehemently disapproves. When John asks for a confirmation if the system will come back on to their original state, Arnold replies “Theoretically yes, but we have never shutdown the entire system before, it might not come back on at all”
They had never tested a recovery mechanism, a big one at that!
In the end, turning off the system and restarting it did bring everything back up, but it had unintended consequences that no one was aware of. If you watch the movie, there’s a couple of times the word “maybe” is thrown about in the dialogue around the event. No one knew what to expect when they restarted the system.
This is unacceptable for a software system in your company.
We must run through disaster recovery scenarios in our projects, so that in the midst of a firefight or a production issue, we know what works and what doesn’t.
Too bad the people at Jurassic Park didn’t. These unintended consequences I spoke about earlier causes the deaths of two more people in the movie, and almost got everyone else killed.
4. Smart hacks can have unintended consequences
In the beginning of the movie, the audience is informed the scientists at Jurassic Park were able to get DNA strands from dinosaur blood, but that it was incomplete, and had gaps in the DNA sequence. They were then able to fill these gaps with the complete DNA code of other animals like a frog. This solved the problem, and the scientists were finally able to grow a dinosaur.
Were they smart and got the job done? Yes. However, what they didn’t account for was the fact that it indirectly gave the group of dinosaurs (which were all genetically engineered to be female), the ability to reproduce asexually, just like some of frogs in west-Africa.
Often in our projects, we see a lot of teams pick out a “smart” solution to complete something as fast as they could, maybe due to project deadlines. However, more often than not, we miss an edge-case scenario, which then blows up later.
I usually avoid such solutions for the projects I work on, they’re often a landmine of sorts from my experience.
5. Start small and iterate
The only reason why John Hammond had invited visitors the park were to get them to “sign-off” on the park. This would enable his investors to continue putting in their money into Jurassic Park.
For this, John Hammond went on to offer all the visitors the entire tour that the park was to open with.
However, this exposed a lot more of their problems as the IT systems in Jurassic Park were not quite ready yet. For instance, the car took the visitors around the park had its headlamps being switched on all the time exhausting the car-battery, and not responding to commands. According to Arnold, this was “Item 151 on today’s glitch list”.
God knows what the other 150 problems were.
This made me think — wouldn’t there simpler user-flow that did not involve the systems that were not ready? Could he have showcased a fewer number of dinosaurs in a more controlled fashion, focusing on the bare minimum to get the scientist’s approval?
Could this have been the MVP that John Hammond needed?
Sometimes we as technologists fail to think of the minimum required to get our customers to be happy, and only then iterate and build on that solid foundation of customer satisfaction.
Prioritize value and quality over quantity.
Well, that’s all I had for now. I hope you enjoyed it. If there is anything you think I should add or clarify, please do let me know! | https://medium.com/swlh/5-lessons-jurassic-park-taught-me-about-software-development-138152990e95 | ['Vineeth Venudasan'] | 2020-07-05 10:37:53.371000+00:00 | ['Jurassic Park', 'Software Development'] |
Go With The Flow | Go With The Flow
There have been so many times this year I’ve wished I was anywhere other than at home. I’ve wanted to get away to a warm place where I could forget all my cares and sadness. But, of course, Covid and my compromised immune system have eliminated all travel for me.
I’ve been coping with a wave of emotions. I’ve had moments like in “The Shining” where I’ve typed the same thing repeatedly, unable to come up with a creative idea due to boredom. I’ve been overjoyed by the smallest things just like Buddy in “Elf.” when I received cards, calls and gifts. I’ve experienced grief like at the end of “The Best Man Holiday” and The Family Stone.” I’ve felt like a hopeless romantic while watching movies like “While You Were Sleeping” and “The Holiday.” I’ve felt hope and spiritual renewal like the characters in “The Preacher”s Wife.” And, I’ve experienced childlike glee when I decorated my house and picked out presents like I do when I watch holidays classic like “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
I may not actually be free to roam or visit others like I’d prefer this holiday. But, I do escape through my writing, my prayers and fantasizing while looking at vacation packages online. It’s the same release I felt when I saw the sweater I’m. wearing for day 23 of my Christmas countdown. It’s Santa riding a surf board in rough seas while Christmas items swirl around him. Like him, I’m going with the flow because sometimes that’s all you can do.
#surfing #holidaymovies #covid #coronavirus #Christmas #santa #chronicillness #chronicpain #spoonie. #autoimmunedisease. #happyholidays. #ChristmasEve. #imvisibleillness #christmascountdown | https://medium.com/@NikaBeamon/go-with-the-flow-960ae7c8f2ef | ['Nika C. Beamon'] | 2020-12-24 13:44:23.508000+00:00 | ['Christmas', 'Chronic Illness', 'Holidays', 'Covid 19 Crisis'] |
Mental Health Awareness is More Than Just a Meme | I speak candidly from my own experience with PTSD and clinical depression, which were exacerbated by six years of late-stage neurological Lyme disease and the hormonal and emotional upheaval brought on during menopause.
I was in a very dark place for years. I could barely muster the energy to get out of bed, and I was miserable every minute of every day from constant, debilitating pain. Without sleep or physical healing, my emotional and mental faculties were overwhelmed, and I became an overly-sensitive, anxious, irritable, melancholy mess.
Instead of earning compassion and kindness from those around me, I earned disdain and alienation. Part of me doesn’t blame others. Clearly, I was not a fun person to be around. The truth is — I was drowning, and even I didn’t understand how far I’d fallen into the pit of depression until I no longer recognized myself.
Sadly, some of the worst offenders when it came to recognizing my mental illness were people in the medical or therapeutic fields.
However, mental illness in real life isn’t always like it is in the movies. We aren’t all banging our heads against walls and running naked through the halls in the Cuckoo’s Nest.
These also happen to be the very people who post enthusiastically online about how woke they are when it comes to mental illness. They make sure everyone knows they are ‘warriors’ who donate money and support the mental health community.
What I’ve seen from many of these mental health and medical professionals is outdated knowledge gleaned from college courses they took thirty years ago. On stage, they can pontificate about theory and collect awards for their service and valor. They recognize people with extreme mental illness who need heavy-duty medications or hospitalization or constant supervision to survive.
However, mental illness in real life isn’t always like it is in the movies. We aren’t all banging our heads against walls and running naked through the halls in the Cuckoo’s Nest.
In every-day life, many people, including therapists and clinicians, fail to recognize that millions of people — their friends and family members included — are living and working and struggling with varying degrees of mental illness.
Just because we are functioning at high levels and look normal on the outside doesn’t mean we aren’t silently struggling every minute of every day.
We’re not just having bad days.
We’re not just a Debbie Downer.
We’re fighting demons.
And sometimes the demons are winning. | https://medium.com/narrative/mental-health-awareness-is-more-than-just-a-meme-78d9a93dadbd | ['Lizzie Finn'] | 2020-10-10 15:08:00.624000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Mental Illness', 'Mental Health', 'Depression', 'Health'] |
Top 10 Web App Development Frameworks in 2020 — Mobinius | With the improvement of web technologies, web app development has got high demands. Therefore choosing the right web framework for web app development is a very crucial task. Most of the web app development companies follow the ongoing trend to select the most appropriate framework. Also, it is very important to focus on the major two aspects of web development, including the present and the future. For instance, at the present time, you should look for such web app development services, which will help you to update your app or website according to the newest trends of technology. Again, you should hire web app developers who are skilled enough to adopt modern techniques for developing the framework keeping the chance of the innovation in mind for the future. Different factors like database mapping, database configuration, security, the visual look of the website, etc. are vital to be considered before selecting a particular development framework. Below we have discussed some frameworks that you can use for your web app development work effectively.
1. AngularJS
Angular JS is used in are considered as the leading Angular JS development for the JavaScript framework, and it has gone under several changes since it was published in 2009. Now the AngularJS developers use Angular V9, available with advanced features. Because of the continuous update, Angular JS frameworks front-end development frameworks.
Where to use?
React JS is considered as the best software to create better UI for web development. React JS developers make use of React JS development to avoid rewriting while crafting. React JS for web app development is developed by Facebook In order to build a single page for mobile and websites.
Where to use?
When Projects includes-VueJS development framework is commonly used to create a Single Page Application and dynamic UI. You can easily use this open-source framework to increase legacy applications. With the help of its optional tools, you can design a better user interface.
Where to use?
Day-to-day operations like authentication, routing, sessions, and caching have become easy with Laravel, which is considered as one of the prominent PHP frameworks for web development. Some of the web app development companies in India are leaning forward this framework because of its pleasing and entertaining process.
Where to use?
Express is a popular framework for Node.js that is fast, flexible, and minimal. Due to its robust features, Express JS development is hugely beneficial for mobile and web app development.
6. Ruby on Rails
It is a well-known web development framework. It incorporates Ruby programming language. It helps the developers to develop codes in an organized way with its great collection of code, tools, and utilities. This server-side web development framework allows the developers to make dynamic applications with integrated solutions.
Where to use?
Some of the famous web app development companies in USA use Django for their development framework. Being written in Python language, it comes with several benefits that make it the most used framework for application development. This framework mainly focuses on the pluggability and reusability of the components.
Where to use?
This is an open-source server-side web development framework that is used for creating mobile and desktop applications. The core framework is .net, which helps to develop different applications. ASP.NET is a birth child of Microsoft.
Requires less coding for larger applications Maintains and write source code Highly secured Easy to maintain Detects infinite loop easily Advanced features
Where to use?
Some JavaScript development companies use Spring to develop a robust application. This framework uses IoC for lightweight application development.
Where to use?
To build a Java application To create high performance and reusable code
Meteor is considered as one of the best JavaScript frameworks, which is popular for faster software development. This is an open-source JavaScript framework that is written in Node.JS.
Where to use?
To develop a prototype application To use one language in the application.
In this write-up, we have tried to cover all the topmost web development frameworks in detail. Check this out and choose the right framework that suits your projects the most. | https://medium.com/@Mobinius/top-10-web-app-development-frameworks-in-2020-mobinius-cfcf560a73b5 | [] | 2020-04-23 15:45:45.787000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Web App Development', 'Angularjs', 'Web App Developers', 'Reactjs'] |
Bolt Clone App — Build Your Successful On Demand Taxi App To Generate More Revenue | Bolt Clone App — Build Your Successful On Demand Taxi App To Generate More Revenue Van Dijk Mar 19·3 min read
The On-demand taxi apps are popular and can easily start a business in a short time. For entrepreneurs who are having the idea of looking to enter a taxi business, developing like a bolt clone app can be the perfect solution.
Bolt clone is one of the popular taxi booking apps that provided services to people.
Let’s get to know about the Bolt Clone Script
Who Can Get Benefited By Using An On-demand Taxi App!!
Some percentage of Entrepreneurs think the taxi business will not be a better business model for them. But it is not because the many businesses gone online and having a taxi booking business will be a good solution and reach the people to have a good impression.
Fleet Owners: It is easy for fleet owners to expand their business by investing in a bolt clone to be beneficial. The taxi owners will get more booking and offer the complete solution that easily solves the business problems. The user will book the taxi at any time with the fleets.
Entrepreneurs: Can develop an online taxi business app and connect the drivers and the customers easily in a single platform. This app will connect both the customers and drivers and will have the flexibility of doing business.
Why Developing An App Like Bolt Is Needed For Entrepreneurs?
If you are looking to develop a Bolt Clone App for your taxi booking business and mentioned the reasons provided to develop it.
100% Source Code
Based on the packages selection, you will be afforded a complete source code. 100% source code means the clients have all the privilege to edit and change the source code in accordance with their ideology to attract relevant customers.
Server Installation
Once the purchase is completed, we install our script to your server free of cost. Within a short span, we help you to make your script live.
App Submission
We submit your apps which are bought from us. We give you complete support to submit iOS Apps in App Store & Android apps in Play Store.
On-Time Support
We are always ready to support you in all means of communication channels. Our on-time support includes technical and non-technical support and maintenance from the team.
Fleet Management
The fleet management portal has all the features for taxi owners to manage drivers & vehicles. It also has options like manage booking, trips, payments, requests, and other information. It also provides access to analytics.
Multiple payments
It is integrated with secured multiple payment methods so that users can have all the freedom to pay the way they like.
Tips To Driver
If the driver has been extremely professional and if the rider wishes then the rider can tip the driver at the end of the trip. This highly kindles the driver to deliver a white-collar service.
Geo-Fencing
The geo-Fencing feature helps the admin to avoid trips from certain geolocation. The admin can mark a location on the map to avoid trips from that location.
In-App Chat
An In-app chat option helps the user to chat with the driver even though they can’t connect with the call.
Call Masking
Both the driver and the rider can get in conversation easily without sharing their personal phone number or other details and can have a secure call.
Rider Sharing
Enable the users to share their rides using the Ride-Sharing feature.
How Does Bolt Clone App Work?
Download and sign up via social media, phone number, or email id
The app will provide you nearby drivers based on the location you have chosen or the address you filled.
Request For The Driver
Make an online payment or pay with cash
Track your driver live location
Get your taxi at your doorstep and travel to the destination.
Provide feedback and ratings
Bolt Clone App is one of the popular taxi booking app offering a booking experience for the users. Choose a development company that provides Taxi Booking App like Bolt for your business.
Discuss with our team and get connected through [email protected] and get the free white labeling taxi booking service app with the support provided by the company. The bolt clone app is provided the latest features that facilitate the smooth booking app and can improve the business to a greater extent. | https://medium.com/@vandijklvl/bolt-clone-app-build-your-successful-on-demand-taxi-app-to-generate-more-revenue-2877e282100a | ['Van Dijk'] | 2021-03-19 09:29:22.271000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Technology', 'On Demand', 'Startup', 'Taxi Booking Software'] |
Futures Studies, Foresight, Futurism, Futurology, Futures Thinking…What Name??? | There are so many names to refer to the discipline that investigates alternative futures. Futures studies, foresight, futures literacy, futures thinking, anticipation, futurism, futurology, and many others. These terms are often used -and misused- interchangeably without explanation of the reasons why they are to be considered synonyms. Clearly, there is a lot of confusion on which term we should use and which term(s) we should not use. Countless times, I have been asked to elaborate on the difference between these monikers, especially by newcomers in the field, in absence of clear guidelines. So let’s try to make some clarity.
The most commonly used terms to refer the investigation of alternative futures are futures studies and foresight. Let’s look at the similarities and differences between these two terms first.
Futures Studies vs Foresight
Futures studies, sometimes also shortened as futures is, as the name says, a field of studies. It involves studies of alternative futures done by academic researchers in universities. In fact, the World Futures Studies Federation, arguably the most academic oriented association in the field, uses the term Futures Studies, and defines it as “A scientific field of research involving scholars and researchers”[1]. That is why you might have also heard of the term futures research, which is used as a synonym of futures studies and mostly by academics, but less commonly than futures studies. Beside this “ivory tower” connotation, futures studies also has a social sciences connotation. This is because many scholars and researchers active in this field received training in the social sciences, including sociology, political sciences, public policy, etc., and thus, imbue the discipline with a social scientific viewpoint.
Foresight, on the other hand, refers to the application of futures studies methods and techniques by organizations, including for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations, to be prepared for the future. Foresight is a word most often used by practicing managers, and is considered part of strategy. That’s why you might have also heard of the terms strategic foresight, or corporate foresight, and less commonly business foresight and organizational foresight[2].
In other words, although futures studies and foresight refer to the same set of methods and techniques to investigate the futures, foresight specifically designates the use of those methods and techniques as a management tool. As foresight is a set of practices or activities to make the firm prepared for the future and attain superior performance, we say “doing foresight” rather than “having foresight” as in plain English[3].
Beside this major difference between futures studies and foresight, there are 3 minor differences that ought to be mentioned:
· First, foresight has had a strong emphasis of scenario planning, particularly that of the intuitive logic school of thought. As this school is Western, foresight has also had a Western connotation. Although his has been recently changing as the word foresight has increasingly been used globally. Futures studies, on the other hand, has had a consistent tradition for taking into account Asian and non-Western perspectives, such as Causal Layered Analysis and Integral Futures[4]. That is why we call it studies, in the plural form[5]
· Second, foresight necessarily implies action in the present[6], as the investigation of the futures is conducive to changing the strategy of the organization. Futures studies, on the other hand, although one of its major tenets is studying the futures to change the present[7], might actually not imply doing so. A futures studies project could just build scenarios for third parties’ use or to increase awareness on them.
· Third, since foresight is relatively more concerned with preparing the organization for the future and increasing its bottom line, it is also relatively less concerned than futures studies with improving the future for humanity in general. Futures studies, on the other hand, has a much more pronounced emphasis on studying the futures for the betterment of our civilization. However, this has been changing as new and more participatory foresight methods are emerging, involving both organizations and wider communities[8].
So futures studies and foresight are actually the same set of methods and techniques applied in different contexts and with slightly different connotations and objectives. We can therefore represent them graphically as two largely overlapping but not completely coinciding circles, like this:
The recent trend has been that these 2 circles are getting closer and closer as the boundaries between futures studies and foresight start to blur. Indeed, an increasing number of academic professionals is involved in foresight projects in organizations outside of their universities. The Western vs non-Western connotation that once distinguished futures studies and foresight is starting to blur, and there is an increasing number of foresight methods and approaches that involve organizations along with external communities.
In view of the above, my suggestion is that we use the term futures & foresight to refer to the investigation of alternative futures, rather than either futures studies or foresight. We can say futures & foresight scholar/researcher, futures & foresight practitioner, and futures & foresight project.
But it is certainly still okay to use either futures studies or foresight, if you have a preference for one of the two terms. However, it ought to be mentioned that it is probably more correct to use the term futures studies in an academic context, and the term foresight in a practical context. It follows that futures studies scholar/researcher is probably better than foresight researcher, and that foresight practitioner is probably better than futures studies practitioner. But these guidelines are not watertight. You might be a scholar researching foresight in organizations, and that will make you a foresight researcher, rather than a futures studies researcher. And finally, referring to the methods, both acceptions are okay: you can say you are using futures (studies) methods/tools, as well as foresight methods/tools. The same goes for futures workshop and foresight workshop.
So now that we have made some clarity on the differences and similarities between futures studies and foresight, let’s examine other commonly used terms.
Futurism
Futurism refers to a wide variety of approaches to explore the future, including predictions, pop-science opinions about the future, and layman speculations. For instance, the last article you have read online about how robots will take over can be labelled as futurism. This term refers to a much broader domain than futures and foresight, so we can represent the relation between futures & foresight and futurism graphically like this:
It goes without saying that a large majority of futurism work is different from futures & foresight. Futures & foresight doesn’t predict nor speculates about the future. It investigates alternative futures systematically. It requires methods. It requires training. It requires knowledge on how to use methods, or a methodology. It should be carried out with rigor.
Anyone, one the other hand, can write an educated guess about the future without futures & foresight training. This is something to take note of. It follows that we should not refer to futures & foresight using the term futurism. It also goes without saying that we should not use the word futurist to refer to the professions of researcher and practitioner of futures & foresight. This is because the term futurist refers to a wider range of professions, including those who engage in speculations, which include but is not limited to the practice of futures & foresight. Futures & foresight researcher/practitioner, or futures studies researcher and foresight practitioner, seem to be better and more appropriate candidates.
Futurist painting (Claudio Marcon)
We should also avoid using the terms futurism and futurist because they are closely related to the eponymous Italian artistic movement of the early 1900s. This movement was a value-laden ideology to destroy the past, speed up the future, and blend man and machines. This is anathema to futures & foresight, which downplays single ideologies and aims at deconstructing them in favor of a pluralistic viewpoint towards a range of different futures[9].
Futurology
Futurology is a name used by non-experts to refer to futures & foresight. Usually found in encyclopedias or curated volumes, its aim is to sound explanatory to readers who have never heard of the words futures studies and foresight. It goes without saying that if we are researching or practicing futures & foresight in our profession, we should avoid using the term futurology, let alone the term futurologist, as these words will sound odd and encyclopedic to anyone having an inkling of what futures & foresight is. This is self-explanatory as it occurs in our daily life: when we refer to animals, for instance, we don’t use their encyclopedic names, which might be an obscure Latin word. We use their more common, plain English name
Future studies
It appears that some practitioners are using the term future studies, in the singular form, to refer to the investigation of alternative futures. In my experience as reviewer of several academic journals in the field including Futures, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Futures & Foresight Science, and On the Horizon, I have consistently noticed that researchers and practitioners using this term seem to be not aware of the growing literature using the term futures studies, in the plural form. This is righteously so as the plural, futures, is to signal that we ought to investigate many of them, not at single future. Alternatively, the use of future studies might be used to refer to an approach to the future that emphasizes trend watching and prediction (e.g. that of Singularity University). Although intriguing, this approach exhibits a salient disconnect from the growing community of futures & foresight researchers and practitioners. I would therefore discourage the use of this term as it might signal a lack of professionalism to other researchers and practitioners in the field.
Futures literacy
Futures literacy refers to the competency of being able to consciously understand the role that thinking about the future has in the present [10]. Given that this competency is found wanting in many individuals, this term is often used to refer to early stages pedagogical settings, when we use tools of futures & foresight to enhance the anticipatory capacity of individuals who have likely never heard about futures & foresight before. UNESCO uses this term when it enable communities to think about the futures and use this imagination fruitfully in the present, or to become “futures literate” [10]. However, it is wrong to use this term to refer to the discipline of futures & foresight.
Futures Thinking
Futures thinking is a very controversial term because it is erroneously used by futures & foresight researchers and practitioners as a synonym of futures studies. If futures and foresight has developed a tradition of practices, futures thinking refers to the cognitive processes enabled by those practices. The former is at the practical level; the latter is at the psychological level. The two terms refer to processes at two different levels of understanding and analysis. Therefore, although it is not wrong to say that futures & foresight enables individuals to have futures thinking, it is wrong to use the term futures thinking to refer to the discipline of futures & foresight, or to say that futures & foresight is part of futures thinking. The confusion over this distinction has been unfortunately fueled by practitioners who have been using futures thinking to market themselves as this term is undeniably cool, especially in view of the buzzword design thinking. For instance, the Institute for the Future has launched a series of online courses on Coursera called futures thinking[11]. These courses include imagination techniques that are not part of the futures & foresight tradition, along with established futures & foresight methods. In this series of courses, foresight is also considered part of futures thinking. This is a good example of practitioners actively fueling the confusion because although the quality of the material provided in the courses in high, the naming is not correct.
Forecasting
Forecasting refers to predictions in the short-term future. This is different from futures & foresight for several reasons:
· While forecasting is carried out with quantitative extrapolation techniques, futures & foresight consists, by and large, of qualitative approaches.
·Forecasting involves predictions, which futures & foresight avoids in favor of alternative futures.
· Forecasting involves single point estimates in the future, e.g. GDP growth 5 years from now, while futures & foresight anticipates a variety of elements to build comprehensive scenarios.
· Forecasting looks at the short-term future (1 to 5 years), whilst futures & foresight looks at the long-term futures (5 to 50 years).
Finally, there is a variety of other less commonly used terms including anticipation, perspective thinking, futuristcs, and more. These terms are used by single practitioners or small groups of practitioners to refer to their own approach to or viewpoint of the study of the futures, and do not speak of the growing tradition of futures & foresight. For instance, Poli sees anticipation as a set of forward-looking attitudes and activities in a wide range of scientific fields, including the natural sciences and humanities[12]. This name does not designate futures & foresight, which is just a component, according to this view, of anticipation. Another example is perspective thinking. Originating from the French La Prospective, this term indicates a circumscribed group of futures & foresight practitioners [13], which does not stand for the whole field of futures & foresight. I would therefore also recommend against using these terms unless you are part of these smaller schools of thought.
References & Notes
[1] What is Futures Studies, WFSF Website. Retrieved from: https://wfsf.org/about-us/futures-studies
[2] Rohrbeck, R., & Bade, M. (2012). Environmental scanning, futures research, strategic foresight and organizational future orientation: a review, integration, and future research directions. XXIII ISPIM Annual Conference, Barcelona, Spain.
Rohrbeck, R., Battistella, C., & Huizingh, E. (2015). Corporate foresight: An emerging field with a rich tradition. Technological Forecasting and Social Change,101: 1–9.
[3] UNDP (2018). Foresight, The Manual. Retrieved from: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/capacity-building/global-centre-for-public-service-excellence/ForesightManual2018.html
[4] Whether Integral Futures is truly a non-western approach is still under debate.
[5] Sardar, Z. (2010). The Namesake: Futures; futures studies; futurology; futuristic; foresight — What’s in a name? Futures, 42(3): 177–184.
[6] ibid.
[7] Bell, W. 1997. Foundations of Futures Studies. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, Volume 1.
[8] See Ramos, J., Sweeney, J. A., Peach, K., & Smith, L. 2019. Our futures: by the people, for the people. Nesta. Retrieved from: https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/our-futures-people-people/
Popp, R. 2013. Participatory futures research. Research or practice consulting? European Journal of Futures Research, 1:16.
[9] See 5,7.
[10] UNESCO (n.d.). What is Futures Literacy? Retrieved from: https://en.unesco.org/themes/futures-literacy
[11] Futures Thinking specialization on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/futures-thinking
[12] Poli, R. (2017). Introduction to Anticipation Studies. Springer.
[13]La Prospective: http://en.laprospective.fr/
CREDITS FOR ICONS (The Noun Project): Chanaky, David | https://medium.com/predict/futures-studies-foresight-futurism-futurology-futures-thinking-what-name-3b3863ceab8c | ['Alex Fergnani'] | 2020-08-10 09:50:20.973000+00:00 | ['Futures Thinking', 'Futurism', 'Futures Studies', 'Futurology', 'Foresight'] |
The Feast of St. Lucia | Yesterday, December 13, was the Feast of St. Lucia, a festival of lights celebrated in honor of St. Lucia (or Lucy), a martyr who was killed by the Romans in AD 304.
The name Lucia/Lucy comes from the Latin root lux which means “light.” Celebrated in the darkness of winter, St. Lucia Day reminds us that the true Light of the world has come.
It’s celebrated primarily in Sweden and Norway, but also in Italy (where Lucia was born) and in parts of Finland.
It’s also celebrated in our house.
My wife has quite a bit of Scandinavian heritage and richly embraces it. So much so that I’ve embraced it, too, and now consider myself an honorary Scandinavian. Our children love traditions, especially ones with significant meaning. So St. Lucia Day has become tradition in our home.
St. Lucia’s feast calls for breakfast in bed. With a 1-year old, we start at the table. As we gathered in the darkness with only our dim, white Christmas lights lit, I read this:
In the liturgy of the Church, Saint Lucy has held, and still holds today, the inspiring position of a saint whose very name reminds the faithful at the middle of Advent that her own “light” is only a reflection of the great “Light of the World” which is to start shining at Bethlehem on Christmas Day. It is as if she would say: “I am only a little flame in Advent showing you the way: Behold, the Lord will come And all His saints with Him, And on that day There will be a great light. Alleluia.
Lucia is one, small candle in the night pointing to the Great Light, who lights up the entire world. And whoever follows that Light will never walk in darkness again.
Here’s a brief insight I had from the day. I couldn’t help but think that Protestants would benefit from intentionally celebrating more feast days like this. It was fun. It had purpose. And, ultimately, it points us to Jesus.
