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‘Slumdog Millionaire’ w/ Aneesh Chaganty | Aditya: Hello and welcome to Technicolor Theatre, a Mediaversity Reviews podcast about representation on film. My name is Aditya Joshi, and I could not be more thrilled that joining me today, now that he has successfully convinced a group of British tourists that the Taj Mahal is a luxury hotel, is Aneesh Chaganty. Aneesh, thanks so much for being here.
Aneesh: Thank you very much.
Aditya: Super, super excited to have you on the show. Before we dive into your work and the movie we’re going to talk about today. Would love if you could just introduce yourself to the listeners and talk a little bit about how you identify.
Aneesh: Totally. Yeah. So, my name is Aneesh Chaganty and I’m an Indian American writer and director.
Aditya: Great. So the movie we’re talking about today is Slumdog Millionaire, which has a very interesting place in the South Asian diaspora and the community. A super surprising choice. Honestly, I think I was expecting like, M. Night Shyamalan or something, so I can’t wait to dive into Slumdog and what it means to you.
But I have to say, if you’ll allow me to be a fan real quick before we do that, I’m super hyped to have you on the show. As an Indian American writer, director, podcast person, I always track everyone else Brown who’s doing amazing work. And so I’ve been tracking you honestly since Seeds [his breakout Google Glass commercial], which is one of my favorite short films that I’ve ever seen. And probably, if I can say, one of my favorite things you’ve done…
Aneesh: Wow, deep cut. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever done too.
Aditya: Part of it for me is that I feel so emotionally connected to it. I think partially because you’re in it and you look somewhat like me and, and I think you being the star makes it feel so personal, which, which is actually a thing that I’ve noticed about a lot of your Google commercials.
So you’re not an actor, but you place yourself and the trappings and experiences of your life in that particular work. Was that an intentional choice to put yourself in a lot of your Google work?
Aneesh: First of all, that was all very well said. Thank you for the compliments. I also think Seeds is the best thing I’ve ever done. I will always be chasing the feeling of, of making it. Like that is the only thing that I’ve ever done where I truly feel like I wouldn’t change a frame of that. Sometimes I go, “Oh, I wish there was a motorcycle,” but you know, apart from that, I really, I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
But yeah, I mean, I didn’t put myself in the Google stuff because of, like some sort of creative choice and because I had options. It was all necessity, you know? So like for the Google Glass Commercial, which was all shot on Google glass, I had to be the main character, because there was no other way to see what I was shooting, you know? And so I basically I wore the same clothes, like for two weeks, a wedding ring and, and shot this thing where I was like both the actor and the director, and like acting opposite real actors sometimes and like constantly telling them, “I’m so sorry that I’m not going to be able to provide you the emotional support that you need on camera here, because I suck at this, but please try your best.”
So yeah, and then the Google stuff. I dunno… the Google things have always felt more personal to me, ironically, you know, despite the fact that that’s such a massive corporation, because the way those spots and their directives have always felt was always like the anti-Apple, you know? It wasn’t put together and clean.
It was “do it yourself.” Anytime you watch a Google commercial, it just feels so made by actual humans. I learned very quickly that like my photos and my memories and in 2018 to 2020, the way my family looked, those can end up shipping, you know?
And so I ended up like using a lot of my family photographs and stuff. And I used to work at this place called the Creative Lab and your job is to sort of look around at Google and make things for them before they ask for it.
And like, oftentimes you’re ripping from YouTube and taking other people’s photos and then when that project is approved, all you’re doing is like reshooting those photos and videos. Exactly like the originals are. And in my case, it’s like nobody wanted to reshoot it because like, A) we have the rights to all that stuff and it just looked like exactly what they would want to recreate anyways. So, it ended up being me in a lot of, in a lot of ways.
I ended up being the voice of the Google photos campaign. I think I have, I think I can do a pretty good voice acting job. And I think they realized that. So it was a lot, a lot of coincidences ended up featuring myself and my family through my early work at Google. But now obviously I’m taking a much more backseat role.
Aditya: Yeah, I kinda, I can kinda sense that obviously like early on in anyone’s filmmaking career, you’re operating out of necessity and, and it’s like, what do you have lying around? It sounds like the Creative Lab you were almost running demos for yourself of what a future film would look like… and you were just like, the demo is good enough. The demo will work as a film.
Aneesh: Exactly.
Aditya: So let’s, let’s talk a little bit about the work you’re doing now, where you’re a little bit more in the background. Mediaversity rates movies, not just on a technical level, but on how well they represent the underrepresented communities that are featured in them. So, Run and Searching both got A-’s, which is super, super good. ’Cause it’s not just, are they in it? It’s like, do they feel authentic and honest? I do feel like in these movies, they are treated with such care.
It is so interesting because the characters are not South Asian. Searching is an East Asian family and the protagonist of Run is in a wheelchair. So I’d love to know — how do you approach the responsibility that you have there for representation when it’s a group that’s not necessarily your own?
Aneesh: I mean, it’s one of those things that always nags at me. It’s just like, dude, I gotta make the Indian movie now. That’s what we’re doing at the next one. The main character is going to be Indian.
But, Searching came about so naturally it was like, we were writing the story and we’d written the story and the whole time I was really like it’s got to be an Indian, Indian characters in this movie. And like, the more that we like fleshed out the relationship between the dad and the daughter, the less I recognized that relationship in Indian families. I just didn’t see that relationship in Indian families. I couldn’t tell you a relative or someone’s relative who had that relationship, because it just didn’t feel like something that I’d seen before. But I had seen that, that similar relationship in East Asian families, I had seen that in Korean families, I’ve seen that in my Japanese family friends.
Honestly, I think like I would have loved and preferred in a way to just be like, “I’m the Brown director and I’m only making things with Brown actors in it,” but it just didn’t feel natural to the story. I think our pivot immediately was like, “Okay, we’re still making this in a way that is representative of the community that it takes place in. And like, it takes place in Silicon Valley and that community looks a certain way. The people who my family had overlooked a certain way.
And so it was immediately like, okay, this is a movie that’s all Asian American. And we got John Cho, so it’s all Korean American.
And then, and then, you know, Run happens and we had written a film that, regardless of the representational politics involved in the casting, that back then was not part of this larger cultural Munchausen movement, but just sort of on its own and was like working as a mystery before anybody knew what Munchausen was. And then it was sort of like just a no-brainer. It just felt like we were really, really moved by how much Searching affected people. The thing I love about Searching is that it does not care about being representationally forward. It doesn’t care at all, you know? Like it’s just like, okay, here’s the family. Like, here’s a story.
Run, I think is a little bit more center stage than Searching because in a lot of ways, it tackles themes that are kind of adjacent to disability itself. You know, you’re talking about the culture a little bit. We just felt we had seen the positive effects of Searching and we’re just like, we would be stupid to not try this again. And it’s so powerful to see oneself and it just never was a conversation when we wrote it, we were like, “Okay. So we’re casting somebody who is actually disabled,” and just kind of went from there.
Aditya: Yeah, of course. Well, that’s so interesting because it sounds like for you, with Searching especially, content kind of dictated form. You were like, I know what the relationship needs to be. I know what I want the father-daughter thing to look like. This probably isn’t authentic to my community. Whereas I think knowing just myself and my writing partner, and then a lot of our Indian American filmmaker friends for example, will be like, “I want to write about this relationship, and let me build a story around that.” So it’s really interesting that you kind of go the other way.
Aneesh: This is the first time somebody has said that the form followed the content in description of Searching. That is the first time — it’s always the other way around for obvious reasons.
Aditya: Yeah, well, I guess it’s form dictates content dictates form. Well, we’ll talk more about those movies I’m sure as we dive into Slumdog, but let’s talk a little bit about Slumdog.
For those who haven’t seen it, Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 film about Jamal Malik, a young orphan from the slums of Bombay who wins a Who Wants to be a Millionairestyle game show and is treated with suspicion because of his background. The movie kind of uses the backdrop of the game show and the subsequent police interrogation to show a sweeping portrait of Jamal’s life and his relationships.
The interesting thing about this movie to me is that it won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Danny Boyle. And kind of like Parasite, not a single member of the South Asian cast was nominated for an Oscar.
Aneesh: And unlike Parasite, mostly hated by the country and the people of the country that it actually portrayed.
Aditya: Yeah. You know, that’s kind of where I was going to go with that. What was your experience like the first time that you watched Slumdog?
Aneesh: So I’m really excited to be talking about this movie. I’ve done interview after interview talking about the importance of how M. Night Shyamalan has sort of brought me into the world of filmmaking and that’s all true.
And, in that way, I guess there’s no more important representation to me as a filmmaker. But I think as a human being, the effect of Slumdog Millionaire when it came out at the age that I was, was very, very immense.
And so first let’s start off with the cons of this movie now, because like, this is a controversial pick and I’m aware of that. First of all, it basically perpetuates just stereotype after stereotype in a lot of, lot of ways. It’s made by people who are not from this culture, almost top-down. I mean, it had a co-director who’s Indian, but like for the most part, you know, it was written by a white guy, directed by a white guy, edited by white people, shot by white people, and like, obviously with love, but it still came from another perspective.
It is not made for the people that it’s trying to show, but just sort of exploiting all of those things to like further kind of Other the sense of India and the exotic, if that makes sense.
There’s so many cons about this movie and why shouldn’t be picked, but here’s my reason for it:
I feel like I’m on like this sports draft show — here’s why I’m drafting Slumdog Millionaire. The reason that Slumdog Millionaire was, is still, I think an overall good thing is because it is, overall, still a step forward. I think that’s as much as reflective of the movie itself as it is about the context of the time that it was released in.
Like today, if you go to high school, like. If you go to any high school or middle school, the culture has totally changed from when you and I were in high school. I was in high school from 2005 to 2009, you know? There was no hot Asian guy. There was no hot Brown guy. There was no hot Asian girl and Brown girl. It was always like white people, you know?
The media that kids watch from, from a very, very young age to like the teen, the pubescent age really affects the way that you see the world and they affect your likes and your dislikes and your tastes and your proclivities and all that stuff.
When a group of people or an entire country is being fed, “Here is the image of a handsome person. Here’s the image of a brave person. Here’s the image of a courageous person. Here’s the image of a romantic lead.” And they all look the same way… like that does something to people. And that affects people’s lives.
Maybe not in a way that’s like you’re being bullied every day. That wasn’t the case with me. But in these tiny, tiny, like, microscopic shifts that end up affecting this macro experience of your life as a kid. And to me, Slumdog Millionaire was the first time that I had that, had something come out where like the Brown guy was the lead, the Brown guy got a beautiful girl in the end of the movie, the Brown guy ended up using his smarts.
And on top of it, it was an acclaimed movie. Despite this exploitation that I think you could kind of critique it on, the way people discussed it when it first came out did not feel exploitative. They genuinely loved the movie.
And I think like if you ignore all of those negative effects, the positive for me in that moment was that I wasn’t being compared to a terrorist or a 7-Eleven person. I was being compared to Jamal, you know, and that’s a cool character to be compared to. Now, if you told me that, I don’t, I don’t care as much, but back then, it meant so much to me to have that out there and out in the world and as such a major part of the culture, because it felt like for the first time that like, I was on camera in a way, and like, I belong to that. I belong to that, that thing that everybody’s talking about — I belong to that. That was like extremely important to me, despite all the negatives of that movie.
Aditya: That’s so interesting because I think I’m a little bit younger than you. And I know you were, you were heading, I think, heading off to film school, it sounds like, like right as this movie came out. I honestly had not seen it until this past weekend when you were like, we’re going to talk about Slumdog Millionaire. And I think part of the reason that I was holding off is for the last decade… when I would be like, I’m an Indian kid, I like movies, it was always, “Oh, you like movies. Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Great movie. Love India.” And I think for me it was almost an act of rebellion to not see it, because I think, and I’m curious if you have a relationship with Bollywood because I, to me, it didn’t feel too, too different from Bollywood movies, except it’s as if someone had seen like, kind of a random Bollywood movie about poverty and was like, “Oh, now I understand India.”
To me that’s, that’s kind of the level of representation it felt like at the time, I think just because it was all in Hindi and it was like set in India and it didn’t represent the Indian American experience in the way that, to me, something like The Namesake might’ve.
Do you have a relationship with Bollywood? Did you feel that way?
Aneesh: To be quite honest with you, I thought the worst part about Slumdog Millionaire is the dance at the end. I think because it feels so… trying to do something that like, none of the people there actually know how to embrace, you know,? You don’t just put people in a line and like, do it. There’s more to it, you know?
Like, and it’s like the “je ne sais quoi,” you know, like there’s something about it that like, that’s not an Indian person making that, you know? So I thought like a lot of the elements that they were trying to replicate from Bollywood didn’t work, but I, but one of the reasons that I appreciated that movie is that at least for my POV, there was a lot there that was trying to not be a Bollywood movie.
Like I thought, dude, the cinematography of that movie! The cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, who was the DP of that film, created this brief little phase of just like, super DIY camera, where, like the frame rate is insane. And the colors are popping and like, he took that for 127 Hours. You know, like if you watch 127 Hours, it’s the same style. That’s what I saw in Slumdog Millionaire. It wasn’t going to India and we have to shoot this way. It was like, creating this really unique visual look to it.
And I loved how seriously people took it. The whole thing. It wasn’t like a joke that it was India, you know? And no one’s like making fun of the accents or anything. But, my relationship to Bollywood is almost like, it feels very separate to this movie.
I grew up watching Hindi movies and Telegu movies and sometimes a Tamil movie, but like mostly Telegu and Hindi films. So like I never, ever felt like this was an Indian movie, you know? I felt like it was an American movie. It was a Hollywood movie, and I loved it for that because that was what I wanted because I grew up in America. I wanted an American movie or a movie that Americans would talk about. Somebody who looked like me could be kissing the cute girl at the end.
Aditya: Right. That makes a ton of sense. I think I missed the whole boat by not watching it at the time and now looking back and trying to contextualize it and where I was at 13.
But, we were saying you went to film school right after this, and after this experience and kind of feeling seen for the first time in a Western movie, did that affect how your film school experience went and shape the kind of movies you wanted to make at all?
Aneesh: I’ve always liked unconventional story structure, and I think that’s another reason that I love Slumdog Millionaire. You’ve seen a lot of my work. It’s like I’ve shot on Google glass. My first short film was shot entirely in reverse. I’ve made things that are on slideshows or montages. I made Searching. Run is like, intentionally the most classic thing in the world.
But I like unconventional and the way that Slumdog Millionaire plays with structure, I think is so, so masterful. The way that it uses its framing device to kind of like shuttle us between times that aren’t even sometimes chronological, but then sometimes are.
Like I, I just thought it was so, so inventive. So like that’s another element of that movie that I always cited as something that I really want to do. And funny enough, like the movie that I’m writing now, like Slumdog from a visual standpoint is going to be such an inspiration for it. Referencing the frames again, not for what it’s showing, but for how it’s showing it.
But, I mean, I think like early on, you know, a freshman in, in film school, everyone’s favorite movies are like, “Oh, I like Oldboy or I like City of God. Everyone has like the same posters on the wall, and like, Pulp Fiction you love and all that stuff.
So like, I think Slumdog was definitely on that list. I did think that like, as I grew older, I got tired of the nods of like, “Oh, of course.” You know, like the, of course nod to when I would mention Slumdog. That’s when the negative things started coming in and the initial kind of aura had had a little bit faded. Whenever I mentioned Slumdog, people go, “Of course.”
I didn’t like that, and that became that sense of rebellion later on. It was like, I’m not going to talk about Slumdog Millionaire too much, because like, even though it means a lot to me, I don’t like the tokenism that I’m sort of like promoting in a way whenever I talk about it. And it sounds like that’s one of the exact reasons that you yourself kind of like pushed away from it too.
Aditya: Yeah, I think that’s exactly kind of why I didn’t watch it until last week.
Aneesh: Wait, it was your first time watching it?
Aditya: My first time watching it was on Sunday.
Aneesh: What’d you think?
Aditya: I thought it was good. I was expecting to hate it, I think, because of all the things that you kind of like listed off at the top, and my parents had never wanted to rewatch it, but then they came in as I was watching the movie and they were like, “Oh, Slumdog, great. Jai Ho come on yet?” And I was like, “I thought you didn’t like this movie.” And they’re like, “No, no, we liked the movie. It just is not a movie that we ever want to really rewatch because of the way that it portrays India.”
It’s kind of like an underbelly thing that if you grew up in a certain part of Mumbai, then you would have only seen kind of tangentially.
Aneesh: Dude. I feel that so much.
Like again, I hope I’m managing the tones here. Cause I do not think that this is like the gold standard of, of, of how I want other Brown kids or Brown people or us to feel, you know, but it’s important because of the timeframe that it came out. It’s not necessarily just important because if it came out today, I don’t know if I would feel the same way about it, you know? I probably wouldn’t at all, but like it’s so important, in 2008 for that movie to come out and do as well as it did. That was awesome. It does give me a sense of like fire in the sense of like, no, no, no, no. I want to present that to people. I see that they’re not taking care of it right. The right way, you know, like they’re not looking, they’re not showing this culture with love.
Like, it doesn’t feel like it’s being held in hands that know it and care for it and love it. You know, it’s just being shown. And I think like ever since Slumdog has come out — ignoring the technical aspects of that film, which I love — that’s something that I want to do so badly. And hasn’t honestly been done much. Show our world with some for fragility and some love, you know?
And I think that Slumdog really showed me that it is possible that if you do it right, like at least people will watch it. And I think that put a lot of fire in my belly.
Aditya: Yeah, I think about that a lot with all the movies that I love about our community. I think about it with Slumdog, The Namesake, The Big Sick, like all these movies. Hala that just came out last year. They all are kind of accelerating the representation of the South Asian community.
And every time that I watch a movie like that, I’m like, “sick.” Kumail’s the romantic lead. This movie is hilarious, nominated for an Oscar, but also it shows a very narrow depiction of what Indian parents can be. So like now when I make a movie, I want to make it a different version, a more nuanced version of that.
And, and I think that totally makes sense that it would be like, this is the first thing I see that I look like the people in it. Now I’m going to make something better. Told from the perspective of the people in it.
Aneesh: By the way, I’ve done — like in doing a lot of natural self-examining as you do these interviews about Run — at least I’m in the Run phase right now — It’s like, I expect there’ll be a large portion of the disabled community that looks back on Run with similar feelings, you know, where it’s just like, it is a step. It is a step forward now, but does that mean that like disabled people should be watching films made by non-disabled filmmakers, basically kind of tangentially about disability?
No, like you want to see yourself in romantic movies and action movies and things that don’t rely on that as a hook. So I think in a lot of ways, I think Run is absolutely a step forward. No question about it. But I feel it’s unfair sometimes to judge something out of the time that it was made, because the context of the time that it was made is as much of a factor about it as any of the elements of the film itself.
Aditya: For sure. I think I talk a lot to my queer friends about this. It’s like the difference between watching Moonlight and watching Brokeback Mountain. You’re like, okay, there’s such a clear gap in kind of the way that film has progressed. But in 2004 or whenever Brokeback, came out, the fact that it was an Oscar-nominated movie by an acclaimed director that showed a gay relationship at the center was a big deal. And I think at the same, you know, like you’re saying, the fact that Slumdog came out and showed Indian people, Indian Muslims, especially at the center in 2008 is like a big deal.
Aneesh: I mean, my family isn’t Muslim, but like anytime Muslims are depicted as good characters and not bad character is always a win. I think, you know, that’s just rare.
Aditya: It’s that I’m rooting for everyone Brown kind of thing. Like that’s how I feel. Every time I watch these movies, it doesn’t matter if it’s exactly me. If I see anyone, I’ll send my writing partner a post on Instagram and be like, “Squad! Look at this like Indian guy or Indian girl, like doing something cool.”
So something I had mentioned briefly, but I’m really curious about, is so obviously one of the big criticisms that you brought up earlier about Slumdog, that I think was pretty present at the time too was the way it depicted India. I think especially our parents’ generation felt a type of way about that.
What is your relationship to India and going back, and how do you feel like this movie played with the way that you already felt about India? If it did at all?
Aneesh: I go to India every year. I have, since I was a kid, and I don’t spend time in Mumbai. My family’s from Hyderabad, so I see Hyderabad. But there are similarities and I would never, ever, watch Slumdog and go like, yeah, that’s the India that I know.
You know that kind of like points to that thing of like, no, they’re not handling it the way, they’re not taking care of it the way that like we would. I’m also a step away. Like I didn’t grow up in India. Like, I’m, I’m an Indian American, you’re an Indian American. From my own kind of skirting the line as to which side I’m on, you know, like that wasn’t the world that I know, you know, but it like, as a movie itself, I think it really, really worked. Obviously people in India didn’t like it.
My India is quieter. I know the sounds of the morning and I know like the people who yell coffee and tea and like, you know, like as they’re yelling down the streets, but like, it’s like background noise. It’s not always like [makes drum noise], you know, like it’s and I think like, oftentimes like India on TV and film gets portrayed as like, maximum, you know, just like, boom, boom.
And there are totally elements to that, you know, there where it’s like overwhelming, but like so much of my Indian experience is sort of like quiet mornings and, you know, you can hear kind of like people who are selling food, and like, birds.
Aditya: Yeah. Yeah. So I lived in India for five months at the end of 2019 into 2020. and so watching this now, both because I lived in Mumbai and there was like a line in there where Dev comes back and he’s like, Bombay had turned into Mumbai and there was this, like this whole new set of things in the second half. And then also like I rode the train once or twice, and I was like, this is exactly what the train was like.
But it felt to me, a little bit, like the way Katherine Bigelow’s Detroit portrays Detroit to people who live in Detroit.
Those movies are almost like poverty and violence porn about Detroit or Oakland or Chicago and Slumdog in some ways did a little bit of that about India, but it is like a recognizable part of it. I just think it’s a part that we would never see, which is, I think, what you’re saying.
Aneesh: It’s like, dude, it’s like cocaine story in Colombia or like a human trafficking story in Mexico.
It’s just like, dude, we’re so much more than that. Like I think that’s so much of the feeling of that movie too. It’s just like, we come on the stage once and it’s just like, we get that again. You know, like it’s like, I wouldn’t have been surprised that they found a really clever way to do like a snake scene in, in Slumdog, you know, like they would have pulled it off.
That whole movie is just basically taking imagery that we already kind of associated with India and just turning it in and putting it in the wheels of a really excellent narrative.
And it’s just this constant clash of just being like, shit. Do I like it? Do I like the screenplay? And do I like the, like the, like the filmmaking style or do I like what’s being shown? It’s a conflict and that’s why it’s a controversial sort of take, I think for why it’s an important kind of representational choice.
Aditya: Yeah. Well, you know what I think surprised me is how much some of these themes still hit and like actually worked really well. I think again, I was expecting something bad and it was actually, like you said, quite good. Danny Boyle is a good director and the visuals were cool. The storytelling structure, I’m usually pretty skeptical of, like, a guy-gets-interviewed-and-talks-about-what-happened structure, but it works really well in this movie much better than like, for example, Hustlers, which I loved but I didn’t feel like we needed the Julia Stiles interaction at all.
But the one thing that really hit to me and — I’d love to know what you think about this — is that the movie reflects a pretty clear type of class insecurity, which I thought was really interesting with Anil Kapoor’s character and actually generally everyone, the way they treat Jamal, they’re just kind of like, you’re a guy from the slum. Like what do you know?
And I think it’s really indicative of the way that both in the U.S. but I mean, both in the U.S. and India, but especially in India, that like wealth and education are such signifiers of potential and value. Yeah, I’m, I’m curious whether that’s something that you latch onto, and if, I guess like a little bit how that plays into the way that you treated Kiera Allen’s character in Run, just because I think that’s another one, like the character is really counted out the whole movie and she kind of rises above that.
Aneesh: I feel like this sort of class difference is something that is really kind of a conversation that’s obviously, just from the 2000s has continually gotten larger and larger and larger to the point that a Korean movie about this can win Best Picture, you know? And it’s still going. I think the depiction of those little interactions is perfectly accurate, perfectly fine. You know, in the absence of skin color, differentiating people 100% with class, the only thing, you know, what we wear on our backs. Like it happens here except in America, like skin color is associated with that.
And on top of that, it’s not, it’s not like separated. So, you know, in India, it’s like, everyone kind of looks like everyone’s kind of shades of Brown. So like, you know, the way that we talk the way, like, I don’t know. Yeah. The way that everybody referred to him on TV, the way that the mob guy talks to all the kids, it’s so reflective of a dismissal. And that is true. That’s totally true. And I don’t feel like Slumdog really went into that, but like, in India, your example of what you talked about, like, yeah. That’s, that’s perfectly accurate.
I don’t know how I’m going to bring that answer to Run. Yeah. It wasn’t unintentional if that comparison is supposed to be made to someone like, to Kiera.
But I do think that, you know, in my conversations with Kiera about Run and when we were talking about the script and making sure that it was not in an unhealthy way being made from this like ableist agenda — which was like a word that I didn’t even know, until I learned about it — and we talked about how what she really appreciates about the movie, which I have come to like about it, is that the biggest obstacles in the movie are sort of like, are the obstacles that have been placed in front of her by able-bodied people, you know? Whether it’s the way they talk, whether it’s the way they view her. And like, in order to beat the characters of the movie, she has to weaponize her own disability, you know? And like in line, when she stops in line, they look down at her. And she’s like, “Oh my God, I’m paralyzed feel bad for me” and like wheels up to the front. And that is like weaponizing what makes you unique, in some ways to, a wider culture to like exploit that. And when she described the movie that way to me like that, I was like, wow. I love that.
Aditya: Well Run does a really great job of subverting expectations, I think, without getting too campy about it. It’s like my favorite scene in the movie, your movie, without spoiling too much, is the rooftop scene. It’s not like you went out of your way to put a ton of obstacles in front of her character.
It’s just like you, when you’re watching that, you’re like so stressed out because you know, that’s an actual thing that you, at least you think that’s an actual thing that would have to happen to that character to get from point A to point B.
Aneesh: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And then the whole point of that movie was like we’ve seen a thousand movies that take place in contained houses before, or like in a single house, but like, why is this house different?
And the reason this house is different and this movie is different is because our lead is in a wheelchair, you know? And now suddenly the obstacles, it’s like pencils and doorknobs and window frames and, and notebooks, staircases, like these very domestic things that like, we like that like sort of able-bodied people have built into our lives to make our lives easier, are being weaponized against Kiera, which is kind of representative of just like the way that we think about the world and sort of like this very narrow-minded I guess not inclusive way of thinking about it, even though it’s not intentionally not included.
Aditya: From what I can tell you, you did a lot of work with Kiera to like, make sure that that felt really authentic and accurate. What was that like?
Aneesh: I mean, I, you know, kind of said this earlier, but like, you know, I’m an able-bodied Brown dude writing for a disabled white woman, you know, and like in a house of two women, you know? And so like the first thing that we realized is like, we just became very conscious of that, like very awkwardly conscious about it and being like, okay, so here’s the thing that we wrote, but you know, like, please take a look at it.
And like, I remember, like I worked with Kiera, we went through every line of the script, so detailed and we talked about her backstories for like hours and hours and hours. And like, I just remember constantly being like, “Is this real, would this actually happen?” And even though I was like, shit, like if she makes us change something, it’s going to take so much time.
We’re so screwed. We’re so screwed running out of time. Like every time you’d ask her that and like, we’d ask her about the room and like, would she design the room this way? Cause like I had my own ideas for the room. And when she told me about how inaccessible the whole room was, I was like, “Oh shit,” you know?
And like you gotta change everything. And it was a lot of tiny movements and changes whether it’s like tiny lines or the way that she wouldn’t let certain people come behind her because you don’t want to, like, you’re not supposed to push her without asking her because that’s like a violation of her own agency, you know?
And I think like that stuff, tiny, tiny things like that inform a lot. And like, not only for the story, but as I think me as a human being and like opening my eyes to this entirely new perspective that I had never seen before, apart from, like, the feel-bad-for-me kind of stories that were on TV.
Aditya: Right. Well, it’s the specific that makes it feel authentic, right? Again, like I can’t speak to the authenticity of the disabled point of view and, and Run. But, I think the fact that those specifics exist make me feel like it probably is honest or true to life which it sounds like you worked really hard with Kiera to get there.
I’m curious. I know that you’re, you’re on Letterboxd, and you, I’m sure you read all the Letterboxd reviews of Run. How, how has the disabled community been responding to Run? I’m curious now, based on just our whole conversation about Slumdog and the parallels you drew.
Aneesh: Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you most of the community’s response to Run has been on Twitter and has been told to me through Kiera. That’s just been very gratifying, you know, like very, very gratifying. Kiera is always sending me like, “look what this person sent me and look what this person has sent me.” Like, like this movie means so much to this person and this person and this person. And that’s very heartwarming and validating, just not as like I’m doing some sort of social good, but just as like a filmmaker that you’re able to make something that makes somebody feel that way, is awesome.
But I think we’ve had a lot of really good response from the disabled community, whether it be like disabled writers who are interviewing us or whatnot. I think to speak specifically to Letterboxd, there’s a Letterboxd user named Lucy who is very, very popular in Letterboxd as far as her reviews go. Hey Lucy — I think this is going to, like, if she hears this, this is going to blow her mind. But like she wrote an incredibly, incredibly, touching review of the film and, you know, she gave the movie four stars and she talked about, just like what it meant to her to see Kiera on screen and like, that’s invaluable, you know? Like it’s like, the review might’ve like lightly touched on in the movie in some capacities, you know, like it was just like, yeah the movie worked, but it starred Kiera. And I think like that sort of response has been very, very, very, very gratifying to receive. I was very — to be quite honest with you — very kind of nervous because like, again, I’m not from this community and like I’m a director making a movie and it’s actually funny and parallel and kind of ironic that we’re talking about Slumdog, which is, in a lot of ways, you can draw the similar parallels there. But I was very concerned. Like, is this going to feel like an exploitation by Aneesh, you know?
Thankfully people haven’t responded that way. I’m not saying people don’t feel that way. I just haven’t heard it that much, but like we have really been felt with a lot of love from the community and how much it means to have an actual disabled [wheelchair]-user play a disabled character, or a [disabled] actor play a disabled character.
Aditya: Well, it’s a thing that you said right? About Slumdog right at the beginning of the podcast. Just the fact that a Brown guy got the cute girl and the cute girl was also Brown, like meant so much to you at whatever 16, 17, however old you were. And I think I, you know, I felt the same way. Even when I watched like Harold and Kumar, I was like, look, this dude is a stoner and he’s chilling and he gets a cute girl at the end, even though he has to do some crazy stuff in Guantanamo, like dope that he, that Kal Penn, is doing things that are not related to him just being Brown. And the fact that I can see what an Indian mom looks like and, you know, an Indian family is like in The Big Sick, even if it’s not like mine, just like those things I think are so heartening and exciting.
And I know for me, and I’m sure for you too, [it’s] inspiring because you’re like, if this exists, then my thing can exist, which is, I think, such a big deal for, for these communities.
Aneesh: Absolutely. Yeah. I think the only thing that I want to see more — and this is something that I think Slumdog has done and not too many people have done since — is like, I want to see like what you said, like the Brown girl and the Brown guy together, or like just the Brown couple of, regardless of sex and gender, you know? Like I often feel like it’s like, only half of the pie so that you could get a name star or whatnot, and like, I exclude from this The Big Sick which is based on real experiences and I’m, I’m not critiquing that. But like, I think it happens with every single race, you know? Like, their love interest is the white blonde person and like, maybe this is just a personal thing, I think like we can all exist and I, and again, every single one of those projects that even does that, like, I am so grateful for, and I’m so happy that they exist.
Aditya: Right. I mean, that’s the critique, that’s one of the big critiques that people had about The Mindy Project. And I was like, guys, there’s an Indian woman on TV for seven seasons. Just enjoy it. She doesn’t have to date all the Indian men that are in Hollywood.
Aneesh: Totally, totally.
Aditya: Okay. Last couple questions here. Do you feel like Slumdog Millionaire has had a lasting legacy for the filmmaking community?
Aneesh: No. No. I feel like that’s often the curse. I mean, there’s so many movies that win Best Picture that you forget about, you know, like the movie, and I — I think like Slumdog is one of those movies to me — and Danny Boyle — like it will always be so instrumental. I find its value so apparent and it’s something that I could, will, study.
You know, it’s funny. I just updated my Letterboxd top four, and I put Slumdog on there and like, I always update my Letterboxd top four to reflect the vibe of what I’m going for with the next project, as opposed to what I like the most. And sometimes it’s up there because of the style of that movie.
But, I think it had a really strong legacy for five or six years. And I think like, its effect is a little bit, faded. And maybe that’s, maybe that’s a good thing, you know? Like the movie itself was most important to me and I think to a lot of people in 2008, when it came out and its effects and understandably are around that time.
Aditya: Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. I would agree. I think that when I watched it, I was no longer thinking so much about the political context in the way that I felt for like eight to 10 years after it came out. I was like, all right, good movie, solid, solid stuff here. Look how young Dev looks and how skinny. And I’m not, I love him, but he’s not good at dancing.
Aneesh: Yeah. Before he became like a serious actor.
Aditya: Yeah. But before he was like a heartthrob.
Okay. Last question. How has Slumdog influenced your work to date/how do you think it’ll continue to influence the work that you’re doing going forward?
Aneesh: Oh, well, that’s, I mean, that’s easy. I was kind of alluding to this earlier — by the way, like, Danny Boyle’s one my favorite filmmakers. Not just for Slumdog, but in general. He’s one of the few filmmakers who feels like. It’s hard to sort of cliche Danny Boyle because he’s always experimenting with his own style. Kind of like Soderbergh, you know, like I put Soderbergh and Boyle on similar levels in the sense of, they’re always trying new things like Danny Boyle, his films don’t feel like he’s shooting them so preciously, you know? Like it’s sort of like, we’re going to go here and then we’ll just go get this kind of weird thing here. I love how young and, and daring his movies feel. I love that that his movies convey so much energy and excitement in them. So like from Slumdog, for me, like that is directly something that I want to do, at least on the next film is like, I really want to capture this spontaneity and improvisational energy that Slumdog Millionaire, his camera style and colors really, really kind of like exude very effectively. That to me is where I see the most that I pull from it. And then again, on a narrative structural level, I love unconventional things. And the way that that movie plays, it had probably had one of the most creative framing devices. It’s not a conversation that flashes to the past, you know, like it is a very creative framing device and a really cool way to, to tell a story we’ve seen before.
Aditya: Can you give us a preview of what the Slumdog-inspired movie is going to be?
