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Cheat-sheet for Google Colab | Lists
As we all know there are two types of lists:
Ordered List Unordered List
As the name suggests an ordered list has an order (1, 2, 3,… or other). But an unordered list has no order, as shown below.
Ordered and Unordered list in Markdown
In markdown for the ordered list, you can straightaway just type numbers like 1, 2, 3, and so on . But for the unordered list, you can start with a * and this intern creates a bullet list.
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
HTML
We can use the HTML tags to play with the lists as shown below:
Ordered list
In the ordered list there are normal list, type 1, A, a, I, i types as shown below:
Normal list
Use the ol tag and for the list contents use the li tag as shown below:
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
Type = “1”
Just add type = "1" inside the ol tag this will create an ordered list of 1, 2, 3, and so on. The list items will be numbered with numbers (default).
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
Type = “A”
Just add type = "A" inside the ol tag this will create an ordered list of A, B, C, and so on. The list items will be numbered with uppercase letters.
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
Type = “a”
Just add type = "a" inside the ol tag this will create an ordered list of a, b, c, and so on. The list items will be numbered with lowercase letters.
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
Type = “I”
Just add type = "I" inside the ol tag this will create an ordered list of I, II, III, and so on. The list items will be numbered with uppercase roman numbers.
Image Credits to Author (Tanu Nanda Prabhu)
Type = “i”
Just add type = "i" inside the ol tag this will create an ordered list of i, ii, iii, and so on. The list items will be numbered with lowercase roman numbers. | https://towardsdatascience.com/cheat-sheet-for-google-colab-63853778c093 | ['Tanu N Prabhu'] | 2020-05-02 20:48:44.742000+00:00 | ['Documentation', 'Data Science', 'Programming', 'Markdown', 'HTML'] |
Terraform And PagerDuty — Before You Try | Terraform ideas
Terraform And PagerDuty — Before You Try
Worth knowing facts before you start writing PagerDuty infrastructure code
Terraform is well known for his vast choice of providers. Among these, we can find PagerDuty integration. If you are having a lot of services, users and teams inside PagerDuty you should consider making such infrastructure managed as IaC.
As you spend more and more time writing HCL code you are going to find a few things which you may tolerate or can be completely unacceptable. I do not want to say that terraform PagerDuty provider is bad. Actually, I use it and recommend it. But let’s look at what I discovered in my first attempts.
No support for EventRules inside Services
Taken from https://community.pagerduty.com/forum/t/automation-of-service-event-rules/1507/2
You do not have the ability to deploy EventRules inside Services with terraform. This feature is actually not supported at all in API. Why this can be important to you? In my case, I wanted to manage RuleSets, Rules inside RuleSets, and EventRules inside Services in terraform.
RuleSet with rules should have only routing based on services, not alerts (only metadata from which app/component alert comes). Should ask only one question: Where alert happened?
EventRules inside Services should set event behavior/status based on alert description and name: What alert happened?
This setup is important if you are running many components in your cluster and each has it’s own service so you can be able to peek at PagerDuty and immediately tell what is wrong with your cluster. And because you divide rules you do not have to deal with one huge ruleset filled with hundreds of rules.
Rules order randomness
Rules in PagerDuty are executed one after another until they meet expected condition. Then they add additional metadata and route event to destined service. In terraform rule position is achieved currently by field position (did not expect that, did you?).
Example of rule resource definitionBefore position rules were applied in order using depends_on meta-argument (back when resource was named EventRule).
Lets say after one week you decide to change order. Then you have to update again every depends_on — which is troublesome and ineffective. Of course you can find some workaround and use your shiny scripting skills but that is still just workaround.
So position field is like a blessing. But even in resources, you have to update numbers every time order changes. You can make such process easier using variables and index function:
Now to change rules order I need to only switch strings order in a list in variables.tf .
At this moment everything should go off the bat. After terraform apply:
Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 2 changed, 0 destroyed.
Looks promising. And then lets run terraform plan to be sure:
Plan: 0 to add, 2 to change, 0 to destroy.
Did it just lie to me? Rules in which position was changed are still in previous positions. So what I do? Run apply again. And after the second run, rules changed place. But I had experienced situation a few days ago when after 7th run changes were correctly applied.
The problem with such a bug is reproducibility. I tried many times never achieving expected behaviour. Then after a few days on workshop with team bug suddenly occurred. Moreover, when tried to deploy all rules at once into empty ruleset, terraform could not set them in the correct order.
For me, it is quite a sore in the eye to set up rules in terraform. I am also always thinking about the worst-case scenario when someone would apply changes and forget to check if an order is correct. You can design some pipeline to apply changes until an order is correct but that may not work — once I had to manually move rules in PagerDuty GUI after 10th terraform run.
Less manual work — but writing module can be hard
As many IaC solutions this also gives us less clicking-job. One command and the whole infrastructure is up. In my PagerDuty I decided to keep such terraform repo structure:
My PagerDuty terraform structure
The first question you should ask is why I did not write a module to cover file redundancy. The answer is simple — writing module in PagerDuty is not worth time in my case. There are few differences in monitoring between our clusters we want to keep.
Let’s say we want a module that will deploy all mentioned resources. Most of the time you still have to pass detailed information for rules and with a module, this can be tricky. I also bounced off my team unwillingness to use hard to read modules (you have to maintain them also). They prefer simplicity. Worth mentioning is main.tf where we keep provider info and terraform data sources — references to teams, users, schedules, priorities, and escalation policies.
You can try now
Photo by Basil Samuel Lade on Unsplash
There are two small inconveniences in setting PagerDuty with terraform. Especially deploying whole PagerDuty. Also being unable to use EventRule resource makes terraform experience lacking. I do not know if they going to do something about rules order because it is not such a common problem. For now we can have hopes to get EventRules API.
If you are planning on using terraform for your PagerDuty I can recommend you this solution but keep these few things in mind. Your requirements can be higher than mine and knowing the mentioned limitations can save you unnecessary frustration someday. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/terraform-pagerduty-before-you-try-dd5266420fcf | ['Kamil Świechowski'] | 2020-07-21 08:33:31.047000+00:00 | ['Monitoring', 'Programming', 'Infrastructure As Code', 'Terraform', 'DevOps'] |
Great article Kylie! | The Judicial Fallout of the Trump Administration
9 1 | https://medium.com/@abigailjessup6/great-article-kylie-2ba3e34a96ed | ['Abigail Jessup'] | 2020-12-04 02:42:23.983000+00:00 | ['Biden 2020', '2020 Presidential Race', 'Politics'] |
Insta-Worthy: How to Serve 18 Million Fans on Instagram | Insta-Worthy: How to Serve 18 Million Fans on Instagram
How Tastemade uses Paste to manage and align their massive social media workflow.
When we first conceived Paste, we envisioned a tool that would help teams work seamlessly together without the distractions of formatting or sharing file versions. While collaboration is at the core of Paste, we soon realized that ‘being collaborative’ is more than a destination.
For companies like Los Angeles-based media brand Tastemade, Paste has become an indispensable tool in the company’s content creation arsenal. Tastemade is a well-oiled machine that serves a global audience of over 250 million monthly active viewers and streams 2.5 billion views across major digital, mobile, and streaming platforms.
Staging Instagram videos and posts. Check it out ›
A master of social media programming at scale, Tastemade keeps over 18 million Instagram followers engaged across three flagship properties — Tastemade, Tastemade Home and Tastemade Travel, along with eight international accounts — on an almost daily basis. “On Tastemade Home alone, we do about 30 Instagram Stories per month that are about 30 slides each,” says Casey Gerber, programming director of Home.
Content manager Sarah Beaumont adds: “We treat Instagram Stories as standalone content vs. posting a few slides here and there. But when you create content that’s 30 slides long ahead of time, there’s no easy way to upload that content elsewhere and put them in order.
“We find Paste really helpful for staging and storyboarding Instagram Stories. Plus I can see if there are new notes from my team or our sponsors to address right on the slides.”
Leave comments on a slide
With its social media reach numbering in the millions, Tastemade is an attractive partner for major brands, like Amazon, General Mills, Airbnb, and others. “We share drafts of Stories with branded partners ahead of time using Paste which lets them see everything laid out in a beautiful and clear, concise way,” Casey says.
It’s a departure from their previous workflow, she explains. “We used to send files using Google Drive, but it made it hard to look at everything. Image quality was compressed and images were out of order. We couldn’t send the real (full-resolution) assets and were limited to sending screenshots.”
One powerful feature of Paste is full-resolution uploads and downloads — if you can upload an image to a slide, then you can save it as a download, without losing a single pixel. Simply click on any image to zoom full screen. Then click the ‘download’ arrow on the bottom right hand corner to store it locally.
Paste stores all of your assets at full-resolution, ready to download
For Tastemade’s social teams, being able to work off one central location is a timesaver, helping to reduce emails and unnecessary back-and-forth. “Knowing that we can put the assets right in the deck and a different person on the team can download via Paste? That’s very helpful,” says Sarah.
We built Paste to support teams’ creative workflows. To help teams pitch new ideas, stay aligned and move at speed. It’s a thrill to now see modern media brands like Tastemade adopt Paste to generate new ideas, streamline their content workflow, and ultimately cook up quality content for the rest of us to enjoy :-) | https://medium.com/wetransfer/https-medium-com-wetransfer-insta-worthy-how-to-serve-18-million-fans-on-instagram-90a687a96e04 | ['Andrew S Allen'] | 2019-11-07 05:01:03.092000+00:00 | ['Collaboration Tools', 'Instagram', 'Productivity', 'Alignment', 'Presentations'] |
A Christian Couple Gave Me a Room. Then They Asked Me to Give Them My Baby. | As much as these folks meant well, and as generous as they were to have given me and my baby a temporary roof over our heads, too much of what they said and did was not kind at all. On more than one occasion, they chastised me for not asking them for more help. Supposedly, they wanted me to ask them to babysit.
Yet every time I asked them to watch my daughter — even just for 20 minutes so I could shower upstairs — they complained about how busy they were. Once again, they made it clear that this was a big favor. And a huge burden.
A couple of months after we moved into their suburban home, it was time to start my daughter on solid foods. I bought a $39 convertible high chair set that could later split off into a chair and table. It was an awkward conversation, trying to help my hosts understand why I needed to keep the high chair in the kitchen or dining room area.
They had an ant problem in the dining room and felt certain that it must be my fault. No matter how much I washed and cleaned the high chair, they were convinced I was doing something wrong. I wasn’t angry with them, but it was frustrating.
On the one hand, I understood that they were still young (in their late twenties), and they had no children of their own. I might have been that naive and inflexible too just a few years earlier.
“Do you think it’s wrong for babies to cry?” the wife asked me one day.
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“I just noticed that you always pick her up when she cries, so, I wondered if you think you shouldn’t let a baby cry.”
I thought about that for a moment.
“No, I don’t think it’s wrong for babies to cry,” I answered. “But at the same time, I don’t think it’s beneficial to let her cry just because I can.”
Then, I explained more of my parenting philosophy. That I was doing my best to build a secure bond with my daughter since I couldn’t guarantee what sort of bond she’d have with her dad. It didn’t make sense to let my daughter cry if I could figure out why she was crying and deal with it. Usually, she did better from simply being held, and I was never worried about holding her “too much.”
It was a very uncomfortable conversation. I wasn’t sure why I got the impression that I was being scrutinized for “holding my baby too often.”
Shortly after that, the husband also took me aside to have the first of many conversations about how I should raise my kid. I’m not positive about which of his talks came first. They were all so ridiculous that I couldn’t believe we were having the conversations at all.
Often, he urged me to put my daughter into a foster care-adjacent program that his mother ran. They thought I should give my baby to somebody else for safekeeping for at least a few weeks to focus on getting a job at a daycare.
I was adamant every time that it wasn’t a viable solution for me. I don’t have any interest in being away from my kid, I explained. I had no interest in leaving her with strangers. And I certainly had no desire to work at a daycare.
At that point, my daughter was eight or nine months old. I understood this was going to be a difficult life. I knew my situation was far from ideal. But I also saw it wasn’t impossible, and I believed that I would get back on my feet. Eventually.
In November 2014, I signed on with a social media marketing agency to write from home. I knew I’d get myself together. My hosts didn’t, I suppose. By all of the little lectures they gave me during my time in their home, they didn’t think too highly of me at all.
One day, as I sat at the kitchen table, spoon-feeding mashed peas to my daughter, the husband sat down next to me for one of those talks.
“Shannon, I hope you know how much we love Sophie. As much as our own daughter,” he began.
I tried to hide my revulsion at his words. If they loved my daughter so much, they had a funny way of showing it. They had a funny way of treating me.
Holding my tongue, I waited to see where he was going with his speech. The next part still feels jumbled in my head. Years later, his message haunts me.
“We hope that you would consider us to take care of her. Instead of giving her to strangers for adoption, we would be great parents. We love children and we love her.”
I felt sick at the implication.
“But I’m raising her,” I said. “I’m not putting her up for adoption.”
His response felt so cold. “If or when you change your mind. Would you consider giving her to us? She’d have two parents who love her. She’d have everything she needs.”
The attitude seemed so certain. So expectant. He was so damn certain that I was a failure of a mother. So certain that they would do a better job than me. | https://medium.com/honestly-yours/a-christian-couple-gave-me-a-room-then-they-asked-me-to-give-them-my-baby-528bcf344103 | ['Shannon Ashley'] | 2020-12-10 13:44:11.366000+00:00 | ['Society', 'Self', 'Life Lessons', 'Parenting', 'Women'] |
The Way Back Home | For reasons I can never explain, I have always been a person who never feels truly settled when away from home. There’s no feeling like it… going back home.
Every time I drive through that place, I can’t help but feel a smile forming. I believe that everyone can relate to this feeling, the feeling of comfort and security that is recreated by going back to your hometown. An obvious cliche, but I like to think that all people have a place they can always run back too. Whether it be where we grew up, or the part of the world that makes us the happiest, everyone has their own version of ‘home’.
The place that I call home is no big city, but rather a small town in rural Carroll County, Maryland.
Hampstead
If you asked anyone from Hampstead where they are from, they will typically all give you the same response, ‘a small town North of Baltimore’. I would know, I’ve given this same response countless times. It’s easier to say I live ‘near a big city’ than explaining the exact location, especially when the person listening likely has never heard of it.
I don’t mind it though. Yes, I’m from the country, the ‘middle of nowhere’, a place that most people have never heard of (and couldn’t care less about). But where I’m from isn’t what matters. What matters is the memories we make, the elements of home that put a grin on our faces every time we go back.
When I think of home, I remember being a kid, playing soccer at Cape Horn Park every Saturday and going too Greenmount Station afterwards to celebrate a win. I remember roaming the halls of North Carroll High School, and sneaking into Ms. Seibel’s classroom during lunch so our class could watch Step Brothers before she got back. I remember the anticipation of the final bell, which meant leaving school and heading out to soccer practice with my best-friends.
You see, in my mind, home is more of a feeling than a location. We don’t anticipate going home because of the place, we anticipate going home because of the overwhelming emotions that come flooding back every time we are there.
Within my thoughts, there are more memorable experiences than I can count; back roads, sports fields, and dozens of friends’ houses. At times, it can become overwhelming as I try to remember it all; the most significant location of course being my own childhood home. That house is where my entire persona was formed and every time I step back into that place, I am reminded of all the memories I have there with friends and family.
At times, I will find myself recounting a distant memory that I had not thought of in years. The other day I was in our backyard, surrounded by the woods, and had a miraculous revelation of running through those same trees years ago. Building forts, playing paintball, doing all the things I haven’t done in ages that used to be my daily past-times.
I guess it’s nostalgia, that part about being human that always manages to conger up memories we thought we forgot. Funny how it can kick in at any moment, and we can go from sitting at our desk to reliving the fondest memories of our past. Nostalgia is what makes home everything to each individual, what brings us back to, ‘the good ol days’, and reminds us of who we once were. Without it, we would never have the strong emotional ties to the people and places we hold dearest to our hearts.
Nostalgia is what I feel when I go back to Hampstead. It is those memories that come to me every time I sit down at Illiano’s J&P Pizza, or when I am running on North Carroll’s notorious black track. A unique feeling that no individual experiences in the same way, while simultaneously being a common aspect of our humanity.
For a guy who has always been someone who shows little emotion, I find it ironic that coming back home is the one instance which brings the most emotion out of me. The world is a confusing and scary place and as human beings we are often thrown into the thick of it with no prior warning. We are forced to adapt to our surroundings and trust what we have learned to get us through it. As I begin to find my own way through life and learn the ins and outs of ‘the real world’, I have come to realize the one and only thing that we can trust and fall back on.
Home
Home is where each one of us started our own journey; where we first learned how to live our lives and where our parents taught us the core values that we still hold close as adults. My home doesn’t look like much to the naked eye, but it is the one place that I know, no matter what, I can always go back too.
The funny thing is that unlike the rest of life, home always remains the same. While yes, people and buildings come and go, the location never changes. That place, that stretch of land will never disappear. Home, for me, is immovable and forever where I will return too if everything else falls apart.
There’s something about being back home; I can’t seem to put my finger on it, the best description would be ‘a feeling like no other’. The memories overwhelm my conscious, and I am reliving the greatest days of my life.
The back roads, the late nights, the good times; there’s no better feeling than being home. | https://medium.com/@connorcigrang/the-way-back-home-100768100630 | ['Connor Cigrang'] | 2020-12-15 16:50:45.568000+00:00 | ['Memories', 'Happiness', 'Home', 'Nostalgia', 'Childhood'] |
Diabetes prevention or cure | Diabetes is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be stored or used for energy with diabetes your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t effectively use the insulin. Both genes and environmental factors play a vital role in triggering diabetes.
Types of diabetes –
· Type 1 Diabetes — It is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas, where insulin is made.
· Type 2 Diabetes — It occurs when body becomes resistant to insulin and sugar builds up in blood.
· Pre-diabetes — When your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
· Gestational diabetes — It occurs during pregnancy in women when insulin blocking hormones produce by placenta.
General Symptoms
1. Extreme hunger
2. Increased thirst
3. Frequent urination
4. Tiredness
5. Wounds that heals slowly
6. blurry vision
How to Diagnose-
One should go for blood test to make sure weather he is suffering from diabetes or not there are three major test to identify diabetes.
1. Fasting Blood Sugar Test (FBS)
2. Post Prandial Blood Test (PP)
3. Hba1c Test (Average glucose count of three months )
Diabetes Test Ranges-
FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar)
This test is performed empty stomach in morning.
· Fasting blood sugar level less than 100 mg/dl is normal
· Fasting blood sugar level ranges 100 to 123 mg/dl is considered as prediabetic.
· Fasting blood sugar level 126mg/dl or higher than it will considered as diabetes.
Post Prandial Test (PP)
This test is performed 2 hours after taking meal.
Normal Values — 0–50 years — < 140 mg/dl
50–60 years — < 150 mg/dl
60 and older — < 160 mg/dl
HBA1C Test
Normal — 5.7
Prediabetes — 5.7 to 6.4
Diabetes — 6.5 0r higher
Above the normal ranges is considered as Diabetes
Diabetes Prevention Control-
Diabetes is not preventable it can only be controlled as it is a problem which lies with immune system or genes or age. These things are not under your control.
Yet many other diabetes risk factors are controllable. Most diabetes prevention strategies involve making simple changes in your diet and making a fitness routine leads you towards healthy life.
Control measures –
· Get at least 30 min walk every day you can go for aerobic exercise or cycling etc.
· Cut carbohydrates or simple sugar from your diet avoid trans fats and saturated fats.
· Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains eat in smaller portions.
· If you are obese or overweight try to loose weight.
Most Important
Untreated high blood sugar from diabetes can damage your nerves , eyes, kidneys and other organs. you need to take proper care for your organs.
1. One should go for ratina check up once in a year at least.
2. Hba1c Test should be done at an interval of 3 months.
3. Frequent fasting and post prandial blood sugar test should be done by patient.
4. One should go for kidney, liver, SGOT, SGPT test with the help of Dr. Consultation.
# Diabetic patient should focus on their FOOT every night. Before you go to your bed, check your foot. If you find any wound even a smaller one consult your Dr. wound does not heals quickly in diabetes and condition gets worse. Foot is one of the important but ignorant part of your body. So, guys Do take Care Of It.
DO MEET YOUR DOCTOR DO NOT BE IGNORANT!! | https://medium.com/@swatis.sharma8/diabetes-prevention-or-cure-426d460af8a0 | ['Swati Sharma'] | 2020-01-14 18:07:18.887000+00:00 | ['Diet', 'Diabetes', 'Health', 'Testing', 'Medical'] |
Steps to making an outstanding LinkedIn profile | LinkedIn is THE place to go for both job-seekers and employers. It allows you to share your skills and experiences while building a network of contacts. Recruiters use the platform to source candidates. This means that having a compelling LinkedIn profile can help you stand out of the crowd and ultimately land a job.
Here are some guidelines and tips that can help you create an outstanding profile.
Header
Profile Picture: Use a recent, high-resolution photo of yourself as the profile picture. You should be dressed appropriately and portrayed alone. Choose a picture with a simple background, good lighting, and a smile.
Cover Photo: Use your cover photo to make a good impression! Show your personality and interests. It could be a landscape picture of your favorite place, a picture of yourself hiking (or any other hobby), or a picture of your tools of trade. You could also go one step further by customizing a banner that shows your key strengths, professional accomplishments, or passions. Canva has a lot of free templates you could utilize!
Headline: This is a tagline that communicates who you are as a professional. This sentence or two will show up along your name in a Google or LinkedIn search. Highlight specific skills or accomplishments, such as “Java/Java Script Developer” or “B2B Customer Experience.” Showcase your goals by saying something like “seeking a full-time sales job.”
Pro Tip: Get a custom URL. LinkedIn will use random numbers in your URL when you first create your profile, but you should set a custom URL instead. Try to use your name or initials so that it’s easy for you to remember and share. You can do this by going into ‘edit public profile & URL’ and clicking ‘edit URL’ on the right.
Summary
Think of the summary as a 30-second pitch. Summarize who you are, your background, and career goals. Highlight your key experiences and achievements in paragraph or bullet form. You can also share something about yourself outside of work, such as an interest that might resonate with your future connections.
Experience
List your internships or leadership experiences in this section. Describe what you did in a clear and concise manner in the form of 1–2 bullets. In the description, emphasize the skills that are most relevant to the jobs you are applying for. Try to quantify your contributions so that recruiters can see the scope of your work.
Pro Tip: Add links and media to your experience section. Showcase projects, case studies, portfolios, or awards that are relevant to each role. Bonus points if you can include any metrics/data about your work and the impact (e.g. 200% increase in site traffic, etc)
Recommendations
Recommendations can increase your credibility as a professional; they should support the brand you have created in your profile. Seek out recommendations from coworkers, supervisors, and mentors. Communicate the skills or experiences that you want to emphasize with the recommenders. Lastly, keep your recommendations current.
Pro tip: The best way to receive recommendations is to give some first. If you write a recommendation for others, there’s a higher chance that you will get one from them. Start with your friends and branch out to colleagues at your previous job.
Skills & Endorsements
Skills can increase the searchability of your profile because they act as keywords. Maintain a list of relevant skills that are relevant to your career field and match your strengths. Your connections can endorse your skills, which will help you move up the LinkedIn search results.
Remember that you are creating a personal brand. Your LinkedIn profile is a representation of who you are as a professional. So make sure that different sections of your profile create a cohesive image of who you are and what you can offer to future employers. | https://medium.com/@sagecorps/steps-to-making-an-outstanding-linkedin-profile-c785fe0ef711 | ['Sage Corps'] | 2021-07-02 16:32:35.441000+00:00 | ['Career Development', 'Job Hunting', 'LinkedIn', 'Linkedintips', 'Career Advice'] |
Everything Happened In Sixth Grade | Photo: Johnny McClung/Unsplash
Everything happened in Sixth Grade.
Or, so it seemed. I had a great teacher for sixth grade — Mr. Browning. I had a great art teacher — Mrs. Flower. And, that was such a great name for an art teacher, n’est ce pas? Mrs. Flower.
Mrs. Flower brought in a photo one day off the cover of an issue of Time Magazine. On it’s cover, which she must have ripped off just to show me (and which she gave me) was a photo of Venus de Milo by the Renaissance Italian painter Botticelli. But the coolest part of that experience was what she said. She told me, this looked like me. That it reminded her of me. I was thrilled. Because I thought she was beautiful, the Venus. And, Venus, the Goddess of Love. Who better to be likened to. Right? Especially to a girl who didn’t think much at all about her looks. Who surely didn’t think she was very attractive at all, especially not attractive like that. To be compared to a goddess.
I needed that. I also needed Mr. Browning. Mr. Browning, my sixth grade teacher, wouldn’t let me spend too much time hanging out with my friend Gail. “She’s a bad influence on you, Jean.” Gail, who I looked up to as the coolest, most desireable girl in our grade (most of the boys would have agreed with me) was a distraction. The kind of distraction that boys were distracted by. The kind of girl that sixth grade boys probably went home and wacked off to. As Gail had breasts. Well developed breasts for a sixth grade girl. She had them in fourth grade, even. Whereas, I had none. I was waiting for them to come in. They hadn’t yet arrived at the station. They were late. They were overdue.
My mother told me I might have to wait until I had children to see them. What?! That’s a long time from now? Mom? And, what if I never have children. What then?
That’s when I started stuffing my bra with cloth handkerchiefs. To make myself look bigger. I even did this in 7th grade, after I left elementary school and started junior high. In junior high, I had to get undressed for gym and the pool and I had to discreetly remove the padding from my teen bra to get into a one piece swimsuit for swim class. You’d think it would probably be pretty obvious that me with clothes and without clothes were two, totally different female, human animals. No one ever said they noticed anything different. Thank God!
Anyway, this story isn’t about that. This story is about how some pretty cool things happened to me in sixth grade — which, I deem were instrumental in my direction henceforth.
I had Mrs. Flower, who, along with being an excellent art teacher, thought — and told me I was beautiful. Which was a big deal, because I don’t recall anyone up until that point in my 11–12 years ever said that to me. That I was beautiful. Or pretty. Not even my parents. Although, I knew they loved me.
And, I had Mr. Browning. Who saw potential in me and let me know when I was fucking off and to get back to it as I had more important things to do. Mr. Browning was also the first teacher/person to ever put me in a play. Well, I guess the whole class was in the play. Were they? I’m not sure there were enough parts. What play was it? Don’t remember. Doesn’t matter.
The point is, I had one line, I was in a costume, and I made the audience laugh, and as soon as I came off the stage, Mr. B. (a lot of people called him that) hugged me close and told me, “Good job, Jean!” He was so happy. Which made me so happy. Because I was scared to go on stage. Even though I had been on stage for dance recitals. But, I never had to talk. Just with my body. Body talk. When, he told me, “Good job!” I knew he meant it. And, I had made the audience laugh. I nailed it!
I could make people laugh? Who knew? I was sure I would flop, freeze on the spot, or totally fail in my job of delivering one line loud enough for the audience of other students and teachers to hear.
I was noticed. So, my point is, sixth grade for me was the start of me getting noticed. Or me noticing that I was noticed. I knew this was my last year of grade school and I would be entering a whole other world after summer’s end.
Before that happened, our family of six would go on a cross-country camping trip all the way to California to see my California cousins with many stops in between in a pop-up camper with a few stays in hotels. But, that’s another story. | https://medium.com/@jeunesse1/everything-happened-in-sixth-grade-4a98d88b5f36 | ['Jean Compton'] | 2020-12-04 18:19:30.276000+00:00 | ['Kids', 'Growing Up', 'Teachers', 'Coming Of Age'] |
Bitcoin Seed Security Analysis | An Anonymous Bitcoiner writes:
I’m trying to balance the concept of seed protection/memorization with seed entropy. I have added 10 random words to my seed (that my kids have memorized), along with deletion of the last seed word (which my kids have also memorized). I now intend to save these 33 words in plain sight… making them publicly available, to ensure they aren’t lost and forgotten. My question to you is, how safe is this wallet? | https://medium.com/casa/bitcoin-seed-security-analysis-aed4993fcc21 | ['Jameson Lopp'] | 2019-07-18 21:44:32.458000+00:00 | ['Seed Phrases', 'Cryptography', 'Security', 'Cold Storage', 'Bitcoin'] |
We are Writing up a new age of Enlightenment Online | The internet is the hive mind that can make a better society happen if we unite in pushing back against the diktat of greed that keeps churning out overwrought pathos for clicks and bucks. But until thinking out loud in print gains critical mass, we have to accept it will take a while for our intellectual labor to yield results, be they financial or otherwise.
For now, we are sowing the seeds for a new ecosystem instead of depleting the current one for our own personal gain. Trust that the present we are writing up now will be the future; greed will eventually become obsolete when it realizes it may have amassed financial wealth but credibility, respect, or usefulness remain beyond its reach.
We are laying down the blueprints for a better humanity by gently waking one another up from egocentric darkness. And the sooner we do, the better for everyone; we are learning how to be better, together. When we approach writing as service, we break down barriers, torpedo taboos, and slay stigma but doing so takes time and it is a team effort. If bringing us together is what the internet excels at, it only happens when we share our personal narratives with integrity, humility, and most of all accountability.
Peddling shockers to line our pockets with the proceeds of sensationalism by parlaying outrage, shock, or disgust into cash as we settle old scores is a zero-sum game, no matter how much it pays: it offers no societal value so it achieves nothing beyond temporary personal enrichment.
Surprisingly perhaps in such an individualistic culture as ours, it is by putting others first that we lead change. Those who get to carry the torch have first dibs on what the future looks like and that is priceless: This is how writing online can change our lives, from journalism to social media.
We get to shape the world we want to live in through the strength of our words.
Think about it, isn’t this extraordinary? | https://asingularstory.medium.com/we-are-writing-up-a-new-age-of-enlightenment-online-4089a2a614c7 | ['A Singular Story'] | 2020-02-05 09:11:05.311000+00:00 | ['Society', 'Social Media', 'Future', 'Journalism', 'Philosophy'] |
How Blockchain technology offers improvements to payments security | Blockchain is disrupting industries like Fintech, Agriculture, Supply Chain Management, Pharmaceuticals, and Real Estate Registry. It has found unique solutions to some of the most pressing concerns of modern time. With the advent of big data and analytics, blockchain also provides pioneering solutions in data management.
The first and foremost application was found in the payments industry, with the introduction of cryptocurrencies, making them faster and more secure. In this article, we will look at how blockchain structure and Blockchain Payment Gateways can help make our payments secure.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain can be described as a living ledger with a network of peers who participate and monitor the assets and their transfers. They individually hold all the data of the blockchain but are collectively responsible for approving transactions. Data once approved is immutable and disincentives are present for shady or unscrupulous practices. This decentralized system has improved the efficiency, reliability, and security of countless industries.
Cryptocurrencies were the first application of blockchain technology, bitcoin, being the first of its kind. Any transaction or modification is accessible by all the users on the public ledger, adding a level of security. Just like fiat currencies issued by Central Banks, cryptocurrencies have all the properties: scarcity, fungibility, and non-repudiation but are not issued by a central authority. Instead, bitcoins are mined by solving complex mathematical puzzles related to the stamping of a transaction. Moreover, as this solution is impossible to falsify, it makes the complete architecture secure and very easy to verify.
The current state of payment security
The PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security Standards Council, a global forum created by leading payment networks such as American Express, Visa, and the likes believe that the payment industry is seldom prepared for changes. It works reactively to new threats and all-new payment method implementations are vulnerable to more modern attacks. For example, all critical payments information including credit card numbers, currently pass through the merchant’s payment systems and become the potential place for security breaches. A Blockchain Payment Gateway Development has the potential to eliminate this shortcoming.
Cryptocurrency is already accepted by a plethora of merchants and its usage is witnessing an upward trend. Consultants at PCI state that cryptocurrencies challenge these traditional approaches to privacy, trust, and security by its decentralized structure.
How do cryptocurrencies work?
So far, centralized systems have controlled how payments are executed and users upheld their trust in the central institutions responsible for privacy and security. On the other hand, a cryptocurrency functions not on trust but on the integrity of the underlying algorithms governing the structure.
Every node holds a copy of the ledger and the protocol is governed by an MIT license open-source software. It uses a number of public security primitives and data structures that are well established. These include but are not limited to SHA256 hashes, Merkle trees, and Elliptic Curve Asymmetric Cryptography.
A group of transactions are used to form a block and this block is assigned a unique SHA256 hash. The subsequent block holds this hash key from the previous block and the cycle continues. This exercise links all the blocks to each other and forms a chain, which is known as a blockchain. Hence, it becomes impossible to modify a transaction once it has entered a block.
How can cryptocurrencies improve payment security?
Firstly, cryptocurrencies provide an alternative to the current payment systems and highlight the flaws in the latter. Secondly, it provides a strong underlying architecture which can be used by Blockchain Development Companies to prepare future payment gateways and enhance security.
Cryptocurrencies are legal in most countries and with better regulations, its mainstream application can be witnessed pretty soon. The costs associated with cryptocurrencies to send and receive money are negligible compared to the current charges levied by card issuers, banks, and other intermediaries. Removal of intermediaries would also lead to shorter execution time and reduced risk of security breaches. A Blockchain Payment App Development would leverage all these benefits and provide a fool-proof, secure, inexpensive, and fast way to make payments.
Blockchain has the potential to acquire a huge market in the micropayments industry. Payment networks levy heavy charges in the form of a fixed + variable fee which goes exorbitantly high while handling very small payments.
Conclusion
The payments industry has seen major overhauls but struggled to keep pace with the growing internet and payment demands. Payment security is a big concern, especially when money is sent across borders and involves an exchange. In such a scenario, information passes through multiple processors and increases the likelihood of a data breach. A Blockchain Technology Payment Security offers the perfect solution through its decentralized system, thereby reducing intermediaries, costs, and risks in executing payments. | https://medium.com/@codezeros/how-blockchain-technology-offers-improvements-to-payments-security-f0c8ccd315a9 | [] | 2020-12-10 12:09:13.437000+00:00 | ['Blockchain Startup', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Blockchain Application', 'Blockchain Development'] |
AI-driven Customer Communication — Past, Present and Future | Chatbots and AI-driven customer communication are commonplace by now, but it hasn’t always been like this. It took a few decades for AI to reach its current capacities.
Recent developments are more than promising and today, chatbots and AI are on the rise in an attempt to simplify customer communication dramatically.
Let’s take a look at the stepping-stones of AI in the past, asses what it’s good at right now, and finally take a peek into the future for even more exciting things to come.
A brief history of AI-driven customer communication
Everything started with an article by Alan Turing called “Computer Machinery and Intelligence”. It followed the basic idea of the possibility of artificial intelligence and if computers could ever be on par with humans. Named after Turing himself, a test was developed that rates the intelligence of a machine.
Eliza (1966): This is the name of the first chatbot ever created. It was able to have simple conversations and answer according to scripted events. Holding up mimicking a human for short amounts of time.
Parry (1972): While Eliza was modelled after a therapist, Parry was quite different. His personality was matched to a person with paranoid schizophrenia. Yet, he was able to follow a conversational strategy.
Jabberwacky: (1988): Developed in the 80ies and put online in 1997, Jabberwacky can simulate human conversations and interact with his unique personality.
Dr. Sbaitso (1992): An AI-based voice program that used a digitalized voice. Reflected the persona of a psychologist once again, but never felt very real.
Alice (1995): The Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity was a bot that utilised NLP frameworks. Enabling it to use heuristic short cuts and engage with human inputs to have an ongoing conversation.
IBM’s Watson (2006): Watson was developed to take the crown at Jeopardy. Competing against two former champs he was able to win. By using NLP and Machine Learning he could use insights from big data sets to its advantage over the human competitors.
Siri (2010): An artificial intelligence with a cheeky personality that can answer questions and interact with online services. The role model for all modern chatbots and voice assistants.
Google Now (2012): Developed by Google, it’s able to understand natural language and react to tasks by using web services.
Alexa (2015): Amazon’s voice service that uses NLP and data algorithms to understand and act upon voice commands.
Cortana (2015): This is Microsoft’s version of a voice assistant. Cortana can react to voice commands and use Bing to search for user queries.
The current state of AI and Chatbots for customer communication
AI-driven customer communication is used to massively upgrade customer interactions.
Looking at the customer service that most brands are offering today, there is still a lot to be desired. Customers get frustrated easily because of long waiting times, inadequate processes, and a lack of easily accessible information.
Brands that want to go beyond these service limitations use chatbots to create better experiences for their customers. This is how they can apply technology to improve their customer relations and retention.
The last two years have seen an explosion of chatbots, especially internally. As many businesses are becoming aware of the huge potentials chatbots are offering for internal applications and processes. From booking to IT, chatbot solutions support employees and can help with accessing information more effectively.
For now, it has been mainly larger corporations that were using AI-driven chatbots in customer communication, but it is quickly becoming a mainstream feature for smaller businesses too.
Chatbots, voice assistants and AI, stay informed with the free Onlim newsletter.
The future of AI-based customer communication and chatbots
While the underlying technology for chatbots and AI is growing, many new use cases are coming up as well. Especially the never-ending data input is a perfect way for AI to get smarter.
The automation of customer service is moving at a rapid pace and chatbots can solve even more complex problems. They can create personalized experiences for customers and help them with individualized offers.
AI is getting better with every input at understanding human voices and speech while developing the capacities to understand fine nuances and moods as well. Businesses will need to accept these new functionalities and integrate them into their internal and external processes.
AI and bots are going to be found in all areas of human life, far beyond voice and text only. At some point, they’ll reach the technological singularity. An event where computers learn to improve themselves through their own intelligence for the first time. After this event the options are limitless.
The path to this stage in artificial intelligence is definitely not going to be easy, but opening up to the brilliant potentials of chatbots today is your success of tomorrow.
— -
Originally published at onlim.com | https://medium.com/aimarketingassociation/ai-driven-customer-communication-past-present-and-future-492b573ebdc7 | [] | 2019-11-15 17:29:32.796000+00:00 | ['Chatbots', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Customer Communication', 'Conversational Ai', 'AI'] |
Legalization Is Just the First Step | O ur Real Work Begins Now
The legalization of home cooking in California was a major milestone for our movement, but our work is really just beginning.
With the passage of AB 626, and other states already drafting similar legislation, we now have a rare opportunity to define norms and standards in a new sector of the food industry from scratch.
Home cooks with existing informal businesses are ready to legalize. Others are now considering turning their passion for cooking into an entrepreneurial opportunity. Consumers need healthy, affordable food options, and neighbors are hungry for meaningful interaction and connection.
These communities and stakeholders are the ones who should drive and benefit from this new home cooking sector from day one.
We believe that home cooking business can become a new way to empower and connect, rather than commodify and extract. We are deeply committed to helping cooks retain greater dignity, equity, ownership, and voice than they have traditionally found in the food industry.
In 2019 we will focus on:
1.) Labor Organizing and Advocacy: We will continue to serve, first and foremost, as a voice for the cooks in this movement. We are collaborating with other nonprofits, co-ops, and companies working to empower cooks and promote de-commodified food. We will help expose and reign in efforts that put profit before people and planet.