The problem is that when we Protestants hear anything having to do with a “saint” we don’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. Dealing with “saints” smacks of all-things-Roman Catholic and idol worship. So we just avoid it altogether and, for the most part, forget those who have come before us. And we are poorer for it. (Remember, of course, that Lucia lived in the third century AD, well before the formation of the Roman Catholic Church as you know it today.)
The Scriptures tell us that celebrating a day or a religious festival is a matter of conscience because they are just a shadow of the things that were to come (see Col. 2:16–17). So no judgment at all if you or I abstain. Period.
But a feast like St. Lucia Day, while just a shadow, is still a shadow. And shadows can help us to see and experience the Substance.
We have a great cloud of witnesses who have come before us-ones we read of in the Scriptures and ones we read of outside the Scriptures. These witnesses don’t point us to themselves, but to Jesus. Otherwise, they aren’t true witnesses.
Maybe you are a Christian, of any tradition, who feels like you aren’t connected to your spiritual heritage. Maybe you are a parent who wants to structure your holidays and year with meaningful traditions. Maybe you just want to learn about those who have gone before you.
Then celebrate a feast day.
I’m not asking you to pray to or worship saints. I’m asking you to remember that you are a part of a great, spiritual family tree that spans generations and geography. Our history is rich. And I hope you to use that history to help you see and worship the One to whom the saints, like Lucia, point. | https://medium.com/@jamespruch/the-feast-of-st-lucia-4f4d4acc9ec8 | ['James Pruch'] | 2020-12-14 20:29:17.395000+00:00 | ['Sweden', 'Catholic', 'Advent', 'Christianity', 'Church'] |
What Libertarians Get Wrong About Human Nature | One of the limitations of the libertarian philosophy is its distinctly (and arguably, solely) economic focus at the expense of loosely-grouped “societal concerns”. For the libertarian, such concentration is exacted on economic liberty because to dabble in “societal concerns” has immoral connotations attached to it. For the libertarian, if the state were to exert any kind of distinguishable influence on society this should be roundly treated as sin.
Thus, to use an example from conservatism: To promote so-called “family values” would be perceived as undue overstepping of the ritual freedom of the individual to choose how they want to live. The government should be hands-off when it comes to matters of society, libertarians postulate. It is not their business! In addition, libertarians tend to voice skepticism towards the concept of “promoting a general welfare”. This constitutional clause, they would surely argue, arises naturally from each individual making the choices that they think are best. And through an Invisible-Hand-esque process, the ideal society is cobbled together, organized piece by individual piece.
After all, isn’t this the underlying supposition being made? That if government did nothing but allow freedom and adopt a stance of neutrality towards any and all matters of society, that society would find itself divinely ordered? It’s a bit of a romanticized notion on par with the equilibrium models that the abstract world of high finance is fond of using. Libertarianism as a political philosophy is almost entirely underpinned by free-market theory because its logic is inherently economic in nature. You might ask, so what’s wrong with that? Well, if a political philosophy derives its logic solely from an economic theory, it would suggest that humans are solely transactional. And there’s a problem with that.
It is not a lack of liberty that causes societies’ ills in a lot of cases; it is moreso what is being done with that liberty that is the problem.
The libertarian logic tends to assume that if you get economic liberty squared away, society will automatically be on the road to total optimization (to borrow a term from economics). This could be partially true if we were truly rational maximizers, but we’re not. Or, if it were true we derived meaning from economic optimization, say. But that’s frustratingly not the case either. We’re individuals with souls that derive value from the institutions and social networks that make up our human experience — that act as society’s building blocks.
Libertarian’s exclusive focus on liberty — as the fountain out of which everything else good and true will flow — is not only false but inadequate as a societal prescription. Liberty is magnificently great and noble, but it isn’t a panacea. Consider the current murmurings in our culture about societal decay — the repeated remarks that we’ve lost our moorings or that we’re increasingly isolated and unfulfilled in life. These are legitimate concerns and they appear to be corroborated by various studies on rising rates of mental illness, declining rates of religiosity, and surges in political polarization, to name a few. Libertarians don’t usually address vague issues of “societal decay”, because well, it’s “none of their business” — they’re ideologically opposed to getting their hands dirty with that question.
Conservatives are less resistant to such a prompt and might bring up the importance of things like virtue, beauty, community, truth, responsibility, and wisdom to sustaining the human soul. These are things that libertarians, in their narrow view of government’s proper purview don’t address. And so, the question warrants being asked: We talk a lot about societal decay in our day and age. Could this be amended, do you think, by the libertarian solution of slathering more liberty on everything? Interjecting more freedom? I’m skeptical.
It’s not a lack of liberty that causes societies’ ills in a lot of cases; it is moreso what is being done with that liberty that is the problem.
Libertarians don’t always consider how societies get their values other than supposing that maybe they arise out of a spare economic framework, which is a dubious explanation to put forth. You don’t get meaning out of markets. And it’d be wrong to reduce human life down to a transactional model.
Consider marriage. Does it abide by the ritualistic libertarian idea of economically-maximized self-interest? Not necessarily. In its contractual binding, it demands sacrifice. It can be emotionally messy and challenging. But nevertheless, marriage persists in Western societies as a union born chiefly of love. Love, you could say, is an ideal that is basic to human nature. Curiously, however, it doesn’t appear to mesh well with the abstract ideas of cold, economic logic that almost completely swallow libertarianism. This is a purposefully blunt thought experiment, because it’s obviously not the case that libertarians have anything against marriage. But in their rejection of deliberately upholding something like the institution of marriage (as the conservative might) they are implicitly discounting the grave importance of the basic units of society that give us purpose and belonging and an avenue to channel our nobler instincts. | https://laurennreiff.medium.com/what-libertarians-get-wrong-about-human-nature-9447d92aad3a | ['Lauren Reiff'] | 2019-10-06 05:17:41.694000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'History', 'Society', 'Economics', 'Politics'] |
That’s Where We Killed Joe | Strange that our minds do that.. When you drove past their house you didn’t think, “That’s where Henry and Joe live.” Instead you thought, “That’s where those gay rednecks live.” In a community where everyone could be described with any number of pejorative satire commonly associated with the rural population of East Texas, that word doesn’t exist in social circles the way it does everywhere else. And somehow a slur that could be used to marginalize any one person within a 100 mile radius of that little town, it stands out with them. Not because they were different than anyone else, but because they loved each other.
If he had never decided he wanted to finally be happy, to be honest with himself, to live as himself around each and every one of us regardless of what anyone thought, if he had never packed up that little house his family had been in as long as anyone can remember, and with childlike hopeful naivete hauled his things all the way “over yonder” to Bluehill road, settling in to the long overdue victory of his new life with Henry, he would be here today. And you would have never given him a second thought. You’d be out at the bar with him like you used to, drinking, fishing, like you would with any of the other blue collar guys that have been dug into this shithole for what feels like longer than time. But you didn’t, and he did.
No one wanted to be seen, associated with those two gay rednecks. But that’s really been the problem all along hasn’t it? We shouldn’t think, “ those Two Gay Rednecks,” when we drive by that house. We shouldn’t gossip amongst ourselves, “That’s where that gay redneck got his head bashed in with a lead pipe”, found with the word Fag smeared in blood like the voice of Tex Watson echoing “Helter Skeltar” somewhere far from space and time. We should be horrified when we drive by that house. A stain on our community of bigotted ritual sacrifice. I hope it’s hurtful memory decays our minds until there is nothing left but our own shame. In fact, it should be declared a landmark just so that it can remain there long past our immemorable histories have been snuffed by the futile dementia of time, etching the truth of Mankind’s primal failure forever in place of our “It might have been” legacies.
How miserable the unending fate of love to be. Do all our stories of romance end in similar tragedy? Or just for those that looked themselves head on, unafraid to reflect our shared human experience, with all it’s stammering desperate hope and need. We should think to ourselves, “That’s where joe was killed.” Because he was just a person like anyone else. Maybe only one person was there with him the night he died. But we all killed him. Hate is a seed that grows slowly over time and is watered by the fear and shame in our hearts. It is a collective omnipotent force driven by a labored spiteful energy, and conjured by the malevolence of all men. A vengeful orchestra thundering in our minds, bellowed and quivered by many instruments in discordant harmony.
In the hushed conversations and repugnant stares from the other side of the bar. In the quiet prejudice, whispering inside the empty space that almost seemed to stretch for miles along his favorite Sunday morning seat. In the hearts of every man and woman that wouldn’t be caught dead shedding a tear for him at his own funeral. Every time we drive past that house we should think, “That’s where we killed joe.” | https://medium.com/@fibonascii/thats-where-we-killed-joe-ea54948e707c | ['Reagan Kirby'] | 2020-12-25 00:11:11.413000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Short Fiction', 'Short Read', 'Written Tales', 'Prose'] |
Why Should I Learn Coding? | You’re reading this sentence, so I think it’s fair to say that you’re at least a little but curious to understand what goes on behind the pixels that make up this screen.
The great news is that learning to code is easier than it’s ever been, and can take you to places you’d have never imagined.
Here’s a sort of ‘pick-and-mix’ of why you should start learning to code right away…
Entrepreneurship
Coding allows you to take an idea and turn it into a tangible product, enabling you to pursue that most human of endeavours, creating value for others. Of course, you don’t *have* to know how to code to start an online business, but it certainly helps in the early stages if you can build your own products rather than relying on other people.
The greatest upside to entrepreneurship is that you’re in charge of your own destiny, not to mention the fact that you have an opportunity to create something of value — something that might leave the world just a little bit better than you found it.
It’s also worth mentioning that time spent looking for a technical co-founder can never be recovered, and few decent coders will work for equity when you have nothing more than an idea on the back of a napkin. By starting today, by definition you’ll be closer to your goal than you’ve ever been before.
Problem-solving
Let’s say you want to create a niche website for fans of jazz metal. In order to meet your objectives, you have to break down the problem into smaller, separate stages, and attack each individually to reach your goal.
Learning to code will teach you to think logically and strategically. Over time, training your mind in this way will help to hone your critical thinking and help you to develop observational skills that can be applied in all areas of your life.
A computer will do exactly as it’s told, and nothing more. The computer won’t change its mind — even if you throw the monitor half way across the room! Once you’ve worked out the correct instructions to feed to it, and it does what you want, the feeling of euphoria is immense.
So remember, Stop — Think — Code — Repeat. The jazz metal fans will appreciate it.
Opportunities
The list of opportunities that coding skills can bring you is endless… Rather than explaining each in turn, I’ve curated a list for you.
Learning to code can give you… a higher wage, a new challenge, a role in an active community, your own website, a fulfilling career, valuable connections, your own business, an upper-hand in a competitive job market, tech knowledge, freelance work, the comfort of working from home, the opportunity to attend a hackathon as something more than a ‘Wantrepreneur’, the chance to create games people love, a chance to be ahead of the curve, the opportunity to create the next big thing, a hobby that can last a lifetime and last but definitely not least, a whole lot of fun.
Basically, it’s a gateway to changing your life in a positive way.
Job
Programming literacy has become one of the hottest commodities in the labour market, and demand will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Coding is arguably the most valuable skill you can learn to secure yourself a successful career in the modern job-market.
Average Developer salaries are around €38,000 a year. Compare this to the average wage and you can see how lucrative a career in coding can be.
If it’s not the money you’re after then you’ll have the opportunity to work with some of the most inspiring and largest names in tech — some of the leading companies in Finland and the world today.
As you can see, learning to code could be one of the best decisions you ever made.
So why not start with us at www.integrify.fi | https://medium.com/integrify/why-should-i-learn-coding-647d7afebb76 | ['Eyas Taha'] | 2017-09-27 13:48:24.091000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Coding', 'Integrify', 'Finland', 'Suomi100'] |
She Opened Her Mouth and the Roof Fell In | She Opened Her Mouth and the Roof Fell In
a poem
Image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay
She opened her mouth and the roof fell in.
The walls collapsed around her
and the house she had built
with the sweat of her heart
crumbled to dust.
If only I’d kept my mouth closed,
she thought.
But then she saw angles of sunlight
slicing through the haze
a sky so blue it hurt to see
and she could hear birdsong
for the first time in years
So she swept some fragments to the side,
sat down in the midst of the rubble,
lifted her face to the heavens
And called it home | https://medium.com/resistance-poetry/she-opened-her-mouth-and-the-roof-fell-in-3041c3124439 | ['Mary Poindexter Mclaughlin'] | 2019-10-18 09:36:37.257000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Courage', 'Feminism', 'Freedom of Expression', 'Resistance Poetry'] |
Exposing D.C.’s Anti-Democratic Opposition to Net Neutrality | Tracking the influence economy that fuels Washington, D.C., is no easy task.
Powerful corporate special interests are experts at concealing their expenditures through dark-money groups, Astroturf fronts, unethical think tanks and other influence-laundering operations.
Even lobbying expenditures, which must be disclosed under law, can be difficult to track. Open Secrets, the online service that allows people to access lobbying and campaign-spending data, doesn’t take into account the complicated and shifting formulations that companies take over time.
The real numbers often get lost as corporations undergo mergers and acquisitions, or either function as subsidiaries or hold multiple subsidiaries of their own. To get a full picture of AT&T’s spending since 1998, for example, one must also lump in lobbying expenditures made by Ameritech Corp, BellSouth Corp, Excite@Home, SBC Communications, Southwestern Bell and other corporate entities that have since been folded under the AT&T banner.
It’s that convoluted. Thankfully, the researchers at Comparitech took the time to wade through the hot mess of data to present a more complete view of some of the largest influence spenders in Washington: internet service providers. Their analysis shows which ISPs are spending how much to influence communications policy in Washington, D.C.
And it’s not a pretty picture.
No Surprises
Hardly shocking are the three top ISP spenders — AT&T, Verizon and Comcast — which have respectively amassed lobbying expenses of $341 million, $265 million and $200 million since 1998, when they first started reporting this information.
Also not surprising is that Deutsche Telekom (of which T-Mobile USA is a subsidiary) and Sprint together spent more than $11 million in 2018 to lobby on behalf of their controversial merger proposal, which Free Press actively opposes.
To curry more favor, T-Mobile has spent an additional $200,000 or so at Washington’s Trump International Hotel, where executives have stayed in the $2,246-a-night suite.
Sound corrupt? It is. And shady hotel expenditures are the focus of several lawsuits alleging Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which forbids him from accepting payments from foreign entities.
The Comparitech report also puts into stark relief the extent to which lawmakers will go to keep lobbyists and corporate donors happy, even if it means blatantly defying their own constituents’ wishes.
Policy payola
The top ISP spenders on lobbying — again, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast — have staked out a highly unpopular position against Net Neutrality protections. And they’ve held tight to it since the issue first emerged some 15 years ago.
And yet poll after poll shows that people in the United States of all political stripes favor the establishment of Net Neutrality under law.
A University of Maryland survey found that 86 percent of voters opposed the Trump FCC’s 2017 repeal of Title II Net Neutrality rules, including 82 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats. Legislation now under consideration in Congress, the Save the Internet Act, would do right by these people, reversing the FCC decision and making Net Neutrality the law of the land.
Another Comparitech poll found that 77 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats support the Title II Net Neutrality safeguards the Save the Internet Act would restore.
While the bill sailed through the House, it’s stalled in the Senate, where Mitch McConnell refuses to bring it to a vote.
Certain dark corners of Congress and the FCC are the only places in the country where we don’t see overwhelming bipartisan support for real Net Neutrality rules. They represent a small bubble, inhabited chiefly by Republican congressional leadership, the failed FCC chairman and their henchmen.
If this shrinking minority genuinely wanted to represent the people, they would follow their constituents’ good counsel and support the Save the Internet Act.
But they’ve dug in their heels. Not because opposing Net Neutrality is the right thing to do, but because they’re captive to a phone-and-cable lobby that’s invested hundreds of millions of dollars in convincing a handful of political gatekeepers to act against the country’s best interests.
Check it for yourself: Comparitech now has the numbers. | https://medium.com/@timkarr/exposing-d-c-s-anti-democratic-opposition-to-net-neutrality-dba05958b220 | [] | 2019-10-09 13:19:28.443000+00:00 | ['Corruption', 'Dark Money', 'Net Neutrality'] |
13 Ways To Turn The Next Thing You Write Into The Best Thing You’ve Written | 13 Ways To Turn The Next Thing You Write Into The Best Thing You’ve Written
What to do after you write and before you publish.
You wrote something — congratulations!
Now, let’s make it better.
1. Remove 10% of the words.
No matter how succinct your writing, a 10% reduction in words is not only possible, but likely to improve what you wrote.
Bonus points if you remove 20%.
2. Make the middle the beginning (or not).
If you were forced to shift a few sentences from the middle of what you wrote to the beginning of your piece, which portion would you choose?
Does it make for a more compelling opening?
If so, make it your new intro. If not, move on to the next exercise.
3. Compare your first and last paragraphs.
Do they reflect each other or did you lose your way somewhere in the course of writing?
Your opening and closing don’t need to say the exact same thing, but there should be a clear relationship between them.
For inspiration, check out how filmmakers employ symmetry and thematic purpose between the first and last shots of their movies:
Once you identify the connection between your first and last paragraph, consider this: What if you flipped them and made the first paragraph the last and vice versa?
Would it improve what you wrote? Maybe.
4. Kill the “softeners.”
Most writing includes phrases that serve no purpose other than to soften your message. They’re not doing you any favors — remove them.
Here are a few to hunt down:
“I think…”
“I believe…”
“As a matter of fact…”
“As I said before…”
“After all…”
5. “He” can be “she” or “they.”
Check what you wrote for any gender (or other) unintended assumptions.
It’s just as easy to reference a generic executive as being a “she” as it is a “he.”
This isn’t about political correctness, it’s about ensuring your writing isn’t rooted in stereotypical or unnecessary assumptions.
6. Amplify your three boldest statements.
Pick the three strongest statements you made in your writing and make them even bolder.
Push a controversial opinion further.
Make a prediction more definitive.
Draw a line in the sand.
Your strongest statements are your point of view and are what’s most likely to capture a reader’s attention, get your piece noticed and talked about it.
7. Bring in the experts.
Make your writing about more than yourself.
Include at least two references to stories, examples, facts, or statistics that come from other sources or other people’s lives.
This will increase your credibility.
Even if you share a personal story, incorporate outside references to make it more powerful.
The tale of that crazy thing that happened at your wedding may benefit from an interesting stat about the wedding industry as a whole.
An essay about your unique writing process will be more interesting if it incorporates a comparison to the crazy ways other writers find inspiration.
Don’t limit your writing to your own experience.
8. Bare it all (at least twice).
Did you write something vulnerable?
Include at least two instances where you reveal something about yourself.
Admit a mistake, share a struggle, be brutally honest, or incorporate something human and flawed.
I’ll share one with you right now:
Prior to writing this post I rarely used any of these tactics when editing my work and it shows. Going through these exercises (ironically, on this post) has made it infinitely better than the earlier drafts I would typically have published.
Even if you position yourself as an “expert,” sharing vulnerabilities increases your credibility and makes your writing more compelling.
Perfect is boring.
If you find this particularly difficult to do, try an exercise author and professor Stacey D’Erasmo found incredibly powerful: Write anonymously.
She had her students submit a piece of writing without their name attached to it and discovered their writing suddenly was drastically improved.
“Much that was awkward, dull, strained, and frankly boring fell away. It was like watching people who thought they couldn’t dance dancing beautifully in the dark,” she said.
9. Read it as a letter.
Pretend what you wrote was a letter written to your target audience.
Write “Dear [insert target audience],” at the top of the post and re-read it.
Does it work as a letter?
If not, adjust accordingly.
Because everything you write is only consumed by one person at a time — just like a letter.
(But don’t forget to delete that “Dear ___” line before you publish it!)
10. A two surprise minimum.
Did you include at least least two things that will genuinely surprise readers or be something they haven’t heard before?
If not, you’ve got more work to do.
If so, move on to the next exercise.
11. Write a 280-character version of the post.
Even if you don’t use Twitter, pretend you do.
Draft a tweet that delivers the core value of what you wrote in 280 characters or less.
Frame it in a way that doesn’t just “promote” what you wrote, but is something people would be likely to share or reply to…even without clicking a link to the actual full article.
Once you draft this “tweet,” consider the following:
Is the core of your “tweet” reflected in what you wrote?
Is the core of your “tweet” reflected in your headline?
12. Do you promise a value or result in the headline?
A headline isn’t a description of what you wrote — it’s a promise of the benefit someone gets from consuming it.
If your current headline doesn’t promise a clear value or result, it’s a bad headline.
If it does reference a value or result, look for ways to exaggerate, amplify, or make that value more specific.
This is not easy — headlines are hard and I struggled for a while to figure out how to headline this very post that you’re reading.
(My original headline for this post was “Read This After You Write Something And Before You Publish It,” but I realized there’s no specific value or result promised in that headline so it was back to the drawing board!)
Instead of a headline that promises to help people save time, promise to help them free up 60 minutes a day.
Instead of a headline about the biggest mistake you ever made ordering at a restaurant, write one that promises the opportunity to learn how to avoid ordering the wrong thing at any new restaurant they go to.
My most popular post ever doesn’t just offer writing tips, it promises the two minutes it takes to read will improve your writing forever.
13. Have you told people what to do next?
What do you want someone to do after they consume your writing?
Whether it’s to join your email list, purchase a product, follow you on social media, share it with their friends, or support a cause, there should be an action you want them to take and it should be messaged in your writing.
Make it clear, specific, easy, and a logical extension of what they just consumed.
They’ll do it. But only if you ask.
You went to all this trouble to make the thing you wrote better, so don’t miss out on the chance to connect with the people who appreciate your effort. | https://medium.com/an-idea-for-you/13-ways-to-turn-the-next-thing-you-write-into-the-best-thing-youve-written-322005cfddc0 | ['Josh Spector'] | 2020-02-19 22:40:33.910000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Blogging', 'Productivity', 'Writing', 'Writing Tips'] |
Let’s update package.json in all repositories | You can access your security advisor through email or directly from the repository
As almost all of my repositories were my pet-projects, I did not care about the compatibility of these packages and just wanted the security bot to do not send me so many emails.
So, you can find the source code of the script here: Vvitali/autoUpdateAllPepositories
There are few prerequisites that you most likely will satisfy by default if you use Github already and read this article:
“npm-check-updates” npm-package should be globally installed (can be installed locally but change the script yourself then) Your git-credentials in the console should be valid (ssh-keys and email, username) You need to use git-bash (or any other console which supports .sh files), or you can use windows 10 Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), I tested both options and they work the same (duh :))
And then only a few steps
npm install #in order to install Axios which needed to perform GitHub-API request which will gather info about your repositories Go to list.js file, and replace the content of ‘USERNAME’ variable with your GitHub-username npm run step1
This step will make a list of all public repositories under your profile, and save them into a file with the name ‘list.txt’, then bash script will read the list and run ‘git clone’ for every line in the list. You will end up with a directory with all of your repositories cloned.
So, technically, if you want to exclude some repositories, you can run ‘node list.js’ first, then edit the ‘list.txt’ file, remove lines with repository names, and then run ‘./download.sh’ script.
4. npm run step2
This step will go into each repository, run ‘ncu -i,’ and add/commit/push changes related to package.json, and also remove old package-lock.json.
If you don’t want to remove the old package-lock.json — just comment out line 11 in “updatePackagesAndCommit.sh” script.
step2 is also asynchronous and forks processes, so it will exit the script, but it might take a few minutes to finish and you will be getting messages about the process in your console, but usually, it does not take longer than 2 if you have SSD and somewhere around 40 repositories.
Enjoy and feel free to report a bug, contribute a fix, and comment below!
Also, feel free to check my LinkedIn article — Let’s update package.json in all repositories | https://medium.com/@vvitali/lets-update-package-json-in-all-repositories-ee163837c75 | ['Vitaliy Vorobyev'] | 2020-12-27 19:35:22.802000+00:00 | ['Github', 'Repositories', 'Git', 'Update', 'Package'] |
Python setup for Data Science in Windows | Objective: To set up python and its libraries in Windows 10 and 7
The most easiest way to install python is using Anacondas
Anacondas:
There are two versions of python that you can choose to install.
Python 2.7 Python 3.6
Choose any version of your choice
Installation:
Create a folder named Machine Learning or PythonInstall (your choice). Get into the folder and create another folder Anaconda3
Click next and check both the boxes as shown below in the picture, This will take care of path settings in Windows enabling us to run python from any terminal plus, we don’t have to exclusively set the environmental path variables.
Follow as shown in the Picture
Click Install.
Post Installation :
Open Command Prompt and type python, You should get into Python Shell as shown below.
Python Version 3.6.5
python -V command gives you the version of python installed.
You can install and update any packages in python, the easiest way to do is using ‘pip’. The pip command is a tool for installing and managing Python packages, such as those found in the Python Package Index. Using PIP, You can install the module. It will install the dependency also.
To make your environment industry ready, it is advisable to update / Install using pip as it demands.
The below picture will show you, how to use pip command to install keras package.
>> pip install keras
pip install keras
The below exception can be solved by using the command python -m pip install — upgrade pip.
You are using pip version 10.0.1, however version 18.1 is available.
You should consider upgrading via the ‘python -m pip install — upgrade pip’ command. | https://medium.com/@rakesh-thoppaen/python-setup-for-data-science-in-windows-6e527e1a849e | ['Rakesh Ts'] | 2020-12-23 05:26:50.763000+00:00 | ['Python3', 'Machine Learning', 'Python Programming', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Computer Vision'] |
BitBox02: advanced Electrum tricks | BitBox02 ❤️ Electrum: part 2
This is the second article of our Electrum series. In this post we explain how to use advanced Electrum features, best in combination with the BitBox02 hardware wallet. It is written for advanced users, so we go a bit more into details.
Electrum
The Electrum wallet is a powerful Bitcoin light client for Windows, Mac and Linux. It connects to an Electrum server of your choice and offers many advanced features. It can be used as a pure software wallet, with the private keys stored on your computer, but it also works very well with many leading hardware wallets.
Note: Electrum wallet is a third-party application. We don’t have control over the development and distribution of the software and can’t provide any guarantees.
Why use Electrum with your BitBox02?
The Electrum wallet is the de-facto standard for a power-user Bitcoin wallet. It works with all possible setups, including hot and cold wallets, and hardware wallets from many manufacturers. The user interface is more functional than beautiful, but that’s probably the price for such a rich feature-set.
With the BitBoxApp, we strive to create a simple, minimalistic Bitcoin wallet for desktop and mobile platforms. While it provides advanced features like coin control or connectivity to your own Bitcoin full node, it will probably never cover all features of Electrum. This is why interoperability with Electrum is very important to us. If you need advanced features that are not offered by the BitBoxApp, the Electrum wallet is your friend.
In the first part of this series, we covered how to install Electrum and use it with our BitBox02 hardware wallet. It also explains how to simply send and receive Bitcoin.
Let’s dive into some advanced options.
Settings
Customize Electrum to your needs and get the most out of it by selecting the menu item “Tools / Preferences”.
Besides the obvious settings, the most used features include:
General tab
Base unit: select your Bitcoin unit, e.g. BTC or sat
or Video device: allows to scan QR codes via webcam
You can select “Dark Mode” 🦇
Transaction
Use Replace-by-fee: enabled by default, see section below
Fiat
Fiat currency: select your reference fiat currency
Show history rates: shows the historic fiat value of past transactions
Addresses
To get an overview over addresses controlled by your wallet, you can display a separate Addresses tab in the menu with “View / Show Addresses”.