Aneesh: No, I wouldn’t say something inspired. Yeah, it’s Slumdog Billionaire. No, so basically like the next movie is a heist film. And it’s going to be, it’s sort of like closer to Ocean’s 11 in like the tone and the vibe. It’s not a bunch of con men at the front of it, but like, it’s going to feel. I just need to change the pace a little bit from how intense Run was, you know? Like you shoot Run and you, you don’t realize that like every day you’re making a movie, like you are in the emotional, like you’re in the emotional headspace that the characters are going through. And then you’re editing that movie and you’re still in the emotional headspace. And it’s just like, dude, this shit is so dark. Like I’m so done, you know, with this sort — this is not even me.
And there’s a way, it feels like an exercise, but, our next film is a heist film, that is set against the backdrop of the American immigration industry and, immigration, in general. So, a lot of, sort of immigrants’ stories in the films, but in the context of a heist movie.
Aditya: Very cool. I can’t wait for you to genre hop all the way to rom-com. That’ll be in three films from now.
Before I let you go, and we always ask people, if there’s anything they want to plug. Obviously you have a new movie out. Do you want to tell everyone a little bit about it?
Aneesh: Yeah. So if you haven’t garnered from this conversation, the name of the new movie that is out is called Run. It’s a film that I co-wrote with Sev Ohanian, who produced it alongside Natalie Qasabian.
I directed the film, and it stars Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. It is available on Hulu and it tells the very tight and taut story of a mother and a daughter, the latter who discovers an innocuous object in her mom’s shopping bag and sets off a very kind of, scary series of events in her home.
Aditya: Yeah, it’s a great movie. Everyone go watch it. There’s a feature coming out on Mediversity Reviews about it, apparently. Li who runs the website, just told me. As well as a review. So you guys get the Run triple feature.
Cool. Aneesh, thanks so much for being here.
Aneesh: I really appreciate it. | https://medium.com/@mediaversityrev/slumdog-millionaire-w-aneesh-chaganty-5e4538374ffb | ['Mediaversity Reviews'] | 2021-02-17 03:08:04.203000+00:00 | ['Representation', 'Filmmaking', 'Diversity', 'Podcast', 'Transcription'] |
Wolcen: The Hot New Underdog Action RPG | After five years in development, a successful Kickstarter, and an early access period, Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is now a real computer game you can buy. It’s a fast-paced action RPG that’s one part Diablo III and one part Path of Exile, slathered in a sumptuous coating of CryEngine-powered visual excellence.
I’ve played it for a weekend, and I think it’s a whole lot of fun, with a massive asterisk hovering just out of sight for the bug-averse.
The game exploded out of the gate just a few days ago, and the servers for both the online loot database and co-op multiplayer almost immediately melted down, leaving the game’s Steam forum full of concerned players, some of whom had lost progress and items.
The game regularly fills the screen with enemies, and it’s great. Screenshot taken by Alex Rowe.
In the few days I’ve played the game, the servers have been online exactly one time. I decided not to try and play with anyone, because you can’t take offline characters into the online mode, and I didn’t want to start over and risk losing items in the process. It seems like the game’s small 13-person team is scrambling tirelessly behind the scenes to make it all work right.
You’d never realize that the game was made by such a small group unless someone told you. Its presentation is immaculate. The game’s visuals overwhelm the eyes with wonderful details. Environments are rife with ornate textures and materials, lighting effects, and realistic reflections. Character models exude the game’s just-south-of-realistic art style, which has enough of its own painterly flair to stake out a great middle ground between Path of Exile’s grime and Diablo III’s vibrance. Combat showers the screen in viscera, particles, and other satisfying feedback. It’s truly a graphical goal post that other isometric games will now have to contend with.
Fortunately, the gameplay has the power and impact necessary to sustain the hours and hours of fighting and looting that the genre is built on. Every attack hits hard, and you’ll have to make full dexterous use of both mouse and keyboard to succeed in the chaotic battles. You’ll unlock new skills through special items as you go, and those skills are also tied to the type of weapon you decide to wield. The game is completely class-free, allowing you to build your character through a combination of stats, weapon choices, and passive skill boosts from a giant sprawling array of nodes that borrows heavily from Path of Exile but adds rotating rings to mix it up.
Official Wolcen release trailer, www.wolcengame.com
Wolcen’s sound shines just as much as its visuals. The music was recorded by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the game’s many characters are well voice-acted. Combat sounds are a particular highlight for me. I’ll never get tired of the loud metal clang that accompanies each successful critical hit. Environmental sounds fill out the different soundscapes and match the detail of the world on display.
In addition to being a prettier, nice-sounding version of a game you’ve probably played a thousand times before, Wolcen has a fun storyline. Saying too much about it would ruin what little nuance it has, but it’s a tale of orphans, latent god-like powers, and powerful factions with hidden motives. It’s nothing all that new (notice the running theme?) but the lore is fleshed-out and the main protagonist has more of a personality than I usually expect from the genre.
I’ve gotta pick up those pants! Screenshot taken by Alex Rowe.
Wolcen doesn’t have as much content as its inspirations just yet, and what’s there is a little more janky than I might have liked to see in a “finished” game. On the plus side, the game delivers on its promise of a seamless open world…though it takes longer to load than every other action RPG on the market. The game’s main combat innovation is to overwhelm you with massive groups of enemies a la Dynasty Warriors, and force you to manage two special power resource meters at once that feed into each other like a see saw.
While it’s fun to battle huge swarms of enemies right from the beginning, it clashes a bit with trying to learn and build a character. Diablo III saved these types of encounters for later in the game, when you really have a grip on the mechanics and have better gear and more skills. It’s rather easy to die in Wolcen’s opening stages, which is a bold choice for a game genre built on easing you into a lifetime of dopamine-powered clicking.
Aside from the three large story chapters, the game has an endless mode that will generate random dungeons for you and your friends to bash against…and that’s it for endgame content. The game’s dungeon generation is adequate, though I’ve found some of the campaign’s subterranean dives get a bit long in the tooth. If you’re a dungeon fan, you might love this.
The character creator is limited enough that your protagonist will have a generically steely look no matter what. Screenshot taken by Alex Rowe.
In addition to the mess caused by the server fires, I’ve seen reports of issues with the offline mode as well, in spite of its locked-down characters. I’ve seen complaints that sometimes offline characters will just vanish in the blink of an eye. I’ve heard tales of passive skill nodes not working at all or providing far more of a boost than their text indicates. Also, folks that have already made it to the end of the game have found broken quests and missing text. I haven’t experienced any of these issues yet in my one weekend with the game, but it seems likely I’ll hit some sooner or later.
Still, the fun core gameplay, flexible character system, and breathtaking audiovisual presentation have me more than satisfied with spending the $40 dollars the game costs. I’ll happily grind through its campaign and dungeon modes a few times, and I’ll eagerly await the new content that’s promised.
The game’s environments are packed with realistic materials and extra visual flair. Screenshot taken by Alex Rowe.
It’s shocking to me that such a small team made a game that looks this expensive. The server issues and bugs are unfortunate, but are also the sorts of challenges that even large, well-funded games in this genre struggle against. The team has been in constant communication with fans online, and I feel hopeful that they’re going to push this game into an incredible product in the next few months.
Wolcen is a great early contender for my personal action RPG debut of the year, based on its wonderful presentation alone. That’s impressive considering that Path of Exile 2, Diablo IV, and Torchlight III are all coming sometime soon. It’s worth a buy right now if you consider yourself patient with technical issues, but otherwise perhaps hold off for a few months. | https://xander51.medium.com/wolcen-the-hot-new-underdog-action-rpg-92e76ef1f0c | ['Alex Rowe'] | 2020-02-17 19:55:04.273000+00:00 | ['Videogames', 'Graphics', 'Game Design', 'Gaming', 'Rpg'] |
Teaching Effective Word Choice | Effective Word Choice
Effective word choice lies in the realm of rhetoric, particularly in the potential activity of the text, which William Covino and David Jolliffe have defined as being present when “the rhetor intends it to do something, to affect or change the auditors’ minds or actions or environments” (329). They also recognize that since all texts have the potential to affect the reader, a text may also have unintended potential activity (329).
This makes effective word choice difficult because different people will have made different connections with certain words depending on their upbringing and exposure to different language. As a result different words will have more or less potential activity for certain people.
For example, I have always encountered the word ‘soar’ in contexts that have caused me to relate the word with a sense of freedom and power. Thus, if I were to see the sentence, “the bird soared across the sky,” I would immediately assume the bird is important and powerful (perhaps an eagle) and that the theme of freedom may play a role in the following text. On the other hand, “The bird flew across the sky” sounds more like a background description than a main action.
The Role of Emotion
Inclusion of terms can also be used to elicit an emotional reaction, such as exhibited in the following excerpt from a rhetorical analysis of an IKEA advertisement; “The language of “rubber duck,” “warmth of wood” and “natural materials” reminds the audience of a care-free period from their childhood when they would run around in the parks and play in the bathtub without any worries” (Xu et al.). Even in junior high, students should be able to identify the connections they make to certain words and understand how those connections influence them. They can thus also be shown how to make use of those connections to influence the emotions of their audience. These reactions, however, are contingent on the childhood experiences of the readers. As such, writers need to be familiar with the experiences of our audience in order to understand what additional meanings words will have. This means that students need to develop an understanding of rhetoric and discourse-specific language in order to develop effective word choice.
The Audience
Anne Beaufort has designed a conceptual model of knowledge domains to address areas of knowledge expert writers draw on to create effective texts. It discusses knowledge domains that should be addressed when writing and identifies the information we should look at when evaluating our audience. Particularly relevant when addressing word choice are the areas of “Subject Matter Knowledge”, “Genre Knowledge”, and “Rhetorical Knowledge” (19).
Subject matter knowledge involves awareness of specialized terms and of existing ideas about the topic (Chilewska et al. 1). Students can gain an understanding of this through exposure to relevant literature and access to scaffolding in the case of more advanced texts.
Genre knowledge involves understanding the type of writing required in a certain situation (Chilewska et al. 1). This is a concept that can initially be explicitly taught in the classroom as a series of rules and then developed implicitly through exposure to example texts.
Rhetorical knowledge involves adjusting writing to the expectations and needs of the audience (Chilewska et al. 1). This can be taught through discussing how language is used to address different demographics and practice activities that call for critical analysis of language-audience relations in provided texts.
Through in-class explanation and application of these three concepts, students’ understandings of writing to appeal to audience expectations can be developed. From there, these concepts can be applied to word choice.
When you have an awareness of the associations your audience has with particular words, as well as the expectations they hold for the language of a text, you can use this knowledge to draw their attention to certain information.
As I addressed earlier, this can be done by appealing emotionally to those associations and expectations. However, it can also be used to give emphasis to specific parts of a text. In reference to grammar, Elizabeth Sargent and Cornelia Paraskevas showed that “one way we, as writers, can catch the reader’s attention is to make an unexpected move” (263). When a passage consists of generic, high frequency words (walked, talked, etc.), a reader is able to move through at a quick pace. However, when a segment contains lower frequency words, or language that is unexpected within the discourse, it can slow down the reader and distract them. This occurs often in novice academic writing to the detriment of the text (Hanne Bjornstad), however can be a powerful tool for the experienced writer. | https://medium.com/a-teachers-hat/teaching-effective-word-choice-3be0dae8759e | ['Danielle Warner'] | 2018-05-15 16:31:01.206000+00:00 | ['Vocabulary', 'Teaching English', 'Reflections', 'Effective Communication'] |
Basics of Statistics for Data Science | Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
A descriptive statistic quantitatively describes or summarizes the data. It provides the mean, median, and mode of the data. Descriptive statistics use graphical representation to visualize the distribution and tells how each variable is related to one another.
Inferential statistics allows making predictions (“inferences”) from that data. With inferential statistics, the data from the samples are taken, and generalizations about a population are made.
Data is categorized into Population and Sample. The population is a collection of all items of interest. The sample is the subset of the people. Sample data can be further categorized as a Random sample or Representative sample. A random sample is a random subset from the population, whereas a representative sample accurately represents the population parameters. Data is also categorized as Numerical and Categorical.
Level Of Measurement
Data is categorized as Qulitaitive(Categorical) and Quantitative(Numerical)
Qulitaitive: Nominal, Ordinal
Quantitative: Intervals, ration
Representation of Categorical Data
Frequency distribution data Bar chart Pie chart Pareto diagram
Frequency distribution data
Bar chart
Pie chart
Pareto diagram
The Pareto diagram contains both bar and line graphs. The bar represents the value for each element, and the line represents the cumulative total. The Pareto principle states that 80% effect comes from 20% of the cause, e.g., software developers fix 20% of the bugs, which solves 80% of the problem.
Representation of Numerical Data
Histogram Crosstable Box plot Scatter plot
Interval width = (Largest no. — Smallest no.)/no. of the desired intervals
(10,20] an interval ranging from 10–20 will include values from 11–20, 10 will not be included in this interval it will be preset in [0,10] the first interval will consist of both the end values.
Cross Table
Box Plot
Box plot depicts the numerical data through their quartile.
Scatter plot
Central Tendency
The tendency for the values of a random variable to cluster around its mean, mode, or median.
The measure of Central Tendency
Skewness
Right skew or positive skew is when: mean>median>mode
left skew or negative skew is when: mode>median>mean
Variance
variance is the dispersion of data points around the mean
Low Variance (Red) vs. High Variance (Blue)
Variance formula for population
σ²=Variance, N=total points
μ=mean,x=data points
Variance formula for sample
Coefficient of Variance
The coefficient of variance is the relative standard deviation; it is calculated by Standard deviation/mean. It is used to compare the spread of data that are on a different scale.
e.g., price of pizza in $ and ₹, let's say the std for pizza is $=3.27 and the std for pizza is ₹=61.56
After calculating the coefficient of Variance is $=0.60, and for ₹=0.60 (Std/Mean), Note the spread is the same in both. It's just on a different scale. We can compare two data on a different scale.
Covariance
Covariance is the measure of the relationship between variables
N-1 for sample and N for the population in the denominator
x̅ y̅=mean of x, y
Positive covariance : Indicates that two variables tend to move in the same direction.
: Indicates that two variables tend to move in the same direction. Negative covariance : This reveals that two variables tend to move in inverse directions
: This reveals that two variables tend to move in inverse directions Neutral covariance: both variables are independent
Correlation Coefficient
Pearsons Correlation
x̅ y̅=mean of x, y
The correlation coefficient adjusts covariance so that the relation between two variables is easy and intuitive to interpret.
Covariance : 0, +ve or -ve ( with Covariance, you can know how the two variables are related whether it moves in the same direction or reverses, it does not tell about the magnitude of the relationship)
Correlation coefficient: -1≤x≤1
Correlation of 1 means entire variability 1 variable is explained by another variable( e.g., house size and price as size inc/dec price also inc/dec)
Correlation of -1 means entire variability 1 variable is explained by another variable( Icecreams and umbrella sold in summer and rainy, during summer increase sales increase and umbrella sales decrease and vise versa during rainy)
Correlation of 0 indicates that two variables are independent (e.g., house price and price of coffee in a different country)
Correlation of ± 0.x = one variable will explain x % another variables variance
Types of Correlation
Pearsons Correlation: Pearsons correlation measure the strength and direction of linear association between two variable. They are used on continuous data (Above formula). Spearman's Correlation: Spearman’s correlation is the nonparametric version of Pearsons’s correlation. The spearman's correlation measures the strength and direction of monotonic association between two ranked variables. (Assigning rank by giving the highest value as rank 1, the second-highest is ranked 2nd and so on), correlation is found on the ranked variables. Spearman correlation can be applied to ordinal data and continuous data. range [-1 to 1]. (Monotonic relationship: if one variable increase/decrease the other variable will not decrease/increase)
Spearman’s Correlation Formula
di=Diffrence between the two ranks
n=number of observation
Causation
Two events are correlated but did not cause each other.
e.g., Andy gets A+ when it is sunny Sunny correlated with A+, but Sunny did not cause A+
Quantiles and Percentiles
quantiles are cut points dividing the range of a probability distribution into continuous intervals with equal probabilities
a percentile is a score below which a given percentage of scores in its frequency distribution falls
e.g., the median is a quantile; it splits the data in two (50% quantile) the value of median or the 50% quantile is 4.5 this is the percentile (the value that a quantile gives is a percentile, quantiles are used to see what value the 25%,50% or 75% holds in a distribution)
The 5 point summary
1st Quartile : The 25th percentile.
: The 25th percentile. Median(2nd Quartile) : The middle value in the sample, also called the 50th percentile or the 2nd quartile.
: The middle value in the sample, also called the 50th percentile or the 2nd quartile. 3rd Quartile : The 75th percentile.
: The 75th percentile. Minimum : The smallest observation in the sample.
: The smallest observation in the sample. Maximum: The largest observation in the sample.
Inferential statistics
Z Statistics
Standardization: alter every element In distribution to get a new distribution with similar characteristics. putting different variables on the same scale
Standard normal distribution→a normal distribution that has a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1
The above figure the standard normal distribution of the x values, which increase or decrease by 1 is taken as a z score. The Z score tells how many standard deviations an observation is away from the center( mean)( e.g., Z=-2 tells the observation is 2 standard deviations to the left, Z=1.5 tells the observation is 1.5 standard deviations to the right).
Z Statistics
x=data points
μ=mean, σ=Std. deviation(population)
left normal distribution (μ=1010, σ=20)→ Right standard normal distribution(μ=0,σ=1)
1010–1010/20 →0
1030–1010/20→1
990–1010/20→ -1
now p(x<980), what is the probability an observation lies in an area less than 950, convert to z. p(z< -1.5)
to calculate the area, we need to look at the z table
For finding the area on the left when Z value is in the left half
For finding the area on the left when Z value is in the right half
p(z< -1.5)=0.0668 →p(x<980)=0.0668
T Statistics
Similar to Z statistics, since the number of samples is low and the population variance is unknown, the sample variance is used instead of the population variance.
T distribution is also standardized with this formula
x̅=smaple points
μ=mean, n=total points
s=standarnd deviation(sample)
df is n-1
Central Limit Theorem
No matter the underlying distribution, the sampling distribution will approximate a normal distribution. The samples are taken with replacement from the population.
Original distribution → mean= μ , variance=σ2
Sampled distribution→mean = μ, variance=σ²/n where n is the number of samples taken from the population n should be greater than 30. The standard error is given by √σ2/n ( the standard error decreases as n increase)
Confidence interval
Instead of saying the average is 22.50 (point estimate), it can be said the average is between 20–25 (confidence interval). The confidence interval quantifies the uncertainty on an estimated population variable, such as the mean or standard deviation
level of confidence
90% confidence → α=10%
95% confidence → α=5%
99% confidence → α=1%
a lower confidence level provide a wider interval, 90% confidence level indicate that there is a 90% chance the point estimate value lies between the interval, The formula for finding the confidence interval is given by
[Point estimate ± reliability factor × Standard Error]
reliability factor = Z(α/2) if population variance is known, if not T(DOF,α/2) (DOF Degree of Freedom ((no. of rows)*(no. of columns))-1)
Confidence interval for one sample
e.g., Suppose a data with 50 samples with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 20 at a 95% confidence level
reliability factor (Zα/2) α=5% →0.05/2=0.025
Z 0.025 = 1.96 (Z-table) ( 1–0.025 =0.975)
for 0.975 in z-table 1.9+0.06
Z0.025=1.96
Standard error=20/√50 = 2.828, 2.828×1.96 =5.542
CI=[70±5.542]→[75.572,64.458] at 95% confidence level
The hypothesis will be statistically significant if the Confidence Interval does not include the null hypothesis value
Confidence interval for two population
Two samples each from the respective population can be categorized as :
Dependent: both samples are dependent, e.g., A training program assessment takes pre-test and post-test scores from the same group of people. Independent: Both samples are independent, e.g., a random sample of 100 females and another random sample of 100 males. The result would be two samples that are independent of each other.
Independent samples can be further classified into 3.
Two samples with known population variance Two samples with unknown population variance but assumed to be equal Two samples with unknown population variance but assumed to be not equal
Dependent Samples
CI=Xd±z(α/2)×σ/√n (Xd= the mean of the difference of 2 samples, z=reliability factor, σ/√n=standart error)
CI=Xd±t(DOF,α/2)×s/√n-1 ( if the sample is less than 30 then t statistics is used instead of z statistics for reliability factor)
e.g., compare systolic blood pressures before after a training program
assume null hypothesis: the difference of the two means is 0
The difference of 2 values are found mean of the difference (Xd) is calculated Then the difference of Xd and the means of the difference X̅d Xd=-81/10 →-8.1
5. σ=1848.9/14 ( σ for sample divide by n-1, for population divide by n)
6. standard error = 34.08
7. T statistic = for 95% confidence 2.145
8. CI=8.1±2.145×34.08
9. [-81.2 — 65.00]
Since the null hypothesis value is in the confidence interval, we can accept the null hypothesis that is there is no statistically significant difference between the blood pressure before and after the training.
Independent Sample.
Independent sample, Known population variance
Marks of engineering student and management student, find A 95% confidence interval for the difference between the grade of the engineering student and management student.
The variance of the difference→ 1.36
CI=-7±1.96*1.36
CI=[-9.66,-4.34]
95% confident the difference in the grade of engineering and management is [-9.66,-4.34], the interval is negative as engineer students scored less than management if we had considered x̅ as management and y̅ as engineer the CI is [9.66,4.34]
Independent sample, unknown population variance but assumed equal
Price of apples in city A and City B, here population variance is not known as we cannot get the apple price in the entire city and samples can be collected only from few shops, so the population variance is not known and is assumed to be equal.
Sx,Sy = sample std nx,ny=Sample Size
Note: T Statistics is used in the reliability factor as there is no information about population variance
CI=(3.94–3.25)+-2.12√(0.05/10 + 0.05/8)
CI=[0.47,0.92]
Independent sample, unknown population variance, assumed not equal
In the previous example, instead of comparing apples in 2 cities, we can compare apples and oranges in a town. Since we compare apple and orange, which have different prices and demand, we can't assume the population variance to be equal.
Hypothesis Testing
The hypothesis is a claim about a population parameter
H0: Null hypothesis: the idea to be tested
H1: Alternate hypothesis: An idea that contradicts the null hypothesis
e.g., suppose the average age of the student is 23
H0: μ=23
H1: μ≠23
Significance level →α (Probability of rejection of the null hypothesis if it's true)
A hypothesis is tested using the Z-test or the T-test.
x̅=sample mean
μ=hypothesiszed mean
σ/√n=std error
Rejection Region For Null Hypothesis
The rejection region is the interval beyond which the null hypothesis is rejected.
Two Tail Test
H0: μ=23
H1: μ≠23 ( the alternate hypothesis can be > or < 23 )
One Tail Test
H0: μ≥23
H1: μ<23 ( the alternate hypothesis can< 23 )
The alternate hypothesis decides the one tail or two-tail test if H1≠ , then it is a two-tail test if H1< then it is one tail test(left tail test) and if H1> then it is (right tail test)
e.g.,
let the average weight of a group is 168 lbs (population mean) with a std of 3.9 (population variance). A nutritionist believes the average weight to be different, so she sampled the weight of 36 individuals as 169.5 lbs. at 95% confidence. Is this enough to discard the groups average in 36
H0: μ=36
H1: μ≠36 (Two tail test)
x̅=169.5 , n=36, σ=3.9, μ=168 , α=1–0.95=0.05
Zc ( critical values ) = Zα/2→Z0.025→1.96( value taken from the Z-table) and -1.96 since two-tail
Z(Test Statistics)= (169.5–168)/(3.9/√36)
Z=2.31
There is two way to check if the null hypothesis is accepted or rejected
The -Zc<Z<Zc since 2.307 > 1.96 has crossed into the rejection region, thus rejecting the null hypothesis. P value= The P-value tells us if it is unlikely that we would observe such a test statistic in the direction of H1 if the null hypothesis were true. So if P-value < α, then the null hypothesis is rejected if P-value >α, the null hypothesis is accepted
The P-value for the one-tail test
left tail test P=(area value of Z(Test Statistics)) right tail test p=1-(area value of Z(Test Statistics))
The P-value for a two-tail test
For the two-tail test, if the (area value of Z) is < 0.5, then P=2×(area value of Z) If the (area value of Z ) is >0.5, then P=((1-(area value of Z))×2
area value of Z → in the above example Z=2.31
The area value of Z=2.31 is 0.9896
Since this is a two-tail test and 0.9896 > 0.5
P=((1–0.9896))×2=0.0208
0.0208<0.05(α)
H0 is rejected
If the population variance is unknown, then T-Statistics is used instead of Z Statistics in the above example. If the population variance is not known, then the sample std deviation is used. Suppose sample std deviation=3
H0: μ=36
H1: μ≠36 (Two tail test)
x̅=169.5 , n=36, s=3, μ=168 , α=1–0.95=0.05
T= (169.5–168)/(3/√36)=3
DOF=36–1=35
α=0.05
Two tail test
Tc=-1.697–1.697
T>Tc hence H0 is rejected
Hypothesis Testing For Multiple Population
P-value
The P-value is the probability that a random chance generated the data or something else equal or even rarer.
e.g., two coin toss resulted in the head, does the coin have some advantage for the head?
H0: no difference in coin, probably for the 3rd event
H1: Probability of getting head is >
tossing 2 coins {HH,HT,TH,TT}
probability of getting two heads=0.25
P-value of 2 head= 3 parts to calculate P-value
probability of the event {H,H} =0.25 an event with similar probability={T,T} = 0.25 an event with greater probability than the event we find P-value for= 0 since there is no event with probability >0.25
P-value of {H,H} = 0.25+0.25+0=0.5
P-Value For A Distribution
The P-value for a two-tail test
The P-value for the one-tail test
How To Decide Reject or Accept Null Hypothesis
Critical Region Approch
The rejection region is the area under the curve (the end where the null hypothesis is not probable). The point Zc is the dividing point that separates the accepted region and the rejection region. The Zc value or the rejection area depends on the α (the significance level) α of 0.05, which indicates that the area of 0.05 towards the end is insignificant. Similarly, α of 0.10 indicates the area 0.10 to the end is insignificant. Zc is found using the Z or T distribution table, a Different table for the left tail and the right tail.
Z is the standardized test statistic. If it crosses the Zc or is in the rejection region, the Null Hypothesis is rejected.
One-Tailed Test
Left Tail: critical value ( α=0.05(area) then Zc(0.05)=0.05→-1.645 so if Z<Zc then reject Null Hypothesis Right Tail: Two ways to find Zc. 1 ) Find Zc for left tail due to symmetry Zc for right will be the same as Zc for left with +ve sign or 2 ) Zc(0.05) = 1–0.05=0.975→1.96
Two-Tailed Test
Since its a Two Tail test, the rejection region will be α/2 for the left side and α/2 for the right side to calculate Zc for α of 0.05 on the left side Zc(0.025)→-1.96, since the normal distribution is symmetric the Zc(0.025) for the right side→1.96, to accept Null Hypothesis -Zc<Z<Zc
P-Value
The probability of obtaining a result at least as extreme as the current one, assuming null is true. In simple terms, P-value tells how likely it is to get a result like this if the Null Hypothesis is true.
Let's take a population data that has μ=70, now you want to test if the μ is actually 70 or (<,>,≠), we cant check for each observation in the entire population. Hence, we take a sample, let's say sample s1, Now let's say when s1 is sampled and calculated, it shows a similar parameter to the population data that is μs1=70.
Now the P-value tells the probability of getting another sample that has a similar characteristic to s1. Let's keep P-value as 0.18. This tells us we have an 18% chance to get another sample s2 with similar characteristics to s1.
The P-value can range from 0% to 100%, The P-Value alone cannot tell much, e.g., P= 0.18 is 18% chance and P=0.50 tells 50% chance, This is where we compare the P-Value with the significance level α, If P<α then the probability of obtaining the same sample is less than 5% and if P>α then Null Hypothesis is accepted.
Thank you for reading | https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/basics-of-statistics-for-data-science-46d4aa94a112 | ['Mohamed Abdullah'] | 2021-06-25 03:32:12.770000+00:00 | ['Statistics', 'Data Science', 'Deep Learning', 'Probability', 'Machine Learning'] |
5 elements of high converting ecommerce product pages | A product page is where e-commerce customers spend most of the time and make the final decision about completing a purchase.
If you are running PPC campaigns, the products page might be as well the first impression a prospective customer has of your online business.
The importance of a good product page is immense — it is the page where you showcase your products and give customers a reason to make the final buying decision.
The structure of your product page can make or break your sales and in this article, we’re covering the 5 elements that all high converting product pages have in common.
Here’s what we covered
The 5 elements:
Trust
High-quality images/videos
Optimized product copy
Clean design, no distractions
Flawless checkout
Conclusion
With these 5 elements, you are more likely to turn your eCommerce visitors into paying customers.
Trust
One of the key elements of your product page should be building trust. Showing your product page is trustworthy by displaying trust signals can play a decisive role in completing the purchase.
Contrarily, not having enough trust signals on your product page can lead to cart abandonment:
Trust signals on product pages include:
Social symbols — icons of your social plug-ins;
Payment assurance — multiple payment options and third party badges and certifications;
Reviews and ratings — a snapshot of the general rating, and feedback from previous buyers;
Contact and information — contact information and possibility to get in touch with the store;
Trust badges — badges that show the payment methods are secure — the most popular are Norton Secured, McAfee Secure, and Verified by Visa;
Return policy — offering free return in a certain time period or a Money back guarantee badge.
Increase trust on your product page by:
Including reviews
Including 2 to 10 reviews of the product from your customers builds trust. Some stores offer a possibility to win a discount code if you leave a review of the product. Do not hide the identity of the reviewer — adding full names, pictures will bring more transparency. Display the average score calculated by the reviewers for a visitor, who does not have time to read each of the separate reviews.
Offering multiple payment options
Your online store should provide the most popular payment method among your target group. However, adding multiple payment methods increases your store’s credibility. The bigger choice of payment methods you offer, the highest the trust will be of your prospective customers. Another possibility is to offer the “pay later” possibility, where the customer pays for the products after receiving them. Do not forget to include icons of the possible payments as well.
Displaying contact information
Try including the icons with links to your social media channels and contact information on the bottom or top of your product page. Adding a chat-bot on your page that gives viewers the possibility to immediately ask questions is even more efficient.
The online store Asos builds trust by offering free shipping and a 60-days return policy. It also includes social icons in the footer:
While the website Bol.com which presents more providers of the same products builds trust with the platform by highlighting a free 30-day return policy, 24/7 customer care service, and free shipping:
It also includes reviews on each product page:
2. High-quality images/videos
The visual representation of the products in your online store is the most important aspect of a product page and can be a deal-breaker. Compared to the physical stores, a customer is unable to hold the product; therefore it has to be presented to him through pictures and videos from different angles.
As the popularity of videos is increasing, it is highly advisable to include both — high-quality pictures and videos to highlight the best of your products.
Nike already incorporated videos on their product pages:
When using multiple pictures, make sure all of them have the same size and height-width ratio. A recommended size for e-commerce pictures is 2048px X 2048px.
Include one (or all) of these practices to improve your visual representation:
Provide 360° view of your product
Offer your customers a more interactive, 3D experience by providing a 360° view of your product. Most commonly used for showcasing jewelry, this is especially handy when you want to show the details of your product.
Include a model wearing the product
Again, people cannot try your product before buying it; therefore try to show them how it looks. The most successful online stores include the measurements of the model wearing the item.
Use video to show how to use the product
Adding a video of how to use the product or how to style it has a persuasive effect on your potential customers.
Brilliant Earth offers a detailed look of their rings with the 3D feature:
While Boohoo includes pictures of the model from different angles, and the clothes size that he or she is wearing:
Effects use the video to show the viewers how can they use the product (and indirectly, why do they need to buy it):
3. Optimized product copy
Creating a fun, engaging, and optimized product copy can make an online store stand out among competitors.
To be successful at product copy, you need to know your audience, have a strong understanding of the brand, and be familiar with the SEO best practices.
Improve your copy by:
Speaking to your target audience
Knowing your target audience dictates the tone of voice, which words to use, and sometimes even how funny your product description becomes.
You can use trendy word abbreviations when targeting Gen Z but avoid them completely when writing copy to attract boomers.
Talking about value
The copy should answer the question: “Why does someone need this product?” and present the advantages of having it instead of just its features.
The online store Twelfth South created a copy that speaks to millennials by taking into consideration their buying behavior. Known for being technologically savvy, millennials tend to buy the latest version of mobile phones and are loyal Apple customers:
When it comes to innovative headlines, Firebox knows how to catch a buyer’s attention by creating unique and fun product names:
Showcasing a product’s value comes almost naturally for the online store Chi Chi London. In this product description they explained where could their customer wear the dress, instead of talking about its features:
4. Clean design, no distractions
The design of your product page should be attractive and easy to navigate.
To improve your website design:
Use tabbed navigation
To avoid cluttering your page with text, present more information, create a drop-down menu with links to more details about the product.
Create clear and contrasting CTA’s
Make your call to action pop by making the button clear and in a different color compared to the other text.
Make it mobile-friendly
Design your product page to be not only responsive on mobile devices but clear and easy to navigate when being in a smaller format.
The online store Watches of Switzerland keeps its product in the spotlight by using tabbed navigation:
The website of Jackie Smith store opted for a more colorful and eye-catchy design, paying attention to the colorful call to actions:
Warby Parker’s product page is a perfect example of how a clean, well-designed e-commerce website should look on a mobile device:
5. Flawless checkout
The checkout process should be simple, transparent, and fast. If your score of cart abandonment is high, consider improving your checkout process by:
Including a basket summary
Include a review of the products in the shopping cart and the possibility to remove some of them before moving to the next step.
Displaying a progress indicator
Creating an overview of the needed steps to complete the purchase makes the customer aware of the next steps and can indicate how soon the process will be over.
Offer guest checkout
Offer a guest checkout for customers who are in a rush or do not want to create an account
H&M offers a review of the products at the beginning of the checkout process:
In the checkout process, Etsy displays a progress indicator in the top-right corner:
Chanel facilitates the checkout process by offering a guest checkout:
Conclusion
Building trust, using high-quality images and videos to show your products, and engaging your visitors with fun and useful copy can increase the number of prospective customers.
While the clear design of your product page and a simple check-out process should lead them to complete the purchase.
By keeping in mind your target audience, you will surely be able to personalize each of these elements and use it to connect with your ideal customer. | https://medium.com/analytics-for-humans/5-elements-of-high-converting-ecommerce-product-pages-bdcebc4a6377 | ['Mike Wagaba'] | 2020-12-22 19:04:59.250000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Analytics', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Business'] |
Getting Started with SPI and Raspberry Pi | Introduction
The Serial Protocol Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication interface used for short distance communication, especially in embedded systems. The protocol was developed in the 1980s by Motorola and are being used in sensors and LCD displays.