2.) Cook Training and Resources: We are developing a food entrepreneurship training program for home cooks, which will include permitting and support in starting a food business. We’ll also provide access to micro-loans, lines of credit, liability insurance, and other resources.
3.) Food Policy Leadership: We are working with cities and counties in California to support implementation of The Homemade Food Operations Act. We’re also leading a national academic consortium to develop cook-centric model legislation. We’ll provide advocacy advice and tools for allied groups running bills in other states.
Our work will evolve as the new home cooking sector begins to unfold. We fully expect this work to continue to be messy, complicated, and take all sorts of turns we cannot predict now. So our strongest conviction is that our priorities must continue emerging from the collective wisdom of as many stakeholders as possible.
Our Underlying Convictions Remain the Same
Though the DNA of our new organization is just beginning to take shape, our thesis/mission still contain two underlying tenets:
1.) Revaluing Care: Consumer capitalism encourages us to value commodified products over people and planet — to transact, rather than interact. Revaluing Care means remembering how to care for ourselves, and others, as whole humans. It means ensuring that our true needs are not subordinated to the false empowerment of “winning” in the market. It means working to address “market failures” like food deserts and displacement from gentrification.
Cooking can nourish us holistically — connecting us with our neighbors, bridging socioeconomic divides, and building power in local economies. Home cooking supports healthy affordable food access, community food sovereignty, cross cultural exchange, and mutual support among neighbors.
2.) Redistributing Opportunity: Our current legal and economic systems benefit those with wealth and social power at the expense of those less empowered. Redistributing Opportunity means remembering that histories of oppression have created opportunity gaps that we must consciously dismantle. We need to actively ensure that new economic and legal structures don’t become new ways to extract from and criminalize the most vulnerable.
Cooking is a fundamental tool for economic empowerment, but meaningful work in the modern food industry is highly exclusive and unattainable for many. Home cooking can create equitable and inclusive opportunities for the people who need them the most — building dignity, agency, and ownership for all food workers.
We Need Your Help
We expect the next year to be challenging, but incredibly formative. The C.O.O.K. Alliance is looking for committed and enthusiastic home cooking advocates to join us as partners. Together we will help shape the norms and standards of this new home cooking industry over the next 5, 10, even 20+ years. To that end, we are beginning to form subcommittees, an advisory group, and a Board help co-design our approach and hold us accountable.
Our Board will be particularly central in determining our priorities and organizational blueprint in the critical year(s) ahead. We hope to assemble a diverse group of cooks along with other food, labor, and health policy experts who can make an ongoing commitment to supporting this work over the next twelve months. If this sounds like you, we would love to have you!
Please fill out this form to nominate yourself, or someone else, for the C.O.O.K. Alliance Board.
Finally, we want to thank our 2018–2019 Board and all of you who have contributed in ways big and small thus far. We’re excited for what’s next. | https://medium.com/cook-alliance/legalization-is-just-the-first-step-8b8825d60136 | ['Matt Jorgensen'] | 2019-04-16 16:15:44.934000+00:00 | ['Labor', 'Social Justice', 'Food', 'Nonprofit'] |
Watch Highlights of The Future of Money Interview With Ke Xu | The Future of Money Summit
We edited Ke Xu, founder and CEO of ONO’s Future of Money interview to include the highlights of her presentation. Adryenn Ashley, author of Minting The Future, was the host who asked Ke Xu a lot of interesting questions.
Here are the highlights, follow the link in the YouTube description to see the full interview:
Tell us what you think of the interview and what questions you have. The international ONO dApp will be launching on June 25, 2018.
Become one of the early adopters in ONO by reserving your invitation code today: https://www.ono.chat/en/invite/index.html
This is a pre-registration to secure an invitation code, and the codes will be emailed to you after June 25, 2018. | https://medium.com/ono-social-network/watch-highlights-of-the-future-of-money-interview-with-ke-xu-29a6db2e7ba5 | [] | 2018-07-10 05:58:39.861000+00:00 | ['News', 'Socialmedia', 'Blockchain', 'Eos', 'Crypto'] |
Smiling’s My Favorite | Smiling’s My Favorite
An acrostic tribute to Elf, a modern holiday classic
Photo by Tyler Delgado on Unsplash
S preading Christmas cheer
M ail room table top dancing;
I n search of his dad
L iving in New York,
I n need of a family;
N o angry elves, please!
G imbels department
‘
S tore hosts imposter Santa,
M uch to his chagrin;
Y ou stink! he tells him.
F rancisco — that’s fun to say!
A crush on Jovie,
V oice of an angel
O verheard singing one day;
R eally tries hard to
I mpress her on date;
T akes all things literally —
E ver innocent. | https://medium.com/the-happy-human/smilings-my-favorite-236d25af914b | ['Charlene Marron'] | 2020-12-19 13:11:19.660000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Acrostic', 'Christmas Spirit', 'Elf', 'Christmas'] |
Tech Companies Discover the New Working World — Mindspace | Tech Companies Discover the New Working World — Mindspace
The advantages of coworking for tech companies are concrete and numerous. Tech companies that have already recognized this trend and belong to the global coworking community include Microsoft, Booking.com, Samsung, Siemens, and DB, to name a few.
Alternative office, workplace of the future, flexible offices — there are many synonyms for coworking. What started a few decades ago as a solution for freelancers and young startups, has now become a global trend. Currently, more than one million people worldwide work in coworking spaces, and the number continues to grow. Currently, large companies increasingly use coworking for their needs and often house entire departments consisting of hundreds of employees within coworking spaces. There is also a shift towards enterprises leveraging coworking spaces as research labs, centers of innovation, or as satellite offices. This concept has become a central part of the tech and innovation scene. So what is driving this trend, and what makes coworking so attractive for tech companies?
The reasons to be pro-coworking are manifold and cover a wide range of aspects of everyday working life. Most of the coworking spaces are characterized by their community. The exchange between members in one or more locations is actively promoted through shared spaces such as lounges and communal kitchens, as well as networking events. In addition to internal events, many coworking providers also invite external partners to events. As a result, members can quickly connect to the local ecosystem and network professionally. Through the informal exchange during a working day, new cooperations and partnerships can develop, which would otherwise not be possible.
Coworking also stands for the “The Future of Work”. In addition to networking with other companies, the unique vibe in coworking spaces promotes innovation and productivity. The design of coworking spaces is often driven to inspire and provide new ideas and creations. Product and innovation teams, of large tech companies, in particular, benefit from this and can break out of the old, traditional corporate structure and ways of thinking. The stimulating working environment is also a big plus for motivating existing employees and attracting new ones. IT and tech companies are in a perpetual “war for talent”. Finding top talent is extremely difficult. Individual factors such as the workplace and other benefits can make the decisive difference. Coworking represents a modern lifestyle that attracts millennials — the generation that will constitute more than 50% of the global workforce by 2020. Having an innovative ‘Silicon Valley’ vibe can be a top draw for this generation.
An additional, particularly attractive coworking advantage for tech companies is cost savings. Tech companies of all sizes can choose spaces to suit their needs in coworking spaces and scale their team's flexibility at any time. In contrast to a traditional office, coworking space members save 20–40% of their expenses. Memberships are often “all-inclusive packages” and, in addition to avoiding setup costs associated with traditional offices, they also include all taxes, cleaning. Internet services, coffee and snacks, printing, and other cost benefits.
The advantages of coworking for tech companies are concrete and numerous. Tech companies that have already recognized this trend and belong to the global coworking community include Microsoft, Booking.com, Samsung, Siemens, and DB, to name a few. They use the workplace of the future to be agile and productive. If your company hasn’t tried the benefits of coworking yet, you should at least consider what you’re missing. | https://medium.com/mindspace-blog/tech-companies-discover-the-new-working-world-mindspace-d13bbfc45f95 | [] | 2019-10-31 08:59:35.137000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Coworking', 'Startup', 'Future', 'Flexible Workspace'] |
The Days of Our Pies | I had a “Buddha Bowl” at a friend’s house the other night. I had never heard of them before, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. A dish piled high with veggies, grains and greens? What’s not to love?
So I tried something similar at home, roasting a pile of kale, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and other tasty veggies. I piled the veggies into bowls and topped them with spiced chickpeas and a nice tahini sauce. It was seriously delicious folks; restaurant quality if I do say so myself.
I set the bowls down in front of the family. My hubby, a meat and taters kind of guy, asked why I gave him a bowl-ful of “side dishes.” | https://allswritewiththeworld.medium.com/the-days-of-our-pies-1d64eac6e23a | [] | 2018-11-30 00:38:18.530000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Cooking', 'Life', 'Food', 'Funny'] |
The Case for Stock Picking | Warren Buffet bets hedge fund managers
In 2007 Warren Buffet bet a million dollars that an index fund would outperform a basket of funds selected by a hedge fund manager. He won that bet. From 2007 to 2017 the S&P 500 averaged 7.1% vs the asset manager’s 2.2%.
Mr. Buffet’s purpose in doing this was to highlight his belief that the average return of the total U.S. Stock Market would outperform stock pickers.
Index funds vs stock picking
This idea has pervaded U.S. investors over the past few decades because of the Jack Bogle and Warren Buffets of the world.
Which is why there has been a big push towards investing in index funds with many more becoming available. The most famous one perhaps being Vanguard funds (Jack Bogles’ funds).
But is this where you should really put all of your money? Well leaving out real estate or your own business etc. If you are looking for a “passive” return where you put your money into an investment to earn dividends and appreciation is this where you should put your money?
Well the short answer is yes, of course. I’m not going to go against Mr. Buffet on this one.
But the question I have is for how long? In 2007, when the bet was placed closer to 14% of all funds invested in the U.S. stock markets was in an index fund.
What does the increase in index investing impact the market?
Well think of it this way. The total U.S. stock market is made up of, of course the Fortune 500 biggest Publicly Traded Companies in the world. Think Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Exxon, CitiBank, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and many more both well known brands, as well as less well known brands but massive and profitable Companies.
The U.S. stock market is also made up of little biotech startups that are equally likely to go bust as hit it big.
As well as companies made up of people that are little more than hustlers that are trying to cash in on the next trend to grab your money. Think all of the Pot Stocks that popped up 10 years ago pretty much all of which have gone bust or are trading for less than a penny a share. I’m not talking about the current boom of Pot Stocks, and Canopy Growth Corp. No, what I am talking about is there was a boom around 2010, before legalization began occurring of several dozen of strike it rich type, early adopter types that have pretty much all disappeared.
Ok, so clearly we have some winners and losers that make up the total stock market.
Well let’s do a thought experiment.
Let’s say the percentage of index funds gets to 100%. I know that will never happen but it’s just a thought experiment so go with me. Well if that happens, then every dollar invested or sold would be either buying or selling only the entire U.S. stock market as a whole. Never individual companies. Which means that all Companies would be valued the exact same.
Amazon would be the exact same value as that penny Pot Stock. Ok, so I know you’re thinking that’s ridiculous and would never happen. But what if we hit 90% index funds? or 80% or 60%. At some point that would cause massive imbalances in valuation where Amazon is valued much too low and the Pot Stock is valued much too highly.
So, we’re at 41% currently. So, how high do we go before the stock market becomes unbalanced? To be specific before certain stocks are overvalued and other’s are undervalued.
The advice out there currently is to make sure that you have a substantial amount of your retirement in a mutual fund and the second bit of advice is the best mutual funds are typically the low cost index funds such as Vanguard VTSAX. So, I expect that that 41% is going to keep creeping higher over the next several years. Until there’s an inevitable backlash as valuations start to get out of line.
At that point the stock pickers are going to start winning again. As they’ll be able to pick the under valued stocks, stay out of the overvalued stocks, and then over the next 10 year period as the backlash occurs (the backlash being people fleeing index funds and going back to the stock pickers) and valuations return to normal (i.e. the out of whack valuations start to move more in line to what the Company should be valued at) they would have won that bet with Warren Buffet.
Should you invest in index funds?
So, just to be clear what I am not saying is not to invest in index funds. I myself have more than three quarters of my investments in index funds. But what I am saying is keep your eye out on how much of the total stock market is invested in index funds. If the percentage starts going up significantly, perhaps think about adjusting your portfolio.
Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-case-for-stock-picking-4de5b56c7c2b | ['David Ferrara'] | 2020-12-22 14:40:42.839000+00:00 | ['Personal Finance', 'Stocks', 'Index Funds', 'Investing', 'Stock Market'] |
Indianapolis — Newfields. Newfields really has it all. It is an… | Newfields really has it all. It is an art museum, garden, art and nature park, and historical grounds all rolled into one. It is definitely a must-see site in Indianapolis.
Planning Your Visit
Plan to spend a decent amount of time here, and go with a plan in mind of what you want to prioritize on your visit. We personally spent an entire afternoon here and only saw maybe half of the grounds and only just briefly visited the indoor museum.
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Of course a major attraction at Newfields is the art museum galleries. There is much to see here from their collection, from different eras, regions, styles, and materials used.
In addition to their standard displays, the Indianapolis Museum of Art also hosts rotating exhibitions, so there is always new art on display. During our visit and running through October, one of these exhibitions is Edward Hopper and the American Hotel.
While we were visiting, much of our trip included rain, but we had phenomenal weather while at Newfields, so we opted to spend our time in the gardens and outdoor areas. However, we didn’t miss the opportunity to see the original Love sculpture by Robert Indiana, along with Holes, by Anderson Ruhwald, the current light sculpture on display in the main entrance.
Lilly House
This historical landmark is a beauty. Home to the Lilly family from the 1930s to the 1960s, the Lilly house is restored to its 1930s appearance. My favorite part of this home is the view from the back of the house, overlooking the lake.
The Gardens
A vast amount of different garden areas exist within the estate. From wooded paths, to flower gardens, to sculptures and fountains — there is much to see.
I was thoroughly impressed by these beautiful gardens, and have been told the gardens receive a makeover for both Halloween and Christmas that is well worth the visit.
If you need a break during your visit, stop by the beer garden at the greenhouse for a refreshment.
Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park
Unfortunately access to the art and nature park from the gardens was temporarily closed due to construction during our visit. However, that gives us all the more reason to visit again.
This area of the grounds includes many contemporary art installations and sculptures by the lake, but we were able to see some lovely sculptures on the lawn in front of the art museum.
Overall, I must recommend you take the time to visit Newfields in Indianapolis. If you are looking for additional ideas for your visit to Indianapolis, click here. | https://medium.com/@theonlykingdrew/indianapolis-newfields-d35a5a9f05ed | [] | 2020-10-07 14:54:51.340000+00:00 | ['Indianapolis', 'Indiana', 'Botanical Garden', 'Museums', 'Travel'] |
What Is Link Building? | It is the process of getting other websites to link back to your website.
All digital marketers and business owners are interested in link building to drive referral traffic and enhance their website’s authority.
Google’s algorithms are complicated and ever-evolving, but backlinks remain an essential factor in every search engine, determining which sites rank for which keywords.
It is a crucial tactic in search engine optimization (SEO).
These links signal to Google that website is a quality resource and citation worthy.
Hence, websites with higher backlinks have higher rankings compared to others.
Image Source: Canva | https://medium.com/@webcubatortechnologies/what-is-link-building-6ef4b3cee01b | ['Webcubator Technologies'] | 2020-12-21 17:30:21.093000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Search Engine Optimizati', 'Link Building', 'Website', 'SEO'] |
Breastfeeding comes with many health benefits for the baby and the mother. | Breastfeeding is a big commitment, one that new mothers should consider even before giving birth. There are many benefits of breastfeeding for both the infant and the mother, as it provides a unique blend of all the nutrients and antibodies that a baby needs to be healthy.
Here is an overview of the benefits of breastfeeding and recommendations that can help you make the best decision for you and your baby.
Breastfeeding is recommended by experts.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that new mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for about 6 months, meaning that no other foods or drinks — not even water — should be introduced.
After that, they recommend continued breastfeeding while introducing complementary foods. Mothers can continue breastfeeding for a year or longer, as desired by the mother and infant.
Breast milk is safe, clean, and the perfect temperature for babies, minimizing the need to sterilize equipment and warm milk during formula feeding. You can think of it as a food source that is always available to your baby. Though it is a big commitment — especially for working mothers who may need to use breast pumps and store milk — there are many benefits to consider.
Benefits for the infant
The World Health Organization describes breastmilk as “the ideal food for infants”. It provides all the energy and nutrients an infant needs and provides antibodies that can protect against diseases.
Essential nutrients
Breast Milk provides the perfect balance of fats, sugars, water, protein, and minerals that a baby needs for healthy development in their first months of life and even beyond.
Suited to baby’s needs
One unique benefit of breast milk is that it is dynamic and contains active molecules. This means its composition changes to suit the baby’s needs over time.
Lowered risk of infections and increased survival
Breast milk contains antibodies, molecules that your immune system produces to fight foreign substances like bacteria and viruses. As a result, breast milk offers protection from common childhood illnesses and infections, such as ear infections and respiratory tract infections.
Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, which is when a baby dies suddenly and without explanation in the first year of life.
Lowered risk of allergic diseases
Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of infants developing allergic diseases like asthma, atopic dermatitis, and eczema. Preterm babies who are breastfed also have a reduced risk of short- and long-term health problems.
Better health outcomes later in life
Breastfed infants may have a reduced risk of obesity and diabetes later in life.
The AAP’s policy statement on breastfeeding says that even with complex confounding factors (factors that influence a study’s outcomes) there is a 15 to 30 percent reduction in adolescent and adult obesity rates if any breastfeeding occurred in infancy compared with no breastfeeding.
Bonding with mother
Breastfeeding also provides an opportunity for mothers and babies to bond. The skin-to-skin contact and eye contact can help babies feel secure.
Benefits for the mother
Mothers also benefit from breastfeeding, such as a reduced risk of contracting breast or ovarian cancer.
Breastfeeding triggers the release of the hormone oxytocin, which allows milk to flow more easily and promotes bonding and affection between mother and baby. Oxytocin also causes the uterus to contract, which can help it return to normal size more quickly after pregnancy.
Tips for breastfeeding mothers
Breastfeeding also has its challenges, such as getting the baby to latch on correctly.
Good latching practices start from birth. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says: “Holding your baby directly against your bare skin right after birth triggers reflexes that help the baby to attach or ‘latch on’ to your breast.”
To help your baby latch on, be sure that they’re in a comfortable position facing you. Then, cup your breast in your hand and use your nipple to stroke your baby’s lower lip until they open their mouth. When they do, bring the baby closer to your breast and aim the nipple toward the roof of the mouth.
Visit the ACOG’s website for other tips on breastfeeding, such as recognizing when your baby is hungry, how often to breastfeed, and getting a balanced diet.
Talk to your doctor about breastfeeding
Some mothers may have trouble breastfeeding and may need additional support. It’s a learning process for both the mother and baby. Women with certain medical conditions or taking some medications may be unable to breastfeed. Be sure to chat with your doctor about breastfeeding, including any concerns you may have.
Another challenge is that milk ducts can sometimes become clogged during breastfeeding, leading to lactational mastitis, a breast infection that can lead to tenderness, swelling, pain, and potentially a yeast infection.
If you have mastitis, Alpha can help. With our online consultations, you can receive healthcare from the comfort of your home. Sign up today for advice and treatment from one of our licensed medical providers. | https://medium.com/alpha-medical/benefits-of-breastfeeding-62c580528510 | ['Astrid Casimire'] | 2020-09-21 21:32:12.392000+00:00 | ['Womens Health', 'Healthcare', 'Motherhood', 'Breastfeeding', 'Alpha Medical'] |
A hint of MEGA PROJECT Problem in AMAL Fellowship | In our 3rd project work, we are assigned to bring solutions to some societies problems or gaps that we think we can solve them with our creativity. Some of my solutions to problems are as under.
1. Home Kitchen
Problem Statement I have observed professional people and students living in hostels (away from their home and family), often have to compromise on home-made.
Origin of Idea: Many of people who have lived a life in hostel can relate to it. One of my friend told me a story about how they hired an AUNT (commonly Aunti) living near their hostel to cook for them in exchange of money. So both parties were quite happy. My friends were enjoying home-made delicious food and Aunti was earning money by working from home.
Solution: We can create an online platform by making home-based housewives to cook for hostel-based professionals and students and deliver them these delicious homemade food items. Our items will be cost effective and hygienic and fresh too.
Discussion: I have discussed my idea with many relatable people and they have share the following views on this.
Food panda is already doing it. How will housewives will agree to cook? The idea is amazing if it starts functioning What will be the quality check? How much capital will be required for this setup?
2. Freelance Outsource Site
Problem Statement: Many of successful freelancers of Pakistan who are earning quite successfully through sites like Fiverr and Upwork, likes to outsource their orders to others freelancers at lesser rates through Facebook or Whatsapp groups.
Solution: We can create a site for such tasks and mainstream all these buying and selling of tasks and works.
Discussion: I have discussed my idea with many relatable people and they have share the following views on this. | https://medium.com/@engrshayan164/a-hint-of-mega-project-problem-in-amal-fellowship-dce0a8190d0e | ['Engr Shayan Ahmad'] | 2020-12-25 19:10:24.588000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Amal Fellowship', 'Amal Academy', 'Covid 19', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Crypto Innovation Spotlight 3: MAST | In this post, I intended to discuss some background on MAST, what it does, and its implications. However, in doing so, I came across a phenomenal post by David Harding that accomplishes all of the above. I won’t attempt to improve upon that article and instead hope to add to the discussion by further emphasizing & summarizing a couple of points as well as discussing perspectives on higher-level design objectives of crypto networks and how MAST aligns with those objectives.
First, here’s David Harding’s post on Bitcoin Tech Talk “What is a Bitcoin Merklized Abstract Syntax Tree (MAST)?”
Summary
The tl;dr is that MAST moves a significant portion of smart contract processing and storage off-chain and, in doing so, could materially increase Bitcoin’s functionality (more complex smart contracts), privacy (fewer details of smart contract are divulged publicly), and efficiency (consumes fewer network resources in executing and verifying these contracts). Essentially, with MAST we could get more functionality and more privacy without additionally burdening the network.
The importance of Win-Win-Wins: Thoughts on Crypto Design Objectives
What’s great about MAST is that it’s a rare win-win-win in terms of what is often otherwise a tradeoff between functionality-efficiency-privacy. Typically, new functionality and improved privacy come at the expense of efficiency. A quick look at these (sometimes conflicting) objectives:
Functionality: Stated most simply, we want more people to be able to do more things with more people on the network. All else equal, people get more utility from the network when they can do more things on it — it follows that we want to increase the number of things people can do on the network. If it were as simple as that, crypto development would be a straightforward process of “MOAR features!!”.
However, all else isn’t equal and the desire to “do more” must be weighed against the second design objective to maximize potential participation.
Efficiency: We want to minimize resource requirements for network participants such as full nodes and miners that provide the critical services upon which the network depends. That means minimizing the amount of data that needs to be processed and stored on the network level.
In general, we want to avoid changes that discourage valuable network participants from providing their services. Most commonly, adding more “features” or “functionality” comes at the expense of increasing resource requirements for network participants such as “full nodes” (which keep the network honest by independently verifying transactions).
Privacy: Network privacy is desirable for a couple of reasons. First, it’s closer to current user expectations: Nobody publishes their entire bank balance and transaction history online for the whole world to see, nor do they publish all of the terms of every contract they’ve entered — nor do most people actually want to do this with crypto. Second, privacy goes hand-in-hand with fungibility — an important quality that is important to preserve.
For example, Monero specializes in privacy — which comes at the expense of efficiency (confidential transactions are much larger). Similarly, Ethereum specializes in features (more expressive programming language) — which comes at the expense of efficiency (smart contracts demand more processing and storage resources).
The friction in those tradeoffs is why it’s all the more important to find win-win-wins to improve public blockchains like Bitcoin that already exist in the wild.
Ultimately, MAST seems to fit the bill as a win-win-win: By moving a significant portion of smart contract processing and storage off-chain, MAST increases efficiency (fewer network resources needed to execute, verify, and store contracts), improves privacy (fewer details of the contract are divulged publicly), and increases functionality (more expressive smart contracts).
Indeed, minimizing on-chain usage in terms of data storage and processing is how all of the innovations discussed thus far in the series gain their efficiency, functionality, and privacy advantages including Schnorr Signatures and Scriptless Scripts.
Additional Note: While MAST itself is already a privacy improvement, there’s another proposal (via Gregory Maxwell) known as Taproot that would even further improve privacy. With Taproot, a MAST transaction would look just like any other transaction — otherwise, as currently proposed, the fact that a transaction is a MAST transaction would be publicly evident on the blockchain.
Key People and Additional Resources
· David Harding post on BitcoinTechTalk
· MAST proposal by Johnson Lau BIP 114
· Mark Friendbach (aka maaku) working on another | https://medium.com/blockchain-capital-blog/crypto-innovation-spotlight-3-mast-e3eead7a2c6f | ['Spencer Bogart'] | 2018-05-30 18:18:55.286000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Fintech', 'Bitcoin'] |
Don’t Tell Me You’re A Christian | There’s one in most every online chat,
(it’s your attention that they seek.)
They’ll proudly profess they are “a Christian”.
but then lie every time they type or speak.
They’ll say they read the Bible and yet,
their Bible’s pages appear pristine.
They’re in church every time it’s open
but behind closed doors they’re being mean,
to their wary spouse and nervous children
who rarely give them any reason why.
Don’t tell me you’re a Christian,sir, ma’am,
don’t bother, don’t even try.
If a car in front of them moves too slow,
they’ll loudly cuss the elderly out.
Somewhere down the line they forgot,
what being a Christian is all about.
If they can’t love and cherish their family,
who look up to them each day to lead,
what kind of harvest will they one day reap
scattering all that rotted seed ?
If they can’t be kind to their own spouse,
they fail in the role Christ gave them to do.
How will they ever pray for their enemies,
or forgive from the heart as we’re told to ?
I judge no one, for there is ONLY One,
wise and loving enough to fill those shoes,
but I know being a Christian has never been,
some meaningless label we claim or choose.
We must use the manual God gave mankind,
to instruct Christians how they should behave,
including Christ’s words there, who loved us
so much,
he faced being tortured into the grave.
God sent His only begotten Son here,
because of His love for you and I.
Don’t tell me you’re a Christian,
show me you are -
each day we each must try,
to fully love God, Jesus and others,
just as God and Jesus loved us, first.
Don’t tell me you’re a Christian,
do your best to show it, each day,
I pray,
and not your worst.
Kathleen Hussey December 15, 2020 | https://medium.com/@kathyhussey/dont-tell-me-you-re-a-christian-97e3f631ff90 | ['Kathleen Hussey'] | 2021-01-12 13:45:50.481000+00:00 | ['God', 'Christianity', 'Faith and Life', 'Christian', 'Character'] |
Crossing the Finish Line: Here’s What We Accomplished During Merry Week of Giving | By Mandy Zavosky (Moug)
As we wrap up 2020, I’m thrilled to share that we’ve also closed out another fantastic Merry Week of Giving at Merritt Group. Despite shifting gears to accommodate a more virtual, socially-distanced world, we’ve been able to exceed our expectations raising more than $5,000 for No Kid Hungry.
Some key highlights this year included:
$5,000+ raised for No Kid Hungry
121 participants
16 states represented (CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, VA, and WI)
83.4 miles logged
Our fun didn’t stop with our Merrython! To round out our first all virtual Merry Week of Giving, we supported the following:
We are already counting down the days until Merrython 2021 and our next Merry Week of Giving! If you did participate in this year’s event, but haven’t shared your experience with us it’s not too late. Please tag #MerrittMerrython and Merritt Group on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
Wishing you a happy and healthy 2021!
Best,
The Merry Week of Giving Committee
Learn more about Merritt Group’s culture of giving. | https://medium.com/merritt-group/crossing-the-finish-line-heres-what-we-accomplished-during-merry-week-of-giving-f25151c23b1d | ['Natalie Robertson'] | 2020-12-22 21:40:29.533000+00:00 | ['Holidays', 'Philanthropy'] |
UX Read-A-Long #2 | UX Read-A-Long #2
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries
Heya Bookclubers — It is high time for another UX “read-a-long”.
Cover of “Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries”
This time we will be reading Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve Portigal. The book offers “personal accounts of the challenges researchers encounter out in the field, where mishaps are inevitable, yet incredibly instructive.” You can also read a sample chapter of the book on UX Matters.
The Discount
The lovely people at Rosenfeld Media have provided us with a discount code to give our followers and read-a-long participants.
Discount code:TheUXBookClub
This code will get you 20% off your order at Rosenfeld Media. Feel free to use it for any of their books that you’d like to read. (We suggest adding The User Experience Team of One and Validating Product Ideas to your shopping cart.) | https://medium.com/the-ux-book-club/ux-read-a-long-2-1fb0c491df3d | ['Meg D-K'] | 2017-02-22 15:39:01.392000+00:00 | ['User Research', 'UX', 'Books', 'Design', 'Ethnography'] |
You don’t know what you don’t know… until you know: The Dunning-Kruger Effect. | The Dunning-Kruger Effect on full display in Clueless (1995).
While doing research for my thesis, I came across an article entitled The Dunning-Kruger Effect: On Being Ignorant of One’s Own Ignorance.
With a title like that, I felt compelled — not just out of boredom — to set aside the battered pages of my research and read the article.
One month later, my friend texted me, describing someone as “clueless” and followed up with, “Dunning-Kruger Effect.”
Later, a LinkedIn connection introduced himself and his blog and had written a recent post on the same topic. His therapist’s perspective on the issue was an interesting one.
My first introduction to the topic of ignorance of one’s ignorance came by way of my own blog project called The Ardent Reader.
I read and reviewed a book called The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen. One of my key takeaways was as follows:
“[The book] begins with one simple lesson: the more ‘well-read’ you are, the more you will understand how little you actually know — and will be able to know — during the course of your life. Throughout the past year, I’ve been overwhelmingly disturbed by the fact that the less I knew, the smarter I thought I was. Hence the reason why everyone should make reading a priority.”
Got the old noggin joggin’ yet?
The less I knew, the smarter I thought I was.
The more I read, the more I realized how much I didn’t know.
Stay with me as I try to explain this, because it seems to go in circles.
Ignorance — the word in its strictest definition — is a lack of knowledge or information.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect deals with being ignorant of your own ignorance.
We don’t know what we don’t know, and we aren’t aware that we don’t know it.
As a result, we live our lives in a kind of bubble based on our limited awareness.
Some people recognize their own ignorance and seek to become better informed.
Other people never realize the extent of their own ignorance and go through life thinking they’re freaking great.
They’re overconfident.
This is the essence of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
David Dunning and Justin Kruger collaborated to name and study this effect.
Here’s an excerpt from an article from Dunning (2011), published in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology:
“In essence, we proposed that when it came to judgments of performance based on knowledge, poor performers would face a double burden. First, deficits in their expertise would lead them to make many mistakes. Second, those exact same deficits would lead them to be unable to recognize when they were making mistakes and when other people were choosing more wisely. As a consequence, because poor performers were choosing the responses that they thought were the most reasonable, this would lead them to think they were doing quite well when they were doing anything but.”
Right now, you may be thinking of someone who could have made an excellent subject for this study.
Or maybe you’re thinking, “Oh my GOD. Could that be me?”
Sometimes we recognize Dunning-Kruger in others. We roll our eyes and whisper, “She’s in her own world.” Or, “He suffers from a lack of perspective.”
But can we recognize it in ourselves?
Good news: To a certain degree, we can, and we do.
But only through acquired knowledge and experience.
My personal prescription includes reading, writing, formal and informal education, doing grunt work (waiting tables, for example), and seeking other perspectives.
And if you really want to gain new perspectives, do something that makes you uncomfortable. (For me it’s being dirty and camping in a tent.)
Dunning wrote:
“We have shown that once poor performers are educated out of their incompetence, they show ample ability and willingness to recognize the errors of their past ways. Evidence already suggests people who are more educated (which we can take as a proxy for literacy) are better able to separate what they know from what they do not.”
Here’s a made up scenario:
You ask me what I think of lightning rods.
I am educated enough to know I know nothing about lightning rods. I say, “I don’t know anything about lightning rods.”
Now we have a starting point for a conversation, in which you tell me what you know about lightning rods.
And I might learn something.
But if I shrugged and said, “Of course!” you might simply change the topic — and perhaps even write me off as a smug jerk.
Life is full of paradoxes, and this is just another one:
When we recognize our lack of knowledge, we see where we need to fill in the gaps.
And then our education can begin. | https://estherhofknechtcurtis.medium.com/you-dont-what-you-don-t-know-until-you-know-the-dunning-kruger-effect-c32a4708263e | ['Esther Hofknecht Curtis'] | 2019-07-14 20:49:15.712000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Self Improvement', 'Dunning Kruger', 'Education', 'Psychology'] |
Grab the 4-star Eufy RoboVac 30C robot vacuum for just $180 | When today is over, it will never come back | https://medium.com/@angie23300612/grab-the-4-star-eufy-robovac-30c-robot-vacuum-for-just-180-abde74252fed | [] | 2020-12-20 14:03:38.258000+00:00 | ['Surveillance', 'Tvs', 'Gear', 'Connected Home'] |
Forever Dream — (Chapter 3) Still Riding The School Bus | “I told you this before and I’m repeating myself again; I can’t guarantee anything, Hide!” The man yells at him, nose flaring and hair messy. “If you can’t trust me with all the details then just say it and I’ll leave. I don’t want to get woken up each night just for you to through a hissy fit every time she refuses to cooperate.”
Hide bares his teeth angrily at the short man and looks about ready to throw a punch. But the other man doesn’t flinch under the glare and once again Hide is reminded of just how weak he is.
Just how dependent.
He pulls at his hair angrily, screaming as he moves away and trains his anger towards a nearby the vase that shatters too easily. Heaving madly, he breaks a few more items around the room — a wine glass, a water dispenser, an easel, and a pair of handcuffs. This continues for some time, during which his companion takes to sitting in the sofa chair near the window and continuing with his drink.
Enjoying his private, little show.
Hide stops when the room starts to resemble a hut in Ohio that’s been through a Tornado. He’s hurt himself in the process too. Bloody knuckles and a purple bump on his forehead. Glaring at the man who’s looking at him in amusement.
“You said you could fix her,” he mutters dangerously. Eyes locked with the other man’s. “I brought her here because you fucking said you could fix her!”
“And you said she’s your girlfriend.” The man strides towards Hide swiftly, grabbing his hand to press into his bleeding knuckles as he continues, “but we both know that’s far from the truth, don’t we, Hide? So, tell me. Who is she?”
Hide winces against the pressure on his weeping knuckles and snarls at the man. Bending down as if to mock the man’s height. “Aw~ did I break your little heart, Dr Kagawa?” He pouts mockingly. An air of self-satisfaction takes over him when he sees Kagawa flinch at the remark. Kagawa is quick school his expression to his previous aloofness, but he can’t fool Hide.
“Who. Is she?”
Bending further down, Hide is just an inch away from Kagawa’s face and grins as he speaks, “why so curious, Doctor? Is the payment not enough?” He bites his lips as he says that and Kagawa visibly shivers at the words.
Hide moves away with a triumphant smirk and strolls towards the sofa chair Kagawa had previously occupied. Taking a sip from the champagne glass the other man had been drinking from, he cackles like a crazy dog. His demonic voice echoing off the walls like an omen.
And then he falls silent. Letting the quietness of the night engulf them makes me feel powerful. Like he’s in charge.
“She’s Hanazaki’s daughter,” he whispers after some time and when Kagawa issues a small gasp, he adds, “and I need her in her FUCKING SENSES!”
Hide’s voice rings sharply in Kagawa’s but the man is oblivious to the sound. He’s too busy taking in the information hurled at him.
The heir of the Hanazaki empire.
Hide watches him look at the closed bedroom door behind which the girl in question is muttering weird nothings and Kagawa is left speechless. She’s my ticket to the big leagues.
It takes several minutes before he speaks. Hide smirks at his hesitation because he knows exactly what Kagawa will say. “How long do we have to fix her then?” Hide smiles at the question and moves towards the man. Patting his back as if consoling.
“Three weeks.” | https://medium.com/@dunyazatde/still-riding-the-school-bus-4e733f6a8a0f | [] | 2020-11-22 19:39:48.176000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Fiction', 'Series', 'Forever Dream', 'Magical Realism'] |
Who is Lil Truth | Brandon Hack, known professionally as Lil Truth, is a profound singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. The genre bending artist appeals to many, with his smooth vocals and punchy lyrics that capitalize on all sub-genres of pop and rnb music. He is a romantic man of music that can make you reminisce the feelings you’ve had for a former lover while pushing you forward to find new ones. Truth’s music pays homage to the likes of Michael Jackson, George Michael, and fellow Canadian, Drake. The self taught singer is also a vocal engineer and producer. Diving into the messages within his music, it’s clear that he’s emphatic on love while understanding it also can be horrific. “Love is yin and yang, something that appears to be bright and beautiful can end up being dark and atrocious. Someone can love you for the weird things you do then hate you for those exact things.” — Lil Truth
https://www.instagram.com/_liltruth/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/_liltruth?lang=en
https://liltruth.com/ | https://medium.com/@billtan666/who-is-lil-truth-15211fe2fcc0 | ['Bill Tan'] | 2020-12-27 19:35:57.465000+00:00 | ['Entertainment', 'Artist', 'Biography', 'Music', 'Pop Music'] |
The best holiday 2020 deals on TVs, soundbars, media streamers, and more | The pain of studying is only temporary. But the pain of not knowing | https://medium.com/@crystal03442335/the-best-holiday-2020-deals-on-tvs-soundbars-media-streamers-and-more-e4512efb819f | [] | 2020-12-20 15:55:49.777000+00:00 | ['Surveillance', 'Entertainment', 'Security Cameras', 'Connected Home'] |
6 Things to Think About When Choosing Blinds | When it comes to designing a space, the window is sometimes overlooked, yet it may have a significant impact on the overall aesthetic. Blinds have remained a popular alternative to curtains because they are a trendy and adaptable solution that allows you to manage the amount of light, shadow, heat reflection, and privacy in a room while also optimizing living space.
There are many different types of blinds to pick from, including roller, roman, vertical, Venetians in both wood and metal, and pleated blinds, which are often used to manage the heat in conservatories. Window blinds are an excellent choice for every room in the house because of their adaptability.
Identifying your individual requirements is crucial to purchasing the proper blind.
Here are 6 pointers on how to choose, measure, and care for window blinds:
1: Is the blind suitable for a bedroom that requires complete darkness? Roman blinds with blackout linings are a good choice for bedrooms. They also lack any light-letting apertures or slats.
2: Will you be using it in a humid environment, such as a kitchen or a bathroom? Natural materials such as linen, silk, and wood should be avoided in humid environments because they can rot, twist, or fade. Instead, choose a non-rusting Aluminium Venetian blind, imitation wood blinds, or waterproof PVC roller blinds.
3: Does your room get a lot of natural light or is it overlooked? Venetian and vertical blinds are good at deflecting harsh sunlight away from the room while still allowing light in, while bottom-up roller blinds provide the perfect mix of seclusion and light.