This separate tab shows your addresses, both used and unused, for receiving payments and change from your own transactions. Using the context menu you can show additional details for each address, or freeze individual addresses so that they are not spent when creating new Bitcoin transactions.
Pay to many
When using Bitcoin regularly, there are situations where you want to make several payments at the same time. This helps automate mass payments, save on fees and blockspace.
If you enable “Tools / Pay to many” in the menu, the “Pay to” field in the Send tab changes into a multi-line textbox. Now you’re able to enter multiple receiving addresses and a corresponding value on separate lines, like this:
tb1q8tlfylnvwr4sd2k0xp7urkqxavrd0gv77lnq6w, 0.0004
tb1qk9222ky3pf0jgxh7p45zdnmacgk0gfw4hpf7zk, 0.0001
tb1q78xuwudps736p9zztry9jyfmr6lkmnd0m76at4, 0.0007
Using the file icon, you can also load a text file of the same content, even without activating the feature beforehand.
Replace-by-fee
Finding the right fee for a transaction can be tricky. Replace-by-fee (RBF) helps by explicitly marking transactions as replaceable, so you can start with a low fee and — for example if the mempool suddenly fills up — replace it later with a higher fee if necessary.
This setting is enabled by default and can be configured by selecting the menu item “Tools / Preferences / Fees”.
As long as they are unconfirmed, RBF transactions are listed with [rbf, 1. sat/b] in the History tab. Use the context menu (right mouse-click) to select “Increase fee”, update the fee and rebroadcast the transaction.
Another interesting option is “Batch RBF transaction”, which can be enabled in “Tools / Preferences” as well. This feature automatically combines outgoing RBF transactions. If you create a new RBF transaction, while there is still at least one unconfirmed transaction present, Electrum is able to replace the latter with an updated batch transaction containing both. So even if you’re not planning on sending multiple transactions, you might still be able to batch them and save on fees and blockspace.
Coin control
Performing some extra steps like CoinJoins to preserve your financial privacy? Or do you want to make sure not to mix coins (UTXO) of different sources when sending funds to a recipient? To gain such fine control, you need to manage the coins in your wallet.
With “View / Show Coins” you can display the “Coins” tab and see all coins that in sum make up your wallet balance. With the context menu, you can spend a coin directly, see additional information, or also freeze it so that it will no longer be considered for spending.
Watch-only wallets
You can use Electrum to watch a wallet without knowing the private key. For that you need the extended public key (xpub), which contains all necessary information to watch past and future transactions and create new addresses. It does not contain any private keys, so you cannot spend any of these funds.
Most wallets allow you to export the xpub. In the BitBoxApp, for example, you can display the extended public key for every account by clicking on “Account info” at the top.
To create an Electrum watch-only wallet, create a new wallet with the menu item “File / New/Restore”, select “Standard wallet” and “Use a master key”. Paste your xpub into the text field (or load if from file or via QR code with your webcam) and choose whether to password-protect it for added privacy.
Now you have an (almost) regular Electrum wallet, it just says [watching only] in the title bar. This can be useful to create new receiving addresses, without having the private keys present. Just be aware that if you don’t verify your receiving address on the secure screen of a second device like the BitBox02, malware on your computer could potentially trick you into giving out addresses that don’t belong to you, but are under the control of an attacker. Never use this method for significant amounts.
Should you want to export your xpub from Electrum into another software wallet that supports watch-only wallets, you can easily do that by navigating into the menu item “Wallet / Information” and exporting your “Master Public Key” as text or as a QR code.
Sweep a Paper Wallet
Still have an old paper wallet lying around? Be careful when spending these funds: you need to create a transaction that spends the whole amount, otherwise it might be hard to recover your change.
Electrum lets you safely sweep a paper wallet with the menu item “Wallet / Private keys / Sweep”. Copy the private keys into the text box and Electrum will automatically create a transaction that sends all funds into your current wallet.
Please be aware that this is a “hot wallet” operation and the private keys of your paper wallet are exposed on your computer, even if for only a brief moment. Don’t use this method for large sums without additional precautions.
Tor
As outlined in part 1 of our series, you should be careful what Electrum server to choose. Whether you use a random server, or your own, Tor as an anonymity networking layer can help in both cases:
Public Electrum server: Although the Electrum server learns about your Bitcoin holdings and past transactions, Tor helps hide your real IP address and geographical location.
Your own Electrum server: Tor allows you to access your Electrum server without much network configuration. This is especially helpful if your node runs in a home network and is not reachable from the outside.
To use Electrum with Tor, install either the Tor Browser from the official website https://www.torproject.org. Follow the steps outlined in the download section.
In Electrum, click on the menu item “Tools / Network” (or click on the green LED button in the bottom right corner) and go to the “Proxy” tab. Select “Use Tor proxy at port 9050”. You can now either continue using a regular public server, or configure a Tor .onion address in the “Server” tab.
The previously green LED should now switch to blue to indicate that you’re connected over the Tor network.
Next: BitBox02 multisig with Electrum
This concludes part 2 of our BitBox02 ❤️ Electrum series. The next blog post covers how to use the BitBox02 multi-signature feature in Electrum. | https://medium.com/shiftcrypto/bitbox02-advanced-electrum-tricks-46b97cb0aec3 | [] | 2020-11-06 15:12:40.617000+00:00 | ['Hardware', 'Wallet', 'Crypto', 'Electrum', 'Bitcoin'] |
Healthcare costs from a data breach | If you’re looking for a clear and specific financial impact data breaches have on healthcare organizations, look no further than a new study from the Ponemon Institute, which conducts research on data protection. One statistic that puts things into stark relief is how healthcare providers lose an average of about $2.75 million per data breach, along with 10,000 patient records. And each record inflicts an average cost of $408. When you consider that 54% of vendors have experienced a breach, that is quite the substantial amount of losses.
At the other end of the spectrum, cyber criminals continue to target these providers and vendors because of just how alluring the promise of reward is. Patient information stolen from hospitals, their networks, medical devices, continue to net dark web denizens the highest profits compared to other types of data. In fact, 2018 marked the eighth consecutive year in which the healthcare industry saw the highest costs from data breaches, at a frequency nearly three times higher than other verticals.
From the largest enterprises to the smaller operations, healthcare providers of all kinds are aware, or should be aware, of the risks. Nor is it difficult to see the reason in action. UK Healthcare, an academic medical center, just had to reboot their systems after enduring a cyberattack that lasted a month. Even in this instance, where no patient records were seemingly compromised, day-to-day functioning was apparently impacted enough to exact a cost around $1.5 million, according to a spokesman. Although malware was the culprit here, the infiltrators failed to install any ransomware. Imagine how much higher the cost could have been otherwise.
UK Healthcare has reportedly bolstered their security posture in the wake of this event, but too often miscommunication and poorly defined roles can complicate matters for vendors and providers alike. Around 28% of providers will leave a vendor if a flaw in the latter’s security is found; but at the same time, they can often be lax in how they manage and monitor these third party risks, not caring enough until it’s too late. The relationship between the two is symbiotic as far as data protection is concerned, and both should be taking a proactive approach, not waiting until the other screws up. That will just make it easier for the hackers, in the end.
By: Jonathan Weicher
Originally published at: http://www.netlibsecurity.com
Copyright: NetLib Security | https://medium.com/@jonw_13370/healthcare-costs-from-a-data-breach-63f792e7caa7 | ['Jonathan Weicher'] | 2020-03-11 14:53:05.253000+00:00 | ['Encryption', 'Medical Devices', 'Healthcare', 'Cybersecurity', 'Data Breach'] |
🎅🏾 Happy Holidays: Ionic Framework Video and Blog Tutorial Dump from 2020 | 🎅🏾 Happy Holidays: Ionic Framework Video and Blog Tutorial Dump from 2020 Clearly Innovative ·Dec 27, 2020
There is a little bit of everything here showing how to use Ionic Framework with either VueJS or ReactJS to build something amazing.
This is just a sampling; there is additional content available on my YouTube Channel, please take a look, like, and subscriber and leave a comment or suggestion. | https://medium.com/@c-innovative/happy-holidays-ionic-framework-video-and-blog-tutorial-dump-from-2020-25cc6350b18b | ['Clearly Innovative'] | 2020-12-27 18:20:11.115000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Reactjs', 'Vuejs', 'Ionic', 'Tutorial'] |
Write for An Idea | Write for An Idea
Let your idea touch many hearts!
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
An Idea (by Ingenious Piece) is an online publication that doesn’t limit itself to a specific subject. It is interested in anything that is genuine, comes from the heart, and can benefit others, from writers all over the world.
We encourage the writers to come up with an article reflecting their own thoughts and opinion. Each writer is free to work at her/his pace, there are no commitments on the frequency at which articles are to be submitted, but please note that we accept only drafts.
We support the author to publish their work in a simple and splendid way by following the below guidelines:
Short Captivating Title with Sub-Title
(Guideline No. 1)
The title could cover informative words of the central topic to catch the readers and subtitle helps to connect with them more quickly.
As an example, check the title and subtitle of this article (as shown in the below screenshot):
Screenshot by Author
Make sure to use the title case for the title and sub-title.
Images
(Guideline No. 2)
Images inspire to articulate thoughts, so the use of high definitions photos will help in making the article more gripping. Please include at least one high definition image and use it as a featured image of your article.
Photo by Mark Harpur on Unsplash
Below are some guidelines related to using images
(A) Always include the source of the image
It is always good to include the source of used images, to make it immediately clear its licensing requirements.
In general, this info will look like:
[photo by (Name of source)]
For example,
(B) Using images which are licensed as free for personal and commercial use
Please go ahead and use such images, but make sure to provide their source information (as suggested previously).
You can make use of the next section to know about sources from where you can obtain such images.
(C) Using an image with a purchased license
Please include the below details along with the image:
Licensed Provider
The Name of User
(D) Using your own images
That’s awesome! Please go ahead and give credits to yourself (mentioning your name or using the term “author”) such as:
Photo by Author
Photo by Author <name>
Photograph Copyright <name>
(E) Using images which are NOT free for personal and commercial purposes, or you haven’t bought its license or it’s not your own image
Do not use such an image.
Below are some of the sources from where you can get free-to-use images
(A) The https://unsplash.com/:
Unsplash provides freely-usable images.
(B) Creative Commons by Google:
Google provides you to use images with “creative commons licenses”.
Here is how you can filter them:
Screenshot by Author
Note: When using creative common images from Google, please do mention so as the caption (along with a link to the image).
(C) The https://www.pexels.com/:
Pexels makes most of its content available to be used for free for personal and/or commercial purposes but subjected to some limitations, as the below screenshot describes:
Screenshot from https://www.pexels.com/terms-of-service/
(D) The https://pixabay.com/:
Pixabay also makes most of its content available to be used for free for personal and/or commercial purposes but subjected to some limitations, as the below screenshot describes:
Screenshot from https://pixabay.com/service/terms/
(E) https://www.freepik.com/:
Most of the images from Freepik are free for personal and commercial purpose with attribution:
Screenshot from Freepik
(F) Other sources for open-source Images:
Other open-source image sources include StockSnap, Flickr, Burst, The Stocks
Other Image Sources:
(A) https://www.istockphoto.com/:
iStock offers two types of licenses: standard and extended. Please go through istockphoto.com’s license agreement to make sure if you have enough rights to use the image the way it is being used.
Screenshot from https://www.istockphoto.com/legal/license-agreement
(B) https://www.shutterstock.com/:
shutterstock.com offers two types of licenses: standard and enhanced. Please thought shutterstock.com’s license agreement to make sure if you have enough rights to use the image the way it is being used.
(C) https://www.canva.com/:
Make sure to adhere to Canva’s terms before using any image downloaded or designed from Canva.
The Textual Content
(Guideline No. 3)
Please follow the below guidelines regarding textual content. It also helps you to catch the reader's attention by focusing on some key factors:
What is the main idea behind writing and what you want to convey?
Keep your piece at least 2 mins long (except for poetry).
Make sure to check on spellings and grammar. You may like to use the Grammarly browser plugin.
browser plugin. Try to use constructive vocabulary.
Try to include your personal experiences as examples (if possible) to make it easier to convey your message.
Use Github Gist to share any software code. This will look like the below screenshot:
Make sure to avoid plagiarism. You may reference text from other sources, but it must be referenced ([1][2] and so on).
In-line with Ad-Free Medium philosophy, please don’t send articles endorsing a particular product. But, it is fine to include links to your other relevant articles.
Follow Medium’s Distribution Guidelines.
Don’t accuse anybody without referencing sources proving those as facts.
..and finally, it’s always good to re-read your piece before submission.
Graphs
Graphs provide more perception of the data and hence make it easy to understand.
Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash
You have full rights to your work
An Idea gives the platform to the writers and readers to join it for free. They can add and delete the work at their own pace. Your earning will be yours. We don’t take a share to associate with us. By publishing new articles we attract more viewers, and thereby also provide more views to added articles.
As part of the review process (or later), we may edit/change the text, images, and tags of your articles to improve readability (grammar, formatting, etc.) and its categorization to make it easily reachable to the target audience.
In submitting your article to An Idea, you declare that it is an original piece (that is, it is not plagiarised) and that you have all the permissions to submit it to An Idea for publishing.
Keep writing! Keep sharing!
What can you do to enhance the reachability of your work?
We pay special attention to the below tags:
So, if possible, tag your articles/stories/poems with at least one of the relevant tags from above. For example,
Screenshot by Author
Submission
(Guideline No. 4)
To join us as a writer, send your interest through the Contribution to An Idea form, so that our editors can review your profile.
If you have already joined us as a writer, you can follow the steps on https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/213904978-Add-a-draft-or-post-to-publication and submit your drafts.
We review all submissions within 3 business days. If your article is a good fit for our publications and follows all guidelines then it will be accepted and added to the queue to be published soon. We rarely take longer than that to respond. But if we do, please forgive us — we’re having a hectic week. | https://medium.com/an-idea/how-to-write-for-an-idea-53b502cbb4f5 | ['Ritika Mittal'] | 2020-11-26 14:46:03.735000+00:00 | ['Guidelines', 'Publishing', 'Ideas', 'Submission', 'Writing'] |
Ranking Every Kind of Pet by How Capable It Is of Loving You | Ranking Every Kind of Pet by How Capable It Is of Loving You
Cat owners, you may just want to hit caps lock and skip to the comments right now
About a week ago, as I went to feed my 10-year-old pet turtle Grover a bunch of dried turtle pellets, I looked deep into his eyes and wondered: “Does he even know who I am?” “Does he trust me?” Or even, dare I ask, “Does he love me?”
Obviously he gave me no indication of his affection, or lack thereof: He just chomped on those pellets without any regard for my feelings whatsoever. It was weird to think that I’ve had my reptilian friend for more than a decade now, and yet, I have no idea whatsoever how he views me. Which got me thinking about other stuff: “Can any animal ever truly love a human?” “What is ‘love,’ anyway?” And most importantly, “Why am I eating this turtle pellet?”
My local vet had no idea if my turtle loved me, and told me to reach out to some animal behaviorists instead. And so, I assembled a crack team from around the globe to help me figure out which pets love their owners, and by how much. Every behaviorist I spoke with was reticent to define “love” for any animal, but they did offer up some compelling information on our most common pets.
Armed with this information, I have done my best to assemble a comprehensive list of the most common pets, and their capacity for giving a shit about you. Let’s do this.
1. Dogs: The relationship between man and dog is unlike that of any other pet, period. Having been domesticated 12,500 to 15,000 years ago, they have been bred and conditioned over centuries to be our companions, and simply no other creature compares.
Kyle Kittleson, an animal behaviorist and television host who authored a piece entitled “The 5 Love Languages (For Your Dog)” says, “Touching is the primary love language for dogs,” and that they respond well to touch from you — often, them licking you is their way of returning that touch and affection. He adds that dogs “become incredibly in tune with your social cues, which is why when parents bring home a new baby, they become immediately protective of the baby.” Kittleson adds that even a rescue dog with a traumatic past can bond deeply with a human who treats them right: “If you put in the work to help that dog, and if you can break that fear of humans, they’ll love you forever for it.”
2. Parrots: Whereas dogs will love you like a sibling or perhaps a best buddy, a parrot loves you in the same way that an insecure, obsessive ex loves you. “Parrots are very needy,” says animal behaviorist, fauna manager and wildlife biologist Deji Asiru-Balogun, adding that if a parrot doesn’t get the love and attention they desire, they can become self-destructive by ripping out their own feathers. He explains that parrots are extremely social creatures who need that interaction for their general, and obviously mental, health. “You won’t find parrots alone in the wild,” he points out, adding that only an ill or injured parrot would be flying solo. Since parrot owners often have only one bird, their commitment to them is extremely important, as they bond deeply with their owners.
Asiru-Balogun advises that parrots generally only make good pets if one starts with a young bird, as it will grow very attached to their owner — i.e., they have a hard time bonding with someone new later in life. Know that if you decide to get a parrot, you will likely become their whole world for their ridiculously long lifespan (70+ years!).
3. Pigs: While it’s difficult for me to talk about pigs without mentioning how delicious they are, they are kind of a trendy pet, and a damn good one at that. Pigs are smart, and Kittleson and Asiru-Balogun find them remarkably similar to dogs. Asiru-Balogun points to a few pig owners in his native Nigeria who walk them like a dog and keep them on a holster, while Kittleson notes that when he was working with a pig recently, he was shocked at how much it reminded him of working with dogs, citing a blind pig who walked off a leash with its owner and responded to voice commands.
As for love, Kittleson says that pigs are naturally highly social and respond well to touch. “I’m talking more than just a pat,” says Kittleson. “They seem to really enjoy getting scrubbed down by their owners, and for a pig to allow a human to do that, it shows a level of trust — with trust comes a level of love.”
4. Rats: I’ll admit that I didn’t know this before writing this article, but apparently rats make pretty amazing pets! As long as you can get over the idea that it’s, well, a rat. “They’re really smart,” says Kittleson, adding that they bond well with their owners. “One indication for comfortability is that rats tend to not stray too far from their owners. So if you’re on the couch with them, they’ll often sit with you, or they may run around the couch, but they tend to never go too far from your side.”
Now, this may just be conditioning, as it tends to go that when a pet rat wanders away, the owner immediately strides over and scoops them up, but there’s no real way to know. Still, the very fact that they choose to stay by the side of their human is significant. “[Rats are] naturally social animals,” notes Sonja Yoerg, who has a PhD in biological psychology and is the author of Clever as a Fox: Animal Intelligence and What It Can Teach Us About Ourselves. Pointing to the fact that rats spend their entire lives in the company of other rats, Yoerg says that they will bond with their owner very well, much like they would with fellow rats… assuming that owner doesn’t also have a cat.
5. Horses: I’m not really sure if a horse is a pet or not. They’re… kind of a pet? But they’re also kind of a car? Anyway, I had more than one of my behaviorists tell me that horses can definitely form a lasting bond with their owners or caretakers, so they should be included in this category.
Horses are second only to dogs in their historical tie to humans, and while some consider them a more utilitarian beast, many are treated as large adult pets capable of forming significant bonds, with many horses only responding to a specific rider. Now, maybe this bond qualifies as “love” and maybe it doesn’t, but it’s also worth pointing to the success many have seen with equine therapy, which not only can help calm a hard-to-reach child or a recovering addict, but also calms the horses themselves, as they’re “known for attuning themselves to human emotion, often reflecting the behaviors of those around them,” says CBC news.
6. Cats: Alright, cat people, before you start in at me with your furbaby shit because of how far down the list they are, know, for the record, that I am a cat person. In addition to my beloved turtle Grover, I have two cats at home — Lizzy and Tuluma — and my wife and I keep the ashes of our dearly departed Zima on our fireplace mantle. So yes, even I was a little taken aback by what the animal behaviorists told me.
“Cats view you as their servant,” says Asiru-Balogun (as a cat owner, it was pretty hard to argue with that). While, undoubtedly, many humans have loving relationships with their cats, unlike the animals higher on this list, Yoerg says, “Cats aren’t fundamentally social beings,” as they’re often alone both in the wild and domestically. Cats, Yoerg explains, probably view their owners simply as a food source, pointing to the fact that it’s common for cats to wander away and find a new person to feed them. “It has nothing to do with their homing skills,” she says. “They just don’t care.”
Kittleson argues that there can be some form of love (or whatever it is) from cats, noting that purring may be a sign of affection. Additionally, sometimes a cat will kill a bird or a mouse and deliver it to the feet of their owner, which Kittleson says they do because they regard you as important. “Why else would a cat do that?” he asks. “If it’s a food source, or entertainment, they’d just keep that for themselves.”
7. Ferrets: Yoerg says that in the broadest terms, carnivores like ferrets are more complex and interesting pets, which can have a correlation to how much they’ll bond to a human. “Carnivores have a lot of different behaviors and a lot of learning goes into their thinking all of the time,” she says. Because of this, they’re more adaptable, which includes adapting to being a pet. Additionally, ferrets are very social as well — they’re generally seen in pairs, and if they’re alone, rather than becoming less social, they bond with their owner instead.
8. Hamsters and Gerbils: While not quite as lovey-dovey as rats, Kittleson says that hamsters and gerbils “absolutely have preferences,” referring to how they’ll often take to one person but not another (e.g., they’re cool with the older sister handling them, but they’ll scoot away from the aggressive five-year-old). “Having choice and being able to discriminate are factors that may indicate ‘love,’” Kittleson explains.
9. Parakeets: Asiru-Balogun says these social little birds “bond well with humans,” kind of like their relative, the parrot. They’re not quite as needy as their neurotic big cousins though, perhaps because, as these birds only cost around 10 bucks, they’re often bought in pairs. This means they’re less likely to suddenly turn self-destructive if they catch you looking at another bird.
10. Bunnies, Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas: While Asiru-Balogun says that bunnies can bond well with humans, he adds that they definitely prefer to be with their own kind and won’t bond as much with a human if they have another bunny to be pals with instead. Yoerg adds that, unlike carnivores, simple herbivorous creatures tend to, “just spend their life munching along and so have pretty simple behaviors.” This lack of complexity in their routine leads to a creature who probably won’t be too affectionate. In other words: A bunny is too dumb to love you all that much.
11. Snakes: “Most people are afraid of snakes, but crazy people like me absolutely bond with them, and the snakes bond with us,” exclaims Asiru-Balogun. “Pythons especially can get attached,” he says, pointing out that they allow themselves to be touched quite a bit. He mentions, though, that snakes are very skittish creatures who need a strict routine to gain any level of trust.
While a snake can get comfortable with a human, however, they’re never going to be able to love you like a mammal can. Yoerg says that we’re just more able to bond with our furry brethren than we are with scaly reptiles. Part of this is because they’re so instinct-driven: Whereas a dog or cat may have complex behaviors and interests, a reptile is much simpler and much more “black and white,” says Kittleson, adding that, “they’re only focused on trying to eat and stay alive.” Because of this, a reptile simply doesn’t have much time for love.
12. Iguanas and Bearded Dragons: “Having worked with reptiles, I never got the feeling that they love the people they live with,” says Kittleson. While he can’t say for sure that they didn’t love their owner, he simply didn’t observe it and was unable to point to any recognizable sign of love. He does recall one case where three bearded dragons wouldn’t leave the side of their owner, but follows up by wondering, “Is that love? I don’t know. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever been in love, but it’s notable that they were making a choice to stay with her.”
13. Turtles: Sadly, my love for Grover is probably completely unrequited. With his simple reptilian brain and lack of terribly interesting behaviors, he probably doesn’t have the capacity to love me. When I asked Yoerg what might happen if I were to suddenly part with Grover after having spent a decade together, she replied, “I doubt he would miss you.”
Well, shit.
14. Fish: I had a goldfish once for four years — I named him Harpo (after the Marx brother) and I definitely loved him, but I have no doubt that that relationship was even more one-sided than the one with my turtle. The basic fact is that aside from being simplistic animals, “They’re in water and you’re not, so that’s a pretty big social barrier,” says Yoerg. While Kittleson adds that he has seen some “smart goldfish, and you can train them,” he doubts that there’s going to be any bonding there. Big fish, however, like a shark, absolutely “can bond to a human,” says Kittleson. (I’m assuming that he means they can bond to more than just your severed leg.)
15. Tarantulas: When I started this piece, I pretty much knew that tarantulas would come in last because, well, come on, of course they would. But just to be sure, I reached out to tarantula breeder Chelsea Mann, owner of The 8th Page Tarantulas, who boasts of having approximately 175 tarantulas of about 140 different species.
Perhaps surprisingly, Mann agreed that tarantulas aren’t the most loving little critters. “I have seen absolutely no evidence from my animals that I’m anything more than a shadow or large shape,” says Mann. “A lot of beginner keepers talk about how their tarantula ‘loves’ to be handled, when in reality, it’s simply in wander mode and it has a laid-back enough disposition not to respond to their movements as threatening.” From her experience, Mann says, “Invertebrates don’t have the mental capacity to bond with anything or anyone.” Sorry to break the news to you spider people out there.
While that about covers just how much all our favorite pets actually care about us, Kittleson adds one thing that’s worth remembering: “If people are looking for an animal to love them, they’re doing it wrong. Instead, they need to love the animal, and if you do, I guarantee that animal will love you back.”
Except that, as we’ve just learned, that’s often not the case at all.
Brian VanHooker is a contributing writer to MEL and the co-creator of Barnum & Elwood. He last compiled a cultural history of the fanny pack.
Most popular stories on MEL: | https://medium.com/mel-magazine/ranking-every-kind-of-pet-by-how-capable-it-is-of-loving-you-72d38f87e20f | ['Brian Vanhooker'] | 2018-08-22 19:29:19.377000+00:00 | ['Pets', 'Animals', 'Cats', 'Dogs', 'Love'] |
A Quantum Leap for the Web | Over the past year, our top priority for Firefox was the Electrolysis project to deliver a multi-process browsing experience to users. Running Firefox in multiple processes greatly improves security and performance. This is the largest change we’ve ever made to Firefox, and we’ll be rolling out the first stage of Electrolysis to 100% of Firefox desktop users over the next few months.
But, that doesn’t mean we’re all out of ideas in terms of how to improve performance and security. In fact, Electrolysis has just set us up to do something we think will be really big.
We’re calling it Project Quantum.
Quantum is our effort to develop Mozilla’s next-generation web engine and start delivering major improvements to users by the end of 2017. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a web engine, it’s the core of the browser that runs all the content you receive as you browse the web. Quantum is all about making extensive use of parallelism and fully exploiting modern hardware. Quantum has a number of components, including several adopted from the Servo project.
The resulting engine will power a fast and smooth user experience on both mobile and desktop operating systems — creating a “quantum leap” in performance. What does that mean? We are striving for performance gains from Quantum that will be so noticeable that your entire web experience will feel different. Pages will load faster, and scrolling will be silky smooth. Animations and interactive apps will respond instantly, and be able to handle more intensive content while holding consistent frame rates. And the content most important to you will automatically get the highest priority, focusing processing power where you need it the most.
So how will we achieve all this?
Web browsers first appeared in the era of desktop PCs. Those early computers only had single-core CPUs that could only process commands in a single stream, so they truly could only do one thing at a time. Even today, in most browsers an individual web page runs primarily on a single thread on a single core.