By Cburnett —CC BY-SA 3.0
The SPI bus consists of four signals:
SCLK : Serial Clock (controlled by the main device)
: Serial Clock (controlled by the main device) MOSI : Master Out Slave In (data output from the main device)
: Master Out Slave In (data output from the main device) MISO : Master In Slave Out (data output from controlled device)
: Master In Slave Out (data output from controlled device) SS: Slave Select (device selection, controlled by the main device)
To begin communication, the main device configures the clock, using a supported frequency (typically a few MHz). Then it selects the device it wants to communicate with a logic level 0 in the select line.
During each clock cycle, a full-duplex communication can occur. A bit is sent on the MOSI line, while the controlled device respond with a bit on the MISO line. This sequence is done even when the controlled device does not want to send any data.
Some advantages:
Full-duplex communication
Higher throughput than I2C or SMBus.
Simpler hardware interfacing than I2C.
Simple software implementation
Some cons:
Requires more pins (four) than I2C (two).
No device addressing.
Only handles short distances in comparison with RS-232 or RS-485.
No error-checking.
The RPi contains a basic SPI interface using the GPIOs 9 (MISO), 10 (MOSI) and 11 (SCLK).
Raspberry Pi GPIO pins layout. Source.
You can read more about the GPIO in the article below. | https://medium.com/vacatronics/getting-started-with-spi-and-raspberry-pi-dddb66116d2b | ['Fernando Souza'] | 2020-12-22 18:03:38.500000+00:00 | ['Raspberry Pi', 'Tech', 'IoT', 'Programming', 'Makers'] |
How to get baby to sleep through night | When you’ve obtained all the components of a great night’s rest in position and you are prepared to allow your infant discover ways to drop off to sleep by themselves, right below are 6 typical techniques to think about.
1. Inspect and console (likewise referred to as the Ferber technique, finished extinction, modern waiting or the period method)
There are numerous variants on the check-and-console technique, however the basic concepts coincide: You wish to proceed to look at your infant at preset periods however never ever feed or shake them to rest, as that would certainly imply they typically aren’t dropping off to sleep by themselves.
After undergoing your going to bed regular, place your infant in their baby crib, leave the space and delay a particular quantity of time (state, a min). After that enter and reassure your infant with words such as “Mommy likes you” or some type of touch, such as a scmassage or rub. McGinn states it is more suitable not to choice the infant up. Yard, on the various other hand, books this technique for infants 7 months and older. (In her viewpoint, more youthful infants need a adult existence so they understand they have not been deserted, particularly if they’ve functioned themselves up right into a craze.)
Proceed to leave and after that look at them, enhancing the quantity of time in between gos to up till you’ve got to regarding 10 or 15 mins, and after that simply maintained at it up till they drop off to sleep. When they get up, you begin the check-and-console periods around once once more.
This method might use up to a week to function, however you ought to begin seeing some development after a couple of evenings. Numerous professionals suggest maintaining a sleep-training log to assist reassure on your own. Some moms and dads discover that entering to the space worsens the infant much more and may think about a much more straight technique, such as complete extinction.
2. Extinction, or weep it out (CIO)
The concept behind extinction (or complete extinction to distinguish it from finished extinction) is that you wish to snuff out the behavior (weeping) by not reacting to it. Just like the check-and-console technique, undergo your going to bed regular, place them in their baby crib awake, state great evening and go out. This is definitely one of the most questionable sleep-training technique, and also professionals differ on what you ought to do next — it all depends upon what phase your infant goes to developmentally, in addition to what help the moms and dads.
McGinn, for instance, recommends leaving your infant up till the early morning, unless you’ve established that they still require a feed in the evening. “That opening night could be harsh,” states McGinn. “They might be up every hr weeping.”
Mitelman, on the various other hand, suggests that moms and dads wait on at the very least a couple of wake-ups previously returning right into the space. After that, if the infant wakes up after twelve o’clock at night, she thinks it is OK to return in, convenience your infant for a couple of mins and after that leave once once more. She likewise sustains arranging in routine night-time feeds if your infant still requirements them.
Moms and dads are frequently reluctant to go this path, stressed over exactly just how a lot weeping will be included. While McGinn does not reject it could be challenging initially, she discovers moms and dads are frequently amazed by exactly just how rapidly it functions. “Indeed, there’s a great deal of weeping, however it is short-term,” she states. “You may obtain a great deal of weeping for 2 to 3 evenings, however after that every evening is much less and much less.” She states you ought to see considerable enhancement with this technique by evening 3 or 4 however includes that it is essential to attempt it for a week previously identifying that it is not functioning.
3. Chair technique
This is an extremely progressive sleep-training technique ( McGinn provides her customers a two-week prepare for application) and needs a great deal of self-control for the moms and dads. Once once more, you preparation your infant for bed, however rather than leaving the space, you being in a chair beside the baby crib. When they drop off to sleep, leave the space, however each time they get up, rest pull back in the chair up till they autumn back asleep. Every couple of evenings, removal the chair additional and additional away up till you are from the space.
“The professional of this technique is that mother or father exists and provide,” states McGinn. “However the fool is, there will most likely still be some weeping, and currently infant is viewing you view them weep. It could be truly difficult to follow this technique.”
Mitelman does not suggest this technique to her customers since she states having actually a moms and dad in the space however not reacting to the infant is complicated and might likewise be as well a lot excitement, depending upon the baby’s age and developing phase. “They could obtain so escalated to the factor that they cannot soothe themselves down,” she states.
4. Get, take down and shush-pat
For infants below 7 months, Yard chooses a method where you remain in the space without providing as well a lot assistance to drop off to sleep. For instance, you might stand over their baby crib and shush them, rub their tummy or use stress to soothe and reassure them.
One more choice is to allow them hassle awhile, however when they begin to intensify, choice them as much as relieve them however place them pull back previously they drop off to sleep. “Our task is to assist soothe the kid, and their task is to drop off to sleep,” states Yard.
While these techniques could function truly well for more youthful infants, after 6 or 7 months, your existence may make your infant much a lot extra distressed, and selecting them up and placing them pull back will most likely be as well a lot excitement.
5. Bedtime-routine fading
With the fading method, proceed with whatever technique you were utilizing to assist your infant drop off to sleep (such as shaking or nursing), however reduce the quantity of time you invest doing it up till, theoretically, you do not need to do it whatsoever. This is a fantastic method for reducing weeping, however sadly, numerous moms and dads discover it challenging to suffer. “There needs to be an finish visible,” discusses Mitelman. “For instance, we will satisfy this require for 5 to 7 days and after that we will draw back a bit.” However if you are ready to stay with the strategy and obtain your infant throughout objective of going to sleep without your support, Mitelman states it is well worth a shot. “Whichever method the kid could reach rest separately is great since that is the essential component to resting with the evening.”
6. Bedtime-hour fading
Not to be puzzled with the bedtime-routine fading method explained over, bedtime-hour fading includes placing your infant right into the baby crib at the moment they typically wind up dozing off, and production that their brand-new going to bed for a pair of evenings, and after that slowly relocate to an previously time. For instance, state you constantly place your infant down at for the evening at 7:30 p.m., however they have the tendency to hassle or weep in the baby crib for 20 mins or much a lot extra, up till they lastly nod off about 8. This implies 7:50 to 8 p.m. is really their “all-natural going to bed,” although you had such as it to be previously. To determine when your infant normally drops asleep, maintain a diary for a couple of evenings to track when they lastly go for the evening. (Utilizing a video clip check could assist with this.) A couple of evenings later on, removal the entire regular 15 mins previously. Proceed removaling the going to bed previously by 15 mins each evening (if required) up till your infant has moved their old practices to nod off at the preferred time rather than the later on one.
http://bit.ly/Howtogetbabytosleepthroughnight
More detail click here | https://medium.com/@tatangnurjana78/how-to-get-baby-to-sleep-through-night-e8e7716c1758 | ['Tatang Nurjana'] | 2021-06-15 06:22:14.724000+00:00 | ['Baby Sleep Consultant', 'Baby Sleep Music', 'Baby Sleep Routine', 'Baby Sleep Training', 'Baby Sleep'] |
❤ all of this. | ❤ all of this. All. Of. This. This is the reality for many families. Family dysfunction causes hopelessness which leads to desperation. Anything with life is going to do the best it can to survive until it’s taken out of here. People do the best they can to survive. Sex work is the oldest profession on earth.
If there wasn’t a demand, the sex workers wouldn’t exist. It’s not the best profession for all, but for many women and men, it’s an opportunity to make a lot of money for very little work, with no education requirements. You can be poor, have blemished credit, and even have a criminal record.
All those things that block many of sex workers from attaining “honorable” work/careers. Life isn’t black or white. All we can do is reflect, learn, break the cycle, and move on. I thank you for sharing your personal feelings and thoughts on sex work. Most people don’t have the emotional intelligence to separate the act and the person or to consider how people get where they are.
Nothing happens by accident. We all must share the blame when one person fails in our society. | https://medium.com/@marleyk/all-of-this-4d4f1a274ec7 | ['Marley K.'] | 2019-07-21 22:06:07.713000+00:00 | ['Sex Work'] |
Netflix’s Q4 Earnings and What to Expect. | Netflix will be releasing its Q4 earnings report tomorrow, 19th of January, after the close of market.
“Revenue Expectation: $6.6 billion, Earnings Per Shares Expectation: $1.35”- investing.com
When it releases its earnings tomorrow, investors will be looking for solid evidence that the company hasn’t hit a roadblock in the explosive growth experienced last year during the lockdown period (It attracted more subscribers as people who were locked down indulged in binge-watching). They will also want confirmation that Netflix remains buoyant enough to defend its position as a market leader in the streaming service.
Despite Netflix’s strong position in the market, it’s unlikely that the explosive growth, experienced last year, will continue forever. In Q3, Netflix merely added just 2.2 million new subscribers, a shortfall from the 3.32 million predicted by research analysts and Netflix (N.B: It predicted that it will sign up 6 million new subscribers in Q4).
The incredible demand for streaming content attracted an influx of other large players, making the field a bit more crowded and also creating uncertainty about the future growth of Netflix. Its main competitor is Disney (NYSE:DIS). Through its Disney+ app streaming service, Disney is gaining considerable ground in this field (it added more than 80 million subscribers within the first year of its launch). Other competitors include: Comcast’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, and AT&T’s HBO Max streaming platform.
Aside from the competitors, what also threatens Netflix’s growth is its tight cash position. Because Netflix spends a lot on the development of its exclusive shows and the acquisition of international markets, it ends up burning a lot of cash every quarter. To improve its cash position, Netflix raised prices for its most popular plan last quarter, which is counterproductive in an environment where people are losing jobs and competition is heating up and could negatively affect its growth.
Netflix’s remote appeal produced awesome gains for investors in 2020, but as its competitors increase, some investors aren’t too sure whether this explosive growth rate will continue.
That said, Netflix is still far ahead in its international reach and content depth (areas not covered by Netflix’s competitors). Due to this strength, in our view, any dip in the price of Netflix’s shares after its earnings report should be taken as a buying opportunity. | https://medium.com/@businessstance/netflixs-q4-earnings-and-what-to-expect-202fad5fbb62 | ['Business Stance'] | 2021-01-18 16:07:37.918000+00:00 | ['Netflix', 'Growth', 'Competition', 'Earnings', 'Disney'] |
TEMPEH BOLOGNESE SAUCE | Crumbled tempeh adds meaty texture to this classic pasta sauce that’s ready in under 30 minutes and freezes beautifully.YIELD: 6 SERVINGS8 oz. whole-grain tempeh2 Tbs. olive oil1 medium onion, finely chopped2 cloves garlic, minced1 Tbs. soy sauce or tamari1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes1 cup tomato puree2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley2 tsp. dried oregano1 small bay leaf
Crumble tempeh into fine pieces using your hands. Set aside.Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden, stirring often. Add garlic and sauté 15 seconds. Stir in tempeh, 1 cup water, and tamari. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove cover and simmer until liquid is reduced and tempeh begins to sizzle.Add remaining ingredients to tempeh mixture and mix well. Cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.VEGAN30 MINUTES OR LESSGLUTEN-FREE
NUTRITION INFORMATIONCalories: 181Protein: 10 gTotal Fat: 7 gSaturated Fat: 1 gCarbohydrates: 24 gCholesterol: mgSodium: 358 mgFiber: 6 gSugar: g | https://medium.com/@plansvegan/tempeh-bolognese-sauce-8c1a830d5b6 | ['Plans Vegan'] | 2021-01-16 11:06:22.767000+00:00 | ['Foodie', 'Food', 'Dinner'] |
6 Budgeting Mistakes You’re Making | Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash
While budgeting ensures that we can make the most out of every dollar to save for the future, there are challenges that can cause many people to make mistakes or give up entirely. There are misconceptions that can derail your plan and set you further back in your goals.
Budgeting is a learning process where you can progress as you track your spending each month. Luckily, creating a budget is easier to do than before and there are many options available to you for different ways to budget. If you’re making these 6 budget mistakes, learn to avoid them for next month.
Not Tracking Your Spending
Of course one of the first mistakes to make is to not track your spending. Not tracking your spending can cause overspending and can risk you missing your financial goals for the month.
The problem may be that your spending plan may not work for you. “The key is to find an expense-tracking method that works for you, be it a spreadsheet, software, or old-fashioned pen and paper,” stated thebalance.com.
Not Budgeting For Fun
The point of budgeting isn’t to deprive yourself but rather to save for necessary funds like an emergency fund, a retirement plan, or a savings account. Meaning that if you don’t include a budget for your shopping splurges, weekend trips, or activities, your more likely to overspend.
Setting restrictions for yourself on a daily or monthly basis can make you accountable for when you do spend more. As long as you create a budget and stick to that realistic amount that you set for yourself, your less likely to mismanage your budget.
Not Having an Emergency Fund
As well as anticipating your fun activities, it also important to anticipate an emergency. While some people may start to budget for an emergency fund or for a savings account, not treating these funds like any other expenses, can set you back in your goals. An emergency fund helps to anticipate unexpected expenses that may come to your way such as a car repair, house maintenance, or medical expense.
Whatever that expense may be, establishing an emergency fund can help you in your personal savings so that you’re not struggling to find the money or stretching yourself thin for the next month. Opening a high yield savings account and making automatic payments into that account can help grow your emergency fund to prevent this mistake from happening.
Not Setting Realistic Expectations
Having realistic expectations when creating your budget is another misconception that can leave people avoiding budgeting in the first place. It is suggested that when beginning to budget to start off small and set honest steps for yourself.
You may be looking to improve your financial situation right away, but if your setting too high of a standard for yourself it may lead you to stray off your budget. Starting out slowly and leaving room for error, can make you more aware of where your habits lie to improve.
Rolling over your budget to the next month
Another mistake in budgeting that your probably making is rolling over your budget to the next month. Meaning you’re not treating each month separately from one another and your spending plan is the same for the next month.
There may be a dentist appointment, a friend’s birthday, or a coffee break you didn’t have planned for the month previous and risk overspending. While some payments or bills may be the same for each month, each month should have a different spending plan.
Not Calculating Every Expense
Another common budgeting mistake is not accounting for every expense. Maybe you forget to add that coffee that you once had with your coworkers or that take out that you ordered. “But without incorporating these costs into your spending plan, you risk having to dip into other budget categories (goodbye, streaming services) or falling short on other goals,” states Discover.
You should strive to update your budget if your spending isn’t accounted for so that you have an expectation of where you are each month. Some budgeting apps allow you to access all your financial accounts and will automatically place your expenses into categories that you set so that you don’t have to.
However, you decide to budget make sure that you avoid these common mistakes that people make when budgeting. Budgeting is a learning process that with the time you can slowly master. These mistakes have common fixes to them but not identifying them can lead you to think that budgeting may not be for you. There are many different ways to budget and you just have to learn what works for you in order to reach your financial goals. | https://medium.com/@andrewcartwright-64037/6-budgeting-mistakes-youre-making-eeca8931be56 | ['Andrew Cartwright'] | 2020-12-11 00:08:22.781000+00:00 | ['Budgeting', 'Future', 'Savings', 'Emergency', 'Financial'] |
Enter the world of blockchain with the new Chakra NFT collections | NFTs are the new trend at the present time. Every business platform is adopting this concept and making a business out of them. Non-fungible tokens are unique digital assets that are built on blockchain technology. Securing ownership is the prime core of this technology. These virtues are the primary reason for businesses to adopt this technology and make a fortune out of it. The influence of NFTs is taking over every business industry possible. Now in the superhero genre especially in Indian, a new NFT storm is arising in the form of Raju Rai and this phenomenon is termed the Chakra NFTs and they are going to be launched on the market in a few days.
Chakra- The Face Of Indian Superhero
Chakra The Invincible is the new face of the Indian superhero origin genre. This story revolves around a young boy named Raju Rai. The complete inception of the story begins from his encounter with an event that changed his life. He will bond with a nanotech suit which was developed by his mentor, Dr. Singh. This suit allows Raju to gain superhuman powers by unlocking all the chakras of his body. With this new profound power, Raju dedicates himself to protecting the city of Mumbai from evil forces.
Influence Of NFT on Chakra The Invincible
The chakra tv show has taken a higher step by inducting itself into the NFT domain. NFTs have been around the superhero genre for a very long time and it is stretched its reach to great length and when it came to the time for NFTs to enter the Indian market, Chakra NFTs were formed. These exclusive Indian superhero NFTs are expected to change the landscape of the Indian digital market and put it on the global map in style. The NFTs presented in the collections are very modern and new to the market; artpunks, animated videos, loot boxes, treasure boxes, jumbo jukeboxes, special bday assets, and much more.
There are various NFTs in this collection, the loot boxes are the most awaited NFT. This is a surprise box where the buyer receives any type of unknown artpunk from its 6865 items. There are limited edition NFTs that will be sold over active auctions, such as comic book living covers, Chakra 7 powers, and Stan Lee’s Bday special NFT. These NFTs are in less number and they are rare. Therefore, these NFTs are primarily focused on by everyone. Along with these exclusive NFTs, additional perks are provided to buyers. Thus it is a never-seen-before opportunity to experience something magnificent and unique all at the same time and at the same place.
Final Thoughts,
The Chakra NFTs are going to be live soon. It is expected to be launched at the end of December on a platform called Beyondlife. Therefore, get ready to witness something special and mesmerizing. | https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/enter-the-world-of-blockchain-with-the-new-chakra-nft-collections-8abacab48f11 | [] | 2021-12-23 12:02:20.262000+00:00 | ['Chakra Nft', 'Marvel Comics', 'Chakra Nft Collection', 'Marvel', 'Comics'] |
Setting up Playroom in a custom Component Library | #Spoilers — Playroom setup working for our Component Library
This is a story of setting up Playroom in my component library may it help you through some of the bumps (specifically the ones I hit) along the way. Spoiler alert, I did get it running. 😄
First things first, the basic setup was pretty much as the Getting Started section of the readme explains — install playroom, setup the config. I set up a index.ts file inside my component library that manually listed the components I wanted playroom to have access too, I started with just one super basic component to keep things simple— a heading (we will talk more complex ones further on in the post).
It was literally just:
export { Headline } from './publication/Headline/Headline'
Once I got the initial stuff set up I started hitting problems.
Issue #1 — totally awesome Type Error. 🤨 Issue #2 — Can’t find my files 😒
These two issues were related.
TypeError: Cannot read property '0' of undefined
at Parser.getComponentInfo (/node_modules/playroom/node_modules/react-docgen-typescript/lib/parser.js)
at /node_modules/playroom/node_modules/react-docgen-typescript/lib/parser.js (node:63647) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: Cannot find module './src/component-library'
Both of these errors I was able to resolve with the help of the Fenders community, specifically Luke (It’s totally in the readme on Github as well — folks you gotta learn to read stuff, don’t be impatient like me 🙈). You have to make sure you are including the typeScriptFiles property in your playroom.config.js file (I just whacked it at the end).
For example:
typeScriptFiles:
['./component-library/**/*.tsx', '!**/node_modules'],
💬 Narrator: Mandy was in fact very happy at this point.
Mission #1&2 Complete ✅ 🎉
Issue #3 — Can’t find the playroom files for Snippets and frameComponent .
No probs, I’ll just comment that out for now, you don’t need it to get started. Let’s get back to this later.
💬 Narrator: Mandy would later regret this decision.
Mission #2 Complete 🙈
Issue #4 —Loader Issues 😒
Module parse failed: Unexpected token
You may need an appropriate loader to handle this file type, currently no loaders are configured to process this file.
Need some loaders, cool cool. Thankfully Playroom had an example in the Github Repo so copy-paste that example and you should be good to go.
webpackConfig: () => ({
module: {
rules: [{
test: /\.tsx?$/,
include: __dirname,
exclude: /node_modules/,
use: {
loader: 'babel-loader',
options: {
presets: [
'@babel/preset-env',
'@babel/preset-typescript',
'@babel/preset-react',
],
},
},
}],
}, resolve: {
extensions: ['.js', '.ts', '.tsx'],
},
}),
Stuff is compiling now success. 👍 Except now I’m getting new errors…
Mission #4 Complete ✅
Issue #5 — Dependency Issues 😩
This dependency was not found:
component-library/typography/Heading/Heading.styled in ./src/component-library/src/typography/Heading/Heading.tsx
Now that I’ve got stuff running I get a delightful blank screen. But that’s okay because I also got the above error.
This happens because inside each of our components we reference other dependencies, whether it’s helper functions, styling etc. Our codebase uses aliases to simplify the paths in our projects, so I need to set this up in the Playroom custom webpage config as well. I had a slight issue here because I’d copied it from our tsconfig which has wildcards in, which I totally didn’t need.
With that in mind let’s add that in:
resolve: {
extensions: ['.js', '.ts', '.tsx'],
alias: {
'component-library':
path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/component-library/'),
},
},
👍 Yeah. Mission #5 Complete ✅ (I’m on a roll)
💬 Narrator: Mandy was getting very enthusiastic at this point
Issue #6 — Syntax Errors 😒
Syntax Error: SyntaxError: //src/component-library/__product/index.ts: 'const' enums are not supported.
This one wasn’t so bad, we already have all our plugins defined for our component library configuration so I just had to copy-paste the ones we already had set up into the playroom.config.js file (I just put if after my presets inside the webpackConfig ).
You can see an example of what we needed below:
"plugins": [
["const-enum",
{
"transform": "constObject"
}
], "@emotion",
"@babel/plugin-syntax-dynamic-import",
"@loadable/babel-plugin",
"@babel/plugin-proposal-class-properties",
"@babel/plugin-proposal-numeric-separator"
]
Mission #6 Complete ✅. Right now I’m feeling pretty good about myself.
💬 Narrator: Mandy’s confidence is being restored. | https://medium.com/pixel-and-ink/setting-up-playroom-in-a-custom-component-library-8f83e113be41 | ['Mandy Michael'] | 2020-07-13 08:19:20.146000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Javacript', 'Component Libraries', 'Design Systems', 'Tooling'] |
Algorithmic problems with JavaScript | YoYo. This article is for people who are bored doing trivial tasks every day. This might cheer you up a bit. You might also encounter these kind of questions in some interviews.
1.Soooo, here is the first one — Imagine we have a string which is a math expression (e.g. (1+(2*3–2))+3). We have to create a function to decide whether or not its parentheses are valid. This means that every opening parenthesis should have it’s own closing one. 1+(2+3) is valid, (1+(2))) is not.
Think of a good algorithm which will be the fastest and use minimum amount of memory…
Answer ahead!!!
If you have thought of creating a stack you are good! As we are not interested in keeping the actual data in stack, we can just use a simple counter. Here is the algorithm I suggest:
The solution
Will be glad to see better ideas, just add a response :)
2.Imagine you have an array and you want to find the item in the middle of that array(let’s consider only the case when the array length is even). You can’t use `.length`. But what you can use is just a for loop.
Think of a good algorithm which will be the fastest and use minimum amount of memory…
Answer ahead!!!
Will be glad to see better ideas, just add a response :)
There are 2 indexes, one going twice as faster than the other. Once the first one gets to the end, the other one get right to the middle.
3.How to remove duplicate values from an array?
Answer ahead!!!
With ES6, you can do the following:
With ES5,
That’s it for today!! I hope to add some more stuff soon. Thank you. | https://medium.com/codeep-io/algorithmic-problems-with-javascript-16b5672b39bb | ['Narek Harutyunyan'] | 2018-06-08 11:49:52.228000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'JavaScript', 'Vanillajs', 'Algorithms', 'Logic'] |
CITRIS E.D. Camille Crittenden named Chair of California Blockchain Working Group | Blockchain technology has opened up a range of possibilities for secure, immutable transactions of all kinds. It promises a safer data transfer system, yet its promises and limitations have yet to be fully explored. Human errors, transaction costs, and security attacks must also be evaluated before when integrating blockchain into our vital governmental and economic systems.
In response to growing interest in this technology, Assembly Bill 2658 called for the establishment of a statewide Blockchain Working Group to evaluate the risks, benefits, best practices, and legal implications of blockchain for the people of California. California Government Operations Agency Secretary Marybel Batjer has named CITRIS Executive Director Camille Crittenden chair of the Blockchain Working Group.
“Distributed ledger systems hold promising opportunities not only for cryptocurrency but for areas of social impact — such as documenting land and property, ensuring chain of custody for legal evidence and supply chains, and giving consumers greater control over their financial and health data — applications in utilities like energy and water, and more,” said Crittenden.
Crittenden will lead a group of 20 experts with technology, business, government, and legal expertise to evaluate privacy risks, benefits, legal implications, and best practices for integrating blockchain into government and business. Her team’s ultimate goal will be to gather input from a broad range of blockchain-affected stakeholders and present this information and recommendations in a report to the California Legislature.
Crittenden’s leadership experience uniquely prepares her for this position. After earning her Ph.D. from Duke University, she served as executive director of the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law, as Assistant Dean for Development with International and Area Studies at UC Berkeley, and co-founded the CITRIS Policy Lab and the Women in Technology Initiative at the University of California. Along with her role as executive director at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, Crittenden brings to this position a deep understanding of technology’s applications for civic engagement, government transparency and accountability, and the digital divide.
“I am honored to lead this important working group on possible blockchain applications for the state of California,” said Crittenden.
The group will hold a kick-off meeting next month to outline the key components that will make up the final report and recommendations. A report will be delivered to the legislature by July 1, 2020. | https://medium.com/citrispolicylab/citris-e-d-camille-crittenden-named-chair-of-california-blockchain-working-group-8fe76e60993e | ['Citris Policy Lab'] | 2019-08-06 20:59:16.710000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Society', 'California', 'Policy', 'Technology'] |
How Walmart’s Supply Chain Technology Has Helped Serve Customers During the COVID-19 Crisis | (Image designed and owned by Walmart)
Within Walmart’s Supply Chain Technology organization, Technical Product Managers build, design, and enhance many software products, systems, and mobile apps that enable our customers to shop online or in our stores, and allow our frontline associates to serve our customers. Offerings like two-hour Express Delivery, Spark (Walmart’s home-grown platform that enables gig drivers to make grocery and last mile deliveries nationwide), BOPIS (Buy Online and Pick up In Store or curbside), picking and shipping from stores, and contactless deliveries are some of the products and experiences these product managers have built from the ground up. And,I am so proud and humbled to say that’s my team. We take a great deal of care to make sure these services meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. But now, during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s even more important for customers to have a safe, seamless experience. During this difficult time, a lot has changed in the way we all live our daily lives, and these changes have come rapidly and without warning. That means businesses like Walmart need to be able to make big changes quickly so we can support our customers in the way that helps them most.
Our priority has always been to help people save money and live better. Here’s how we’ve been able to do that and what we’re doing to ensure our customers can continue to get food, medicine, and anything else they need to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy.
First, we need to take care of those who are at risk within our teams and communities, as well as abide by local guidelines. For us, that includes limiting the number of shoppers in a store to ensure social distancing, regularly deep cleaning and disinfecting our facilities, making masks and gloves available to our front-line associates along with many other safety protocols, and offering senior shopping hours to limit exposure to others while shopping. Our Home Office associates, including our product and technology teams, are working from home to minimize the risk of infection per local guidelines. All of this has driven us to adapt rapidly in these unprecedented times. And if you are working in supply chain tech like me, you know how the world has changed. For those who work at Walmart, it has been incredibly humbling and gratifying to hear from so many people — my friends, family, and even my doctor — how instrumental Walmart has been throughout this pandemic. None of that would have been possible without the amazing speed, nimbleness, and agility displayed by our engineering, product, and operations teams. Prior to COVID-19, we had begun working on how to make time slots in Online Grocery more user-friendly and widely available. However, as the pandemic expanded in the U.S., we knew we had to change our processes immediately. With the massive spike in demand, we saw customers booking slots as far as 7 days out, which left no slots for immediate purchases. So, we reduced delivery sign-up options from 7 days to 2 days to help ensure we could handle the demand. As we increased our capacity, we were able to expand our time slots back to 7 days. Although for some customers this change may have appeared inconvenient, it ultimately allowed more customers to have access to Online Grocery, and more importantly, it provided an easy, contactless way to order and pick up groceries.
For customers who are part of vulnerable communities or are caring for someone who is, we enabled “At-Risk slots”. Additionally, customers also wanted the option to receive grocery orders in less than two hours. While Express Delivery (our less than two-hour delivery offering) wasn’t created in response to the pandemic, the crisis accelerated our development cycle. In typical start-up fashion, product managers and engineers scrappily built the needed technologies to launch Express Delivery in a matter of days/weeks and then continued to optimize post launch. Since our launch in April, we are now at full scale and continue to enhance the experience.
At the beginning of COVID-19’s spread into the U.S., most of our orders were shipped from Fulfillment Centers (FCs) and we only shipped online orders to our customers from a limited number of stores. However, as online orders spiked in a matter of days, our FCs were stretched. We had to act quickly to alleviate the demand, so in less than one week we made a critical decision to create and launch the new process, which required rapid changes to our technology and business processes and expanded our Ship-from-Store capability to thousands of stores across the country. All this could not have been possible without the focus, dedication, and work ethic of my amazing product and engineering team and partners across the U.S. and India. And all this while working from home and taking care of themselves and their loved ones. I am so proud of them!
During this time, there are so many things to worry about, and getting groceries to feed your family shouldn’t be one of them. Working through this difficult time has helped us all realize the importance of making quick, thoughtful decisions so we can continue to make things a little bit better for our customers. | https://medium.com/walmartglobaltech/how-walmarts-supply-chain-technology-has-helped-serve-customers-during-the-covid-19-crisis-2dc0f27a188c | ['Rohit Jain'] | 2020-09-24 18:41:18.239000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Data Science', 'Leadership'] |
Does data hold the key to reproducibility? | Elucidata | by Swetabh Pathak, Avi Ma’ayan, and Shruti Srinivasan
Managing data FAIRly to get to 100% reproducibility.
In 1907, the American Journal of Psychology described a peculiar phenomenon. The authors identified that looking at a string of words or a phrase, for too long, can often render it meaningless to the reader. In his doctoral thesis published in 1962 at McGill, Leon James coined the phrase “Semantic Satiation” to describe this phenomenon. He explained it as a process where meaningful words fall prey to irrelevance upon repetition. Working in the drug-target discovery space, we cannot help but wonder if the conversation around reproducible research is heading the same way.
The concerns around research reproducibility have long been a constant fixture in conversations involving academia, industry, and funding bodies. The earliest discussions on reproducibility were focused on refining protocols and techniques used in low-throughput bench experiments across labs. Despite the valuable empirical findings of many of these studies, these studies tested hypotheses using a mix of intuition and hit-and-miss trials, heavily relying on a priori knowledge of the known molecular mechanisms of the disease context. Notably many of these studies also suffered from a lack of reproducibility across different research settings.
Increasingly, the data revolution triggered by the human genome project, and later by high-throughput next-generation sequencing, has propelled us towards a big data-driven discovery paradigm dominated by diverse R&D teams made of experimental biologists, bioinformaticians, and data scientists. The exponential growth in data comes with a real opportunity to tie down the molecular underpinnings of disease to phenotypic traits and patient outcomes. Notably, our increasing ability to rapidly mine the data is hailed to be the panacea for declining R&D productivity.
Unsurprisingly, this opportunity comes with its own set of challenges. A single experiment in pre-clinical research today can produce TBs of data. This data continues to accumulate an ever-growing public data repositories. The data explosion has reignited the conversation on establishing rigorous standards for the reproducibility of computational pipelines in biomedical sciences. As data continues to grow in volume and complexity, it has been widely acknowledged that data access, use, and management are not isolated goals, rather a critical requirement for enabling innovation and discovery.
Are you playing FAIR?
A small but growing collection of voices are advocating for a move away from traditional data management practices to focus on providing the data and its curation in machine-readable formats. The implementation of the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles of data management and stewardship 2have emerged as an important practice for organizations aspiring to innovate in biomedical research. This shift towards FAIR data management is being driven by a myriad of organizations including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA.
Introduction to the FAIR Principles
“The FAIR principles put the onus on organizations that own and publish data to make it “machine-actionable”, i.e. a machine can read the metadata that describes the data, and this enables the machine to access and utilize the data for various applications.” Overarchingly, implementation of FAIR principles will be critical to organizations that aim to holistically reuse legacy and newly generated data for tackling high-value health care challenges. The NIH and Elixir have been key supporters of the efforts to establish standards for data curation and metadata annotation for reuse and integration of Big Data based on the FAIR principals. Recently, the Ma’ayan Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai developed FAIRshake 3. FAIRshake’s platform can be used to assess the FAIR compliance of datasets, tools, repositories, and other digital biomedical objects. By scoring digital resources for FAIRness, data, and tool producers can become informed about standards. This can enhance the utility of the resources they generate.
The quest for the holy grail: Achieving reproducibility in computational biology.
A significant bottleneck for reproducible computational analysis of biomedical data is the fragmented manner that we currently access data, analysis, and insights. This status quo is partly driven by the way research results are typically communicated, through paper printed journals. Additionally, despite the meticulous standards that apply to data generation, there is a culture of adopting home-brewed or community sourced DIY solutions for data analysis among researchers. There have been stellar efforts to bring together data and analysis into singular computational environments, for example, Galaxy 4, GenePattern 5, and the more recent BioJupies 6developed at the Ma’ayan Lab at Mount Sinai. The elementary ways that users can interact with the data and the tools they encapsulate using these platforms reiterate that reproducibility will ultimately be achieved by comprehensive, interactive environments as opposed to an ad-hoc mishmash of datasets and tools.