4: How do I determine the size of my blind? Choose whether your blinds will go inside or outside the window recess. You should cover and offer these precise measurements for the outside recess measuring the width and drop of the region over the window. Take three measures in millimeters across the width (top, middle, and bottom) and three measurements in millimeters for the drop (left, middle, and right), and use the least measurement for both width and drop. (For a more in-depth guide, click here.)
5: Use a metal tape measure at all times! Fabric tapes may stretch and be imprecise when taking measurements, so always measure in millimeters rather than inches or centimeters. There’s nothing worse than getting a blind that doesn’t suit your window.
6: Cleaning blinds isn’t as difficult as it may appear, although some varieties are more difficult to clean than others. A moist towel may be used to keep Venetian and imitation wood blinds clean and dust-free. This makes them ideal for strewn-about regions. Pleated blinds, vertical blinds, and roller blinds may all be dusted using a vacuum attachment on a regular basis. Soft textiles may require a more specialized cleaner, so contact us before heading to the cleaners!
La cortina has the most extensive selection of window Blinds and Curtains Dubai in all shapes and sizes. Check out their high-quality sunscreen blinds, which provide complete protection from the sun’s hazardous glare and solar damage. Their blackout curtains Dubai are ideal for a restful night’s sleep. Their blinds are easy to use, practical, and comfortable, and they are built of the highest quality materials, ensuring that they last for years. Look through their large selection of blinds, which includes Roman, Venetian, panel, and wooden blinds. For the greatest outcomes on your decor, shop their handmade blinds in Dubai. | https://medium.com/@candyamy1008/6-things-to-think-about-when-choosing-blinds-5c2653022cb9 | ['Candy Amy'] | 2021-12-14 06:37:34.819000+00:00 | ['Blinds And Curtains Dubai', 'Uae', 'Dubai', 'Blibds Dubai', 'Curtains Dubai'] |
September 2019 Update: Cutting Services, Tax Pricing, And More | September Features Update: Cutting Services, Round-Way Shipments, Tax Nexus, and More
In September, we made some great new improvements to our software, which potentially benefit all users, including 3D printing service bureaus, machine shops and end-users.
Cutting Services
To further our goal of supporting the entire realm advanced manufacturing, DigiFabster is pleased to announce that we now support digital cutting services. Whether you’re using a laser cutter, water jet, plotter or any other type automated cutter, you can now utilize our software to automate your quotes, orders and project management. While we have initially launched with support for .STEP only, we will soon be adding .DXF as another file format option.
DigiFabster Now Support Cutting Services
Post-Production Minimums
To further automate and enhance costing for post-production, we added a feature that allows administrators to set a minimum price for additional services provided once a part is produced.
Post-Production Minimums
Shipment Label Generation
To improve how round-way shipments are handled, we’ve enabled an option to generate shipping labels for that type of fulfillment
Shipment Label Generation
Improved Tax Calculation
To better support our U.S. customers with multiple locations, we’ve modified our tax calculation tools to automatically calculate tax anywhere they have a location (tax nexus.)
Other Enhancements
In addition to the above, DigiFabster has made other bug fixes and enhancements to the software.
For more on these, please view our CHANGELOG. | https://blog.digifabster.com/september-features-update-cutting-services-round-way-shipments-tax-nexus-and-more-ed2a8f3c51d4 | ['Const Ivanov'] | 2019-10-07 18:05:08.540000+00:00 | ['Additive Manufacturing', 'Laser Cut', 'Machining', 'Cutting', '3D Printing'] |
Are you listening to podcasts? | I first listened to a podcast when I first cooked a meal — over six years ago now. I used to regularly read the blog of Mitch Joel, and he would post an interview with a person in the marketing industry once a week. While still doing my MBA, I found these conversations very informative.
Soon, this became a routine for me. I would listen to an episode of Mitch Joel’s podcast every time I cooked a meal. The 40–60 minute episodes were the perfect length of time to overlap with my cooking.
After a few months though, I moved back in with my parents and I stopped cooking. And as a result, I stopped listening to podcasts. Although, in truth, I must say podcast, singular, as I had only listened to many episodes of the same podcast (which, six years later, is still going strong by the way). Nevertheless, the point is that I stopped listening to podcasts.
Several years later, after well over a year in Amsterdam is when I started listening to podcasts again. Although, this time, it wasn’t to keep up with Mitch Joel’s interviews. The trigger was probably The James Altucher show where James Altucher interviews a broader set of people — from movie directors to bestselling authors to standup comedians to Youtube stars. I regularly read his blog, but used to simply read the short posts on the podcasts rather than actually listen to them. Until I came across his podcast featuring Yuval Noah Harari, right around the time I was reading Sapiens. And then, immediately after, I also listened to Richard Branson on his podcast while reading his ‘Finding my Virginity’.
Again, the conversations were really interesting and engaging and got me back on the habit of listening to podcasts regularly. Since then, I have added many more podcasts to my list — Radiolab, Techdirt, Science Vs, and so on.
I read quite a lot (not just books, but also articles). But all the articles I read happen to be in between other things I do throughout the day — pretty much during my breaks or while waiting in the queue at the supermarket counter. Which means I don’t always dedicate time to read long articles and bookmark them for later. My rate of revisiting and reading them is quite atrocious.
While the shorter articles (the format I follow myself) are good quick reads that introduce a concept crisply and leave me thinking or inform me about something new, they don’t have room to go deeper about what they talk about.
And I have a lot of unoccupied time (mind-wise) while I cook, which is more or less a daily affair. And while I can’t read during this time, I can certainly listen to podcasts on these topics that explore them in a deeper way.
And that’s what I’ve been doing. My RSS feed and email subscriptions used to be 99% articles and 1% podcasts that somehow used to slip their way through. But nowadays, the split is a more even 50:50.
So, I wasn’t surprised when I came across stats about the rising trends in podcasting. Every major media house has their own podcast on a variety of topics and every popular blogger has their own podcast to go with. In fact, I’m toying with the idea of starting a weekly podcast myself as my year-long project for 2019 (it has been stand-up comedy this year and was publishing a novel last year).
A lot of us have free time (mind-wise) these days — be it while cooking, or driving to and from work, running, working out at the gym, or while doing routine activities like laundry. And more of us seem to be going in the direction of utilizing this time more productively by replacing music with podcasts.
While I’m not surprised that podcasts are on the rise again, I’m curious to know if that time is coming out of the pockets of Spotify and other music streaming services. And I have a strong sense that that is the case as Spotify is investing heavily in building out it’s podcast catalog and integrating it on the app.
Irrespective of the trends, I’m personally enjoying listening to several podcasts and recommend you give it a shot as well (if you haven’t already!). | https://medium.com/causality/are-you-listening-to-podcasts-4d9e32d18658 | ['Kumara Raghavendra'] | 2018-10-08 20:26:35.167000+00:00 | ['Information', 'Music', 'Podcast', 'Cooking', 'Writing'] |
Ocean Acidification — The Problem Nobody is Talking About | What is Ocean Acidification?
When climate change is brought up to many, people think of how climate on land will change, bringing warmer climates to places with millions of people, slowly warming up the planet.
However, the climate change on Earth has a much more profound impact than just a raising temperature. The increased usage of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) can ruin entire ocean ecosystems in a process known as acidification, potentially damaging millions of species of marine life.
Ocean Acidification Diagram, Source: NOAA
Ocean Acidification is a process in which the excess CO2 in the atmosphere gets trapped in the ocean, decreasing the pH of the oceanwater to become more acidic. The CO2 dissolves into the water, and with more CO2 in our atmosphere than ever before, it’s hitting the oceans at record levels.
22 million tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere daily, which is a major step up from even 10 years ago. This increase in CO2 is causing the fastest ocean chemical change in over 50 million years!
So, how does CO2 make the ocean more acidic?
When CO2 gets into the water, it combines with H2O (water) to create Carbonic Acid, H2CO3. Carbonic Acid tends to emit the Hydrogen ion H+, which is the indicator that a certain chemical is acidic.
On the pH scale, the more concentrated the H+ ion is, the higher acidity it has. The scale is logarithmic, meaning even a small movement in the pH scale can be detrimental to the ocean life surrounding it.
In the figure below, the level of CO2 is illustrated as a consistent increase. The seawater CO2 levels are also increasing at the same rate, and with this, the ocean’s overall pH is decreasing. Since the scale is logarithmic, it is decreasing at the same level as the CO2 is increasing.
Source: Smithsonian Education
How is Ocean Acidification affecting marine life?
Ocean Acidification’s main problem is setting the marine ecosystems off of equilibrium. A change in pH level could potentially cause lifelong damages to many organisms in the ocean, harming the once balanced pH scale to vary even more.
In certain animals like the Mollusks and Coral, a calcium carbonate shell is how they survive. It provides a strong exoskeleton for these animals. Ocean Acidification provides less Carbonate ions to bond with the Calcium, making it harder to build these shells. Coral reefs have seen a decrease in production because of the calcium carbonate shell that is the building block of a coral reef, and exposes each individual polyp each time there is an increase in CO2. In addition to the coral, the algae has a symbiotic relationship with said coral reefs. Both organisms benefit off of the others’ existence, making it mutually beneficial through certain dynamics. However, in warmer water, a side effect of the increase of CO2 in the water, the coral expels the algae from the water, negatively impacting an entire reef ecosystem from the base reef itself. This negative relationship caused by Ocean Acidification jeopardizes thousands of reefs around the world, and could damage reefs that were present before for millions of years.
Coral with a Calcium Carbonate Shell, Source: UCAN
As far as more distinguishable animals go, a lot of animals will be negatively impacted. Many fish like clownfish use pH levels to detect predators nearby, which threatens their species with a no longer useful adaptation. With Ocean Acidification, these clownfish are now mostly deaf to predators, leaving their species and an entire food web in danger. Many other fish use pH levels to detect predators, such as the leopard coral grouper, the humphead wrasse, the damselfish, the toadfish, and many more.
Is there a solution in sight?
As of right now, no. The use of CO2 in our atmosphere is only increasing at a higher and higher rate each day. The world is becoming more dependent on oil and other fossil fuels that require CO2 emission. Sadly, while the fossil fuels on earth are limited, it does not show signs of stopping just yet.
While Ocean Acidification could be detrimental toward marine life, it also effects millions of people, if not more. The jobs created by coral reefs and the food eaten from the ocean would be severely impacted if the ocean kept getting warmer and more acidic. This would put millions of people out of jobs, leave the world with less food to eat, and put the global economy in jeopardy.
Source: China Knowledge
But, there is no reason it should end that way.
With billions of people on Earth, each have an individual voice, and with that voice comes power. Obviously we cannot immediately stop using fossil fuels, but there are steps an everyday citizen can take to be a part of something bigger than themselves: an ocean ecosystem that has been ongoing since way before the dinosaurs.
So, how can we decide to help the cause and prohibit Ocean Acidification?
There are many ways to make a difference in certain communities, with politicians and lawmakers living near everyone to reach out to. A simple email goes a long way in seeing that it’s what the people in communities care about.
Protests and rallies are very prominent in certain areas about climate change. Climate change and Ocean Acidification go hand in hand to reduce the levels of CO2. Joining local groups on social media platforms like Facebook have many different events that you can go to, and show your support for climate change.
On a deeper level, the Paris Climate Agreement is a legally binding international treaty to reduce the level of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. As of November, over 190 countries have agreed to the treaty and it will likely result in a decrease in CO2 emissions. Even though this will start soon in the United States and other countries, there is more work to be done. Many powerful European countries have switched to becoming over 50% renewable energy powered, which is a major step forward in the longevity of our energy.
Even on a small level, just spreading the word about Ocean Acidification is helpful. Being an informed citizen about the world’s problems is something very impactful you can do that might help people become informed and tell the right people certain things. I think that knowing about Ocean Acidification is half the problem, just because many people don’t realize it’s even happening or how major of a problem it can become without help.
Source: The Guardian
In addition to protesting and reaching out to local politicians, it is important to also sign petitions. Petitions with a lot of support catch the eye of policymakers across the globe, and can help raise awareness towards a goal of stopping Ocean Acidification before it comes too late.
Petition Links:
Environmental Action
Change.org
NRDC
Conclusion
Ocean Acidification is definitely a major problem, and what makes it so threatening is the fact that it gets no media attention. When thinking about climate change and global warming, the ocean and reef ecosystems are not the first thoughts of anyone. It needs to be apparent to the people deciding the future of fossil fuel emissions that Ocean Acidification is a big enough problem for us to solve through a call to action. I truly believe that this planet is dying, and we may have gone past the point of no return. But, there is no point in giving up, and it’s especially important to realize how wonderous our planet is with the amazing marine life and terrestrial life as well. Ocean Acidification is concerning, but the mass media not knowing about it (or pretending it isn’t a problem) is even more concerning. Together, we can attempt to end the fight against climate change once and for all. | https://medium.com/@211hartc/ocean-acidification-the-problem-nobody-is-talking-about-cdfcdb7e36f2 | ['Charles Hart'] | 2020-12-17 02:52:23.466000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Ocean Acidification', 'Global Warming', 'Carbon Emissions', 'Ocean Conservation'] |
Seminary Productivity: Sabbath, Family Time, and the Power of Rest | Today is the last Friday of summer, with classes and craziness beginning next Tuesday. I needed this week to rest, recharge, and get ready.
There is ample evidence that vacations and rest are good for you, including that taking vacations can prevent heart attacks. Rest and relaxations also help boost productivity.
This has become a growing edge for me. In my 10 years working in the business world, I rarely took my full vacation time. For a good part of that decade I was running a solo office and didn’t think I could get away. I am now getting in to a line of work where demands of ministry don’t always follow a 40 hour work week.
This past weekend my family and I went on my field ed parish retreat to Shrine Mont, a beautiful place in the Shenandoah Valley. It was good to get away. Our lives are hectic and constant, and being surrounded by nature with limited access to technology was refreshing. I hope to do this more, as it both helps me and perhaps will set an example for my children and future parishioners.
I ended the week by taking our oldest on our annual “big boys trip.” He and I spent two days in Philadelphia, watching the Phillies play the Nationals (go Anthony Rendon!) and then enjoying Sesame Place.
I can be a terrible father, with big expectations and a short fuse. I’m also pulled in many different directions, and my sons sometimes end up on the short side of my attention. I want to build memories with my boys, both of the routine everyday things we do and also in the adventures we sometimes take. This was the latter, and judging by the photo above (taken after 10 hours at the park) I would say that he enjoyed the adventure. And while not exactly “restful,” it was certainly wonderful time away from our everyday life.
As I embark on year two of my education, I am hoping to continue the small routines of sabbath that we’ve created (such as Friday night family movie, where I don’t do anything except watch a movie of my boys’ choosing). I also hope to take more opportunities to get away (by myself, with Elizabeth, and as a family).
These moments of down time are good for the soul, and also good for productivity. | https://medium.com/alanbentrup/seminary-productivity-sabbath-family-time-and-the-power-of-rest-a2126fd95642 | ['Alan Bentrup'] | 2018-02-11 23:06:50.628000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Church', 'Family'] |
100 of the Best Engineers, Developers, Coders, and Entrepreneurs to Follow Online | 100 of the Best Engineers, Developers, Coders, and Entrepreneurs to Follow Online
100 brilliant minds
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. This applies to work too.
Imagine you could surround yourself with brilliant engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs. Imagine you could freely exchange ideas and share knowledge with all of them.
Most of these brilliant minds openly share knowledge. They write books, give talks, have Twitter accounts. This is what makes them great; they change communities, change lives, and make the world a better place.
I created a list of great minds that inspire developers. The list was generated by a survey of more than 400 developers.
The purpose of this list was to find people that are role models in dev community. By following them, learning from them we can become better developers ourselves. And the world needs inspirational people now more than ever.
This was a great experiment. Thank you for taking the survey and participating in a discussion.
The survey is now closed.
The list is no longer available.
The objective was to find people ALL OVER the world to INSPIRE us. | https://jana-bergant.medium.com/100-of-the-best-engineers-developers-coders-and-entrepreneurs-to-follow-online-e2cedcea17d7 | ['Jana Bergant'] | 2020-04-30 15:56:58.321000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Development', 'Self Improvement', 'Programming'] |
Where the wild things aren’t. | Results from long-term anthrome changes show that wilderness (wildlands and semi-natural lands) has decreased 42% globally. This decrease comes at the expense of a 25% increase in rangelands and a 17% increase in populated lands and croplands since the 1700s. During these four centuries, land changes have been more widespread in Australia, Europe, North America, and South Africa. On the other hand, areas with harsher conditions for humans are the ones that remained less impacted: Sahara, the North-American north west, and north-eastern Asia.
Hope for all!
While these results show great habitat loss at the expense of human development, we remain hopeful. There is space to work on and improve the current situation. These models do not only show a grim depiction of the effects of human development on Earth. They also show potential for restoration, and vast knowledge on how to advise land management worldwide. Based on the findings by the previously mentioned research, rangelands (grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals) could constitute restorable lands with the potential to reach near-natural state.
Restoration and conservation efforts, however, cannot put at risk the identity, culture, and livelihood of the human populations that inhabit them. “Restoration interventions are as much about people as they are about environments” (Koech et al., 2020), although this has not always been considered. Even more important is the consideration that traditional and Indigenous knowledge on land management has been proven successful at conserving ecosystems. Despite constituting less than 5% of the global population, Indigenous peoples manage most of the planet intact landscapes.
Considering its social implications, the restoration of these lands could partially revert four centuries of increasing degradation trends and contribute to the protection of biodiversity worldwide. Scientific research supports the idea of short-term effective action to tackle human-activity-derived issues on biodiversity and climate change. Furthermore, science-backed public calls for change have been successful in the past. For example, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring started a movement that ended with the banning of DDT pesticides worldwide.
Reinforcing positive —and realistic— science-backed messages can prompt public and non-profit calls for change, political action, and encourage the private economic sector to revise supply chain management. Only with collective action can we make the temporary effects that the planet experienced during the 2020 anthropause long-lasting and improve ecosystem quality worldwide. | https://medium.com/vizzuality-blog/where-the-wild-things-arent-7f3d3a994cca | ['Greta C. Vega'] | 2020-12-16 16:48:00.423000+00:00 | ['Biodiversity', 'Conservation', 'Data Visualization', 'Wilderness'] |
Yet another report on the drive to destroy security by removing passwords | How naïve security professionals can be? An answer is found in this report — “Passwords begone: GitHub will ban them next year for authenticatingGit operations” https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/17/github_bans_passwords/
Aren’t they actually offering a ‘solution’ that can be compared to the ATM that rejects PIN (numbers-only password) and dispenses cash upon the presentation of only a bank/credit card?
Ref: “Bizarre Theory of Password-lessAuthentication”
The theory is “A ground force can be easily defeated by air attack. Then, removing the ground force from our defense will make our defense securer”. Replace ‘ground force’ with ‘password’, ‘air attack’ with ‘password theft’ and ‘defense’ with ‘cybersecurity’ and we realize that this is what happens when ‘insufficient’ is mixed up with ‘harmful’ in cyberspace
< References >
Summary and Brief History — Expanded Password System
Image-to-Code Conversion by Expanded Password System
Proposition on How to Build Sustainable Digital Identity Platform
External Body Features Viewed as ‘What We Are’
History, Current Status and Future Scenarios of Expanded Password System
Negative Security Effect of Biometrics Deployed in Cyberspace
Removal of Passwords and Its Security Effect
Availability-First Approach
Update: Questions and Answers — Expanded Password System and Related Issues (30/June/2020)
< Videos on YouTube>
Slide: Outline of Expanded Password System (3minutes 2seconds)
Demo: Simplified Operation on Smartphone for consumers (1m41s)
Demo: High-Security Operation on PC for managers (4m28s)
Demo: Simple capture and registration of pictures by users (1m26s)
Slide: Biometrics in Cyber Space — “below-one” factor authentication
< Latest Media Articles Published in 2020 Spring>
Digital Identity — Anything Used Correctly Is Useful https://www.valuewalk.com/2020/05/digital-identity-biometrics-use/
‘Easy-to-Remember’ is one thing ‘Hard-to-Forget’ is another https://www.paymentsjournal.com/easy-to-remember-is-one-thing-hard-to-forget-is-another/ | https://medium.com/@kokumai/yet-another-report-on-the-drive-to-destroy-security-by-removing-passwords-b95cf6832430 | ['Hitoshi Kokumai'] | 2020-12-24 07:53:11.575000+00:00 | ['Passwords', 'Security', 'Authentication', 'Digital Identity', 'Technology'] |
A Guide To The Wine Region of German-Speaking Switzerland In Switzerland | Interlude
Welcome to this post about the region of German-Speaking Switzerland within Switzerland. Yes, a very confusing region name, but that’s the name. In the last post we covered the region of Geneva. A region known for being one of the warmest in the country and the producer of some really great red wines from the Gamay grape.
We are doing these posts or guides to learn more about the vast world of wine out there. To feel more comfortable navigating it. Much like the other posts we will cover the history of the region, the style of wine that is made, climate and geography and of course some places to look for. So without further ado, let’s get started!
History of the region
So for the history of the region it is important to look at the country as a whole. As with history much of the stuff happening actually has a significant effect on all places. But they are one of the oldest ones producing wine in the whole of Europe.Maybe not to the same extent that Geogrien is as they have history dating back more than 5000 years. In Switzerland there has been evidence found that wine was made as early as 200 years BC in the region today known as Valais.
It was a small bottle made in ceramic found in a celtic tomb and text on the ceramic suggested that it once upon a time contained wine. The people of the country had a history of offering wine to the dead, but it can be assumed that they themselves als had traditions of consuming it. This was around 150 years BC. After a century or so, the Romans appeared and established more and more vineyards drastically and the whole industry flourished. They got the chance to export a huge amount as the Roman empire grew and grew more. The actual production wine in the country has to be one of the best kept secrets in the entire world.
There is a very small amount of wine that ever sees sites outside of Switzerland. The Swiss just love their own wine too much. The entire country holds about 15,000 hectares of cultivated vineyards and there are about 1,500 different producers. The country was like many others in Europe the victim of the Phylloxera disaster that happened during the 19th century. Botanists from England traveled to North America to do research on the native vines growing there.
They brought some back with them not knowing that they carried diseases not experienced by the European native varieties. This resulted in many bones having to be cut down and the winemakers were faced with a very hard decision. Either they could continue with the native ones and riske the infection ones again or they could try and create hybrid ones that could withstand the disease. This was a major influence for the diversified grape varieties that now make up the country’s vineyards.
The style of wine
The style of wine that is most prevalent here is red wine. More specifically red wine made from Pinot Noir, as red grapes make up a total 70 % of the total cultivated land. The wines show an incredible elegance and structure. Something that is easier achievable when the climate is cooler. The tannins become more prevalent but also tight and gripping when drinking. This creates a more pleasant mouthfeel that makes you able to identify the red fruits easier.
A flavour focus that is so popular here. As for white wine, the most planted grape is Muller-Thurgau. A grape that fits in perfectly with the cooler climate. Getting more fresher tones and a lightness to it. Not something that will hold up very well with age maybe but they can be exceptional when still young. Lots of green apples running through them, but also a slight spiciness with almost ginger like tones. Also here, good structure and complexity. The Swiss winemakers sure know what they are doing.
Climate and geography
The climate of the region is heavily influenced by the Alps. Bringing in cool winds and tempering the region. Making it harder to get full and richer wines. But the wineries play into this making style that are more fresh and lively. Given that the region is the largest one in Switzerland it also therefore holds the most amount of grape varieties but more importantly, microclimates.
This is the reason for being able to sometimes create full and rich wines. This term microclimates refers to such things like lakes, rivers or foehn (warm winds). These attributes help in making it more suitable for certain vines to be grown there. It helps in retaining a stricter balance in temperature throughout the season. But although these things exist, it is still hard for some varieties to reach full maturity.
Recommendation
So what type of wine do I like then when it comes to the region of German-Speaking Switzerland? For me the answer is quite clear, red wine. If you have been following for some time then you might already know that I really like Pinot Noir made from cooler climates. The wines just have such a great elegance to them. They age beautifully with the tannins rounding off and giving room and support to the fresh red fruit flavours to come forth.
These wines can however be very hard to come by as we have mentioned in other posts regarding Switzerland, they only export under 2 % of the total national wine production. A very low number making the wines also have a higher price tag to them. But if you are to do some research to buy wine, then look for vineyards close to water. Here you can almost guarantee that the temperature has been even and the grapes haven’t rushed in ripening.
Last words
That’s a wrap for this post about the region of German-Speaking Switzerland in Switzerland. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this and feel more knowledgeable and maybe even inspired to go out and get some wine from here. Stay tuned for the next post where we will cover the region of Three Lakes.
Follow Me!
https://winesofmine.com
https://www.pinterest.se/samuelpetersson01 | https://medium.com/@samuel.petersson01/a-guide-to-the-wine-region-of-german-speaking-switzerland-in-switzerland-b2be2bcf4eff | ['Samuel Petersson'] | 2021-12-25 14:03:06.249000+00:00 | ['Guide', 'Winemaking', 'Wine', 'Switzerland', 'White Wine'] |
Brexit is the climax of a 75-year collective nervous breakdown — it’s time to look in the mirror | It has always struck me that the UK (with side-eye fixed on England) suffers from a self-confidence that exceeds its stature and a lack of self-awareness rivalling even the most deluded X Factor contestant. Nothing exemplifies this as transparently as the Brexit calamity of the last four years.
Britain likes nothing more than to sing its own praises, from the exaggerated references to the ‘mother of all Parliaments’ to the much-repeated mantra that the UK is ‘the most successful family of nations in the world’. Both of these claims belie a critical democratic deficit and inequality festering at the heart of a country tearing itself asunder but refusing to look in the mirror and ask itself why.
One does not need to dig especially deep to locate evidence of this communal midlife crisis. Conservative MPs like Daniel Kawczynski and Andrew Bridgen, both vehement Brexiteers, have both used their social media platforms recently to indulge in extraordinary sabre-rattling. The target of their anger? France. While Kawczynski called for the Royal Navy to be deployed against French fishing vessels in the Channel immediately after an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit, Bridgen took to Twitter to imply that France’s decision to close its border with the UK to protect itself against a new strain of COVID-19 was, in fact, a ploy to blackmail us into a less favourable trade deal. Both assertions would be laughable were we not in such a desperate predicament.
In many ways, it’s unsurprising that France and Germany often find themselves the focus of Brexiteer foot-stomping. After all, both countries are self-confident, outward-looking nations with hugely successful economies. In France’s case, however, there is an added ingredient in the cauldron of bile stirred by the likes of Kawczynski and Bridgen. Unlike Britain, France is capable of being immensely proud of its national identity, of flying its flag and singing La Marseillaise with aplomb, and of closely identifying with its neighbours and accepting the realities of a globalised 21st-Century world. This riles the Brextremists because their warped interpretation of ‘sovereignty’ is as subtle as a sledgehammer and coupled with a far-right populist agenda emanating from an abject failure to accept the decline of empire and the evolution of our role on the international stage.
It was always inevitable, therefore, that France, and Emmanuel Macron personally, would bear the brunt of Brexiteer deflection. France’s refusal to sacrifice its coastal communities on the Brexit bonfire has led to the kind of xenophobic headlines that shame us collectively. The suggestion by one national newspaper that Macron contracting COVID is a form of ‘karma’ for his obstinance is an utter disgrace.
Yet, despite decades of passive-aggressive sniping from the sidelines as a reluctant member of the European Union followed by our post-referendum spiral into outright jingoism, nationalism, isolationism and xenophobia, our European neighbours have maintained a palpable pragmatism, unity and level-headedness in the face of relentless provocation. This refusal to ‘rise to the bait’ or adopt unreasonable positions out of spite exasperates the Brextremists, who want nothing more than a tit-for-tat exchange of hostilities with our nearest neighbours and largest trading partners. Angela Merkel’s characteristic coolness in response to baseless personal attacks and European leaders unifying around a resolute rejection of Boris Johnson’s increasingly desperate attempts at a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy stand in stark contrast to the ever more facile, juvenile approach adopted by the Conservatives and their client media mouthpieces.
Anecdotally, I see none of the xenophobic spite that characterises Brexit in the response of European friends. Reactions to the progressively ludicrous acts in the Brexit panto range from sympathetic pity to sheer bewilderment that a country like the UK (typically seen, rightly or wrongly, as a bastion of common sense and rationality) would choose to damage its own economy by erecting extreme barriers to trade where none previously existed, while curtailing its citizens’ freedoms by taking a razor-thin referendum outcome and exploiting it to the most hardcore manifestation possible. Proponents of Brexit, conversely, twist any expression of genuine regret at the UK’s departure into the profoundly offensive view that countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain will simply ‘miss our money’. We are like the schoolchild who simply cannot accept praise, instead reacting negatively to positivity lest anyone should interpret openness as weakness.
Brexiteers will not back down in the face of a tsunami of evidence that their pet project is an unmitigated catastrophe of criminal proportions. Instead, they will persist in playing to the gallery by obsessing about fishing (which accounts for less than 0.1% of GDP) and hypocritically and arrogantly demanding that the EU abandon the core principle of the European project — the integrity of its Single Market — while at the same time calling upon the other parties to respect their arbitrary, fantastical perception of the notion of sovereignty.
We stand on the precipice of a chaotic, no-deal exit from the transition period because a national nervous breakdown 75 years in the making has reached its tragic climax. Having never accepted our diminished role in the global arena in the post-war period, our collective psyche is dominated by a destructive blend of rose-tinted nostalgia, a political system marred by a lack of meaningful representation and a deep mistrust of the ‘outsider’. Not until the UK acknowledges its deep-rooted issues and finds the backbone to implement the changes it so desperately needs will the gaping wounds be healed and this national midlife crisis end.
@MXOFO | https://medium.com/@leewilliscroftferris/brexit-is-the-climax-of-a-75-year-collective-nervous-breakdown-its-time-to-look-in-the-mirror-526a7983400c | ['Lee Williscroft-Ferris'] | 2020-12-21 19:17:02.344000+00:00 | ['No Deal Brexit', 'France', 'European Union', 'Brexit', 'United Kingdom'] |
NEM North America Blockchain Tour 2018 | Jason Lee | NEM Australia & NZ Expansion Director, Jason Lee, will be travelling to North America to participate in numerous talks and panels on blockchain technology and NEM.
Below you can find the schedule of all the events that Jason will be participating in. Click the link to find out more and register for your ticket.
24–25 Sept | Los Angeles, California
Engagement with Fuller Seminary — link
2. University engagement with University of Southern California — link
3. University engagement with California Institute of Technology — link | https://medium.com/nem-anz/nem-north-america-blockchain-tour-2018-jason-lee-14efa1c08bda | ['Nem Australia', 'New Zealand', 'Official Editor'] | 2018-09-24 00:35:15.251000+00:00 | ['University', 'Blockchain', 'Announcements', 'Nem', 'Blockchain Technology'] |
Performing A Self Assessment | It can be difficult to look at our own work critically. Sometimes, it can be painful. It’s an important step for growth as an artist, business person, or athlete. I’ve performed a few self assessments over the years and they are often triggered by a handful of catalysts:
· Job Change, either though a layoff or a project wrapping
· Failure of a personal project to move beyond some sort of sticking point
· Release of a new game that sets a new visual bar
· Release of a new tool that sets a new visual bar
· Release of a new tool or tools that changes the way one works
It’s key to not let these catalysts sneak up on us too much. It’s hard to do that; layoffs happens all the time and it’s impossible to know if we’re in line for one, crunch or busy lives make it hard to play modern games, and news moves so fast that we may miss out on new announcements all together.
Life, they say…finds a way…to get in the way of continual improvement. The key is to not panic.
Now that we’ve realized our need to evaluate our skills, it’s time to determine what we need to focus on. This step can either be extremely tricky, or very straight forward, depending on the landscape we’re operating in.
Trailer for Kenna: Bridge of Spirits. Looks amazingly beautiful and inspires me to explore new styles of work.
First, look to the major catalyst for our decisions to self-assess. Was it a new blockbuster release that blew us away? Why did it gab our attention? What about its’ art, gameplay, or user experience shook you? Perhaps it was a new tool release. Unreal Engine 5 and its’ focus on Nanite took me for a ride and made me realize that my sculpting work can’t just be passable anymore. Perhaps it did the same for you. Maybe it’s the desire to try different kinds of work too, like combat design or a new visual look for our art. Whatever the case is, drill into that big, initial kick to find where that desire is being birthed from. | https://medium.com/gametextures/performing-a-self-assessment-b003840da9cb | ['Daniel Rose'] | 2021-09-08 12:03:41.863000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Seasons', 'Games', 'Inspiration', 'Game Development'] |
Brexit is a Nightmare Before Christmas | Another month goes by and the Government is still struggling to give us the “easiest thing in human history”, as Liam Fox put it. This, keep-calm-and-drink-tea attitude is nothing more than childish ignorance, whilst a deal with the biggest, we repeat, THE BIGGEST, trading partner the UK is supposed to be bringing stability and prosperity to our businesses and everyday lives. This ever looming no-deal outcome is adding what we actually wanted to get rid of: high costs of living and frustrating bureaucracy.
French Cheeses may not be the same after Brexit.
If the Government cannot get Brexit done, the people of Britain and their businesses will have to make their own deal. Below, is a handful of examples of how the government’s lackluster approach is currently affecting this country:
Food & Drinks : 18% tariff based on WTO terms, unless we wave them through at the border to keep our shelves full to avoid rationing
: 18% tariff based on WTO terms, unless we wave them through at the border to keep our shelves full to avoid rationing Automotives : 4,5% tariff on imported car parts based on WTO terms, while currently more than half of all cars exported are sold to the EU, making British cars less attractive to buy
: 4,5% tariff on imported car parts based on WTO terms, while currently more than half of all cars exported are sold to the EU, making British cars less attractive to buy Transport : 7,000 lorries waiting at the border, risking making business in the UK so unattractive that haulier may not even be willing to travel to the UK at all. Stockpiling is only a short-term solution.
: 7,000 lorries waiting at the border, risking making business in the UK so unattractive that haulier may not even be willing to travel to the UK at all. Stockpiling is only a short-term solution. Agriculture : under WTO term we must expect 50% on barley, 80% on beef and 45% on lamb
: under WTO term we must expect 50% on barley, 80% on beef and 45% on lamb Finance : 7,500 jobs have already moved from London to the continent! Weakening London as a long-established financial hub
: 7,500 jobs have already moved from London to the continent! Weakening London as a long-established financial hub Medicines: luckily, still traded under EU regulations, but a reliable supply chain will be hampered by unnecessary checks and queues at the border
All this hassle and upheaval is more reminiscent of a late Soviet Russia than a modern, sovereign Britain in the 21st century, and the cost of this mismanagement will be passed on to the average consumer. Brexit reality in our wallets. Is this what Vote Leave was selling us during their campaign? Certainly not. This is clearly not the deal the people of Britain want.
How many have already lost their job during the pandemic? How many are already struggling to feed their kids? How many already need to close their pubs and shops? Brexit will hit most those that need stability.
What’s for Christmas, Prime Minister?
Written by Alex Haida, spokesperson on Europe. All opinions in this article reflect those of the author and not of the Renew Party.
How many have already lost their job during the pandemic? How many are already
struggling to feed their kids? How many already need to close their pubs and shops? Brexit
will hit most those that need stability.
What’s for Christmas, Prime Minister? | https://medium.com/@renewroots/nightmare-before-christmas-merry-brexmas-5129e4fcf277 | ['Renew Roots'] | 2020-12-14 16:37:50.058000+00:00 | ['Brexit', 'Politics', 'Christmas', 'Cheese', 'European Union'] |
Identifying Restaurant Hotspots with a Gaussian Mixture Model | Identifying Restaurant Hotspots with a Gaussian Mixture Model
Using a GMM to identify intuitive restaurant clusters in Toronto, Canada (with Python code)
Clustering algorithms, such as GMMs, are a useful tool to help identify patterns in your data. They allow us to identify subgroups within the dataset that can improve your understanding or enhance predictive models. In this article, with some help from a GMM, we will attempt to identify restaurant clusters in Toronto using location data. The goal is to find clusters that make sense geographically but also have different characteristics in terms of other features like restaurant ratings. Key pieces of code will be discussed and you can find the full project on GitHub.
What is a GMM
As mentioned, a GMM is a clustering algorithm. This means that it can be used to group elements in your dataset based on their features. For example, suppose we have a dataset of customer income and age. A clustering algorithm may identify 4 groups: old high earners, old low earners, young high earners and young low earners. These 4 groups could potentially have very different characteristics/behaviours. We won’t go into the details of how GMM would create these clusters as there are loads of good sources out there [1][2]. What is important is why we will use a GMM and not another clustering algorithm such as K-means.
For our problem, the most important advantage of GMM is that it is more flexible in terms of cluster variance and covariance. Firstly, more variance flexibility means that GMMs can better identify clusters with unequal variances. In other words, it will give better results when we can have both clusters that are dense and clusters that are spread out. We can see this in Figure 1 below where we have applied both K-means and a GMM to some test data. Here the colour of each point is determined by the cluster assigned by the relevant algorithm. It seems as though, in this case, the GMM clusters are more appropriate. | https://towardsdatascience.com/identifying-restaurant-hotspots-with-a-gaussian-mixture-model-2a840ab0c782 | ["Conor O'Sullivan"] | 2020-05-09 10:43:22.930000+00:00 | ['Towards Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Gaussian Mixture Model', 'Python', 'Data Science'] |
The Milky Way Getting Torn Apart by Another Galaxy | The Milky Way Getting Torn Apart by Another Galaxy
The Milky Way Galaxy — Image by Public Domain
All our lives, we have been admiring the heavens at night. The night time sky is when we see it best — all the formations. Some of us have been around others who were knowledgeable enough to teach us how to identify individual stars and constellations.
Wouldn’t it be hard to comprehend the notion of that sky view becoming distorted and possibly destroyed?
It seems that recently, astronomers have begun sounding the alarm of such a thing.
Professional star gazers are observing how our Milky Way Galaxy is slowly becoming deformed and twisted. And it is because of the gravitational forces being exerted by a neighboring satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)¹.
Dramatic effect on the Milky Way observed
University of Edinburgh researchers have been applying various statistical models to evaluate the most distant stars’ velocity in both the Milky Way and the LMC.
Recent findings have smashed the long-accepted perception that the Milky Way was relatively static. As a result of this, new models to assess the galaxy’s evolution and motion will have to be re-designed.
Presently, our Milky Way is being stretched by gravitational forces from a halo of dark matter that circles the LMC, causing deformities in its shape. This discovery means that researchers will need to re-evaluate how the Milky Way was first formed and how it could affect other assumptions made about the galaxy in general.
History of the Milky Way requires revision
Dr. Michael Petersen, the study’s lead author, and his colleagues revealed how the LMC crossed over the Milky Way’s boundary line about 700 million years ago — which is relatively recent by cosmological standards. But because of the large amount of dark matter surrounding this satellite galaxy — it has dramatically disturbed the motion and fabric of the Milky Way along the way.