But nowadays we browse the web on phones, tablets, and laptops that have much more sophisticated processors, often with two, four or even more cores. Additionally, it’s now commonplace for devices to incorporate one or more high-performance GPUs that can accelerate rendering and other kinds of computations.
One other big thing that has changed over the past fifteen years is that the web has evolved from a collection of hyperlinked static documents to a constellation of rich, interactive apps. Developers want to build, and consumers expect, experiences with zero latency, rich animations, and real-time interactivity. To make this possible we need a web platform that allows developers to tap into the full power of the underlying device, without having to agonize about the complexities that come with parallelism and specialized hardware.
And so, Project Quantum is about developing a next-generation engine that will meet the demands of tomorrow’s web by taking full advantage of all the processing power in your modern devices. Quantum starts from Gecko, and replaces major engine components that will benefit most from parallelization, or from offloading to the GPU. One key part of our strategy is to incorporate groundbreaking components of Servo, an independent, community-based web engine sponsored by Mozilla. Initially, Quantum will share a couple of components with Servo, but as the projects evolve we will experiment with adopting even more.
A number of the Quantum components are written in Rust. If you’re not familiar with Rust, it’s a systems programming language that runs blazing fast, while simplifying development of parallel programs by guaranteeing thread and memory safety. In most cases, Rust code won’t even compile unless it is safe.
We’re taking on a lot of separate but related initiatives as part of Quantum, and we’re revisiting many old assumptions and implementations. The high-level approach is to rethink many fundamental aspects of how a browser engine works. We’ll be re-engineering foundational building blocks, like how we apply CSS styles, how we execute DOM operations, and how we render graphics to your screen.
Quantum is an ambitious project, but users won’t have to wait long to start seeing improvements roll out. We’re going to ship major improvements next year, and we’ll iterate from there. A first version of our new engine will ship on Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Someday we hope to offer this new engine for iOS, too.
We’re confident Quantum will deliver significantly improved performance. If you’re a developer and you’d like to get involved, you can learn more about Quantum on the the Mozilla wiki, and explore ways that you can contribute. We hope you’ll take the Quantum leap with us.
Special thanks to Ryan Pollock for contributing to this post. | https://medium.com/mozilla-tech/a-quantum-leap-for-the-web-a3b7174b3c12 | ['David Bryant'] | 2020-05-12 14:54:45.071000+00:00 | ['Quantum', 'Mozilla', 'Browsers', 'Web Development', 'Firefox'] |
Creating Automation tool | I worked on creation of an automation tool “Platform Client Automation Test Harness” during my eighth semester of engineering. This automation tool has the capability to automate the manual test cases for the product “Quark Publishing Platform”. This blog is based on research and project work I did for 6 months while working as an intern at QuarkXpress Research and Development, Chandigarh.
THE PRODUCT — Quark Publishing Platform
It is a highly configurable solution for complete, automated, end- to-end multichannel publishing. Quark Publishing Platform is purpose-built to support end- to-end publishing needs, from complete manual publishing systems to highly automated workflows. Its capabilities can be described in terms of content Creation, Management, Publishing, and Delivery
Why PLATFORM CLIENT automation was needed?
Manual Software Testing is performed by a human sitting in front of a computer carefully going through application screens, trying various usage and input combinations, comparing the results to the expected behavior and recording their observations. Manual tests are repeated often during development cycles for source code changes and other situations like multiple operating environments and hardware configurations.
Automated Testing Tool is able to playback prerecorded and predefined actions, compare the results to the expected behavior and report the success or failure of these manual tests to a test engineer. Once automated tests are created they can easily be repeated and they can be extended to perform tasks impossible with manual testing. Because of this, savvy managers have found that automated software testing is an essential component of successful development projects
Platform Client Automation requires:
· Microsoft .Net Environment
· White Framework
· UIAVerify
WHITE FRAMEWORK
White is a framework for automating rich client applications based on Win32, WinForms, WPF, Silverlight and SWT (Java) platforms. It is .NET based and does not require the use of any proprietary scripting languages. Tests/automation programs using White can be written with whatever .NET language, IDE and tools you are already using. White provides a consistent object-oriented API, hiding the complexity of Microsoft’s UIAutomation library (on which White is based) and windows messages.
White works on top of UIAutomation framework of .Net. If you intend to or have third party controls in your application, you should verify whether they these controls are supported by UIA.When any controls is supported the tool would show you the inner details of the control in a tree form.
White is open-source, written in C# and it supports all rich client applications, which are Win32,WinForm, WPF and SWT (Java). It is .NET based and does not require the use of any proprietary scripting languages. It provides a consistent object oriented API and it hides all the complexity of Microsoft’s UI Automation library and Win32 Windows messages.
The white framework will interact with an application through UI elements. So, you have to be ready with some UI elements inspection tool to find out the Automation ID and many more properties. For that purpose, you can use UISpy and VisualUIAVerify.
UISpy is a standalone executable which enables developers to view all UI elements and their details.
GETTING HOLD OF A WINDOW
Application application = Application.Launch(“age.exe”);
Window window = application.GetWindow(“bar”, InitializeOption.NoCache);
FINDING A UI ITEM AND PERFORMING ACTION
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“save”);
button.Click();
FINDING A UIITEM BASED ON SEARCHCRITERIA
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = SearchCriteria.ByAutomationId(“name”).AndControlType( typeof(TextBox)).AndIndex(2);
TextBox textBox = (TextBox) window.Get(searchCriteria);
textBox.Text = “XYZ”;
UIITEM IDENTIFICATION
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = SearchCriteria.ByAutomationId(“btnOK”);
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“btnOK”); //default search mechanism is by automation id
button = window.Get<Button>(searchCriteria); // is same for unmanaged applications
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“OK”); //default search mechanism is by UIAutomation name
button = window.Get<Button>(SearchCriteria.ByText(“OK”));
Managed UI applications have a mechanism for identifying controls by specifying them names. These names are available for finding controls on using UIAutomation API. Name property used while developing application show up as AutomationId when using UIA API. Unmanaged applications don’t have such feature. In these applications the controls are usu- ally identified by text (white terminology) (name in UIA terminology).
Within a window any UIItem can be identified based combination following criteria.
AUTOMATIONID is the programmatic identifier specified by the AppDeveloper. In WinForm and WPF this is the name supplied to the control. This is not present for SWT and Win32 applications. (applies only to .NET applications WinForm, WPF, Silver- light.)
For managed applications:
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = SearchCriteria.ByAutomationId(“btnOK”);
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“btnOK”); //default search mechanism is by automation id
button = window.Get<Button>(searchCriteria); // is same as above For unmanaged applications:
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“OK”); //default search mechanism is by UIAutomation name
button = window.Get<Button>(SearchCriteria.ByText(“OK”));
UIITEM type (e.g. Button, ComoboBox)
Button button = window.Get<Button>(“btnOK”); //<Button> acts as criteria as well as the return type
button = (Button) window.Get(SearchCriteria.ByAutomationId(“btnOK”).AndControlTy pe(typeof(Button)));
CONTROLTYPE is the ControlType defined in UIAutomation. Since this is same as above these shouldn’t be a reason to use this
button = (Button) window.Get(SearchCriteria.ByControlType(ControlType.Button).And AutomationId(“btnOK”));
TEXT is the additional property defined for accessibility purposes. This property maps to some attribute on UIItem which is visible on the control.
Find the detailed map here:
button = window.Get<Button>(SearchCriteria.ByText(“OK”)); //OK is the display text on the button.
This is much more readable from testing point of view, as it is obvious which button we are interested in. The problem is that in an evolving application the text changes more frequently than the automation id.
Zero based Index of UIItem in case multiple UIItems have same identification based on other parameters. Index is measured from top left corner of the window X first and Y second.
// if there are two buttons with the same automation id.
button = window.Get<Button>(SearchCriteria.ByAutomationId(“btnOK”).AndIndex(1));
Searching based on any UIA property. (Other properties can be found from the class AutomationElement)
The Get method on window can be used only to find PrimaryUIItems. All the primary UIItems are shown with Object Structure. The idea behind the API is to find the primary UIItems first and then work with their specific child items if any.
CLOSING THE WINDOW
window.Close(); //by default it waits while the window is busy.
bool isClosed = window.IsClosed; //isClosed would be true
VISUALUIAVERIFY
With the Visual UIA Verify, you can quickly find and select any UI element anywhere on the desktop. Based on the specific control type and the supported control patterns, UIA Verify provides the built-in test scenarios prioritized for the particular UI element. Developers can add additional test scenarios by adding the code to the UIA Test Library. The tool can output the test results or the summary in various forms. Visual UIA Verify can output test details in HTML. After starting VisualUIAVerify, a UI Automation tree will be displayed. The root element represents the current desktop and the child elements represent application windows. Each of these child elements contain UI elements such as menus, buttons, radiobuttons, textboxes, toolbars, listboxes.
Detailed information about the UI element is displayed in the Properties panel (as shown in the below screen shot). When you want to access a UI element via White, then you need to know the AutomationId, ControlType and Name.
UIA Verify is a test automation framework that features the User Interface Automation Test Library (UIA Test Library) and Visual UI Automation Verify (Visual UIA Verify), the graphical user interface tool. The framework facilitates manual and automated testing of the Microsoft (R) User Interface (UI) Automation Provider implementation of a control or application. The majority of the UIA Verify functionality is provided through a dynamic link library (e.g., UIATestLibrary.dll) that contains the code for testing specific UI Automation functionality and supports logging of the test results.
QUARK PUBLISHING PLATFORM CLIENT: MAC OS X HARDWARE
REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATIONS (MAC )
• 2GB total RAM (4GB recommended)
2GB hard disk space for program files and enough hard disk space to store checked-out assets
• 32-bit or 64-bit
• TCP/IP network
SOFTWARE
• Mac OS X 10.7.x, 10.8.x or 10.9.x
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
• iMac with Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• MacBook or MacBook Pro with Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo processor running Mac OS X client software
• Mac Pro running Mac OS X client software
• Mac mini with Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo processor
WEB CONTAINERS
Quark Publishing Platform Server can run in the following Web containers:
• Apache Tomcat (embedded or external) 7.0.29
• Oracle WebLogic 12.1
• IBM WebSphere 8.5
LANGUAGES
• Front-End: Objective C
• Back-End: Hsql
REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATIONS (WINDOWS)
HARDWARE
• 2GB total RAM (4GB recommended)
• 2GB hard disk space for program files and enough hard disk space to store checked-out assets
• 32-bit or 64-bit
SOFTWARE
• Microsoft Windows Windows 7 SP1 (Business or Ultimate Edition), Windows 8 or Windows
LANGUAGES
• Front-End: C#
• Back-End: Hsql
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor running Windows 7 (32 & 64 Bit), Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit) or Windows 8.1 (32 & 64 Bit)
• Intel Xeon processor running Windows 7 (32 & 64 Bit), Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit) or Windows 8.1 (32 & 64 Bit)
• Intel vPro technology and Intel Core 2 Duo running Windows 7 (32 & 64 Bit), Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit) or Windows 8.1 (32 & 64 Bit)
• Intel Pentium 4 processor running Windows 7 (32 & 64 Bit), Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit) or Windows 8.1 (32 & 64 Bit)
QUARK PUBLISHING PLATFORM DATABASE
• HSQL DB 1.8 in embedded mode (The Quark Publishing Platform Server installer installs this database in embedded mode if you choose HSQL DB during installation. This database is recommended only for development, and is not recommended for production environments.)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition) or Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition)
• Oracle Database 11gR2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003
References
· Github.com
· Microsoft.com
· uiautomationverify.codeplex.com
· teststack.azurewebsites.net
· blogs.msdn.com
· www.codeproject.com
· www.quark.com
· asp.net | https://medium.com/@radhikasood1112/creating-automation-tool-1ffc82a20452 | ['Radhika Sood'] | 2020-12-12 21:02:05.766000+00:00 | ['C Sharp Programming', 'Automation', 'Sql'] |
Make Your Customers Buy — The Essential List of Cognitive Biases for Marketers | The Scarcity Effect
Scarcity is probably one of the most instinctual biases. It means that people are more likely to choose an option that is scarce to avoid a loss.
For marketers, scarcity can be in the form of a shortage of supply, a limited time, or a unique opportunity¹. Customers are more likely to buy or take an action with these cues.
Scarcity — Limited Time
Scarcity —Limited Supply
Scarcity — Rare Opportunity
The “IKEA Effect”
The “IKEA effect” is a bias that leads people to “put a disproportionately high value on things they have invested effort in making”².
The name came from a series of studies³ partly based on observations of participants assembling IKEA storage boxes, which lead researchers to the finding that labor leads to increased love for products if it results in successful completion of tasks.
Many companies use the “IKEA Effect” in their purchase experience design in the form of customization — customers are more likely to buy the wine boxes and skincare formula they put together themselves because they value them more.
Confirmation Bias/Choice-Supportive Bias
“Marketing shouldn’t just be about getting people to make a decision to buy your product — it should also be about helping them feel good about their choice²”. Why? Because research indicates that when people feel confident about the way they’ve chosen, they will get more utility out of the products, more likely to repeat the purchase, and they will also feel good about the brand — the choice affirmation bias².
Additionally, when a decision feels good, people are more likely to share it, and social share helps to boost social proof (discussed below) to benefit your brand further.
Post-purchase choice validation is something that almost all B2B companies do, especially in subscription-based companies for successful renewals. Most products are designed in a way to have clear metrics that demonstrate product value to customers. B2B customer success teams specialize in making customers happy with their choices, so they will renew and buy more.
In B2C, the tactic is rarely seen in B2C post-purchase experience, even though a simple “You’ve made a great choice!” or “Other people are also loving this” kind of marketing messaging in post-purchase communication will immediately make customers feel good about their choices.
The most popular tactic I’ve found in B2C to remind customers of the contribution they’ve made to the charity the brand collaborates with. For example, before checkout, bookshop.org makes customers feel extra good about their choices by showing the contribution they’ve made to local bookstores.
bookshop.org
Familiarity Bias
Familiarity is the foundation for two of the most-used heuristics in marketing:
Availability heuristic: customers choose what comes to mind most easily — a no-brainer choice.
The recognition heuristic: customers choose what they can recognize — why they choose that one brand of shampoo among all the others on the same shelf.
Familiarity makes us feel safe and good about our choice. It makes sense from the perspective of human evolution: if it is familiar then it has not eaten you yet⁴.
For marketers, this “mere-exposure” effect is what makes brand awareness campaigns important to make customers buy, especially for brands with undifferentiated products. That is also why many brands invested heavily in influencer marketing, just to get as many people to be familiar with their brand as possible.
A personal example related to this cognitive bias is that I am not familiar with any other insurance companies other than Geico and Liberty Mutual because of their always-on (but fun) commercials — so I only considered them when buying car insurance.
Endowment Effect / Loss Aversion
People like to gain stuff, but they really hate to lose it. That is loss aversion. Research shows that “losing something has twice the psychological impact of gaining something²”. Because of loss aversion, people tend to assign a higher value to things they own or even have touched compared to the identical things they do not have.
One thing marketers often miss is that pitching your product to customers by telling them what they might gain, or how different your product is, actually fail to address what they might lose by changing their existing behavior (more on this here); which means it works against their loss aversion bias.
Instead, marketers can leverage loss aversion/endowment effect by:
framing marketing messages as “don’t miss out on these benefits” vs. “gain these benefits”
free samples/free trial to get customers to touch and own your product
make customers lose their set-ups/creations/cart-items if they don’t buy (need to be used cautiously depends on the case)
One last reminder, although it should go without saying, is that this works only when there really is something to lose for customers.
Reciprocity Effect
Reciprocity bias means that “in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more cooperative⁵”. It is a common social tendency for people to repay those who have provided a gift, a favor, or a concession.
Many marketers incorporate this cognitive bias in their strategy through the “give, give, and then take” approach. For example;
by giving a free trial that one can cancel anytime
by giving out free samples
by educating prospects with free content before pitching to them in B2B.
With the endowment effect/loss aversion also at play, customers are more likely to engage and buy from companies that have given them something already.
Sephora Free Samples
Social Proof
Social proof is one of the most used cognitive biases in marketing — because it works so well — because people are naturally dubious about claims made by the company itself (conflict of interest), and need to see validations from other people or sources as proof of value of the products in order to buy. The behavior of others drives people to imitate that behavior.
Examples of social proof include:
Customer Reviews
Certifications/Awards
Influencer Marketing
Celebrity Approvals
Show popularity by highlighting the # of subscribers
Show popularity by highlighting # of customers and who the customers are | https://chiandhuang.medium.com/make-your-customers-buy-the-essential-list-of-cognitive-biases-for-marketers-4f4583e597f7 | [] | 2020-12-13 19:12:41.482000+00:00 | ['Psychology', 'Consumer Behavior', 'Marketing Strategies', 'Behavioral Science', 'Marketing'] |
Trump Makes Clear The Price Of Joining His Gang | Trump Makes Clear The Price Of Joining His Gang
The Republican state government and elections officials who have been standing up to Trump have been kind of shouting that from the rooftops. But it’s been missed by most of the reporting we’re seeing, which is kind of mixing all of Trump’s various pressure efforts together, and thus keeps missing a very important and dangerous distinction.
Let’s take Georgia as an example: it has a Republican Governor and Secretary of State, both of whom are (or were) staunch Trump supporters. Biden won the election there by well over 10,000 votes. A hand recount of all the votes on paper was not mandatory, but they decided to do it anyway. Biden still won. Then the Trump campaign had the right to request another recount, which it did, so they did that. Biden won again.
They even did something Trump keeps saying they didn’t: matching signatures on mail-in ballots with signatures of voters on file. Twice. Once when the voter requested the ballot, and again before the ballot was opened and counted. If they did it again at this point, it would prove nothing, because once the signatures were verified, twice, the ballot was then separated from the signature envelope. Which isn’t called fraud; it’s called honoring the right for a person’s vote to be secret. So even if they went through and found tens of thousands of signatures that didn’t match, they’d have no way of determining who those people actually voted for. Of course, Trump has a way in mind: focus only on those areas with high concentrations of minority voters, ’cause that’s where all the fraud occurs. The fact that he doesn’t get many votes in those areas — according to him and his people — is at best coincidental, and at worst tantamount to proof of those no-good goings on he alleges. Because, as is always the case: how could he possibly lose?
So that’s Georgia. And those Republican guys there actually did a lot to confirm and re-confirm outcomes and count and re-count stuff just in case they might’ve found something to change things up. But they didn’t. And so that’s that.
But Trump wants more. Since he didn’t win by the rules and multiple replays, he demands of Georgia’s governor to call a special emergency session of the state legislature, to throw out the current results where Trump lost, and replace them with a slate of electors that would make him win. And brags if the governor does that and those other things we just talked about, he wins Georgia “quickly and easily” and then “everything else falls in place!” Calls the governor up on the phone and says so. In other words, cancel out all the votes of the people in Georgia, and just make it so he wins. If only Governor Brian Kemp “knew what the hell he was doing”, Trump adds.
Governor Kemp replies with a 4-paragraph note, that can be summed up in 2 words:
“That’s illegal.”
So it’s not that he didn’t go to great lengths to help out the President. Just that he balked at breaking the law.
So, since the Governor’s up for re-election in 2022, Trump’s already throwing his weight behind someone to unseat him. Someone who’s made it very clear he’s very willing to wade into extra-legal waters to help out the Prez.
That’s why we think it’s so extra-shameful so many senior Republicans are still standing back and keeping quiet. Wasn’t quite as big a deal when Trump was bloviating about recounts and taking stuff to courts. But as soon as it became about suborning illegal — and in this case, also anti-American — activity, it became incumbent on them to speak up. Yet they didn’t, and haven’t.
In fact, the opposite. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz says he’ll argue for Trump before the Supreme Court if the Court will hear a case brought by a Republican from Pennsylvania. Which we really didn’t even want to mention because it’s such BS.
Never mind that since each state sets its own election rules, that Republican legislator, Mike Kelly, is trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn a law Pennsylvania Republicans decided on and approved themselves. Back in 2019. Because Republicans control the Pennsylvania state legislature, and did at the time the election law in question was passed. Which pre-dates the Coronavirus, so has nothing to do with trying to take extraordinary steps to try to accommodate anybody. But now that those rules they made up themselves didn’t win Trump the game, they all of a sudden shouldn’t count. And were actually illegal in the first place. In which case, why did they pass the thing? In fact, that very election law is featured on the “Pennsylvania Senate Republicans” home page under the header: “2019–2020 Senate Legislative Accomplishments”.
By the way, Trump’s been on the phone with them, too.
And as weasly a weasel as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may be, when he blocked President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, and then rushed President Trump’s through for opposite reasons under somewhat similar circumstances, he wasn’t breaking any laws. His actions were despicable in both cases. But the rules let him do it. But when he refuses to speak up against Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of totally illegal ways to get a loss changed to a win in the election, that’s totally different. Because there’s no rule to which McConnell can point that hands Trump an election he lost just because the President demands it.
Maybe McConnell’s just happy enough Trump’s not right now demanding that loyalty test of him, and wants to enjoy his Christmas without his house potentially being surrounded by armed protestors.
But if you’re keeping close company with a guy who wants to do a bunch of bank robberies, let’s say, doesn’t matter if you’re just biding your time in the getaway car. In the eyes of the law, you’d still be abetting the crime just the same as if you were in the bank threatening people and holding them up. | https://medium.com/@ericjscholl/trump-makes-clear-the-price-of-joining-his-gang-fd785ddb690b | ['Eric J Scholl'] | 2020-12-08 13:02:30.198000+00:00 | ['Law', 'Donald Trump', 'Election 2020', 'Politics', 'Voting'] |
What does it mean for gender-smart investors when women run the economy? | From left to right: US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo
The popular belief that women run economies differently than men do isn’t just based on gender stereotypes. Increasingly, as more women take the helm of our global financial institutions, there is evidence that it is grounded in reality.
In an article for Reuters this week, journalist Andrea Shal wrote about the impact that women leaders such as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai are already having on the US economy — tying their influence to new policy initiatives such as the Biden administration’s $400B investment in the care economy, and focus on closing the racial wealth gap as a key part of its $2T infrastructure package.
This difference in approach isn’t because women are innately kinder or more community oriented (although one person quoted in the Reuters article said that Yellen was the first Treasury Secretary he’d worked with to talk about empathy or vulnerable communities), but because our lived experience enables us to see different challenges and opportunities.
In short, gender- and racially-diverse teams — like the ones Biden has created in his Cabinet and Treasury — make smarter decisions based on more complete information. A gender diverse team, for example, is more likely to recognize that, as New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and others put it on Twitter, care is infrastructure as much as roads and bridges are.
Historically, our economic institutions have been amongst the least gender-diverse of all institutions globally. In the Reuters article, Shalal notes that while 57 women have been heads of state over the last half-century, the world’s economic institutions have been almost unilaterally run by men. But that’s starting to change. On a global scale, Yellen, Raimondo, and Tai are joined by Christine Lagarde at the European Central Bank, Kristalina Georgieva at the IMF, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the World Trade Organization — who is also the first African to head the organization. (Tai is the first woman of color to be appointed the US Trade Representative.)
This is good news for gender-smart investors, many of whom are already investing in the areas that the world’s largest economy is just now waking up to. We already know that care is foundational to a functioning economy, and that entrepreneurs and communities of colour are vastly underinvested. We also know that, as Criterion Institute detailed in their 10 Points of Materiality whitepaper last year, gender is integral to the way people use and experience technology, transport, and other key infrastructure.
Even though some of these areas may seem new to some readers, women have been innovating in them for a very long time. And if you’re not already investing in them, now is the time to start.
In areas like the care economy, public sector investment is likely to fuel the growth of both the sector and the innovative companies that are already leading the way. Some of these opportunities will be what infrastructure investors refer to as “shovel ready” — they’re ready to be rolled out and scaled, and just need the capital to fuel their growth — while others are still early in their development and require more patient capital.
For commercial investors who are wary of investing in still-nascent sectors, blended finance vehicles can offer an opportunity to bring together different types of capital in a low-risk way. For more impact-first investors, this moment presents an opportunity to use our investor or philanthropic capital in collaboration with public stimulus and policy in tandem with smart commercial investors to back the solutions that are most needed.
The growing gender and racial diversity in our economic institutions also opens up new opportunities for gender-smart investors to work with and influence public policy. As Patience Marime-Ball talked about at the GenderSmart Investing Summit in February, we need to expand our presence in the rooms where decisions get made: be it in government, at the stock exchange, or in institutional capital. Does the presence of women at some of the most powerful economic tables in the world open things up for our field to have more seats at all the tables?
As always, remember that gender-smart investing isn’t solely about investing in women leaders and entrepreneurs: it’s an expansive and intersectional lens that encompasses products, supply chains, policies and practices, supply chains, ecosystems, and more.
And if you’re new to gender-smart investing and looking for help finding opportunities and learning how to do it well, there is a whole community of investors in the ecosystem who are ready to help you. To learn more, head to gendersmartinvesting.com. | https://medium.com/@suzanne-biegel/what-does-it-mean-for-gender-smart-investors-when-women-run-the-economy-b9f0b7f75467 | ['Suzanne Biegel'] | 2021-04-09 13:18:23.889000+00:00 | ['Gender Equality', 'Impact Investing', 'Gender Lens Investing', 'Care Economy', 'Economics'] |
The health benefits of lemon water | Lemon Juice Benefits For Skin
Lemons and other citrus fruits are well known for their colourful pitted skins and tart, refreshing taste. Lemons contain citric acid and have a high vitamin C content. The peel of a lemon consists of two layers: the outer zest and a white inner layer, the pith. Surprisingly, it’s this zest and pith which contain significant levels of valuable antioxidants, more in fact, than lemon juice itself. The zest also contains essential oils — the most common of which is called limonene.
Nutritional benefits
Lemons have been used for centuries and have been highly regarded in the past for treating scurvy, a now rare condition that can develop through lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Vitamin C is often claimed to support the immune system, however, studies have been inconclusive. One study found that although vitamin C did not prevent otherwise healthy people from catching the common cold, it may shorten the duration of symptoms, and halved the common cold risk in people exposed to short periods of extreme physical stress (e.g. marathon runners). Lemons also contain protective antioxidants called flavanoids. They are low in calories but high in flavour.
Health claims
Headlines have linked drinking lemon water to many other health claims, including weight loss, improved digestion, ‘alkalising’ effects on the body, improved skin and detoxification. The research, especially human studies, to support these health claims is minimal.
Check Also : Lemon Juice Benefits
Some evidence has linked vitamin C (or ascorbic acid) and flavonoids to improvements in skin. Vitamin C is known to help the body produce collagen, which contributes to the integrity of skin.
If you are someone who finds it difficult to drink water, or doesn’t really like the taste, then adding lemon to hot or cold water can make it more palatable. Drinking adequate water will benefit your health. It’s possible to mistake thirst for hunger, so if you have been advised to lose weight, try having a glass of lemon water first when you feel hungry to see if you’re really just thirsty. If you usually opt for fizzy or sugary drinks, lemon water would be a lower-calorie and lower-sugar alternative.
Check Also : Lemon K Fayde
Dehydration is common and can present with headaches, dizziness and tiredness — it’s important to make sure that you consume enough fluid while exercising or in hot weather. The NHS advises drinking 6–8 glasses of fluid, ideally water, a day.