Closer to home, at Elucidata, we have been working on our own efforts to create a comprehensive environment that brings data and computation together. Our platform Polly now has diversified offerings that target specific challenges in harnessing data for asset discovery. Whether it is building high throughput workflows with independent modules, or creating cloud infrastructure that enables scalable data analysis, our vision is to create computing environments that interact effectively with FAIRified data to generate insights. At its core, data analytics on Polly is powered by Jupyter notebooks 7with multi-language capabilities. Jupyter notebooks are also a critical part of our research and innovation efforts enabling unprecedented reproducibility of analysis. Every analysis made on a Polly Jupyter notebook can be used to generate a proprietary git repo on Polly — Knowledge Book. Using a continuous integration pipeline for Knowledge repos, we also make sure that reproducibility is not a limited end goal but an evolving solution constantly evaluating every analysis and insight for impeccable standards. The Polly platform also allows you to host these to be shared easily with collaborators.
Whilst, there has been a push towards increasing FAIRness of publicly-funded data, private players have also been sensitized to this challenge. There have been misconceptions that FAIR data has to be open access. Experts, however, agree that FAIR data can be private whilst firmly adhering to the guidelines. Equally critical is the establishment of an in-house computational infrastructure that lets you store, analyze, and generate data in accordance with FAIR guidelines. As a managed cloud platform, Polly is hosted in-house for industries to enable diverse biological discovery teams. The Polly infrastructure allows teams to seamlessly run the reproducible computation, build R GUI applications, and share insights with different stakeholders. More importantly, Polly makes attaining FAIR, not a chore, but an opportunity. In line with this, our most recent efforts have been to create data lakes that can be host proprietary and context-dependent public data on Polly for faster insight and discovery. The unparalleled ease of programmatic access to data in a Polly data lake is key to making the data in your organization “FAIR” and valuable to multiple stakeholders.
In follow-up blogs, we will delve into the details of Pollyglot (Multi-Language Jupyter notebooks on Polly) and innovations with R GUI (Shiny) infrastructure.
Citations
E. Severance and M.F. Washburn in The American Journal of PsychologyWilkinson,
Mark D., et al. “ The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. “ Scientific data 3 (2016).
Clark, Daniel JB, et al. “FAIRshake: a toolkit to evaluate the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of research digital resources.” BioRxiv (2019): 657676.
Zhou, Shuigeng, Ruiqi Liao, and Jihong Guan. “When cloud computing meets bioinformatics: a review.” Journal of bioinformatics and computational biology 11.05 (2013): 1330002.
Reich, Michael, et al. “ The GenePattern Notebook environment.” Cell Systems 5.2 (2017): 149–151.
Torre, Denis, Alexander Lachmann, and Avi Ma’ayan. “BioJupies: automated generation of interactive notebooks for RNA-Seq data analysis in the cloud.” Cell Systems 7.5 (2018): 556–561.
Kluyver, Thomas, et al. “Jupyter Notebooks-a publishing format for reproducible computational workflows.” ELPUB. 2016. | https://medium.com/elucidata/does-data-hold-the-key-to-reproducibility-elucidata-3394ce01ad37 | [] | 2020-04-24 10:11:29.509000+00:00 | ['Data', 'Data Visualization', 'Data Science', 'Big Data', 'Bioinformatics'] |
Goal Setting and Self-Development Planning for Your Career — 2021 — Sarah Scala Consulting | The start of the New Year is a great time to look at your own development plan and goals! As a lifelong learner, professional in the Learning and coaching fields, and an entrepreneur, I have found it to be critical to invest both time and money into my continued development and learning. When it comes to keeping engaged and your skills sharp, finding ways to think about what and how you want to learn next is important. Each New Year’s Day I write myself a personal development plan.
I have a great template I use for Goal Setting! Sign up for our Newsletter to get a FREE copy of my Purposeful Life Template for your development planning and overall goal setting.
As I reviews goals for 2020, I was pleased in my progress with achieving many goals:
Supporting a number of new clients
Creating content for my blog and newsletter (thanks for reading, by the way)
Cycling 600+ miles
Volunteering 20+ times
Reading 40+ books (audio-books count)
Development Areas on my 2021 List Include
Grow my business to support more clients with Coaching, Leadership, and Change Management in Boston.
Reading or listening to 40 books on diverse topics that interest me. I keep a list of books in a Google Docs spreadsheet, so that as books are recommended on podcasts, articles, or in other books, or suggested from friends or colleagues, I have a way to keep track of these possibilities. Sometimes I check out physical books through inter-library loan if they’re not available, other times I check out ebooks or audiobooks through apps like Overdrive and Hoopla for free. I also read professional magazines and blogs.
Continuing Education Credits. In order to keep some of my credentials current, especially as an ICF Certified Coach, I need to participate in a number of hours of continuing education. I participate in workshops and webinars for free, other times I pay for learning courses through the Gestalt international Study Center.
Professional Association Membership and Networking events have helped me keep my learning sharp and allows me to meet new people and make new friends. I am involved in:
A Coaching Community of Practice group in Boston that I meet with in-person + monthly
The New Talent Management Network- Boston: member
The Granite State learning and OD Round Table which supports New Hampshire and Vermont HR Leaders (I’m the founder and chair of this group)
Mentoring: I meet with SCORE and Peer mentors regularly to continue my learning
Volunteer in my community by providing speaking engagements and mentoring pro bono 12+ times
Mindfulness — meditating each morning and journaling each day
For fun outside of work to keep my learning sharp, I am focusing on Improving my 5K running speed and flexibility through yoga. I’d also like to keep building my swim speeds, once it is safe to train back at the gym!
As a solo-preneur, it is important that I keep myself engaged and healthy because if something happens to me I cannot run my business. For this reason daily exercise, healthy eating, mindfulness, and continuous learning are all baked into my development plan.
What do you do to ensure your continuous learning and personal development?
Please share in the comments. If you have specific questions, ask me. I’m happy to help.
Learn more about our approach to coaching and goal setting in our recent Blogs and Case Studies:
Questions? Let’s connect. I would love to hear your success stories. Please send them to: [email protected] or visit www.sarahscala.com
Privacy policy: I do not rent, sell, trade or share your email address with anyone, ever.
© 2012–2020 Sarah A Scala Consulting
All rights reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sarah A. Scala Consulting with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. | https://medium.com/@sarahscala/goal-setting-and-self-development-planning-for-your-career-2021-sarah-scala-consulting-8000560a80de | ['Sarah A Scala'] | 2020-12-22 14:19:19.195000+00:00 | ['Goal Setting', 'Professional Development', 'Sarah Scala Consulting', 'Self Development', 'Annual Goals'] |
Need Some Chaos in User Profile Algorithms | Containing Chaos by Michael Lang
Because of how current user profile modeling work we are getting more and more siloed to our biases. It affects what we watch, what we listen, what we read etc. Though its human nature to side with things we agree with we should experience a little chaos in terms of what we expose ourselves to. Otherwise we will stay stuck in a constant feedback loop that doesn’t really help us experience different things and grow. Whether we agree with these things or not.
This is how current “User Profile” algorithms work (parts in blue). Need to add the part in orange, or at least have the option.
Music
I enjoy listening to music from The Killers, Snow Patrol, One Republic, Coldplay — they are considered Alternative Rock. I use Spotify and when I listen to them it thinks based on my play history that’s my “taste”. Now when I use their Discovery Weekly (their machine driven suggestions) feature it mostly feeds me Alternative Rock music. All it’s doing is querying what a lot of users are listening to that I haven’t, that fit my “taste” and just builds me a playlist.
Usually this is great, I get to discover a lot of good bands and songs I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. But it is also bad because Spotify has now limited my exposure to mostly my “taste”. Unless I start listening to some Backstreet Boys, NSYNC or One Direction, Boy Band music is not popping up anytime soon in my Discovery Weekly.
Not ideal because I shouldn’t have to alter my habits to then alter algorithms that a company like Spotify relies on to feed me new music. Spotify should expose me to good music from genres I haven’t listened to much, or at all. Challenge is not to send me music I already listen to, challenge is to send me music I haven’t listen to but may.
News
This is probably the most important area where chaos is needed. Most people get their news from social media. It’s not ideal but we mostly also happen to be friends with people online and offline with whom with we share similar ideologies. This creates a big problem as we get stuck in an echo chamber. If you are friends with people with similar ideologies and you share and like news with similar ideologies you are in an echo chamber that constantly validates your confirmation bias.
Facebook, Twitter even YouTube delivers you content that fits your “User Profile” this way. So if you are a liberal you will get fed liberal news, conservative, conservative news. Animal lover? Lots of cute videos from The Dodo.
Now what if in our timeline we received news from the opposite side from time to time. Just enough to challenge us to at least hear their voice. I always wanted Facebook to test this idea. To have maybe a slider that moves from very liberal to very conservative. And based on what is selected our timelines would show respective news and posts. But I also believe platforms like Facebook should built into their current algorithms some news intentionally intended to challenge our biases, things that don’t necessarily fit our “User Profile”.
Video
Same problems exists in platforms like Netflix and YouTube. What you watch dictates what gets recommended to you, which then leads to what you watch, feedback loop. I will be writing another post related to Netflix discovery sometime soon hopefully but essentially the idea is to recommend me content I wouldn’t necessary find otherwise. Just because I enjoy murder mysteries don’t think that’s my only “taste”, I mean seriously my friends who has seen my account probably think I am a psycho. Or just because I watched some episodes of Gossip Girls (to see lovely Blake Lively) please don’t think I enjoy Young Adult shows.
Suggest content that we haven’t seen or that doesn’t fit our current “taste”, but is good and we should probably give a try. Help us expand our “User Profile” by continuously adding some chaos to the loop. | https://medium.com/an-attempt-at-writing/need-some-chaos-in-user-profile-algorithms-f8262b58ccae | ['Razeeb Mahmood'] | 2018-07-25 06:58:02.720000+00:00 | ['Netflix', 'Spotify', 'Facebook', 'Algorithms', 'Tech'] |
How Does Manifestation Work? | Welcome, everyone!
Today we will be speaking about manifesting what you want to attract in your life — a very interesting topic.
Manifestation is a concept that people are becoming very aware of right now because science has proven that you attract the things that you want. You have probably heard of the Secret and the Law of Attraction where you can manifest what feels like a dream to you right now and make it a reality in the future. Once you speak it out to the Universe, it aligns to give you the necessary people or situations that align with what you asked to manifest it for you. Everything in the world has a vibration, human or even non human and you’ll notice that when you are in a good mood or having a good day, things are just a little bit easier. That’s a perfect example of the law of attraction at work.
In order to attract the things that you want, you can’t want it so much that you fear that you won’t get it. You have to be able to put it out there (maybe on a vision board) and let it go. You just have to anticipate that vibration and be able to meet it when it shows up. When something that you wanted to manifest is coming, you will have that feeling that it will come when it’s ready. So instead of worrying about it, you just feel this security that, “Oh yes it’s coming and it’s on its way.” When you get wrapped up in the details of how it is going to come, who’s going to bring it etc, that delays the process. You don’t want to force it and detach from it. It’s the same like ordering a package from Amazon — you know it will get to you. It may take longer but eventually it will get to you. The release of the time constraint is the key.
Personally, I believe in the Law of Attraction. I have been able to manifest things in my own life that I thought were impossible. I write down what I want to happen and appreciate the things that haven’t even happened yet. So you have to think it, act on it, and believe that it’s already true so it can manifest and speed up to come to reality. You will also feel like those things will come to you really easily. When I was still at my corporate job, I would speak out loud that I wanted to build my own business and feel as if it was already true even though I had not even started it. And look where I am today! In many ways, I manifested what I am doing today.
Just so you know, this Law works for good or bad. If you put out negative thoughts, you will attract those negative things to you. Perfect example for this is also when we worry about things that haven’t even happened yet. You are unintentionally bringing about what you are worrying about to happen. If you put out negativity, you will get that right back to you. In a study, people were 44% more likely to achieve their goals when they wrote them down. So, you increase your chances just by writing things down.
Lastly, the subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and what you’re trying to manifest. Once you know what you want, you want to believe, feel and act as if it’s already true.
Stay tuned for more great topics and tips that you can use in your life and business right away. If you found this post helpful today, be sure to subscribe because it will only get better from here. I cannot wait to connect with you here again next week!
Visit my website elonaloparicoaching.com where you can find more articles and resources! | https://medium.com/@elonalopari/how-does-manifestation-work-3ddd170e9cfb | [] | 2020-12-02 20:45:57.795000+00:00 | ['Elona Lopari', 'Women In Business', 'Manifestation', 'Personal Development', 'Energy Efficiency'] |
How Many Programming Languages Do You Need to Know? | The main goal of this article was to share these four paradigms and to illustrate that there are many different programming languages, each with a lot of unique features and use cases. Yes, some of the languages within some paradigms are outdated, and you probably will not want to use them. That does not mean that there is no value in experimenting with them for a few hours. I will leave you with a few languages that you could learn that cover those paradigms. I am not necessarily recommending that you learn all of these. I am simply trying to give you an idea of some languages that are in those paradigms that, I think, have some value in at least looking into.
Starting with some older programming languages, Scheme and Prolog are first in line, not that I would ever use them in any real-life project. I, however, think that learning the concepts of how the languages work can be beneficial. If you are looking to get into more modern programming languages that cover some of these paradigms, I would recommend learning Python or JavaScript. They are both scripting languages, and they are both dynamically typed. So, that already gives you a good introduction to a specific type of programming language that you can do a lot of projects in.
I would also recommend learning Java because it is a strongly typed language. It is also an object-oriented programming language, and it teaches you a lot about object-oriented design, good programming habits, and ways of writing production-level code that you might not get in, say, Python or JavaScript. My last recommendation would be to learn C or C++ because they are lower-level programming languages. In C and C++, you would need to use things like pointers, you would need to learn about memory management, and there would be a lot of programming concepts that you may not have seen in languages like Java, Python, or JavaScript. | https://javascript.plainenglish.io/how-many-programming-languages-do-you-need-to-know-88a0bb259f6f | ['Samuel Martins'] | 2020-12-15 06:48:35.478000+00:00 | ['Programming Paradigms', 'Programming Languages', 'Technology', 'Software Development', 'Programming'] |
A Critique of Leo Gura’s ‘An Advanced Explanation of God-Realization’ | Note: This article is in response to Actualized.org’s video ‘An Advanced Explanation of God-Realization’. As such, it won’t make much sense unless you’ve watched it!
I felt compelled to write this article because there’s a monumentally important lesson to be had here. Namely, faulty premises can only ever result in greater degrees of distortion. I know — that’s not even slightly sexy; it sounds like something from a high-school textbook, but its significance is impossible to overstate.
In the video, Leo describes his most recent awakening in which he had his clearest realisation of God yet. He makes a distinction between God-realization and non-dual awakenings. Further, he references a map of awakening that he’s been thinking about; at one end of the map is cessation of experience and at the other end is God-realisation. He then goes on to describe God-realisation in greater detail.
It’s completely you. You take complete, full ownership of yourself as the creator of this experience. There is no ‘other’ present. An Advanced Explanation of God-Realization, 42:08
Underlying this realisation of God are certain premises, and that’s what we’ll be considering. First though, we need to lay some foundation;
For most of us, our regular, waking state of consciousness is so consistent and unwavering that we easily forget (or may not even know) that there are a vast array of states that we could otherwise be inhabiting. When our state of consciousness is altered, we feel anything from mildly surprised to utterly dumbfounded. It seems astonishing that this sudden change is even possible. The more significant the alteration of consciousness is, the greater the astonishment.
Radical experiences are possible, which is in and of itself an amazing thing. A significant portion of people unsurprisingly mistake these radical experiences as being either awakenings, enlightenment, realisation of God or asbolute truth. The reality is it’s yet another form of delusion.
The only people who aren’t deluded are Buddhas and people who have attained Nibbana. There are three stages of awakening prior to attaining Nibbana and even then, there’s delusion (it is however significantly reduced and in the process of being removed altogether).
A Buddha is a Buddha because they hold the intention to become one and purify their minds for an incredibly long period of time. They are therefore able to comprehend the laws of nature (Dhamma). This is otherwise impossible to do because without reference to an accurate source, ignorance will only ever lead to more ignorance.
As a practitioner of Buddha Dhamma, one examines the claims made by the Buddha by considering their validity and investigating their own experience in a corresponding fashion. In so doing, they come to appreciate that these claims aren’t simply beliefs or ideas — they are in fact an accurate description of the laws of nature.
However, this cannot be realised if someone thinks that 2+2=5. Why? because they don’t have an accurate understanding of the premises. What’s more, in an attempt to understand the laws that are predicated upon these premises, they will subsequently arrive at incorrect conclusions. The overwhelming majority of ‘Buddhism’ is testament to this fact (it’s for this reason that accurately representing what the Buddha taught is so darned important).
Therefore, to understand the absolute truth, it is necessary to establish the correct world-view and then comprehend the true nature of reality. Once this is understood, neither Leo nor any other individual, religion or spiritual tradition will ever be able to pull the wool over your eyes.
We do not all perceive reality in the same way. What’s more, due to our respective worldviews, the meaning we attribute to those perceptions and how they subsequently get contextualised can be enormously varied.
The way in which a person sees reality at a fundamental level makes perfect sense based upon the premises that their worldview is based on.
One premise of Leo’s worldview is Idealism. There are different kinds of Idealism, but its underlying assertion is that all of reality is a mental construct and therefore, physical matter doesn’t exist.
Here are a few choice Idealism-bumper stickers:
It’s all a dream
All is self
All is one
All is God
There is no spoon!
…there is no Buddha, there is no cessation. You’re imaging all that shit right now to keep yourself inside the dream. Leo Gura
Idealism is wrong. Here’s why…
As previously stated, Leo’s brand of Idealism is monistic; all that exists is mind (God) and all multiplicity are expressions of this one, universal mind. Therefore reality is imaginary in nature and has no material basis. In contrast, many current scientists and philosophers are proponents of materialistic monism; the notion that physical matter is the only thing that fundamentally exists. So here, the inverse is argued to be the case.
Buddha Dhamma shows that neither of these contrasting views are correct. Reality is ultimately mental, but (and this is a very important but!) it is in relation to a real, physical, objective world. Don’t confuse this for materialism, which argues that physical matter produces conscious experience. The world-view of the Buddha is that mind comes first and physical matter exists as a consequence.
However, this real, physical world (which encompasses much more than one could even begin to imagine) has three fundamental characteristics;
There is nothing in this world that can result in permanent, absolute fulfilment because nothing can be maintained to one’s satisfaction (For a detailed explanation as to why that’s the case, read this). Despite all effort, in the long run, one will suffer much more than they will experience moments of fulfilment. Therefore, so long as one is in this world, they are helpless as there is no permanent, absolute fulfilment to be found.
Important — Nibbana is the only way that one can put and end to existence in this world. Suicide, along with all conceivable alternatives, will not ever solve the central problem of existence.
Both the realisation Leo had and the psychedelic he used to have it with are conditioned phenomenon. As such, they are a part of this world and are subject to these characteristics of nature.
Based upon the references Leo makes to Buddhism in the video, it’s clear that he hasn’t come across an accurate account of Dhamma. For instance, Sunyata, which he cites as a classic Buddhist insight, is widely misunderstood and has little to do with true Dhamma. No self is another example of a misunderstanding. The cessation of experience that he discusses is characteristic of the 7th Jhana, and therefore, is not Nibbana.
What’s more, it’s clear from his material in general that a correct understanding of Kamma, Paticca Samuppada, and the Netherworld (among other things) is absent. Of course, all of this can be hand-waived away with a simple “You’re just imagining that. It’s not actually real anyway”. Such is the nature of delusion, our capacity for which is boundless.
All of this begs the question: how do you establish an accurate understanding of reality. You look out for inconsistencies and contradictions, and discard accordingly. Buddha Dhamma doesn’t contradict fields of science or itself. A student of Dhamma goes out of their way to find inconsistencies but doesn’t find any. | https://medium.com/interfaith-now/leo-gura-a-buddhists-two-cents-aa0fc8309844 | ['Alec Dawson'] | 2021-05-20 19:46:00.665000+00:00 | ['Enlightenment', 'Spirituality', 'God', 'Awakening', 'Buddhism'] |
Your article is equivalent to a course. Thanks a lot. | Here’s How I Made $3,427.99 My Very First Month on Medium
2K 26 | https://medium.com/@manhertzjozsef/your-article-is-equivalent-to-a-course-thanks-a-lot-38b67f3501ec | ['József Manhertz'] | 2020-12-22 10:55:35.280000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Writing Tips', 'Writing', 'Creative Writing', 'Content Strategy'] |
Welcoming O(1) Labs, Ava Labs, and Solana to the Proof-of-Stake Alliance and the results of Working Group #1: Taxation in Proof-of-Stake, | It has been an exciting few weeks at POSA since our public launch. Much of staking industry has rallied to support POSA’s primary mission of educating legislators, regulators, and other stakeholders on the benefits of the proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. POSA members joined together to conduct the first working group which focused on the taxation of staking rewards. Additionally, POSA is excited to announce the addition of a few new members all who are leaders in the staking space.
New Members
Part of POSA’s initial goal was to bring together distributed ledger projects utilizing the proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms. As noted in our announcement post, a majority of these projects originate from cutting-edge research at leading American research institutions and real-world expertise from top American companies in the technology and financial industries. POSA members are the experts on this emerging technology and bring the acumen to educate regulators and policymakers on its potential.
Today we are incredibly excited to announce three new members: O(1) Labs (Coda Protocol), Ava Labs, and Solana, creators of three emerging Proof-of-Stake networks.
O(1) Labs, creators of Coda Protocol —is the creator of the succinct blockchain Coda, which uses recursive zk-SNARKs to create a fixed size blockchain. This enables wide reaching applications while allowing every user of the protocol to become a full node without having to trust intermediaries. The O(1) Labs team consists of world class experts in cryptography and functional programming. Its investors include Polychain, Paradigm, Accomplice, Coinbase Ventures, and General Catalyst.
Ava Labs — founded by Professor Emin Gün Sirer and researchers from Cornell University, AVA Labs is building a next-generation blockchain platform with revolutionary scalability, decentralization, security, and flexibility. Ava Labs investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, Metastable, and Initialized.
Solana — is creating a high-performance blockchain that can scale over 700,000 transactions per second on stock hardware to deliver on the promise of blockchain. The Solana founding team brings significant industry experience from their time at telecom hardware giant Qualcomm.
Working Group #1: Taxation and Proof-of-Stake
On Wednesday, August 7th, POSA hosted its first working group. The objective of Working Group #1 was to have an exploratory, wide-ranging discussion of potential taxation frameworks for stakable assets and rewards.
Steve Turanchik, a tax attorney at Paul Hastings, LLP, led the working group. Steve previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, and also has significant experience working with digital assets including working with major virtual currency exchanges and is also as a member of the AICPA’s Virtual Currency Task Force. Through Paul Hastings’ engagement with POSA, Steve is in the process of drafting a POSA sponsored taxation memo which is expected to be used to engage with the IRS, U.S. legislators, and policymakers across the world. The POSA working group focused on the potential approaches to taxing staking rewards and the advantages and shortcomings of such approaches. Additionally, there was a spirited conversation around potential staking based policy proposals and the reasons why Congress might be willing to provide favorable tax treatment as a way to promote innovation and growth in the United States.
The working group included over 20 participants representing a diverse range of participants across the staking space. Additionally, domain experts David Shakow, a tax professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Abe Sutherland, an adjunct professor from the University of Virginia Law School, took part in the working group and were able to provide their expertise to the discussion.
Below is a list of companies that participated in the working group. POSA expects to have its staking taxation memo finalized in the coming weeks.
TQTezos
Interchain Foundation
Kava
Harmony
O(1) Labs
Polychain Labs
Bison Trails
Consensys
Tendermint
DLX Law
Paul Hastings
University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Virginia Law School
Figment Networks
EON Staking
Battlestar Capital
Horizon Law
FS Vector
If you are interested in joining or supporting POSA please reach out to [email protected] or sign up on our website.
We are also interviewing researchers to assist in preparing POSA deliverables and to be a crucial part of the POSA team. If you are interested in volunteering to further POSA’s mission please contact [email protected]. | https://medium.com/proof-of-stake-alliance-posa/welcoming-o-1-labs-ava-labs-and-solana-to-the-proof-of-stake-alliance-and-the-results-of-af98243779dd | ['Proof Of Stake Alliance', 'Posa'] | 2019-08-22 18:06:17.346000+00:00 | ['Regulation', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Proof Of Stake', 'Blockchain', 'Taxes'] |
VS Code keyboard shortcuts for Windows | 15 VS Code keyboard shortcuts for Windows to speed up your programming. I have listed down a few keyboard shortcuts that will make your life easier as a coder. These shortcuts help in saving a lot of time and once you get the hang of it, you will be using them every time you code.
Quick open: Ctrl + P Copy line: Shift + Alt + ↑ / Shift + Alt + ↓ Move line: Alt + ↑ / Alt + ↓ Code formatting: Shift + Alt + F Navigate to a specific line: Ctrl + G Go to the beginning of the file: Ctrl + Home Go to the end of the file: Ctrl + End Insert cursor above/below: Ctrl + Alt + ↑ / ↓ Select all occurrences of current selection: Shift + Ctrl + L Open terminal: Ctrl + ` Create a new terminal: Ctrl + Shift + ` Split screen: Ctrl + \ Fold (collapse) region: Ctrl + Shift + [ Go back/forward: Alt + ← / → Jump to matching bracket: Ctrl + Shift + \
Basic Shortcuts
Delete line: Ctrl + X (You don’t have to select the entire line) Copy line: Ctrl + C (You don’t have to select the entire line) Find: Ctrl + F Replace: Ctrl + H Save: Ctrl + S
Happy Coding! 😊 | https://medium.com/@hardiquedasore/vs-code-keyboard-shortcuts-for-windows-3ac5cb079e9d | ['Hardique Dasore'] | 2021-09-11 18:01:47.514000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Shortcut Keys', 'Visual Studio', 'Vscode', 'Visual Studio Code'] |
How to Dex: Sparkdex 66% cash back referral explained | Sparkdex is offering 66% cash back when you refer a user.
How to Dex articles are tailored to cover everything from how to trade, how to create your own coin and other epic features one can do on the Sparkdex.
Today we look into how to get 66% cashback on transactions fees on Sparkdex.
This will be a short tutorial as it is an easy process.
Those who refer get paid from the transaction fees of the user who used their link. The referrer needs to be a Life Time Member aka LTM for eligibility.
Allocation of the transaction fee is as follows :
66% to the referrer — You
20% to the network — BitShares
14% to the faucet — Spark
Becoming a Lifetime Member
When logged in, go to menu, expand and find membership section.
Basic member on Sparkdex
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By joining or subscribing to the links above you will only get Sparkdex specific content. | https://medium.com/the-ledger-by-spark/how-to-dex-sparkdex-80-cashback-referral-explained-71a2587ce3c1 | [] | 2018-09-13 03:47:13.977000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Referrals'] |
Blockchain and Its Applications for Service Designers | Blockchain and Its Applications for Service Designers
Blockchain might be one of the most notable technological innovations of the last decade. It has recently gained immense popularity in innovator communities, as it can solve some fundamental challenges recurring in many industries. Among many things, blockchain can inject transparency in operations, address data privacy and security challenges and solve the issue of trust in transaction handling.
Considering this, it is particularly important for product, service and system designers to understand the technology and be aware of the opportunities that it provides.
In this article, I will try to explain the essence of blockchain technology and bring practical examples of its applications across industries.
Let’s go! 🤗
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain technology might seem complicated, but its core concept is rather simple. Blockchain is a type of database. To understand the technology, it‘s important to first understand what databases actually are.
A database is a collection of information that is stored electronically on a computer system. In databases, data are typically structured in a table format to allow for easy search and filtering.
Blockchain differs from a typical database in the way it stores information; blockchains store data in blocks that are then chained together. Blocks have certain storage capacities and, when filled, are chained onto the previously filled block, forming a chain of data known as the “blockchain.” All new information that follows that freshly added block is compiled into a newly formed block that will then also be added to the chain once filled. The data are chained together in chronological order.
Blockchain are inherently distributed databases, meaning that many parties hold copies of the ledger (a.k.a. peer-to-peer networks). In a blockchain, each node has a full record of the data that has been stored on the blockchain since its inception (this is done with something called timestamps based on the use of hash-based proof of work). If one node has an error in its data, it can use the thousands of other nodes as a reference point to correct itself. This way, no one node within the network can alter information held within it. This system helps to establish an exact and transparent order of events. It can be used in a decentralized way so that no single person or group has control over it — instead, all users retain control collectively. Immutability and transparency are not the only characteristics making blockchain technologies trustworthy, secure and innovative from technological perspective. Blockchain technologies use cryptographic hash functions and assymetric encryption, which uses a mathematically related pair of keys for encryption and decryption: a public key and a private key. If the public key is used for encryption (read — send), then the related private key is used for decryption (read — receive/access).
If you are scared at this point, note that as a designer, you do not need to understand, or implement the technical aspects of the blockchain, however, having an understanding of the basic concepts and the way they are used is essential for developing functional and innovative solutions based on the technology.
What value does blockchain offer and how can it be applied?
Blockchain’s core advantages are cryptographic security, decentralization, transparency, and immutability. The technology allows information to be verified and value to be exchanged without having to rely on a third-party authority.
Blockchain does not need to be a disintermediator to generate value. Benefits from reductions in transaction complexity and cost, as well as improvements in transparency and fraud controls can be captured by existing institutions and multiparty transactions using appropriate blockchain architecture. There is no singular form of blockchain — the technology can be configured in multiple ways to meet the objectives and business requirements of a particular use case.
So far, cryptocurrencies remain the most well-studies and common blockchain applications. In fact, Bitcoin, the most traded cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, was one of the first and probably the most well-known applications of blockchain technology. However, the real value of blockchain technology goes beyond cryptocurrencies and the financial sector, in general.
McKinsey has categorized blockchain uses into 5 main categories:
Static registry: distributed database for storing reference data
distributed database for storing reference data Identity: distributed database with identity-related data (it’s actually a particular case of static registry with an extensive set of applications).
distributed database with identity-related data (it’s actually a particular case of static registry with an extensive set of applications). Smart contracts: a set of conditions recorded on a blockchain triggering automated, self-executing actions when these predefined conditions are met.
🙌🏻 Smart contracts are my favorite category! I highly recommend to watch this TED talk about smart contracts and how to make the world a more beautiful, functional and just place
Dynamic registry: dynamic distributed database that updates as assets are exchanged on the platform.
dynamic distributed database that updates as assets are exchanged on the platform. Payment infrastructure: dynamic distributed database that updates as cash or cryptocurrency payments are made among participants.
There are also other edge cases that do not fit into the categories, or are combinations of these (e.g. Blockchain as a Service, ICO’s).
How is blockchain used by different public and private organizations?
Each of the categories mentioned by McKinsey can be broken down into specific cases based on industries or functions.
Supply Chain Management
Blockchain’s immutable ledger makes it well suited to tasks such as real-time tracking of goods as they move and change hands throughout the supply chain. Using a blockchain opens up several options for companies transporting these goods. Entries on a blockchain can be used to queue up events with a supply chain — allocating goods newly arrived at a port to different shipping containers, for example. Blockchain provides a new and dynamic means of organizing tracking data and putting it to use.
Food industry
For example, IBM and Walmart have partnered in China to create a blockchain project that will monitor food safety. Similarly, Louis Dreyfus Co, is experimenting with soybean import operation using blockchain.
Shipping industry
Another example is the case of logistics giant Maersk that has experimented with a blockchain-based project in the maritime logistics industry.
Mining industry
In the mining industry, The De Beers Group is using blockchain to track the importation and sales of diamonds.
Inventory management
In inventory management, Russian rail operator Novotrans is storing inventory data on a blockchain pertaining to repair requests and rolling stock.
Healthcare
As connected medical devices become common and increasingly linked to a person’s health record, blockchain can connect those devices with that record. Devices will be able to store the data generated on a healthcare blockchain and append it to personal medical records.
MedRec is one of the pioneering projects experimenting with storing data on the blockchain.
Government
Blockchain has a plethora of application in the public sector, in particular for transparent government operations.
Voting
Blockchain technology has the ability to make the voting process more accessible while improving the security. Hackers are no match to blockchain technology, because even if someone accessed the terminal, they wouldn’t be able to affect other nodes. Each vote would be attributed to one ID. This is particularly helpful for ensuring transparent and just elections
For example, in Switzerland, voter registration is being facilitates via a blockchain project spearheaded by Uport.
Taxation
Blockchain tech makes the cumbersome and human error-prone process of tax filing much more efficient with enough information stored on the blockchain.
For example, In China, a tax-based initiative is using blockchain to store tax records and electronic invoices led by Miaocai Network.
National Security
The immutable nature of blockchain, and the fact that every computer on the network is continually verifying the information stored on it, makes blockchain an excellent tool for storing big data.
For example, for the past two years, the US Department of Homeland Security has been using blockchain to record and safely store the data captured from its security cameras.
Insurance
In the insurance industry, blockchain-based smart contracts allow customers and insurers to manage claims in a transparent and secure manner. All contracts and claims can be recorded on the blockchain and validated by the network, which eliminates invalid claims, since the blockchain by default rejects multiple claims on the same accident.
For example, American International Group Inc. uses a smart contact-based blockchain as a means of saving costs and increasing transparency.
Energy
Blockchain technology could be used to execute energy supply transactions, but also to further provide the basis for metering, billing, and clearing processes. Other potential applications include documenting ownership, asset management, origin guarantees, emission allowances, and renewable energy certificates.
One example is the case of Chile. As Chile’s National Energy Commission seeks to update its electrical infrastructure, it has started to use blockchain technology as a way of certifying data pertaining to the country’s energy usage.
Another example is The Energy Web Decentralized Operating System (EW-DOS). It is an open-source stack of decentralized software and standards — including the Energy Web Chain, middleware services, and software development toolkits (SDKs). EW-DOS is a shared technology running on a decentralized network maintained by many respected energy companies. EW-DOS supports two primary use cases: 1) clean energy and carbon emissions traceability and 2) using distributed energy resources to increase grid flexibility. EW-DOS leverages self-sovereign decentralized identifiers, a series of decentralized registries, messaging services, and integrations with legacy information technology (IT) systems to facilitate transactions between billions of assets, customers, grid operators, service providers, and retailers.
Real Estate
The average homeowner sells his or her home every 5–7 years. With such frequent movement, blockchain is particularly useful in real estate market. It can make home sales more efficient by quickly verifying finances, reducing fraud thanks to its encryption, and offering transparency throughout the entire selling and purchasing process.