As many of us know, dark matter is seen as the mysterious ‘glue’ holding galaxies together. Thus far, no one has ever seen it because it does not reflect, emit, or absorb light.
The research team indicated we are witnessing today the effects of this reasonably recent collision, and therefore, the Milky Way’s history will have to be revised.
Stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud — Image by Public Domain
Milky Way’s satellite galaxy
The LMC was named after the well-known 16th-century Portuguese explorer named Ferdinand Magellan, the first human to circumnavigate the Earth.
Data from previous studies concluded that the LMC has a halo of dark matter that resides beyond its galactic disc. Many astronomers believe that all galaxies have this characteristic in some form or fashion.
Researchers have concluded that the powerful force from the LMC’s dark matter halo is pulling the Milky Way at around 71,600 mph — which is an astonishing 20 miles per second.
Surprising observation
The most surprising aspect of this observation is that the Milky Way is not moving towards the LMC’s current location, as was assumed. It is moving toward a point in its past trajectory. The Milky Way is moving in the opposite direction, towards the Pegasus constellation.
This makes no sense, but there is a good reason. The LMC is also being propelled by its immense gravitational force and moves even faster away — at a speed of 800,000 mph, 230 miles per second.
The Milky Way is trying to chase the LMC but cannot catch up to this fast-moving target.
Remodeling galaxies
These discoveries will greatly assist scientists in coming up with new models to describe the powerful interplay between these galaxies. Their first step will be finding out the LMC’s initial direction and when it took place.
This should unveil the amount of dark matter in both the Milky Way and LMC in great detail. It cannot be underemphasized how intensely these new findings rocked previous beliefs about our galaxy. No longer is it assumed to be in a static state.
And in addition to this, another research team from Durham University concluded in 2019 that the LMC would destroy Earth in around 2 billion years². This is because it has re-awakened an enormous black hole in the Milky Way that had been previously dormant. | https://medium.com/illumination/the-milky-way-getting-torn-apart-by-another-galaxy-223a3ef2474f | ['Charles Stephen'] | 2021-02-02 14:54:49.559000+00:00 | ['Galaxy', 'Universe', 'Science', 'Space', 'Technology'] |
EPISODE 6: REYNOLDA HOUSE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART | ONCE THE ESTATE OF R. J. AND KATHARINE REYNOLDS, Reynolda Gardens is a 129-acre center for recreation in the North Carolina Piedmont.
The Reynolda Gardens were originally conceived as a gift to the community. About 50 years ago in 1967, the museum opened as another gift to the community. The two are tied together because of the history of the estate and the family. People have been coming to Reynolda House as a staple of their visit to Winston Salem for at least a hundred years.
Reynolda Gardens are free to visit.
Originally owned by RJ and Katharine Reynolds, the Reynolda House and beautiful property have always been the centerpiece for locals to enjoy a combination of art and nature. This is a place where you can bring family and friends on a summer day and spend the afternoon walking through the gardens, strolling through the shops, and touring the museum inside the restored mansion.
The Reynolda House Museum of American Art
The Reynolda House hosts an annual community day event that is free and open to the public. “We open the doors to the Museum and the grounds offering tours, activities and fun performances. It’s a really great day for anybody to come and have a really wonderful time free of charge.” — Chris Jordan, Director of Public Programs
The Reynolda Gardens estate has 129 acres to stroll and discover.
It is always free to walk to the property and gardens when you feel like going for a stroll. And there’s almost always an event on the front lawn to take advantage of. Inside, the Museum showcases a rotating exhibition of world-renowned artists. Reynolda House puts the art into The City of Arts and Innovation. | https://medium.com/the-sustainability-graduate-programs/winston-on-the-weekends-episode-6-reynolda-house-museum-of-american-art-6384a531e177 | ['Wake Forest Mas'] | 2019-05-26 03:03:53.595000+00:00 | ['Winston Salem', 'Wake Forest University', 'Art', 'American Art', 'Art Collection'] |
The Pandemic Impact on Food Security | The Pandemic Impact on Food Security
Covid 19 has affected food and health worldwide.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to serious consequences for health, especially the economy and food security in South-East Asia and Americas. For the most part, South-East Asia has largely avoided the uncontrolled infection rates seen in much of the rest of the world, thanks to government action prioritizing public health policies over the demands of the economy. That was especially evident in Vietnam where there have been just over 1,000 Covid-19 cases, despite early contact with the disease. Indonesia and the Philippines, however, have been especially badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, largely due to early mismanagement in both countries.
Photo by Jakub Kapusnak on Unsplash
Though most countries in the region have escaped the worst health impacts of the disease, this has led to economic troubles for many. The Philippines is predicted to contract the most sharply in 2020, after early failures in controlling the virus led to a series of strict lockdown measures, which subsequently depressed consumption and reduced the flow of remittances.
Thailand has also experienced a sharp economic contraction, which has contributed to ongoing protests in the kingdom. Only Vietnam appears to be weathering the economic consequences of the pandemic, in large part due to successful early measures to limit the spread of the virus, which allowed the country to re-open quickly.
Food security has declined so much around the world in 2020, in no small part because of the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdown measures being implemented. In South-East Asia, the pandemic has exacerbated several existing food security risks.
Despite major improvements due to the measures being implemented by the government, there are major challenges to food security across the region. Poverty rates remain high, exceeding 40 percent in some countries, and roughly 60 million are undernourished. Even in countries where undernourishment has declined the most, such as Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, levels of undernourishment remain alarmingly high.
Covid-19: The South-East Asian Experience
As a writer from Singapore, I understand the sentiment above the effects of the pandemic. Covid-19 pandemic arrived in South-East Asia sooner than in many other parts of the world. The region has only recently seen major spikes in the disease, however, most notably in Indonesia and the Philippines. Both countries have struggled to contain the virus — in Indonesia, there have been around half a million cases, while in the Philippines cases have risen to over 400,000. The explosion in cases has been largely due to poor governance and pandemic management.
Unfortunately in Indonesia, members of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet have touted remedies with no basis in science such as herbal juices and eucalyptus necklaces. By the end of August, Indonesia had one of the lowest rates of testing in the world and of those who were tested, 17 percent tested positive (according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a positive rate of more than five percent indicates an uncontrolled outbreak). This explains the increase in cases in the South East Asia region.
Most South-East Asian countries have managed to avoid the massive spikes seen across much of the world. Vietnam, which has a population roughly similar to that of the Philippines, has kept cases low, at around 1,200, despite poorer public health infrastructure than many of its neighbors. At the start of the pandemic, Vietnam was quick to react, developing testing kits, strategically testing its population, and aggressively contact tracing. The country closed its borders with China as soon as the first death was announced in Wuhan and pandemic preparations began a full month before the WHO announced a pandemic. As cases rose early in the pandemic, Vietnam hospitalized every infected person and traced their contacts to the fourth degree, requiring those contacts to isolate as the army sanitized neighborhoods.
Other parts of South-East Asia have also succeeded in containing the virus, to varying degrees. Despite being the first country outside of China to record a case of Covid-19, and early missteps in its pandemic response and high population density, Thailand has also managed to keep infection rates low (at just under 4,000 cases as of 25th November 2020) which such is seen to be commendable.
With food more difficult to access because of the national based lockdown, nutritional health is expected to worsen, adding to the 61 million in the region who are already undernourished and micronutrient deficiencies are already a persistent threat. While there has so far been little research into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on nutrition in the region, it seems likely that reduced food access will lead to worsening nutrition in the region.
Across South-East Asia, around 25 percent of children under the age of five are stunted (stunting describes a low height for the age of the child, which can lead to other health and neurological complications), and 8.7% experience wasting (low weight for height). Adults are also at risk of poor nutrition, with over a quarter of women in the region suffering from iron deficiency anemia. Lockdown measures such as school closures have prompted particular concern, as many schools provide free or subsidized meals to children from low-income families, providing vital nutrition that they otherwise do not receive.
Similarly, potential disruptions to supply chains have caused concerns that access to nutrient-rich but perishable foods could also worsen, putting vulnerable groups at risk of nutritional deficiencies. Several Indonesian provinces saw deficits in staple foods due to such disruptions.
With this in mind, we need to be prepared to accept in the long term that food and nutritional security will be affected, and to reduce the impact what we as citizens can do is try to stockpiling necessary food but of course not until the extent it creates a frenzy like a toilet paper panic 3 or 4 months back. | https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/the-pandemic-impact-on-food-security-3b6f4644f08 | ['Antoine Blodgett'] | 2020-12-04 07:46:55.091000+00:00 | ['Security', 'Food', 'Covid 19', 'Health', 'Healthcare'] |
What are Backend Search Terms and How to Optimize Amazon Product listings? | The Backend Search Terms are the main objective of Amazon Marketing Services. This is the basic point to enhance your search ranking on amazon. Backend search terms are a particularly important part of optimizing amazon product listings.
In this article, we will take an overview of Backend Search Terms. How we can put them, placement, and other features of search terms.
Relevancy of keywords: First of all, sellers need to identify the exact keywords that most relevant to describe the products. Therefore, it is a must to prepare the list of backend keywords that can be optimized through amazon product listing services and the Amazon search algorithms. These keywords should be describing the product in maximum search terms. Therefore, we can increase the more chance to come on top of any search terms on Amazon.
Placement of keywords: Now, Amazon is providing 200 to 250 characters to add the keywords in the backend of search terms on Amazon. Hence, you should focus on the length and relevancy of keywords more carefully. For better placement, avoid comma between keywords to make the best use of space and put only a single space between two words.
Relevance keywords in tittle: You must place appropriate titles and descriptions of products on amazon through the help of relevant keywords. They will help products in ranking and search terms when any customer will search your product in the search bar. Backend keywords should be relevant to your category and products.
Grammar use in keywords: If possible, use hyphenated keywords instead of two separate words. These words will help you in all types of searches where multiple words will involve.
Features of bullet points: You will find five columns to define your bullet points about products on amazon. Always try to describe the major benefits and features of the product in bullet points. According to experts, it is best to mention the backend search terms in bullet points. It will create the bullet points more effective and searchable on Amazon.
But a part of that, you should care of bullet points like, they are looking sensible, meaningful or in a manner with backend search terms. After this, your listing will become more user friendly and conversion-friendly. Amazon allows you to mention 100 characters or highlights points in each bullet point.
Keywords in a role in description: Most of the buyers just check the bullet points of the product. But some customers check the whole information or description of the product also. Hence, sellers should include the backend search terms in their product description.
Points to avoid on Amazon:
1) Avoid any spelling mistakes in the content, title, and product description, especially backend search terms.
2) Do not use any offensive or abusive terms in your content.
3) Make your content quite simple and user friendly in front of customers. SO that they could purchase the products without any confusion.
Finally, we can say backend search terms is the main objective of SEO ranking on amazon. Through better search terms, your conversion rate will get high and amazon always tries to keep successful conversion rate products in the top of relevant category.
If you have any confusion to take product listing on amazon and amazon marketing services, you can contact any good professional for eCommerce and Amazon Services. | https://medium.com/@cartsmagic/what-is-backend-search-terms-and-how-to-optimize-amazon-product-listings-4a2e4e628daf | ['Carts Magic'] | 2020-12-28 08:05:32.964000+00:00 | ['Ecommerce Solution', 'Ecommerce', 'Amazon Marketing Services', 'Amazon', 'Amazon Marketing Strategy'] |
Flutter for Enterprise | Unit Testing Usecase [2/2] | In my previous writing, we emphasized on the necessity of structuring our application. We addressed two major hurdle that could potentially bring the flutter project to a halt and took an architectural decision by adapting to Domain Driven Design principle. Now we want to incorporate Unit Test and adhere to Test Driven Development guidelines while implementing use-cases and learn how it supplements our approach towards building a scalable application.
Test Driven Development
Test driven development is more than just using automated test suite for validating our implemented logic. It’s kind of methodology which in a way drives the design aspect of writing code by following a certain convention in cycles. Essentially, this allows our test case to serve as a technical documentation for the behavior of our application.
This convention is described as below.
Upon receiving a feature/change request, the iteration of TDD starts.
1. Add a test case in support to the feature/change request. 2. Write the minimum code to make the test case pass. 3. Adjust with the rest of production code through refactoring.
This convention can be applied at different level as we have already decomposed our application into various layers/components as in the figure below.
Here we’ll be focusing on the “Unit Test”, which is at the bottom of testing pyramid.
Unit Test
In Object Oriented perspective, Unit Test is the testing of state/behavior of a class in isolation. We have seen already in previous article that structuring our application by decomposing into layers/components results in writing more code and ends up with a lot of classes. So it’s natural that we want to automate the testing of classes and test them in isolation in a time effective manner. That lead us to two approach of unit testing which are as follows.
Test Last Approach
This is the default testing approach that we think of intuitively. In this approach we perform test after writing the implementation detail of our code which means our test works for that specific implementation only. Any change in the implementation detail will break the contract of test case and results as failure which might not be correct all the time.
For example, suppose you want to go from place ‘A’ to place ‘B’ and you went by train. If you write test case to validate this logic using test last approach then you’ll end up including the mode of transportation as a part of the behavior that you want to validate. However that is just an implementation detail that you’ve used. Different people might use different mode of transportation to reach the same destination from the same starting point.
So Test Last Approach couples the behavior along with implementation detail which results in rigid code that is hard to maintain. Therefore we avoid this approach while Unit Testing but it is useful for other testing scenarios.
Test First Approach
This testing approach aligns with the convention that we have mentioned earlier while explaining TDD. So we’ll use this convention and explore further with some examples. In general, this is an iterative approach where we start with fail case, then we adjust the minimum change in our code to make it pass and finally refactor to improve the quality without affecting the behavior. | https://medium.com/@preyea-regmi/flutter-for-enterprise-unit-testing-usecase-2-2-b8fc0632ff46 | ['Preyea Regmi'] | 2021-09-08 15:47:18.182000+00:00 | ['Flutter', 'Test Driven Development', 'Unit Testing', 'Flutter App Development', 'Clean Architecture'] |
2020 KM + Innovation Survey Results — Prism Legal | This post, the 2020 KM + Innovation Survey Results, reports on the survey to support the 2020 Strategic Knowledge + Innovation Legal Leaders’ Summit, which took place in early February 2020. The Summit is a meeting of about 65 senior knowledge management professionals from large US, UK, and Canadian law firms.
Lucy Dillon, Mary Abraham, Oz Benamram, and I organize the meeting each year. To prepare for it, we survey invitees toward the end of each year to learn about current knowledge management and innovation priorities and plans. We share detailed survey results with respondents and I publicly share a subset of the results here. (See the 2019 Survey results here.) An Appendix at the end of this post has demographic information and qualifiers about the survey.
We ask three primary questions; the quoted text in parentheses corresponds to chart labels that appear later this this report:
What are your top priorities for 2019? (“2019 Priority”) What did you focus on in 2018? (“2018 Focus”) What would you like to discuss with the group in 2019? (“2019 Discuss”)
Lucy, Mary, and Oz reviewed and contributed to the report we circulated to participants and attendees. I have unilaterlly edited that version for this public presentation.
Summary of 2020 Responses
The chart below shows the 2020 survey responses. We publish these results every year and have, in the past, commented on changes in year-over-year responses. For 2020, we adjusted both the meeting format and invitee list, resulting fewer respondents than in recent years. The decrease makes year-to-year comparisons statistically risky and of limited value. Instead of year-over-year comparisons, our analysis this year focuses on just the 2020 results.
“New” and “Traditional” KM: A Subjective Assessment of 2019 Focus
Going Beyond Our Answer Tags. Answer tags are, by design, not granular. For a more nuanced, albeit subjective view, we reviewed the text answers to the 2019 focus question to classify each with a substantive KM or innovation project name.
Focus Naturally Broke into “New” and “Traditional” Activities. We saw a natural bifurcation: what we call “New KM and Innovation,” activities new in about the last five years, and “Traditional KM,” activities older than five years. In the list below, we alphabetize the activities because we intentionally do not attribute meaning to the order.
Most Activities Easy to Classify, Two Not. We found it easy to classify most projects as New or Traditional though two required some discussion. Experience location is a traditional KM discipline but we labeled experience management systems as New because over the last five years, robust, enterprise software purpose-built for this function have come to market and many firms have deployed a product. Similarly, litigation analytics as a concept is Traditional but the last five years has seen the rise of new approaches from both start-ups and established providers. We view that as a big change from the past so consider it New.
NEW KM and INNOVATION ACTIVITIES
Artificial intelligence
Chatbot building
Contract analytics
Data analytics and visualization
Deal platforms and management
Experience management systems
Innovation initiatives
Launching start-ups within law firms
Litigation analytics
Push systems (deliver KM when / as needed)
Robotic process automation
Smart contracts
TRADITIONAL KM ACTIVITIES
Client-facing KM
Closing binder streamlining
Collaboration platforms
Deal databases and provision-trend analysis
Document automation
Document management systems
Email management
Enterprise search
Expert systems
Legal project management (LPM)
Matter management tools
Portals
Precedents and playbooks
Process mapping
Professional support lawyers
Workflow
Conclusions from Classifying: KM and Innovation Remain Robust. A few years ago, some KM professionals worried that “KM is dead.” While many KM professionals continue working on long-standing elements of KM, others work on relatively new elements, some cutting edge. Fittingly, some of these professionals now have “innovation” as well as “knowledge” as a part of their title. We think that the two lists show that KM remains vibrant and that the scope of KM over the last two decades has expanded significantly. Indeed, we believe this evolution shows the power of KM to adapt and seize opportunities to move the delivery of legal service forward.
2020 Priorities Compared to 2020 Discussion Interests
Comparison of Priorities and Discussion Interests. Each year we compare respondents’ priorities (“Do”) with what they would like to discuss (“Talk”). See the chart below for this comparison. These data are comparable because all answers come from the samerespondents in the same year. Because the number of Do versus Talk tags differs significantly, however, we have normalized the percentages to make this comparison. We discuss below the biggest gap in each direction.
Talk>Do: Client-Facing KM. The biggest “talk more than do” gap is client-facing KM. We think that reflects two related large law firm trends. First, all organizations face pressure to digitally transform. Digital transformation is a widely used and frequently underspecified term. It typically includes web-based or mobile-enabled self-service options, for example, buying airline tickets on the web or summoning a shared car. Whatever digital transformation means for law firms, we think client-facing KM contributes to it. Second, large law firms continue to face growing competition to keep existing business and win new work. That competitive pressure causes more firms to focus greater attention on creating or enhancing client-facing systems, which can differentiate the firm and add value for clients.
Do>Talk: Forms and Precedents. Forms and precedents, in contrast, show a big gap in the other direction, i.e., “do more than talk.” This is a perennial pattern: forms are a mature discipline, so we are not surprised in the gap. The doing here is well-understood and therefore does not need much discussion.
AI Comment. A comment on AI is also in order. Last year, AI and data science had the biggest below-the-line gap. We think its drop to second place reflects that legal AI is maturing, or at least becoming mainstream and widely understood. Yet it continues to exert strong “sex appeal” and the gap remains large. KM and innovation leaders want to continue discussing it, or at least hear from others to help assess where their firm stands.
How Priorities Will Shift: 2020 Plans Compared to 2019 Focus
Shifting Priorities. We also compared 2020 plans and 2019 actual focus. These data are comparable and show intended shifts in priority. (The difference in number of tags per answer was immaterial so we did not normalize.)
Doing Less Forms + Precedents Repeats the Pattern. We start with our view about the two big below-the-line gaps (do less in 2020 than in 2019). As we observed in prior years, many KM professionals find they must work on forms, precedents, and document assembly, even though they may not gravitate toward doing so. “Hope springs eternal,” so fewer plan to focus on this. We may learn next year if this turns out to be true.
Doing Less DMS Likely Reflects Upgrade Cycle. We believe the “do less” for content management and DMS reflects the cyclical nature of document management system upgrades. Both NetDocs and iManage released major upgrades in recent years. Some firms have switched brands and others upgraded. The drop likely reflects that, for participating firms, those changes have wrapped up for now.
Comments on the Relatively Small “Do More” Tags. Turning to above the line differences, expert systems and experience location tie for the biggest shift to doing more in 2020 than in 2019. A five-point shift is not big — it could easily be natural variation. Or it might reflect that both these product categories have gained market traction. Until recently, there was only one viable legal market expert system product; now there are several. We think the growth in number of providers serves as a lagging indicator for the growing interest and activity of large firms in developing these systems. (If you know of any leading indicators, we would love to hear from you.) Separately, as noted above, purpose-built experience management remains one of the newer categories of large firm enterprise software. We are thus unsurprised to see increased activity around it. Furthermore, the large firms, even the top ones, face growing competition. Enterprise experience management software has virtually become a required tool to improve win rates on pitching for new work.
Conclusions
Despite changes in our survey, the conclusions we draw this year remain similar to those from recent years. First, KM remains robust and interest in it continues to grow.
Second, as we noted above, KM continues to have a core of what we now call “traditional KM” but also tackles an ever-wider set of initiatives, especially innovation. KM professionals will likely always need to spend some time on core activities such as forms and precedents or upgrading the DMS or search. But they also work on a shifting range of activities, from pricing and process improvement starting a decade ago, to the more recent addition, for example, of AI, data analytics, and innovation.
This survey suggests that senior law firm management must hire a growing cadre of experienced professionals who understand law practice, law firm business management, legal clients, and, increasingly data analytics. That combination of skill and experience will drive the evolution of law firm service delivery — and competition for new business.
Appendix: About this Survey
The Questions Asked and Chart Labels
At the end of each year, we ask three primary questions, listed below. The quoted parenthetical text corresponds to chart labels that appear in the charts above and text above.
What are your top priorities for 2019? (“2019 Priority”) What did you focus on in 2018? (“2018 Focus”) What would you like to discuss with the group in 2019? (“2019 Discuss”)
Survey Demographics and Caveats About Interpreting It
Here are demographic and other details about the survey that highlight potential limitations: | https://medium.com/@ronfriedmann/2020-km-innovation-survey-results-prism-legal-1c246e0145db | [] | 2020-02-20 19:48:32.200000+00:00 | ['Knowledge Management', 'Innovation', 'Surveys', 'Law Firm', 'Legal'] |
Innovation as a Means to Survive the Crisis | The word crisis originates from the Greek ‘krísi’ which means ‘decisive moment’. Though the meaning can be interpreted in various ways, the sentiment it carries sheds a light of optimism particularly for businesses trying to keep above water in these testing times. Just as ‘krisi’ suggests, it is how businesses confront the challenges imposed by the current state of affairs which ultimately will dictate the outcome, being either prosperous or defeating.
The coronavirus pandemic was far from discriminatory with organisations on a global scale suffering its impact. In-person service providers and hospitality industries have been the ones affected the most, with investors seen moving their assets to more secure options since early March. On the other hand, the pandemic could be defined as zero-sum as there is a category of industries which has seen tangible growth and profitability stemming from this crisis. Communication tools and Telemedicine have proliferated greatly from the previous year and the industry of Telemedicine alone has an estimated worth of a quarter trillion dollars. Though there are clear beneficiaries to emerge from this crisis, what is possibly even more interesting to explore are the ways of which businesses with a seemingly ‘doomed’ business model managed to diversify through innovation in order to navigate their way out of this crisis.
On a macro perspective a surprising number of mergers and acquisitions have been seen throughout this last quarter of 2020 with many analysts pledging M&As to be “the only way out of the crisis”. However, this V-shaped increase in M&As has raised concerns, with recent studies predicting pessimistic forecasts featuring revenue losses and consumer surpluses. However, the big picture M&A business aside, — it is by looking at innovation on a micro level that one can begin to appreciate the true sense of creativity this pandemic has brought on. For instance, an Atlanta high school student honed her entrepreneurial disposition and created a service allowing the public to purchase meals from local restaurants to hospital workers. And it is this kind of multilateral approach to innovation, that came to nuance the way a great amount of businesses would restructure their operations.
Recent reports from McKinsey & Co. have outlined just how much companies allowing for creativity and independence among their employees have benefitted from and in instances even saved, their business. For instance, a U.S based industrial company followed a proposal from one of its frontline employees and began manufacturing ventilators, and all up and running within a week. Similarly, a group of gym owners forced to shut down collaborated and moved their services online by operating a ‘virtual gym’. Local restaurant and grocery stores have teamed up with online delivery services which has generated a positive surge in a consumer consciousness of buying and supporting local businesses. Further, a group of women who lost their jobs recruiting for big tech companies, created a HR initiative supporting job seekers through free consulting and guidance. The common denominators that can be appreciated across the examples above are that of; creativity and ownership.
It is no secret that the pandemic has inferred a great amount of stress on businesses worldwide. Large quantities of organisations have had to shut their doors on a permanent basis and many of them being small, local, often family owned businesses. These are difficult times to navigate through for any business, but as seen, the pandemic has also come with its own set of opportunities. Large companies forced to restructure their organisational culture have discovered a wealth of value by recognising the real abilities of their employees. By reinventing traditional ways of working with a more collaborative approach, companies have been able to generate creative solutions to novel challenges. And by leveraging the uniqueness of diverse yet unified perspectives, individuals and businesses have managed to acknowledge this ‘decisive moment’ we are in, and carved a path toward success.
Ronja Lodmark | https://medium.com/@ronjalodmark/innovation-as-a-means-to-survive-the-crisis-c0741bc4959a | ['Ronja Lodmark'] | 2020-11-16 20:01:36.988000+00:00 | ['Strategy', 'Markets', 'Business', 'Covid 19', 'Innovation'] |
The Global Search for Education: The Power of Sports to Disrupt Disability | The Global Search for Education: The Power of Sports to Disrupt Disability
This week we welcome Professor William Alford and Billy Seide to talk about sports and disrupting disability.
“I hope Special Olympics will inspire others with developmental disabilities to have confidence in themselves. Often, these people feel marginalized and unworthy and there is no longer a need for us to hide in the shadows.” — Billy Seide
Raising awareness about the potential of people with intellectual disabilities has been a primary focus of the Special Olympics.
Billy Seide has been participating in the Special Olympics since 1999. In 2007, he went to Shanghai in China for the Special Olympics world summer games in softball, and his team earned 3rd place. In 2016, he switched to The Sound Shore Stars because it was closer to where he lived. Currently he helps out and participates in floor hockey, basketball, swimming, unified bowling, track and field, and the pentathlon.
Professor William P. Alford is Lead Director and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International, which serves individuals with intellectual disabilities in more than 170 jurisdictions around the world. In 2004, Alford helped found the Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD). He describes the organization’s goals, noting they are “to be of assistance as the UN drafted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” and to be “a resource about disability law and policy both in nations that have ratified the Convention and beyond.”
The Global Search for Education welcomed Professor William Alford and Billy Seide to talk about the power of sports to disrupt disability.
“The skills and competencies that I have acquired with Special Olympics help prepare me to meet with other athletes whom I wouldn’t otherwise get to know. With the coach’s guidance, I learn how to speak in front of others.” — Billy Seide
Billy, what has being part of the Special Olympics meant to you?
The skills and competencies that I have acquired with Special Olympics help prepare me to meet with other athletes whom I wouldn’t otherwise get to know. With the coach’s guidance, I learn how to speak in front of others. All of this helps me to gain pride and confidence along with a belief that I actually have something to offer to others.
What would you call your most significant achievement so far?
My most significant achievement as a special olympic athlete is being a member of “The Athletes Congress”. This is an important role. Here I meet with other individuals across New York state and we discuss how to be leaders within this special community.
Prof Alford, please share your best examples of where HPOD Disability strategies have promoted the inclusion of persons with disabilities in classrooms and in the work place, both internationally and at home in the U.S. What are you focused on next?
To date, we have worked extensively in more than a dozen nations while advising in more than 30 others of the 177 nations that have ratified the Convention. The United States, has not ratified — which is unfortunate, since the Convention is modelled in important part after our own Americans with Disabilities Act, would not impose unwanted obligations on us, and already is helping improve the situation for Americans with disabilities working or travelling abroad, not to mention hundreds of millions of other nationals.
The work our Harvard Law School Project on Disability does varies enormously from setting to setting, as we think it critical that our approach in any country be shaped by history and context, and take serious account of the views of the local partners, even as we draw upon comparative law in providing a range of approaches. As a consequence, in addition to our own scholarly research, we have advised on the drafting of education, employment, health, anti-discrimination law and more; assisted in the formulation of state policy; collaborated on impact litigation; helped develop texts and teaching materials introducing disability law into university curricula; taught persons with disabilities how to advocate for themselves with educators and officials; formed family support groups; trained personnel in disabled persons organizations; and produced an array of materials– including simplified introductions to the CRPD for persons with intellectual disabilities in a half dozen major languages; print and internet profiles of both the accomplishments of persons with disabilities as well as the on-going challenges they face; and a Chinese language manual, using examples from both domestic and foreign companies, illustrating advantages of employing persons with disabilities. Our efforts encompass all types of disability.
We are delighted that many of our students at Harvard have chosen to join us in this work and also that we have been able to bring to the school many individuals with disabilities who have generously shared with our students their life experience.
“I would hope that we can expand our efforts to show the world the courage, the ingenuity, the determination, the humor, the comradeship, the musical gifts, and much more that our athletes manifest.” — William P. Alford
The Special Olympics has sent a powerful message of hope to the world about persons with disabilities. What do you believe should be the next important goals for this program?
Special Olympics is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. It was founded in the summer of 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the President’s sister, out of the conviction that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and that sports can provide a powerful engine for promoting that end, while also having many ancillary benefits. The movement, as we like to call it, has grown enormously since then, owing to the inspired leadership of Dr. Timothy Shriver, an extraordinary team of dedicated professionals, thousands of volunteers generous with their time and financial assistance, and, most importantly, the passionate engagement of more than 6,000,000 athletes around the world including more than 5,000,000 of whom are persons with an intellectual or developmental disability.
Today, Special Olympics has programs in over 170 nations across the world. Literally, every day there are hundreds of sporting events occurring globally under its auspices. But alongside our sports programming, Special Olympics also now offers health programs, promotes research regarding intellectual disability, fosters unified school programs that bring together persons with and without an intellectual disability to study and play together, and works assiduously to end stigma, to educate the world about the talents of our athletes, and to foster genuine inclusion for the good of all of us.
As the Lead Director of the Special Olympics international board (though I am speaking now in my personal capacity only, rather than for the organization), I would love to see a couple of things. First, I would hope that we can expand our efforts to show the world the courage, the ingenuity, the determination, the humor, the comradeship, the musical gifts, and much more that our athletes manifest. That demonstrates what our athletes can do (rather than what they can’t do) and also how they contribute valuably to the world. Second, I would love for us to be even more inclusive — to share our programs further with individuals from disadvantaged communities. And third, to expand our efforts in developing nations.
Billy, Looking ahead to the future — what do you predict or hope the Special Olympics will do for other kids or adults with disabilities?
I hope Special Olympics will inspire others with developmental disabilities to have confidence in themselves. Often, these people feel marginalized and unworthy and there is no longer a need for us to hide in the shadows. We definitely have something to contribute. The next way Special Olympics can innovate this important work is by educating the public. Generally, they are misinformed and fearful of these athletes, as though a developmental disability is easily transmitted to others, and something to be pitied. These beliefs are based solely on ignorance.
(David Wine contributed to this Article. All photos are courtesy of Special Olympics) | https://medium.com/edmodoblog/the-global-search-for-education-the-power-of-sports-to-disrupt-disability-14f8b8de4d29 | ['C. M. Rubin'] | 2019-08-02 12:31:01.141000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Special Olympics', 'Sports', 'Disability'] |
10 Quotes that will make you think ( like really think) | “Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful.”
— Martin Yan | https://medium.com/@meslilelmahdi/10-quotes-that-will-make-you-think-like-really-think-e72effdb0fdc | ['Meslil Elmahdi'] | 2020-12-25 20:51:05.415000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Quotes', 'Life Lessons', 'Happiness', 'Inspiration'] |
Java Unit Tests make easy — Random Values with PODAM | In this article Java Unit Tests make easy — Random Values with PODAM, we discuss how to generate random values to object, collections we use on Junit test using PODAM library.
When we write unit test cases for functions, a big headache for developers is filling mock data to our objects, collections etc.
For example, let see what would be the test case to fetch an object from a function.
Please look below code snippet. In this object contains the list of child objects too.
In this code snippet, we can see a lot of hardcode data we have to use to fill the object with values.
Now let see what we can do for this matter…
Any good solution??
Yes, we have PODAM.
What is PODAM?
PODAM is a lightweight tool to auto-fill Java POJOs with data. This comes handy when developing unit tests. Thanks to PODAM users now have a one-liner that does all the work them.
What are the features of PODAM:
Automatic introspection of your POJOs to fill all possible attributes with random data. You can customise this behaviour.
Extension points to customise the data strategy, fields exclusions based on names or annotations
Support for your custom annotations to either provide data or exclude fields
The option to select minimal constructors (for lightweight POJOs) or full constructors
And Support for Java types, enumerations, arrays, collections (lists, sets, maps)
Also Support for generics
Support for your factories when PODAM cannot introspect enough information to generate a type (e.g. XMLGregorianCalendar)
Support for arbitrary method executions when the typical lifecycle has ended
Using PODAM in Spring boot application
We have to add podam dependencies to the spring boot project.
Please use the latest version. When I’m writing this article, the latest version is 7.2.5.RELEASE
For Maven
For Gradle
Now we are going to refactor the above mentions code using Podam.
Pojo using podom
Can you believe this?
46 line of code we reduce to less than ten lines.
Let’s see what happen there. Let’s break down.
First, we implement PodamFactory instance.
PodamFactory factory = new PodamFactoryImpl();
Then using the above PodamFactory, we can create an object with values.
AuthorDoc authorDoc = factory.manufacturePojo(AuthorDoc.class);
if we debug this, we can see the assigned values to the object like below
Values inside object assign from Podam
Let see more examples
List (String) using podom
Let’s see how we can build a List of String using Podam.
List (Pojo) using podom
If we need to test some function with the list object, it is an immense pain.
Now let see how we can use magical position using podam.
How many code lines we saved???
Map(String, Pojo) using podom
Same like the above example, we can quickly build a map of date using podam.
Defining an attribute-level strategy
So far, we see podam assign sample values to our POJO attributes. What happened if there is a validation. For example, if its an Email field we have to give an exact email address.
for that, we can use data strategies at the attribute level
Lets create a EmailStrategy class
we can use this in 2 ways,
2. config strategy when we create PadomFactory. then it will auto-assign POJO level validations
Limit collection size.
In our previous example, we have a list of books in the author object. Let’s see how we can limit the size of this list. For that, we can use @PodamCollection annotation.
We added collection elements size as 3. so this will only create 3 records of book attribute on that list.
For a full list of supported annotations, please refer to the podam Annotations page.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading the article Java Unit Tests make easy — Random Values with PODAM.
You can find source codes for this tutorial from our Github. | https://medium.com/@jaya-maduka/java-unit-tests-make-easy-random-values-with-podam-2b1de8a56958 | ['Maduka Jayawardana'] | 2020-12-30 02:57:10.223000+00:00 | ['Java', 'Podam', 'Spring Boot', 'Junit'] |
Summary of Delphy Live Broadcast with China Community — April 4th, 2018 | 20:00–22:00, 04/04/2018 Beijing Time
Dear Delphy Community,
Delphy held another live broadcast event for our Chinese community on April 4th, 2018. Mike, Delphy Product Managing Director, and Jane Zhang, Delphy Marketing Partner, co-hosted the event and provided various updates followed by a Q & A session.
The session commenced with a welcome address by Jane, followed by marketing updates. From a marketing standpoint, we’ve has a very busy month- Delphy participated in various global events that spanned from international conferences to local meetups, held in Beijing, Moscow, Washington DC and San Francisco. Thought-leadership articles, press releases and blogs were published on prediction markets, blockchain industry trends and our vision. You can find detailed information in our March Summary.
Jane also answered many questions from the community about Delphy’s next-step marketing plan. We will continue to participate in blockchain events to demonstrate thought leadership. Bo Wang, Founder of Delphy, is in Tokyo, Japan now, to attend and speak on the Beyond Blocks Summit Tokyo. Bo and Jane will attend the Global Inclusive Blockchain Conference in Singapore later this month. Fox Holt, VP of Business Development of Delphy, will host 2 meetups in Austin, TX USA to meet and discuss with students from UT Austin and blockchain technology enthusiasts and investors. Delphy China team is also working on a local meetup in either Nanjing or Shenzhen in China by end of this April. Additionally, Delphy Marketing team is also working to cooperate with other projects under the same investor portfolio, like Fenbushi Capital, etc., to maximize the marketing results.
Mike updated our community with Delphy product progress. Our Dev team continues to work hard on product development. As mentioned before, we have started another round of internal testing(in Mandarin) recently. This brings our numbers up to 500 users. We value your feedback and invite our community members to help us with testing, we appreciate it and Tokens and/or other souvenirs will be rewarded for the same. Additionally, if you are a champion who predicts more accurately than others, special awards are waiting for you.
Mike and Jane both emphasized that Delphy’s prediction Markets platforms are absolutely different from betting. Prediction markets will have a profoundly positive impact on the daily lives of our society as they are extremely efficient at removing uncertainty from the world. Prediction markets can provide much more theoretical and practical meaning to the whole world than betting.
Last but not the least, Mike announced that Delphy’s official dApp integrated to imToken will be launched this month!!! Stay tuned.
Below is the live stream link, please watch it.
https://www.yizhibo.com/l/MCZqGPzh1E4AONlh.html
Thank you for your continued support! | https://medium.com/delphy/summary-of-delphy-live-broadcast-with-china-community-april-4th-2018-1bfa913e49d6 | ['Ada Gao'] | 2018-04-09 21:24:46.754000+00:00 | ['Predictions', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Bitcoin'] |
The a16z for Climate Tech | The a16z for Climate Tech
Jason Jacobs, host of the excellent new podcast My Climate Journey, wondered aloud on Twitter this weekend what the Climate Tech version of an a16z or First Round would look like. Two caveats before I give my answer
Existing climate investors are playing this role today because they have no other choice. There is certainly room for a $10B firm to put even more resources behind this.
What’s so special about a16z?
Startup investing today is so much more than just writing a check. Every firm pitches founders on the value they’ll add. (There are even twitter parodies calling into question how serious those offers to help are.) There’s a reason for this focus on value-add. There are three ways a VC can be successful (let’s ignore luck for a second):
See more good companies (deal flow) Pick more good companies (selection) Help companies succeed (value-add)
** for more on this see the academic research like “How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions” by Gompers and others.
But Andreessen Horowitz made its mark by defining what a “value-add” investor is. The firm’s founders understood that many of the next greatest tech companies were going to be built by product and technology people — founders who understood technology and markets, but maybe weren’t expert storytellers, didn’t yet have media and PR experience, and didn’t have the network that Marc and Ben had. They understood that they could accelerate those new companies by providing bench strength — partners at a16z that could be called on to help recruit a great head of sales, or someone who could get the company featured on the front page of the New York Times. In short, in addition to providing sound advice from their board seat, a16z would put people to work every day solving their portfolio companies’ problems. Today, all firms understand that the bar has moved and they can’t just provide a check and some occasional advice.