Indigestion, characterised by symptoms of heartburn and bloating, can be uncomfortable. Some people find drinking a glass of lemon water, particularly first thing in the morning, aids digestion. This is mainly subjective and reports are anecdotal.
Check Also : Lemon Face Wash
Lemons and lemon tea
Should I drink lemon water first thing in the morning?
The effects of lemon water will not change regardless of whether you drink it first thing in the morning or last thing at night. If you like the taste of lemon water, it could be a good choice for first thing in the morning as we often wake up a little dehydrated — especially if you’ve had alcohol or salty food the night before.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that lemon water has an alkalising or detoxing effect on the body. The liver is responsible for eliminating toxins from everything we eat, drink and are exposed to in our environment, so no amount of lemon water is going to ‘detox’ our bodies. There is also no truth to the claims that lemon water balances pH levels.
Effects on teeth
Fruit juices and acidic liquids can impact the enamel of teeth, so it is best to dilute concentrated lemon juice with water or drink through a straw. | https://medium.com/@Healthisalife/the-health-benefits-of-lemon-water-f09898df0003 | ['Runcle Shabbir'] | 2020-04-20 11:49:03.645000+00:00 | ['Oily Skin', 'Lemon', 'Skincare', 'Beauty', 'Hair'] |
Colectivos vacíos | Hi! I'm a 31 yo photography and travel enthusiast with passion for expressing myself through light and words. | https://medium.com/@joelmontti/colectivos-vac%C3%ADos-eb5b5b3bd090 | ['Joel Montti'] | 2020-12-28 00:41:10.125000+00:00 | ['Vida', 'Relaciones', 'Reflexión', 'Amistad', 'Español'] |
Knit Finance is Integrating Cartesi (CTSI) into its Multichain Platform | Knit Finance is Integrating Cartesi (CTSI) into its Multichain Platform Cartesi Follow Sep 1 · 2 min read
Knit Finance’s integration will unlock DeFi opportunities for CTSI across multiple chains
Knit Finance, a decentralized protocol for creating cross-chain wrappers for the top-200 assets, is integrating Cartesi (CTSI) into its platform.
With Knit Finance, users can deposit tokens to an insured custody platform and mint k assets which are 1:1 equivalent in value and are available on multiple chains for trading, staking for yield, lending and margin trading.
Wrapped K-CTSI tokens for Cross Chain Transactions
Knit Finance’s integration with Cartesi will involve the integration of K-CTSI on its multi-chain platform. This will allow CTSI to be transacted across multiple independent blockchains in a wrapped K-CTSI token model.
The Knit Finance integration will give CTSI holders an opportunity to leverage DApps on multiple chains. CTSI holders will be able to maximize DeFi yields with multi-chain APY optimization, utilizing access to more than one blockchain at a time. Knit users can maximize collateral security using the insured custody, and access wrappers for their entire portfolio. Knit Finance enables the k standard for tokens, which is a token wrapper for assets held in insured custody.
About Knit Finance
Knit Finance is a unique decentralized protocol for creating cross-chain wrappers for the top assets. It delivers all-chains bridges to ensure comfortable cross-chain fluidity of assets and allows institutions, developers, farmers, and traders to tap into trusted custody to mint Knit’s k tokens. Making Assets which weren’t available before to trade on the chain you love in an secure and easy manner.
Follow Knit Finance across official channels:
Announcement Channel | Medium | Facebook | Reddit | Twitter | Youtube | Github | Website | https://medium.com/cartesi/knit-finance-is-integrating-cartesi-ctsi-into-its-multichain-platform-f8e203ce5ac2 | [] | 2021-09-01 10:51:02.176000+00:00 | ['Cartesi', 'Ctsi', 'Knit Finance', 'Crypto', 'Ecosystem'] |
Make HTTP Request Using Your Solidity Smart Contract | Have you ever tried to integrate a micro-service with your smart contract? Try to make an API request? Is that even possible on solidity? The short answer is NO. Etherum Blockchain protocols are totally different from the API protocols. The Etherum is deterministic it can’t change by time and all node should approve it but HTTPS requests change by time find out more on this link
Why it’s not easy like Nodejs and Laravel
The Problem is that a Smart contract, as an object on the blockchain, can’t just send an HTTP request. It would contradict a fundamental principle of all blockchain protocols — their deterministic nature ‘The result of any transaction must always be the same for nodes to verify it no matter where, how and when we call it’. So we can’t make API calls using solidity. A trick to solve the problem is ‘Orcalize’.What is Orcalize?
Use Oracle as intermediate between the blockchain and the API. The Oracle keep listing(observing the smart contract) whenever a transaction occurs. The Oracle request API data and inject the response to the smart contract. Find a lot of examples and explanation on the documentation and this repository
Unfortunately, The majority of all code examples are just GET calls. I don’t know why? I even supposed that Oraclize provide solution for GET calls only. Or honestly, I found some examples but they were a bit complicated for newbies like me. So I wrote this article to explain it in more easy way.
Code Implementation
1- We need to import the Orcalize library its name ‘provable’ clone the GitHub repository then import the contract
import “github.com/oraclize/ethereum-api/provableAPI.sol”;
2-It’s best practice to emit events when you make API calls if they fail or succeed.
3- Check if our contract have enough balance to make the transaction
if (provable_getPrice(“computation”) > address(this).balance)
4-Then making HTTP calls using ‘provable_query’ function used to make all API calls, for example, to make a Post Call:(example from documentation)
// The URL datasource also supports a supplement argument, useful for creating HTTP POST requests. // If that argument is a valid JSON string, it will be automatically sent as JSON. provable_query(“URL”, “json(https://shapeshift.io/sendamount).success.deposit", ‘{“pair”:”eth_btc”,”amount”:”1",”withdrawal”:”1AAcCo21EUc1jbocjssSQDzLna9Vem2UN5"}’)
Full code should be something like that
if (provable_getPrice(“computation”) > address(this).balance) { emit LogNewProvableQuery(“Provable query was NOT sent, please add some ETH to cover for the query fee”); } else { emit LogNewProvableQuery(“Provable query was sent, standing by for the answer…”); provable_query(“URL”, “json(https://shapeshift.io/sendamount).success.deposit", ‘{“pair”:”eth_btc”,”amount”:”1",”withdrawal”:”1AAcCo21EUc1jbocjssSQDzLna9Vem2UN5"}’)
} }
To make your code more dynamic and easy to call any type of methods like normal back-end. you could parse all provable_query function parameter from external request function like that:
function request( string memory _query, string memory _method, string memory _url, string memory _kwargs ) public payable { if (provable_getPrice(“computation”) > address(this).balance) { emit LogNewProvableQuery(“Provable query was NOT sent, please add some ETH to cover for the query fee”); } else { emit LogNewProvableQuery(“Provable query was sent, standing by for the answer…”); provable_query(“computation”, [_query, _method, _url, _kwargs] ); } }
That’s it, You can find a lot of truffle examples on this link. Thanks! | https://medium.com/coinmonks/make-http-request-using-your-solidity-smart-contract-4f7173bd391c | ['Yehia Tarek'] | 2020-08-26 11:11:43.104000+00:00 | ['Https', 'Ethereum Blockchain', 'Solidity', 'Blockchain', 'API'] |
IGGalaxy returns to Medium! | We migrated all of our written content from Medium to the news section of IGGalaxy, IGNews, in back in February 2020, with the aim of enhancing the www.iggalaxy.com domain SEO strength and drawing more users to our platform through relevant content. Since this migration, we have observed consistent organic engagement on some of our legacy content that has remained on Medium.
Medium is evolving as a content platform, providing great organic reach and a range of new features, so, it is without question that we should look to capitalise on this opportunity to really grow our social presence!
IGGalaxy is back on Medium!
What is a “Medium publication”?
“Medium publications” are “shared spaces” for author(s) to produce written content related to a common theme, topic, idea and so on.
You can think of Medium publications like small, independent magazines: they have owners; editors; and writers. Some publications have “approved writers” that are part of the publication’s wider community and can submit content as they wish; whereas others must apply to submit written content for the main publishing account.
It’s a rich ecosystem with huge scope for brand growth!
Why is written content important to IGGalaxy?
The primary objective behind producing and distributing written content is, on the one hand, engagement. Engaging content related to pertinent topics in gaming, esports and technology are currently highly trending at the moment, and the nature of IGGalaxy content places Intergalactic Gaming directly at the forefront of these trends!
IGNews article in a Google-featured snippet.
On the other, it serves as a medium for keeping our community up-to-date with regular developments related to how we are progressing as a whole; business and product (IGGalaxy).
The scope for significant reach
To ensure each piece of written content produced receives maximum engagement, the use of targeted keywords mean we can improve our domain SEO, and in doing so, subsequently amplify the discoverability and exposure to the IGGalaxy brand.
IGGalaxy domain’s SEO: Keywords ranking 2020, UberSuggest.
Posting content on Medium will allow us to tap into an engaged ecosystem, on a purpose-built platform, which will no doubt accelerate our marketing efforts, whilst contributing to significant organic growth.
Using canonical links, we can publish our content on multiple platforms. A “canonical tag” is a way of telling search engines that a specific URL represents the master copy of a page. Using the canonical tag eradicates issues of identical or “duplicate” content appearing on multiple URL domains, so in this regard, it allows us to use Medium as a vehicle for accelerating our SEO strategy.
IGGalaxy Medium publication is now live!
Content will now be shared across both IGNews and Medium channels. Our Medium publication is segmented, meaning visitors can clearly find IGGalaxy-related content that meets their interests. Readers can easily search for articles in our Medium publication as well.
Official publication for IGGalaxy.
We’re excited to share our journey of building an inclusive social competitive gaming and esports platform with Medium readers!
To keep up to date with developments, please follow us on our various social media channels:
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Twitch
YouTube
Discord
Telegram
LinkedIn
Reddit | https://medium.com/iggalaxy/iggalaxy-returns-to-medium-a9419d043825 | ['Intergalactic Gaming'] | 2021-01-13 19:10:56.794000+00:00 | ['Announcements', 'Ethereum Blockchain', 'Gaming Content', 'Iggalaxy', 'Crypto News'] |
Basic Color Terms-you should know! | Color is the most important element of art. If you are a designer, then you must do research on color. Here are the basic 5 terms of color. 1. Hue 2 Saturation 3. Tint 4. Tone 5. Shade. I know this will help you a bit. | https://medium.com/@m-pixencyacademy/basic-color-terms-you-should-know-751698b409e5 | ['Pixency Academy'] | 2020-12-23 10:44:07.408000+00:00 | ['Color Theory', 'Ui Ux Design', 'Colors', 'Uicolor'] |
This Museum Really Exists; and Back in the Day, It Helped A Lot of People Too! | I have the most amazing travel buddy in the world. Before the pandemic, my travel buddy and I used to plan trips abroad at least once a year; even though we are located in two different countries. We’ve been very good at organizing our flights to meet at the airports around the same time.
Back in 2018 my buddy and I decided to go to the Netherlands. Our goal was not to visit only Amsterdam. We’ve always been light travelers and we decided that within three days we can see a lot of different cities in the country. The Netherlands offers one of the most convenient transportation systems and a lot of its cities can be easily reached by train within hours. And we decided to start our trip by visiting a very unique place in a city called Oudewater. The reason is, I had read somewhere that this city was frequently visited in the 16th century by many people from Europe. People who were accused of being a witch etc could go to Oudewater, and receive a certification stating that they were not witches; provided that they passed a weighing test on the huge scales.
Actually, below you can find an excerpt from Visit Oudewater’s website which explains how the museum helped people in the past.
“ Many people accused of witchcraft from all over Europe (or at least, those who could afford the trip) made a head-over-heels trip to Oudewater to avoid being burned at a stake. After the weighing, they received an official certificate proclaiming them not to be a witch. Although nobody was ever found to be an actual witch in Oudewater, the weighings were still a public spectacle. Even today you can get a certificate that “your body weight is in proportion to your build.” The reasoning behind this is the old belief that a witch has no soul and therefore weighs significantly less than an ordinary person; this distinction allows the witch to fly on a broomstick. “
The museum is very small, and it is a lot of fun. I could not have missed the chance to be weighed on the scales and get my certificate. My travel buddy was happy to find out she was not a witch either.
This museum got us thinking that back in the 16th century, thanks to intelligent thinking, lots of actual lives were saved in this city. And not a lot of people know that this place exists. If you ever get the chance to visit the Netherlands, you may consider visiting this museum. You will need to take a bus to get there, and on your way, you can enjoy the beautiful countryside scenery as well. | https://medium.com/@optimistbuzz/this-museum-really-exists-and-back-in-the-day-it-helped-a-lot-of-people-too-5f595518ab57 | ['The Mindful Optimist'] | 2020-11-26 11:37:45.908000+00:00 | ['Traveling', 'Travel Writing', 'Netherlands', 'Museums', 'Travel'] |
TOP 40+ Happiness Quotes Positive Good Vibes That Will Inspire You | “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” — Helen Keller “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” — Willie Nelson “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” — Lyndon B. Johnson
“To carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.” — Dalai Lama “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” — Walt Disney “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” — Zig Ziglar
“Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.” — William James “You can’t make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural, and enjoyable.” — Deepak Chopra “The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.” — Lee Iacocca
“Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.” — Harvey Mackay “In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” — Les Brown “I’m a very positive thinker, and I think that is what helps me the most in difficult moments.” — Roger Federer
“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” — Colin Powell “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” — Winston Churchill “Let us arise and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so let us all be thankful.” — Buddha
Walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes. There is no need to explain or make sense of it. It’s your life. Do what makes you happy. You attract the energy that you give off. Spread good vibes. Think positively. Enjoy life. When life puts you into tough situations, do not say why me? Instead, you should say, try me?
You should cleanse your mind of all the bad vibes. Let the good vibes flow instead. You can choose to be either bitter or better. I love open-minded people. People who just vibe with whatever you talk about. You can talk about anything and everything.
Trust the vibes you get, energy doesn’t lie. Be the energy you want to attract. Don’t think too much, just do what makes you happy.
Vibrate good energy into another soul, making them never forget the beauty of yours. “I say looking on the bright side of life never killed anybody.” “The greatest win is walking away and choosing not to engage in drama and toxic energy at all.”
“if you feel happy, Smile with all your heart.” “Vibe high and the magic around you will unfold.” “I honor you every time.” one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day positive.
THE BEST VIEW COMES AFTER THE HARDEST CLIMB You don’t need too many people to be happy, just a few real ones who appreciate you for who you are. — WIZ KHALIFA One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole “ YOUR FATES KEEP FACE TO SUNSHINE AND CANNOT
“If EVERY IS AN AWAKENING, YOU WILL NEVER GROW OLD. YOU WILL JUST KEEP GROWING. — GAIL The key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go of. — Dodinsky Don’t think too much, just do what makes you happy. be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” — Norman Vincent Peale You attract the energy that you give off. Spread good vibes. Think positively. Enjoy life.
11 Brain Exercises To Improve Memory 100% | https://medium.com/@healthylifestyel/top-40-happiness-quotes-positive-good-vibes-that-will-inspire-you-e9eaf759ff2 | ['Healthy Lifestyel'] | 2020-12-20 04:52:40.585000+00:00 | ['Positive Thinking', 'Positivity', 'Positive Vibes', 'Mental Health', 'Quotes'] |
Analysis: 2020 Black List | A deep dive into the scripts named to this year’s annual Black List.
The 2020 Black List rolled out Monday — you can find titles, writers and loglines for all of the selected scripts here — and as promised, today we have some statistics and analysis for you.
First some interesting stats about this year’s Black List:
There are 80 screenplays on the 2020 Black List (There were 66 screenplays on the 2019 Black List). I believe this is the highest number of screenplays on an annual Black List which is surprising because the minimum number of mentions this year is 7, where in year’s past, it has more typically been 6.
375 working film executives at major Hollywood financiers and production companies contributed to the 2020 Black List, compared to 250+ in 2019.
26% of the scripts on the 2020 Black List have a financier attached (30% on 2019 Black List)
74% of the scripts on 2019 Black List have a producer attached (68% on the 2019 Black List)
37.5% of this year’s Black List scripts were written or co-written by women. Note the trendline from 2007 to present for women written scripts on the Black List.
Drilling down into the scripts, here are some interesting notes:
Unlike the previous several years where Biopics had a significant presence on the Black List, this year there are only 6 (Bikram, Enemies Within, Excelsior, Gusher, Plush, and Viceland). Additionally, there are 14 historically based scripts. This lends credence to conversations I’ve had this year agents and managers that original stories are making a comeback.
There are 4 stories set in outer space: Bring Me Back, Generation Leap, I.S.S., and If You Were the Last.
There are 3 scripts featuring airplane storylines: Fight or Flight, Flight Risk, A Single Point of Failure.
There are 3 stories featuring transgender lead characters: Good Chance, Occupied, What If?
There are 3 scripts featuring uncle-nephew relationships: The Black Belt, Saturday Night Ghost Club, Uncle Wick.
Finally, Cosmic Sunday continues in the tradition of ‘reliving the same day’ story conceits including Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, Palm Springs, Happy Death Day, and the TV series Russian Doll.
Scripts By Agency
UTA 17
Verve 9
WME 5
CAA 4
Gersh 4
Paradigm 3
APA 1
Kazarian, Spencer & Associates 1
Rothman, Brecher, Ehrich, Livingston 1
Scripts By Management Company
Kaplan/Perrone 9
Grandview 8.5
Bellevue Entertainment 5
Management 360 5
Writ Large 5
Brillstein Entertainment Partners 4
Fourth Wall 3
3 Arts Entertainment 3
Heroes & Villains Entertainment 3
Epicenter 2
Fourward 2
Good Fear 2
Gotham Group 2
Lit Entertainment 2
MXN Entertainment 2
Zero Gravity 2
Anonymous Content 1
Calvary Media 1
Echo Lake 1
Fusion 1
Hopscotch Partners 1
Jen Au Management 1
Lee Stobby 1
M88 1
Management SGC 1
Mutiny 1
Syndicate Entertainment 1
Vision Entertainment 1
Haven Entertainment 0.5
For Go Into The Story analyses of previous Black Lists:
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
As always, I encourage people to read as many of these Black List scripts as possible. These 80 scripts represent, as best as we can know at this moment in time, where development execs’ heads are at and most importantly what types of stories resonate with them.
How to find the scripts? Hint: r/Screenwriting. | https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/analysis-2020-black-list-1ef6aae418c3 | ['Scott Myers'] | 2020-12-16 18:23:19.516000+00:00 | ['Screenwriting', 'Hollywood', 'Screenplay', 'Business', 'Writing'] |
How clustering techniques affect your Ideation — Affinity Diagram | We all know about Netflix, the worlds largest on-demand internet streaming media and online DVD movie rental service provider.
Founded August 29, 1997 in Los Gatos, California by Marc and Reed
It has 69 million members in over 60 countries enjoying more than 100 million hours of TV shows and movies per day.
Most success with : House of Cards show
Netflix — A view of recommendations
Netflix puts it as: “The Netflix Prize seeks to substantially improve the accuracy of predictions about how much someone is going to love a movie based on their movie preferences. Improve it enough and you win one (or more) Prizes. Winning the Netflix Prize improves our ability to connect people to the movies they love.” –NetflixPrize
So what do they want? Improvement to their existing system for which they were paying $1 million.
We got the background and now let’s move on to view the objective and the datasets.
Objective: “Which movie will you like” given that you have seen ‘The Dark knight, Batman Begins, Pineapple express’?
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
The idea of Clustering is to group the items together based on their attributes. The data is typically unlabeled and the similarity is measured using the distance between the two points. Example: Consider going to a Board Game shop and putting together the games from a pile of game box that are similar.
So what is affinity diagram?
An Affinity Diagram is a tool that gathers large amounts of language data (ideas, opinions, issues) and organizes them into groupings based on their natural relationships . The Affinity process is often used to group ideas generated by Brainstorming.
Affinity diagram are a great method to help you make sense of all your information when you have a lot of mixed data, such as facts, ethnographic research, ideas from brainstorms, user opinions, user needs, insights, and design issues. Affinity diagrams or clustering exercises are all about bundling and grouping information, and this method can be one of the most valuable methods to employ. For this reason, it is used in many phases of Design Thinking, as well as outside of the design context.
Author/Copyright holder: Josh Evnin. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.0
Why?
The Affinity Diagram is a method which can help you gather large amounts of data and organise them into groups or themes based on their relationships. The affinity process is great for grouping data gathered during research or ideas generated during Brainstorms.
The method is also called “Space Saturate and Group”. The term “saturate” relates to the method in which everyone covers or saturates the “space” with images and notes, in order to create a wall of information, to inform, and start “grouping” the following problem-defining process. You then draw connections between these individual elements to join the dots and develop new and deeper insights. They will help define the problem(s) and develop potential ideas for solutions. In other words, you go from analysis to synthesis.
Seeing the data coming to life and moving data on post-its around on the wall helps the design team to immerse themselves in not only their own findings from field work and research, but sharing and communicating the findings with other team members in order to get a broader scope of the problem space being investigated.
According to NNGROUP: Affinity diagramming is also known as affinity mapping, collaborative sorting, snowballing, or even card sorting. (However, in UX, ‘card sorting’ stands for a very specific research method for determining the IA of a site or application. In it, users sort index cards with category names and commands written on them.)
Affinity Diagramming in UX
While affinity diagramming as a method can be used by individuals as well as groups, in UX, it is used primarily by teams for quickly organizing:
observations or ideas from a research study ideas that surface in design-ideation meetings ideas about UX strategy and vision
Affinity diagramming in UX usually involves two steps:
A. Generating the sticky notes. In this step, team members write down ideas or facts on separate sticky notes.
During a usability session, the facilitator and the observers write observations, findings, or ideas — each on one sticky note.
During an ideation workshop, attendees or the workshop facilitator write each idea on a sticky note.
B. Organizing the notes in groups. After the test or the ideation session, the team has a workshop devoted to analyzing the notes by:
sorting them into categories prioritizing each note, and determining the next steps in design or further research
Document the takeaways from this exercise
Now have a look at the clusters, the importance of each one, and the themes, then you will be able to pull some takeaways that will help you with your goals. These can be insights, user needs, pain points, or gaps. Document anything you pull from this exercise and share it with your team. You may also want to take some photos of the board so you can refer to it if anyone has any questions on how you came to your conclusions.
Difference between idea/mind mapping and affinity diagram
A simple way to think about it is logical structure to the relationships between ideas. In an affinity diagram, ideas are logically organized based on their relationship to each other. For example, if you are working on a project for an airport, We may organize my tasks based on the things we need to construct in a sequential order for project success: runway, taxiways, tower, terminal, etc. Meanwhile, a mind map is less logically structured, where ideas are floated out there that may or may not relate to each other. It makes it easier to visualize data or discover relationships between dissimilar ideas.
Design = Visualizing a solution.
The Italian verb disegnare in 16c. developed the senses “to contrive, plot, intend,” and “to draw, paint, embroider, etc.” French took both these senses from Italian, in different forms, and passed them on to English, which uses design in all senses.
As the Etymology of the word points out, the act of designing is the act of contriving a solution and to give it a shape, a visualization. This happens in every Design disciplines, like Industrial Design, Service Design and of curse Ux Design. All areas where visualization tools are fundamental because of their communication power.
What a Mind Map is.
One of the powerful tools we have as Designers to understand, define and communicate ideas is the Mind Map, currently a broad term that identifies a visual representation of a sequence of thoughts, a concept, a system or a process.
Depending from the context and from the final goal, these kinds of visual representations can come in different versions, but at their basics, they are made of words and connecting lines: the first ones represent the objects, the second ones represent the relations between the objects.
They enable us to focus on the high-level idea without caring too much about the small details, they keep alive the creative flow with a fluid process letting the concepts emerge from it. Unlike in standardized visual representations (e.g. UML diagrams), the relations between the objects here are often generic and not codified, indeed with a simple line, we can represent a parent-child relation, a cause-effect relation or even a chronological relation. | https://medium.com/@mostafametwally/how-clustering-techniques-affect-your-ideation-affinity-diagram-5f10b8814f9f | ['Mostafa Metwally'] | 2020-12-24 13:33:06.447000+00:00 | ['User Research', 'Affinity Diagrams', 'Design Thinking', 'User Experience', 'User Centered Design'] |
Why Sue Grafton Uses a Process Journal and You Should Too | Why Sue Grafton Uses a Process Journal and You Should Too
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a place you could go to solve all your writer’s block problems? A place where all your questions of ‘what should happen next’ and ‘who should say what here’ are answered. A place where all your bad ideas get flushed out before they even land on the page. Boy, do I have some good news for you.
I recently learned of a not-so-new tool called the process journal. While reading The Art of Slow Writing: Reflections on Time, Craft, and Creativity by Louise DeSalvo, I came across where DeSalvo describes a time she saw Sue Grafton speak of the process journal at USC in 2001, calling this technique a “record of the conversation [you can] have with [your]self about the work in progress.” This journal will easily become your new best friend if used right.
Below are 3 ways you can use your process journal to advance your writing.
Solving scenes with rewrites
While working on scenes in your narrative work, it is commonplace to find the scenes unrealistic, boring, or confusing to navigate. By keeping a process journal you have a place to discuss these ideas, even if just with yourself. Sometimes having a place to think outside of your latest draft can be helpful to work out some kinks. You won’t feel the need to make everything perfect if you aren’t working in your draft. Giving yourself a structureless place to free-think and explore will help you navigate your scenes better.
Unrealistic scene?
Write about a conversation or something you saw on the street in as much detail as possible to get back in touch with what the real world feels like.
Boring scene?
Write something overly dramatic just to see how it goes! Then discuss with yourself what you like or don’t like, and find that middle ground.
Confusing scene?
Maybe you’re having a hard time grounding your characters. If so, write the scene again and mention each specific movement you see your character doing. Maybe the issue is the setting of your scene. Relocate it and see how it feels.
Now, none of these rewrites are likely to be what goes into your final draft, but now you have more to work with, more to play with, and an opportunity to see sides of your story you might not have before.
Making dialogue decisions
Dialogue is hard. There’s a lot that goes into making good dialogue happen. Sometimes it takes a lot of tweaking to create realistic dialogue that works for your piece. With a process journal, you’re able to explore new ideas for dialogue, much in the same way as with scenes.
According to DeSalvo, Grafton likes to keep “lines she’s imagined but doesn’t know how to use” in her process journal to keep for later. It happens to all of us; the perfect line of dialogue pops into our heads and we get so excited about it, but it is not the perfect line for the scene we’re working now.
With the process journal you can jot down the line, get it out of your head, and begin to craft something better for what’s on the page in front of you.
The imposter syndrome antidote
My favorite use of a process journal is to free myself of mental worries before I begin to work on my piece. A process journal is a great place to get all of your ‘am I good enough to be working on this piece?’ or ‘is anybody going to actually read this?’ anxieties on paper and out of your head.
By writing down all your worries, you’re freeing up space in your brain to work on what actually matters — your writing. Who can get anything done if the whole time they try to work, they’re concerned about what other people will think of their work? We all have these imposter syndrome voices in our heads, but now you have a place to let them be heard, and to move on from them.
I like to write down my worry, much like “This story is not worth being told.” From there, I’ll write underneath it all the reasons it is worth being told:
“There is a good moral lesson here.”