For example, Propy, in Kiev uses blockchain to complete real estate deals.
Payments
Blockchain offers a way to efficiently and securely create a tamper-proof log of sensitive activity. This makes it particularly relevant to international payments and money transfers.
For example, Banco Santander money transfer service “Santander One Pay FX,” uses Ripple’s xCurrent to enable customers to make same-day or next-day international money transfers. The blockchain ledger that Ripple uses had been latched into by a group of Japanese banks, who will be using it for quick mobile payments.
Environment
Protection of endangered species
In the environmental sector, the protection of endangered species can be facilitated via a blockchain project that records the activities of these rare animals.
One example is the Newton Project. Newton uses NewSensor technology consisting of small IoT devices for monitoring location, temperature, air quality, humidity, etc, and uploads that data to NewChain, Newton’s blockchain. By inserting a NewSensor under the skin of an endangered mammal, for example, a rhino or elephant, it is possible to track the location and basic behavior of that animal.
Fishing
One application in fishing is the provision of a transparent record of where fish were caught to ensure legal landing.
For example, The WWF project uses a combination of radio-frequency identification(RFID) tags, quick response (QR) code tags and scanning devices to collect information about the journey of a tuna at various points along the supply chain.
Carbon Offset
The monitoring of carbon offset trading is another environmental application of blockchain technologies
For example, IBM is using the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain in China to monitor carbon offset trading.
Waste Management
Waltonchain is using RFID technology to store waste management data on the blockchain in China.
Record Management
The encryption that is central to blockchain makes it quite useful for record management because it prevents duplicates, fraudulent entries, and the like.
Land Registry
Record management can be particularly useful in land registry. For example, in Georgia, in a project developed by the National Agency of Public Registry, land registry titles are now being stored on the blockchain.
Border control
In the Netherlands, Essentia has developed a blockchain-based border control system that allows customs agents to record and safely store passenger data from an array of inputs.
Blockchain as a Service
Enterprises also benefit from blockchain technology by developing models offering blockchain as a service solutions.
For example, Ethereum’s blockchain can be accessed as a cloud-based service courtesy of Microsoft Azure.
Similarly, Google is building its own blockchain, which will be integrated into its cloud-based services, enabling businesses to store data on it and to request their own white label version developed by Alphabet Inc.
A concluding note for service designers
In this article, I tried to explain the basics of blockchain technology and give some examples of its use cases in different service sectors. One of our functions as service designers is to devise new business models, processes and infrastructures to help stakeholders exchange value and achieve their goals in more mutually beneficial ways. On the other hand, we are responsible for anticipating the threats that blockchain-based products, services and systems might create. Considering this, it is crucial for us to understand the nuts and bolts of the technology and be aware of its use cases. I hope, I managed to motivate you to learn more about one of the most promising technologies of the last decade.
P.S. Note that the use cases that I covered in the article are non-exhaustive. There are many more blockchain applications that are worth scrutinizing. There are also a lot of threats associated with possible applications of the technology that must be understood. As a starting point, I highly recommend watching this documentary about the future of cities driven by blockchain and this talk about the future utopian and dystopian realities that blockchain might create.🤗 | https://uxplanet.org/blockchain-and-its-applications-for-service-designers-7b6bfd9fec39 | ['Nare K.'] | 2021-06-25 12:36:56.956000+00:00 | ['Service Design', 'Innovation', 'Emerging Technology', 'Blockchain', 'Product Design'] |
ASP.NET CORE PROJECT FILE STRUCTURE PART-I — Sagar Jaybhay | If you are using C# as a primary programming language then your project file extension is .csproj and if you are using VB as the primary language the .vbproj as a solution.
In the previous version, if we want to modify our project solution file we need to unload project then perform edit and then save and after this, we need to open this. But in this core, we no need to unload project and then edit you can directly do so.
In the previous version whatever you add in your project the reference of this is added to the project file means .csproj file but in this new version or core no references are added in project files.
1.(Target Framework Moniker)TFM:
This is TFM netcoreapp2.2.
This is used for how thee application is hosted which means InProcess or OutOfProcess.
In-process: In this host our asp app inside IIS worker process which uses w3wp.exe OutOfProcess: In this hosting model forward the web requests to back-end Asp.net core app which is running on a KESTREL server. By default is In-process hosting
Package Reference
Microsoft.AspNetCore . The app is used to manage or hold the list of dependencies. It is not added default references on its own but it holds the list of dependencies or other packages .
When we don’t specify the version the implicit version which is specified by SDK is taken.
Main Method in Asp.Net core:-
The Main method present in the program class is the entry point of an application.
At run-time hosting environment search for the Main method and it is a place where application kicks off. Asp.Net application initially starts as a console application.
So Main method is used to configure ASP.NET Core and start it and at that point, console application becomes a Web Application.
public class Program
{ public static void Main(string[] args)
{
CreateWebHostBuilder(args).Build().Run();
} public static IWebHostBuilder CreateWebHostBuilder(string[] args) => WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args) .UseStartup<Startup>(); }
If you see above code Main method is called CreateWebHostBuilder and this method is called the startup class which is an extension method.
This CreateWebHostBuilder is used to create web host builder.
CreateWebHostBuilder Tasks: | https://medium.com/@sagar_jaybhay/asp-net-core-project-file-structure-part-i-sagar-jaybhay-29bf9666f4c6 | ['Sagar Jaybhay'] | 2019-10-21 14:46:26.545000+00:00 | ['Aspnet', 'Sagar Jaybhay', 'Web Development', 'Aspnetcore'] |
How I Make Steady Money Daily On Medium | 1. Publish regularly.
Duh! As I said, none of my articles has hit it big. The most views I have is 305 with a 60% read ratio. I have to publish regularly to make sure I keep up income.
I publish 4 times a week and do my best to avoid weekends, but sometimes it can’t be helped. There’s the myth that publishing on weekends is not as effective, which I have to tell you I have noticed that this is true. Publishing between Monday-Thursday is probably best.
2. Spread your work on socials.
This is not the key to getting a good amount of views/reads, but it does help. There’s a lot of Facebook groups out there that I am part of that are extremely interactive and you can publish links to your work on there;
Medium Writers Lounge
Medium Magic
Medium Writers Boost
There’s also Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn, Slack, Twitter and whatever else you use to promote your work.
As well as promotion, being interactive in general will only do you well. Clapping for other writers and reading successes does bring me joy.
3. Write about writing.
I have noticed that my articles focusing on writing are the most successful. This is probably the niche I should follow. But this isn’t me as a writer. I like the talk about everything and anything, so if I have an idea, I’ll write about it.
You do not have to follow one particular niche. I most certainly do not, but I have noticing that writing about writing does draw people in.
4. Submit to publications
Submitting to publications means that many others will naturally come across your work on the publication homepage, generating more views and reads thus making you some dollars/cents.
Saying this, there have been cases where people have self-published and editors have reached out asking if they can publish it.
At the end of the day, a good piece of writing is a good piece of writing.
5. Practice your writing.
I haven’t really taken time to focus on bettering my writing. I tend to just write, run it through Grammarly and Microsoft Word and if nothing is red or blue, Thunderbird is go.
Being six weeks into Medium, I can see the improvements from when I first started to where I am now. This does not mean that improvements cannot be made and I know that sooner or later I will have to focus on this.
I want to make my content engaging. I want to make it a good, beneficial read for someone. I want someone to just enjoy my work. The only way to do this is to improve.
6. Check your stats everyday.
Many people probably advise against this, but I don’t. Every morning, check your stats even if you haven’t published. That’s ONCE a day, by the way. Becoming obsessed with stats isn’t good and it doesn’t make the numbers increase.
You want the dollar signs to go up, not down or stay stagnant. My advice is to make a note per day of how much you have and just work out the difference a day, then work out the average (divide by how many days in that month) of how much you earned that month. | https://medium.com/illumination/how-i-make-steady-money-daily-on-medium-4754420a27d3 | ['Shamar M'] | 2020-12-22 09:24:58.093000+00:00 | ['Advice', 'Money Management', 'Writing', 'Money', 'Writing Tips'] |
Multilingual reports in PowerBI Embedded | Creating a multilingual Power BI report is usually a frustrating experience as it’s not directly supported by the Power BI platform. In this scenario we are using the Power BI embedded Azure service and want to create a single report which is published in several languages automatically. Multilingual in this article refers to the report texts and field names but not to the data itself.
The solution I came up with was a command line tool called PowerPublisher which translates a single pbix report (so called template) into multiple pbix report files by replacing the placeholder texts in the template with their corresponding translations. The translations are read from an Excel file which also defines the languages. The same tool is also able to publish the newly created reports to a workspace in the Power BI Service.
Technical details
There are several articles explaining the pbix file structure which is basically a zip file containing files that construct the report. In this case however we are mostly interested of the Report/Layout-file which seems to contain all the texts in the visuals. You can edit the file manually but after modifications the PowerBI desktop complains the file being corrupted. You can get rid of the error by removing the SecurityBindings-file from the zip (guessing it contains a checksum of the package). You must also use the exact encoding the file is created with (UCS-2 LE without BOM) or you will get the same error.
The next step is the publishing of the report automatically to the PowerBI service. Luckily there is a documented import API (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/imports) for doing just that!
How to use the tool?
The first step is to create a report using the PowerBI Desktop and add all the required data sources and data to it. Do not add any visuals as this report is only a container for the dataset. When you are happy with the data you can publish the report to the PowerBI Service (eg. sales-data.pbix). In the service you will have two new items, the report and the corresponding dataset. The dataset is the one we want to keep and the empty report can be removed.
Next step is to create the actual report (e.g. sales.pbix) having all the visuals and use the online dataset from the first report as a data source (the data source type is Power BI dataset). In this report you should use placeholder texts that can be later translated using the PowerPublisher-utility. I have used ph_-prefix for those texts.
Power BI report having placeholder texts
You will also need to create an Excel file containing all the translations as in the image below.
translations.xlsx
The last step is to run the utility which will generate a report file for each language by adding the language extension to the file (e.g. sales-fi.pbix). The tool will create as many files as you have languages defined in the translations file.
PowerPublisher translate sales.pbix translations.xlsx
You can optionally allow the tool to directly publish the language specific reports to your workspace in PowerBI. In that case you need to add configuration to appsettings.json to access the correct subscription and workspace.
PowerPublisher translate-publish sales.pbix translations.xlsx
The application is in no means a polished product but you can take the source and modify it for your needs. The source can be found from here. | https://medium.com/@eksekki/multilingual-reports-in-powerbi-embedded-3de9206c00bc | ['Michael Maier'] | 2020-11-26 12:03:12.481000+00:00 | ['Power Bi', 'Multilingual', 'Dotnet Core'] |
A Completely Exhausting List of Trump’s Pardons | First of all, we’d like to point out pre-pardons for obvious criminals such as Rudolph Giuliani should surprise no one. We’ve been watching the same administration you have. You don’t get to act outraged about expected, outrageous behavior anymore. Sorry!
Second, the Presidential Pardon Power, being largely and inexplicably unlimited and stupid in a nation of laws, is still entirely unlimited. If you don’t want a President to pardon war criminals like the Blackwater massacrists, don’t let the President of the United States ignore laws. A simple amendment to the U.S. Constitution could change this, but good luck getting that bad boy going this decade. It took Congress nine months to grudgingly toss the U.S. taxpayer $600 of their own money back to them as COVID-19 relief.
Thirdly, yes the President has inexplicably pardoned a man for the illegal distillation of moonshine. Our understanding is he thought “moonshine" was a codename for the newly established Space Force and CNN had put him on trial. We didn’t feel like correcting this.
Fourth, the pardon of known electioneer and American icon Susan B. Anthony was something we advised against but ultimately allowed. The President just looks so happy when he’s accusing or excusing people of election fraud. We honestly can’t keep up with his enthusiasm in this area so we just let it roll, baby. Election fraud! Yeah!
Fifth, the pardon of a dentist, a bank robber, a car thief, and other miscellaneous villains… we can’t explain this. Just move on.
Sixth, the pardon of a state governor who literally sold a Senate seat is something we shouldn’t have to defend. Modern American problems require modern American solutions; let the market sort it out! And that’s what Governor Rod Blagojevich did. He is an American patriot and all around lovable, greedy huckster.
Seventh, all the various campaign finance related crimes don’t need to be looked into too deeply. You have been warned. | https://medium.com/@rblamb/a-completely-exhausting-list-of-trumps-pardons-1762273e181b | ['R.B. Lamb'] | 2020-12-24 00:34:50.840000+00:00 | ['Satire', 'United States', 'President Trump', 'Humor', 'Politics'] |
E-scooters Market Size Worth $41.98 Billion By 2030 | The global electric scooters market size is expected to reach USD 41.98 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 7.7% over the forecast period, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing adoption of e-scooters among the young population, the rising purchasing power of the middle-class community in developing countries, and rapid urbanization are expected to significantly drive product demand across the globe. Electric scooters offer affordable last-mile transportation as compared to on-demand transportation. Agility and ease of maneuver in densely populated areas with high traffic congestion are additional advantages these vehicles offer, which is expected to fuel E-scooters’ market growth.
Consumer satisfaction is another essential factor for vendors trying to retain existing customers or looking to expand their customer base. It can be measured using various parameters such as durability, maintenance expense, performance, comfort and safety, and operating cost. Vendors are trying to focus on two critical factors to attract customers: design/style and specifications. In May 2019, Pure EV launched two electric scooters for the Indian market, EPLUTO, and ETRANCE, with the long-range of 120kms per charge. The ETRANCE scooter has a ground to handle height of about 3.5ft and weighs around 47kgs. These specifications were specifically designed with the women population in the country.
The year 2018 witnessed the introduction of various battery-operated two-wheelers, for instance, Vespa Electrica by Piaggio & C. SPA. The following year was highly promising for most electric scooter vendors owing to the various strategies adopted by them to expand their fleet to international markets. Besides this, well-established two-wheeler companies launched their electric scooters and invested in the installation of charging systems and infrastructure across various countries. For instance, Gogoro, Inc., and KYMCO expanded their reach in other regions to capture the benefit of the untapped market. GenZe By Mahindra, YAMAHA Motor Pvt. Ltd., VÄSSLA ELECTRIC SCOOTERS., and PURE EV are among other players that integrated swappable battery systems in their electric scooter variants. Moreover, the governments in several Asian and European countries have been offering subsidies to drive the sale of battery-powered two-wheelers. These initiatives are anticipated to become more robust with increasing gasoline prices.
The Asia Pacific dominated the global market in 2019 and is predicted to continue its dominance over the forecast period. The growth in the region is accredited to the presence of an increasing number of e-scooter manufacturers and rising vehicle charging infrastructural investments in countries such as Taiwan, India, and China. In 2019, China acquired over 84% of the revenue in the Asia Pacific market. North America is poised to grow at a considerable pace from 2020 to 2030. The growth in the region is owing to the faster adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. as an alternative to traditional fuel transportation.
Click the link below:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/electric-scooters-market
Further key findings from the report suggest: | https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/e-scooters-market-e20f9cee8d8 | ['Gaurav Shah'] | 2021-01-21 14:31:03.243000+00:00 | ['Electric Scooters', 'Mexico', 'Transportation', 'Big Data', 'Automotive'] |
Top Certifications and Job Roles in IT 2021 | The introduction of technology has completely changed the world and IT has risen to be amongst the most dynamic and fastest growing industries today. Technology is used in every aspect of human life and therefore, pursuing a career in Information Technology is a brilliant idea. IT is a field full of opportunities for those who want to evolve along with the latest advances in technology and earn an amazing financial income.
Information Technology is of paramount importance today and will become increasingly important tomorrow. IT is a diverse industry which gives you the freedom to follow your passion. You can take your career anywhere you like here. There are a diverse range of courses and job roles you can get your hands on and we’ve listed the top 10 for you below:
1. AWS Solution Architect Associate/ Professional
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an ulta popular cloud platform right now which more and more businesses are leaning towards. The AWS Solution Architect Associate/ Professional certification will outfit you with the skills and knowledge you will need to dominate the platform successfully. Gaining this certification will unlock numerous benefits such as top tier salaries and unlimited job opportunities. After obtaining this certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Cloud Solutions Consultant/ Architect whose average salary is $118,266.
2. Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
The Certified Kubernetes Administrator Certification will test your core concepts and your ability to configure a Kubernetes cluster. Personnels with this certification can reap many benefits such as being able to convert their skills into assets for higher employability, potential to earn top salaries, achieving growth by equipping new skills and staying relevant in the IT job market. After obtaining this certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Cloud Native Engineer/ Architect whose average annual is $77,000 — $114,000.
3. Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
The Site Reliability Engineering Certification is quickly gaining popularity as a valued practice among organizations. Pursuing this curse can be an excellent way to improve your career prospects. In depth knowledge of SRE can help you take up more responsibilities in your organization and open you up to higher tier positions as well. After this, you will be able to understand the principles of performance evaluation and predict the improvement, safety, reliability and maintainability of systems. After obtaining this certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Senior Site Reliability Consultant whose average salary is $116,046.
4. CISCO Certified Network Expert (CCIE)
The CISCO Certified Network Expert Certification prepares IT enthusiasts for multiple career opportunities which revolve around CISCO products. This can also help you show off your incredible skills to your current or future employers to land a good job role with fantastic pay. It professionals that are looking for a way to stand out of the crowd can pursue this certification. It will greatly improve your job opportunities in the CISCO networking domain. After obtaining this certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Network Architect whose average salary is $92,225.
5. Docker Certified Associate (DCA)
The Docker Certified Associate Certification will help you acquire a reputation for your Docker skills. It will strengthen your professional profile by adding to your value and conveying to your employees that they can trust you with their Docker related work. This will also show that you are able to configure new Docker situations and perform general configuration and maintenance. After obtaining the certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a DevOps Consultant/ Architect whose average salary is $115,000.
6. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP)
The Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect Certification highlights your ability to design, develop, and manage a secure, scalable cloud architecture using GCP technologies. It will give you an in-depth understanding about the various components of the Google platform. Individuals that acquire a GSP certification equip their profile with the latest coud skills which makes them high- demand IT professionals. After obtaining the certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Google Cloud Consultant whose average salary is $76,460.
7. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
The Certified Information Systems Security Professional Certification is a gold standard security certification which can help you quickly reach new heights in your career. It is a current trend that you must stay on top of in order to improve your IT security skills and get a higher salary. CISSP depicts credibility as a security expert. You will receive greater visibility into various security challenges. After obtaining the certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of a Security Consultant/ Penetration Tester whose average salary is $93,000.
8. Agile/ Scrum Master (CSM)
The Agile/ Scrum Master Certification will help you showcase your skills in scrum terminology and its principles. It will also show your employer that you have the expertise that sets you apart from the crowd. There is an increasing demand for Scrum Masters as the Agile Methodology is growing in popularity now. It also acts as an added advantage when you manage multiple teams or departments working in the same framework. After obtaining the certification, you will be eligible to pursue the job role of an Enterprise Solutions Architect whose average salary is $117,000.
9. Project Management Professional (PMP)
The Project Management Professional Certification adds value to your resume and opens you up to project management roles which are in high demand and high paying jobs right now. It teaches you important skills which you can use to excel in your career by exposing you to the top trends, tools, techniques and methodologies in the industry. Apart from obtaining a great income, this certification will also help you with job security. After obtaining the certification, you will be able to pursue the job role of a Project Manager whose average salary is $108,000.
10. Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
Microsoft Azure is one of the fastest growing cloud platforms. The Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate Certification will help you become well versed in implementing virtual networking skills through microsoft Azure. By the end of the course, you will have a good understanding of the entire lifecycle in Azure environments. The demand for skilled professionals in this field is high and ever growing. After obtaining the certification, you will be able to pursue the job role of a Devops/ Cloud Engineer whose average salary is $90,723. | https://medium.com/@yobitel/top-certifications-and-job-roles-in-it-2021-b8aacb028b16 | [] | 2020-12-15 21:06:40.849000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'Information Technology', 'Cloud Computing', 'Software Development', 'Certification'] |
5 Guiding Principles of Social and Emotional Learning | According to CASEL, social-emotional learning can be defined as: “the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
While students’ emotional well-being and social skills has always been on educators’ radar, recent years have witnessed a shift towards a stronger focus on SEL in the classroom. Researchers have come to understand the connections between academic performance and SEL, as well as the importance of attending to the many facets of student learning experiences in an effort to educate the whole child.
But implementing SEL initiatives in your school or classroom can be a challenge — whether you’re looking to improve your school climate, integrate SEL lesson plans into traditional academic work, or partner with community organizations to meet your goals, gaining momentum to influence real change will be difficult. To help get you started, Annie Snyder, Learning Scientist from our Applied Learning Sciences team, has written a guide entitled Building Social Emotional Learning into the School Day: Five Guiding Principles. Find the full guide here, or read on for a synopsis:
5 Guiding Principles of SEL: Create, Integrate, Communicate, Instruct, Empower
1. Create
The purpose of this principle is to consciously create a nurturing, caring, and safe environment for students. In the guide, you’ll find find specific strategies and a full, narrative example for carrying out this principle.
Sample strategy: Provide multiple ways for students to report, discuss, and work through conflicts.
2. Integrate
The key to this principle is to incorporate SEL skill-building into academic instruction whenever possible. It’s about keeping social and emotional learning top-of-mind, and constantly revisiting your incorporation tactics to find new, creative ways to integrate. You’ll find strategies and a narrative example in the guide.
Sample strategy: Design a full classroom unit based on a real-life theme (e.g. helping a local organization increase environmental sustainability.)
3. Communicate
This principle takes your larger community into account, and stresses that you communicate early and often with all SEL stakeholders. Every educator a student encounters during the day should be aware of SEL objectives and communicate with colleagues or partners about concerns and progress. The guide provides individual strategies for communicating with parents, school staff, and community partners.
Sample strategy: When communicating with school staff, researchers recommend that schools form a core team of school staff and administrators to lead in the communication and integration of SEL into school-wide strategies.
4. Instruct
The purpose of this principle is to consider social and emotional learning as you would any other subject area — as information and lessons worth explicit, planned instruction. With clear guidance, you will ensure that your students fully understand SEL content and expectations. Find step-by-step strategies and narrative examples in the guide.
Sample strategy: Explicitly teach protocols and procedures for handling challenging social situations. Recognize that time spent on topics such as conflict resolution counts as a “teachable moment” just as time spent on academic content.
5. Empower
This principle gets at the core of any social-emotional learning instructional plan: to empower students to take charge of their own social and emotional learning. It’s about ensuring that students are supported and ready to take on the next phase of their academic and emotional lives with confidence.
Sample strategy: Provide data and feedback that students can use to modify and extend their own application of SEL strategies learned in the classroom.
Find the full guide below, or by clicking here: | https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/5-guiding-principles-of-social-emotional-learning-2f9fb554edad | ['Mcgraw Hill'] | 2019-02-15 15:00:10.913000+00:00 | ['Children', 'Education', 'Social Emotional Learning', 'Teaching', 'Education Technology'] |
Day 9 — Phase 1 is Complete!. Awesome day but also frustrating day. I… | Awesome day but also frustrating day. I started off very strong in the morning and got my camera shake down and got a good jump on the Homing Missile I wanted to implement and then I got stuck for hours and hours …..and what felt like more hours. I know the standard advice is to step away and come back and let the mind expand and again so the creative juices can flow again. When you hyper focus on something you lose perspective of other ways to tackle the problem and get stuck in a mind loop. Knowing this I still couldn’t let go of my obsession with solving the problems I was having because I was so determined to finish my Phase 1 today….not tomorrow!
With that said however, I got hungry and stopped to eat dinner. After a glass of wine, my creative juices starting flowing again and I came up with a new approach to my problem and voila I got closer to my goal and was able to figure out the rest with some help from GOogle! I do plan on trying to take a more balanced approach next time. I don’t think I am using my time efficiently a lot of times when I get stuck and this did teach me a valuable lesson going forward.
With regards to specifics of what I did today. The camera shake was pretty straight forward. Made a script for the Main Camera. Created a public method called shake that was called from the player side when he takes a hit. This enables the shake and defines the shake duration. Then Void Update handles the shake by randomizing the transform location using Random.insideUnitCircle. At first I struggled because my camera would then get thrown off and my background would also get messed up during the shake ( can see black borders). I fixed it by adding an initial camera position vector3 in Void Start. for the background I was trying to find a way to lock my background by making it invisible to the Main Camera and make it visible with another camera but in the end I couldn’t quite get it to look right and I ended up just stretching the background out a little bit around the borders to encompass the area of the shake so you don’t see black borders during the shake.
I was very excited with the Homing missile system. Creating the Prefab, the Missile script and tying it to the player firing system and Spawn Manager + powerup script was easy enough. I even got super stoked when I found a cool Missile image and a great sound effect to play. Check out the video below to see and hear it in action!
I got very stuck on the tracking system and then later trying to make my missile turn properly. I one point I got everything working but had a whole bunch of NULL errors. In the end I figured it all out and the results were awesome. I ended up using GameObject.FindWithTag to track my prey. I had an issue at first because when the enemy would get destroyed the missiles I fired right after would keep trying to track the same target. This was because I have a 2.5 second delay on the destruction of the enemy to account for his animation. Eventually I figured out I could use the transform to change the enemy tag when he dies. So I created a Tag called Dead Enemy and then changed the Tag in the Enemy script upon Enemy Death.
I used movetowards at first to get the missile to track the enemy and while it worked the image wasn’t turning towards the enemy. This is where I learned about Rigidbody mechanics and the benefits of working with the physics engine. I found a blog from a gentleman that gave a very good explanation on how to use Unity’s rigidbodys physics system for a homing system.
Basically the first step is to figure out the missiles direction and the enemies direction, then using Pythagoras Theorem substract your missile direction from the enemies direction to give you the direction you need to take to intercept.
Next he had to take a step called Normalizing the vectors, which essentially converts the vector to a unit vector. This step I still don’t have a handle on and will look into the “why” later to make sure I fully understand it.
Next you calculate the amount of rotation needed to move towards the New direction and then you figure out the angular velocity by multiplying your angle changing speed Variable * the rotation amount. We also then add forward velocity using Transform.up * our movement speed and the rest is history. You just need to balance your Missile speed with the Angular rotation speed so you get the right behavior for the missile when you calculate their velocities. Since my enemies only move at 4 speed currently. I chose 7 speed for the missiles with angular rotation speed of 210 and it feels pretty fluid.
I have to say seeing the little missiles in action is really awesome and I could not have done it without the information I found on the internet. I am grateful to all the shared knowledge we have access to, this project is really challenging me to think in Mathematical terms again. Fortunately I do have a math degree so it does certainly help but I am rusty…..its been a looooong time since school for me . That being said I know that I will need to dig in to a lot more math problems to be successful in this career. Overall a great day and I plan to continue working on Phase 2 tomorrow. So far I have the ammo visualizer already done.
Mahalo,
Mark | https://medium.com/@mark-17211/day-9-phase-1-is-complete-1dc6767f98 | ['Mark Bohuslav'] | 2020-12-03 11:38:53.665000+00:00 | ['Unity', 'Game Design', 'C Sharp Programming', 'Game Development'] |
Python for MLR Model Diagnosis — Part 1&2 | from math import *
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import scipy
from scipy import stats
from scipy.stats import kstest
from scipy.stats import boxcox
import scipy.linalg as linalg
from sklearn import linear_model
import statsmodels.api as sm
import statsmodels.formula.api as smf
from statsmodels.stats.diagnostic import het_breuschpagan
from patsy import dmatrices
from statsmodels.stats.outliers_influence import variance_inflation_factor
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
%config InlineBackend.figure_format='retina' | https://medium.com/adamedelwiess/linear-regression-11-python-for-mlr-model-diagnosis-part-1-2-6695ee1e7880 | ['Adam Edelweiss'] | 2020-11-21 21:29:08.913000+00:00 | ['Mathematics', 'Python', 'Linear Regression', 'Model Diagnosis'] |
What kinds of data work well with blockchain? | This was a question asked by the audience during one of our meetups.
Preamble
Blockchain technology is often touted to guarantee the veracity, provenance, and immutability of data in a wide variety of applications. But is this true? Or more precisely, is this true for all kinds of data? A similar question was posed at one of Taraxa’s meetups, and here we elaborate our thoughts on the subject.
What does “work well” mean?
While many metrics of excellence exist when it comes to handling or processing data, blockchain’s first application, bitcoin, has cemented a few interesting characteristics within the popular psyche — we describe a few here that are particularly relevant to the discussion.
Veracity is the truthfulness of the data, or how accurately it portrays the objective reality.
is the truthfulness of the data, or how accurately it portrays the objective reality. Provenance is the source and history of a piece of data, it tells you where / what / who generated the data and how it had been handled since generation.
is the source and history of a piece of data, it tells you where / what / who generated the data and how it had been handled since generation. Immutability is the un-changeability of the data, or that the data cannot be tampered with once generated.
Can blockchain technology guarantee these properties for all kinds of data? | https://medium.com/taraxa-project/what-kinds-of-data-work-well-with-blockchain-6e1d81c2782e | ['Steven Pu'] | 2019-12-18 01:48:10.150000+00:00 | ['IoT', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain 101', 'Taraxa', 'Oracle'] |
China Defends Its Growing Trade With Sanctioned North Korea | This initiative of the Academy of Inner Science (under the leadership of Thomas Hübl) decontextualizes current events for contemplative practice. Editors are @joanabp @haefliger @bmadach @rollow @ThomasHuebl_en http://www.innerscience.info/en
Follow | https://medium.com/five-minutes-a-day/china-defends-its-growing-trade-with-sanctioned-north-korea-571e2e1ef6fa | [] | 2017-07-14 08:42:08.205000+00:00 | ['North Korea', 'Meditation', 'Global Social Witnessing', 'Personal Development'] |
Hi, we are peqii | “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” — Confucius. This is one of many motivational quotes you will read about work, but we disagree with this statement. Although you can love what you do, it still a job; you have responsibilities, milestones, and goals to achieve. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean work must be tedious or painful.
Due to the pandemic, when many people started working from home without any previous planning or training, discussions about the future of work increased considerably. It became clear that no line divides personal life from professional life. What happens in one sphere affects the other. Not only this, but it also became clear how important it is to employers to show they are aware of the difficulties employees face out of the work environment. In this context, we started to discuss and develop ideas to achieve one goal: help employers make their people happy at work.
Our company’s seed started growing during a brainstorming about how the world would be after the pandemic. The future of work was a big subject for us since we both have always enjoyed working, despite the vast disappointments we have faced in our careers with employers and teams. After much discussion, we decided to work on one specific idea we first called Swag as a Service.
The idea was to pivot the swag industry’s business model, from the current transaction model, into a flat monthly fee per employee. First, it made a lot of sense since working from home has become a trend. Sending swags overseas for global teams, for example, has turned into a growing pain. After dozens of in-depth interviews, we understood that swag’s logistics, and storage, are complicated and expensive. Not only this but many times, HR is also put in charge of this work, having to take time off people’s development planning to negotiate with buyers and carriers for the swags.
In these conversations we had with market experts, we realized that there was something bigger behind swags: employee engagement. Swags are used as one of many other things to motivate employees and increase employee engagement. The more we studied the subject, the more we understood how significant a lack of motivation could be to a company.
We then decided that tackling the lack of employee motivation issue was the right thing to do. We both left our jobs and started working on the business. In sum, we first picked the idea, and then we realized how connected it was with our values.
After a few months of studies and interviews, we were focused on what we want to pursue. Our mission is to make people around the globe happy and productive at work. Through innovative technologies and an appreciation of people’s individuality, we want to help companies offer a delightful work experience, motivating employees to bring their best selves to the work environment. Many industries have done this for their consumers, making their experience more enjoyable. Why not focus on the most important people in the company, the employees?
Engaged employees are more productive employees; studies have shown that companies with a high level of employee engagement are 22% more profitable than their competitors [1]. Our path to our goal passes through technology, which we believe is the best way to get insights into people’s individualities.
First, we understand that we need data, and time, to build a better understanding of employee motivation. So, we decided to start offering one straightforward value for our clients: efficiency. Our first product will be an easier way to manage swags without the burden of storing and shipping them. Companies with teams in multiple sites or overseas can rely on our end-to-end solution. Let us know what you want to give, and we will do it. We offer a simple solution to save companies’ money and time so that HR can focus on its core business: developing people.
Peqii’s next step is to work on personalization. Our goal is to understand what kind of gift will have more impact on that employee’s life. We already know that non-monetary gifts create a better effect on productivity due to the currency of reciprocity. According to a German study, no-monetary gifts increase productivity by 20% compared to monetary gifts[2]. More than just knowing what companies should gift, we want to determine when is the best time to do it.
We officially launch our business, looking for companies willing to create a delightful experience for their employees. We want to match with people who believe in employee engagement, who believe in people. Let’s start with a simple gift, for now, to make working fun! It is just the beginning.
[1] Gallup https://emplify.com/blog/employee-engagement-stats-2020/
[2] The Currency of Reciprocity: Gift Exchange in the Workplace http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.4.1644 | https://medium.com/@peqii/hi-we-are-peqii-ec59f133dae5 | [] | 2021-03-19 18:51:24.570000+00:00 | ['Workplace Culture', 'Startup', 'Employee Experience', 'Employee Engagement', 'Hrtech'] |
The Importance of Feeling to Heal | The Importance of Feeling to Heal
Is there a shortcut to healing?
Photo by Luis Galvez on Unsplash
I couldn’t heal because I kept pretending I wasn’t hurt.
I came upon this quote today and it got me thinking.
When things hurt, we try to pretend they don't. We convince ourselves that we are fine but we are well aware the thoughts are as loud as ever.
And we beat ourselves up about it. Why can’t I just get over it? I’m much stronger than this. This is not even that important, why am I upset? What is wrong with me?
We keep on flooding our minds with self-deprecating thoughts till we reach a point where the problem is no longer what happened to us. Now, the problem is within us. The problem seems to be us.
Well, actually it’s our minds. And it’s not really a problem, at least it doesn't intend to be. We are human, and humans have different responses to different stimuli. One very important physiological reaction to stressful or frightening events is to fight or flee. This is our fight or flight response.
When you sense danger, you might choose to fight it, or, as many of us do, you chose to run away from it. And running away can come in all forms. Some focus on their work and forget about their well-being, others insist that nothing is wrong, and others simply don't let themselves think about it.
We try to run away from the truth of things. We run away from the truth of us. From the truth of our hearts and minds.
Why? This comes from the fear of facing reality, because reality might hurt.
If you refuse to acknowledge the damage your experience is causing you, it will find ways to acknowledge its self. You might start getting mad easily. You might cry. You might withdraw from society. You might get physically sick.