What are the current Climate Tech funders doing?
Jason’s question wasn’t really “why isn’t there an a16z today” but rather, if what software companies need is better PR or better access to recruiting than they could get on their own, what could an analog in climate tech provide.
One answer is that each and every of the active climate funders are doing this every day. [The following list will not be comprehensive, so please let me know what I’ve missed!] At Clean Energy Trust, we take an active role with the 31 companies we’ve invested in. We work with our companies to hire their next set of leaders, we work with them to find their next early market, we connect them to grant and funding programs, we spend tons of time helping them craft their pitches for the next funding round, connecting them with other investors, and finding pilot opportunities for them. Activate/Cyclotron Road has built excellent free content libraries (http://playbooks.cyclotronroad.org). Greentown Labs and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator regularly bring in experts to mentor their companies and connect them with early customers. Elemental Excelerator pairs great companies with test and demonstration opportunities. On the fund side, just to name a few, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Energize Ventures have dedicated staff to match portfolio companies with relevant customers.
Photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash
So, what could we do with $10B?
Today a16z manages around $10B. If you assumed a standard 2% management fee, that would mean the firm has $200m per year to spend on people to support portfolio companies. If we had those resources (or even a fraction) applied to climate tech, here’s what my wishlist would be:
Turbocharged industrial marketing support. So many companies in the space have a great technology that could be used in hundreds of different applications, but haven’t found the perfect fit. Unfortunately, this process takes a combination of experience and luck. By pairing companies with experienced industry experts, we could accelerate their time to first revenue and prove that the company is an attractive follow-on investment. To cover the broad range of industries within Climate Tech, you’d need to have a relatively deep bench. Top recruiting. Finding the next perfect team member to add sales, marketing, or manufacturing experience to the founding team is expensive. Unlike the market for experienced software talent in Silicon Valley, there isn’t a deep pool of these people and they’re spread all around the country. For the kinds of companies we’re talking about, hiring a recruiter could cost several months of runway. A fund that could bring this in house would put companies on the fast track. Policy, regulatory, and lobbying help. All startups need to “eat their policy vegetables” and this is especially true in climate tech. Imagine offering what Tusk Ventures does for its highly regulated startups like Uber. And while many entrepreneurs might feel uncomfortable with lobbying, the reality is your competitors (incumbents and other startups) are doing it. (As my colleague Paul says “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”) One example — a solar company discovered that one of their competitors was on the verge of changing state building codes to require all panels to be a certain size, a move that would have completely blocked the company from any new sales. Grant writers. Jason’s suggestion of a grant writer or two would be hugely helpful. Like with the industrial marketing experts, you need a broad pool of talent here. Instead of having these writers on staff, the fund could provide access to a network of expert grant writers with expertise across energy, materials, agriculture, water, etc. PR and advertising. This one feels like a cop-out, because of course this isn’t unique to climate tech. But, many of the companies we’re thinking about aren’t selling to consumers or giving away free software. And those that sell into the enterprise often aren’t general-purpose technologies that can be used across industries. Specialized PR and ad firms who can find out which trade publications and which conferences truly matter for each industry. IP strategy. This role (different from a company’s patent counsel who files the patents) would focus more broadly on the company’s long-term strategy for developing new IP and protecting what it invents. There’s often more that can be patented than founding teams realize and companies at the earliest stages likely don’t have anyone on their team dedicated to this important role. Manufacturing & Scale Up. Access to experts who understand design for manufacturing, who have worked with contract manufacturers in the US and abroad, and who have taken a hardware product from concept to full scale would help startups avoid the kinds of costly mistakes that have doomed many a company.
The cynic’s view on why there isn’t already a16z in Climate Tech
By disrupting the VC industry and staffing up in each of these areas, a16z was able to offer startups something they couldn’t get anywhere else. They showed companies an unfakeable signal that they were going to help them succeed. In turn, they knew, this would lead the best founders to look to them for investment.
In climate tech, I’m sorry to say, we’re not at the point where we have such cutthroat competition for deal flow. The amazing (but growing!) funding in this space can’t keep up with the number of great ideas, so VC firms don’t yet have to compete with added services.
Founders and funders: what else would you add to the list? What would you tell the people building a $10B climate fund? | https://medium.com/clean-energy-trust/the-a16z-for-climate-tech-a2bbfa686b | ['Ben Gaddy'] | 2019-09-12 21:36:44.419000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Perspective', 'Venture Capital', 'Impact Investing', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Why your company should start writing Acceptance Tests as soon as possible. (BDD) — Behat | I work at SportsRecruits as a Software Engineer and currently we are using “Behat” for creating and running Acceptance Tests of our Laravel-based applications. Behat is a framework for testing and guaranteeing business expectations, closing the communication gap between the stakeholders and the development team -a daily issue. Unlike any other testing frameworks, Behat allows us to express features that are required from the business side in plain english -it means that tests can be written and understood by anyone with no programming experience at all, by just following and understanding what is known as the context-action-outcome pattern.
Test could be included as part of an automated testing process and finally accepted only when it is considered acceptable. This is all that a business requires in order to maintain a better back-to-back communication between the stakeholders and the development team. This level of commitment is what it is known as “Acceptance”. We call it acceptance because they express what the software needs to do in order for the stakeholders to find it acceptable.
When tests are described and executed, the automated tests will normally fail, because no code had been written yet, but at least it shows what the stakeholders care about, thus it gives a good signal as to what it will take to be done.
It’s important to point out the difference between Acceptance tests and Unit tests. It’s said that Unit Tests aim to help the developer to build the things right, while Acceptance Tests aim to build the right things.
On the whole, you should start writing Acceptance Tests because it outperforms visualization and execution of the necessary steps way before writing the first line of code, allowing the parts involved to think thoroughly about the necessary decisions that need to be taken. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at SportsRecruits. Our entire development flow is now based on predefined requirements that would lock the application from going live and launching until the desired outcome can be automatically considered acceptable. | https://medium.com/sportsrecruits-engineering/why-your-company-should-start-writing-acceptance-tests-as-soon-as-possible-bdd-behat-7d259f9b92f0 | [] | 2016-10-17 14:27:57.035000+00:00 | ['Behat', 'Testing', 'Software Development', 'Acceptance Tests', 'Laravel'] |
Thoughts on the economic prospects of dairy farmers in a vegan world | For the past decade or more I have been observing a gradual transition in consumption of dairy milk towards various plant based alternatives. At the beginning I noticed these alternatives appearing only in some hipster cafés in Brighton, UK, where I used to live. Nowadays, more people seem to choose dairy alternatives, and more places offer them, including all major supermarkets. At my current work place in Cambridge, UK, for example, a large proportion of colleagues prefer those alternatives for various reasons. It may be because of their awareness of the larger ecological footprint of the dairy industry in comparison to growing crops needed for dairy alternatives. Another reason might be that, given the total available arable land on earth, the world population could ultimately and only be fed in an equitable fashion using a plant-based diet. But where does that leave dairy farmers? Having grown up on a dairy farm and being an engineer, I am interested in the numbers that support the trend towards this presumed goal, but also in its potential consequences on industry and society. I do admit that I am speaking as an economics layman but also as an aficionado of cream in all its forms.
In general, when I hear some assertions I usually tend to search for statistical data that put these claims in context. The late statistician Hans Rosling educated the world in this respect with insights on many aspects of society such as the evolution of GPD, child mortality or natural catastrophes, always pointing out the use of statistical data to question any claims made. A vast source of such statistical data is https://ourworldindata.org/ which offers statistical analyses on many matters, including https://ourworldindata.org/yields-and-land-use-in-agriculture or https://ourworldindata.org/food-per-person which pertains to the topic of this article. And last but not least, “There is no Planet B” by Mike Berners Lee, https://theresnoplanetb.net/, presents a compelling case for the transition to a plant based diet. In principle all the energy numbers stack up and make sense to me: in order to feed the world population in an equitable manner, mankind ought to consume crops directly rather than feeding human edible food to animals and then consume those or their products at a significant energetic loss in the energy conversion chain. Dairy farming would consequently only make sense in, and would be limited to non-arable land such as Alpine regions. Butter and cream would become a luxury; oh dear.
However, for dairy farmers rearing cows and producing dairy milk is adding value which allows them to make a living out of that added value. As a son of an Austrian dairy farmer in the region of Upper Austria I know that the family farm was economically viable through this additional added value. 40 dairy cows on 40 hectare of arable land allows our family to make a decent living. The land was used to grow grass, barley, and maize in order to feed the cows with little external food input. If, in a world of mostly plant based diets for the majority of the population, the same land was used to produce only cereals or pulses, the family would not be able to make a living on the generated revenue any more, given that these crops are traded internationally as commodities. What would be the consequences for the farm that has been in the family for more than 300 years?
In order to understand the results and consequences of the claims in “The World in Data” and “There is no Planet B”, I created my own little spreadsheet for calories and nutritional components produced, per kg and per hectare to start with. The aim is not to be most accurate but to obtain an idea of the orders of magnitude involved. Assuming a specific energy density of around 17MJ/kg for both carbohydrates and protein, and 37MJ/kg for fat the following table shows roughly the specific component and energy contents for some types of crops that can be planted on our family farm against those of dairy milk. This list is by no means exhaustive but a starting point.
Specific energy content of viable crops against dairy milk
If you look at the food energy or component contained in both dairy milk and some viable crops for the region, the energetic gain in the latter is much higher. Not surprisingly, soya contains mostly protein, and rapeseed mostly fat leading to a very high energy density. Most crops offer a factor of 5 higher energy yield than dairy milk per mass unit, with rapeseed nearly a factor of 10 above dairy.
If you look at the food energy or component harvested per hectare for both dairy and some viable crops for the region, the energetic gain in the latter is higher, too, which is not surprising. The following table is made with the assumption of about 1 cow per hectare of arable land (for Upper Austria that is), and that a cow would produce around 5500kg milk per annum as an average over a typical number of lactation periods over her life time.
Annual harvest for viable crops per hectare against dairy milk
Growing soya in that part of Austria produces more protein than milk; the high score in terms of protein, however, would be spelt. In terms of energy, spelt fares well together with wheat. Yet it is maize that produces most energy per hectare, nearly an order of magnitude, i.e. a factor of 10 more than can be produced on dairy obtained from the same land. Note, that this table is derived from data available from AgrarMarkt Austria, https://www.ama.at/ and does not include the amount of fertiliser used to obtain the presented yield. To my knowledge, maize does need a bit of help using nitrogen-rich artificial fertilizer.
What about the financial gain? Without going into the details of the operational and capital expenditure as well as labour costs, all to be factored into profits, the maximum obtainable revenue is determined by the price the produce can fetch on an international market. Using again average price information from AgrarMarkt Austria, the following table confirms that despite the lower energy yield for dairy the monetary yield is higher in dairy farming, obviously due to the added value in rearing cattle to produce milk from crops grown on the land.
Comparison of maximum annual financial yield per hectare using gross revenue only
On average, with some exceptions, dairy would yield up to twice the gross revenue in comparison with viable crops in that region of Austria. As said earlier, this allows family businesses to exist and remain commercially viable, which will of course depend on the operational and capital as well as labour costs. These are mostly specific to the individual families and farms. The question is, however: if, or when the world shifts away from consuming dairy products towards plant based substitutes, where does that leave the current dairy farmers and all the cultural fabric that goes with it?
Whether a dairy farm is and remains commercially viable depends largely on the margin between achievable revenue from selling dairy milk and total production costs. With respect to the achievable revenue, I could imagine two factors pushing down the price of dairy milk, a commodity traded on the world market:
Reduced demand for dairy milk due to an increased awareness of the ecological (including carbon) footprint and energetic inefficiency; this is mostly a middle-class effect which I do not believe to become the main driver in the short term. This limited customer base has an ecological consciousness and has either enough purchasing power to pay a higher price for dairy alternatives, or is simply prepared to pay that price;
Competitive prices of dairy alternatives such as plant-based milk; for instance, oat milk ought to be significantly cheaper given the yield per hectare and the industrial scale production in comparison to running a dairy farm; most people on the lower end of the wealth distribution spectrum would then probably gravitate towards the cheaper dairy-milk-like milk alternatives. At the moment early adopters are being milked (no pun intended).
On the production cost side, there are perhaps three major factors that have more or less wiggle room:
Capital costs: specific to the Austrian production environment, given the climatic constraints with temperatures ranging from -25 to +35 degree Celsius, farms in most regions in Austria are forced to keep cattle in winter-proof stables and barns. In comparison to more clement regions in the world this adds to the capital expenditure and renders these farms less competitive on an international scale.
In addition, when or if carbon costs will be imparted onto energy costs, farming and milking machinery is bound to increase in price, adding to the capital costs for the production equipment.
In addition, when or if carbon costs will be imparted onto energy costs, farming and milking machinery is bound to increase in price, adding to the capital costs for the production equipment. Operating costs: an increase in production input prices will make the margin narrower, e.g.
- rising fuel and energy costs when or if carbon costs will be imparted onto energy costs; this may apply directly to fuel needed to run farm machinery and equipment, or indirectly, through energy expended to produce fertiliser and additional food stuff supplements such as soya beans. Eventually, the non-sustainable production of soya in the some regions of the world will need to change; environmental costs will have to be accounted for, which will increase the cost of this production input.
- In addition, the increased awareness in animal welfare and environmental protection in the Western world, results in more regulations and consequently in a more onerous operating environment, e.g. more constraints on animal husbandry, restrictions on slurry spreading, etc. Per se a positive development, but a competitive disadvantage on a global market with contestants from countries maintaining lower standards. Unfortunately, most consumers do not necessarily put their money where their mouth is and accept higher local dairy prices as a consequence of the pressure they exert on the farmers.
- rising fuel and energy costs when or if carbon costs will be imparted onto energy costs; this may apply directly to fuel needed to run farm machinery and equipment, or indirectly, through energy expended to produce fertiliser and additional food stuff supplements such as soya beans. Eventually, the non-sustainable production of soya in the some regions of the world will need to change; environmental costs will have to be accounted for, which will increase the cost of this production input. - In addition, the increased awareness in animal welfare and environmental protection in the Western world, results in more regulations and consequently in a more onerous operating environment, e.g. more constraints on animal husbandry, restrictions on slurry spreading, etc. Per se a positive development, but a competitive disadvantage on a global market with contestants from countries maintaining lower standards. Unfortunately, most consumers do not necessarily put their money where their mouth is and accept higher local dairy prices as a consequence of the pressure they exert on the farmers. Labour costs: As long as the traditional farms are run as family farms, labour costs are not so transparent as family members are prepared to put in many unaccounted hours. This commitment, however, is more on the decline as the young generation prefer regular work and income. As a consequence, labour costs, in particular in labour intensive dairy farming, are expected to only increase.
So what are the prospects? In the long term, on a global equilibrium with respect to energy efficient food production feeding the world population, most arable land would be used to grow human edible crops, and dairy milk would only produced where that is not possible, e.g. Alpine regions. Where does that leave current dairy farmers? I can imagine several scenarios:
Part-time farming: since smaller family farms won’t be able to make a living from growing commodity crops, protein rich or other, the farm has to be run part-time, with the main family income from other employment;
Land and farm consolidation: the minimum size for a commercially viable farm will result into concentration of farms, first through renting and working more land, eventually through acquisition;
Niche products: for a small number of farms only, as niche products are usually for a limit market with higher purchasing power.
So, alas, good bye to the dense farming communities of the past and all its cultural heritage. This transition won’t happen immediately, but certainly over several generations. On a time scale of thousands of years, however, there were always transformations in societies. There is nothing intrinsically bad in this change, it is only different, and we have to get used to it. And there is always the beautiful landscape to enjoy:
View over rolling hills and fields in Upper Austria
Post Scriptum: Note that the above tables do not take into account any micro-nutrients, nor do they differentiate the kinds of protein being contained in different crops, i.e. in terms of essential and non-essential amino-acids. Another limitation is that of the crops listed to be grown in my home region which did not include lentils; lentils are a great protein and energy source. I simply do not have any personal experience on growing lentils nor data for the region of Upper Austria.
All tables give rough estimates of means and do not provide information on the statistical distribution; not even a standard deviation is given. In this text I am only interested in the order of magnitude in order to confirm claims in the book mentioned above using personal experience. | https://peter-wurmsdobler.medium.com/thoughts-on-the-economic-prospects-of-dairy-farmers-in-a-vegan-world-2d4e804d47c9 | ['Peter Wurmsdobler'] | 2020-09-16 16:30:18.042000+00:00 | ['Dairy', 'Farming', 'Agriculture', 'Vegan'] |
It Was Never My Intention to Be a Cougar | “You can have any man you want,” my ex used to say. I’d heard that before and each time I was never quite sure what was meant by it.
I think the statement is ridiculous. If it were true, then I would have dated the most handsome basketball player who was two years ahead of me in high school. As an awkward fifteen-year-old, I used to hope our paths would cross in the hallway as we changed classes. My heart would race with excitement if I spied his tall frame topped with a short mop of curly light brown hair coming my way. He, of course, never once glanced in my direction, Since we’d hadn’t been introduced, he had no idea who I was or that I even existed.
No, there’s no way I can have any man I want. I couldn’t even keep my ex from walking out two years after we married.
So I tell myself.
And yet, I’m dating someone. He’s tall, dark, and handsome. And half my age.
What does that say?
I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. Apparently I’m not chopped liver. I’ve got some appeal. The idea of this is flattering and, if I’m honest, scary.
I’ve found it hard to own my sex appeal.
I’ve tried to push this guy away several different times. He’s not suitable. Much too young. My sons’ age.
What would a young man see in a middle-aged woman, I’d like to know. I’m not blonde or a size six. I come with some emotional and physical bumps and bruises.
There’s a lot I can’t provide or give him. No more children. Not my youth. Not even a guarantee of decades and decades of life together.
It’s difficult to tell people I’m seeing someone much younger than me, yet I figure I better admit to the age difference since it’s obvious. Thirty years. There’s thirty years between us.
My sons say they don’t care, but they haven’t had to venture into public with us. Will they feel the same then?
Right now, I don’t look my age. That can’t last. At some point, I will, and then someone might refer to me as this guy’s mother. How will it feel when that happens?
Age is just a number, my friends tell me.
There’s some truth to that — some of the time.
I did some research and discovered that, according to public opinion, there’s some benefits dating a younger guy. I’m in good company too. Several other female public figures have dated or are married to much younger men. Sandra Bullock, Julianne Moore, Katie Couric, and Lisa Bonet, to name a few.
My guy says he likes my patience. The way I see the world. My maturity. He finds me sexy, funny, and kind.
I like the way I feel when I’m around him. The way he cares for others and his attention to details impress me. He’s thoughtful and attentive. His sexual stamina is similar to mine, often not the case for men closer in age. He makes me feel young and free. I can be silly. I’m more comfortable with my body as it is and ask for what I need— less encumbered by shame.
It’s great that we are both free from child-rearing responsibilities. He encourages my career rather than seeing it as a threat or competition. His worldview is refreshing, not bogged down with cynicism. He comes with less emotional and relationship baggage.
I worry though. Will I embarrass him in public? Slow him down? What if I get sick with something common to my age? What if he decides he wants kids? What if I really start to show my age?
I find myself careful in referring to my life experiences. It’s weird to consider I’ve spent more years married than he’s been alive. We are at different places in our careers. Mine is winding down while his is just getting started. He’s setting his life goals; I’ve hit most of mine.
It was never my intention to date someone so much younger. To be a cougar. But in truth I’m not. I’ve never approached dating a younger guy in a predatory way to fluff my ego. It was accidental and evolved from his efforts. This type of older woman/younger man relationship needs a new name. Something that reflects the sweetness that I’ve discovered.
Will others approve? I’m sure some will, but many won’t.
But here’s the thing, life is short. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow. I know this better than most after losing my first husband and nearly losing my son to cancer.
All I have is today. This present moment. And for now, I’m enjoying this man’s company. He makes me smile. I feel alive. And isn’t that what’s most important?
I may not be able to have any man I want, as my ex claimed, but it sure is wonderful to be wanted by someone special. | https://medium.com/girl-get-you-shit-together/it-was-never-my-intention-to-be-a-cougar-22de9782926f | ['Kerry Mcavoy'] | 2020-07-18 04:04:56.047000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Love', 'Self Improvement', 'Dating', 'Relationships'] |
The Science of What Makes People Share Your Content Online | The Science of What Makes People Share Your Content Online
By Heike Young
“Consumers don’t care about you at all. They just don’t care. Part of the reason is, they’ve got way more choices than they used to — and way less time.
The thing that’s going to decide what gets talked about, what gets done, what gets changed, what gets purchased, what gets built… is, is it remarkable? Remarkable is a really cool word. We think it just means neat. But it also means worth making a remark about.” — Seth Godin
Do your customers and prospects want to make a remark about your content, or is it living in a vacuum? If you can get people to share your company’s content of their own free will, you’re winning as a marketer, and your ideas will spread like wildfire.
So how can we as marketers better encourage people to share our content? What’s the science explaining why people share? What makes us want to click that little “tweet this” button on a company’s blog post?
That’s what we’re talking about in this week’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast, the marketing podcast from Salesforce.
To get to the bottom of it, I talked to two experts from very different fields:
Here are a few takeaways from this episode, which you can preview here:
For the full conversation that’s filled with many more insights, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Our brains are wired to gossip and share details about other people’s lives.
According to Susan, humans have an inherent, built-in compulsion to always be discussing with other people “what the heck is going on. Who did what, with whom, why, who’s at the top of the hierarchy, who’s on the way down of the hierarchy.”
By bringing a human element into your content, you can capitalize into your readers’ natural desire to share it with others. Consider creating content that shares real human perspectives and tells their stories.
People are especially likely to share surprising content.
“The research tells us that people want to share things that are surprising — things that will make others feel,” Susan explains. Even if your content is technical or dry, find ways to add an emotional punch that will surprise readers and, thus, compel them to share.
She continues, “It’s not like I sit there and say, ‘I think I’d like to find something to share that is surprising.’ Or ‘I think I’d like to find something to share that will make my friends laugh or cry.’ We’re not thinking about it that way, so most of this is unconscious. But when we feel something, we want to share that so others will feel it too. When we’re surprised by something, we’ll want to share that.”
People want to share content that confirms their own self-stories.
I learned about the concept of self-stories from Susan. She writes about them on her blog: “Everyone has stories about themselves that drive their behavior. You have an idea of who you are and what’s important to you. Essentially you have a ‘story’ operating about yourself at all times. These self-stories have a powerful influence on decisions and actions. Whether you realize it or not, you make decisions based on staying true to your self-stories.”
Our online selves are an extension of our real-life selves. Everyone has an idea of who they are, and they want to share content that upholds that self-story. For example, Susan says part of her self-story is that she’s someone who makes complex scientific concepts simple, so she wants to share content on social media that aligns with that view.
As you create content, think about the real people in your audience. What about your content would make someone add it to their self-story? It’s a big deal for a customer or prospect to choose to add your article or video to their social media profiles.
Readers are smarter than you might think — and have an eye for detail.
I brought Brad on this episode of the Cloudcast to talk about his team’s popular blog series involving famous fictional characters and email signatures (their software company’s focus). A couple fun examples: If Game of Thrones characters Had Email Signatures and If Parks and Rec Characters Had Email Signatures.
Brad told me the story of how his team worked on these posts and quickly saw them become their top blog series of all time. In fact, this series represents 4 of the company’s top 5 blog posts ever.
So why did it work? Brad believes one major reason is because of the small details and inside jokes. “The shareability might not have worked if we were very generic about these posts. Our audience is smart, and they pick up on those things. When they pick up on those things, they remember your post. And I think it drives them to want to share it with their networks. I think being very thoughtful, and not generic with your content, it starts there.”
When crafting content you want people to share, remember that each small detail counts.
Hear more about Brad’s hilarious and high-performing blog series on the full episode of the Cloudcast — and you’ll also hear why Susan thinks this series works, from a scientific perspective.
A Brand Spankin’ New Podcast Style
Last week we shifted the Marketing Cloudcast to an entirely new format and style (think narrative with multiple guests — more Freakonomics, less live interview), and I’d love to know what you think!
Join the thousands of smart marketers who are Cloducast subscribers on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play Music, and Stitcher.
Tweet @youngheike with feedback on this episode — or ideas for future guests and topics. | https://medium.com/marketing-cloudcast/the-science-of-what-makes-people-share-your-content-online-eb521989f7a0 | [] | 2017-07-06 00:07:20.486000+00:00 | ['Marketing'] |
Brand Manager’s Career Path | At the core, assuming the role of a brand manager means striving to create an instantly recognizable brand image.
As the ‘brand’s guardian’, brand managers maintain brand integrity across all company marketing initiatives and communications. A brand manager’s responsibilities are harder than ever in a world where audiences can hijack campaigns with YouTube parody videos, products sales are jeopardised by online reviews and a disgruntled tweet from an employee can expose years of brand building.
The role of a brand manager is a heady task that requires close attention to detail and a thorough knowledge of how customers think. Brand managers must possess exceptional insight into industry trends, consumer demands, and the broader world of marketing.
To say that there is a conventional career path to become a brand manager would be a stretch, but there is a rough outline of what one could expect when climbing the career ladder.
Of course, salary estimates depend on your work experience and the particular brand or agency (and size/industry) you are working for.
As you move along in your career as a brand manager, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you’ve taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a brand manager can determine their career goals throughout the career progression. | https://medium.com/@pragatimehra/brand-managers-career-path-1fb3f7a75f0d | ['Pragati Mehra'] | 2020-12-21 05:09:26.338000+00:00 | ['Careers', 'Brands', 'Branding', 'Brand Strategy'] |
Top 7 Best Father’s Day Gift Ideas in 2021 | A father is indubitably the pillar of strength in everyone’s life!! No matter what life has been, a father is someone who has always taught you to fight it out fearlessly and have the courage to win. Often, we don’t pay heed to the act of love that a father has shown all these years and have nurtured us all into someone we are today. But, the prowess that a father teaches to his children cannot be learned anywhere else, and that love definitely needs to be celebrated.
Check out more Fathers’s Day Gift Ideas.
Thankfully there is this day called Father’s Day that occurs every year on 20th of June, dedicated to celebrating the bond shared between a father and his children. On this day, you can choose to pay off a small part of all the smiles he has brought in your life by selecting the most apt Father’s day gift as per his choice. Here are a few gift ideas to make this Father’s Day memorable:
1. Gadgets
When you talk of a male, be it your father or anyone else of any age, a gadget will be the most loved possession he can have. There are a huge number of them people can choose from, mobile phones, laptops, headphones and others will be the most loved Father’s day gifts ever.
2. Watches
If you have seen your father’s love for watches then this is the time you can choose to gift your father a stylish and classy watch that he has always wanted to own. All you will have to do is to be very specific in that case, because the most important thing here is the preference of your father.
3. A Classy Shaving Box
Every man irrespective of the age needs a shaving box and this is something that men are very specific about. Because, shaving is something men cannot live without even for a day and therefore it should be of the best quality. You can buy branded shaving kit from a bricks and mortar shop, but the best option to choose would be ordering it online from an online gifting portal.
4. A Beautiful striped Tie
An elegant classy tie can also form one of the most desirable gifts for father’s day! On top of that a striped tie is something that will be loved by every man no matter what. Check out some options before you make the final decision.
5. A Classic leather wallet
A stylish leather wallet would be the luckiest gift you could ever present to your dear father! These days most of the brands are there on the various online portals that you can choose to buy one for your father. Just take a whiff of his choices and make father’s day a special one for him.
6. Personalized Key holder
If your father owns a car or a bike, you must often have seen him often feeling agitated because he could not find his keys then father’s day is the time when you can lessen his agitation. Gift him a personalized key holder engraved with some of the best pictures of you two. He will definitely love it!!
7. Dartboard set
A Dartboard Set could be the most unique and desirable gift for all those fathers who are great fans of Dartboard set. Double sided dartboards which include two set of darts having a standard dart board and a target game at the back is sure to entice any one.
For more Father’s Day suggestions check more gift ideas here .
This article contains affiliate links. I will make a commission if anybody buys from it. | https://medium.com/@lockettmedia/top-7-best-fathers-day-gift-ideas-in-2021-64cba0cb9208 | ['Kevin Lockett'] | 2021-06-05 12:34:59.607000+00:00 | ['Dads', 'Father And Son', 'Father And Daughter', 'Fathers Day', 'Fathers'] |
The Lost Bee… | The Lost Bee…
The lost bee
Hilarious and promising
Towards every moment of vitality
Living generously
Comforting beings with the help
And enthusiasms
Flying with her little wings
To explore the world
To feel the refinement of the kingdom
A cutie pie, the lost bee
Full of positivity
And endurance
Living the apex of life
Trying to heal all
Spreading its compassion
To the creature
But then, unfortunately
She excavated
Some brittle truths that,
Many of us are not the same
As they seem like
The pretty faces have a devil’s self
She gets afraid,
From the terror
Everywhere in encircling
Then she encloses herself
In her cottage, in a flower
And, bee lost her wings somewhere
And lost herself too,
The lost bee needs her wings back to fly. | https://medium.com/an-idea/the-lost-bee-b23a0b29f2bc | ['Mahnoor Chaudhry'] | 2020-10-12 02:25:12.753000+00:00 | ['Poetry On Medium', 'Self Improvement', 'Lyrics', 'Poetry', 'Poems On Medium'] |
Essential guide to perform Feature Binning using a Decision Tree Model | Essential guide to perform Feature Binning using a Decision Tree Model
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
Feature Engineering is an essential component of a machine learning model development pipeline. A machine learning model understands only numerical vectors, so a data scientist needs to engineer the features to train a robust machine learning model.
Binning or discretization is used to encode a continuous or numerical variable into a categorical variable. Sometimes numerical or continuous features do not work well with non-linear models. So binning of continuous variables introduces non-linearity in the data and tends to improve the performance of the model.
There are various techniques to perform feature binning including the Unsupervised and Supervised methods of Binning.
(Image by Author), Technique to perform feature binning
Read my previous article, to get an in-depth understanding of feature encoding strategies
In this article, we will discuss one of the best strategies to bin the numerical feature using a decision tree model.
What is Feature Binning?
Feature binning refers to a technique to transform or bucket the numerical or continuous feature into a categorical variable.
Pandas come up with a pd.qcut(x, q) function that buckets the continuous feature into q buckets, with equal percentile differences.
df['Sepallength_quartle'] = pd.qcut(df['SepalLengthCm'], 4)
(Image by Author), Bucketed Result Sample
Or one can also use pd.cut(x, bins, labels) function and pass custom bins and labels for bucketing.
These kinds of bucketing strategies do not involve the target variable while computing the bins. Hence the bins night does not have any correlation with the target variable. The aim of feature binning is to introduce non-linearity in the data which may further improve the performance of the model.
Idea:
The main purpose of feature binning is not met, by performing random, count, or quartile-based bucketing. The idea is to find the best set of buckets or bins using a decision tree model that will involve correlation with the target variable.
Data Source: We will be binning the ‘Sepal Length’ feature from the Iris dataset that is downloaded from Kaggle.
Follow the following steps to decide the optimal ‘Sepal Length’ bins:
Train a best-fit Decision Tree model with feature ‘Sepal Length’ as training data and ‘Species’ as the target variable.
X = df[['SepalLengthCm']]
y = df['Species'] params = {'max_depth':[2,3,4], 'min_samples_split':[2,3,5,10]}
clf_dt = DecisionTreeClassifier()
clf = GridSearchCV(clf_dt, param_grid=params, scoring='accuracy')
clf.fit(X, y) clf_dt = DecisionTreeClassifier(clf.best_params_)
Plot a decision tree using Graphviz.
tree.plot_tree(clf_dt, filled=True, feature_names = list(X.columns), class_names=['Iris-setosa', 'Iris-versicolor', 'Iris-virginica'])
plt.show()
Decide the feature buckets from observing the graph nodes.
(Image by Author), Decision Tree representation using Graphviz
From the above graphical representation of the Decision tree model, we can conclude that Iris-setosa has most of the points having sepal length ≤ 5.45, and a majority of Iris-virginica data points have sepal length > 6.15. The majority of Iris-versicolor data points have a sepal length in the range of 4.86 — 6.15.
Using the above observation we can prepare the buckets to bin the ‘Sepal Length’ continuous feature.
bins = [0, 5.45, 6.15, 10]
labels = ['Less Than 5.45','4.86 - 6.15', 'Above 6.16']
df['SepalLengthBucket'] = pd.cut(df['SepalLengthCm'], bins=bins, labels=labels)
(Image by Author), Correlation between Bucketed continuous feature (‘SepalLengthBucket’) and target variable (‘Species’)
The bucketed Sepal Length feature is well-correlated with the target variable and will train a much robust model better than random, count, or quartile-based bucketing strategies.
Conclusion:
Binning of continuous variables introduces non-linearity in the data and tends to improve the performance of the model. The decision tree rule-based bucketing strategy is a handy technique to decide the best set of feature buckets to pick while performing feature binning.
One must keep in mind not to train the decision tree model having larger depth, as it becomes difficult to interpret the feature buckets.
References:
[1] Scikit-learn documentation: https://scikit-learn.org/stable/modules/tree.html | https://towardsdatascience.com/essential-guide-to-perform-feature-binning-using-a-decision-tree-model-90bcc66d61f9 | ['Satyam Kumar'] | 2021-09-02 18:35:12.734000+00:00 | ['Feature Engineering', 'Data Science', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Education', 'Machine Learning'] |
-> Japanese From Zero! 1: Proven Methods to Learn Japanese with integrated Workbook and Online Support by George Trombley -> Available in Hardcover \ Kindle \ Paperback \ AudioBook | -> Japanese From Zero! 1: Proven Methods to Learn Japanese with integrated Workbook and Online Support by George Trombley -> Available in Hardcover \ Kindle \ Paperback \ AudioBook Amsyar Arif Aug 27, 2019·1 min read
Just For Today get free read 30 days !!!
Japanese From Zero is an innovative and integrated approach to learning Japanese developed by professional Japanese interpreter George Trombley and co-writer Yukari Takenaka. The lessons and techniques used in this series have been taught successfully for over ten years in classrooms throughout the world.Using up-to-date and easy-to-grasp grammar, Japanese From Zero is the perfect course for current students of Japanese as well as absolute beginners.In Book 1 of the Japanese From Zero series, readers are taught new grammar concepts, over 800 new words and expressions, and also learn the hiragana writing system.Features of Book 1: * Integrated Workbook with Answer Key* Over 800 New Words and Expressions* Learn to Read and Write Hiragana* Easy-to-Understand Example Dialogues* Culture Points about Japan* Bilingual Glossaries with Kana and Romaji…and much more … (More info! -> https://ebookfirstbestpopular.blogspot.com/?book=0976998122) | https://medium.com/@9amsyar.arif6668/japanese-from-zero-fb959b4ad6ce | ['Amsyar Arif'] | 2019-08-27 07:24:11.101000+00:00 | ['Japanese'] |
Part 2: Airflow DAGs for Migrating PostgreSQL Data to Distributed SQL | Welcome to part two of our series on how to integrate Apache Airflow and YugabyeDB. In part one we showed you how to get Airflow configured to use YuagbyteDB as a backend. In this second post we’ll show you how to build an Airflow workflow that will migrate data between PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB.
What’s YugabyteDB? It is an open source, high-performance distributed SQL database built on a scalable and fault-tolerant design inspired by Google Spanner. Yugabyte’s SQL API (YSQL) is PostgreSQL wire compatible.
About the Demo
In this post we are going to build a simple Airflow DAG — or a Directed Acyclic Graph — that detects new records that have been inserted into PostgreSQL and migrate them to YugabyteDB. In a subsequent post we’ll dive deeper into DAGs and create more complex YugabyteDB workflows.
We’ll cover the following steps in this post:
Install PostgreSQL
Configure GCP firewall rules
Configure Airflow database connections
Create an Airflow task file
Run the task
Monitor and verify the results
Prerequisites
Below is the environment that we’ll be using for the purposes of this blog.
Note: For the purposes of this demo, we aren’t creating a particularly secure deployment, instead we are focusing on demonstrating how to wire everything up with the least amount of fuss. In a production deployment you’ll want to enforce additional security measures throughout the stack.
Step 1: Deploy a VM for PostgreSQL
For the purposes of this demo, I have specified the following configuration for the Google Compute Engine VM that will be hosting my PostgreSQL server.
Name: postgresqlvm
postgresqlvm Machine Type: n1-standard-2 (2vCPU, 7.5 GB memory)
n1-standard-2 (2vCPU, 7.5 GB memory) OS: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Disk: 100 GB
100 GB Firewall: Allow HTTP/HTTPS traffic
Step 2: Install PostgreSQL on the VM
Install PostgreSQL
To install PostgreSQL on the postgresqlvm VM run the following commands:
$ cd ~/
$ sudo apt-get install postgresql-contrib
Verify that PostgreSQL is installed by running the following command:
$ psql --version psql (PostgreSQL) 10.12 (Ubuntu 10.12-0ubuntu0.18.04.1)
Configure PostgreSQL for remote access
By default, PostgreSQL doesn’t allow remote connections. In order for Airflow to communicate with PostgreSQL, we’ll need to change this setting.
To enable remote connections we’ll need to make a few tweaks to the pg_hba.conf file using the following steps:
$ cd ../etc/postgresql/10/main/
$ sudo vim pg_hba.conf
Scroll down to the bottom of the file and add the following lines:
# IPv4 remote connections:
host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
Next, edit the postgresql.conf file.
$ sudo vim postgresql.conf
Scroll down to the line that begins with #listen_addresses = 'localhost' in the Connections and Authentication section.
Uncomment the line and replace localhost with *
listen_addresses = '*'
Finally, restart PostgreSQL.
$ sudo /etc/init.d/postgresql restart
Download the sample Northwind database and data
There are DDL and INSERT scripts we’ll need to download onto our PostgreSQL VM so we can build our demo.
Create a password for the default PostgreSQL user
For Apache Airflow to be able to connect to the PostgreSQL database, we need to create a password for the default postgres user which by default has none. Either execute the following script in your shell or use your favorite GUI tool.
Log into PostgreSQL.
$ sudo -u postgres psql
Assign postgres a password:
postgres=# ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'password';
ALTER ROLE
Create the Northwind sample database
Create a database called northwind that we’ll be using for our demo.
postgres=# CREATE DATABASE northwind; postgres=# \c northwind;
Create the Northwind objects and load the data
northwind=# \i /home/jimmy/northwind_ddl.sql northwind=# \i /home/jimmy/northwind_data.sql
You should now see 14 tables loaded with data.
At this point we have PostgreSQL running on a Google Compute Engine virtual machine with remote connections enabled and the Northwind sample database built.
Step 3: Install Northwind on YugabyteDB
Log into YugabyteDB
$ kubectl --namespace yb-demo exec -it yb-tserver-0 -- /home/yugabyte/bin/ysqlsh -h yb-tserver-0
Create the Northwind sample database
Create a database called northwind that we’ll be using for our demo.
yugabyte=# CREATE DATABASE northwind; yugabyte=# \c northwind;
Create the Northwind objects and load the data
northwind=# \i /home/yugabyte/share/northwind_ddl.sql northwind=# \i /home/yugabyte/share/northwind_data.sql
You should now see 14 tables populated with data.