“This is topical and resonates with a lot of people.”
“If I don’t tell this story, nobody will.”
Success and gratitude
Another important use of a process journal is to lean in to your success. I like to take time at the end of my writing sessions to jot down what I did well, what I got accomplished, what I’m looking forward to next, and why I’m so grateful to be writing what I’m writing. This helps me end my session on a positive note, not worrying about all the new frustrations that came up this time about scenes, dialogue, publication, the list goes on. And, when I get back to my process journal the next time, the first thing I’ll see is this gratitude and what I’ve accomplished so far, which is a very motivating tactic.
A tip for the process journal
When I first started process journals, I was tempted to keep them in a notebook by hand. But I quickly followed the advice DeSalvo passes on from Grafton of keeping the journal on my computer. DeSalvo says, “Grafton keeps her process journal on her computer so she can transfer material into the draft of her manuscript when appropriate. She can also quickly search the journal to find all the entries about a given topic.”
I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like trying to search through scribbles of illegible handwritten notes to pull up an old thought or transfer a new draft of a scene into my work. Thank god for the search and find function.
So, what will you start using a process journal for first? | https://writingcooperative.com/why-sue-grafton-uses-a-process-journal-and-you-should-too-cb774cc5415a | ['Michelle Renee Miller'] | 2020-02-06 02:09:01.294000+00:00 | ['Journaling', 'Writing', 'Journal', 'Writers Block', 'Imposter Syndrome'] |
Lithuania considers EU as a tool to get money and punish opponents | The latest Lithuanian political initiatives could leave to breaking basic policies of the European Union.
As we know, the idea of European unity led to the creation and development of the European Union. The EU was established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993.
Today, the European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Due to its global influence, the European Union is often described as an emerging superpower.
The EU does not focus only on the development of its member states, but on the involving neighbour countries in its sphere of influence. Thus, within the EU the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was developed to promote prosperity, stability and security within the EU’s neighbours and to avoid new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbours. This Neighbourhood Policy is designed not only to assist neighbour countries but to benefit from cooperation with them.
At present, the EU works with 16 partners: its immediate neighbours by land or sea — Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.
Lithuania became a full-fledged member of the European Union on 1 May 2004 and still economically is not among the strongest members. By the way, it is one of the largest beneficiary of the EU financial support. It is used to get large sums of money on its development.
It seems as if Lithuania continues to consider the EU as a non-dissecting source of money and as a tool to punish those countries which act contrary to its national interests.
Lithuania and Poland called for EU sanctions for Belarusian companies supporting the Lukashenko regime, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Tuesday, November 17. The existing sanctions «have not yet produced the result we expected», the Lithuanian leader said.
Nonetheless, there is a result which Lithuania did not expect and which is not beneficial for the EU as an organization. Vladimir Makei, the Belarus minister of foreign affairs said that “Belarus does not see much point in working fully within the Eastern Partnership initiative. All these measures are only a response to the destructive steps that our European partners have taken towards Belarus.”
So, Lithuania, calling to impose sanction on Belarus, achieved the opposite effect. It is ruining the basic aim of the EU Neighbourhood Policy. | https://medium.com/@kristupasgavelis/lithuania-considers-eu-as-a-tool-to-get-money-and-punish-opponents-bd53f82dbd0b | ['Kristupas Gavelis'] | 2020-11-26 12:04:40.888000+00:00 | ['Belarus', 'Money', 'European Union', 'Lithuania'] |
How to Find Time to Write 3–5 Articles a Week Even While Working a Full-time Job | Why Write 3–5 Stories a Week
If you want to be a top writer on Medium, you’ll need to put in the work, which includes contributing well-written stories high in both quality and quantity.
Think about it. It’s just like anything else where consistency and commitment pays off. The more quality stories you write, the more people will want to read what you have to offer.
Another reason is the more active you are on the platform, the more likely the Medium algorithm will pick up your stories to show up in the feeds and recommendations.
Also, the more you write and contribute positively to the platform with value-added content, the more positivity will come back to you. What you put in is what you can expect to get out of this.
You should also be encouraged to read more on the platform, just as much as you write, as that is also a way to get noticed and reap the benefits of networking with your fellow writers.
Writing and publishing 3–5 stories a week can help you reach your goals as a Medium writer. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/how-to-find-time-to-write-3-5-medium-stories-a-week-while-working-a-full-time-job-6d2dad1570fa | ['Audrey Malone'] | 2020-12-30 17:47:05.200000+00:00 | ['Time Management', 'Business', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement', 'Writing Tips'] |
A Social Worker Offered Mormon Lingo to Me When I Was in Crisis, Told Me to Think Happy Thoughts, and Hung Up on Me — While I Was Still in Crisis | A Social Worker Offered Mormon Lingo to Me When I Was in Crisis, Told Me to Think Happy Thoughts, and Hung Up on Me — While I Was Still in Crisis Rhett Wilkinson Follow May 26, 2019 · 3 min read
I called a crisis line. You may say it was tragically less than helpful. In fact, it only made the situation worse. The issue was created by a social worker on the other end of the Utah County Crisis Line.
(United Way of Utah County)
Immediately after telling her I am considering killing myself, this person talked about “the other side.”
I’m not against talk about heaven, but “the other side” comes ripped from language used in culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Which still would not be bad, except that she is not speaking organically. Not from the heart. When I was suicidal.
Further, she did nothing more than parrot what the system she is in fed her.
And that’s what she had to offer above anything else when I wanted nothing more than to die.
Then she went on to talk about thinking positive thoughts. I do know social work well enough that least to know that simply thinking positive thoughts doesn’t help anyone depressed, let alone suicidal. And in fact, that patients should be encouraged to grieve. (Not to say that she said nothing about medications or even exercise, let alone yoga.)
(Perhaps this photo expresses Latter-day Saint culture well.) A crisis worker offered Mormon lingo immediately after I told her I was considering killing myself and proceeded to give an idea prevalent in LDS culture about thinking “positive thoughts.”
Another example of her just parroting an idea fed to her by culture, instead of doing the work of life-saving.
So then I got at these ideas. I said that I had compassion for how she was handling the call since her thoughts are not her own since she is part of a cult. Her response?
Hang up.
On someone who may kill themselves?
And she said she has been a social worker for 15 years.
How often, then, did she miss out on helping folks in real pain? How much did she simply drop the ball? Has she fallen short for years?
Perhaps this is why the recording to start the call to the Utah County Crisis Line emphasizes that the social workers are volunteering.
Perhaps, though, even those not getting paid should be kept from life-saving circumstances if they are going to drop the ball so bad.
The Utah County Crisis Line has a tagline of “Let us be your lifeline.” Hopefully at least not this lady any longer.
—
Even if you no longer affiliate with the Latter-day Saint (ex-Mormon) church but enjoy sociality with family and friends as before, you can still find social settings organized by the Utah Valley PostMormons. There, you can find your people. And of course, if you don’t enjoy those relationships like before, the many UVPM events that happen each week can be even life-saving.
Led by wonderful people, UVPM is also for folks who just are struggling with it or are “never Mormons” seeking a break from the predominant culture. Find their events on Facebook and Meetup.
—
For more articles like this, please support The Seer Stone at the Hero’s Journey Content Patreon page. | https://medium.com/the-seer-stone/a-social-worker-offered-mormon-lingo-to-me-when-in-crisis-told-me-to-just-think-happy-thoughts-e1fa033160e0 | ['Rhett Wilkinson'] | 2019-06-19 14:08:11.660000+00:00 | ['Suicide', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Utah', 'Psychology'] |
Stories from the 5th Startup in Residence Cohort; Application Deadline for the 6th Cohort | San Francisco, CA — Today, City Innovate announced new technology solutions developed through the 5th Startup in Residence (STIR) cohort, highlighting the importance of civic innovation and leveraging technology to improve government services. City Innovate is now inviting governments to apply to join the 6th STIR program cohort.
In the 5th cohort, 22 governments and 39 startups developed 43 new products that solve challenges related to property development, public safety and affordable housing services. The products were developed during a 16-week project period, where government staff and startup companies co-develop modern technology solutions for local and state governments. Nearly 700 startups from over 60 cities and countries vied for a chance to work with the 22 governments for the opportunity to secure a contract.
“The STIR program has provided countless benefits for the City of Syracuse,” Adria Finch, Director of Innovation, City of Syracuse, said. “Not only have we identified companies to help us solve City challenges, but we have also adopted new techniques to improve our procurement, advance innovation and technology budgeting practices, and identify new employees to drive change throughout the organization.”
City Innovate is inviting governments from the US and Canada to apply by June 30th, 2019 to join the 6th cohort of STIR. A limited number of new governments will be accepted as the STIR program is subsidized by Federal and philanthropic grants.
The internationally recognized STIR Program provides a framework for small companies to work with government departments throughout the United States and Canada. Through STIR, teams address civic challenges by co-creating new technology tools and services for government to better serve their staff and constituents.
Here are a few stories from the 5th program cohort:
The City of Boulder, Colorado collaborated with Neighborly Software to develop an easy-to-use digital portal for the City’s affordable homeownership program. The City also worked with Tolemi to develop an integration and analytics platform for City employees to report on housing data.
The City of Long Beach, California pursued four projects, and also collaborated with Tolemi to develop an online interactive mapping tool which informs stakeholders of the major development project in process throughout the City.
The City of Syracuse, New York also pursued four projects, including a collaboration with Camino to develop a permit management platform that allows collaboration and visibility between permit applicants and City employees. Syracuse staff also worked with Zivics to create a community engagement tool that communicates time-sensitive information to residents as public safety notices in the event of violent crimes and as announcements of community events and activities happening in Syracuse neighborhoods.
The City of Mobile, Alabama pursued a collaboration with Qwally to develop an easy-to-use tool that will allow potential City vendors to apply for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certifications and more effectively participate in government bid opportunities.
The STIR program originally started in the City of San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation. In 2018 the STIR program launched in 11 cities across the United States. STIR is now in 22 governments across the US and Canada and has helped recruit nearly 100 startups to work with government. See all 2019 STIR team partnerships here. The international STIR program is managed by City Innovate and its government partners.
“The Startup in Residence program is a model for civic innovation and national collaboration,” said Jay Nath, former Chief Innovation Officer for San Francisco and Executive Director for City Innovate. “This program is a unique opportunity for government agencies and startups to think creatively about how we can all work together to modernize government to benefit residents.”
Past projects in other communities have included working on issues such as streamlining the foster care application process, smart sensors on trash cans, homeless health services, volunteer engagement tools, and developing tools to assess the damage in the aftermath of an emergency like an earthquake or flooding.
The program also offers education for government and startup staff in areas including design thinking, lean project management methodologies, and procurement methodologies for technology purchases.
# # #
Additional quotes and interview opportunities available upon request.
About STIR: Startup in Residence (STIR) connects startups with government agencies to develop technology products that solve real civic challenges through a 16-week program. See all the 2019 STIR team partnerships here. To learn more about Startup in Residence visit: https://startupinresidence.org. | https://medium.com/@CityInnovate/new-stories-from-the-5th-stir-cohort-application-deadline-for-the-next-cohort-63942f65c21b | ['City Innovate'] | 2019-06-06 16:59:42.179000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Innovation', 'Civictech', 'Government', 'Govtech'] |
The Technology of Songlines. | A Technology for Survival
The Technology of Songlines.
A Technology That Only Has Health and Our Planet at its Core.
Gaia’s Connectedness. Picture by John Rose.
The Challenge from Desiree Driesenaar.
Desiree challenges me to write about my approach to technology that supports life. Technology that only has health for humans and the planet at its core.
What a wonderful writing challenge! After some thought I realised it was far more than that. In my context, meeting the challenge requires an explanation of my understanding of Gaia and how I try to use my engineering knowledge to support life through climate action.
What is Technology?
Today, the term technology has been overused and its meaning blurred. A modern definition from Wikipedia states technology is the sum of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives.
My preferred working and timeless definition of technology is that it’s the knowledge of techniques and processes. Ancient examples of technology include the discovery of how to control fire and the systematic development of farming from around 9,500 BC. But, these technologies, although fascinating, do not satisfy Desiree’s challenge. I cannot farm, although I do grow some vegies and lighting fires is, in my case, limited to a certain obnoxious gas stove.
Given my background, the words “the health for humans and the planet” can only apply to the Theory of Gaia. The core of Gaia is the connectedness of all the ecosystems in our living Earth. I will discuss Gaia and then in Gaia’s context outline my choice of technology.
Gaia
Isaac Asimov’s book Foundation’s Edge (1983) was the first time I came across Gaia as a planetary intelligence controlling living ecosystems. The book’s theme was based on the Theory of Gaia (Entrepreneurial Earth LLC, 2020) that started to be developed by James Lovelock in the 1960s (Lovelock, 1995, 2006, 2009, 2016; Lovelock J., Taschen, Malene., 2016).
The essence of Gaia is connectedness. Gaia’s goal is to regulate the planet’s surface conditions so as always to be as favourable as possible for contemporary life. Now, through our own actions we are responsible for preventing Gaia from effectively regulating the Earth’s environment. We are in danger of triggering a tipping point that will lead to Hothouse Earth (Steffen et al., 2018).
Being a part of Gaia means that we are not the owners of Earth, nor are we the Earth’s custodians. Furthermore, the Earth has not evolved solely for our benefit, and any changes we make to it are at our own risk. This way of thinking makes clear that we have no special rights over Earth.
In the context of Gaia, the technology to meet Desiree’s challenge must be founded on connectedness. In my opinion, the technology must be shown to have been appropriate for the health of both humans and the environment in which they lived. I have chosen the technology of Songlines.
The Technology of Songlines
After my PhD, I came across Lynne Kelly’s book “The Memory Code” (Kelly, 2017) that described how cultural memory was passed down through countless generations of indigenous Australians using a technology based on an intensive memory training and dissemination techniques called Songlines.
Songline knowledge has been restricted and carefully managed by generations of elders to ensure accurate repetition and avoid the phenomenon of “Chinese whispers”. David Attenborough in his 2015 documentary of the Great Barrier Reef tells of songlines describing the formation of the reef some 12,000 years ago. Scientific evidence supports the events narrated in these songlines that were passed down through the ancestors of the tribes still inhabiting the Queensland area.
The songline is the heart and soul of the Australian Aboriginal culture. In performing songlines, the tribe experiences their rich culture that emphasizes an individual’s inclusiveness in the tribe and the tribe’s connectedness to the land that sustains them (Bodkin, 2017; Bradley, 2010; Kelly, 2017, 2019; Legge et al., 2012; Morrison, 2017; Neale, 2017).
Songlines have accurately preserved the knowledge of the Aboriginal culture over many thousands of years. In fact, this culture spanning some 65,000 years is the oldest continuous living culture on Earth (Clarkson et al., 2017)
The Songline is literally a path in the landscape linking sacred locations (see diagram below). Songlines are bound to the progression of seasons. Tribal elders carefully co-ordinate the timing of travels between sites to ensure correct timing of ritual performances. Elders perform the rituals in recitation, song and dance: they literally sing the landscape. The term “ritual” in the context of a songline has no religious connotation, rather it stresses the careful repetition of time honoured performance (Kelly, 2017). Equally, the term “sacred site” should be understood as an honoured and revered location of special cultural significance. The performance order of a Songline’s rituals is dictated by a site’s location, since the tribe must walk between locations.
Distinctive landscape features and presence of animals at each ritual site act as memory cues for rituals. Australian Aboriginals also make use of rock art, bark paintings and carvings to act as memory aids.
Songlines, Singing the Landscape. Diagram by John Rose. Pictures from Creative Commons.
I believe every human has their own personal songline. I revisit and refresh mine when I walk in Reddy Forest near my apartment (see picture). I know the trees and stop beside my favourites, sometimes seeing Kookaburras, sometimes admiring the character of bark. Exploring these walks in my memory with friends and family give me a sense of time and ancestry.
Unashamedly, I have used songlines’ sense of connectedness in my own thinking and to distinguish this from traditional critical thinking I call it Songline Thinking.
Songline Thinking and Zen Gardening
Zen Garden Meditation on Songline Connectedness by John Rose.
Being a research engineer and systems analyst I use and devise thinking tools that yield useful results. Zen Gardens have a history dating back over a thousand years. Originally these gardens were based on representing the stories of the eight immortals in Chinese mythology. In later times, the Japanese Zen Garden was intended to imitate the intimate essence of nature and to serve as an aid to meditation about the true meaning of existence.
My Zen Garden is quite modest and sits in my apartment’s loungeroom away from the rain and a certain crow who delights in digging for worms. The Zen Garden in the picture, represents a tribal group at a sacred songline site. The elder (large rock) is leading a ritual performance of cultural history inspired by memory cues unique to the location. The connection and interaction between tribe and landscape is represented in the circular raked sand. I have learnt to use this Zen Garden abstraction as a way of highlighting and contemplating the complex relationships of a songline.
The Challenge Answered.
I want to emphasize that the technology of Songlines for preserving cultural identity and practical knowledge required for sustaining the environment of the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders has resulted in the oldest continuous living culture on Earth stretching over a period of 65,000 years (Clarkson et al., 2017).
Songlines, a technology based on orality (verbal medium used in cultures with no exposure to writing) has demonstrated its worth in maintaining a balanced, thriving human ecosystem. I believe the Songlines technology can be applied to informing and co-ordinating the decision making in large scale climate remediation projects undertaken by a literate society. To this end I created AI-Songlines as a general purpose system to enable the timely, large scale analysis and exploration of all relationships over time in a generic process.
Where Songlines is about preservation, AI-Songlines has to adapt to changing circumstances. Firstly, the use of AI deep learning tools applied to very large datasets will help the early identification of new trends, variations and issues arising from continuing climate change. Secondly, AI deep learning analytics will enable fast response to changes to help inform human decision makers adapt strategies to combat such things as extreme climate events.
Finally, I am publishing my work in the hope that fellow technologists will do some tinkering of their own and share results. In this way I really hope we can make a difference to the impacts of climate change.
Bibliography
I have put together this bibliography to enable you to do a deep dive into the literature. I couldn’t hope to include a comprehensive listing, but hopefully this will be enough to start you off.
Bodkin, F. (2017). D’harawal Climate and Natural Resources compiled by Frances Bodkin; Illustrated by Lorraine Robertson. Envirobook.
Bradley, J. (2010). Singing Saltwater Country. Allen & Unwin. (2010)
Clarkson, C., Jacobs, Z., Marwick, B., Fullagar, R., Wallis, L., Smith, M., Roberts, R. G., Hayes, E., Lowe, K., & Carah, X. (2017). Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago. Nature, 547(7663), 306.
Entrepreneurial Earth LLC. (2020). Gaia Theory: Model and Metaphor for 21st Century. Entrepreneurial Earth LLC. http://www.gaiatheory.org/overview/
Kelly, L. (2017). The Memory Code. Pegasus Books Ltd.
Kelly, L. (2019). Memory Craft. Allen and Unwin.
Legge, E. L. G., Madan, C. R., Ng, E. T., & Caplan, J. B. (2012). Building a memory palace in minutes: Equivalent memory performance using virtual versus conventional environments with the Method of Loci. Acta Psychologica, 141(3), 380–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.09.002
Lovelock, J. (1995). The Ages of Gaia. The Commonwealth Funbd Book Program.
Lovelock, J. (2006). The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis & The Fate of Humanity. Perseus Books Group.
Lovelock, J. (2009). The Vanishing Face of Gaia. Basic Books.
Lovelock, J. (2016). Gaia (2nd Edition ed.). Oxford University Press. (1979)
Lovelock, J., Taschen, Malene. (2016). The Earth and I. Taschen GmbH.
Morrison, G. (2017). Songlines and Fault Lines: Epic Walks of the Red Centre. Melbourne University Press.
Neale, M. (2017). Songlines Tracking The Seven Sisters. National Museum of Australia Press.
Steffen, W., Rockström, J., Richardson, K., Lenton, T. M., Folke, C., Liverman, D., Summerhayes, C. P., Barnosky, A. D., Cornell, S. E., Crucifix, M., Donges, J. F., Fetzer, I., Lade, S. J., Scheffer, M., Winkelmann, R., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2018). Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(33), 8252–8259. 10.1073/pnas.1810141115
Suzuki, D. (2017). Environmentalism is a way of being, not a discipline. straight.com. https://www.straight.com/news/972276/david-suzuki-environmentalism-way-being-not-discipline | https://medium.com/technology-hits/the-technology-of-songlines-b3e36a8baea2 | ['Dr John Rose'] | 2020-12-29 22:20:54.811000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Technology', 'Gaia', 'Self', 'Songlines'] |
Introducing Sensors, Identifiers & Digital Twins | Introducing Sensors, Identifiers & Digital Twins
I’m excited to announce today the release of our final report from our Department of Homeland Security Research Award: Sensors, Identifiers & Digital Twins. This research focused on digital identity and the supply chain. Prior to this research, I had not thought much about the supply chain and how it impacts my life. But after half a year of deep research, I’m convinced we can solve many of our global problems if we can solve supply chain problems. You don’t have to work in the supply chain industry to benefit from reading our report.
Supply chain problems are global problems and the collective result of the actions of every participant of the supply chain, including end consumers (you and I) who make purchase decisions based on available product data. The more data we have available, the better the decisions we can make, and this can have a positive impact on our world.
In our report we were tasked to understand how digital identity is assigned to a physical object using existing identifier standards and new technologies like IoT sensors, diamond DUST, and smart tags. The concept of digital twin passports envisions a connected, efficient, and transparent future for collecting supply chain data from many supply chain participants using their preferred technologies.
Supply chains are complex ecosystems with many participants, including governments, transnational companies, brokers, farms and factories, in addition to middlemen and suppliers. Further complicating the chain are multinational borders, multiple jurisdictions (global, national and local) and constantly shifting politics. Our report highlights four top areas of concern for the state of the global supply chain:
Numerous Jurisdictions : The lack of harmonization of local, national, and global rules increases complexity and compliance costs, and leads to slow adoption of digital standards.
: The lack of harmonization of local, national, and global rules increases complexity and compliance costs, and leads to slow adoption of digital standards. Industry Collaboration : Supply chain collaboration is not about getting one industry to work together, like the financial industry developing an interoperable messaging system; it means getting all the industries, from mining to apparel to farming to pharmaceuticals, to work together and use the same set of standards.
: Supply chain collaboration is not about getting one industry to work together, like the financial industry developing an interoperable messaging system; it means getting all the industries, from mining to apparel to farming to pharmaceuticals, to work together and use the same set of standards. Technology Interoperability : Without standards it is difficult to interoperate and harmonize systems, as vendors are not transparent about how their data is collected or stored, and all companies must deal with some sort of legacy technology systems.
: Without standards it is difficult to interoperate and harmonize systems, as vendors are not transparent about how their data is collected or stored, and all companies must deal with some sort of legacy technology systems. Economic Problems: Our research uncovered an elephant in the room: that supply chain problems occur when the market system incentivizes profit above all and does not include all costs, including market externalities, in their profit equation. Irresponsible resource consumption and a lack of accountability continue to wreak havoc on areas of the supply chain.
The report includes detailed sections on:
Tracking technology including an analysis of existing technologies like Bluetooth, RFID, QR Codes, IoT protocols, DNA and diamond dust tracking technology.
including an analysis of existing technologies like Bluetooth, RFID, QR Codes, IoT protocols, DNA and diamond dust tracking technology. Data concerns including data structures, data linkage, harmonization, aggregation, and governance over the collected data.
The report concludes with eight supply chain future scenarios where digital identity technology enables upstream empowerment, consistent data standards, smart contract automation, circular supply chain and a decentralized data grid.
We believe digital identity and blockchain technology offers promising solutions to be able to securely share data that was previously unavailable. This liberates provenance data collected in the supply chain, making it securely available to end customers (us!) who increasingly choose to purchase sustainably produced products, while at the same time maintains supplier privacy.
More supply chain data means you and I can make better purchase decisions, supporting the companies that align with our personal values.
Read the full report on ‘Sensors, Identifiers and Digital Twins: Tracking Identity on the Supply Chain.’ | https://medium.com/in-present-tense/introducing-sensors-identifiers-digital-twins-556a22e42bbe | ['Heather Vescent'] | 2020-01-14 17:26:04.797000+00:00 | ['IoT', 'Trade', 'Supply Chain', 'Transparency', 'Digital Identity'] |
Calm Acceptance and Clouds of Unease | Outside earlier today, on the street, I sensed dollops of panic, flavored with a sprinkling of resistance. Many people live in fear for themselves and their loved ones. Or they want to pretend the threat to health isn’t real and continue as if all is well.
Safe in my friendly abode, though, the atmosphere is one of calm acceptance. I watch condensation trickle down a cold windowpane and am glad to have shaken off the feeling of oddness with which I awoke this morning. It’s strange to open your eyes in the time of the Coronavirus.
The inky silhouettes of bare trees that reach crisp fingers into the gray sky are a stark contrast to the warmth here indoors.
At this time of day, I’m used to the whir of my computer, birds that chirp in the treetops, and my fingers as they tap the keyboard. Now, though, a gentle hum and snort joins them as my husband and dog sleep “until it’s all over.”
My collie, I suspect, since he knows nothing of what’s happening, joins in with his master’s nap out of camaraderie and convenience: It’s a splendid excuse to loll.
Up here in my room at the top, heat rises from radiators lower in the house to mingle with the chill. A feint scent of toasted cauliflower cheese, our lunchtime meal, drifts along with fresh coffee, and spicy aromatherapy.
Despite a measure of recognition and tranquility, the strange wave of unease drifts close by like a cloud in a breeze-less sky. And what do I taste?
A memory of this morning’s walk in the drizzle. Of yellow flowers and pink buds. Of dark ginger chocolate from my coffee break.
My heart speaks too. It acknowledges a sense of togetherness. Of people who reach out to one another. Who hold hands across the divide of nations.
I am reminded that in a crisis, humanity rises. These are times of extremes, and though some people hoard with fearful grasps, others spread their kindness wide. | https://medium.com/creative-humans/calm-acceptance-and-clouds-of-unease-7402f25962df | ['Bridget Webber'] | 2020-03-19 18:00:57.827000+00:00 | ['Writing Prompts', 'Writing', 'Creative Humans', 'Creativity', 'Healing'] |
Highlights of KDD 2019 | The full list of talks with the corresponding slides could be found on the following link.
Applied Data Science — guest talks
Rich Caruana presented in his talk “Friends don’t let friends deploy black-box models” the importance of intelligibility and interpretability of machine learning models. Many machine learning researchers believe that if you train a deep net on enough data and it looks accurate in the test set, it is safe to deploy to production. In some context this is true, but in some specific settings, it can be extremely risky. In the study he realized in the nineties on the prediction of death for pneumonia, the most accurate algorithm was based on a Neural Net. They realized that a much simpler rule-based algorithm learned that asthma was reducing the risk of death if pneumonia occurred. Doctors confirmed that asthmatics are high risk, but it was a real pattern in the data (asthmatics notice symptoms sooner, get healthcare faster and receive more aggressive treatment). Eventually, they decided not to use the neural network in the US healthcare system, even if it performed best on test data.
Caruana motivated the usage in this context of GAMS models, due to their accuracy (comparable with neural nets in this task), but highly interpretable by domain experts. Based on the application (in this case, a decision on the treatment of ill people), he also proposed to manually edit the model based on domain experts knowledge.