If something hurts, you should not ignore it. For the pain to heal, you must first accept the fact that the pain exists.
You must feel it. It is there and it hurts. But guess what, it’s nothing you can’t handle. Because if you start to feel, you start to heal.
And healing does not mean no pain
But healing pain is different than non-healing pain. Healing pain will help you grow in the long run.
Keep in mind that healing is different for each person. It is crucial to see how you could efficiently heal.
Going to therapy, turning to religion, working out, finding what makes them happy are all ways people use to heal. It’s not one thing or another, it could be a combination.
With this people are now in their fight response. They are fighting against their negativity. They are growing stronger even though it hurts temporarily.
If you keep pretending you're not hurting and refuse to get help if it is needed, you're delaying your healing process. | https://medium.com/illumination/the-importance-of-feeling-to-heal-3c52a18e9318 | ['Tina S'] | 2020-12-28 14:06:02.907000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Self', 'Feelings', 'Healing', 'Self Improvement'] |
Things UX writers hear a lot, but wish they didn’t… | Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
If you’re a content designer, you’re probably already making a mental list of all the things you’ve heard that made you feel this way. Hit me up; I’d love to hear them!
If you’re not a content designer, you’re probably wondering “What’d I do?” Well, read on to find out what you may have done.
Disclaimer: While this is all based on truth, no offense intended. If you still feel bad, then maybe you’ve got a few things to fix. Let’s all have a good laugh, and hopefully take a lesson or two from this into tomorrow and beyond.
Here we go, in no particular order of the intensity of eye-rolls they inspire.
We need you to add copy here
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this one. This is a classic example of a transactional, uncollaborative, siloed, and downright boring way of working with a UX writer.
This is also quite common. In fact, I’m sure every one of us has been guilty of this one. Now, I can sense you perking up and looking all hurt and offended.
But, come on. The truth is a bitter pill to swallow.
The good thing is that, while all of us start here, most of us get past this stage. We learn soon enough (or not) that this is not the way to work with a UX writer and that this will not yield the best results for anybody involved. So cheer up! You probably felt offended because you’ve learned this lesson and have moved forward. Good for you!
If you’re a writer stuck in this phase, I’m truly sorry for you. If you’re a stakeholder (hope it’s not a sharp one) who has this kind of a relationship with a writer, well, you know what to do.
The designs are already done
This is usually a follow-up to the earlier statement. It usually goes something like this: “Hey Bala, how’s it going?”
That’s how you’re usually hooked in. While you think of a response for this that’s somewhere between honest and obvious, you get a follow up:
“So, we need your help. After all, you’re the word master!”
Aah! Fresh air gently caressing the dying embers of your fragile writer ego. You perk up, giving them your undivided attention.
“We had a great brainstorm yesterday and everything moved lightning fast! So now we have the designs ready and all it needs is your copy magic.”
That’s when the freight train hits you, as you stand on the track, blindsided by the beauty of the deer at the treeline you just locked eyes with. You begin to have a moment, and then, you don't.
Your mind spins into overdrive, your flaming ego dies back down into an ember and you drown under the weight of a million questions: “Why wasn’t I in the brainstorm?” “Who will explain the logic behind these designs?” “What if the copy won’t fit in the element?” “What if I’m not convinced?” “What if there’s a better way?” “What if…”
We can explain this in a tooltip
This is another classic. And it’s one of those lines that make me cringe every time I hear it. Don’t get me wrong; I am not against tooltips. I believe they are a very vital and helpful tool for our users to navigate our products effectively.
However, what really bothers me about this line is the underlying fact that copy is being used as a crutch to support the design. You’d be shocked to know how often this happens, maybe you already do.
I don’t think there’s anything more to be said about this one. Please, don’t be that person. Your product, and your designs, should not be handicapped. Your users deserve better. If you find yourself in this situation, rush your designs to the OR, ask your UX writer to scrub in with you, do that surgery you’ve been postponing for a long time, and get the limp fixed.
Help your product and your users do the happy dance like this old-timer!
We need to explain all this in two words
While this isn’t technically an affront, this isn’t always possible, or necessary. Brevity is my morning brew as a content designer. However, I take my coffee with milk and sugar — chocolate sprinkles and fudge too if available. Definitely, some whipped cream to top it all off.
A good piece of copy is like this mocha that I just described. There are some that may argue it’s the devil’s drink, loaded with calories and too many ingredients. But if those were the only kind of people that existed, we would all be drinking our coffee black and bland.
Not to mention, “all that” may not fit into “two words” no matter how hard you tried to stuff it. Sometimes you just need some space to play around with. And nobody has earned it more, than your content designer.
So don’t be stingy. Be mindful of the length, sure. Work hard to not bore people to their deaths, absolutely! But don’t compromise clarity and humanity for brevity. If you do, your users may have two other words for you. Two really hurtful ones — “F*&@ this”. And they’ll be gone. Forever.
Can we have this by EoD today? Thanks!
This is another classic. You know as well as I do, there are a lot of people out there who think copy is magically conjured by geeky little elves with impeccable grammar — making all the magic happen, out of your sight. To them, you’re sort of like Dobby and his elven brethren cooking away in the kitchen, ready with the best delicacies at the snap of a finger.
You’re magical and hard-working, but then, because of these very reasons, what you do is of little consequence to them. Because you’re that amazing creature that can conjure words out of thin air and in no time.
Only, you’re not. And it takes a lot more time to write even a small piece of copy; a lot more than these people are willing to afford to or aware of anyway.
So people, when you want something done EOD, just do it yourself. Don’t make your UX writers walk around with the guilt of having written crappy copy to meet your poorly planned and hastily executed schemes. Besides, if something is that urgent, it’s probably already a lost cause. So might as well take your time with it and get it right.
I mean, whatever happened to “haste makes waste” and all that?
It’s only a few words anyway
This is the worst follow-up to can make to the previous statement. And people usually do. These two lines are as inseparable in everyday tech life as are cheese and wine.
It’s not enough to assume that you’re magical, they have to also think that your work is simple. This is the ultimate way to rub your UX writer off the wrong way.
Just because it’s a few words of copy (or you think it is) doesn’t mean it's easy or that it can be done quickly, or at the last minute. The fact that you may think the copy is an insignificant part of whatever it is you’re building, doesn’t mean that it actually is.
And if you’re a writer and you kind of agree with this, change your mindset, like immediately! Any good content designer knows that writing is but a small part of UX writing. There’s a lot more than just words that go into creating any piece of copy or interaction.
In short, if you don’t want to be that person,
be nice to your content designers
give them the time they need to work their “magic”
understand and respect their work
Don’t diminish the value they add
be reasonable
Any fun anecdotes or things you’ve heard that I’ve not mentioned here? Let me know in the comments or reach out to me and let’s have a rant fest. Cheers! | https://uxdesign.cc/things-ux-writers-hear-a-lot-but-wish-they-didnt-f37de1cec8e2 | ['Balasubramanyn Meenakshisundaram'] | 2021-09-14 10:49:13.928000+00:00 | ['Ux Writing', 'UX', 'Workplace', 'Design Process', 'Content Design'] |
Notable Books From Small Presses | Notable Books From Small Presses
Note: I can receive a small commission from any purchases made using Bookshop affiliate links, but encourage you to buy from wherever suits you, especially another way to support indie bookstores.
Photo by Sabina Sturzu on Unsplash.
Decreasing Competition in Publishing
In November, the largest trade publisher in the country, Penguin Random House, announced plans to buy Simon & Schuster, the number-three publisher, in a $2 billion deal. Though some see it as a way to band together against the growing predatory power of Amazon, many have criticized how it will likely hurt both authors and readers. Authors will have fewer options for where to publish their manuscripts, decreasing their financial and creative agency. Meanwhile, readers may suffer when a publishing conglomerate does not feel the competitive need to take as many risks. While Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster have undoubtedly published some amazing books, it’s important to ensure that their creative success is not at the expense of underfunded, new, and diverse voices.
“Small presses have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to diversity. They take more risks and excel at the kind of thoughtful, nuanced diversity that people are clamoring for right now.” — Hannah Ehrlich, publicity manager of Lee & Low
With this merger in mind, it’s increasingly important to uplift small presses, which will be even more vulnerable to the domination of a few powerful publishers. Small indie presses provide a platform for emerging writers and will often publish more experimental books, so their contributions to the literary industry should not be understated.
With that said, here are a few books worthy of love from indie publishers, many with forms and voices that are often dismissed by mainstream publishing: | https://baos.pub/notable-books-from-small-presses-477b4dfd15bf | ['Kayla Vokolek'] | 2021-01-22 22:04:57.270000+00:00 | ['Reading', 'Books', 'Publishing', 'Books And Authors'] |
Three Things I Love About Being Pregnant (That Took Me by Surprise) | Reconnecting with my body
Or, what I like to call, the revelation.
I’ve often felt alone and disconnected from my body in the past. I’ve dabbled in disordered eating. And I have no real perception of how my body occupies space and time. In my sense of self, where my body is supposed to be, there’s a gaping hole. My body is a stranger to me.
I tried to mend this relationship with therapy. I thought I had a breakthrough when I started lifting weights and I discovered how strong my body could be and how well it could function. But occasionally, I would lapse and become disconnected again.
Now, with the life growing inside me, I’ve never felt more in tune with my body. Or more in love with it. Or less lonely inside it.
My body is not a temple. No. It’s my best friend and my partner in crime.
I look at it in all its bloated, gassy, clumsy glory, and for the first time in my life, I love what I see. I don’t criticize its proportions. I am not terrified by its ever-growing size. I don’t mourn the disappearing definition of my hip bones, my clavicles, and my knees.
I just think to myself: “Yep, my body is growing a human and it’s doing a damn good job about it!” | https://medium.com/@ivakoevska/three-things-i-love-about-being-pregnant-that-took-me-by-surprise-27cdb26a9332 | ['Iva Koevska-Atanasova'] | 2020-12-16 17:25:19.892000+00:00 | ['Body Image', 'Pregnancy'] |
I Voted for Joe Biden…but He Sucks | To date, one of my favorite books of all time is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt is a moral and political philosopher, and when I really wanted to understand the differences between liberal and conservative morality, this book was perfection, and it’s often cited by many respected intellectuals.
Jonathan Haidt created moral matrices to help people better understand the difference between liberal and conservative morality. For example, liberals care more about the principles of liberty and are against oppression more than conservatives. But a more important value that separates liberals and conservatives is how we view authority.
For the last four years, we’ve watched conservatives enable Donald Trump and believe he can do no wrong. Many of us sat back and were extremely frustrated how Trump’s followers and the Republican party turned a blind eye to the atrocities of Donald Trump, but when you understand Haidt’s moral matrix, it makes more sense. It doesn’t make it right, but it makes sense.
With that being said, now it’s time for those of us on the left to do what we do, which is speaking up to authority. For months, I’ve been keeping my mouth shut about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, because if you’re like me, you knew that we just needed to get Trump out of office. Now that it’s official, we can start speaking the truth because frankly, Joe Biden sucks.
I was extremely worried that after Biden was elected, in an effort to save face, everyone would continue to act like he was the greatest president we’re ever going to have. After spending the day on social media and talking with friends, I was pleasantly surprised that most people felt the same way I did. Not only that, but I saw people also recognizing that this is one of the important differences between people who voted for Trump and those who voted for Biden.
I don’t mean to ruin anyone’s great mood, but as a recovering drug addict, I feel I should warn you about what we call the “pink cloud”. Often times, when people first get sober, they feel incredible like they can conquer the world and nothing can go wrong, and we call this the pink cloud. Unfortunately, that pink cloud doesn’t last for long. To counter the effects of the pink cloud, we enjoy that great feeling while also being well aware that there’s still work to do, and I believe that’s the same thing we need to do with the election of Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris.
So first, we’re going to discuss everything wrong with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and then we’re going to talk about some of the delusions Democrats are experiencing right now. Then, we’re going to ask, “What can we do?”, and go over some solutions to make sure that we keep moving in the right direction. Yesterday was a great day, but there’s still quite a bit of work to be done.
Everything wrong with Joe Biden
I just finished the incredible new book from Dr. Nicholas Christakis Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live, and I truly believe it’s going to go down in history as one of the best books about the COVID pandemic of 2020. I think one of the most important parts of the book is when he discusses how even though we on the left pride ourselves as believers in science, we’re sometimes willfully ignorant and believe scientific evidence cares about moral values.
Although the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter were extremely important to show those in power that we will not stand for how they treat Black Americans, a lot of people were in denial. Yes, many people at the protests wore masks, but within weeks of the protests, we saw a major spike in COVID cases. The same scientists who advocated for social distancing then downplayed the effect these protests would have on COVID cases.
Again, the protests were a worthwhile cause, but if the experts want to remain respected, they need to be honest. During the protests, they should have been honest and said, “COVID cases are going to spike, but some American’s feel that it’s worth it to try and end police killings of unarmed Black men.” A statement like that wouldn’t have given them as much clout with the left, but their integrity would stay in tact.
I bring this up because yesterday was an amazing day, and it was a bright light we all needed during this disaster of a year, but my jaw was on the floor as I saw everyone in the streets celebrating. I can’t help but think the same people mad at Trump supporters who don’t take COVID seriously and the people mad at celebrities for partying were some of the same people in massive crowds yesterday.
This week, we had a record number of single-day COVID cases, and with all of the celebrations yesterday, I think we’re going to break more records. Why do I bring this up? Because COVID cases are about to spike after you celebrated a man winning who is against Medicare for All.
Leading up to November 3rd, Donald Trump and other Republicans made claims that Joe Biden was a socialist and further left than Bernie Sanders. But if you’re someone like me, whenever you heard that, you said, “I WISH!”
We can’t let the joy of this victory blind us to the fact that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a lot of corporate interests. I’m optimistic, and some have argued that they’ve both changed over the years, and I hope those people are correct. But we need to remember all of the things Joe Biden has been against so we can keep an eye on him and hold him accountable.
Not only is he against Medicare for All, but he’s also against legalizing marijuana. This year, we had an incredible shift in drug policies in a wide range of states. The War on Drugs was one of the worst things to happen to this country, and we’re finally waking up to that fact. Not only has The War on Drugs disproportionately affected the Black community, but we treat drug addicts like criminals rather than people who are sick. Here in Nevada, we legalized weed a few years ago like other states, but Oregon made the most progress by decriminalizing all drugs, and four more new states legalized marijuana.
The American people know that marijuana is far less harmful than legalized substances like alcohol, and it’s far less deadly than the addictive opioids that doctors prescribe by the millions. Unfortunately, Joe Biden has been very loud and clear about not legalizing marijuana on a federal level. There are thousands of people who have a criminal record for marijuana possession, and we still have people in jail for it. Even with the legalization here in Nevada, since it’s not legalized federally, you can be denied work or fired for having it in your system.
As a half-black man, these policies are important to me. And while I’m ecstatic that Kamala Harris is not only the first female Vice President, but she’s also African and Asian American. Unfortunately, as Attorney General, Kamala Harris was extremely strict on Black people and crime. In an article from Afropunk.com, the writer said:
As someone from the Bay Area and living in Oakland, I am constantly reminded of her history of locking up Black people in the Bay Area. Her track record consists of terrorizing Black communities through the prison industrial complex and she has consistently shown herself to be an enemy to the masses of Black people.
Yesterday, this clip of Van Jones went viral:
During this time, don’t be disillusioned that all of our problems are going to be solved because we removed Donald Trump from office. Remember, the deaths of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, and many others Black Americans all happened while Barack Obama was in office.
No matter how many times Van Jones cries on television, we need to remember that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are taking care of people like him. I’m glad that they’ve mentioned raising the minimum wage, but just weeks ago, Joe Biden basically said that you’re wealthy people are those making over $400,000 a year. In a country of 328 million people, the average income is $57,456, and that’s a generous number.
I don’t know about you, but I’m 35 years old, and I’ve never made $57,000 a year in my life.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have shown who they are, and one of the biggest issues is that people think they’re going to change now that they’ve been elected. The reality is that a vampire isn’t polite just because you invited them into your house.
Are they going to change?
In Joe Biden’s victory speech, he thanked Black Americans for helping him win the election. He said that they had his back, and now he’s going to have theirs. This week, Stacey Abrams became a household name for her work in Georgia and how she helped flip the state blue for the first time in years. Many are now calling for Biden to find a spot for Stacey Abrams in his cabinet. There have even been whispers that Bernie Sanders wants to be the Labor Secretary.
Unfortunately, that’s not how this thing works.
Kyle Kulinski from Secular talk puts it perfectly in this video.
It’s already official. Joe Biden is President-elect, and we got him for the next four years. But for some reason, a lot of articles have come out saying what Joe Biden needs to do for different classes of people who voted for him. Then, there are the senators and politicians who endorsed him, and then asked for things in return after the fact. This man was just put in the most powerful position in the country, he doesn’t have to do anything for three years until it’s time for a re-election campaign.
I don’t mean to be a pessimist, but I’m a realist. I wish we lived in a world where politicians honored reciprocity, but that’s not the case. For years, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, haven’t worked for us: they’ve worked for the corporations. I’m glad that these two have given people much-needed hope, but now it’s time to hold them accountable. So, what can we do?
What can we do?
This year, we shattered voting records. I saw many theories floating around for why that is. Some people said that this just proved how bad Hilary Clinton was, and some think it shows that Joe Biden is just an amazing person. As a recovering drug addict, I respect how he’s publicly handled being the father of a recovering addict, but I have a different theory for why we broke voting records. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I think that people turned up in record numbers not because Biden is that good, but because Trump was that bad.
You’d think World War 3 ended with the way people were celebrating yesterday. People flocked to the streets to chant, party, and play music. In London, they lit off fireworks, and they range the church bells in Paris. The entire world celebrated. But we weren’t celebrating the election of Joe Biden; we celebrated the removal of Donald Trump.
If we hope to make this the country the one we know it can be, we need to keep this same energy for the next four years. This means that we need to pay attention and stay involved. The American people have spoken time and time again, and we’re just asking to catch up to other developed nations.
The majority of Americans want a single-payer healthcare system and free college. We also want a Green New Deal, and as we saw with so many other states, we want the legalization of marijuana and an end to The War on Drugs. This year, we showed what can happen when we show up and make our voices heard, so over these next four years, we need to do it again, and again, and again on the local, state, and federal levels.
I’m not a political scientist, but over the last four years, I’ve done everything I can to learn about how our system works. I spent the first 30 years of my life saying that I didn’t care about politics and my vote doesn’t matter, and that was ignorant of me. This is why I encourage all of you to stay informed and see what’s happening in your local elections and fight for what you believe in.
While I don’t agree with everything Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez does, I respect the hell out of her, and she’s one of the most progressive voices we have for our generation. What’s so inspiring about her is that she’s a young woman who won an impossible election, and now everyone knows her name as she stands up for a social democracy. Since she was elected, we’ve seen more and more progressives be elected by major cities and states, and we have to keep that rolling.
Relative to Donald Trump, any new president would look good, but Biden and Harris need to know that we’ll vote them out in 2024, and it’s not just them. Our local and state politicians hold a lot of power, and who they endorse matters. If they aren’t standing up for what we want, we need to vote them out in the mid-terms. That’s the only way we’re going to elect a president that’s working in our best interests as a society.
Remember, the pink cloud fades, and by Springtime of 2021, we’re going to remember the state that this country is in and has been in since before Donald Trump. People are still going to struggle to put food on the table. People are going to struggle to pay for rent and healthcare. Before Donald Trump, suicide and overdose rates were on the rise for years, and they’ve only become worse since the pandemic. Police brutality, disproportionate incarceration rates, and the murdering of Black Americans are still going to be an issue.
But the going back to where we started with Jonathan Haidt’s moral matrix, there’s a difference between those who voted for Trump and those who voted for Biden; we’re not afraid to speak to authority and fight for the America that we all deserve to live in. | https://medium.com/an-injustice/i-voted-for-joe-biden-but-he-sucks-77ae9c1c53b5 | ['The Rewired Soul'] | 2020-11-09 21:25:43.499000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Joe Biden', 'Democrats', 'Government', 'Election 2020'] |
“The Bachelorette” Series 16- Episode 13 > Tv-Online 2020 | New Episode — The Bachelorette Season 16 Episode 13 (Full Episode) Top Show
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🦋 TELEVISION 🦋
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 191s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 1950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[1] during the 1915s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 150s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (531i, with 909093 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3451513, 3451513 and 3334. Since 115, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, HBO Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 113, 39% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[3] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 1990s. Most TV sets sold during the 150s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-115s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 115s.[1][3][8] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 3.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 115s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 150s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 150s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 115s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
🦋 OVERVIEW 🦋
A subgenre that joins the sentiment type with parody, zeroing in on at least two people since they find and endeavor to deal with their sentimental love, attractions to each other. The cliché plot line follows the “kid gets-young lady”, “kid loses-young lady”, “kid gets young lady back once more” grouping. Normally, there are multitudinous variations to this plot (and new curves, for example, switching the sex parts in the story), and far of the by and large happy parody lies in the social cooperations and sexual strain between your characters, who every now and again either won’t concede they are pulled in to each other or must deal with others’ interfering inside their issues.
Regularly carefully thought as an artistic sort or structure, however utilized it is additionally found in the realistic and performing expressions. In parody, human or individual indecencies, indiscretions, misuses, or deficiencies are composed to rebuff by methods for scorn, disparagement, vaudeville, incongruity, or different strategies, preferably with the plan to impact an aftereffect of progress. Parody is by and large intended to be interesting, yet its motivation isn’t generally humor as an assault on something the essayist objects to, utilizing mind. A typical, nearly characterizing highlight of parody is its solid vein of incongruity or mockery, yet spoof, vaudeville, distortion, juxtaposition, correlation, similarity, and risqué statement all regularly show up in ironical discourse and composing. The key point, is that “in parody, incongruity is aggressor.” This “assailant incongruity” (or mockery) frequently claims to favor (or if nothing else acknowledge as common) the very things the humorist really wishes to assault.
In the wake of calling Zed and his Blackblood confidants to spare The Bachelorette, Talon winds up sold out by her own sort and battles to accommodate her human companions and her Blackblood legacy. With the satanic Lu Qiri giving the muscle to uphold Zed’s ground breaking strategy, The Bachelorette’s human occupants are subjugated as excavators looking for a baffling substance to illuminate a dull conundrum. As Talon finds more about her lost family from Yavalla, she should sort out the certainties from the falsehoods, and explain the riddle of her legacy and an overlooked force, before the world becomes subjugated to another force that could devour each living being.
Claw is the solitary overcomer of a race called Blackbloods. A long time after her whole town is annihilated by a pack of merciless hired soldiers, Talon goes to an untamed post on the edge of the enlightened world, as she tracks the huggers of her family. On her excursion to this station, Talon finds she has a strange heavenly force that she should figure out how to control so as to spare herself, and guard the world against an over the top strict tyrant. | https://medium.com/@hsa3d7/the-bachelorette-series-16-episode-13-tv-online-2020-96ece5fe693a | [] | 2020-12-22 02:39:01.248000+00:00 | ['TV Series', 'Startup', 'TV Shows', 'Reality'] |
A quick start with Navigation in React-Native for beginners | PART 2: React Navigation
Introduction and Installation
In the apps, have you ever thought about how the transitions between screens are done? the answer to this question is React Navigation. React Navigation provides a stack navigator for users to move between screens, pushing and popping items from the stack and manage navigation history.
Before getting started with react-navigation, you need to install it. Open the link below and follow the steps.
Now after you install react-navigation, run the following command in the terminal inside the project to install the stack navigator library.
npm install @react-navigation/stack
or
yarn add @react-navigation/stack
Using stack navigator to navigate between screen components
In this section, we will create multiple screens and navigate between them using a stack navigator. So let’s begin by first creating a /components folder in the root of our project. Then we create three files namely HomeScreen.js , FirstScreen.js and SecondScreen.js
The project folder should look like what’s shown below:
Now we want to implement our screens (also called pages)
As you see above we create a home screen and the navigation prop is passed down to our screen components. On this page, we have three views components. The first one contains the text component. the second one contains a button component and the third one also contain a button component.
Now we defined two buttons, one for the first screen and the other for the second screen, also we specified the title and onPress prop.
onPress prop allows us to move to another screen when we press on it by writing navigation.navigate('FirstScreen') , and as you see in lines 11 and 14, inside round brackets, we write the name of the screen that we want to move to it.
Then we will do the same thing for the first screen and second screen.
As you see in line 12 in FirstScreen and line 11 in SecondScreen we used navigation.goBack(). The goBack method lets us go back to the previous screen in the navigator and by default goBack will go back from the screen that it is called from.
Now let’s move to the App.js file
We make some changes to App.js . We import what we need from react-navigation and implement our navigation there.
It is useful to implement our navigation in the root App.js file because the component exported from App.js is the entry point (or root component) for a React Native app, and every other component is a descendant.
In lines 5 and 6 we import NavigationContainer and createStackNavigator.
NavigationContainer is a component which manages our navigation tree and contains the navigation state. This component must wrap all navigators structure.
createStackNavigator is a function that returns an object containing 2 properties: Screen and Navigator . Both of them are React components used for configuring the navigator. The Navigator should contain Screen elements as its children to define the configuration for routes.
In lines 7,8 and 9 we import our screen components.
In line 11 we create our object stack that provides a way for our app to transition between screens.
Now our stack has three routes, a Home route, FirstScreen route and SecondScreen route. A route can be specified by using the Screen component. The Screen component accepts a name prop which corresponds to the name of the route we will use to navigate, and a component prop which corresponds to the component it'll render. Also it accepts an optional prop named options prop as written in line 17.
Finally, our results should be as following
In the next post, we will work on how to pass parameters to routes and explore various navigation patterns used in mobile apps and how to achieve them using React Navigation library. | https://medium.com/@abood-alraies/a-quick-start-with-react-native-bd5c4dd0ddca | ['Abdulrahman Raies'] | 2020-12-25 13:48:06.751000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Navigation', 'Button', 'React Native', 'Coding'] |
How The Mandalorian’s Finale Reveal Fits Into Star Wars’ Timeline | The Mandalorian’s season finale took Din Djarin’s small slice of the Star Wars universe and exploded it into smithereens — smithereens with much larger ties to the vast Skywalker Saga than any of us could’ve imagined when this show first started last year. But now that its adventures are inextricably linked, here’s some context beyond that shocking reveal.
It’s time to talk about the return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Who, as “The Rescue” showed, is very much like his father before him, sharing the twin loves of being That Extra Drama Boy and completely messing shit up in corridors. Yes, it was revealed in The Mandalorian’s season two finale that it was none other than Luke who sensed Baby Yoda/Grogu in the Force on Tython’s seeing stone. The hero of Star Wars swooped in, for better or worse, leading to a heartbreaking separation between Din and the young Child. Luke took him away, intending to train him, presumably, as one of the first students of his new Jedi Temple.
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Though really, this would be way early in Luke’s path to creating a new Jedi Order. From what we know of Luke’s post-Return of the Jedi story before the events of the sequel trilogy, The Mandalorian takes place on the cusp of the Jedi achieving the dream he wanted ever since he made the vow to follow in the footsteps of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and thousands of Jedi Knights. But that’s not to say that Luke hasn’t been busy in the five years or so between the destruction of the second Death Star and the time of The Mandalorian, which takes place around 9–10 ABY (that’s After the Battle of Yavin).
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Much of Luke’s Star Wars time — up until his Mandalorian cameo — is in a period of intense, isolated discovery. Unlike Leia and even Han, who were quickly swept up in their own adventures with the New Republic in Endor’s wake — Leia forming the foundations of the new Senate alongside Mon Mothma, Han heading with Chewbacca to the Wookiee homeworld to liberate it once and for all — Luke pretty much sequestered himself from the status of being a commander in the Rebel Alliance. With his father and the Emperor dead, believing himself to be one of the last if not the last Jedi around, Luke immediately began looking for relics of Force users from eons past to guide him on the path of re-establishing the Jedi Order, texts and artifacts that he could study to truly expand upon the training given to him by Yoda and Obi-Wan and one day pass on to a new generation of Jedi.
One of the first things we know that Luke did after Endor was head to the planet Pillion, home to a secret observatory established by Emperor Palpatine to store trinkets and objects strong in the Force, part of the Sith Lord’s own explorations of the power to bestow eternal life. It’s an important moment depicted in EA’s Battlefront II story campaign, but certainly not one immediately apparent. Pillion is where Luke finds acquires a compass that would one day take him to the site of the first Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, the island he’s living on when Rey finds him in The Last Jedi.
One of the other first steps he took was that he indeed take on an apprentice, in Leia herself. Taking to the world of Ajan Kloss, Luke trained his sister to explore and understand the Force sensitivity that she’d had inside her whole life, teaching her how to tap into it, and how to build a lightsaber of her own. But it was a life Leia was not willing to follow as her brother had: witnessing a vision of the Dark Side and her unborn son during one of her final tests, Leia decided that her path didn’t lie in rebuilding the Jedi, leaving her brother and her lightsaber behind for generations beyond their family to learn from.
The Skywalker bloodline is perhaps defined by a series of failures. Anakin’s attempts to protect…
From there, Luke’s story is hazy — he sticks to the shadows, keeps out of the galactic scale his friends find themselves in, largely staying out of the final days of the Galactic Civil War. In fact, his presence as much as we know it is very much in line with his appearance on The Mandalorian: he appears, as if out of nowhere, a mysterious figure cloaked in black and wielding the weapon of a Jedi Knight, only to slip away when the job is done, leaving people nothing but a legend to tell others.
Image: Marco Checchetto, Andres Mossa, and Joe Caramagna/Marvel Comics
Months after Endor, Luke worked with the Rebel pilot Shara Bey — the mother of Poe Dameron — to retrieve a Force-imbued Uneti Tree, one grown at the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, from Imperial Remnant holdouts on Vetine. From here, he laid the groundwork for his own Jedi Temple, but after failing to convince Leia to stay by his side, Luke believed he still had much to learn before taking on more apprentices.
What followed was a quest all over the galaxy to find and study artifacts that had power in both the Light and Dark sides of the Force: Luke visited Gatalenta, a planet rich in Jedi history despite the Empire’s purges, to learn more of the Order’s history. He even visited Moraband, the homeworld of the Sith, to better understand the full depths of the Force, and Ossus, home to one of the oldest Jedi libraries. He recruited people like Lor San Tekka to help him hunt down as many texts and teachings as he could, traveling the galaxy almost in secret.
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The product of those journeys was, as Luke called them in The Last Jedi, the ancient Jedi texts. With that collection of teachings and ruminations from across centuries of Force user history, Luke’s archive was slowly built as he and Tekka used the Pillio compass to eventually locate Ahch-To, keeping the location of it a secret as Luke searched what was left of the temple for even more texts. He hoped not just to enhance his own view of the Force but to find ways to stop the Sith from ever threatening the galaxy again.
What we know beyond that is a mystery — all this happens within the time frame of those five to six years between Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian, but there are still many pieces of the puzzle left unknown. Presumably, it would be safe to say that Luke sets up his Jedi Academy in this time period, completes what archives of old Jedi teachings he could, and reaches out to young Force-sensitives to train the next generation of Jedi. He wouldn’t be training Ben Solo yet — Ben, born in 5ABY, was not sent to train under his uncle by Leia until he was 10, long after Grogu. He’d also probably spend some time on things like the history of Sith Wayfinders and the location of Exegol, home of the Sith Eternal (including the broken spirit of a certain, hard to kill former Senator from Naboo), which would compel him until the tragedy of his nephew’s downfall would lay the Academy low decades later.
Beyond that, we don’t really know much more. It seems like Luke Skywalker, dancing in and out of the galactic spotlight and the pages of folklore as the last bastion of the Jedi Order, would like to keep it that way for a good while yet. That is, unless Disney decides that now’s the time to start putting a young Mark Hamill’s distressingly rendered face on as many stunt doubles across The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, or its plethora of other upcoming Disney+ series as possible. Star Wars does love itself a legend that can never die, after all.
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Although it’s now been years since Disney wiped the canonical Star Wars slate clean, one of its… | https://medium.com/@mayor-tech6/how-the-mandalorians-finale-reveal-fits-into-star-wars-timeline-f0fbeb057b13 | [] | 2020-12-21 22:30:06.911000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'The Mandalorian', 'Fiverr', 'USA', 'Fiverr Gig'] |
Variable thresholds for your Power BI alerts with a streaming dataset | Power BI Alerts are an interesting way to notify you when something is wrong. In this article, I will show you how to set up alerts with a variable threshold. For this example, I use a streaming dataset, created in Power BI, and a PowerShell script I got from the guys at Guy in a Cube.
So first we create a streaming dataset in Power BI:
Don’t forget to turn on historic data analysis as mentioned in the video, otherwise, you can’t create a report! The values are standard so don’t worry about that now! Next, you go to API info and copy the endpoint (Push URL):
Now we copy this script, paste it in PowerShell, paste the endpoint at the variable on top and run it:
We can now create a report on the dataset:
But unfortunately, we can’t create measures in Power BI Service and we can’t download this PBIX. So the only card visuals we can make are: max, average, sum etc. and of course line graphs:
The line graph I made filters by the last 120 rows I got for my input. Otherwise, we would get a graph that is impossible to read. And on the other hand, we aren’t very interested in data from multiple hours ago, but you can always change this.
For the card with “latest CPU”, I filter by TopN (1) on the latest time, to get the latest value from the CPU. When I pin this to my dashboard I get the following results:
Now we can set alerts on my Latest CPU Card:
Unfortunately, we can only create static thresholds. But if we take a look at the graph, we can see a great difference between the numbers, so what I actually want is a threshold that looks at the average of the last five rows, with a margin of five, because its normal that my CPU increases, but I want to be alerted for these spikes. To do this, we have to create a new report in Power BI desktop, based on the streaming dataset, so we can create measures! | https://medium.com/@hamoen-erik/variable-thresholds-for-your-power-bi-alerts-with-a-streaming-dataset-3c9a04f93939 | ['Erik Hamoen'] | 2020-12-09 10:29:23.636000+00:00 | ['Real Time Streaming Data', 'Alerts', 'Dashboard', 'Powershell', 'Power Bi'] |
App Directory Spotlight #6 — MonkeyWorks, Primer and odrive | Happy Friday! It’s featured app day at Slack and we hope you enjoy what we’ve got this week. Our first two apps are great for marketing and product teams and the third is a file syncing product that is applicable to everyone. Share your feedback and let us know if there are any other types of apps you’d like to see featured in the future.