Step 4: Setup Ingress and Egress Firewall Rules for PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB
The next two steps involve opening up ingress and egress points for PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB in GCP. This can be accomplished in the same way we illustrated in the first post, part 1 step 2, where we configured the Airflow networking rules. Inside of the GCP Console, navigate to VPC Network > Firewall Rules.
PostgreSQL — 2 rules
Names: postgres-ingress and postgres-egress
postgres-ingress and postgres-egress Direction of Traffic: ingress and egress
ingress and egress Targets: All instances on the network
All instances on the network Source IP ranges: 0.0.0.0/0. <External GCP IP of Airflow VM>/32
0.0.0.0/0. <External GCP IP of Airflow VM>/32 Protocols and ports: tcp 5432
YugabyteDB — 2 rules
Names: yugabyte-ingress and yugabyte-egress
yugabyte-ingress and yugabyte-egress Direction of Traffic: ingress and egress
ingress and egress Targets: All instances on the network
All instances on the network Source & Destination IP ranges: 0.0.0.0/0. <External GCP IP of Airflow VM>/32
0.0.0.0/0. <External GCP IP of Airflow VM>/32 Protocols and ports: tcp 5433
Step 5: Add Airflow Connections to Postgres and YugabyteDB
To add the connection configuration that Apache Airflow will use to connect to the PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB databases, go to Admin > Connections in the Airflow UI.
Select Create.
Add an airflow_postgres connection with the following configuration:
Repeat the process to add an airflow_yugabyte connection with the following configuration:
Step 6: Create an Apache Airflow Task File to Migrate Data
Airflow task files are written in Python and need to be placed in ${AIRFLOW_ HOME} /dags. To create a Python file called db_migration.py by running the following commands:
$ mkdir ${AIRFLOW_HOME}/dags && cd
${AIRFLOW_HOME}/dags
$ touch db_migration.py
$ vim db_migration.py
Add the following code to the db_migration.py file:
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from airflow import DAG
from airflow.operators.postgres_operator import PostgresOperator from airflow.hooks.postgres_hook import PostgresHook
dag_params = {
'dag_id': 'postgres_yugabyte_migration',
'start_date':datetime(2020, 4, 20),
'schedule_interval': timedelta(seconds=60)
}
with DAG(**dag_params) as dag:
src = PostgresHook(postgres_conn_id='airflow_postgres')
dest = PostgresHook(postgres_conn_id='airflow_yugabyte')
src_conn = src.get_conn()
cursor = src_conn.cursor() dest_conn = dest.get_conn()
dest_cursor = dest_conn.cursor()
dest_cursor.execute("SELECT MAX(product_id) FROM products;")
product_id = dest_cursor.fetchone()[0]
if product_id is None:
product_id = 0
cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM products WHERE product_id > %s", [product_id])
dest.insert_rows(table="products", rows=cursor)
dest_cursor.execute("SELECT MAX(order_id) FROM orders;")
order_id = dest_cursor.fetchone()[0]
if order_id is None:
order_id = 0
cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM orders WHERE order_id > %s", [order_id])
dest.insert_rows(table="orders", rows=cursor)
The DAG above finds the new product_id and order_id 's in PostgreSQL and then updates the same product and order tables in YugabyteDB with the rows greater than that maximum id . The job above is scheduled to run every minute starting on today's date.
Step 7: Verifying and Scheduling the Task Using the Airflow Web UI
It might take a minute or two to populate, but the task should now be available under the DAGs tab.
Manually execute the task by clicking on the execute button as show below:
Once the task has been executed, you can view it under Browse > Dag Runs.
You can also verify that the task has been executed by looking at the log files located at ${AIRFLOW_HOME}/logs/scheduler/latest/db_migration.py.log
Finally, enable the one minute schedule of the postgres_yugabyte_migration task by toggling the On button as show below:
Step 8: Verifying Updates and Monitoring DAGs
Verify the number of rows in the product and order tables in both the PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB with a simple SELECT COUNT(*) . You should see the following:
Products: 77 rows
77 rows Orders: 830 rows
Log into the PostgreSQL database and update the products and orders tables with two additional rows in each table.
INSERT INTO
PUBLIC.products (product_id, product_name, supplier_id, category_id, quantity_per_unit, unit_price, units_in_stock, units_on_order, reorder_level, discontinued)
VALUES (80, 'Salty Dog Chips', 2, 2, '6 - 12 oz bags', 22, 3, 50, 20, 0), (81, 'Neals Dog Treats', 2, 2, '24 - 8 oz bags', 17, 4, 100, 20, 0); INSERT INTO
public.orders (order_id, customer_id, employee_id, order_date, required_date, shipped_date, ship_via, freight, ship_name, ship_address, ship_city, ship_region, ship_postal_code, ship_country)
VALUES (12002, 'BLONP', 4, '1996-11-22', '1996-12-20', '1996-12-02', 3, 131.69999695, 'Blondel père et fils', '24, place Kléber', 'Strasbourg', NULL, '67000', 'France'), (12003, 'LEHMS', 8, '1997-05-12', '1997-06-09', '1997-05-14', 2, 27.94000053, 'Lehmanns Marktstand', 'Magazinweg 7', 'Frankfurt a.M.', NULL, '60528', 'Germany') ;
After the next scheduled run of the task, you can query YugabyteDB and find both the products and orders tables and verify that they have been updated with the new records.
Products: 79 rows
79 rows Orders: 832 rows
As the DAG continues to run, you can insert additional data on the PostgreSQL side, have Airflow move the data to YugabyteDB, and track the runs in the Airflow UI by going to Browse > Dag Runs.
What’s Next?
That’s it! If you have worked through the steps in part one and part two (this post) of this series, you now have the following deployed:
Airflow running on a Google Compute Engine VM with a YugabyteDB backend running on Google Kubernetes Engine
PostgreSQL running on a Google Compute Engine VM connected to Airflow
A DAG that runs every minute that detects updates to PostgreSQL and migrates them to YugabyteDB
We are just getting started! Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post where we will dive deeper into creating more complex DAGs that integrate Airflow, YugabyteDB, and a variety of other cloud native technologies. | https://medium.com/yugabyte/part-2-airflow-dags-for-migrating-postgresql-data-to-distributed-sql-a8c3d17a2d31 | ['Jimmy Guerrero'] | 2020-05-21 16:05:28.375000+00:00 | ['Postgresql', 'Yugabyte', 'Postgres', 'Apache Airflow', 'Airflow'] |
Coronavirus: Varför du måste handla nu | If you want to receive more articles from me, subscribe to my newsletter.
Translations below. For the updated list, see the bottom of the original article.
French
Spanish
Italian
German
Portuguese (and alternative version and another on)
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Bulgarian
Russian
Turkish
Ukrainian
Czech
Slovakian
Greek
Arabic
Norwegian
Vietnamese
Catalan
Hungarian
Mongolian
Lithuanian
Serbian
Estonian
Persian
Polish (and alternative translation)
Romanian (partial translation)
Hebrew (alternative translation outside of Medium, for Hebrew formatting)
Special call out for Argentina, diving into its numbers, as an early warning | https://medium.com/tomas-pueyo/coronavirus-varf%C3%B6r-du-m%C3%A5ste-handla-nu-7e708943ceb3 | ['Tomas Pueyo'] | 2020-03-29 04:22:27.937000+00:00 | ['1st', 'Coronavirus'] |
New Pyth Data Provider: Chicago Trading Company | We are excited to announce that the Chicago Trading Company, a leading provider of liquidity and pricing on derivatives exchanges around the world, is joining Pyth network to deliver institutional grade market data to accelerate the growth of DeFi!
Who is the Chicago Trading Company?
Chicago Trading Company is a leading provider of liquidity and pricing on derivatives exchanges around the world
Recognized leading provider of liquidity and pricing on derivatives exchanges around the world, trades more than 20 hours a day, six days a week.
Actively trades in a broad spectrum of asset classes that include Equities, Interest Rates, and Commodities
Grown dramatically since inception in 1995 with offices now in Chicago, London, New York, and Hong Kong
The Chicago Trading Company will initially contribute its cryptocurrency market data to Pyth network. But as the former scales, CTC plans to expand its contribution to market data for equities. We welcome CTC to our rapidly expanding group of key industry participants who share the goal of distributing precise, high caliber market data onto the blockchain to revamp “[…] age-old practices and processes like market data services” (Brett Estell, Global Co-Head of Trading at CTC).
We look forward to working together to establish a network of institutional grade, high fidelity financial market data to power the Solana and Serum ecosystems as well as those of other major chains.
You can read more about our partnership on the official press release.
Chicago Trading Company Website: https://www.chicagotrading.com/
Pyth Network: https://pyth.network/
…
We can’t wait to hear what you think! Feel free to join the Pyth Discord server, follow Pyth on Twitter, and join the Telegram to learn more and ask any questions you may have.
Previous data providers announcements:
GTS
LMAX
Virtu
BSX
Genesis Global Trading
FTX | https://medium.com/@pythnetwork/new-pyth-data-provider-chicago-trading-company-64a457340443 | ['Pyth Network'] | 2021-07-22 17:50:13.678000+00:00 | ['Oracle', 'Blockchain', 'Solana Blockchain'] |
Brigid — The Emotion Detector Website | People often say that how well you slept and which side of the bed you woke up on may determine your mood for the day. And that is possible only when you remember what happened last night. Being that it is the morning, it is a perfect time to evaluate how you are feeling today by taking a simple picture that will give you an answer to all your questions.
Wondering what Facial emotions are? We were wondering the same before developing this website.
When you look at a person it is difficult to identify what a person is going through and how they are feeling. Facial emotion recognition is the process of detecting human emotions from facial expressions. The human brain recognizes emotions automatically, and software has now been developed that can recognize emotions as well. This technology is becoming more accurate all the time, and will eventually be able to read emotions as good as our brains do.
Using Facial emotion detector might be a task but there are many sectors which use this to learn a person’s mental and emotional health. It is important for teachers to learn what the students are feeling in order to counsel them and help them with their situations. Business sectors use it to their positives. Anyone in the business sector can understand their customer and their true feeling by just clicking a single picture. It has always been a problem for psychiatrists to identify what their patients are going through. When patients don't speak up, its a task for them to recognize their feelings. With this simple website, psychiatrists have been able to make their patients comfortable and help them in a better way.
While creating this website, we had a lot of confusions as to what will help us in running this website smoothly. We used Python for the basic model development whereas HTML, CSS and Flask for website development. These helped in making our website user friendly and therefore using the website will be a cake walk.
PRESENTING TO YOU OUR WEBSITE “BRIGID — The God of Happiness”. Why this name? It’s very simple, our motto is to spread happiness and that’s the only reason we developed this website.
Now about the website, your first look to our page will show our motto and our mission. To know about the working of the website, we have a separate corner for you all.
In order to access this corner all you have to do is click on “LEARN MORE”. We have provided a detailed instructions to make your experience much easier and simpler. In short, all you have to do is click on “CLICK ME” and your job is done. Our website will process and analyze your face and show the emotions.
To know more about who we are and how to contact us, you can click on “CONTACT US”.
Went to meet your friend? Saw a complicated expression on their face? No worries. We are here to make your life less complicated. All you have to do is to click a picture of them and leave the rest to us.
We developed this website through Newolf Society’s Icebreaker event. We were able to make this a success with the help of our mentor, Rahul Ramesh. This website is developed by Rahul H Raj, Shreya S Adiga, Soumye Joshi and Nisha Murthy D.
github link: https://github.com/nishamurthy-22/Team3
#machinelearning #datascience #webdevelopment | https://medium.com/newolf-society/brigid-the-emotion-detector-website-8a882be2ff3d | [] | 2021-09-11 18:23:22.708000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Emotional Health', 'Data Science', 'Happy', 'Machine Learning'] |
Taylor Swift’s New Song Has Me Rethinking Think Pieces | Taylor Swift’s new pro-LGBTQ single has once again riled up her detractors on the Internet with criticisms of money-grabbing, self-serving, and poor ally-ship. But here’s an alternative take.
Promotional Image for “You Need to Calm Down” (copyright: Taylor Swift/Republic Records)
“You Need to Calm Down”
Last Friday, Taylor Swift dropped her new song “You Need to Calm Down,” the second single from her forthcoming album Lover (her seventh, due August 23rd).
Like the first single, “Me!” (a duet with Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco), it is a candy-coated, rainbow-colored pop confection that seems determined to show us that she has fully moved on from the relatively darker and more cynical era that surrounded her last album, Reputation.
Unlike the first single, however, underneath the synth beats and clever hooks there is actually a coherent, progressive, and dare I say bold theme embedded in the lyrics of “You Need to Calm Down.” This is hardly the first time Taylor Swift has written about living your best life despite the pathetic haters that try to get you down (two of her best songs — “Mean” and “Shake It Off” cover this exact ground). But, it is the first time she got quite so specific about it.
The first verse references the admittedly long-list of haters that Taylor Swift has and how they tend to hide behind their Twitter handles (“You say it in the street that’s a knockout/But you say it in a tweet that’s a cop out”). She argues that from personal experience obsessing over an enemy only leads to internal suffering and then pleas, “Can you just not step on my gown?”
In the second verse — which has been the source of much debate — she takes on the homophobia faced by her LGBTQ friends: “You are somebody that I don’t know/But you’re coming at my friends like a missile/Why are you mad, when you could be GLAAD? Sunshine on the street at the parade/But you would rather be in the dark ages/Making that sign must’ve taken all night/You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace/And try to control the urge to scream about all the people you hate/Because shade never made any less gay!” She then makes a parallel plea from the first verse, “Can you just not step on his gown?”
And in the bridge, she shifts back to a more self-centered approach noting how the internet likes to set all of the female pop stars against each other (“We see you over there on the internet/Comparing all the girls who are killing it/But we figured you out/We all know now we all got crowns.”) And then, inevitably, “Can you just not step on our gowns?”
Clocking in at under 3 minutes, it is a bright and breezy listen that involves some clever lyrical themes, a nice beat, and an explicitness in its support of LGBTQ people that is exceptionally rare in popular music. I was hardly ready to call it a classic, but I was delighted and playing it on repeat.
Taylor Swift hangs out with some LGBT icons in the video for “You Need to Calm Down” (copyright: Taylor Swift/Republic Records)
And then came the think pieces…
Enter the Think Pieces
Articles started popping up all over the internet with titles like “Taylor Swift’s New Single is a Teachable Moment about How Not to Be an Ally” and “Taylor Swift’s ‘You Need to Calm Down’ Misses the Point about Being an LGBT Ally.” The authors of this article mercilessly deconstructed the song, its promotion, and its writer, interpreting everything through the most cynical possible lens.
Criticisms include (but are certainly not limited to): She should have made the song just about LGBTQ people and not inserted herself into it. She shouldn’t have made song about LGBTQ people at all. She shouldn’t be telling people how to feel or how to act as allies. As a (presumably) heterosexual person, she had no right to perform at the historic Stonewall Inn and doing so was queer-baiting. Name-dropping GLAAD was lazy writing. The list goes on… and on… and on…
After reading these, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Am I so shallow that I can’t see the horrible disservice she has done to my community with this song? Am I so easily seduced by a pop beat and my love for Taylor that I can’t see how she’s appropriating our culture for her own personal gain?”
But then I saw the trailer for the music video (released earlier today) and saw the incredibly impressive long list of LGBT icons who were slated to appear in it, including Ellen DeGeneres, LaVerne Cox, Adam Rippon, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Clearly these influential people didn’t think Taylor’s heart or mind were in the wrong place or they wouldn’t have agreed to appear.
So then I got thinking about all the problems with think piece culture.
Rethinking Think Pieces
Before I enumerate my problems with current think piece culture, I have to make something extremely clear. I do not think anyone should be dissuaded from writing a critical or cynical think piece about anything or anyone. To all the think piece writers out there — your emotions and thoughts are valid and the Internet (and the world) is a better place because you critically examine our culture.
As I see it, the problem with think piece culture isn’t that there are an over-abundance of critical and cynical think pieces. The problem is that there are rarely positive ones to balance them out.
And I see all too easily how this happens. The instant the think pieces came out about Taylor’s new song, I decided I had two choices as a blogger. One choice was to not write anything at all. After all, the public had spoken and decided this was bad so who was I to say otherwise. My other choice was to take on the think pieces and dismantle their arguments, thus inviting a heated social media debate.
Only this morning did it occur to me that I had a third option — I could just express my far less cynical view of the whole thing and send it out into the world. It won’t be as flashy or click-baity or sharable as the takedowns and I run the risk of being called naive or — worse — being the subject of my own think piece takedown. (But, thankfully, I am not nearly an important enough voice for anyone to waste their time.) So here’s an alternate take.
An Alternate Take on “You Need to Calm Down”
Taylor Swift’s personal roots are in suburban Pennsylvania and her professional roots are in the country music industry — neither are bastions of LGBTQ acceptance. Born in 1989, her social brain’s formative years were dominated by the AIDS epidemic, the rise of the Evangelicals, and a time when any celebrity coming out of the closet was unheard of. Yet on her road to superstardom, she nevertheless became a major LGBTQ ally.
One of the notably apolitical Swift’s first public statements was denouncing an anti-LGBTQ political candidate in Tennessee. Since then she has put her money where her mouth is, donating large sums of money to fight anti-LGBTQ laws in the state (nicknamed the “Slate of Hate”) and becoming increasingly vocal about her views on LGBTQ equality.
Many of her songs have always had an appeal to LGBTQ listeners, with lyrical themes related to beating the bullies (“Mean,” “Shake It Off”), owning the narrative (“Blank Space,” “Look What You Made Me Do”), unrequited love (“You Belong With Me”), and heartbreak (“Back to December,” “All Too Well.”) But despite her activism and her LGBTQ-friendly lyrical themes, prior to “You Need to Calm Down” she had never explicitly discussed LGBTQ rights in her lyrics — well, save a cheesy, vague line about boys liking boys and girls liking girls in “Welcome to New York.”
And here’s the thing — very few pop stars have ever done so either. Gay icons like Madonna, Barbra, Celine, Mariah, Cher, Beyonce, and Britney have all made queer-friendly jams and publicly expressed their support for the community, but have never directly confronted these issues in their lyrics. Two of the only pop artists that have are quite complicated. Katy Perry gave us the cringe-inducing lesbian-as-a-sexy-experiment “I Kissed a Girl” and Lady Gaga gave us the self-empowerment of “Born This Way,” which is a hard comparison because unlike those other artists Gaga actually self-identifies as bisexual.
Not only does Taylor Swift use the word “Gay” and reference Pride and GLAAD (the influential non-profit that fights for LGBTQ equality), but she goes a step further. She’s not content to just tell the LGBTQ community that they are loved or should love themselves more, but she actually calls to task the homophobes whose toxic hate is as destructive to LGBTQ people as it is self-destructive.
The lyrics also take one of the most oft-used criticisms of queer people and turns it against those who hate them. Queer people have been historically derided as too flashy, over-the-top, dramatic, sensitive, demanding, sexual, and flamboyant. Here, the only people who are “too loud” and “need to calm down” are the haters. [Also, regarding the oft-criticized line “Shade never made anybody less gay,” I think it is quite clear she is saying that hate does not change people’s actual sexual orientation not an ignorance of the fact that homophobia does often lead to drastically increased concealment of one’s sexual identity.]
The video is a love letter to the LGBTQ community, with the aforementioned list of icons frolicking in a candy colored trailer park, living their best lives despite the protestors. (OK, the ending where Taylor ends her longstanding feud with Katy Perry by having them embrace each other while dressed in fast food costumes is exceedingly random, but it certainly gets points for shock value.)
Taylor Swift gets some pool time in the video for “You Need to Calm Down” (copyright: Taylor Swift/Republic Records)
So, I have now argued that I think “You Need to Calm Down” is pro-LGBTQ and actually represents an important milestone in pop music. Now there’s the issue of whether or not Taylor is an opportunist. Note that it was not her who called the song a queer anthem, but her critics. Note that her performance at the Stonewall Inn was a surprise and not televised or pre-publicized. Note that the inclusion of GLAAD in the lyrics led to a spike in donations for the organization (as was intended). Note that the song is being released in the context of her doing important work for LGBTQ people in her private life. Note that the song is perfectly in fitting with the lyrical themes and aesthetic of her new era. Note that her 7th album was going to be a huge commercial hit across the board (including with LGBTQ people) regardless of whether the explicitly supported them in her lyrics or not. Now counter-argue that she is merely an opportunist trying to profit off a community she is not a member of. I’m willing to listen.
People can hate the song. They can think its beat is lazy, its lyrics are trite, and that it represents a missed opportunity to do something even bolder or more queer-positive. But I honestly struggle with the idea that song’s message is a negative for the LGBTQ community or problematic. After decades of asking our pop culture icons for more explicit ally-ship, we get one who makes a damn good effort and the Twitterverse seems determined to take her down.
But ultimately, the takedown mentality is par for the course given Taylor Swift’s penchant for riling up detractors and the cynical think piece culture we are immersed in. | https://medium.com/rants-and-raves/taylor-swifts-new-song-has-me-rethinking-think-pieces-281cb242a507 | ['Richard Lebeau'] | 2020-12-21 00:14:02.663000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Feminism', 'Media', 'LGBTQ', 'Music'] |
August Sun | Northern hemisphere bathed in sun
Thirty degrees skies of blue
Rippling streams reflecting light
S. Ramjee
Blackberries burst wild and juicy
The bigger they are the better for picking
Among brambles stinging nettles pair in sight
S. Ramjee
Make hay farmer while it shines
For darkness comes when no man can work
The thought of winter makes me shudder now
Photo: S Ramjee
The days slowly shrink and grow darker
Yet the night is cool musky and warm
Angles terra still too can bask and how | https://medium.com/the-pom/august-sun-485b2949ce02 | [] | 2020-08-19 22:12:41.298000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Summer', 'Poetry', 'August'] |
AUKEY Focus Duo 63W USB-C PD Wall Charger REVIEW | Mac Sources9.6 | Keep your USB-C powered devices at-the-ready with 63W of power. Enjoy more than enough power to rapidly charge a tablet+phone or even a MacBook/Laptop.
I just finished the Audible version of “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury, and was shocked with the uncanny similarities to our modern world. As more of our devices turn to USB-C charging, we require expanded options to maintain a proper charge. With an always on-the-go, always plugged-in, tech-hungry lifestyle, our demand for data surges upward. Unfortunately, many of our homes were built before the tech revolution. We have rooms with outlets that are hardly ever used and others that may border on fire hazard. We have piles of cables from USB-A to USB-micro/mini, USB-A to Lighting, USB-A to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to USB-micro and USB-C to Lightning. So far, I have relied upon power strips, surge protectors, and several power-hubs to maintain power. However, as the challenge intensifies like the levels of Tetris, a power-cord-Tetris, I seek to expand/replace my wall chargers. My basic requirement is that a single wall port must provide power for at least two devices.
I have many Apple Charging Cubes, but the single output port tends to be both inadequate and wasteful. Luckily, devices like the AUKEY 63 W Dual-Port PD Wall Charger will provide a good charge, and without the need to shell out a hefty premium. The charger arrived in a tan 4 1/4 inches long by 3 3/4 inches wide by 1 5/16 inches thick package. The cover provided the company name and “63W Dual-Port PD Wall Charger” title along the top left, and a 1 7/16 inches wide by 1 1/4 inches tall inked-outline image of the charger along the bottom. Examining the four side panels, I found that both the front and back panels were left unadorned, while both sides displayed a recycle icon and “GO GREEN WITH AUKEY.” The bottom panel provided the PA-D5 model number, the company’s Chinese address, www.aukey.com address, [email protected] support address, and several of the typical manufacturing labels. I lifted the front flap and found the plastic-wrapped charger resting within a cardboard cubby. Beneath the cardboard, AUKEY provided a 2 1/8 inches wide by 3 3/8 inches tall 24-month product warranty card and a 3 1/8 inches long by 2 inches tall Hexa-lingual instruction manual.
The instruction manual was well-received, allotting five pages to each of the six languages. The first page provided a list of the package contents, a diagram of the two USB-C (PD 3.0) ports, and an appreciation paragraph for their customers. The second page proved to be the most useful of the five, displaying a two by eight table of product specifications: Model PA-D5, PD 3.0 technology, USB-C Output 1 18W PD 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A, USB-C Output 2 60W PD 5V/3A, 9v/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/3A, 63W maximum, 67x64x29mm (2.64"x2.52"x1.14") dimensions, and 148g/5.22oz weight. Pages three and four added a short paragraph detailing Power Delivery technology, the need for a USB-C capable device/cable, and a quick step-by-step how-to guide. To enjoy the 63W power, remove the 2 1/2 inches long by 1 1/8 inches wide by 2 5/8 inches tall black dual USB-C port charger from the thin opaque bag, deploy the foldable type-A prongs on the rear side, and then plug the device into a Type-A or Type-B wall socket. You will notice that the wall prongs are not centralized on the back. Rather, they are offset, which will allow you to angle the device downward when in the lower port or to flip it upward when using an upper port. This design should prevent you from losing the second wall outlet. Next, obtain a USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to Lightning cable, or USB-C to micro cable, and plug it into either of the USB-C PD ports on the AUKEY wall charger. Lastly, plug the other end of your cable into your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
To test the output of the device, I inserted a DROK USB-C Multimeter into the USB-C port and then the USB-C cable into the output port on the DROK Multimeter. Using a USB-C to Lightning cable, I placed my iPhone 11 Pro Max onto charge at 6:03 am at 7% and found the multimeter read 9.16V/2.57A. I tried both of the USB-C ports and found both to output the same amount of power. By 6:14 am, my phone was at 28% charge and by 6:32 it was at 57% charge. Previous tests with the iPhone XS/XS Max, XR, and iPhone 11 series phones showed rapid charging could provide 50% power in 30 minutes. This AUKEY charger provided the appropriate amount of power to duplicate the fast charging scenario. By 6:36 am, my phone was at 60% power. By the time I showered, shaved, and dressed for work, my phone had 53% power. Personally, I was rather impressed with the power supply. When I plugged my USB-C to USB-C cable from the charger into my iPad Pro 11", it read 15V/2A. I charged my iPad for about 10 minutes and found that the battery percentage increased from 9% to 24%. I was happy with the ability to provide 30W to my iPad Pro 11" and with the ~18W for my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Several similar tests were conducted, all with similar results. Additionally, I alternated the configuration of charging, changed which port I used for each device, and found no difference.
I was pleased with the design of the device and with the above tests. The retractable type A wall prong allowed for increased portability and reduced the chances of snagging the mesh lining of my backpack. I liked the matte black surface color and the use of orange highlights around the USB-C ports. Looking closely at the device, you will find “AUKEY” etched into one of the sides of the charger. The opposite side panel, top panel and back panel, like the packaging, did not have any markings. The lower panel displayed the product specifications, as outlined in the manual. Throughout the tests, the charger did not appear to increase in temperature, did not change shape/warp, and worked as advertised. The instruction manual was well laid out and the inclusion of the six language options was generous. AUKEY continues to surprise me with the quality, durability, and reusability of their tech. If you have not visited their website, I highly encourage you to check out the Focus DUO 63W PD Dual Charger and many of their other device.
Learn more about the AUKEY 63W DUAL PORT PD Wall Charger.
Follow AUKEY on Facebook and Twitter. | https://medium.com/@macsources/aukey-focus-duo-63w-usb-c-pd-wall-charger-review-mac-sources9-6-c7fc640f2cb0 | [] | 2020-02-03 19:10:59.556000+00:00 | ['Usb C', 'Aukey', 'Charger'] |
So You Really Want to Annoy Your Cashier? | So You Really Want to Annoy Your Cashier?
Here are 5 creative ways you can make sure your cashier regrets coming into work today.
Photo by Artyom Kim on Unsplash
On your way to do some grocery shopping? Here are some helpful hints on how to liven up your cashier’s shift and encourage them to call in sick tomorrow.
Wait until they’re done ringing you up to look for your wallet
It really makes your cashier steamed when you waste their time and hold up the line. This is a trick that will annoy both your cashier and everyone in line behind you.
Get in line, wait for a while, watch your cashier ring up all your items and then when the cashier gives you the total, start rummaging through your purse looking for your wallet. While everyone around you fumes about why you are just getting your wallet out now, add in commentary like “Where is my wallet? I know I had it when I left home.”
For bonus points, stop your search to pop in a breath mint or reapply your lipstick. | https://medium.com/the-haven/so-you-really-want-to-annoy-your-cashier-f34506f00752 | ['Rose Bak'] | 2020-11-18 22:36:22.940000+00:00 | ['Shopping', 'Humor', 'Work', 'Satire', 'Grocery Shopping'] |
Modellers: When Are They Turning Into a Cult? | (Originally published in LinkedIn — December 2020)
I had two meetings this week with fellow risk professionals, one is with audience from my home country (Indonesia) and the other one is more diverse (from US and HK). The subject is more or less the same, over technological improvements on financial sectors, especially related to AI/ML. In both meetings, I have this gut feeling that the main message both audiences believe is technological improvement is a necessary mean of survival for any financial sector company right now, in which I am also a proponent of this idea. Innovation is necessary. However, I kept voicing my concern in both meetings: how good our understanding over our own model really is, while it seems that we’re promoting AI/ML implementation?
Several years ago, when I started Colossus CWS together with other two co-founders, we were just sort of playing around with the idea of “How cool is it if we let computers work for us, especially in trading!”. We were using TradingView back then and coded several pieces already, up until we learnt that there are some limitations to its backtesting platform, mostly related to difficulties to import/export data. Then, we started using demo account of one prominent broker to test strategies and things started to move. We started getting great backtesting results by combining our knowledge in trading, quantitative finance, and machine learning.
In our first year working, the trading algo looked running well for the first several months, then it started making losses. Fortunately, all was done in paper trading. We learnt afterwards how the danger of solely relying on backtesting performance can be from this experience. Starting from this moment, we began to read more and more scientific materials that can support our work, from machine learning, optimization, down to various trading strategy possibilities (e.g. relative value trading). By the end of 2019, we ended up having 3 working trading algos with satisfying and positive results, until Coronavirus struck in Q1–2020.
We decided to shutdown all the 3 trading algos that we report to potential customers and use the time to analyze our trading algo behavior without manual intervention at all from us, where it started to show stable and promising results in recent weeks. As an illustration of my confidence, our flagship Gen3 trading algo still ended up flat YtD after we shut it down in Q1–2020 and the “no-intervention” run survived, with its demo account current balance at around 72.5k, where starting balance is around 100k at beginning of this year. This removed the doubt of a complete wiped out account scenario, even when running without supervision, no stop-loss, with leverage up to 12x, and in midst of “once a century” kind of event. I am very much confident now that Colossus team will thrive in the upcoming years with this “lessons learned” moment.
So, what’s to share from this experience? Both the trading algo experience and the two meetings that I had this week reminded me of a famous quote from George Box that leads me to write this article:
“All models are wrong, some are useful”
In fact, I would like to put this quote as the header of this article, but I found out there’s another quote holding quite similar spirit by Pablo Picaso, in which when I changed to word “art” with “model”, and word “artist” with “modeller”, it became:
We all know that model is not truth. Model is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The modeller must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.
Though it has quite similar spirit to the famous Box quote that all modellers normally know, this second quote, after reworded to our context, somewhat gave me a sort of a chill. It chills me, at the part of “must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfullness of his lies”. This specific part reminds me the weaknesses in economic/finance models, even the very traditional assumption like R.E.M. (Rational Economic Man, not the band), where some of these weaknesses even have led us into recession situation (Tech Bubble in 2000, MBS in 2008). This, I believe, is something that all modellers should know, including those who are currently active in AI/ML field.
If you have watched AlphaGo, there is a statement made by David Silver, AlphaGo’s lead researcher, when analyzing the 2016 AlphaGo match vs Lee Sedol, Go World Champion:
For Move 37, the probability was one in ten thousand. In other words, AlphaGo knew this was not a move that a professional Go player would make
This statement, in one hand is expressing how powerful the analytical power that AlphaGo holds for it to won against Lee Sedol, but on the other hand also revealed the very fact that it can be so unpredictable, that humans may not be able to know how such option/decision was chosen. Lee, at one point, even explained in this match that he cannot believe that he was playing against a machine, as that move felt so “human”…
Now, back to my discussions this week with my fellow risk professionals. I can confirm that AI/ML is indeed a game changer in this industry, it improved (and will further improve) lots of things. However, just like having an Excel template to automate manual tasks, there is always a moment when someone started to ask “Do you know what this line is for? It doesn’t look important to me…”, and the most senior person in the team started to say “Don’t change anything! If it works, then IT WORKS!”. If such moment started to feel familiar in your data scientist team, risk modellers team, or whatever team dealing with data or models in your company/team, you need to remind yourself that even Taylor’s polynomial expansion formula comes with an error term (see below — courtesy of Wikipedia). So, just to remind you, if you ever had dealt with such situation, I am afraid that your team is becoming a cult, no matter how sophisticated the model is.
For more information about me and my professional work, please visit www.finrisk.eu | https://medium.com/@giorsims/modellers-when-are-they-turning-into-a-cult-951f9f6d0be9 | [] | 2021-02-23 07:37:19.536000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Risk', 'Philosophy', 'Finance'] |
The Day I Learned About Death | The Day I Learned About Death
Photo by Roy P. on Unsplash
When I was a toddler, my aunt lost her life to cancer. Tongue cancer. A rare cancer, the cancer that no one knows could sprout until I mention how my aunt died. Such prompts the ubiquitous “Was she a smoker? Tobacco chewer?” questions, because there has to be an explanation for such an obscure illness. Nope and nope. She was an ostensibly healthy thirty-four year old. Not all chaos requires a catalyst.
Although I was young, I have vague memories of my aunt. She wasn’t only my mother’s sister — she was her best friend. I remember accompanying the women on their errands, strapped in my car seat and clutching my sippy cup. My aunt didn’t have a daughter — only a son, my age — so she loved me like her own, gifting me clothing and Barbie dolls and princess accessories. My aunt wanted multiple children, but her expiration date ticked like a bomb.
I don’t remember my aunt’s passing nor how I processed her absence. According to my mother, she told me my aunt “went away,” and I reckon this placated my three-year-old mind. However, my aunt never fully “went away” because my family immortalized her spirit. My aunt was almost mythical, a woman of whom I heard countless stories, but could never know. Her death left an indelible stain on my grandparents, and they never smiled the same after.
Some folks grow through loss. Their hearts expand; they’ll eschew arguments for dialogue and pettiness for compassion because they’ve realized life is ephemeral. But when my grandparents lost their youngest daughter, they viewed the remainder of their lives in sepia. How did this happen? And why? If God existed, how could he allow it? My grandparents believed they’d been hexed. Children are supposed to outlive their parents. In what world is it commonplace for parents to weep over their daughter’s hospital bed, after the doctor’s informed them that — in thirty seconds — the neon life support line will run horizontally?
Growing up, I regarded my grandfather — a retired lawyer — as stoic, like a statue. But my uncle witnessed the moment my grandfather lost his daughter and said he’s never seen a grown man sob so viscerally. The mental image pains me to conjure. | https://psiloveyou.xyz/the-day-i-learned-about-death-4bc92078b391 | ['Melissa Kerman'] | 2020-10-13 14:07:23.953000+00:00 | ['Death And Dying', 'Personal Essay', 'This Happened To Me', 'Death', 'Loss'] |
2022 S/S Fashion Trends | This year’s fashion trends seem to have contrasted in multiple ways, as if giving people more stylistic freedom after the hopeful end of COVID. Whereas previous years were more focused on athleasure and comfort wear due to the increased time spent indoors, 2022 fashion is more focused on clothing that can be worn for holiday destinations or nights out.
Micro hemlines vs. long and flowy
Brands such as Miu Miu and Chanel opted to showcase micro hemline designs that are low on the hip and hard to bend forward with. While they do not look the most comfortable, they are well coordinated with matching jackets
Fendi and Balanciaga opted to focus on dramatic and flowy fabrics to give more coverage and comfort to the wearer
Glamorous and colorful vs. biker leather
Gucci and Jason Wu Collection used shimmery and vibrant fabrics of pink and yellow to create a tropical and glamorous silhouette
Brands like Alexander McQueen and Diesel focused on the 90’s fitted slim fit leather jacket look, with Alexander McQueen emphasizing the golden age of denim with denim detailing to the leather
See-through and cutouts vs. extreme layering | https://medium.com/@lisahan826/2022-s-s-fashion-trends-18a2c7061175 | ['Lisa Han'] | 2021-12-30 00:01:10.277000+00:00 | ['2022', 'Style', 'Fashion', 'Trends', 'Brand'] |
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Telegram：https://t.me/yanglobal | https://medium.com/@yancash001/yan-airdrop-is-live-41881d48e75a | [] | 2020-12-13 06:50:45.405000+00:00 | ['Airdrop', 'Twitter', 'Blockchain', 'Token Sale'] |
Remembering the Comic Genius of Fred Willard | Last Friday, we lost one of the funniest and hardest working men in show business when Fred Willard passed away at the age of 86 from natural causes at his home.
Fred Willard is among the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, even though he never quite became a household name. Much of his critical acclaim and fame was due to his role in a string of iconic mockumentary feature films. These include Rob Reiner’s 1984 classic This is Spinal Tap (about a fictional heavy metal band) and a quintet of Christopher Guest films (1996’s Waiting for Guffman, about community theater; 2000’s Best in Show, about the world of show dogs; 2003’s A Mighty Wind, about the reunion of long estranged folk music bands; 2006’s For Your Consideration, about Hollywood awards season; and 2016’s Mascots, about, well, sports mascots). His roles in these films varied widely, but he always delivered a fully committed and gut-busting performance that gelled perfectly with the brilliant ensembles.
His film career was not constrained to the mockumentary genre, but it was almost exclusively in comedy. Among other memorable films he appeared in over the decades included 1977’s Fun with Dick and Jane (with Jane Fonda and George Segal), 1987’s Roxanne (with Steve Martin and Darryl Hannah), 1999’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (the second film in the Mike Meyers-led James Bond spoof trilogy), 2001’s The Wedding Planner (with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey), and 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (with Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd). Perhaps his most unique film credit came from his role as a CEO in 2008’s Oscar-winning Pixar film WALL-E, which marks the only live-action speaking role in the animation studio’s 22-film catalogue.
Willard’s work on the small screen was equally, if not more, memorable than his film work. After appearing in small guest roles on smash hit comedies of the ’60s and ’70s like Get Smart, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, and Love, American Style, he gained cult fame and critical acclaim for his role on Fernwood 2 Night, a satirical comedy about a talk show that was developed by television legend Norman Lear and aired every weeknight in syndication for several months in 1977. By this point, he was well known enough to headline an episode of Saturday Night Live (which aired in 1978 with musical guest Devo).