Microsoft and Healthcare
Peter Lee, from Microsoft, described the potential of ML in healthcare, as well as the challenges they are facing in his talk “The Unreasonable Effectiveness, and Difficulty, of Data in Healthcare”.
Satya Nadella defined the new strategy of the company, shifting more and more to healthcare. Microsoft has many partnerships with medical institutions and hospitals, to collect data and provide analytics on top of data. It is natural to use machine learning techniques to create new innovative products in the area.
The possibilities are endless, ranging from more systems assisting radiologists to delineate tumours, computer visions system to help diagnosis of tumours, graph and knowledge extraction from medical papers (4000 new papers are published every day on PubMed!). A place where ML brings value where you do not expect: Merritt Hawkins found in a 2018 survey that 78% of doctors suffered from symptoms of burnout. A particularly stressful task are medical visits: the doctor has to take accurate notes during medical visits, maintaining empathy with the patient. Microsoft is building an assistant that takes automatically notes so that the doctor can keep eye contact with the patient, and then interprets the text to extract medical concepts. In this way, the doctor can review the notes and he is ultimately completely owner of the process. The system is there to assist him, and it learns from past corrections, reducing progressively the number of interventions that the doctor has to do.
Main challenges in the field are data collections since we miss modern standards for health data. They introduced, in a consortium on-boarding Google, IBM, Oracle and SalesForce, FHIR a standard for data models, API specs to exchange data, and a set of tools and servers to build applications with. US government is promoting FHIR as the data standard for health.
It is the first citizen in Azure, and a server is published on Github. Retailers (pharmacies) are integrating that.
He closed his talk with the message that ultimately we do not know how good is AI for prediction in medicine. Papers have often statistical methodological issues, and we miss a real perspective.
Selected papers
Revisited kd-trees
The paper describes a variation of kd-trees for nearest neighbor search with favourable probabilistic guarantees. Their method gets inspiration from Random partitioning trees, although simpler. The algorithm relies on rotating the data with random rotation and creating an ordinary axis-aligned kd-tree. The search procedure is a defeatist procedure that looks for the nearest neighbor into the insertion leaf of the query (without backtracking, and a leaf contains a fixed number of nodes). The use of multiple trees with different rotations reduces the probability of a miss (just as in random projection-based methods such as LSH). The authors also use approximate schemes to perform random rotations to reduce the computation time required for a search query. The approximate final algorithm runs on O(dlg(d) + lg(n)) with n the number of points in the database and d the dimension of the data. This is a better search query complexity compared to the original vanilla kd-trees which have complexity logarithmic in n but exponential in d. The figure below from the paper illustrates the idea behind the paper with the search space of three rotated search trees being the union of the individual search queries.
Check the reference paper here: Revisiting Kd-Trees for nearest neighbor search.
K-multiple means
The authors propose an extension to the k-means problem by relaxing the constraint of belonging to one cluster, instead they assume that the points belong to each centroid with a probability. The optimization problem seeks to find the solution minimizing the loss over the centroids and the probabilities vectors. The authors then propose an alternating optimization scheme and equivalent modelling as a constrained bipartite partitioning problem. The main motivation for the method is that it allows capturing non-convex clusters.
Optimizing impression Counts for Outdoor Advertising
This paper is an interesting one as it is the projection of retargeting to the real physical world. The authors aim to solve the problem of deploying ads on billboards in order to maximize influence or impression counts. The problem setup assumes having a set of billboards, a set of trajectories, and assumes that the influence of a billboard is a logistic function in the number of times the ad is seen by an individual driver on his journeys. In other words, the influence begins small, then increases rapidly, and then plateaus. Finding an optimal assignment that maximizes the overall influence is NP-Hard, the authors hence propose a branch and bound schema, and use a submodular estimation of the logistic influence function.
Hands-On tutorials
Deep Learning at Scale
In this session, we went through the steps of single-node deep learning model to distributed model inference and finally distributed model training and productionization. We used Keras with a Tensorflowbackend for the deep learning model. We leveraged Spark to distribute the computations across the workers and Horovod to distribute the model training. Furthermore, in order to be able to track and reproduce our numerous experiments, we used MLFlow which is an open-source platform for managing the end-to-end machine learning lifecycle. One of the main advantages of MLFlow is that it is library-agnostic. You can use it with any machine learning or deep learning models. It is even possible to mix different programming languages such as Scala, Python and R.
The slides are available here.
Concept to Code: Deep Neural Conversational System
This session showed a few deep learning algorithms for NLP. The repository with notebooks and paper references is available here.
Democratizing & Accelerating AI through Automated Machine Learning
It gave an introduction to AutoML tools in Microsoft environment. Reasons for AutoML are: it helps improving models, where AutoML tools do not need access to data, data is owned; it democratizes ML, enabling domain experts and data scientists to focus on business problems, and developers to prototype products based on ML. Finally, it accelerates the work of data scientists, that can leave hyperparameter tuning to automatic smart tools, and the ability to manage many more models than what they can do today.
Code for the tutorial is available here on Github.
“Tensorized Determinantal Point Process for Basket Completion” — our AI Lab poster session
There is a lot of exciting research happening at Criteo, we contributed to this year’s KDD with our work on Tensorized Determinantal Point Process for Recommendation. This work focuses on learning to predict the next item that should be added to an online shopping basket.
More precisely, the objective of basket completion is to suggest to a user one or more items according to items already in her cart. Early approaches involved computing a collection of rules in order to provide the recommendation, where all rules that satisfy the conditions are selected for recommendation. This is very heavy computation and not scalable for large catalogues. An alternative approach is based on determinantal point processes model co-purchase probability from item-item similarity kernel matrix and computation of determinants of the submatrices. The main contribution of this work is the generalization of the previous work on DPP for basket completion using tensorized approach enhanced by logistic regression. This new model allows us to capture ordered basket completion and we can leverage the information on the order in which items are added to a basket to improve predictive quality. | https://medium.com/criteo-labs/highlights-of-kdd-2019-22a90c267c8e | ['Criteo Labs'] | 2019-08-09 08:19:14.190000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'AI', 'Kdd'] |
Start writing on paper today! | What? Why writing on paper? Why writing at all?
Writing is a really powerful tool for development, not only for project creation and to find creativity, but also to develop ourselves.
Writing allows you to materialize your thoughts and ideas and put them into words in an organized manner. Also, you get the possibility to read again your previous thoughts and ideas, which can bring you new perspectives.
For me, writing is a big deal since I always had some trouble organizing my thoughts and defining a direction to follow.
I know all this seems painfully obvious, but the fact is that from what I see and for personal experience, we tend to not write enough.
And I can ensure you: it matters!
Keep in mind that, depending on what task you are performing, you might want to adjust the type of writing.
Here are some examples.
To-do lists
To-do lists are great for task management. They allow you to jump from task to task quickly without wasting time thinking about what to do next.
And hell, you’ll feel great whenever you cross those pesky little tasks!
These lists are really useful and I’ve used them a lot on my previous job to organize my daily tasks efficiently. So I came up with this lable system to skim from task to task in an even easier way:
P for pending — this means that I still haven’t picked up that task;
for pending — this means that I still haven’t picked up that task; C for in course — this means that I’m currently doing the task;
for in course — this means that I’m currently doing the task; PC for pending: client — this means that I’m waiting for something from the client in order to proceed;
for pending: client — this means that I’m waiting for something from the client in order to proceed; F for finished- this means that the task at hand was finished and closed by the client;
for finished- this means that the task at hand was finished and closed by the client; CV for client validation — this means that I’m waiting for the client to validate the job at hand.
If you want to start using to-do lists, or if you are already using them, I really recomend some kind of label system made for your daily activities.
Pros and cons
Have you ever had an idea that seems so good that you want follow so badly but you end up finding out that it’s not viable?
Yes, this also happened to me, quite a lot actually.
When we don’t think so much about the concept and the logical structure of what we want to build or achieve, the end becomes meaningless or unsustainable. Just like an house without it’s foundations.
Writing pros and cons can really help you solidify ideas and concepts, as well as to find out weaknesses and inconsistencies on your projects and ideas.
Writing random thoughts
Have you ever felt like the Great Well of Ideas ran out of, well, ideas? I believe that every creator already experienced this.
It’s quite normal, actually.
For me, the best way to make the Great Well of Ideas to run again is to spill out everything that crosses my mind. To Brainstorm, if you will.
This way, you get a list of random thougth that you can read later, and maybe you will get an idea out of it. Or maybe you can show the list to a friend in order to brainstorm some more, now in a collective way.
I believe that it’s better to have a record of random thoughts in order to have some kind of basis than to have nothing at all.
You can always draw!
You don’t need to write words in your notebook in order to organize your thoughts and ideas, you can always draw! And don’t worry, for this purpose you don’t need to become a Picasso or something.
Drawing is really useful to visualize and solidify thoughts and ideas that would be much more difficult to convey through words.
For instance, it’s common practice for coders to draw a lot of diagrams in order to understand a problem and to lay a strategy to solve it. It’s also a great way to explain an idea to someone else. And you might get some giggles and have a good time with that person.
Ok, so why should you writing on paper?
I know that we live in a digital world and that writing directly on your devices can give you a lot of advantages. But believe me when I tell you that writing on paper is really different.
There is some kind of emotional reaction that sticks with us when we write on paper that we don’t experience while writing on a digital device.
I’m not an expert on psychology, but I believe that what makes the difference here is to write the word yourself rather than pressing buttons.
The latter feels the same way every time, but produces a different result. On the other hand, writing the words yourself require you to put the effort to draw the characters your own unique way.
Maybe that’s why we tend to memorize better when we write manually?
Pro-Tip: As technology progresses, it’s becoming rarer to use a notepad to write down your notes, so if you use one, it will make you look smarter.
Conclusion
Writing is indeed a very useful and versatile tool that allows us to develop our projects and ourselves more efficiently. It allows us to:
Organize ourselves better;
Gather and solidify ideas and concepts;
Explain our ideas more efficiently;
Measure our growth;
Evaluate options and approaches;
Practice focusing on tasks;
Some of these actions may be accomplished on your computer’s notepad, it’s true, but writing on paper increases the benefits that writing provides you.
Now, I’ve got to ask:
Are you writing on a daily basis? If you do, what forms of writing do you use ?
? If you don’t write on a daily basis, are you considering getting your hands on some paper and start writing?
Either way, I would love to know what you have to say, so let me know in the comments!
Oh, and since you are about to start writing, why don’t you check out my previous post about creating cool projects?
Until next time! | https://medium.com/@creatorskeep/start-writing-on-paper-today-ac4ce38f1be3 | ['Creator S Keep'] | 2019-09-11 09:29:18.146000+00:00 | ['Development', 'Productivity', 'Journaling', 'Blog', 'Writing'] |
Set Up AWS CLI on Your Mac in 2 Steps | Set Up AWS CLI on Your Mac in 2 Steps
Deploy from your command line, manage your AWS instances, and more
Photo by Pankaj Patel on Unsplash.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the market leaders in cloud computing. It has lots of services, ranging from infrastructure as a service (IAAS) to platform as a service (PAAS) and some software as a service (SAAS).
AWS services can be accessed in two ways: via the GUI (the AWS management console) and programmatic access via API, CLI, SDK, etc.
For this article, we will be focusing on setting up the CLI interface.
There are two major benefits of using the AWS CLI interface: | https://medium.com/better-programming/set-up-aws-cli-on-your-mac-in-2-steps-78faa3ea8a1e | ['Okoh Anita'] | 2020-11-13 15:38:25.329000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Cli', 'Aws Cli', 'Software Development', 'AWS'] |
How to Find the Time to Pursue Your Passions | How to Find the Time to Pursue Your Passions
Building a meaningful side hustle while working a 9-to-5
Photo by Blake Cheek on Unsplash
While my girlfriend and I were getting ready for bed yesterday, she rolled over and quietly asked me, “What time are you getting up tomorrow?”. I could already tell where this conversation was headed.
“5:30", I responded.
To be honest, I’m not sure why she continues to ask me this question because I get up at the same time every single day. Nonetheless, she picked up her phone to check the time:
11 pm.
I could tell she was doing some mental math in her head, silently adding up home much sleep I’ll get if I do get up at 5:30. After coming to the answer, she then tried to reason with me.
“I think you should sleep until 6:30. That’s still an hour and a half before you have to work — think of everything you could get done!”
She was right — sometimes I do actually need a little more sleep. But the other part of her argument is the exact reason I get up at 5:30 in the first place.
“Yeah, but if I don’t get up at 5:30, I won't have enough time to get everything done that I want to throughout the day.”
Getting up early allows me to focus on the things I want to focus on when I’m at my best. Trying to write an article after a full day of work is like beating my head against the wall — it never ends well.
Getting up early creates an opportunity to give my best effort to the things I care about most. Before the stress of the day begins, I can devote 2.5 hours to myself — journaling, reading, writing, and exercising.
And when I finally log onto my 9-to-5 job at 8 am, I feel like I've already accomplished so much.
The Biggest Source of Underutilized Time
I get it, finding the time to pursue what you love is hard. You’re swamped with work, family, exercise, or (let’s be honest) Netflix.
The truth is, if you can’t find time to work, you won’t ever be able to pursue what you want.
Most of my evenings after a long day are filled with exercise, family time, dinner, and a little relaxation. One of the last things I want to do is work some more.
But the mornings are the complete opposite. They’re some of my most creative and where 80% of my work is done.
The biggest source of underutilized time is in the morning.
No one actually likes getting up early, but there’s a reason why some of the most successful people in the world do it.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “The early morning has gold in its mouth.”. And Aristotle, the famous greek philosopher said this about the mornings:
“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.”
Success requires work. And if you can’t find the time to work, you won’t be able to build anything successfully.
If you don’t want to put in the work at night, trying waking up early. Sure, you may have to go to sleep a bit earlier, but I guarantee that you’ll feel invigorated and more creative than you ever have before.
Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash
Waking Up Early Makes You Less Tired
“Okay, I get it,” my girlfriend responded after I told her why I get up at 5:30.
“I just want to make sure you’re getting enough sleep.”
This is one of the things I love about her — she’s constantly worried about me. I reassured her that I get plenty of sleep, and then followed up with something I hadn’t even recognized before, it just kind of spilled out of me.
“When I sleep in, I end up feeling more tired, not less.”
I know, it sounds counterintuitive. but bear with me.
Let’s do the math:
To bed at 11 pm
Wake up at 5:30 am
Total sleep time: 6.5 hours (if I fall asleep at 11 on the dot)
According to the CDC, the average adult needs at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Based on the above, I’m nearly spot on. More often than not, when we’re “tired” it’s due to oversleeping, not undersleeping.
Sure, maybe you could say I need a little more sleep. But when I get up early knowing that I get to work on something I love — I spring out of bed.
It’s addicting starting my day by working towards the person I want to become and building something ridiculously cool. | https://medium.com/change-your-mind/how-to-find-the-time-to-pursue-your-passions-283d7b2dbb33 | ['Devin Arrigo'] | 2020-12-07 15:11:39.524000+00:00 | ['Advice', 'Writing', 'Self', 'Success', 'Creativity'] |
Meet Alex Dawson, Experience Designer at Sainsbury’s | Meet Alex Dawson, Experience Designer at Sainsbury’s
Alex Dawson, XD Designer
Can you tell us a bit about what you do?
I get asked this all the time by friends and family. The simplest explanation I’ve given has been to my then 4-year-old daughter.
“I make pictures of things and ask people if they like them, then keep trying to make those pictures even better”.
Happily, the reality is a little more complicated working across the entire UX spectrum. Even as a recent addition to the business, in my first 11 weeks, I’ve worked on everything between discovery research to developer handoff and more.
My role sits across the buy and checkout experiences for Sainsbury’s family of brands. My starting focus has been working on Argos, which has been a little surreal at times. I’ve still got childhood memories of flicking through the catalogue circling things for Christmas and birthdays. So to be collaborating with Product & Engineering teams and assisting with shipping a new pre-pay Argos customer journey has been great to work on in such a short space of time.
I’m excited to be collaborating with talented people on the future experience customers will receive when shopping online with Argos. | https://medium.com/sainsburys-digital-experience/meet-alex-dawson-experience-designer-at-sainsburys-45b04d4d2349 | ['Iain Heath'] | 2020-12-11 00:02:09.199000+00:00 | ['User Experience Designer', 'Team', 'User Experience', 'Sainsburys Xd'] |
Stephen King’s Guide to Consistent Writing | Stephen King’s Guide to Consistent Writing
Source from Wikimedia.
Stephen King is a genius writer. He has been writing for a really long time and his works managed to reach the big screen, which made even more hits for him.
About two years ago, he and George R.R. Martin had a conversation with each other about consistent writing.
Now, for anyone who has read The Song of Ice and Fire, George has not even finished the books. His last book from the series is A Dance With Dragons, and it stopped with a cliffhanger there since 2011. Now that the T.V. series caught up way ahead from the books, George knew he had to be serious, especially since the last season was a big letdown, which was why he asked this to Stephen King.
His answer is very simple and straightforward, and I think this is something we can take away as well. For writers, this is one that we can take to make this writing business ongoing, especially in the outbreak we are experiencing — we can have more time to write.
If you are not a writer and you are reading this, it’s okay. You can still interpret this in your own ways and can still help you.
Based on the conversation, below is his answer on how he was able to write so many books in a span of time. So, here goes: | https://bettermarketing.pub/stephen-kings-guide-to-consistent-writing-f8653886eff2 | ['Nicole Sudjono'] | 2021-07-19 07:24:03.694000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Business', 'Writing', 'Startup', 'Self Improvement'] |
Hopeless Faith | (photography credit: Tawnya Gibson photography)
It was near freezing and there was a touch of snow on our garden box in the midst of late spring. It brought instant panic, my voice shrill and the anger quick. Except it wasn’t actual anger, but anxiety and defeat masked.
Our garden box is directly in front of our garage and under our miniature apple tree. Our tree had tiny budding apples heavy laden on each branch. A welcome sight after losing all of our blossoms to a late freeze last year. I’m not a gardener by any stretch, but it’s something that has always been in my life. My parents had a garden and with it, I learned how to till the dry dirt of New Mexico every year. I didn’t love the Saturday morning weed pulling, but I did enjoy that first day when peas would emerge and, tasked with harvest, eating until I was sick. I saw the benefit, always, of growing your own food and eliminating some food insecurity, as much as circumstance would allow, but I was never one to be with the land. In our twenty year marriage, growing a garden has flitted in and out. A small patch in our rented yard in Oregon for grad school. A break from it all while we lived in cramped quarters in California. A renewed respect when we forever settled back in the Intermountain West. My occasional garden, however, is never precise and probably haphazard and would most definitely make the masters groan and weep with my inefficiency. I would probably have given up completely years ago, relying solely on my farmer’s market to provide my bursting freezer each winter, but my son always wants to grow something and in a sense of duty and care to pass along my limited knowledge for his sustainable future, we try again.
This year, amid a world of uncertainty, the thought of homegrown tomatoes and spinach sounded smart. And soothing. And tangible. We planted peas and lettuce and spinach and started tomatoes and peppers inside, a new experience for our household. The weekend of mother’s day, the unofficial start of all things planting and green where I live, we transferred the fledgling plants, hoping the starts were actual plants and not cast off weeds from the outside soil we had used in planting. We quickly read and transplanted the starts, including a cantaloupe my son had babied, and crossed our fingers for the best. And then, a few days in, we woke to that snow and my voice raised and my hopes sunk. Quick and sudden and swift.
I sat with my anger and wondered about my reaction. A garden has never been do or die, make it or break it in my life. It was always on the periphery. If it grew, it grew. If we only harvested a handful of veggies, that was ok. It wasn’t as much a hope as it was a means to make sure I could, if needed and to make sure my son had a firm foot, should he need it. So the anger was surprising until it wasn’t. But sitting there, I had to acknowledge that this garden in this year was an act of faith and hope in this hopeless year. I recalled praying with each seed. We were in the middle of such uncertainty, both in the world and closer to home and each seed seemed seeped in a promise. A bargain with God, almost. “I’m doing my part. I’m planting a garden and doing my best to make sure we’ll be ok. I’m planting my shaky faith, please let it grow and flourish as a sign that we’ll make it through.”
My faith has always seemed small. I’m not sure if that’s actually true or just the story I’ve told myself so often and for so long that it seems true. When sitting in your home, wrapping a sweater around your shoulders to ward off the cold, it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s true or just a story because it feels true and important and the biggest thing in your life. When despondency takes hold, you find so many instances to support the thinking and you cycle through, again. That’s where my hamster wheel of faith was before the garden was planted this year. I had gone around and around and was on my way back down to catch the upswing, again, and then? Spring. Spring seemed to hasten the descent.
The funny thing with bargaining with God is that it rarely works. You can state what you want to happen all you want. You can innumerate and outline and be very specific, but God works within rules and science and logic and that often doesn’t alter late May cold snaps and snow that seems to concentrate only in the well surrounding tender plants in your garden facing the garage and nestled under the apple tree. The anger seemed more logical through this light, of course. But it didn’t diminish even with the realization. Especially as your voice tells you that only if my faith was stronger or more sure footed, clearly God would have heard my pleas and understood how much importance had been placed on these tiny seeds and protected them from the elements. But he didn’t and they weren’t and that must mean that our current situation is hopeless and here is the proof.
Once the storms passed, my son resumed watering, daily. We saw new growth on the lettuce and spinach and peas. Through some miracle, onions broke through the soil, like soldiers in a row. The peppers looked shell shocked but the tomatoes showed promise. The cantaloupe seemed stalled, but I’m not sure I can blame the cold. I feared we may have transplanted incorrectly and harmed it. As I peeked in daily, my anger cooled. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more riding on the outcome of these plants than I wanted there to be. And I certainly didn’t understand if my garden survived what that meant for every thing I thought I understood about my faith and my hope and my prayers.
This year’s garden was an act of faith, for sure, but it was an act of hopeless faith. I’m not quite sure of the difference, yet, or whether the difference will be evident as life’s storms pass. But I do know that there is much in our life that is unsettled or uncontrolled, right now. Watering a seed and watching it grow to something useful gave me a little control, back. Something tangible to do while the world madly spins around me. And when I saw that white clinging to green, I felt a total sense of despair. In the days and weeks since, the despair hasn’t fully gone away. The hopelessness and worry greeted me at every daily watering and didn’t go away as we harvested the biggest apples we’ve ever harvested and the tomatoes that wouldn’t quit and that one perfect melon that was the crowning joy of my son’s broken summer. I wonder what that means about my faith. Is it really faith if I need physical proof my prayers were heard? Or is it just a different kind of faith? One born from pain and heartache and hopelessness.
Hopeless faith. It seems important right now. Almost like I’m on the verge of understanding something I’ve not understood before. I’m just waiting to figure it out for sure. What this garden that really was something beyond just a garden in this year when things seems to be just a little bit more actually meant now that snow once again blankets where the miracle plants were. | https://medium.com/@tawnyagibson/hopeless-faith-5d66a437be3c | ['Tawnya Gibson'] | 2020-11-15 16:40:27.748000+00:00 | ['Faith and Life', 'Memoir', 'Creative Non Fiction', 'Faith', 'Creative Writing'] |
Coming up with Little Worlds Toy Shop Website | Understanding Little Worlds
The company, a small toy shop, describes itself as local, community-driven and customer service-based. They are passionate about their heritage and quality products.
As they saw the increase of e-commerce popularity and its benefits, they wanted to expand their business online. And wanted for us to specifically focus on:
A clear way to navigate the website and find products.
Efficient means of purchasing products.
Steer customers toward popular products.
Showcase their heritage.
Getting started
To kick things off, I decided to apply the Double Diamond process. This helped me to follow a logical order in the design process, by segmenting it into 4 stages: discover, define, develop and deliver.
Discovering
As we all know, there are many toy shops, so we started looking at those competitors to see what was working, what wasn’t, and what was missing.
Comparing Little Worlds to other toy shops
Competitive Quadrant.
I then incorporated the competitors in a quadrant format to be able to see where Little Worlds values would stand in comparison to them. And then I also looked at their websites, finding trends such as:
The bigger the company, the more products and information, they offer. However, we do not provide information about their heritage.
The smaller the company, they have a smaller, curated inventory, and heritage seems to be more important.
We understood that if we wanted the website to succeed, we needed to showcase plenty of information of the products, as well their heritage so it would set them apart from the big, hollow, companies.
Interviewing the targeted audience
We as a group conducted 5 interviews, as we needed to know where their pain points were so we could work towards solving them and not to make the same mistakes our competitors made. Finding that:
People tend to buy toys as gifts.
People value multiple images of the product itself, as well as their measurements and being able to tell the quality.
Too many filters result in overwhelming them.
This helped us realized the importance of, for example, quality images and succinct information when navigating, so we could reduce the frustration level of the users.
Understanding how users go about information
We applied a technique called Card Sorting, where users are given a series of labelled cards and asked to organise and sort them into groups that they think are appropriate. We wanted to know how they would go about searching and finding the products, toys. We gave them an inventory of toys from Little Worlds. And we found:
People categorize toys by type.
Some of the categories they created are not used globally.
Therefore, we ended using the categories that were similar to the ones used globally, so it would make sense for most users that already buy from other toy shops.
Defining
Representing our users, meet June
Entering into this phase, we started working alone. And I decided to create a Persona, to frame our user research, and have a user to refer back. | https://medium.com/@carlosdesousaarellano/coming-up-with-little-worlds-toy-shop-website-8dd380723933 | ['Carlos Arellano'] | 2020-12-09 22:32:59.137000+00:00 | ['Website', 'User Experience', 'Website Design', 'Toys', 'Interaction Design'] |
Crypto Links from Token Fest | Uncrypt @ TokenFest has been a lot of fun so far. Highlights include recent Sunset Crypto Podcast guest Alex Mashinsky speaking in the auditorium area, some very exciting blockchain projects enjoying their first marketing exposure, and a really solid Mexican themed buffet lunch.
These conferences tend to be a bit of a black hole. While interacting and meeting with all these great blockchain companies, you tend to be a bit out of the loop on whats happening on the news elsewhere. Not to worry, Uncrypt has eyes and ears everywhere. We’ll cover links today and the conference as a whole tomorrow as it’s wrapping up. On to links:
This is a bit unorthodox, as we usually stick to news items in this space. However, I’m going to take the opportunity of being in California to talk some shit about Californians. Namely, Representative Brad Sherman of Californias District 30. During the recent Congressional hearing on Cryptocurrency, Mr. Sherman put on a show of ignorance with the following comments: “Cryptocurrencies are a crock.” He goes on to talk about how crypto helps terrorists, tax evaders and money launderers commit fraud.
Well Brad, if you’re going to stand up on a soapbox, you’re going to have to accept the spotlight being pointed at you. Here’s a link to Brad Sherman on Opensecrets.org. I hope you’re sitting down for this, but Brad Sherman sits on the financial services committee and receives the majority of his campaign donations from the Securities & Investments industry. Gasp!
Looking a bit further, you’ll see that his top donor this year was something called Allied Wallet; an online payments platform that allows users and companies to make payments across many fiat currencies. So let’s get this straight…a Congressperson is bankrolled by a mobile payments platform and industry that is at risk of being disrupted by technologies that will do the job faster and less expensively…and is speaking out AGAINST Bitcoin? Excuse me while I clutch my pearls.