MonkeyWorks connects a suite of marketing tools to Slack so that your team can keep an eye on any and all updates. You can hook up Google AdWords, Optimizely, Mailchimp and Google Analytics and the MonkeyWorks app will provide almost any update you could ask for. For example, with Optimizely connected you can get alerted when variations aren’t getting visitors but you thought they would, when experiments have variations with significant results and get estimates about when experiments might be ready. Living the marketing dream. You can try out MonkeyWorks here https://www.monkeyworks.co/marketing-monitor/.
MonkeyWorks Slack Messages
Primer lets you deploy fully-customizable native mobile screens from the server. You can make custom workflows to provide targeted experiences to different groups of users and then A/B test your flows to improve their conversion rates. With the Slack app your team can stay tuned when new A/B variants are launched and when you have an A/B test winner. You can check out Primer here https://goprimer.com/instant.
An example of Primer in action
odrive is bi-directional file sync for all of your files in Slack. If you’re on a team that shares a lot of files then this is a great app for you. With odrive you don’t have to download a single file from Slack — instead they are all saved and synced into a cloud drive that mirrors your Slack team. If there’s one channel where you save a ton of files you can use the odrive app to peruse those very files in a folder structure, nice! You can find their beautiful informational page here https://www.odrive.com/links/slack. | https://medium.com/slack-developer-blog/app-directory-spotlight-6-monkeyworks-primer-and-odrive-c1f3db74e5f6 | ['Slack Api'] | 2016-04-08 06:03:18.611000+00:00 | ['App Directory', 'Slack', 'Startup'] |
Abzu’s artificial intelligence is fighting false news | Abzu’s artificial intelligence is fighting false news
The artificial intelligence applied research startup identifies false news with its proprietary QLattice
In the latest Reuters Institute Digital News Report, less than four in ten people said that they trust most news most of the time (that’s 38% surveyed in January 2020, a fall of four percentage points from 2019)¹. Imagine the numbers today.
Today’s global crises make it all too obvious the necessity for dependable and factual journalism, yet we are exposed to a continuum of information authored by innumerable sources with debatable credentials. Slaves to our most basic emotions — fear, disgust, and surprise² — we are inflamed by an addictive negative feedback loop of our own creation.
We crave the truth, but data shows we force-feed ourselves lies. That’s why it’s so exciting that artificial intelligence paired with a media marketplace could save us from our own humanity.
By any definition, it’s dishonesty
The 7 types of fake news from First Draft, who works to protect communities across the world from harmful information.
Claire Wardle of First Draft describes seven types of fake news³, ranging from accidental to insidious. The Council of Europe defines it as three “notions”: dis-information, mis-information, and mal-information⁴.
By any definition, no matter how nuanced the spectrum of intent, false news is dishonesty. And although the why behind the creation is integral to understanding the misinformation ecosystem, the what — simply the ability to identify content as true or false — is highly difficult for humans.
And what is most worrisome is the increasing global effect of false news over our political, economic, and social well-being.
“Fake news is not a problem of potential swing voters being misled. It reflects the potential for people on the extremes to be trapped in echo chambers that aren’t just reinforcing their opinions, but providing them with false and misleading factual claims that seem to reinforce those opinions².”
Make a list of possible rabble-rousers and their intentions — rogue nationalities, organized activists, propagandists, trolls, or excitable grandparents — the devil is in the dissemination, not the details.
Don’t blame the bot
A study done by Soroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy, and Sinan Aral in 2018 found that “robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate, implying that false news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it.”
Their research found that falsehoods travel six times faster, on average, than truth. And although falsehoods outpaced the truth on every subject, the pace for politics was unparalleled².
This Facebook ad from the Trump campaign used an image of protesters and police officers in Ukraine from 2014 ostensibly as a depiction of US protestors.
When campaigns use incorrect imagery with the intent to sway and shock, as a new ad for President Trump’s reelection campaign did to reinforce the presence of “chaos & violence” in the US, they prey on our natural tendency towards sensationalism.
Exactly how the intensity of emotional reactions induced by a story influences human behavior requires more study, but we do know that content which arouses greater fear, disgust, and surprise compels individuals to share farther, faster, and deeper².
If a human brain can’t evaluate a story’s veracity, especially under emotional duress, two Danish growth startups, Abzu and Byrd, wondered if a robot brain could.
Turns out, Abzu’s proprietary QLattice — a new artificial intelligence technology — through Byrd’s platform — a media marketplace for news outlets — can rate the truthiness of content very, very well.
Abzu’s proprietary AI identifies false news
Byrd is a leading breaking news and content platform that connects news outlets with photographers and videographers in real time through their Byrd Breaking marketplace. Abzu is an artificial intelligence applied research startup with a pioneering, explainable and transparent machine learning technology inspired by quantum mechanics and neural networks.
Together, these Danish startups have built a solution that automatically detects, and flags, falsified content in breaking news, rating media with a probability score of trustworthiness.
Abzu and Byrd are delivering near real-time verification on breaking news.
Each story and corresponding media undergo a machine learning verification process that captures the majority of false content, even as news breaks. If the artificial intelligence is uncertain, Byrd manually verifies content.
The transparent and explainable graph-based models from Abzu allow Byrd to precisely understand what inputs have been used to determine if content has been falsified. This means that Abzu’s transparent and explainable AI models allow Byrd to understand specifically why content was flagged as false, no matter the intent behind the falsification.
Once the what — the ability to identify content as true or false — has been taken out of our sweaty and clumsy human hands and put into a robot’s capable and steady algorithms, then the why behind false news creation can be explored.
This will empower journalists and the news media to explore and tell stories more thoroughly, accurately, and confidently. In a world of increasing instability, that is the kind of data-driven decision making that creates transformational industry leaders.
What a time to be a̵l̵i̵v̵e̵ dead inside
It’s vital for media networks to ensure stories are true and trustworthy. Mortal extremes exacerbate our consumption of and attitude towards news media, and we don’t need another crisis or election to remind us how susceptible we are to conspiracies and misinformation.
False news is an increasing global “infodemic” precisely because journalists — professional rationalists in emotional storms — no longer govern journalism. Greater access to social media and other platforms used to circulate news provides greater access to a wider range of sources and “alternative facts”.
But Abzu and Byrd see a different future: one where journalists and the news media can identify the trustworthiness of content with conviction, and can navigate the news ecosystem to a more transparent and trustworthy place.
“Our photographers are a crucial source of information, and we need to identify anyone trying to bring distrust into the media flow. With Abzu, we have been able to identify the majority of falsified news and also understand the reasons why stories are being falsified. It has given us another tool to fight fake news — and this tool applies itself.” Mikkel Reymann Stephensen, co-founder of Byrd
When falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted than the truth², how can humans preserve a news ecosystem that values and promotes accuracy? By introducing a little cold rationality to the environs; an artificially intelligent ally to save us from our own humanity. | https://medium.com/abzuai/abzus-artificial-intelligence-is-fighting-false-news-625b5d50be42 | ['Elyse Sims'] | 2020-09-11 08:42:29.779000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science', 'Data Journalism'] |
COTI 2020 in Review | 2020 has been an exciting year for the COTI network. After launching our TestNet and MainNet in 2019, we’ve been able to build upon this foundation to strengthen our network and continue to build out core aspects of our technology that has allowed for increased usage and utility of both the network itself and our COTI coin that powers it.
One of our most important achievements this year has been the completion and launch of our MultiDAG. The MutiDAG extends the capacity of our Trustchain to allow for multi-currency and additional token issuance on the COTI network. The MultiDAG lays the foundation to allow partners, from developers to enterprises and central banks, to issue tokens on top of the Trustchain. We have already been approached by potential partners and plan to participate in central banks tenders to issue Central Banks Digital Currencies in 2021. For more details and a demonstration of the MultiDAG, you can click here.
We also launched our COTI Pay v1.0 wallet, featuring a sleek responsive design for web browsers, COTI Bridge integration, updated staking support, and COTI-X integration. The COTI Pay v1.0 wallet is also now available as a mobile application on Android, via the Google Play Store and our iOS version of the wallet will soon be available on the Apple App Store (currently in the approval process). For those who haven’t accessed or downloaded the COTI Pay v1.0 wallet, you can click here to see what the wallet looks like.
To support liquidity across the COTI network, we launched COTI-X. COTI-X functions as an internally licensed exchange, a fiat on-ramp for the COTI ecosystem and is supported by several liquidity pools, including Uniswap. The COTI/ETH Uniswap pool is already being used by COTI-X to facilitate credit card purchases of COTI via the COTI Pay v1.0 wallet and on Binance and BitMax. COTI-X is also being used as a fiat on-ramp by some of our whitelabel wallet customers, covered in more detail below.
We recently released the COTI Global Trust System (GTS). The initial GTS system supports the Bitcoin network and will be expanded out to support Ethererum and Cardano in 2021. The GTS uses our unique Trustnode and Trustscore infrastructure to monitor user behaviour, calculate trust scores and as such, introduce more trust and adoption to other blockchain networks, past COTI. The GTS is available via a web interface and will also soon be available via an API and via Chainlink’s oracle and smart contract framework.
Our Trustchain 2.0 update has seen significant development and we’ve been hard at work at the challenges of implementing a pBFT consensus model to upgrade our network to DAG 2.0. This update will include major optimizations to the DAG structure and ClusterStamp that will significantly increase throughput and capacity on the Trustchain.
As we’re currently in the process of integrating our MainNet 1.0 into a major exchange to support more liquidity for our native COTI coin, in order to solve issues faced with the COTI Bridge availability and transfer limitations, this update has been pushed back to Q2 2021. Once this exchange integration is complete, we’ll be rolling out TestNet 2.0 and developing an SDK that will allow integration of MainNet 2.0 with KuCoin and other exchanges supporting the COTI native coin.
After the development of our underlying network architecture in 2019, one of our main points of focus in 2020 was building out our whitelabel merchant solutions to expand our payment network and use of the COTI network and utility of the COTI coin. We released several whitelabel wallet solutions in 2020 that use fiat, BTC, and stable coins that allow gaming merchants to accept crypto as a form of payment, firstly, Blockchain Dollars, used by Market Junction N.V, a gaming industry giant. Secondly, the Ultra eWallet, used by Dafabet, a name synonymous with gaming worldwide, and finally Simply Wallet, a custodian wallet with a simple user interface and with built-in credit card processing.
In 2021 we will continue to not only build further whitelabel products to support the growing demand for crypto and fiat-based patent solutions via our merchant network but also our Trustchain and supporting infrastructure to support the increased capacity required of this ever-increasing processing demand.
Towards the year’s end, we have introduced not only the long-awaited COTI debit card but also a direct integration of fiat into the COTI Pay wallet, allowing our consumers and merchants alike to use the COTI Pay wallet as a digital bank account, inclusive of an IBAN and supportive of both crypto and fiat alike.
We’ll also be focused on developing more features and tools for consumers who seek the same level of support and functionality we give to merchants: a combined world of crypto and fiat offers, via additional features in our COTI Pay wallet.
As always, our technology and development can be followed through our public GitHub. | https://medium.com/cotinetwork/coti-2020-in-review-527f4ba087ba | [] | 2021-01-01 12:06:22.503000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Community', 'Blockchain', 'Year In Review', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Are Blogs Still Worth the Effort as a Marketing Strategy? — Trade Press Services | Are Blogs Still Worth the Effort as a Marketing Strategy? — Trade Press Services Gerri Knilans Jul 6·3 min read
Over 409 million people view more than 20 billion blog pages each month. Despite these statistics, headlines such as “Is Blogging Dead?” resurface again and again. Why do so many marketers question the value of blogs in today’s marketing communications arsenal? In part, the answer might have to do with changes in how blogs are defined, which blog practices are followed and how this specific tactic fits into a company’s overall marketing strategy.
What Defines a Blog in 2021?
With varied opinions and conflicting research, some experts believe blogging has declined in popularity compared to other types of digital content. KoalaRank’s Arrigo Lupori, however, argues that the confusion lies in language, and that blogging isn’t becoming less popular, but the word “blog” is. According to Lupori, a wide range of terms like blogging, vlogging, digital content or influencer marketing fall under the wider umbrella (and newer concept) of content marketing. “The way blog posts are consumed today is wildly different compared to how they were consumed ten years ago,” Lupori says. “Bloggers have to adapt and create new business models if they want to keep achieving consistent results with their blogs.”
So, while the blog may not look the same as it did 10 years ago, the communication effort is as important as ever. Blogs have evolved into a convergence of varied digital communications formats including text, image, video and audio across multiple platforms. A successful blog integrates with all your company’s marketing initiatives and creates a consistent stream of communication from your brand.
Best Practices in Blogging
The best way to achieve a return on investment on your blogs is to consider the following practices:
33 percent read blogs to learn something new.
20 percent read blogs to be entertained.
12 percent read blogs to discover news or trends in their industry.
Nine percent said they’re driven to read blogs for all of the reasons given.
For these reasons, seek to create content that is informative, entertaining or educational, or accomplishes multiple purposes.
Yes, Blogs Are Still Worth It
Blogs have been around in some format since the early days of the internet. But just because something is longstanding doesn’t mean it is an easy nut to crack. Lisa Toner, director of content at HubSpot, says it isn’t enough to simply have a blog in today’s digital content world. “You need to consistently create content that is more valuable than your competition’s content. You need to be an SEO expert to get your articles ranking on page one of Google, and you need a distribution strategy to promote your content across all the channels your audience likes to consume content on.”
As one of the most cost-effective marketing tools available, blogging is essential to your company’s success. It’s an opportunity to connect with and understand your audiences, generate content that shows the voice of your business, position your company and its leaders as experts in your industry and capitalize on a tremendous opportunity to create content that will provide long-term digital results. | https://medium.com/@gerri-knilans/are-blogs-still-worth-the-effort-as-a-marketing-strategy-trade-press-services-c41ac0873851 | ['Gerri Knilans'] | 2021-07-08 00:13:05.598000+00:00 | ['B2b Content Marketing', 'B2b Blogging', 'Blogging', 'B2b Marketing'] |
Upcoming Betoken Smart Contracts Upgrade | Upcoming Betoken Smart Contracts Upgrade
As the current developers of Betoken, we introduced a developer-initiated upgrade in October. We’re glad to announce that the governance process to handle Betoken smart contracts upgrade was completed.
Next version:
0x58b64a1feAC144eb077627C9C6b66cE2097396Af
Proof of upgrade’s completion:
Read contract nextVersion and hasFinalizedNextVersion = true.
No action required from users
The upgrade will take place after the next intermission phase, around Tuesday, 31 December 2019. As usual, users will be able to withdraw funds before switching to the new smart contract. The deposit operations will be disabled during that intermission phase.
You’ll find below what to expect from that upgrade.
New fund management features
We will introduce a new mechanism for punishing huge manager’s losses more severely. A manager’s investments with losses below 10% will lose the normal amount of Kairo, whereas investments with more than 10% losses will lose a lot more Kairo as the losses increase. Investments with losses above 25% will lose all of the staked Kairo.
DEX.ag will be introduced as an alternative to Kyber Network for making basic orders. DEX.ag provides better rates and more liquidity by splitting a trade across several different exchanges (including Kyber, Uniswap, Bancor, Radar Relay, and more).
We will be able to purge any manager who has not managed assets in 2 cycles (60 days) from Betoken, a change from the current 6 cycles (180 days) threshold.
The gas cost of making Kyber trades will be slightly improved.
The gas cost of creating Compound margin orders will be greatly improved, thanks to the use of EIP-1167.
We will upgrade to Fulcrum V2, which has lower slippage and better gas cost that V1. We will also restrict Fulcrum orders to only ETH and WBTC, since other assets have low liquidity.
Bug fixes & maintenance | https://medium.com/betoken/betoken-smart-contracts-upgrade-is-coming-517aef03ff3c | ['Mcfly'] | 2019-12-28 15:32:16.373000+00:00 | ['Dapps', 'Defi', 'Smart Contracts', 'Ethereum', 'Betoken'] |
Benefits of Male Chastity Training | Benefits of Male Chastity Training
There are countless benefits of male chastity to delve into! Some of the most predominant and noticeable benefits include greater intimacy between couples, higher sex drive and libido, an overall happier life, and for dominant/submissive couples – the perfect tool to surrender/take control. Let’s break down these major benefits and highlight a few other outlying benefits of male chastity as well.
Strengthen Relationships & Increase Intimacy :
Steel chastity cages direct toward honest and open relationships with each other’s sexual needs, thereby strengthening your love life and your relationships. Moreover, it will improve the natural bonding among couples.
It Prevents Men from Masturbating:
Your man’s sexual energy should only be directed toward you; it should not get wasted in masturbating. Your man should not use that energy in touching his private parts with the thoughts of another woman in mind.
Happy Sex Life:
With chastity cages, you will have a better and improved sex life because your man will love you until his release. You will feel more erotic and will have more orgasm with growing sex.
No More Worry On Your partner/Spouse Cheating You:
Men, irrespective of how much they love their girls, get directed toward other sexy, appealing, and attractive women. But, these devices hinder their urges and will make them faithful toward you.
There will Always Be Romance:
As long as men have opportunities to have sex with you anytime, there’s no reason left for him to please you. However, by limiting the urges to have sex, they will remain a romantic person always. And, your love will remain fresh like your dating days.
No Need For Oral Sex:
Of course, it’s personal preferences to have oral sex, but your man will be happy with the sort of release after the chastity device sex.
Your Partner Will Feel Better About Themselves:
Men often become a slave of their libido and masturbate quite often. However, if they don’t get into the temptation of pleasing themselves, they will become happy with their self-control.
The Orgasm Will Become Better:
As long as your men can masturbate, he is doing things to desensitize its penis. But, once his ejaculations become normal, his penis will become sensitive, and the orgasm will improve.
Learn more about chastity training | https://medium.com/@femdom1990/benefits-of-male-chastity-training-8d86abcdbc1e | [] | 2021-04-01 14:10:37.296000+00:00 | ['Chastity Benefits', 'Cage', 'Benefits', 'Training', 'Lockup'] |
Blake Irving, CEO of GoDaddy, shares his startup way of running a public company | Blake Irving, CEO of GoDaddy, shares his startup way of running a public company StackTrek Follow Nov 23, 2020 · 8 min read
StackTrek’s founder Billy Yuen, engage in a conversation with former GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving on the pivoting moments and distinctive edge of his company, GoDaddy.
Bill is the Founder and CEO of StackTrek, a company specializing in using algorithms and data to build and scale programming teams for tech companies. Each week, Bill talks with top executives about startups, culture, and tech hiring.
Bill: How did you journey start at GoDaddy?
Blake: GoDaddy was primarily a US-based company. I wasn’t the original founder of the company; Bob Parson started it 20 years ago and I was offered the role almost 5 years ago. When I took the role, I flattened the platform and build common user experience. I globalized and market the company internationally. I would make the advertising square up with who we are, what we do, and who our customers are. For the last five years, we’ve been executing that plan. We’re now on 56 countries, localized in 56 countries; 50 different currencies, 29 languages. We’re doing business at a 125 countries today. More than half of our new customers come from the international markets now. We found a very important niche and we’ve been able to double revenues in the last 4 years. We’ll double our revenues again in the next 4 years through organic win acquisition; and most of that growth will come from international markets, South America, Europe and Asia.
Bill: You are basically transforming this GoDaddy into a tech company. That’s kind of like a startup founder building a new venture. What’s the most difficult challenge you’ve faced so far after you took over the job?
Blake: When I took the role, GoDaddy wasn’t perceived as a technological company. It was perceived primarily as a marketing company. My goal coming in was actually build a technical platform that small businesses could use globally and I think the challenge came from executing that plan. I had to pivot the company in the direction and hire employees that were good engineers. To do that, I had to open offices in various cities in the US and we also opened “customer cares”. Customer care organizations are very important part of our business and our go-to market and so we opened organizations in Europe, Asia, and even South Africa. It took a lot of effort to pivot the company into a technological one but we were able to do that, thanks to our engineers who have a lot of horsepower and are building the right products.
Bill: Under this new “tech startup” GoDaddy, the web builder is like your first big product. Tell me more about it.
Blake: The web-builder product actually is doing really well for us. You get a domain, you build a website, you go get e-mail — you look like you’re all up professional business. And with the website builder product, it allows us to let somebody go try out the tool, build the website and go, “Hey, that was pretty cool. Now, I’m gonna name it. Now, I’ll go get a domain.” So, we just changed the on-ramp to do something that’s a little different than that. We had another on-ramp that we just created in North America that is called Smartline. Smartline is a second phone line for your cellphone. The context is like this: you’re building a website and you gotta put a phone number on it so people could call you but you don’t put your personal phone number on a website because it’s not safe — people could steal your identity. So, Smartline is like having a second phone line on that website that customers can use to call you. That way, you can now discern whether the call is a personal matter or for business. It’s a cool feature and costs only US$4 a month and was soft-launched in the US.
Bill: Many tech startups are doing the freemium subscription model and it seems like you guys are going that direction as well.
Blake: Clearly, the market’s going in that direction and even our competitors are going with the website first and then the domain. It actually makes sense because there’s a cohort that wants to try the tool first before they buy it. Now, we put a 30-day free trial in place so customers can try the tool, build a site, and goof around with it. What’s even cooler about it is that it can even be built entirely using a mobile phone and has a full fidelity website in your PC.
Bill: Well, your situation is a little bit different because it feels like you’re actually building a tech startup from scratch, even though GoDaddy has been around 20 years and you have resources. But the thing is, due to some organization change, your team is now headed towards a new direction. Now, you’re starting to launch a new tech startup. Is there anything that you actually do differently in hindsight?
Blake: When I first came into the company, what would usually happen is the marketing team would get the engineers to build something or some new features to sell so that they can advertise it. We don’t do that anymore. What we do now is we build a product that has a solid product strategy. We plan it, we launch it, we line up marketing behind it, and then we iterate like crazy on that product using agile technology capability. And from there, we just continuously shift. The web-builder product has a new feature every week on at least 1,500 verticals and we’re just starting to get deeper and expanded. In a different perspective, I think we already had a great care organization and a brilliant marketing organization but the tech organization was mostly underdeveloped. By putting in place a strategy that allowed us to invest in developing technology, we’ve built up the product’s capability — making it scalable, high-performance, very reliable, and had the right features. Spending time doing that for 3 to 4 years and then building marketing on top of it has been a strategy pivot but we’ve executed it well. We are now focusing on getting the absolute best product outcome for our customers.
Bill: Those terms: agile, pivot, shipping weekly iterations; you really sound like a startup founder. Let’s shift to the big picture, what are the three technological trends that you’re paying attention to right now?
Blake: I think public cloud is becoming a huge thing. We’re actually using some of the technology from AWS or Google cloud or Azure and using it to our advantage. So if we’re gonna go deploy in India, we can get as close to the customers as possible through deploying somebody else’s cloud infrastructure. Technically, that’s important in building products using React on mobile phones. React is the language used in Facebook and it’s powerful. That’s why we’ve pivoted our developers to use it majorly for our UX and our mobile devices. It makes it easier to go negative. We’re already starting to do a lot of engagement now on mobile phones and tablets using React and this is the first design point for now. It’s no longer about getting something from the PC and pour it over to a mobile device; when my teams are coming in and having a demo with a new product, it should be on their mobile phones.
Bill: People often talk about startups disrupting industries and uprooting incumbent but we also see how startup innovations benefit corporations. What’s the impact of startup innovation on GoDaddy?
Blake: We’ve acquired some startups like WP, and Scurry. It was a security company for Wordpress and other websites. We have partnered with companies as well such as Microsoft, who’s a big partner of ours and who we’ve delivered millions of seats to with their Office 365. We wrote their installation process and making much simpler for Solopreneur. We both partner and acquire startups.
Bill: Hiring is a big challenge for startups. Everybody is competing for talents and you are in tech company going up against the likes of Google, Facebook, etc. How do you persuade people to choose GoDaddy?
Blake: We’re actually hiring from companies that you think we wouldn’t be able to compete with for employment. We actually have people who are leaving those companies and coming to us because we’re smaller and, therefore, faster. We’re not bureaucratic and we get stuff done quickly. Our engineering team is under a thousand people in total so that gives you more ability to affect the company and the software than it does if you’re working on your dangling dialogue box on a product that exists for a hundred thousand developers in a company.
Bill: How do you guys pitch to these developers when you’re trying to hire them?
Blake: Actually, when we lose a recruit to either Google or Microsoft and even Facebook sometimes, we’re also winning recruits that have offers from the same companies. The reason why these people come to us instead of going to one of those bigger companies is what I’ve described earlier. It’s a small company so your codes going to matter to everybody in the company, even the CEO. I actually show up to every new employee orientation, do an hour long pitch to meet everybody, have dinner with them that night, and just, get to know everybody. That isn’t the experience that you’re gonna have at Google, Facebook or Microsoft. They’re just too big; they can’t scale to that size. That’s the benefit of us being small and being able to grow the way we’ve been growing and engineers love it.
Bill: I want learn a little bit more about your culture. Since you’ve pivoted into a tech startup, do you run hackathons within the company?
Blake: Yes, we do hackathons, even multiple big hackathons with prices that I’ve judged. We also do stand-ups from the agile process on Fridays. We don’t usually do it at every sprint but like, in every other sprint, we have teams come in and show off their stuff. Everybody runs on two-week sprints now and they’re not all coordinated to end at the same time. But when we get together, we view virtual hackathons and then real hackathons. In virtual hackathons, we assume that everybody does work and they present it to the entire company. It’s actually pretty fun. | https://medium.com/stacktrek/blake-irving-ceo-of-godaddy-shares-his-startup-way-of-running-a-public-company-23916f3bfd44 | [] | 2020-11-23 03:14:05.910000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Technology', 'Recruiting', 'Startup', 'Tech'] |
İş Yerinde Mizah | 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/t%C3%BCrkiye/i%CC%87%C5%9F-yerinde-mizah-9a56dc8345a3 | ['Muhammet Ali Erdoğan'] | 2020-12-27 18:01:31.915000+00:00 | ['Insan Kaynaklari', 'Mizah', 'İşveren Markası', 'Ｍedium', 'Türkçe'] |
Solicitors have been battling on for clients in spite of lockdown | “I am always on the go, so I am rarely in the office. I’m always [in] police stations [and] magistrates [courts] all over the country. So I’m used to working, not necessarily from home, from my car, from a courtroom, from a canteen, from wherever I am.
“It’s not been that much of a change. It depends on the practice area.”
Rachel Fletcher, a criminal defence solicitor from the Manchester office of law firm Slater and Heelis, whose role is to provide guidance to clients no matter what the hour or place, is neither upbeat in the face of a drastically changed landscape in which she provides an essential role in the lives of many, nor pessimistic about the challenges that have been laid down in the path of her and all the others in her profession.
Rather, she’s determined to soldier on and make the best of a difficult situation.
It might be easy to forget but the emergency services aren’t the only front-line necessity who have had to adapt to the new landscape in which we are all having to live.
So has the UK criminal justice system.
For most of us dealing with a solicitor might be our first point of entry into the legal world should we find ourselves thrust into the position of needing legal representation, be it to bring the mugger who chose to relieve us of our money to justice for instance, or, God forbid, we should find ourselves in handcuffs facing a subsequent appointment in the dock.
Solicitors are no different to any other business who have found themselves forced into uncertain territory amidst this crisis, yet their role continues to be in as much demand as any emergency service, and they’ve had to persevere under extremely difficult circumstances as the coronavirus crisis has thrown the UK legal system into turmoil and uncertainty and it may be feeling the effects for a long time to come.
But for the moment it’s still ‘all systems go’ for Rachel at least, as she has a wide-ranging spread of work to deal with.
As lockdown was starting to ease over the summer Rachel admitted that she and others in her profession would be struggling if they had only been dealing with cases for the Magistrates courts which were closed during total lockdown except to deal with serious cases like domestic violence and prisoners on remand.
Crown court cases on the other hand were less affected and engaged with preliminary hearings by video, while letting the backlog of more serious cases grow, which according to Rachel created uncertainty for clients such as one she’s representing in an historical rape case who isn’t in prison or on bail and can do nothing but wait for their day in court, whenever that may be. The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in December though Rachel is sceptical it will happen then, claiming that as an historic case it doesn’t rank that highly on the Crown Prosecution Service’s list of priorities.
In fact in Rachel’s experiences the courts aren’t deciding if cases will go ahead until a day or two in advance, yet she still has to prepare clients for court nonetheless even if it doesn’t happen.
One client she represented for drink-driving just wanted to come in and plead guilty to their offence but couldn’t when their hearing was postponed from March to June, and then again to September.
It was estimated just before lockdown was initiated in March that a quarter of Crown Court trials will be disrupted due to new restrictions put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Over half a million criminal cases are now in a backlog which had been building and building for years until Covid landed and only made things worse when the courts had to put a lot of work on hold due to emergency measures.
Cases waiting to be dealt with in magistrates’ courts in England and Wales have risen by 22%, and 4% in the crown courts.
The number of Magistrates Court cases has risen from 484,000 pre-Covid, to over 500,000 since lockdown, while the number of Crown Court cases rose from 37,500 to 46,000.
Slater Heelis is one solicitors firm that didn’t furlough its staff, but rather gave them the option of coming into the office or working from home, an opportunity Rachel made use of by doing both, in a slight change to the norm that she’s used to.
“I’m still busy every day, I’m just not in and out of court or in and out of police stations as I would normally be but I’ve got other work to do.
“But I don’t think I’m typical really.
“Lots of my friends [are] criminal lawyers, [and] they’re struggling more than I am.”
As already mentioned, Rachel is usually on the go and not sitting in the office much anyway, and is thankfully well equipped for the situation as Slater Heelis was well prepared for adapting to the new status quo; “We’re very well set up for remote working. Slater Heelis [is] very progressive.
“We all have case management systems [and] laptops. Some firms were running around to try and sort this situation out but it was seamless for us.”
Rachel is still able to provide virtual guidance to most clients, though the ease depends on the scale of the offence, saying it’s easy enough to do with minor offences.
But she isn’t unique in that regard, and others are fighting similar battles.
The solicitors’ firm Olliers is another continuing to operate to the best of its ability, both from home and the office, and has reopened its doors allowing clients to visit the office again but with social distancing measures in place.
Alex Preston, a criminal defence and inquest solicitor from Olliers, who has also spent lockdown corresponding with clients by phone or video conferencing from her own home, admitted she doesn’t mind the combination of working from home and the office but doesn’t relish the idea of doing it full time.
“I don’t mind doing a mixture of [working from home and the office] but I don’t want to do it all the time.”
Alex is also uncertain about the fate of several trials she is working on as all the trials she was involved in at the time of lockdown had to be adjourned, causing delays to numerous cases.
She believes the courts have handled the situation as best as they can under the circumstances but believes the problem is that delays were already there before the current crisis and have only been exacerbated by it.
“The main issue with the court is delay and that’s a problem that totally predates Covid-19.
“There’s already a massive delay in cases being progressed through the courts and already massive delays waiting for trials, whether it’s in the Magistrates Court or Crown Court.
“Everyone’s focusing on the Crown Court but I think it’s about 85% cases are dealt with in the Magistrates Court and that’s where most justice is dispensed.”
The effect of the crisis has been distressing for a large number of the clients Alex deals with and created more anxiety for many.
Furthermore, the inability to provide the appropriate guidance in person can have an adverse effect on communication.
“I deal with lots of vulnerable clients and often communication can be really difficult and it’s been made more difficult by the fact that for a long period of time it was face to face.”
Alex has had to correspond with clients held in custody on remand but this was quite difficult when prison visits were initially prohibited for safety reasons before it was possible to arrange meetings by video-link, but that itself can be difficult to arrange as well when few prisons may possess the necessary facilities.
And the current circumstances can undoubtedly leave a toll on those kept in custody awaiting a court appearance or trial that’s currently on hold with possibly no date in sight.
“It’s very tough. Most of them are in their cells 23 hours a day with very little association or time out for themselves not doing jobs, not doing education in the way that they were before.”
I asked Alex if she thinks the legal system might be facing a crisis from the fallout of Covid-19 but in her opinion the legal system was facing one already even before the pandemic from a decade of austerity.
“The court system, criminal defence legal aid and the CPS have all been massively affected by austerity for the last 10 years so there already was a crisis.
“The Ministry of Justice was always having its funds cut.
“There is a crisis of funding in the legal system.”
When asked if she thinks the legal system might have to be adapted in ways it hasn’t been before, Alex said she believed the backlog in cases would become so bad that the courts would have no choice but to open up additional venues to accommodate trials; the so-called ‘Nightingale’ courts, after the makeshift clinics named after Florence Nightingale that were set up in several cities.
The Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland announced in June that 10 would be opened to start with across the country, but also commented that the UK would need at least 200 extra sites to deal with the backlog. Seven more have been announced since.
Rachel was more sceptical, cynically saying that criminal courts were ‘a mess’ and ‘on their knees’ and didn’t envision any kind of improvement after the severe financial cuts of the past several years, even going as far as to predict it would carry on as normal once normality has officially resumed.
When asked if they think cases could be seen as non-urgent and even dropped because of delay or expense, Rachel said the Crown Prosecution Service would have to consider not only the evidence, but whether or not there was a public interest to proceed.
Alex, however, was doubtful about the idea of cases being dropped, but didn’t rule it out entirely, speculating the idea of the Abuse of Process argument, in which the prosecution has taken so long that a defendant can no longer receive a fair trial, could be made in one’s defence.
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Alex and Rachel’s largest concerns right now are about their ability to continue helping their clients as best they can under the current circumstances, and the effect on their wellbeing, as the work they’re doing with them is likely to last longer, and be met with obstacles.
“It causes massive anxiety to suspects or defendants… because everything takes a lot longer to be resolved,” Alex said. | https://medium.com/@danmardle84/solicitors-have-been-battling-on-for-clients-in-spite-of-lockdown-29a8561474f6 | ['Daniel Mardle'] | 2020-11-13 17:43:22.500000+00:00 | ['Solicitor', 'Criminal Justice', 'Legal System'] |
The Overall Process of Migrating Databases to Alibaba Cloud(Part 1) | By Shantanu Kaushik
Cloud migration is like sipping a hot drink; it’s more enjoyable if you take your time with it, and it’s not advisable to rush through it. Cloud migration is best done in stages, and every stage should be treated as a case-study that you can learn from. Being patient and working through the process in an incremental manner will help to achieve a successful migration while ensuring business continuity. In this article, I’ll talk about the overall process of migrating databases to Alibaba Cloud and provides suggestions on planning your migration.
Alibaba Cloud Database Migration Solution
Alibaba Cloud offers a self-service database migration solution, which supports MySQL-to-MySQL migration, MySQL-to-PolarDB migration, and more. Alibaba Cloud migration service ensures minimal impact on your business and offers unlimited storage space. If you have custom migration scenarios, you can also reach out to Alibaba Cloud for customized solutions and migration preparation guidance. They can provide you with a migration strategy depending on your organizational goals and current setup.