He continued to be a regular presence on television for the next 40 years. He appeared in episodes of an astonishing array of hit comedies (and the occasional drama), including Friends, The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Ally McBeal, Married…with Children, Mama’s Family, The Love Boat, Family Matters, That 70s Show, The Drew Carey Show, The Closer, Castle, and Hot in Cleveland. In recent years, he also had arcs on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful and made a series of appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Willard was best known to me for a trio of classic series on which he appeared in extended arcs. He appeared on eight episodes of Roseanne as Scott, the husband of Roseanne’s boss Leon (Martin Mull). Leon and Scott were most certainly two of the highest profile LGBT characters on television at that time due to the enormous popularity of the show and were among the first depictions of gay marriage ever on network television. He appeared in thirteen episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond as the conservative and uptight father-in-law of Robert (Brad Garrett). He fit in perfectly to the esteemed ensemble and showed remarkable chemistry with his on-screen wife Georgia Engel (who we also lost last year). Most recently, he played the goofy and fun-loving father of Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) on 13 episodes of Modern Family. The 11th episode of Modern Family’s final season showcased Willard in a heartbreaking episode that ended with his character’s death. This episode aired just a few months ago, underscoring how hard Willard worked right up until the end.
Clockwise from top: Fred Willard on “Modern Family” (Copyright: ABC), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (Copyright: CBS), and “Roseanne” (Copyright: ABC)
Fred Willard was a quintessential character actor and a comic genius. His droll delivery and seemingly effortless ability to wring laughs from virtually any role in any project was legendary in the industry and he was instantly recognizable to millions of viewers, even though he rarely got top billing, media buzz, or awards attention. Despite over four decades of brilliant performances, he only scored four Primetime Emmy nominations (three for Everybody Loves Raymond and one for Modern Family, all in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series) and no wins. He did, however, score a Daytime Emmy win in 2015 for his guest appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Thankfully, we have at least one more chance to revel in Fred Willard’s comic genius. On May 29, Netflix releases one of his final projects — the comedy Space Force. The show is a satire of the current administration’s new sixth branch of the military focused on outer space, and features a brilliant ensemble that includes Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, and Jane Lynch. And, thankfully, we will always have his decades of brilliant film and television work to make us laugh on even the darkest of days.
Rest in peace, Fred. I hope you know how much you were loved. | https://medium.com/rants-and-raves/remembering-the-comic-genius-of-fred-willard-344e0bb78558 | ['Richard Lebeau'] | 2020-05-21 16:34:34.984000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Comedy', 'Television', 'Society', 'Culture'] |
Step by Step Guide on How to Learn Angular in 2021 | Step by Step Guide on How to Learn Angular in 2021 Vsevolod Ulyanovich Follow Jun 21 · 4 min read
Angular became one of the three most used web frameworks among developers globally in 2020. When we started talking about this tool on our social media, it resonated strongly with our community members. So, we decided to expand on that and provide you with more information on this state-of-the-art framework.
If you would like to make Angular a widely used tool in your kit for 2021, this is the guide for you. We gave special attention to the theoretical concepts, without which you cannot move further, and shared some useful resources to delve into the issue.
Explore Angular and become a part of the community of millions of developers across the globe!
Definition and Key Ideas
Angular is a framework and development platform for making web and mobile apps using HTML, JavaScript, or compiling TypeScript or NativeScript to JavaScript. It is an excellent tool for creating the following solutions:
single-page applications;
enterprise web applications;
mobile apps of any kind;
Progressive Web Applications;
server-side rendered applications;
user interfaces with animations;
and many other things
To start working with the framework, you should understand basic JavaScript ES6, HTML, and CSS. Since the main idea of the framework is to build client applications, particularly single-page apps, its architecture is specific to that and 95% of the code runs on the client side.
Working with Angular, you enjoy the following advantages:
functionality for time, effort, and cost saving;
codebase maintainability and scalability;
simple design workflow;
a supportive community with ready-made components;
an organized and clean code
The architecture of an Angular app includes 8 basic types of blocks:
modules;
components;
templates;
metadata;
data binding;
directives;
services;
dependency injection
Let’s consider the constituent Angular parts in more detail.
Modules
An Angular module is a coherent block of code related to a specific app domain. With its help, you can split up an app into smaller parts and work with each separately. Besides, you can create, export, and import libraries of components.
Modules are the core feature of the framework, so if you start making an Angular app, it must have at least one of them. This module is called a root module and takes over the bootstrap. Other modules are responsible for certain features and have their properties described after a @NgModule prefix.
Components
Components are responsible for creating the connection with the screen sections called views. They are defined using the @Component decorator. Any Angular app has a root component in the root module that holds the general hierarchy and supports domain logic.
Templates
A template defines a component view and combines HTML with Angular forms. Since views are usually arranged hierarchically, the templates define a host view of the associated components and the view hierarchy.
Metadata
We mentioned several @ prefixes that we attach to Angular classes to describe their properties. We can also add more metadata after them to make it clear how to deal with the elements.
Data Binding
To connect template parts with component parts, Angular offers a mechanism called data binding. It allows reducing the code lines, which saves time and effort.
Directives
To transform document object model pages, Angular needs instructions provided by directives. Structural directives change the templates’ structure while attribute directives update the elements’ attributes.
Services
Services are used to enrich an Angular solution with new features or values. We recommend you to add a highly specialized purpose to a service because it may affect the general performance.
Dependency Injection
New Angular components need to be provided accurately with the required dependencies. To provide that, Angular offers the method of dependency injection. Instead of taking data from a server, DI delegates this task to the services.
Releases
The framework has a long story. Its first version named AngularJS was released in 2010 and will be supported till June 2021. However, it became clear over time that AngularJS didn’t meet the standards of web app development and it was completely reworked with no backward compatibility in 2016. Nonetheless, it was called Angular 2. Then the following versions were provided:
Angular 4 — March 2017;
Angular 5 — November 2017;
Angular 6 — May 2018;
Angular 7 — October 2018;
Angular 8 — May 2019;
Angular 9 — February 2020;
Angular 10 — June 2020;
Angular 11 — November 2020;
Angular 12 — May 2021
V4, v5, v6, v7, and v8 are no longer supported. As for the newest v12, it is positioned as a faster, smaller, and easier to use one. Also, v12 means the transition of the whole Angular ecosystem to a complete rewrite of the rendering engine called Ivy.
Resources for Further Learning
If you are determined to go deeper into the subject, we recommend you begin by exploring Angular docs and style guides. Since the community is really supportive, you can find plenty of additional materials for further learning:
If you consider taking the courses, check the following:
Bottomline
Here we tried to cover the basic aspects of Angular development in 2021. The Fively specialists build amazing client apps using the framework and you too can create something special. We hope our guide becomes a good starting point and wish you good luck in the journey.
***
If you have questions, then write them in the comments. We will try to answer all of them.
Subscribe to our publication and social networks, so as not to miss new articles. | https://medium.com/fively/step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-learn-angular-in-2021-16a7c564708e | ['Vsevolod Ulyanovich'] | 2021-06-21 11:55:47.918000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Angular', 'Web Framework', 'Guides And Tutorials', 'Frontend Development'] |
Search Algorithms | A search algorithm is an algorithm which searches for an element in a data structure. Suppose you have an array, and you want to find the index location of an element within the array. There are two main ways that you can find the index of the element: linear search and binary search.
Linear Search
This is the method that most people would use when searching for an element. As the name suggests, this method involves iterating through every element in an array until you find the target element. This takes O(n) time in the worst case, where n is the length of the array.
Linear search algorithm, via GeeksForGeeks
The usual implementation of a linear search algorithm checks every element beginning with the first element, at index 0. It then proceeds right, or through the array, until the target element is found. Once the element is found, it returns the index position of the element.
If the element is not in the array, then -1 is returned.
This method of searching an array is one of the least efficient methods. The time taken to search through the elements of an array using linear search does not matter much when you are using small data structures (<100,000 elements). However, if you are using larger data structures, or when the time taken needs to be as low as possible, linear search is an extremely inefficient search algorithm.
The Python implementation of a linear search algorithm is below.
def linearSearch(arr, x):
length = len(arr)
for i in range(length):
if arr[i] == x:
return i
return -1
This algorithm looks at every index position in the array, and checks whether it matches with the target element (x). If it does, the index position is returned, and if the whole array is checked and the target element is not present in the array, -1 is returned.
We can slightly improve the runtime of this algorithm by moving inwards to the middle of the array instead of moving from left to right. This still takes O(n) time in the worst case (x is in the middle of the array/not in the array), but this takes a lesser amount of time if the target element is close to the end of the array.
def linearSearch(arr, x):
left = 0
right = len(arr) - 1
while left <= right:
if arr[left] == x:
return left
if arr[right] == x:
return right
left += 1
right -= 1
return -1
Interval Search
If the array that you are searching for an element in is unsorted, then you have to use linear search or one of its variants to find an element. If the array is sorted, however, you can use an interval search algorithm for finding an element.
There are many types of interval search, but none of them are as popular and ubiquitous as binary search. The “binary” in binary search does not refer to the counting system (look at my post on number systems here), but to splitting items in two.
Binary search works by repeatedly cutting an array in half. The first element it checks is not the first or last element in the array, but the one in the middle (rounded down if there are an even number of elements). If the target element is larger than the element in the middle, then it takes the end half of the array to the next stage, and if the target element is smaller than the element in the middle, it takes the first half of the array. This process is continued until the element in the middle of a subarray is the target element.
Binary search algorithm, via GeeksForGeeks
Below is the Python implementation of the binary search algorithm.
def binarySearch(arr, x):
low = 0
high = len(arr) - 1
while low <= high:
mid = (high + low) // 2
if arr[mid] < x:
low = mid + 1
elif arr[mid] > x:
high = mid - 1
else:
return mid
return -1
There are other types of interval search algorithms as well. One of my personal favorites is jump search, where you split the array into subarrays of length y, and check the last element of each subarray to see whether or not it is larger than the target element x. Once you find the subarray where the last element is equal to or larger than the target element, you can search the much smaller subarray with another search algorithm(s) of your choice for the target element.
import math
def jumpSearch(arr, x):
step = math.floor(math.sqrt(len(arr)))
prev = 0
while prev < len(arr) - 1:
if x <= arr[prev]:
break
else:
prev += step
index = 0
for i in arr[prev - step:prev + 1]:
if i == x:
return index + (prev - step)
else:
index += 1
return -1
The jump search algorithm above uses jump search once through the array to get a smaller subarray, and then uses linear search to find the target element within the subarray. However, you can use any other searching algorithm once you have the subarray, and if the subarray is large enough, you can use jump search again.
Those are the three main algorithms that can be used to find an element in an array. However, these are by no means the only algorithms available. There are many, many searching algorithms, such as Fibonacci Search, Interpolation Search, Exponential Search, and Ternary Search. Building another searching algorithm is not difficult. You just have to see things from a new perspective.
To demonstrate that creating a searching algorithm is not hard, I coded a simple middle-out linear search algorithm. This algorithm favors elements on the upper 4/6ths of the array. For example, if arr had a length of 6, the elements from arr[2] onwards would be found quicker than if you used traditional linear search.
def middle_out(arr, x):
if len(arr) % 2 == 0:
right = int(len(arr)/2)
left = right - 1
else:
mid = int((len(arr) - 1)/2)
if arr[mid] == x:
return mid
else:
left = mid - 1
right = mid + 1
while left >= 0:
if arr[left] == x:
return left
elif arr[right] == x:
return right
else:
left -= 1
right += 1
return -1
— — — — — -
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My name is Sid, and I post an article every few weeks on interesting topics related to Computer Science, Science, and Mathematics! Thank you for reading this post! | https://medium.com/@routsiddharth/search-algorithms-60303e038d46 | ['Siddharth Rout'] | 2020-12-19 09:46:40.652000+00:00 | ['Algorithms', 'Coding', 'Python', 'Teens', 'Data Science'] |
How I Reverse Engineered Byte and Created My Own Byte Web App | How I Created My Own Byte Web App
I saw some comments from Byte users who were complaining they couldn’t share a link to their Byte and instead had to export and send the video.
These comments confirmed my decision to build a web experience for Byte, and I challenged myself to see how fast I could build it. Byte launched on a Friday, and I spent that weekend in a hackathon-style coffee-fueled isolation, coding as fast as I could with my faulty MacBook Pro butterfly keys.
The front end
I bootstrapped my web app using Create React App and used libraries such as React Slick to emulate the sliding vertical carousel that Byte/TikTok uses for their feed of videos.
I decompiled the Byte Android app and extracted some of the assets so the web app looked just like the mobile apps. Because of CORS policies, the browser’s Fetch API isn’t able to directly call Byte’s private APIs, so I had to create a back-end server to proxy the requests.
I created a simple Express server that proxies the API requests so my React app would make an API call to my Express server’s API — which, in turn, called Byte’s private API, returned the response to my Express server, and that returned the response to my React app.
The back end
All requests to Byte’s private APIs require authorization. You can’t make any requests without first passing a valid auth token. If I was to achieve my goal of allowing people to share links to their bytes, it’d have to work without anyone logging in.
Since I have my Express server up and running and it’s the middleman between my React app and Byte’s APIs, I realized I could just hardcode some valid auth tokens on the server to authenticate API requests on behalf of the users of my web app.
After creating a dummy account and obtaining its auth token, I hardcoded it in the headers config for each Axios request my Express server made to Byte’s APIs. At the time of this writing, Byte’s APIs have some pretty relaxed rate limiting, but there are some limits. I realized if my web app gets really popular or some malicious user decides to create a script that calls my proxy API directly, the rate limits for the user account that powers everything would quickly get hit and the app would break for everyone.
Load-balancing requests
I created a few extra accounts, got their auth tokens, and ended up implementing a round-robin approach that’d select a different auth token for each request to balance the load on Byte’s APIs so the likelihood of hitting the rate limits decreased.
I also implemented my own rate limiting on my Express server so if scripts continuously call my proxy API, they can’t quickly exhaust the rate limits on my supply of auth tokens.
Handling metadata for link sharing with Open Graph tags
The Express server also came in handy for implementing Open Graph tags. If users were to share a link to their bytes on social media, there needs to be some relevant info. Otherwise, every link would have the same title, description, and image.
In my Express server, I added handlers for the routes that people would be sharing links for such a /user/ and /post/. When those routes get hit, my Express server calls Byte’s API to retrieve the relevant information, such as the user’s name and profile picture or the post’s description, and it’ll read the static index.html file from my React build and dynamically replace the OG tags with the information I got from Byte’s API. The response will return the new index.html with the updated OG tags. For all other routes, my Express server will just serve the normal index.html file.
The launch
By the end of the weekend, I had most of it done. It was working quite well, and I wanted to launch it on Product Hunt on Monday morning, but it wasn’t quite polished yet so I held back.
After some cross-device testing, I discovered a few bugs I had to fix so the web app would be a good experience for people who decided to use it on the mobile web instead of using the official mobile app. I registered the domain www.byte.community because Byte’s website is www.byte.co , and I finally launched it on Product Hunt on Wednesday (January 29), five days after Byte launched publicly.
The Product Hunt launch flopped, and I only got five upvotes, so I posted some videos on Byte itself advertising it. Some people started to find out about it, and I started getting some users. Some Byters actually created their own bytes advertising it, and others started to use it how I intended and shared links to their bytes on the official Byte community forums. | https://medium.com/better-programming/how-i-reverse-engineered-byte-and-created-my-own-byte-web-app-2828f5520b25 | ['Alec Garcia'] | 2020-02-11 03:29:44.062000+00:00 | ['API', 'JavaScript', 'Programming', 'Web Development', 'Social Media'] |
COVID–19 Finance Guide for Mental Health Care Providers | Payroll Protection Program (PPP)
PPP loans are run through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The first round of PPP funding ran out, but on April 23 the program received an additional $320 billion in funding. Sole proprietors and business owners with employees are eligible for PPP loans.
How to apply
Applications for PPP loans must be filed through a bank. Most banks are not accepting new clients right now and many large banks have massive queues. Working with a smaller, local bank may allow you to file your application faster. Many people are reporting that it’s easiest and faster to file a loan outside of regular business hours.
When filing your loan application, expect the bank to ask for bank statements from the last 15 months as well as a prepared Schedule C from this year. The Schedule C does not need to have been filed yet.
How it works
Funding will be determined by your net profits from the 2019 tax year. To estimate your loan value, look at your net profits, divide it by 12, then multiply by 2.5.
Once a loan application has been submitted, you’ll receive a loan number from the SBA via email. The bank through which you filed your application will contact you separately with information about next steps.
Once you’ve signed your loan documents with the bank, your funds will be released within 24–48 hours, at which point you’ll have eight (8) weeks to use the funds.
What it can be used for
PPP loans can be used over a period of eight (8) weeks to cover gross payroll. A maximum of 25% of the loan can be put toward expenses outside of payroll, like rent and health insurance.
If you are a mental health care provider who is still seeing clients, consider allowing money from clients to cover your business expenses and treat the PPP loan as your own payroll.
Loan forgiveness and payback periods
If the PPP loan has been used properly over eight (8) weeks, it can be absolved and you won’t owe anything. The loan may not be forgiven if an employee was let go and was supposed to be re-hired under the PPP loan. If a PPP loan is not forgiven, it must be paid back within two years at 1% interest.
The bank you filed your application through will ask for proof of how the funds were used. The best and easiest way to prove how funds are being used and transferred is to open a separate bank account for the loan.
While the PPP loan is not considered income and is not taxable, is not yet known if the government will allow PPP loan recipients to write it down to zero, or if you can deduct payroll and rent expenses from it. | https://medium.com/@hello-alma/covid-19-finance-guide-for-mental-health-care-providers-5c368dd0bdab | [] | 2020-04-27 20:51:57.619000+00:00 | ['Small Business', 'Therapist', 'Loan', 'Mental Health', 'Co Vid'] |
FOR A BETTER DIGITAL MARKETING-PPC is considerable | Understand,
First, what is PPC?
Pay-per-click, is a form of advertising that allows you to pay a fee to have your business website on the search engine result page (SERP). When a customer types in specific keywords or phrases to the search engine. Your website name will appear as per the ranking. By this you get the quality leads. When you hire PPC Company in Noida, the difference of working exposure will tell you how to approach. Pay-per-click advertising is most common in search engine results like Google or Bing, but is also used on social channels.
As a client if you are wondering where you can find pay-per-click ads, they are the results you see before and to the right of the organic search results. For instance, when you check out the ad that came up in my search for ‘cards’.
PPC terms you shall know about
When you have planned to work with the PPC Company in Delhi NCR, there are a few terms you should know. Below, we review the main elements of a PPC campaign, ranging from broad to the specific needs.
SEM (SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING)
Importantly, the objective of all types of digital marketing is to rank for a target keywords, and which you can do in all ways. SEM refers to every type of digital marketing which is done on a search engine, like Google, Yahoo, or Bing. When you take a service of digital marketing related for your product or services make sure that you know the best about it.
SEM is an umbrella term that encompasses both paid advertising and search engine optimization, that is, ranking organically for the keywords. It is important to note that not all PPC occurs on search engines-social media has PPC ads, too.
CPC
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount that an advertiser pays for each
Click on your ad. CPC acts as your bid in an auction that determines where your ad will be placed.
CAMPAIGN
The first step when you start working with the Best Pay Per Click Company in Noida is deciding about your ad campaign. You can consult well with the provided digital marketer i.e., how to convey the key message or say theme to get across with your advertisements.
KEYWORDS
Every ad within your product or service will target a set of relevant keywords or key terms. As per experts the keywords tell search engines which terms or search queries you want your ad to be displayed alongside in SERPs. Once the PPC Company in Noida fetched out the relevant keywords, you can set a micro CPC specifically for keywords within your ads on all social medium platforms.
LANDING PAGE
Landing page plays a very important role when you are opting for digital marketing promotion. A landing page is a critical piece of your paid advertising strategy. Your PPC Company in Delhi/NCR enables you to know that the landing page is where users will end up once they click your creative PPC ad. Whether it’s a dedicated webpage, your homepage, or somewhere else, make sure to follow landing page best practices to maximize conversions. | https://medium.com/@websitedevel0pment/for-a-better-digital-marketing-ppc-is-considerable-d5d36e99576f | [] | 2021-10-25 12:20:06.882000+00:00 | ['PPC Marketing', 'Ppc Agency', 'PPC'] |
rails 常用套件 — pundit(權限管理套件) | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/minoyo/rails-%E5%B8%B8%E7%94%A8%E5%A5%97%E4%BB%B6-pundit-%E6%AC%8A%E9%99%90%E7%AE%A1%E7%90%86%E5%A5%97%E4%BB%B6-1c01323b9b1e | ['Mino Chen'] | 2020-12-13 15:08:02.577000+00:00 | ['Rails'] |
Are Vaccines For The Birds? | (Should I be concerned about Big Bird? And other fun thoughts)
I heard Senator Ted Cruz was upset. A tall, muppetlike (is that the right term?) yellow creature named Big Bird got a Covid-19 vaccine and tweeted about it on Twitter. ’twas a boring tweet that stymied Ted and I’m telling two+ people that this is much-to-do about nothing.
After all, Big Bird isn’t exactly a real person. He’s a bird. A fake bird, so much bigger than your ‘classic’ yellow canary. The super fun size little kids would like in birds, you know?
Can birds get Covid-19? And should they get a Covid vaccine? Are robins and bluejays also susceptible? What about red roosters, pink flamingos, brownish pelicans, dark gray and white juncos?
Oh, you see a pattern here. You think it’s all about color. Colorful birds should be vaccinated. Yeah, maybe, and people too, who come in the colors of brown, white, black, light pink, olive, etc. And with vaccines for people, color does not matter. Only the vaccine matters. And staying alive once you get it.
So what color is Ted Cruz? I’d give him the color of many politicians today: pale and ignorant.
This is being brought to you by the letter O (as in Oh-my-God, I can’t believe this). Oh, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), birds have not been catching Covid. But people can, and maybe your dog too(see the CDC link).
(Ms. D. J. Mathews takes her Big Bird business seriously. See her serious and not so serious writing at www.greatamericanidea.com/blog/ ) | https://medium.com/@djmathews/are-vaccines-for-the-birds-cdb799c02556 | ['D J Mathews'] | 2021-11-18 04:07:19.999000+00:00 | ['Big Bird', 'Politica', 'Big Bird Makes The News', 'Fun', 'Fun With Vaccines'] |
Why Are There No Volcanoes in South Asia? | Why Are There No Volcanoes in South Asia?
Why are earthquakes prevalent in south Asia, but almost no volcanoes?
18 earthquakes have hit Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) of India in the three months preceding today (9th of July, 2020). Few more have hit the states of Gujarat in the west and Mizoram in the east in the same duration, in addition to the two Cyclones which struck India and Bangladesh.
Over the millenniums, the Indian subcontinent has witnessed a whole barrage of natural disasters except one- volcanic eruption. It is not a mere coincidence that the subcontinent, despite being categorically rich and diverse in the physiography, from the frosty Himalayas in the north to lush green Nilgiris in the south, there is absolutely no volcanic activity. except for Barren Island in the Andamans, India.
South Asia is defined as the geographical area encompassing Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The union territory of Ladakh is the frontier of Indian Himalayas in the north and boasts of the highest motorable road in the world | ‘Leh’ ~ Image by Anuj Bansal on Unsplash
Are we floating over magma?
We need to understand a bit of geography to understand the reason behind the frequent earthquakes but the absolute absence of volcanism in south Asia. The earth can be portrayed as a thin crust floating over a solid mantle, which encapsulates a core of iron and nickel. As per the most widely accepted theory of Plate Tectonics, the present-day continental landmasses, as well as the oceans, are in fact ‘plates’ (portions of crust) floating over asthenosphere (the molten part of the upper mantle which contains the ‘magma chamber’). These plates are either converging towards or diverging from or sliding past each other. The plates can either be Continental or Oceanic, depending on the feature above the crust. For instance, the largest ocean of the world is situated over an oceanic plate- the Pacific plate. Present-day South Asia, including India, is a part of the continental Indo- Australian plate.
However, the physical geography of the world was quite different 225 million years ago, when India was a large landmass (synonymous with the present-day peninsular area of India), floating off the Australian coast, separated from the Eurasian mainland by a body of water- ‘Tethys Sea’. About 200 million years ago, the landmass started its 6,000-kilometre journey northward, towards a major plate- the Eurasian plate. About 40 million years ago, the denser Indian landmass collided with and plunged below the Eurasian plate, and the resultant compression, metamorphosis and folding of sediments led to the formation of the Himalayas.
The Himalayas are one of the youngest mountain ranges of the world and bearer of the highest point on earth ~ Mount Everest | Image by Martin Jernberg on Unsplash
The Indian and Eurasian plates are still converging at the rate of about 5 cm every year and consequently, the Himalayas are still rising by a few cm every year as evidenced from satellite mounted high precision atomic clocks and desiccation of lakes in Tibet. Desiccation: Whenever a region is uplifted, the lakes in the region lose water and level of granular terrace changes.
The Ring of Fire
Across the world, almost all the earthquakes and volcanoes are located in the zones where an oceanic and a continental plate collide and converge. In such an event, the denser oceanic plate subducts by 5 to 30 kilometres below the lighter continental plate and the ‘magma’ makes it’s way above through the weak subduction zone formed. For illustration, the Pacific plate upon converging with the North American plate in the east and Eurasian plate in the west, forms a 40,000 km long horseshoe-shaped ring around the Pacific- the Ring of Fire, which houses 75% of the world’s volcanoes and 90% of the earthquakes.
The regions marked in red constitute the Pacific Ring of Fire, which houses the most violent, large and active Volcanoes and Earthquake sensitive zones of the Earth | Illustration by Digitally Learn
The classic case of Himalayan convergence
In case of formation of present-day South Asia, the collision involved two continental plates and not an oceanic plate. In such cases, due to folding and faulting, even those seismic activity is retained which leads to frequent earthquakes but the zone of subduction is as deep as 50 to 70 kilometres. The magma from the asthenosphere cannot penetrate such a thick continental crust and hence it stays in the crust, as a result of which there are no volcanoes in India and the entire of South Asia. | https://medium.com/environmental-intelligence/why-are-there-no-volcanoes-in-south-asia-6cf0ec8b3d8f | [] | 2020-07-10 01:15:54.647000+00:00 | ['India', 'Outdoors', 'Geography', 'Earth', 'Science'] |
The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker… | We are more than what we do
Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash
June 2017:
Careers. It’s often the first question a person will ask when they meet you, “What do you do?” I’m always tempted to answer, “As little as possible” or “Right now, I’m standing here talking to you.” But in the end, I usually confess that I’m a nurse.
Saying I’m a nurse doesn’t even begin to do my chosen career justice. I’ve had this gig for well over twenty years and in that time I’ve worked as a floor nurse on a respiratory unit, a home health nurse, an ICU nurse, a GI procedures nurse, a pre-op nurse, a recovery room nurse, a kidney transplant coordinator and an operating room nurse. I know nurses who found their groove right out of nursing school and settled in, but not me.
My family used to tell me I had a two-year attention span and then I’d be off looking to change my department and learn new stuff. I did settle into the surgery side of the equation eventually, as I adore surgeons and their decisive ‘take no prisoners’ attitudes. They are an acquired taste and completely my tribe. I have managed to more or less hang out in the operating room in some way, shape, or form for over ten years.
Looking back at the decisions I made to stay or go from a specific job, I can see a pattern. Early in my career, before I knew better — and I think most nurses do this — I gave 100% to the job. It’s that kind of job. Patients need you. Your co-workers need you. Your boss needs you. The list goes on. You forget that YOU need you. And burnout happens. Two years in, you can’t face the commute that used to take you to the J.O.B. you loved just a short time before. There is no cure for burnout. I know, I tried everything, because I did love those jobs I left behind. Nearly every single one of them (not the GI procedures one…I didn’t really care for that one).
Now I’m an old nurse. They call us Sages at my facility. We get our own breakfast during Nurses Day (not that any of us in clinical areas can go because, you know? We have to take care of patients — but it’s a nice thought). And with age comes a wisdom I didn’t have when I first started out. I can feel the burnout when it begins these days. The groan at the alarm clock, the constant slow boil of irritation, the inability to go above and beyond at the job any more, the need to blast rock and roll music from my car on each and every commute home — all the signs. | https://medium.com/recycled/the-butcher-the-baker-the-candlestick-maker-67b7cb4736f8 | ['Ann Litts'] | 2020-11-11 19:45:10.282000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Retirement', 'Nursing', 'Burnout', 'Letting Go'] |
How to Network Effectively as a UX Designer | Words: Nicole Locklair / Illustration: Sam Friedman
If the mere thought of networking makes you want to cringe, roll your eyes, or break out in a cold sweat, know that you’re not alone.
When it comes to networking, most of us have a stereotypical image of a person in a suit and tie, shaking hands and fast-talking at a business conference. A Harvard Business School study found that, “Even when people know networking is beneficial to their careers, they often don’t do it,” according to co-author and Professor Francesca Gino.
Read on to learn how to network successfully and make the most of it!
What is Networking?
Let’s start with what networking is, and also what it isn’t. Networking exists to connect businesses and individuals in ways that are mutually beneficial. Networking can happen at a 1,000-person conference or on a 5-person Zoom call. The common denominator is conversation related to a shared professional interest. So a meetup of UX designers counts as networking, while a meetup at the dog park likely is not.
Networking conversations are meant to be brief, like speed dating. Maybe you’ll share contact information to follow up at a later date, but there’s no pressure to talk for hours. You don’t need to make a new best friend, impress anyone with your design expertise, or speak with everyone in the room. The strongest networks are a curated list of individuals with whom you’ll develop a relationship over time.
One important distinction to remember is that networking is not a job interview. You’re not presenting a case study, going into detail about your life story, or answering questions in front of a panel. There’s no pass/fail for networking, and what works for you might not for someone else. At best, you’ll meet a few interesting people who might be able to help you in the future. At worst, you’ll figure out that a particular group or event wasn’t what you were looking for and move on.
So how can you make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward during your next networking event? Read on for a few suggestions.
Do Your Homework
Once you’ve signed up for a networking event, do some research on the speaker(s), organization, and any past events they’ve run. Oftentimes, you can see the list of attendees, so spend some time on LinkedIn to get a sense of who will be there with you. Finding commonalities can make you feel more comfortable entering a new space, and you’ll most likely see that there are other attendees who come from similar backgrounds. Chances are, the more prepared you are to have a conversation with a fellow attendee, the more likely it will be to actually happen.
Define Success
Before you begin any design project, you do research, come up with a project plan, and define success. You should look to treat networking exactly the same. So, what does success look like as you head to your next networking event? If you go with a goal in mind, it will help you focus your conversations and efforts. Maybe your goal is to speak with 5 people over the course of the night. Maybe it’s to talk one-on-one with someone for 15 minutes. By having a goal in mind, you can measure your progress and strategize about how you might change things up and improve next time.
Mine Your Existing Connections
We’ve mentioned this before, but rather than trying to drum up conversations with total strangers, try looking at your existing connections in a new light. Your aunt or cousin may not have the job you dream of, but they may work at a company that has roles aligned with your aspirations. Take a look at alumni networks, interest groups, clubs, and other organizations you’re already a part of with a networking lens.
When you reach out to a current connection for networking purposes, make sure you’re providing context and a suggestion for actionable next steps. Instead of sending a note that says, “Hey, it’s been awhile, let’s chat!”, try something more nuanced. “Hey there, I hope all is well, and I’d love to get on a quick call to hear your thoughts on Company XYZ. Do you have some time in the next two weeks to connect?” You’ve given them a timeline and topic, and increased the chances that the conversation might progress in a productive way.
Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
If you think about something you’re good at and enjoy (running, painting, playing an instrument, cooking a favorite dish, etc.), reflect on how you got so skilled at it. Hours, months, and years of practice have honed that skill until you can do it with ease. Then consider how long you’ve been trying your hand at networking in the design and tech spaces. It stands to reason that for most people, it’s going to be hard and uncomfortable at first-and that’s ok! Every new conversation is an opportunity to work towards being more comfortable in networking situations.
You may never love networking, but if you keep these tips and tricks in mind, they can help you take advantage of your next industry event. Good luck!
Towards the end of our UX Academy program, we offer unparalleled career support to students. If you’re looking to break into the UX Design industry in 2021 with the help of mentors and career coaches (like Nicole) we encourage you to reach out to [email protected]. | https://uxplanet.org/how-to-network-effectively-as-a-ux-designer-d50d21776831 | [] | 2021-04-01 21:41:50.092000+00:00 | ['User Experience', 'Networking', 'UX Design', 'Designer', 'UX'] |
Dear Parents of Autistic Children, | We have been where you are, and we have wondered if our children were autistic too, and we have sat and been told their diagnosis is confirmed too.
We’d like to say congratulations on your child’s diagnosis! We know, that’s possibly not a phrase you have heard a lot — the diagnostic process can be very filled with negatives — so why are we congratulating you?
Well, simply put, because this really is a good thing. And we know that might be hard to hear with everything that goes on with being assessed for autism, but we assure you, this is not bad news. It is actually good.
It’s good because now you have a framework with which you can understand where your child is coming from. For a long time autism was presented as puzzling and difficult to understand, but we have come a long way from there. We know that there’s a lot of information about autism online, in books, magazines, all over the place, and it can be a confusing time. There are lots of mixed messages. As autistic adults, we recognise this and would like to help you understand. There are lots of autistic people who share their lived experiences which helps us to understand autism more and more. We have been autistic children, autistic teens, and now as autistic adults, we are here to share what we have learned along the way. We are now able to articulate better our experiences as youngsters and help you and your child manage some of the difficulties — like meltdowns, sensory overload, emotional dysregulation — we experience both as autistic children and as parents.
We understand you may be worried that you have “labelled” your child, but it’s a diagnosis, not a label. And your child has been autistic their whole life, nothing has changed. Those of us who grew up without a diagnosis had plenty of labels — naughty, rude, robotic, lazy, oversensitive, arrogant. None of these labels were true. But “autistic” is a much better description for us, and lets others know our motivations.
We can let you know that finding out we are autistic has been a really good thing for us for many different reasons. It has meant we have got validation and peer support from other autistic people. It has meant we can see that we are not built “wrong”, that we are not incapable, and that there is a whole community of people just like us. Knowing we are autistic means we can put supports in place for ourselves — we can plan in down time, we can take things like ear defenders and sunglasses out with us to help. We can talk with other autistic people and learn new strategies from them. You and your child have these same opportunities too.
We also want to let you know that for every autistic difficulty, there is a flip side that is really brilliant. Sure, we can struggle with sensory input, but we also get sensory bliss. We can get overwhelmed with negative feelings, but we also get autistic joy. Autism is not all bad, or all good. It just is. And a great many autistic adults wouldn’t want to be any other way, so it’s likely your child will feel the same.
It’s ok to be overwhelmed, but you and your child are not alone. You are part of a big community now. We are here to help and support, not judge.
Yours,
Felicity and Marion at One Stop Shop Aberdeen, Triple A’s
Website: www.oss-aberdeen.co.uk
Email: [email protected] | https://medium.com/@tripleaaberdeen/dear-parents-of-autistic-children-9fd6eeab0417 | ['Triple A S'] | 2020-12-18 12:54:56.001000+00:00 | ['Autism', 'Autistic', 'Autism Parenting', 'Autism Parents', 'Autistic Parents'] |
How to Ace AWS Data Analytics Specialty Certification Exam Almost For Free | But let’s get back to our article. Well, the answer to this question is easy — study! But I cannot write an article with just one word “study”. You’ll need a bit more.
A few days ago I passed an exam for AWS Data Analytics Specialty Certification and while my memory is fresh I would like to share a preparation process that helped me to achieve this.
What
AWS Data Analytics Specialty exam focuses mostly on AWS services related to data and analytics (kinda obvious, isn’t it) and covers the following topics or domains:
Collection
Storage and Data Management
Processing
Analysis and Visualisation
Security
The exam covers in depths all AWS services related to Data Analysis:
Amazon S3
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Kinesis
Amazon EMR
Amazon ElasticSearch
Amazon Athena
AWS Glue
Amazon QuickSight
AWS Lake Formation
and all the data services that might interact with the above (Backup, Glacier, GuardDuty, etc.)
You can find more information on the AWS web page, but also here is the official exam guide, sample questions, and some additional resources that might help you. Also, bear in mind that these are applicable for 2021 — probably Amazon will publish some updates in the future, so better check their web if the above links do not work.
Cost
The cost of the exam is $300 (€270 + 21% VAT if you’re in Spain). Also, if you have already done any other AWS exams you get a 50% discount for the next one, so I paid only €163.35. You can first try a practice exam which costs $40 (€36 + 21% VAT if you’re in Spain) and again if you’ve already achieved any other AWS certification you get one practice exam for free.
Where & How
You can take the exam online (from your home or office) or go to a testing center. I recommend going to a testing center as when you’re at home/office they make you remove everything from the desk, be in a clean room with nothing in it except your laptop and if your internet connection isn’t stable enough you can lose a connection and stare for an hour into waiting room page thinking what’s going on and being afraid to open any other tab because you’re supposed to be monitored (happened to me and I failed the exam, but the support team was great and issued me a 100% discount code for the next exam and told AWS it was their fault, so I don’t have a record with failed exam attempt). Also, when you go to the testing center, check the facility’s COVID-19 safety protocol and be ready to wear a mask during the exam. It’s recommended to try an exam at home while wearing a mask — to make sure it won’t be an issue sitting and thinking 3 hours in it. Another one of my failures is documentation. Apparently, AWS requires 2 identity documents before allowing you to take an exam. I had to go home and bring my passport along with the ID card I thought would be enough. Although pretty sure, PSI and PearsonVUE warn about this on their FAQ and help pages.
Preparation
It took me a little more than a month, approx 2 hours every day (six days per week) to prepare for the exam. I may say that I already have some experience with the aforementioned services, so maybe another one might spend more time studying. I used free resources from AWS training and purchased Tutorials Dojo’s AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Practice Exams 2021, so the total cost of my preparation was $18 + time spent.
Useful resources to take a look at during preparation:
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Exam Study Path from Tutorials Dojo — it is a quite complete list of things you have to check before the exam, with some sample questions, cheat sheets for analytics services, and some common scenarios in exam questions.
AWS Analytics Overview — a whitepaper with an overview of all AWS analytics that has links to more detailed resources about each service.
Data Lakes and Analytics — another overview of AWS analytics services.
Data Analytics Fundamentals — an official AWS course that is good, to begin within your preparation for the exam.
Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty — official AWS course that will help you to cover all necessary topics that you will find on the exam. Also, it’s free.
Visualizing with QuickSight — a really great curriculum from AWS training that helped me a lot in better understanding of QuickSight. A must ace the visualization part of the exam.
AWS Hadoop Fundamentals — even though it’s a bit out of scope it helped me to better understand Hadoop and how it is integrated into AWS EMR. If you perfectly know Hadoop — this course isn’t necessary.
Other AWS Training courses covering S3, RDS, SageMaker, etc will be good for expanding your knowledge as there are some questions that touch these topics and the courses are really short but informative. Especially check out everything related to S3 — there are some funny pitfalls you should be aware of. You will find a lot of them in the Learning Library.