This quote stood out to me…”[cryptos] allow a few dozen men in my district to sit in their pajamas all day and tell their wives they’re going to be millionaires.” So Brad believes that this is an unacceptable way to make money, but uses his Congressional seat as a pulpit from which to be a paid spokesperson…that’s totally fine and legitimate.
There are hundreds of talented, legitimate and socially conscious entrepreneurs who have descended upon Brad’s home state to share their exciting projects.
No men in pajamas or terrorists here. So, do us all a favor and shut the fuck up Brad Sherman. | https://medium.com/uncrypt/crypto-links-from-token-fest-c6ef383169 | ['Vladislav Ginzburg'] | 2018-03-15 23:30:34.534000+00:00 | ['Congress', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Build a Skeleton Component in React for Better UX | 1. Structure the Skeleton UI
The step is, obviously, to make the empty skeleton components:
The skeleton should look the same as the content as much as possible
When you make the skeleton component, there’s one thing you should be careful about. The purpose of the skeleton UI is to reduce a boring wait for the data, so they shouldn’t look too different from the real UI components. If they’re too different, users may feel like the skeleton is another independent UI component.
2. CSS animation
The second step is to choose the animation that will go through the skeleton. Some people use pure CSS animation and some people use an image. I personally prefer to use an image, especially when the animation contains some gradient background colors.
Original source of the image is npm
You see the white gradient that goes through the skeleton from the left to the right? To paint that every 16.6ms is an unnecessary amount of work for the CPU — it has to calculate every gradient color value on each spot and work with GPU to represent it on the screen. For this reason, I prefer to use an image.
However, in this example, I’m going to use pure CSS to show you how to do it. It may not always be possible to use an image.
I made a gradient background like so to the element that wraps the whole contents. But, this looks weird — you can see the whole gradient pillar. We only want it to show in the gray area.
To achieve this we add the pseudo-class to every gray element.
Remember that the element the gradient background belongs to should have the styles like this: | https://medium.com/better-programming/build-a-skeleton-component-in-react-for-better-ux-b1dca9d783e6 | [] | 2020-05-17 07:51:15.840000+00:00 | ['React', 'Nodejs', 'Reactjs', 'Programming', 'JavaScript'] |
How Dubai property prices, rents are likely to perform in 2022 | Dubai is set to see citywide price and rent increases in 2022 but at slower, more sustainable rates, according to new research.
Leading real estate consultancy ValuStrat said the continued recovery in the market will be supported by economic reforms and an accelerated vaccination programme.
Also Read : Dubai Residential Capital Values November 2021
ValuStrat said 2021 performed better than forecasts, sales transactions broke previous records and capital values mostly reached pre-pandemic levels.
“As the economy improves, with the successful vaccination program and a gradual opening of international borders, market sentiment is expected to pick up further,” it said.
It added that capital values and rents of villas in highly desired prime locations are expected to reach and perhaps surpass 2014 peak levels.
ValuStrat noted that downside risks involve the government reintroducing movement restrictions due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.
It also warned that with an over-supply of apartment units expected in the coming couple of years, particularly within the E311 and E611 highway corridors, prices and rents of apartments are expected to stabilise by the second half of 2022.
“While increases in loan to value ratios aid property investment, the impact of likely rising interest rates will remain to be seen in the short and medium term,” ValuStrat’s outlook for 2022 added.
It said further demand from international investors is expected as travel restrictions are eased, in addition to domestic investors currently residing within the northern emirates.
The 2022 forecast follows further capital gains during the fourth quarter of 2011 albeit at slower rates than earlier in the year.
The ValuStrat Price Index showed villa capital gains slowing to sustainable levels while apartment price growth stayed in single digits.
The citywide valuation-based residential price index improved by 15 percent annually. The Dubai VPI for residential rental values grew 6.7 percent quarterly and 18.9 percent annually to reach 67.3 points, the highest increase in asking rents since 2014.
Read Next : Positive Impact of COVID-19 | https://medium.com/@valustrat/how-dubai-property-prices-rents-are-likely-to-perform-in-2022-57b78dc657cb | [] | 2021-12-22 21:33:09.873000+00:00 | ['Valustrat', 'Property', 'Dubai'] |
Visualize Your Team’s Projects Using Python Gantt Chart | Yes, you can with python-gantt.
What is a Gantt Chart?
A Gantt chart is a bar chart that provides a visual view of tasks scheduled over time. The x-axis represents the timeline, and the y-axis presents the tasks.
There are multiple libraries in Python that allow you to create a Gantt chart, but the one with the most beautiful graphic I found is python-gantt.
To install python-gantt, use
pip install python-gantt
Getting Started
We will learn how to use python-gantt from a simple example. Imagine your company has just 2 employees: Ben and Alex. You want to assign different employees to different tasks within 1 project.
Create Employees
Start with creating the employees using the gantt.Resource() method.
Create Some Tasks
Next, we create some tasks for your employees to do by using gantt.Tasks method
Explanations of the parameters inside gantt.Tasks method:
start : start date
: start date duration : duration of the task
: duration of the task resources (optional): who will the task be assigned to
(optional): who will the task be assigned to color (optional): the color of the taskbar
Create a Project
One project might have different tasks. For example, the project “Clean data” can include smaller tasks such as “Research about the data”, “Choose the best features”, etc.
There might be multiple projects such as “Clean data”, “Build models”, and “Test model performance”. In this example, we will create only one project that contains all tasks created above.
Create Vacations (Optional)
You can also add custom vacations to your Gantt chart using add_vacation method
Now we are ready to visualize our Gantt chart!
Visualize with Gantt chart
To visualize the Gantt chart, use make_svg_for_tasks method
This will create an SVG image as shown below | https://towardsdatascience.com/visualize-your-teams-projects-using-python-gantt-chart-5a1c1c98ea35 | ['Khuyen Tran'] | 2021-01-28 13:33:16.756000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Python', 'Charts', 'Gantt Chart', 'Data Visualization'] |
SwiftUI and Shake Gesture | There isn’t a way to catch the shake gesture only using SwiftUI, so it’s necessary use these frameworks: Uikit and Combine .
Combine is very helpful in this case because how is wrote in the Apple documentation: “Combine declares publishers to expose values that can change over time, and subscribers to receive those values from the publishers.”
In the example, the goal is catch the Shake gesture with the UiKit, with the Combine framework we publish this event and get the combine published info in the SwiftUI view that is a subscriber. Let’s start.
We must create a Swift file, ShakeGestureManager.swift
import Foundation
import SwiftUI
import Combine let messagePublisher = PassthroughSubject<Void, Never>() class ShakeViewController: UIViewController { override func motionBegan(_ motion: UIEvent.EventSubtype,
with event: UIEvent?) {
guard motion == .motionShake else { return }
messagePublisher.send()
}
} struct ShakeViewRepresentable: UIViewControllerRepresentable {
func makeUIViewController(context: Context) ->
ShakeViewController {
ShakeViewController()
} func updateUIViewController(_ uiViewController: ShakeViewController,
context: Context) {
}
}
Where the PassthroughSubject is a “A subject that broadcasts elements to downstream subscribers.” (from the Apple documentation). We need it to communicate with the SwiftUI View.
The ShakeViewController is a simple UIViewController that catches the shake Gesture. Like in the case of the Map, it’s not possible to use the UIViewController in the SwiftUI so we must create a struct that implement the UIViewControllerRepresentable that we can use in the SwiftUI View.
Now see the SwiftUI view:
import SwiftUI
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
VStack{
ZStack {
ShakeViewRepresentable()
.allowsHitTesting(false)
VStack {
Text("Shake device to change view!")
}
}.onReceive(messagePublisher) { _ in
self.shaked = true
}
NavigationLink(destination: SecondView(), isActive: $shaked) {
EmptyView()
}
}
}
}
} struct ContentView: View { @State var shaked = falsevar body: some View {NavigationView {VStack{ZStack {ShakeViewRepresentable().allowsHitTesting(false)VStack {Text("Shake device to change view!")}.onReceive(messagePublisher) { _ inself.shaked = trueNavigationLink(destination: SecondView(), isActive: $shaked) {EmptyView()
The state variable shaked it used to store the shaked event. In the navigationview there is a ZStack, where at the bottom (first element) there is the ShakeViewRepresentable that can’t get touch event from the user because allowsHitTesting is false, on the top there is a simple Text message. When the ZStack receives the messagePublisher, the shaked variable become true and the NavigationLink become active so the view navigates to the SecondView (that you can create how you want). Note the use of the EmptyView from the NavigationLink, it used to show nothing but to have a working link. That’s all. I hope that it can be helpful. You can get the code here. | https://medium.com/@nicola-defilippo/swiftui-and-shake-gesture-53c206eecadf | ['Nicola De Filippo'] | 2020-12-26 12:29:14.815000+00:00 | ['Swiftui', 'Gesture Recognition', 'Swift'] |
The discomfort of being yourself | In Lake Argyle, June 2019
“Wow, I can’t believe we haven’t spoken since high school! What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been travelling! I’ve been to more than 30 countries, just got back from 7 years in Latin America. I’ve been working freelance online and singing jazz, and now I’m starting my path in holistic therapy, which makes my heart sing! My life has been full of adventure and learning, I’ve overcome some serious mental health stuff, given up drinking and smoking, and I’m pumped for a new direction in healing!”
“Oh. But tell me… you haven’t found The One yet?”
From a popular perspective, I’ve failed at life in many ways.
I grew up in a standard nuclear family in the ‘burbs of Adelaide where I felt we were offered a template for life, without much discussion of alternatives. Finish school, go to university, get a good job. Get a promotion, work harder, get married, buy a house, have a couple of kids. Get a bigger house and a bigger TV to put in it, go to Bali or Thailand once a year on your annual leave. Create financial security and save for your retirement, when all this work will be worth it. Drink wine every night to relax, and feel reassured that you must be doing it right, because everyone else is doing something similar.
It’s a valid life choice and I support it, but it’s just that. A choice. Instead of choosing that, I left Adelaide for London and spent 13 years travelling overseas which ended in 5 years in Brazil, where I sang jazz in bars and weddings and taught English online. I drank a bunch of mind-altering plant medicine in the jungle, studied transpersonal counselling and started my practice as a hypnotherapist, travelled some more, became a nude model, got my tubes tied and discovered I’m happiest single.
I’ve adopted and thrown off a number of spiritual practices and paths, changing them regularly like the proverbial mystical underpants and now going divinely commando. It’s not that I enjoy the cool breeze on my most vulnerable parts, it’s that all those underpants were designed by and for other people and after a brief time of wearing each, none of them fit quite right. Nothing seems to fit quite right.
Now I’m a 42-year-old pink-haired undergrad psychology student who lives in a van and travels full time. I don’t like stability, I don’t want security, and I never miss having a romantic partner. The longer I stay in one place, job or relationship, the more unhappy I become, and I am most content with an abundance of travel, my own company, sunrises and warm weather.
I am also plagued by insecurity and doubt. Beautiful landscapes, outrageous freedom and endless adventure keep it at bay for periods of time, but every now and then it shakes me awake at 2am whispering urgently… “What if you’re doing it wrong? What if you’re just failing at this lifegame? My god, what if we’re running out of time to fix it??” When I pause to compare myself to others on the issues that society deems important, these fears are highlighted. I don’t have a family, a good job, a ‘home base’, retirement savings, or possessions outside of what I’ve tetrissed into my little converted Hiace. Unlike my camping table and solar panels I don’t fit snugly anywhere, and this makes me, and other people, really uncomfortable. Social psychology has some answers to this, and if you’re nodding with enthusiastic understanding as you read this essay, you might be interested in the research.
According to Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory, we build our identity and ideas of ‘self’ based on the groups that we identify with. In line with this theory I might categorise myself as an Australian 40+ woman, a vanlifer, a psychology student, a hypnotherapist, polyamorous and politically left-leaning amongst other things. These social identities give us a framework on how to act and form attitudes, basic ‘norms’ that we tend to comply with as part of our groups, and group membership provides us with guidelines within which we can make decisions. Groups evaluate themselves positively against other groups, and when we sign up to them and adopt their norms, it gives us the opportunity to do the same for ourselves. In short, groups provide us with a sense of belonging, positive self-esteem, and certainty about ourselves and the world.
Except I’m an Australian who cringes at the flag as a sign of racism, refuses to celebrate Australia Day or eat kangaroo and spent much of my adulthood overseas. As a van traveller, 99% of the people I meet are either grey nomads or young European vanpackers, and in more than a year on the road, I’ve never met another 40-something solo van traveller, or another travelling student. I’m a psychology student who does not like classrooms and is twice the age of my classmates, I categorise myself as polyamorous but seldom seek relationships and identify as demisexual. Hypnotherapists make fun of psychologists, who they deem ineffectual, my psychology degree is full of digs at the failures of hypnotherapy, and I’m trying to navigate the two worlds to integrate the best of both. I’m a 42-year-old woman who is neither a mother nor a career woman, has never desired children and has no instinct toward ‘nesting’. And the result of all that is a whole lot of people looking at me incredulously asking “Really?”. And the result of THAT is a constant nagging feeling that I’m doing it all wrong, coupled with shame that I’m not attracted to the things that are ‘right’.
According to Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory, we constantly compare ourselves to others across a number of domains to understand who we are, judge our own progress and evaluate ourselves. We compare ourselves to others who are like us to make sure we’re doing the right thing, so we can feel assured and validated. But what if there is nobody else who seems to be like you? What if you compare yourself to other people based on your gender and age and see that in socially salient domains you continually come up short? I have a whole lot more freedom and independence than most other women in their forties, but those dimensions are generally regarded as immature, irresponsible, or ‘running away’ from ‘reality’. Not having this framework of reassurance and certainty is a perfect petri dish for breeding uncertainty and anxiety. The path less travelled is overgrown and weedy for a reason.
Group conformity serves to make the world more predictable, allowing us to make some assumptions about how people will behave. Like it or not, we DO judge books by their covers. We utilise categories or ‘schemas’ constantly, using physical characteristics or the barest noticeable facts to make judgements about people before we’ve even exchanged words with them. If people don’t fit into our coherent, predictable schemas, it makes us profoundly uncomfortable. Despite a long list of positive references, whenever I begin a new housesit I can see the owner scanning my physical characteristics, making a note of my flip-flops, dreads and unmade-up face, asking questions to try and figure out what category I fit into before they leave me in charge of their home and pets.
Which brings me to the Negativity Bias. Anything we perceive as being negative is going to become the most obvious factor in how we judge someone, which social psychology suggests was an evolutionary advantage. If you meet someone who is warm, friendly and generous but has trouble making eye contact, or is secretive about some part of their life, you can bet you’ll hone in on that issue and judge everything else through that lens. She seems untrustworthy, perhaps she is being friendly and generous because she wants something? In my case, I often see people form their judgements of me based on my ‘failure’ to have a stable home, family or career, and the pink dreadlocks probably contribute. ‘Schemas’ or stereotypes are cognitively adaptive and slow to change, so once someone has formed that judgement it becomes very difficult to shift — in fact, research shows that people will overlook information that challenges their judgement and seek out clues that confirm the beliefs they already hold. And since pretty much everyone believes their way is the right way and holds some level of fear of the unknown, you can see how being ‘different’ starts to create a whole lot of discomfort for everyone.
And yet, those of us who choose it would never go back to cramming our round selves into square holes. Once you’ve broken out of claustrophobic moulds and ill-fitting templates and put even a toe on your honest individual path — whatever they may be — it’s nearly impossible to seriously consider them an option anymore. I don’t want to make choices based on how well I fit into the world — I want the world to stretch to make space for me, and those people like me, and those people completely different to me, and those completely different to anyone. The world would be a real boring place if everyone was just like you, after all. | https://larissawright.medium.com/the-discomfort-of-being-yourself-6b604330e63b | ['Larissa Wright'] | 2019-06-18 00:59:36.959000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Being Yourself', 'Psychology', 'Philosophy', 'Personal Development'] |
The Strange Lives of Wild Children | The Strange Lives of Wild Children
Photo credit: adobestock.com
A child’s capacity to imitate and learn to speak only lasts for a few short years. The stories of wild children Marcos Rodriguez, “Victor,” and John Ssebunya are fascinating windows into how we grow into human beings.
Feral children or “isolates” are rare but compelling. Most have escaped abuse, only to struggle to fit in to civilized society once the leave they forest or jungle behind.
Marcos Rodriguez, 1946 –
Raised by wolves
Mr. Rodriquez was born in crushing poverty in post-WWII Spain. At the time, it was not unusual for young boys to be sent away as shepherds. In Marcos’s case, his widowed father sold him into slavery.
He was six-years-old but adapted quickly under the guidance of an ancient shepherd who taught him to hunt rabbits and milk goats. The old man disappeared one day, however, not long after Marcos was put under his care. Marcos knew the basics of hunting, and how to make fire, but little else. He was living in a remote mountain region devoid of other people.
The boy had suffered abuse growing up, so he was relatively happy in the mountains despite the problems of finding enough to eat. He often went without shelter.
Marcos began observing the animals and saw what foods they ate. The boars dug for tubers; the birds picked berries. When he skinned a rabbit in the stream, its guts attracted fish. He was able to survive but was living a literal hand-to-mouth existence.
It was when he sought refuge during a rainstorm that his situation improved.
On this day, Marcos found a small, dry cave. He saw it was occupied by wolf cubs, but crawled inside to sleep beside them. When he awoke, a she-wolf had appeared. She bore her teeth and growled at him but tolerated his presence. Seeing he wasn’t a threat, she soon began bringing him meat.
Marcos reported his friendship with wolves was the key to his survival. He got along well with snakes and foxes, too, but disliked wild boars. As he grew, he learned to hunt larger game such as deer.
Years went by until one day someone spotted a dishevelled man (by now, Marcos had lived in the wilderness for 15 years) and called authorities. The police found and detained him, then escorted him back to his hometown to be reunited with his father. As before, the father showed no interest.
Marcos, 21, was left on his own in the streets of a town he hardly knew. A few kind people took pity on him; he lived in convents and was eventually adopted by a retired policeman.
The anthropologist Gabriel Janer Manila interviewed Marcos’s first caretaker (a local curator) and the policemen. Both remarked that Marcos was unable to adapt to social norms. The young man seemed unfazed by cold weather and carried himself with an odd, bow-legged gait — more like a monkey than a human.
The police officer moved Marcos into his family’s home. He made an effort to socialize the boy, but Marcos never fit in. He had trouble speaking, although he understood everything that was being said.
His years in the mountains had taught him to use grunts and howls to communicate. Marcos said, “I would try to run back to the mountains whenever I could. I didn’t feel comfortable among humans.”
Marcos Rodriguez. Photo courtesy The Guardian.com
Dr. Manila began interviewing Marcos in 1975, shortly after he was found. His tests revealed abnormal social conditioning but a normal IQ. The anthropologist did not believe wolves would care for a child, yet he acknowledged there is plenty of evidence that animals can develop interdependent relationships with humans based on the availability of food.
Did Marcos “communicate” with the animals, and did they love him? This concept is still hotly debated among those who study the cases of feral children. Whatever the case, Marcos fondly remembers his years living with the wolves. The friendships he formed with animals are the best relationships he’s ever had. In an interview with The Guardian, he stated his case: “When a person talks, they might say one thing but mean another. Animals don’t do that.”
Unlike the next case, Marcos was able to learn to speak. It is likely that “Victor,” a French boy, began his wild journey at an even younger age.
Victor of Aveyron, 1788–1928
Raised by unknown animals
In 1800, a French boy walked out of a forest. He was 12 years old, and it was later theorized he’d spent most of his life alone in the wilderness.
In 1932, Jean-Marc Itard’s report about Victor was translated into English and in the 1970s Francois Truffaut made the boy’s story into the celebrated film “The Wild Child.”
Scientists who studied him believe Victor was abandoned around the age of five. His body was covered with scars, most likely the result of surviving from an early age. He had strange quirks like selective hearing and outbursts of rage. It was said he would ignore a pistol shot, but immediately attend the cracking of a walnut (one of his favorite foods).
When Victor was found, he was naked and mute. His only interests were eating and sleeping. He made frequent escape attempts. His jailers/helpers kept him on a leash when they took the boy outside to relieve himself.
The French government handed him over to an expert in training deaf-mutes, but this went nowhere. Itard, a young doctor, volunteered to care for him. Among all the cases of feral children, Victor was perhaps the most studied. (Dr. Itard went on to pioneer educational methods for teaching special needs and deaf children after working with Victor.)
Itard made some progress in domesticating the boy but after years of working with him, it became clear Victor would never speak. From this evidence and other cases of isolates, scientists have concluded that learning to speak occurs between the age of two and puberty. After that, it is impossible to acquire language.
The second problem facing Victor had to do with his sexuality. At 12, he was becoming a sexual being yet had no social context for “love” or even lust. Most observers of his budding sexuality concluded that sexual behavior, like language, is acquired. His unfocused sex drive made him more difficult to work with.
Itard was quite clear about one thing: intellect cannot be separated from emotions and moral development. He concluded that these two human virtues — thought and feeling — are inextricably linked. Dr. Itard managed to teach Victor the rudiments of empathy, and how to dress in clothing, but he failed miserably in other areas.
Ultimately, it was Victor’s inability to imitate that made it impossible to learn. More recent research supports this — children who cannot attach to a trusted adult do not learn well and do not become socialized.
Victor’s whole story will never be known. How did he come to live in the woods? How did he survive there as a helpless child? Under Dr. Itard’s tutelage, the boy learned only the rudiments of sign language and never progressed beyond grunts.
In the words of Patrick Bowles, who wrote about the scientific study of Victor in the New York Times:
“The Wild Boy of Aveyron represents a unique case of total cultural deprivation, of moral nakedness: a human being stripped of education, custom, dignity, brotherhood, sex, almost of humanity itself.”
Dr. Itard abandoned Victor, writing that it was impossible to make progress because the boy was probably functionally retarded. Today, we know it is likely he was born ‘normal’ but could never be “redeemed” due to his lack of bonding with other humans at critical developmental stages.
Jean-Marc Itard is known as one of the founders of the field of otolaryngology. He developed new methods for training people suffering from partial deafness. Victor died at 40, after twenty years of living at the Institute for Deaf-Mutes. He had never spoken a complete sentence.
John Ssebunya, 1985 -
Raised by monkeys
Photo source: Wikipedia.com
The forests near Kampala Uganda are rife with animal life, including vervet monkeys. In 1990, five-year-old John fled his home after witnessing his father kill his mother. He thought — sensibly — his father might murder him, too. He chose life in the forest instead.
John spent the next eight months to a year barely surviving. He likely lived because a band of vervet monkeys adopted him.
He recalls the monkeys approaching, warily at first. After a few days, they learned he wasn’t a danger, and began sharing their foods: nuts, roots, and two staple foods of humans: sweet potatoes and cassava. After a few weeks, the monkeys taught John to travel with them and learn to forage for himself.
Although he was only living with the vervets for about a year, when a local woman found him in 1991 at the edge of the forest she thought he was a monkey, too. Millie, who was collecting firewood that day, looked more closely because he seemed to have no tail.
She saw an emaciated boy covered in hair and brought him back home.
When John had recovered and (years later) learned to speak, he still exhibited classic primate non-verbal communication. For example, he would not meet anyone’s eyes. Experts took this as one sign that his story was true. He had white knees (from walking on them), long fingernails, and was un-housebroken. John was also missing one of his big toes.
John S., who recovered. Photo Source: youtube.com
He could not speak but made howling and screeching noises.
John was covered in hair — typical for “wild” children — and was suffering from huge tapeworms. After his rescue, he was fed cooked foods but became ill for days.
Despite trouble adjusting, he soon began eating and recovered a normal physique.
Because his time in the jungle was relatively brief, John Ssebunya learned to speak. At the age of 13 (estimated) he still retained many monkey-like behaviors, however. His gait, for example, was an unusual shuffle. He would pull his gums back when smiling.
Interviewers from The Guardian asked John how he felt about the monkeys who raised him. After a long pause to consider his answer, he said:
“I am grateful, yes, I am. Because… not because of love from them, from the monkeys. But because what they did made it possible for me to be loved by other people, by humans.” | https://medium.com/chameleon/the-strange-lives-of-wild-children-62ed21aebde | ['Jean Campbell'] | 2020-12-25 01:53:15.580000+00:00 | ['Child Psychology', 'Biography', 'Wolves', 'History', 'Animals'] |
How the Seventh-Day Amplification Factor can gauge the Existence of Corona Silent Carriers | How the Seventh-Day Amplification Factor can gauge the Existence of Corona Silent Carriers
If the value of A7=1.0, then the total confirmed cases of infection on Day 7 are equal to that of Day 0. This means that there have been no new infections.
A key challenge is confronting the Corona outbreak has been a relative inability to estimate the number of silent carriers. Silent carriers can prove to be more critical than the numbers of known infections, since infected individuals can be quarantined and subject to contact tracing; while silent carriers cannot be identified.
We can, however, qualitatively gauge the existence of silent carriers by using a mathematical expression — the Seventh-Day Amplification Factor (A7). If we compute the ratio of total cases of confirmed infection today (Day 7) over that of seven days ago (Day 0), we arrive at the ratio called the “7th-day Amplification Factor,” or A7. A7 is always higher or equal to 1.0. The portion over 1.0 refers to the increase, in fraction of Day 0 figure, due to the new cases accumulated over the last 7 days
This is a simple mathematical ratio of cumulative COVID-19 infections between two points seven day apart. A 3-day rolling average is used at both ends to eliminate daily fluctuations.
The ratio is based on some assumptions:
Assumptions
Patients who test positive today have caught the virus at least seven days ago (assuming five days of incubation and two days of testing). These patients (whom we can call Day-7 patients) were infected by Day-0 Silent Carriers, and not by Day-0 patients (since they were already quarantined). The silent patients represent 80 percent of all infected cases, or about four times the number of Day-0 patients. Many “silent patients” may have already recovered, and thus only active ones can transmit the virus.
Usefulness of A-7 Simulation
This ratio can be used in three ways
To monitor current trends To analyse the effectiveness of the state intervention To forecast the end of the outbreak.
Why is A-7 Important?
It is shown to be qualitatively related to the asymptomatic infected persons mingling in the society, known as “silent patients.” In the absence of mass testing in most countries, it is critical to prefigure the existence of these silent patients. This monitoring is needed by the governments to implement interventionist measures, as well as by public health officials to estimate their ability to cater to a sudden surge in the number of patients. It also helps in informing the public about the severity of the crisis and the necessity of citizen participation in implementing measures like social distancing and adhering to precautionary measures.
The Perfect Ratio of “1.0” When the ratio A-7 is more than 1.0, then the portion over 1.0 is due to the new cases of infection that have been added since Day-0. If the value of A7=1.0, then the total confirmed cases of infection on Day 7 are equal to that of Day 0. This means that there have been no new infections, and therefore no silent carriers who have transmitted the virus from Day 0 or any day in the week earlier.
Examples | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-the-seventh-day-amplification-factor-can-gauge-the-existence-of-corona-silent-carriers-b9414ef3df62 | ['Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai'] | 2020-04-25 05:05:10.303000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Data Analysis', 'Coronavirus', 'Data Science', 'Data'] |
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