Tutorials Dojo’s AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Practice Exams 2021 — essential in order to test your knowledge and find out where your weak spots are. Also, it is a good indicator of your readiness for the exam — don’t even try if you don’t score more than 90% in these practice exams.
My results
As I mentioned before, I passed the exam with a ~85% score while the passing grade was 75%. Not perfect, nor close to failing. Maybe if I studied more it could have been better, but it is still a pass. And now I am a proud owner of this badge:
Conclusion
AWS Certification Exams are not that difficult if you prepare for them. Also, having practical experience helps a lot. For example, as I worked with AWS Glue a lot I didn’t have to study much about this service as I already knew about its capabilities and functionality. And that experience is much better than some theoretical might-be scenarios — when you have fixed a lot of your own bugs you are confident to say I know that shit.
Hope this little summary helped you in preparation for becoming a better Data Analytics Professional and made you realize it is easily achievable.
Thanks for reading! | https://towardsaws.com/how-to-ace-aws-data-analytics-specialty-certification-exam-almost-for-free-667451fd480a | ['Sergi Lehkyi'] | 2021-09-11 01:42:03.159000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Certification', 'Data', 'Data Analysis', 'Cloud'] |
This Time Next Year I’ll Be A Different Person: How I Lost 145 Pounds in 365 Days | What I Ate
As I lost weight, my tastes and desires for certain foods waned and increased dramatically. I’m a firm believer that no food is wholly “bad”, and no food is wholly “good”. Food just is.
One thing I realized as I was on this journey is that every meal doesn’t have to be a life changing experience. Every forkful that I put in my mouth doesn’t have to be sumptuously orgasmic. Sometimes food is just fuel. And that’s ok.
This was pretty sumptuously orgasmic, though.
Making a shopping list and going grocery shopping revolutionized the way I approached food. Every Friday I take about 10 minutes and plan meals for the week. My fiancé and I have a shared calendar that we keep updated with when we’re working late, and when we won’t be around for dinner. I go to the grocery store on Saturday morning after my workout and pick up our groceries for the week.
Not only does this contribute to my weight loss goals, but it also cuts down on spending money eating out (which we do 3–4 times a month), and unnecessary food waste.
A typical day a few months into calorie tracking.
Meal prep was very important for me when I was starting out. Streamlining two out of three meals a day made a big difference for me. I more or less ate the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day for several months. Did it get a little boring sometimes? Yeah. But removing the stress and decision making out of figuring out what to eat during the day made the other choices I had to make easier.
A typical day, 145-ish pounds later.
As I got closer to my goal weight, plateaus became more common and long-lasting. Plateaus for me usually lasted two weeks or longer, and I generally regarded them as a necessary evil; it meant my body had gotten used to what I was doing, and it was time to switch things up a bit.
I realized that I was never hungry in the morning and was forcing myself to eat a banana or some oatmeal because I thought that’s what I should do. I began experimenting with light fasting during the majority of the day — I was always hungry in the evenings, so why not save my calories until then?
I look at my calorie goals as a debit card. Every morning I get about 2000 “dollars” loaded on my debit card. I can spend them on whatever I want, whenever I want, but if I use them foolishly, I’ll be overextended.
These days, I start my morning with several glasses of ice cold water. I have a 32 oz cup at home that I fill with water twice and chug. Throughout the day, every time I have to pee, I repeat the process.
Around lunchtime I’ll have a Fage yogurt. I’m deeply passionate about Fage yogurt, specifically the honey variety. All other yogurt brands can suck it. Later in the afternoon I’ll have a snack of some pretzels, grilled chicken or popcorn. This gets me through the day until it’s time for the main event — dinner!
Dinner is usually a protein paired with a vegetable and a carb. Think salmon, broccoli and mashed potatoes, or pork chops, roasted sweet potatoes and collard greens.
One thing I’m always careful to make sure I’m not doing is doubling up on carbs — if I’m having spaghetti, I don’t need a hunk of garlic bread to go along with it, as there are already carbs in the pasta.
Fruits and vegetables are important to me — I like to keep green grapes easily accessible, and I always have a gigantic bowl of cut watermelon chilling in the fridge. Broccoli is always welcome on my plate. Roasted cauliflower is a gift from God. I try to make sure I have something green every day.
Pro tip: Grilled onions literally go with every meat, and add a fantastic depth of flavor and additional texture to boring meats like grilled chicken. Side note: stop buying chicken breasts. They are dry and expensive. Skinless, boneless chicken thighs have a few more calories but taste so. much. better. And as an added bonus, they are cheaper.
Another thing you’ll notice if you thumb through many of the entries in my food diary is that I almost always save room for dessert. Having a little something sweet at the end of the day is a must, so I always allocate some calories towards a mini ice cream cone, a handful of chocolate covered nuts or some kettle corn.
With the exception of Skinny Cow products and the Halo Top line of ice cream, nothing I eat is packaged to be “low fat”. I don’t have anything against Lean Cuisines, but they aren’t food items that I plan on eating for the rest of my life. | https://medium.com/gethealthy/howilost145pounds-ec37044b0ef0 | ['Deandre Upshaw'] | 2016-10-27 14:32:34.292000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss', 'Body Image', 'Lose Weight', 'Body', 'Health'] |
What are the key elements to healthy grocery shopping? | As time is passing by, the food which we are eating is becoming more and more chemical and is losing its organic tributes. This leads to an adverse effect on the health and causes many short-term and long-term problems such as poor digestion, various liver and kidney disorders, skin disorders, and many great problems, and thus one needs to be aware of they are eating, before which one needs to aware about what they are shopping for their day to day consumption. Grocery products are what you need in your daily life, these include everything you eat and are the key to your nutritional intake, and thus, you need to put a tab on your grocery which you are purchasing.
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Shopping for grocery which has good nutritional value isn’t supposed to be rocket science. You just need to find the right grocery stores which provide the right products with great quality and brands and there are stores such as Big C Thailand which also provide a great range of grocery products with ส่วนลด Big C on a great number of products too. Also, you need to choose the right brand for the option of the packaged product which you are choosing, as you get a great variety of brands in the market for the same product. These brands offer different qualities of products which are offered at different prices, but if you are willing to choose the organic way you must find the best product no matter what the price is.
The packaged products which are available in the stores come with nutritional labels which have all the information about the nutrients, minerals, proteins, cholesterol, and additives, you can do some proper research before purchasing the products from the market and compare them to find the best nutritional value in your daily grocery.
Get More Deals & Discount Code :
https://www.vouchersportal.com/th | https://medium.com/@vouchersportal/what-are-the-key-elements-to-healthy-grocery-shopping-3fe4d59958a5 | ['Adam J. Gill'] | 2021-02-02 05:44:50.271000+00:00 | ['รหัสคูปอง Big C', 'Coupon', 'รหัสโปรโมชั่น Big C', 'รหัสส่วนลด Big C', 'Discount'] |
Your Guide To Winning Black Friday VPN Deals | Customers are always looking forth to any sort of discounts that they can get their hands on, because, after all, who wouldn’t want to purchase their favorite item at a lesser cost? This is exactly what has propelled “Black Friday” as the biggest and most popular shopping festival in the world
Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year and the best time to snag deals. Our goal is to bring you the best Black Friday deal from your favorite Fastest VPN so that you can spend your holiday dollars (and shopping time) wisely.
As you sort through the list of offers to find the ones you want most, be sure to add them to your Black Friday wishlist so you can always have them handy and you can compare them to other ongoing sales. Clicking the= “Buy VPN” button will take you directly to the Black Friday Deal where you can purchase the Fastest USA VPN.
When is Black Friday 2019?
Don’t worry, we won’t disappear until then! We’ll still be covering relevant shopping news, early Black Friday sales, and hot deals every day up to Black Friday.
The actual date shifts every year, by the day of the week, stays the same: it’s always the Friday after Thanksgiving, and this year it’s later in the month of November.
The official Black Friday date is November 29, 2019, meaning it’s closer to Christmas (less than a month before Christmas Day), and that gives you less time to shop online. That may not seem like a big deal today, but you’ll have to factor in waiting on the best deals, pouncing on the lowest price.
This Black Friday weekend isn’t just a four-day affair, and deals don’t necessarily follow the normal pattern of prime services to be unleashed — you can see new Our New black Friday VPN deals.
This means Black Friday is more than just a one-day sales frenzy or even an extended weekend tradition. It’s a whole month of savings if you know where to shop and when to hit that checkout button. If you’re savvy, it’s the best time of the year to shop, and you can save a lot of money.
I would say, these days are a grand treat for all the people. To be specific, online industries comes with some super cool discounts that you shouldn’t miss. VPN is yet another industry that offers some mind-blowing discounts for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now without beating around the bush, let us quickly take a look at the best Black Friday VPN deals of 2019
Whether you plan to use your VPN to protect your privacy, watch Netflix on holiday or remain anonymous while you surf online, you will find the perfect VPN offer for you in our Black Friday VPN Deal sales. And if you’re located somewhere outside the US, don’t let the $ signs put you off — that’s just how most providers display their pricing, but can still be purchased from anywhere. | https://medium.com/@ericaeddwards/your-guide-to-winning-black-friday-vpn-deals-125353de411e | ['Erica Edwards'] | 2019-09-04 13:09:52.746000+00:00 | ['Vpn Server', 'Vpn Service', 'Black Friday', 'VPN', 'Vpn Service Providers'] |
Clickstream Analytics Gaining Popularity, Helping One Business at a Time | With the use of clickstream analytics, you can find out one’s habits and tendencies, which is vital for digital marketing
Source: AMR
The popularity and use cases of big data have exponentially increased over the last couple of years. Even small organizations are leveraging big data to make informed decisions. The gathered information comes from a range of different sources, which help understand the company as well as its core customers. However, having an enormous amount of data is not enough; you must possess the required skills to analyze and apply it in business to reap more benefits.
One of the most vital sources is clickstream data that has offered numerous advantages. Although the term has been flying around for a while now, not many know what this information is and from where it comes from.
What is clickstream analytics?
Clickstream analytics is a process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting aggregate data regarding which pages of a website a visitor visits and in what order. This roadmap that a visitor follows through a website is called clickstream. This information represents digital breadcrumbs that offers in-depth analysis of user’s interaction with the website, including how much time a user spent on each page and where they clicked to navigate.
How can clickstream analytics help boost business?
There are several ways businesses can take advantage of clickstream analysis. From improving user experience to boosting consumer base, clickstream analysis work wonders for business growth.
1. Recognizing customer trends
Using clickstream analytics, businesses can figure out the path customers take in order to reach their website. Moreover, organizations can identify familiar patterns and trends by collecting and analyzing the clickstreams of a large number of customers and use the results to improve user experience.
For instance, if most of the users use the same keyword to reach a site that leads to the brand’s website, the company can improve the website in such a way that it is optimized for that search term.
2. Getting rid of abandonment
Nothing hurts a business than cart abandonment. Using clickstream data, you can identify the top pages where most of the customers leave the site. For instance, if a large pool customer base leaves a page on a certain page, it must be something distressing about that page. It could be a lack of some type of payment gateway or a feature that is not working appropriately. Most of the customers abandon the page if it’s asking too many questions or requires extra attention.
3. Analyzing different pathways to reach a destination
Clickstream data analysis can help understand different ways to reach a product page or website page. Using these details, the company can formulate different paths for customers to ensure that customers get quick and effective access to a company’s product or web page.
The applications of clickstream are just becoming mainstream. As the technology matures with time, we can unlock many opportunities. It has already proved itself valuable for certain business, with time, it would gain more attention surely.
Industry Trends and Statistics:
Source: AlliedMarket Research
An increase in e-commerce and the adoption of mobile technology drive the growth of the global clickstream analytics market. However, data privacy and cybersecurity hampers market growth. On the contrary, the emerging trend of predictive marketing is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry. According to a report published by Portland (OR) based research firm, the global clickstream analytics industry accounted for $868.8 million in 2018 and is anticipated to reach $2.56 billion by 2026. | https://medium.com/amr-insights/clickstream-analytics-gaining-popularity-helping-one-business-at-a-time-dc1debf4519e | [] | 2020-03-03 14:57:41.245000+00:00 | ['Big Data Analytics', 'Clickstream', 'Big Data', 'Business', 'Google Analytics'] |
3 Simple Ways to Deal with Stress | 3 Simple Ways to Deal with Stress
Knock out stress with these simple tricks that you can do at the office today!
The sad reality is that an article about dealing with stress will forever be needed because removing stress from our lives is something many of us can’t do, but at the end of the day we can learn to deal with it 10x faster with just a few easy to follow techniques. These are the three ways I’ve learned to deal with stress in a just a quick second.
Turn the music on (&blast it in your ears). So you don’t actually have to blast the music in your ears, but what you can do is just play something that moves your mind off the current issue or situation. By this I mean, something soft without a beat is not going to help you deal with stress, the entire point of the music is to draw your mind away from your issues. But if you choose a song that is not fast paced, has a good beat, or is not loud enough to hold your attention than the technique is not really going to work properly. Walk yourself through the issue. So this one is something I do all the time and sometimes it makes me look like I’m crazy, but it works. Talking to yourself is a powerful and awesome way to get over stress in just a few minutes. Now I’m not advocating that you talk about anything under the sun to yourself, what I am advocating is that you stop and think about all the problems and issues that you are facing at the moment. For example if you missed a deadline at work and are in trouble, walk yourself through why you missed the deadline, where did you waste time, how could you change it, and how can you fix the situation. Don’t have a meltdown and don’t lose your grip on reality, and try your best to walk yourself through the steps you could take to fix the situation quickly and calmly. You’re Positives. Sometimes it is easy to get lost in all the negative things in life, but when we are at our lowest points it is always important to remember the things that we have won. Life is not a marathon it is a sprint and if you think of each failure or each stressful moment for more than just the moment in which it is happening you will never be happy. Don’t do it. When you feel stressed, STOP, and think of all the good things that are happening in your life. Think of the good things that have happened already and encourage yourself that the good times they’ll be back soon.
All in all, it is ok to feel stressed, but what is not ok is to sit back and do nothing to stop it. Never allow stress to overtake your life, and always remember that a few simple steps can really change the way your entire day will go.
LOVE THE ARTICLE, SHOW IT SOME LOVE WITH A SHARE & A CLAP! Want more tips to deal with stress you can check out my “awesome” video HERE! | https://medium.com/thrive-global/3-simple-ways-to-deal-with-stress-2ab4edba9924 | ['Saliba Faddoul'] | 2019-03-25 21:06:18.522000+00:00 | ['Relaxation', 'Stress', 'Wellbeing', 'Wellness', 'Mental Health'] |
The Supreme Court Knows “Remain in Mexico” is Illegal, Yet They Keep Letting It Go On | If you’ve never actually sat down and read out immigration code, don’t start now. It’s so confusing and internally contradictory that most lawyers can’t make heads or tails of it.
But parts of it are pretty simple. People arriving in the United States without a visa or permission to remain in the United States may be removed under 8 USC section 1225, unless they apply for asylum.
All of this is pretty simple and straightforward, but the Trump Administration is trying to take advantage of the confusing way in which the law is written to inject vagueness and uncertainty into the right to apply for asylum.
The confusion stems from the fact that there are two categories of grounds upon which a person can be removed, Category One (which includes persons without the proper documents) and Category Two, which is sort of a catch all category for other people who may be refused entry to the US for reasons not outlined in Category One. Under the law, Category Two aliens arriving from a “contiguous territory” may be returned to that territory pending the adjudication of their cases. But it’s pretty clear that removal to a “contiguous territory” is limited only to persons who do not fit into Category One. And it’s also pretty clear that most people being forced to “Remain in Mexico” fall under Category One; i.e. they do not have documents allowing them to enter the United States.
Put simply, the Administration is trying to take a footnote on page 3,745 of a law textbook and saying this footnote, which the Administration stumbled upon at 3am while cramming for the exam, somehow changes the entire structure of the entire US immigration system.
And the above is only the beginning of the Administration’s problems. Even if everything I wrote above were not true, there are further protections in the US immigration code preventing people from being sent to places like the Mexican border. No one seeking admission to the United States may be deported to Mexico if their life or freedom might be threatened there. Under USC section 1231, no one can be removed to any country where their life or freedom may be threatened on account of their race, religion, political opinion or other enumerated grounds. This provision, sometimes called “non-refoulement,” comes from international law and is pretty much recognized around the world.
Stepping back for a moment, there is also a common sense aspect to this debate. People applying for asylum in the US do so under US law and part of the US legal system. Our legal system has nothing to do with Mexico. The fact that someone transited through Mexico in order to apply for asylum in the US is irrelevant and the idea that it’s Mexico’s job to deal with our immigration system is bizarre.
The only possible point of this program is to make applying for asylum extremely hard and as dangerous as possible. What is the point of an asylum system that places applicants in harms way? Putting asylum-seekers in danger is the opposite of what asylum is supposed to be about. | https://medium.com/@halexander5555/the-supreme-court-knows-remain-in-mexico-is-illegal-yet-they-keep-letting-it-go-on-88878ab115ef | ['Alex Jean'] | 2020-03-11 20:21:17.760000+00:00 | ['Asylum Seekers', 'Mexico', 'Refugees', 'Immigration'] |
Uninterruptible power supply buyers guide | An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers a simple solution: it’s a battery in a box with enough capacity to run devices plugged in via its AC outlets for minutes to hours, depending on your needs and the mix of hardware. This might let you keep internet service active during an extended power outage, give you the five minutes necessary for your desktop computer with a hard drive to perform an automatic shutdown and avoid lost work (or in a worst case scenario, running disk repair software).
In terms of entertainment, it could give you enough time to save your game after a blackout or—perhaps more importantly—give notice to others in a team-based multiplayer game that you need to exit, so you’re not assessed an early-quit penalty.
A UPS also doubles as a surge protector and aids your equipment and uptime by buoying temporary sags in voltage and other vagaries of electrical power networks, some of which have the potential to damage computer power supplies. For from about $80 to $200 for most systems, a UPS can provide a remarkable amount of peace of mind coupled with additional uptime and less loss.
UPSes aren’t new. They date back decades. But the cost has never been lower and the profusion of options never larger. In this introduction, I help you understand what a UPS can offer, sort out your needs, and make preliminary recommendations for purchase. Later this year, TechHive will offer reviews of UPS models appropriate for home and small offices from which you can make informed choices.
Updated November 9, 2020 to add our CyberPower PFC Sinewave CP1000PFCLCD UPS review. This uninterruptible power supply has a great feature set and an attracttive price tag and would be suitable for PC and Mac users alike.This is just the third of many UPS reviews that we have in the works, however, so we’re not quite ready to name the absolute best products in this category. Stay tuned.
[ Further reading: The best surge protectors for your costly electronics ]Uninterruptible is the key wordThe UPS emerged in an era when electronics were fragile and drives were easily thrown off kilter. They were designed to provide continuous—or “uninterruptible”—power to prevent a host of a problems. They were first found in server racks and used with network equipment until the price and format dropped to make them usable with home and small-office equipment.
Amazon This inexpensive AmazonBasics Standby UPS ($80) features 12 surge-protected outlets, but only six of them are also connected to its internal battery for standby power.
Any device you owned that suddenly lost power and had a hard disk inside it might wind up with a corrupted directory or even physical damage from a drive head smashing into another part of the mechanism. Other equipment that loaded its firmware off chips and ran using volatile storage could also wind up losing valuable caches of information and require some time to re-assemble it.
Mentioned in this article Cyberpower CP800AVR UPS See it Hard drives evolved to better manage power failures (and acceleration in laptops), and all portable devices and most new computers moved to movement-free solid state drives (SSDs) that don’t have internal spindles and read/write heads. Embedded devices—from modems and routers to smart devices and DVRs—became more resilient and faster at booting. Most devices sold today have an SSD or flash memory or cards.
It’s still possible if your battery-free desktop computer suddenly loses power that it may be left in a state that leaves a document corrupted, loses a spreadsheet’s latest state, or happens at such an inopportune moment you must recover your drive or reinstall the operating system. Avoiding those possibilities, especially if you regularly encounter minor power issues at home, can save you at least the time of re-creating lost work and potentially the cost of drive-rebuilding software, even if your hardware remains intact.
A more common problem can arise from networking equipment that has modest power requirements. Losing power means losing access to the internet, even when your cable, DSL, or fiber line remains powered or active from the ISP’s physical plant or a neighborhood interconnection point, rather than a transformer on your building or block. A UPS can keep your network up and running while the power company restores the juice, even if that takes hours.
When power cuts out, the UPS’s battery kicks in. It delivers expected amounts over all connected devices until the battery’s power is exhausted. A modern UPS can also signal to a computer a number of factors, including remaining time or trigger a shutdown through built-in software (as with Energy Saver in macOS) or installed software.
Cyberpower In the event of a blackout, Cyberpower’s software will gracefully shut down a computer while it operates on battery power from its CP800AVR UPS.
One of the key differentiators among UPSes intended for homes and individual devices in an office is battery capacity. You can buy units across a huge range of battery sizes, and the higher-capacity the battery, the longer runtime you will get or more equipment you can support with a single UPS. In some cases, it may make sense to purchase two or more UPSes to cover all the necessary equipment you have, each matched to the right capacity.
Mentioned in this article AmazonBasics Standby UPS 800VA 450W Surge Protector Battery Backup See it Batteries do need to be replaced, although it can be after a very long period. A UPS typically has a light or will use a sound to indicate a battery that needs to be replaced, and it might indicate this via software running on the computer to which it’s connected.
With great power, comes great power conversionUPSes for consumer and small-business purposes come in standby and line interactive versions. Standby units keep their battery ready for on-demand, automatic use, but it’s otherwise on standby, as its name indicates. A line interactive version feeds power through an inverter from the wall to connected devices while also charging the battery. It can condition power, smoothing out highs and lows, and switch over to the battery within a few milliseconds. (Other flavors are much more expensive or intended for critical systems and higher power consumption.)
A few years ago, the price differential was high enough that you had to really balance the need for particular features against cost. Now, you may want to opt for a line interaction UPS because of its advantages, which include less wear and tear of the battery, extending its lifetime. Batteries are relatively expensive to replace, at a good fraction of the original item’s purchase price, so keeping them in fit condition longer reduces your overall cost of ownership.
A UPS isn’t just about providing power when it’s interrupted, though, and that’s another place that a standby and line interactive approach vary.
Glenn Fleishman / IDG APC’s website offers a handy tool that will help you decide which of its UPSes fit your requirements, based on total power draw and how long you’ll need battery power for your components.
These three voltage fluctuations can happen regularly or infrequently on power supplied by your utility:
Surges: Utilities sometimes have brief jumps in electrical power, which can affect electronics, sometimes burning out a power supply or frying the entire device. Surge protection effectively shaves off voltage above a certain safe range. Sags: Your home or office can have a momentary voltage sag when something with a big motor kicks on, like a clothes dryer or a heat pump—sometimes even in an adjacent apartment, house, or building. Undervoltage (“brownouts”): In some cases with high electrical usage across an area, a utility might reduce voltage for an extended period to avoid a total blackout. This can mess with motor-driven industrial and home equipment—many appliances have motors, often driving a compressor, as in a refrigerator or freezer. With electronics, extended undervoltage has the potential damage some power supplies. A standby model typically relies on dealing with excess voltage by having inline metal-oxide varistors (MOVs), just as in standalone surge protectors. These MOVs shift power to ground, but eventually burn out after extensive use. At that point, all the UPS models I checked stop passing power through. (That’s as opposed to most surge protectors, which extinguish a “protected” LED on their front, but continue to pass power.)
For power sags and undervoltage, a standby model will tap the battery. If it happens frequently or in quick succession, your UPS might not be up to the task and provide enough delay that a desktop system or hard drive loses power long enough to halt its operating system or crash.
Mentioned in this article Tripp Lite Smart1500LCDT See it A line interactive UPS continuously feeds power through a conditioner that charges the battery and regulates power. This automatic voltage regulation, known as AVR, can convert voltage as needed to provide clean power to attached outlets without relying on the battery. With a line interactive model, the battery is used only as a last resort.
There’s one final power characteristic of a UPS that can be found in both standby and line interactive models: the smoothness of the alternating current generation produced by the model from the direct current output by its battery. Alternating current reverses its power flow smoothly 60 times each second, and a UPS must simulate that flow, which can be represented as an undulating sine wave.
Tripp Lite The Tripp Lite Smart1500LCDT is a line-interactive UPS, meaning it feeds connected devices conditioned power while it charges its battery at the same time. In the event of a blackout, it will switch to battery power within a few milliseconds.
A UPS might produce a pure sine wave, which adds to cost, or a stairstepped one, in which power shifts more abruptly up and down as it alternates. A rough simulated sine wave can be a showstopper for certain kinds of computer power supplies, which have components that interact poorly with the voltage changes. It could cause premature wear on components or cause them to outright shut down or cause additional damage.
If your device has active power factor correction (PFC) or incorporates fragile or sensitive electronics, especially for audio recording, you likely need a pure sine wave. It’s not always easy to figure out if your device has active PFC; when in doubt, opt for a pure sine wave—the additional cost has come way down.
Even for equipment that isn’t susceptible to power-supply problems, a stepped sine wave can cause a power supply to emit a high-pitched whine when it’s on battery power.
One final UPS feature that may also be helpful: less-expensive models have one or more LEDs to indicate certain status elements, like working from backup power or the internal battery needing to be replaced. Others have an LCD screen (sometimes backlit) that provides a variety of information, sometimes an excessive amount, which may be viewable through software installed on a connected computer.
All UPSes have built-in audible alarms for outages, and some are quite loud.
APC A UPS that puts out a pure sine wave, such as this APC SMC1000, is your best choice if you’re operating sensitive equipment, such as audio-recording gear. An LCD display is also useful for monitoring the UPS’s status.
Determining your UPS needsMost of us have two main scenarios to plan for: keep the network up, and prevent our AC-powered computers from abruptly shutting down. These involve very different choices in hardware and configuration.
One common element between both, however: having enough outlets spaced correctly to plug all your items directly in. Most UPSes feature both battery-backed outlets and surge-protected outlets that aren’t wired into the battery. You need to study quantity and position, as it is strongly recommended you don’t plug a power strip or other extensions into either kind of UPS outlet, as it increases the risk of electrical fire.
That can be particularly tricky if you have large “wall wart” style AC adapters or wider-than-average AC plugs.
Scenario 1: Keep the network up Mentioned in this article APC Smart-UPS C 1000VA (model SMC1000) See it Examine all the devices that make up your network. That may include a broadband modem, a VoIP adapter for phone calls, one or more Wi-Fi routers, one or more ethernet switches, and/or a smart home hub. Because you may have these spread out across your home or office, you might wind up requiring two or more UPSes to keep the network going.
If you have a modem, router, and switch (plus a VoIP adapter if you need it) all in close proximity, you might be able to live without other parts of your networking operating during an outage. It’s also probable that you already have this hardware plugged into a surge protector. (These devices tend to not benefit from a UPS’s sag/undervoltage assistance, as their DC adapters tend to provide power in a larger range of circumstances.)
You might already have a simple battery backup built into or included with one or more pieces of equipment. Many smart home hubs have built-in battery backups. And since government regulators typically require a multi-hour battery backup for VoIP service, your broadband modem or VoIP adapter might include an internal battery for that reason.
To find out the size of UPS you need, check the specs on all your equipment. This is usually molded in plastic in black-on-black 4-point type on the underside of the gear or on a DC converter that you plug directly into a power outlet or that comes in two parts with a block between the adapter to your device and a standard AC outlet cord. The numbers you are looking for are either DC voltage and amperage, like 12 volts and 1.5 amps, or total wattage, like 18 watts.
Add up these quantities, and that can let you use planning tools to find the right unit. For instance, APC offers an extended runtime chart that lists wattage and runtime for each of its units. You can also use a calculator on the site in which you add devices or watts and it provides a guide to which units to purchase and how much time each could operate at that load.
For most combinations of gear and affordable units, you should be able to keep network equipment running for at least an hour entirely on battery power. Spend more or purchase multiple units, and you could boost that to two to eight hours.
Glenn Fleishman / IDG To determine the size of UPS you’ll need, add up the the number of watts that each device will draw. You can find this information on each one’s power supply or AC adapter.
Scenario 2: Bridge power blips and shut down a computerYour goal here is to make sure all your devices that need to continue running have enough power to do so across a short outage and to shut down—preferably automatically—during any outage that lasts more than a few minutes.
There are two separate power issues to consider: the electrical load that devices connected to the UPS’s battery-backed outlets add up to, and the capacity of the internal battery on the UPS, which determines how long power can flow at a given attached load. (The outlets only protected against power surges have a far higher power load limit that computer equipment won’t exceed.)
Start by calculating the total wattage for all the equipment you’re going to connect, just like with network gear. Most hardware will show a single number for watts or a maximum watts consumed; if it only shows amperes (or amps), multiple 120 (for volts) times the amps listed to get watts. In my office, I have an iMac, an external display, a USB hub, and two external hard drives. That adds up to about 250W.
With that number, you can examine the maximum load on a UPS, which is often perplexingly listed using either volt-amperes (VA) and watts or both. Although volts times amps and watts should be equal, UPS manufacturers use a different formula, which is probably a bad idea. Watts on a UPS is volts times amps times power factor, or the efficiency with which a power supply on a computer or other device provides power from its AC input to its components.
AmazonBasics A UPS uses a USB cable to communicate with a connected computer, triggering software on the machine to gracefully short down while operating on battery power.
In practice, you can still add up all your devices in watts, and use that as a gauge to find a UPS that exceeds that amount by some margin: you can’t exceed the UPS load factor with your equipment, or it won’t function. (If a UPS is rated only in VA, multiply that number by a power factor of 0.6 or 60% to get the bottom level in watts.)
With that number in hand, you can then look over the runtime available on models that can support your total load, consulting the figures, charts, or calculators noted above that manufacturers provide to estimate how many minutes you get on battery-only power.
With my iMac set up above of 250W, I have several options in the $100 to $150 range that have a power load maximum far above that number and which can provide five or more minutes of runtime.
It’s also critical to pick a UPS model that includes a USB connection to your desktop computer, along with compatible software for your operating system. While macOS and Windows have built in power-management options that can automatically recognize compatible UPS hardware, you might want additional software to tweak UPS settings (like alarm sounds) or to provide detailed reports and charts on power quality and incidents.
The OS power-management tools and software from UPS makers give you options to create safe, automatic shutdown conditions. You can define a scenario like, “If the outage lasts more than three minutes or if the battery’s power is less than 50 percent, begin an immediate safe shutdown.”
It’s also important to be sure that all your running apps can exit without losing data and not halt the shutdown. For instance, an unsaved Word file might prevent Windows from completing a shutdown. In macOS, the Terminal app refuses to quit by default if there’s an active remote session, but it can be configured to ignore that.
Picking the right UPSWith all that in mind, here’s a checklist to go through in evaluating a UPS:
What kind of time with power during an outage do you require? Long for networked equipment; short for a computer shutdown. How many watts do your equipment consume? Calculate your connected devices’ total power requirements. Do you have frequent or long power sags? Pick line interactive instead of standby. With a computer, does it rely on active PFC? If so, pick a model with a pure sine wave output. How many outlets do you need for power backup? Will all your current plugs fit in the available layout? Do you need to consult the UPS status frequently enough or in detail that an LCD screen or connected software is required? We’re in the process of reviewing several uninterruptible power supplies and will update this stories with links to those reviews as we finish them. Stay tuned.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@richard41337529/uninterruptible-power-supply-buyers-guide-2b3fce4cce0c | [] | 2020-11-30 14:02:59.581000+00:00 | ['Home Tech', 'Cutting', 'Cord', 'Connected Home'] |
Phase 1 | “How are you?”, to which there is no good answer this year, but it’s
still a form of greeting. “Up and down, what have you been up to?”
In answer a series of photos popped up on my phone. “I’m not doing
groups of more than 4 for the moment.”, was his reply, but the number
of images was far more than 4. “Have you been playing?”, seemed the
next logical question. “Yes, but cautiously, and I missed you
so…”. “I’d love to play, I’m getting bored with porn, but then I
think we all are.”, and we all were. Every one of my friends, lovers,
and comrades in arms, had admitted to some of the same symptoms:
listlessness, an uneven sex drive, and boredom. “We’re in phase 1
now, so maybe we can play?”, I suggested. “Love to, what about this
guy?”, and another photo popped up on my screen.
C and I had played many times before, and in fact he was the host of
the party that I wrote about in “The 13th Man.” Short, stocky, shaved
head, African American with an infectious laugh he had always been an
amazing host, no matter if it was 2 of us or a whole party. He also
has one of the finest collections of playmates in all of Brooklyn, and
perhaps the tri-state area. It had been a few months since I’d had
sex with anyone but K, but it was, as we had said, phase 1, and if
things were going to reopen, well, I felt our beds should be a bit
more open as well.
K had actually already arranged to play with one of his fuck buddies,
and I was going to have the apartment to myself, so I figured that C’s
timing was just right. I was still suffering bouts of sexual ups and
downs, one minute so horny I could cum three times in a night just
getting stoned and watching porn, the next near the nadir of my sex
drive, which is probably still above average but to me seemed as if I
was nearly numb all over. A night with C and a couple of others
seemed like just the thing to bring my drive back on line.
K left for his night with his fuck buddy about 4pm and I got set up,
and got myself set up as well. Hosting for 4 is a bit easier than
hosting a big party but you still have to prepare. One of my favorite
props in our house is a sturdy couch over which I could throw a thick
comforter and our play sheets, because railing someone over the back
of a couch, or getting railed over the back of a couch, are two things
that should always be on the to be done list. With the back of the
couch covered by Sheets of San Francisco (look them up) and the bed
covered in a leather play sheet it was time for me to get clean too,
because it had been too long since I’d had random guys inside me, and
you don’t want to disappoint people at the first new dance of the
season. I took my time and made sure to be as clean as possible
because once we got started, I really hoped we wouldn’t stop until we
couldn’t move anymore.
About 6 C showed up and immediately stopped down to his briefs. I was
wearing my party shorts, which are like cut off sweats that have big
pockets, which are a good place to keep poppers. I’d set up the
kitchen counter with all the necessities, pot, poppers, and a bit of K
in case anyone wanted that. I’d put out lube bottles next to the
couch and the bed, because you know when you’re stoned and playing
you’re not going to remember to take the bottle or jar with you.
“I’ve only got one coming tonight so we’ll just be 3.”, C told me,
“That’s fine, even just us would have been fine, but the more the
merrier.” As if on cue, the doorbell rang and I went to meet RM, our
third for the evening. RM turned out to be a handsome, tall, somewhat
slim, African American, dressed fashionably but casually for our
evening. It was ironic to me that anyone would bother to dress up to
get undressed, especially with most of the city still hiding at home.
Who would even see how fabulous you were, your Lyft driver?
Nonetheless, RM looked great, and when he got to the kitchen and saw C
in only briefs, he also stripped down to the point where we were all
three, almost, but not quite, naked.
“I brought some weed.”, offered RM. “I’ve got a bong here if you guys
want to try this first.”, which they did and we all took a few hits to
relax. We engaged in brief small talk about what I do not remember,
but it was probably related to the current situation, a situation we
actually wanted to forget about, even if only for a few hours.
I could tell the pot was starting to effect all of us because our
bodies kept leaning closer together, slowly shrinking the space
between us until we could not help but touch, and we simultaneously
reached a hand out to touch chests, nipples, and caress the skin of
the others. I have always loved the 3-way kiss but it is very rare
for three people to start sex in that way, but, we did. RM was an
excellent kisser, which was no surprise because C is both an excellent
kisser and someone who does not tolerate those who can’t or won’t
kiss. RM being the tallest leaned down to me and C being she shortest
leaned up into us both. As we tasted each other’s mouths our arms
wrapped around each other’s backs and brought our bodies into warm,
firm, contact. We all started to get hard, and that’s when I decided
that it was time for me to feast.
Sucking cock is one of those things I could do all day, every day, and
it had been many days since I had two to myself. I pushed both C and
RM against the back of the couch, dropped to my knees and went to work
on both of them. It had clearly been some time since both of them had
seen much action because they were both hard, and I was so turned on,
that my cock just bounced on the floor, leaving trails of precum as I
downed them both, one after another.
C pulled me to my feet and we all kissed again and then C grabbed some
lube and fingered my hole. We really got going fast, but, when you’ve
been stuck in the pause position for so long, the moment you hit go,
you really hit go. I bent over the back of the couch and C pushed
slowly in. It really had been too long, but we got it going, and I
was able to communicate to RM that he should come around and feed me
his cock while C worked me from behind. Clearly, being spit roasted
was part of the phase 1 reopening.
I stood up, turned and kissed C, then we both brought RM back for a
kiss. C started fingering RM’s hole and put him in the same position
I’d just been in. Instead of spit roasting, we both went at RM, first
C, then me, then C. RM took long hits of poppers and was well
satisfied. C and I got a bit soft and brought RM up for a kiss, and
then I fingered C’s hole, lubed him up, and got him over the couch.
“Bed?”, C asked while I was fucking him. “Sure, you know where.” We
all took another quick hit from the bong and went into the bedroom.
“You know what I want.” C said to me, and, I did. C is an amazingly
skilled analinguist, and so I lay on the bed face up, and he put my
legs over his shoulders and went to work. He didn’t even seem to care
about the lube that was still there, just went to work, digging his
tongue into my hole while RM leaned over me and shoved his cock down
my throat until tears streamed down my face. Then C was back in me,
fucking me, and laughing, which meant he was very close to his first
cum shot. C nearly always laughs when he cums, and this time was not
different. As his laughter hit a fever pitch I could feel a full shot
load me up, and now I was super hard and very very turned on. I
looked at RM, “Which way to you like it?”, and he just flopped on his
back and put his legs up. I sunk into him right up to the hilt, since
we were all loosened up nicely now it was easy. I started a good
rhythm with RM and then C was instantly hard again, and he tried
making me Lucky Pierre, but something about our bodies didn’t let us
do that for too long and we all collapsed, panting on the bed.
“Water?” I asked, and we all got up and went back to the kitchen. “We
have other things, beer, etc.” They both had beers but I stuck with
water as usual.
We started another 3 way kiss and then C and I bent RM over the couch
again, a position he seemed to favor, and one which I was perfectly
happy to oblige. I kissed C as he pushed faster and faster into RM
and I could feel the giggles building up in C, so I knew we were about
to get shot number 2 from him. He let out a laugh and went off like a
shot. RM stood up to clear his head and had more to drink. “Bed?”,
asked C again and off we went to the bedroom.
For the rest of the night we went back and forth from kitchen to
bedroom, but the best was the end when we had RM over the couch and C
and I just took turns in his ass until we both filled him up, first C
and then me. “Welcome to phase 1.”, and we clinked our glasses as we
stood, sweating, panting and sipping our drinks. | https://medium.com/the-camaraderie-of-sex/phase-1-cf1dcf0f2db8 | ['James Calvin'] | 2020-12-04 02:02:27.856000+00:00 | ['True Story', 'LGBTQ', 'Sex', 'Friendship'] |
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