When it comes to security, Alibaba Cloud has worked tirelessly to provide an end-to-end security practice with their solution. With access control, end-to-end encryption, and authorization policy management, Alibaba Cloud covers all of the bases for a successful database migration practice.
I am using Alibaba Cloud services to expand into the depths of database migration and all the products and services referenced in this article will be from Alibaba Cloud.
Evaluation
Testing the Waters
The first step in the migration process is to test the waters by getting yourself acquainted with the complete migration process, and start by copying an already existing (smaller) database to the cloud. This could work as a proof-of-concept.
Thereafter, you can start to manipulate the database by creating trusted user groups within your current team to gather feedback and alternatively train multiple users to handle database services on the cloud.
First Service
After you have evaluated the service, you can start by cloning some small service or services application data to begin with. This could be any non-critical service that may provide you with additional experience on how your applications will behave post-migration.
This is an easy one to do, as you can change the configuration of your application to point to the cloud database. This application could be hosted anywhere, and can already be on the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid cloud setup.
Benefits from the Move
Using conventional practices with databases has worked for years. However, with a changing world, one should start to leverage new technologies developed in recent years. Moving your database on the cloud offers significant boost in every aspect, be it security, performance, maintenance, or accessibility.
Another aspect that has revolutionized the service industry is DBaaS; Alibaba Cloud provides database solution as DBaaS (Database as a Service). This ensures an enterprise-level managed solution, without the hassle of maintaining backend resources like operating systems, RDBMS products, or any virtual servers.
Alibaba Cloud also provides cloud-native database solution such as PolarDB. This ensures that you don’t need to worry about overheads in database storage, or provisioning more storage resources if in case you run out.
Alibaba Cloud offers virtually unlimited storage with their database solution. Based on the pay-as-you-go model, the storage automatically expands to accommodate any change in usage.
Object Storage Service (OSS) has revolutionized how storage works on the cloud. It presents you with a solution that is way cheaper than using anything on an on-premises setup. This fully managed service takes over any hardware provisioning or maintenance issues, making it a more cost-effective solution.
Planning
One of the most important benefits of migrating your database to the cloud is the number of product options that you can choose from. It is the first step towards the evolution from traditional practices and solutions to a new architectural design. Cloud-native solutions can help a business to reach new horizons and expand rapidly.
Another key consideration is to minimize any sort of downtime while migrating. Ensuring that both your on-premises and cloud databases are fully functional should be the core practice for any business to follow.
Lastly, you can choose to migrate just by copying your database to the cloud, but it is always advised to look for upgrade your architecture. A well desgined and up-to-datechance to redefine the architecture and solution, provides a great opportunity while you are planning to move. This offers better business continuity and expansion scenarios.
The Solution | Alibaba Cloud
Tools
Alibaba Cloud has a feature-rich collection of tools that make it easier to manage the total migration process and the aftermath.
Data Transmission Service (DTS)
I am going to cover Data Transmission Service (DTS) what and how to in the next article. Here is a brief introduction:
Data Transmission Service (DTS) offers incremental or phased database migration solution. It supports multiple sources for database migration needs and is known for its proven reliability. This feature rich tool supports non-stop data flow and high-peak usage scenarios.
Data Management Service (DMS)
Data Management Service (DMS) provides a centralized control panel for you to manage authorization policies across databases. It enables the configuration of resources and services that protect sensitive information against unauthorized access. It also provides functionality to audit all operations and to manage the full lifecycle of your databases.
Database Backup Service (DBS)
Database Backup Service (DBS) is a solution that offers real time, continuous backup of databases. It supports multiple environments like hybrid cloud, public cloud and other enterprise data center. Database Backup Service (DBS) is a cost-effective solution that supports incremental backup and offers industry leading practices in security and encryption.
Full-Stack Control panel
An on-premises database solution comes with a lot of backend configuration and maintenance requirements. Multiple teams need to work on managing this solution as there are authorization challenges and numerous security threats and issues to sort through. Security, performance, and management concerns have had their time with administrators sorting through issues for days and weeks at a time.
With a fully managed Database Management Service (DMS), you can manage your user base easily. Not only that, almost everything happens over the ease of a click. The full-stack access control-based panel allows you to achieve every control task with ease and without any hassle.
Continued in Part 2
Industry specific solutions and success stories
Database solutions by Alibaba Cloud
Conclusion
Migrating existing databases to the cloud offers many benefits like cost saving, operations & maintenance (O&M), better scalability, and an overall more agile practice. Cloud migration provides a performance centric and cost-effective solution to achieve business excellence and expansion.
To ensure that your migration goes as smoothly as possible, and to leverage all the features associated with the migration solution, you must plan your migration and do it in stages.
Alibaba Cloud backs the solution with unlimited storage to further reduce the strorage based over-provisioning. The industry-leading range of cloud database technologies and tools further strengthens the system’s ability to cope with demand at peak times.
Lastly, the most important advice I can pass across is that you consult Alibaba Cloud’s migration team to get your current setup evaluated before planning a migration. This will ensure a smoother and more reliable practice, with selection of correct tools and resources.
Next In Line
Database Migration with Alibaba Cloud — Part 2 Data Transmission Service — What and How
The views expressed herein are for reference only and don’t necessarily represent the official views of Alibaba Cloud.
Original Source: | https://medium.com/@alibaba-cloud/database-migration-with-alibaba-cloud-part-1-88980f3cb8ba | ['Alibaba Cloud'] | 2020-12-21 06:10:06.425000+00:00 | ['Alibabacloud', 'Migration', 'Database', 'Database Migration', 'MySQL'] |
Beyond Coding: Watson Assistant Entities — Part 2, The Faces Of Entities | Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
In the first article, we went through an overview of where entities fit in the Watson Assistant structure. We also touched upon the different types of entities and their benefits.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the different types of entities — synonyms and patterns. As we know, entities are a feature which allows us to group items or concepts. This allows us to strengthen the intelligence of our Watson Assistant. But to further improve a customer’s (or end-user’s) experience, we can use entities to recognize patterns and extract data.
Entities are also broken down in two areas. The first is user-generated entities and the second is system entities. For now, we will focus on user-generated entities (entities you create for your assistant). System entities will be discussed in other articles.
User Generated Entities — Synonyms
At their very core, entities are synonyms which help the assistant determine what the customer is asking (in conjunction with intents). Entities are the mechanism by which we link concepts (words) to one another.
Consider entities to be a collection of groups. Each entity contains its members, and each member contains its synonyms.
The simplest example (which has been used to explain various concepts) is the group of Animals. For instance, we want to provide people with an assistant which helps them navigate a zoo’s enclosures. Part of the process is to understand which animal is being discussed.
With this in mind, we would create an entity called Animals. Within this entity, we would have several animals and their synonyms.
For example, “Hippopotamus” would have the synonyms “hippo”, “river horse”, “hippopotami”, “hippopotamuses” (to take into account the evolution of language) and perhaps even “Hippopotamus amphibious”. For this example, we will ignore the pygmy hippopotamus.
You would then continue to add synonyms for animals as required. But the level of detail depends on the domain, or topic, the assistant will discuss. In our fictional zoo, all birds may be housed in a single enclosure, which means you could create “Birds” as part of the “Animals” entity and populate it with synonyms such as “parrot”, “owl”, “kookaburra”, “condor”, “eagle” etc. If the birds were scattered in multiple enclosures, you could create an entry for “Birds of prey” / “Raptors”, “Nocturnal birds” or “Marsh birds”.
An example of the Animals entity
The delineation on how to define the entity is something we will look at in future articles, but for now it should be understood that an entity is the umbrella concept while the entries underneath it are the group’s members.
Possible expansions of the Animals entity
This now means the assistant now understand that a hippo and a parrot are both animals.
But is that the extent of the synonyms capability? Not at all. We could expand the entity synonyms to use phrases, or multiple concepts.
Consider the phrase “Tell me about”. It’s an indicator that the customer is asking for information. We could create entities for the components, but a phrase entity would suffice. We could consider adding “Explain to me”, “What do you know”, “Do you have information”, etc. By going beyond simple word synonyms, we begin to expand the building blocks — and the power — of entities in our assistant.
We’ll take a closer look at creating and defining entities in future articles, for now, it’s important to understand that entities aren’t limited to single concepts or words — as I’ve mentioned, an entity houses the groups of similar concepts.
User Generated Entities — Patterns
Entities as synonyms are useful in identifying information and determining the topic being discussed. But is data identification the most we can expect? Definitely not!
With pattern entities, you can tell the Watson assistant that you expect customers will provide certain data types — anything from an email address to an alphanumeric serial number. With pattern entities, you’re only limited by the customer information you need to identify.
Unlike Synonym Entities, Pattern Entities identify a recognizable pattern in the customer’s query. The structure of the pattern is determined by the regular expression (or regex) defined in the entity. I won’t delve into regular expressions (not only is the subject extensive, but there are numerous online resources which can help), but I will provide a simple example to better understand what we mean by Pattern Entities.
A pattern entity should follow the same considerations as a Synonym Entity — a top-level entity containing groups of concepts. But instead of synonyms, you are simply defining patterns.
It should be noted, an entity cannot be both a Synonym Entity and a Pattern Entity — entities can only be one or the other.
With that in mind, let’s consider our zoo navigation example. Our customers have been traveling around the zoo and they are told about discounts and offers with the zoo’s partners. To find the best discounts for their area, we need a zip code. With System entities, we can’t do anything more than understand the topic is “zip code” and “discounts”.
So, we create a new entity — Contact_Details. We now have an entity devoted to understanding how we can communicate with the customer. But more importantly, we can extract the information.
Once we have the high-level entity, we add a “Zip” entry. We then tell the assistant which regular expression pattern we want to use — (\b|\s)\d{5}(\b|\s). This simple example tells the system to look for continuous 5 digits with spaces or boundaries around those digits.
An example of Pattern entities
We now have a way of identifying the pattern, we can now extract this information from the customer’s response. The way we achieve this will be discussed in future articles, but for now we should understand that once we have the zip code we can decide what to do next — send it to the discount systems to display partners; provide analytics for the zoo to determine where they should increase discount partners and so on.
More About Entities
Now we’ve taken a quick look at the two different types of entities available. It’s important to understand how they work and how they differ to get the best out of entities. We’ll be looking at entities in-depth in future articles, where we examine:
How to use entities
How to determine which entities we need
Entity Best Practices
Read about pre-built system entities in the third article of this series. | https://medium.com/ibm-watson/beyond-coding-watson-assistant-entities-part-2-the-faces-of-entities-b51e849f27e7 | ['Oliver Ivanoski'] | 2019-08-28 13:43:39.503000+00:00 | ['Watson Assistant', 'Wa Editorial', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Chatbots', 'Editorial'] |
Finding Data Leaks In Online Formatters | Finding Data Leaks In Online Formatters
If you are a web developer, you may have used any online code formatter. There are hundreds of online code formatters for different purposes, such as formatting HTML, XML, JSON, etc.
A well-formatted code improves the readability of the code — image by Unsplash
A common feature of these formatters is that you can save an online version of your formatted data. It’s critical to notice that this makes your code publicly available to anyone knowing the generated URL.
In this story, I will focus on JSON formatter, an online tool to validate and format JSON content. By making a simple test and with the help of Chrome Developer Tools, I could easily identify the API endpoints that save and get the content of a saved JSON, and the kind of generated URL.
The id of the saved content is an incremental number, while the generated URL is a 6 digit hexadecimal number
There isn’t a direct correlation between the id of the saved content and the generated id used in the URL. This is a way to difficult the extraction of saved data, which would be trivial for incrementally generated URLs.
One way to extract all the saved information would be to explore the full spectrum of ids with 6 hexadecimal characters, from ‘000000’ to ‘ffffff’. This will require 16^6 attempts to check every number in this range, which is equivalent to 16,777,216 requests.
To avoid making this huge amount of requests we can use a randomized algorithm — Las Vegas — by generating a random id in this range. Running this probabilistic algorithm multiple times will reduce the probability of no result.
Extracting saved data
To extract the saved data on JSON formatter we are going to use Postman and Newman, my favorite tools to work with APIs.
The import feature of Postman makes it trivial to replicate the request to get the content of a saved JSON. Just copy the request as cURL in Chrome Developer Tools and import it as Raw text in Postman.
Once we have the request imported, we are going to add a Pre-request Script to generate a random id of 6 hexadecimal digits and store it in an environment variable.
Now we can replace the ‘urlid’ parameter in the body of the request with the generated id.
In the Tests section, we can check if we get a non-empty response and if the content contains any of the keywords. In any case, we are going to send the response to a local ExpressJS API that will store it in a MongoDB collection for later analysis.
Finally, by setting the next request to this same request we create an infinite loop to run this collection with Newman, with a delay of two seconds to avoid overloading the JSON formatter API.
And that’s all, folks!. We just need to leave this collection running for a while to collect some results.
Diving into the collected dataset
During the time the collection was running, I was able to collect 515 results. The most boring part of this process is to search for useful data in the list of retrieved JSONs. Although I added a keyword to reduce this work, it’s still a manual process.
After reviewing the dataset, I found out that the vast majority of the obtained results were dummy or totally useless data.
There were also some curious results like a list of questions for a Trivia game, the answers of a chatbot, promotional codes for a trip to Antarctica, some invoices, or the route of a truck in the United States.
// Example of one of the questions of the Trivia
{
"id": 42592,
"answer": "Aries",
"question": "It's the zodiac sign symbolized by a ram",
"value": 300,
"airdate": "2001-05-11T12:00:00.000Z",
"created_at": "2014-02-11T23:11:27.461Z",
"updated_at": "2014-02-11T23:11:27.461Z",
"category_id": 139,
"game_id": null,
"invalid_count": null,
"category": {
"id": 139,
"title": "5-letter words",
"created_at": "2014-02-11T22:47:42.519Z",
"updated_at": "2014-02-11T22:47:42.519Z",
"clues_count": 110
}
}
A stop for a break of a truck driver in Louisiana — suspiciously close to Jack After Dark night club 🙄
But there were also some really interesting findings in the retrieved data. For instance, I found what seems to be an extract of a veterinary database located in Kuwait, with private data such as names, emails, and phone numbers.
{
"id": 274,
"firstname": "XXXXXX",
"middlename": "XXXXX",
"lastname": "XXXXX",
"email": "
"gender": "0",
"api_token": "XXXXXXXXXXXX",
"dob": "10/08/1975",
"photo": "",
"mobile": "XXXXXXX",
"latitude": "XX.XXXXXXXXX",
"longitude": "XX.XXXXXXXXX",
"block": "XXXXXX",
"street": "XXXXXX",
"judda": "none",
"house": "XXXXXX",
"apartment": "none",
"address": "",
"area_id": "XXXXXX",
"status": "1",
"code": "",
"pet": [
{
"id": 148,
"name": "Moe",
"dob": "11-05-2011",
"breed": "1",
"gender": "0",
"height": "",
"photo": "",
"provider_id": "0",
"temperament": "",
"origin": "Persian",
"size": "1",
"chipno": "XXXXXXXXXXXX",
"weight": "3.5",
"grooming": "12 Week",
"isadopted": "0",
"likes": "0",
"cough": "0000-00-00",
"missyou": "0",
"status": "1",
"neutered": "1",
"spayed": "1",
"adopt_comments": "",
"disabled_comments": "",
"disabled_question": "",
"last_groom_appointment": "0000-00-00",
"next_groom_appointment": "0000-00-00",
"veternary": "",
"groom": "",
"breedname": "Cat"
}
]
} // One of the anonimized clients with her pet"id": 274,": "XXXXXX",": "XXXXX",": "XXXXX",": " [email protected] ","gender": "0",": "XXXXXXXXXXXX","dob": "10/08/1975","photo": "",": "XXXXXXX",": "XX.XXXXXXXXX",": "XX.XXXXXXXXX",": "XXXXXX",": "XXXXXX","judda": "none",": "XXXXXX","apartment": "none","address": "",": "XXXXXX","status": "1","code": "","pet": ["id": 148,"name": "Moe","dob": "11-05-2011","breed": "1","gender": "0","height": "","photo": "","provider_id": "0","temperament": "","origin": "Persian","size": "1",": "XXXXXXXXXXXX","weight": "3.5","grooming": "12 Week","isadopted": "0","likes": "0","cough": "0000-00-00","missyou": "0","status": "1","neutered": "1","spayed": "1","adopt_comments": "","disabled_comments": "","disabled_question": "","last_groom_appointment": "0000-00-00","next_groom_appointment": "0000-00-00","veternary": "","groom": "","breedname": "Cat"
I also found some private keys, credentials, and API tokens for online services.
{
"id": 2038953,
"contact_details": {
"company_org": "XXX",
"email": "
},
"username": "
"password": "XXXXXXXXXXXX",
"api_2": [
{
"api_key": "XXXXXXXXXXX",
"api_key_name": "N°2"
}
],
"api_keys": {
"v3": [
{
"key": "xkeyXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX",
"name": "XXXXXX",
"partner": "ObjectID()"
}
]
},
"db_key": "XXXXXXXXX",
"status": "enabled",
"active": "1",
"m_sms_disabled": true,
"t_sms_disabled": true,
"language": "en",
"timezone": "Asia/Kolkata",
"locked": false,
"archived": false,
"forms_disabled": false,
"created_date": "2020-08-11 11:41:16",
"chargebee": {
"localization": "german",
"subscriptions": {},
"payment_auto_collected": false
},
"feature_toggle": {
"new-frontend-graph-stats": "enabled",
"new-graph-stats": "new",
"new-user-history-writings": "new",
"new-user-history-readings": "enabled",
"new-pricing": "enabled"
},
"onboarded": true,
"new_forms": "enabled",
"sso": {},
"paid_plan": false,
"dbs_country": "DE",
"lastseen": "2020-08-11",
"activated_applications": [
"email-campaigns",
"transactional-emails"
]
} // Anonimized credentials"id": 2038953,": {"company_org": "XXX","email": " [email protected] },": " [email protected] ",": "XXXXXXXXXXXX",": [": "XXXXXXXXXXX",": "N°2"],": {"v3": [": "xkeyXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX","name": "XXXXXX","partner": "ObjectID()"},": "XXXXXXXXX","status": "enabled","active": "1","m_sms_disabled": true,"t_sms_disabled": true,"language": "en","timezone": "Asia/Kolkata","locked": false,"archived": false,"forms_disabled": false,"created_date": "2020-08-11 11:41:16","chargebee": {"localization": "german","subscriptions": {},"payment_auto_collected": false},"feature_toggle": {"new-frontend-graph-stats": "enabled","new-graph-stats": "new","new-user-history-writings": "new","new-user-history-readings": "enabled","new-pricing": "enabled"},"onboarded": true,"new_forms": "enabled","sso": {},"paid_plan": false,"dbs_country": "DE","lastseen": "2020-08-11","activated_applications": ["email-campaigns","transactional-emails"
But the most interesting finding was the Keystore of a cryptocurrency wallet. For those not familiarized with the cryptocurrency world, a Keystore is one of the two things you need to access to a wallet. The password —the other thing you need — can be cracked with Hashcat using the Keystore if you have enough computational power.
The found wallet contained more than 16,000$ at the time of writing 🤑🤑🤑
Conclusions
If there is one lesson we can learn here is that all exposed information on the Internet might end in hands of somebody else, so we have to be very careful to not publish any private data.
As you have seen, it’s really simple to extract saved data from this online formatting tool, and you can use the same technique with other formatting tools that work similarly.
In case you accidentally publish any private data, you can contact JSON formatter staff to remove the public access to this information. Anyway, as a rule of thumb, you should always invalidate any exposed credentials or tokens. | https://infosecwriteups.com/finding-data-leaks-in-online-formatters-404503b9fcb0 | ['Héctor Martos'] | 2020-12-27 20:19:41.141000+00:00 | ['Postman', 'Data Leak', 'Ethical Hacking', 'Cybersecurity Awareness', 'Hacking'] |
Connecting Flask with Node.js. | Photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash
Connecting Flask with Node.js.
Introduction:
There are various reasons which require building a connection between Node.js and Flask. Recently, I did it in order to integrate my Machine Learning model implemented in Python with my website which uses Node.js as a backend. The procedure is quite simple. Let’s dive in without further ado.
Step 1: Build Flask Server
We first need to build the Flask server which will be listening to data sent from Node.js.
We are now running our server on port 5000 on our local machine. Additionally, we have created a simple route that will return a string back when a get request is sent from Node.js to the /flask endpoint.
Step 2: Build the Node.js Backend
In this step, we will lay out our backend using Node.js and Express.js. Express.js is a popular web framework used to build API’s.
We will use the request library which can be installed using npm. The request library is the most simple library designed to make http calls.
As we can see in the code, when a user visits the /home endpoint, a get request is sent to http://127.0.0.1:5000/flask which is our endpoint for the flask server. We will receive the string “Flask Server” as a response back from the Flask.
Result:
It’s time to check whether we are successful in getting a response from our Flask server. We can check using Postman which is a tool used to design and test API’s.
Screenshot by author
We can see that we receive the string “Flask Server”. Hence we are successful in creating the connection.
Conclusion:
As discussed above, there are various use-cases where connecting Node.js and Flask is useful. The most common use is when we need to add Machine Learning to our website since it is easier to implement Machine Learning in Python (due to super helpful libraries) and connect it to Node.js using Flask, rather than implementing it all together in Node.js. | https://medium.com/javarevisited/connecting-flask-with-node-js-7b9d823ca923 | ['Dhanam Parekh'] | 2020-12-05 08:35:50.043000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'JavaScript', 'Nodejs', 'Flask', 'Machine Learning'] |
Why LBC is My New Favourite Radio Station | Why LBC is My New Favourite Radio Station
Traditional phone-in talk shows are back!
The Problem with Today’s Radio
I used to love everything about radio. Not only was I an avid listener, but I also produced and presented my own show at the local station in my city.
But radio isn’t what it used to be. All we get now is the same tasteless music on a loop, repeating itself every hour of every day. Between those cheesy hits are even cheesier presenters. Often a Londoner with a sharp accent, talking about the gossip in Heat Magazine that day.
It drives me mad, and it’s the sole reason I went on the hunt for something better. Something worth my time.
The Solution to Today’s Radio
LBC is the radio station for those who want to listen to discussion and debate surrounding current affairs. It’s quite political, but it always talks about how today’s news affects the average, working-class person. It’s your classic phone-in talk show.
The presenters don’t talk at you but rather with you. Throughout the show, there’s an abundance of people like you and me calling up, to give their views. A variety of topics and opinions are discussed and debated. People from all backgrounds and political stances are given a platform.
From my experience, there’s no political agenda being pushed. The only agenda on the list is to have the discussion. Often, it’s the uncomfortable discussions people are afraid to talk about with others.
All of the radio shows have this format. It’s 24/7 discussion. I don’t tune in to listen to a particular presenter. I just go into the app and turn it on when I feel like listening to something interesting.
Content Ratio
One thing I’ve noticed with LBC is the lack of ads. Even though it’s a free service, there aren’t many ads at all. A presenter will typically discuss something for 20–30 minutes, and then there’ll be about 5 minutes of ads.
Instead of rushing to get to the next ad break, I feel the presenters are given plenty of time to finish the current topic until they feel ready to move on. There’s no pause in the discussion, in an attempt to squeeze in more ads.
Absolutely no music is played, apart from the theme tune when a radio show is starting. So when a radio show is 3 hours long, you know you’re getting a damn good amount of content.
The App
Even though the app is labeled as LBC, it’s actually the Global Player app. (Global is the company that owns LBC. More on this below). When you open it, you’ll find you have a lot more than just LBC.
If you want a break from the talking, the app comes with other radio stations. These include: Classic FM for classical music; Smooth Radio for cheesy 60s and 70s; and a range of Heart Radio stations for the best of 70s, 80s and 90s.
There’s also a catch-up page on the app. This allows the user to replay any live radio shows, up to 7 days after being broadcasted.
Finally, and most surprisingly, there’s a Podcast section. It’s not just podcasts from Global, either. This page acts as a generic podcast service, with a range of popular shows. These include The Joe Rogan Experience, No Such Thing as a Fish, TED Talks Daily, etc.
All radio show playbacks and podcasts can be downloaded, to listen to offline.
BBC vs LBC
Overall, I find the BBC to be a damn good service. In my view, they’re the most reliable news source in Britain. They do well to report the facts, without adding anything that doesn’t need to be added. They’re an extremely credible and trustworthy source of information.
However, this is in fact a disadvantage when it comes to open discussion. The BBC often face accusations of being biased, so they have to tread carefully.
That’s where LBC comes in. They’re not under that restriction. LBC is owned by a private company called Global — I know. How generic and fitting.
The Guardian has said that LBC ‘sees itself as an antidote to an elitist BBC, with its presenters free to be as opinionated as they like’.
I’ve listened to almost all of the presenters on this station, due to my ever-changing work shift. I have to say, for the most part, they stay unbiased.
Some will say that it’s impossible to be unbiased. Maybe that’s true, but the effort is appreciated.
As I mention, it’s not evident to me that they have a political agenda. They do well to discuss both sides of the coin. As well as this, they allow all sorts of views to be given by people like you and me, through phone-ins and face-to-face interviews with public figures.
So, even if the presenter does lean to the Left or Right on a particular topic, they’ll always be challenged. You’ll always get the opposing opinion come in from someone else.
So while I still use BBC News to get informed about what’s happening, I use LBC for the discussion around that report.
Will You Enjoy LBC and its App?
When it comes to LBC’s radio station, it’s not for everyone. Many want to get away from the news; not listen to more of it. I wouldn’t recommend LBC to those people. If you do enjoy discussion and debate, definitely try it.
However, for those who would like to listen to the other radio stations I mention, and some I didn’t mention, you should still give the app a try. This is the same for those who like podcasts. I just think it’s so convenient to have radio and podcasts in one app.
If you like on-demand music and podcasts only, Spotify is definitely better for you. I highly recommend it. I talked in-depth about this in a recent blog post.
The LBC app can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS. Or you can listen on their website.
Be Careful
Too much news can get to you. It can cause stress and panic if you surround yourself with it. There’s more to life than just news. Look after your mental health and wellbeing by limiting how much news, politics, discussion and debate you consume and take part in. | https://garethwilley.medium.com/why-lbc-is-my-new-favourite-radio-station-and-app-f170ed62ad81 | ['Gareth Willey'] | 2020-09-16 10:55:32.059000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Radio', 'Politics', 'App', 'Lbc'] |
Top tips for counting your baby’s kicks | Q: I’m carrying my first pregnancy and my doctor has been very particular about me counting the number of times that my baby kicks. I have followed his instructions but sometimes, I am not sure that I am doing all i need to do to get it correctly. Do you have any pointers to make this daily exercise any easier?
A. You would most likely feel your baby move for the first time in the second trimester (quickening). The movements may feel like the fluttering of butterflies in your tummy; different from gas in your bowels or your baby hiccupping. As your baby begins to take up more room in the womb, you may distinctly feel them kick, jab or elbow you and they may even roll or tumble!
Your child’s movements give a major indication of their health status. It is thus expected that you should start counting and recording any of these movements (generally described as kicks) from 28 weeks or earlier at 26 weeks if the pregnancy is high-risk.
Here are some points that can help you count kicks during pregnancy:
Get a notebook: you need to ensure that you record the counts everyday otherwise you won’t see the patterns forming. Alternative, you can use a kick count app. Choose a time: you should pick a time period when your baby is active to count the kicks. For most babies, this mostly between 9PM and 1AM. Try to keep this time as consistent as possible, but don’t be worried if it varies at times.
3. Encourage your baby: if your baby is not responding, encourage him by eating, taking a cold or hot drink or by flicking your belly. If your baby is not active at that period, perhaps he is sleeping. Coax him again later and count.
4. Position yourself: you need to be comfortable in order to count the kicks. Lying down with a pillow or two under your head is a good idea. You can also sit but place your legs on a table or stool.
5. Record: First write the date and the time that you are starting. Then mark each kick that you feel until you have made 10 marks. There is no need to count beyond these. Also, write the time that you felt the tenth kick. Finally, subtract this from the time you began to record the interval. If you’re using an app, it is a lot easier.
6. Assess your records: it should not take longer than 2 hours for your baby should kick at least 10 times. You should contact your doctor immediately if despite your efforts to encourage your baby, he still does not move up to 10 times in a 2-hour period or does not move at all.
If you have problems identifying the kicks or you notice something unusual, then you should contact an obstetrician immediately. Our doctors are online to give you advice and offer online consultations via phone call or chat on doctordial.ng. | https://medium.com/@doctordial/top-tips-for-counting-your-babys-kicks-228d2874076c | [] | 2020-12-06 06:41:59.278000+00:00 | ['Tips For Pregnancy', 'Babykicks', 'Female Health', 'Tips For Women', 'Pregnancy'] |
Games For Kids To Improve Fine Motor Skills | Games For Kids To Improve Fine Motor Skills
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
5 Creative Games For Kids To Improve Fine Motor Skills: Coordination and precision are the two characteristics that define fine motor skills. A maturational development in children begins around the year and a half. It is necessary to work over the following years to obtain more complex achievements that fully develop their skills.
It is essential to help children develop fine motor skills, and for this, it is best to do it through games and simple crafts with which, in addition to training, they will have fun. Ideas like the ones we propose below.
5 Creative Games For Kids:
1. Sets With tweezers
Little ones can develop fine motor skills and pincer work with their fingers through this simple game. Take different colored paper clips and place small pompoms and bits of pipe cleaners on the table or in wide-mouth bowls. The game consists of collecting all the same color elements with the clamp — an entertaining way to work on your manual dexterity.
2. Playdough to help them cut the outsource
Hand-eye coordination is essential in fine motor skills. For this reason, it is difficult for younger children, who have not yet fully developed these skills, to cut with any precision. To help you, we propose an activity that will guide you effortlessly.
The idea is to create bands, between which the child will have to cut out, with a little plasticine. We can start by making two straight lines so that the child does not get out of the way and continue complicating the activity by creating curves, circles, or figures.
3. Working with rubbers
This game couldn’t be more straightforward. It does not require more materials than bottles or cans and rubber bands. The proposal is to have the children surround the boat with all the rubber bands they can. The champion of this match will be the one who gets the most tires in a given time.
Another game that can also work with elastics is passing them from one child’s hand to another. To do this, one will have to have the rubber rolled up in his hand, at the fingers’ height, making force with it so that it does not escape forward or retract towards the wrist. In this position, you will have to pass it on to your partner.
4. Fine motor skills with straws
One possibility for your child to improve hand-eye coordination is to have him practice inserting small objects or sticks into holes. You can work on this concept with a cutlery jar with holes and a box of colored straws with which the children will have to go through the pot.
5. Mini children’s clothesline
The bottom of a wooden box can be used to create this activity to work the clamping effect. The first step to making this clothesline is to tie some yarns to the two ends of the box to place them. Draw small items of clothing on Eva’s eraser and let the children cut them out. Once the work is done, add a basket with tiny clothespins to your box and invite the children to hang out all the clothes they have cut out.
You can add complications to the game by having them arrange them by color or type of garment. In addition to fine motor skills with finger clamping, they will also learn to create series and sequences.
You can do other possibilities at home. In this case, do read our blogs regularly and find other options you can create at your home.
Tell us how much you like this story, “5 Creative Games For Kids To Improve Fine Motor Skills”. | https://medium.com/@mayankbhatt040/games-for-kids-to-improve-fine-motor-skills-16b63f8821b7 | ['Mayank Bhatt'] | 2021-01-07 07:35:10.319000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Games', 'Kids', 'Kids Activities', 'Parenting Advice'] |
A Poem by Chaya Bhuvaneswar | A Poem by Chaya Bhuvaneswar
Mount of the Dead Men
Sculptor left your stone eyes blank. But you were busy looking someplace else.
No dancing girl, Mohenjo Daro, terra cotta, Indian Jazz Baby, Twenties flapper contraband for bobbed hair alone.
You’re one of us, all the real girls.
Three steps you were supposed to stay behind but you two-stepped, grape-vined, twined closer with a lover’s hand. Moved him out of the way, so you could see words he was reading.
Half out of his mind with grief once you were gone, out of sight, out of mind, he listened to you then, instead of expecting you to look at him.
In fact, it was his eyes that went blank then, listening for words you had to say that were his words, not finding them,
not finding you. No Eurydice, no Beatrice, no Muse, no Magic Bus.
You only came up to here, on him, but had it up to here with him.
And had your way. And didn’t get your way.
As one of us, all the real girls. An Amrita, Arundhati, Mira, Deepa, Mahesweta Devi.
You were a gritty brown bottom exhibiting yourself, telling stories of what the sculptor did. Leaving your eyes that way, so you couldn’t see. | https://medium.com/the-awl/a-poem-by-chaya-bhuvaneswar-73e9590fc350 | ['The Awl'] | 2017-08-03 14:51:07.586000+00:00 | ['The Poetry Section', 'Poetry', 'Chaya Bhuvaneswar'] |
Michael Anastassiades: one of the most romantic furniture designer | Michael Anastassiades is a designer born in Cyprus and based in London. His furniture design often draws inspiration from the natural environment, always with a strong artistic quality, the work is pure and abstract, good at arousing the resonance of users in the subtleties, and creating tension between rigorous and interesting.
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Michael Anastassiades studied civil engineering at Imperial College, then industrial design at the Royal College of Art, and founded his own studio of the same name in 1994. As a designer, he has collaborated with brands such as FLOS, B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Cassina, etc. These products often have a sense of commercial fashion, but at the same time, as an independent studio, he continues to move closer to art collections. Personal brand creation.
Between artists and designers, Michael Anastassiades is more like a born romantic philosopher. Through many of his works, one can feel the designer’s personal emotion and slow poetry soaked in it.
Custom combination according to space-tribute to Calder’s “dynamic sculpture”
When designing for a brand, Michael Anastassiades often gives users freedom, which is very different from the common serious and rigid designers who like to guide users.
In the “String Light” created for Flos in 2013, a small chandelier is suspended on a slender cable. The user can act as a “curator” by himself, recombine it, and create a creation that belongs only to the needs of the space. Own minimalist lamps.
Based on the black color scheme this year, FLOS has introduced two new colors for the series: blue and white.
There is also “IC Lights”, which was inspired by a group of spheres rotating around the juggler’s body after Michael Anastassiades watched a juggling: he wanted to capture the pellets solidified on the juggler Moments on the edges of arms and fingers.
The “Arrangements” created in 2017 is a modular system of geometric light elements that can be combined in different ways to create multiple combinations into a single chandelier. Therefore, the choice of “IC lights” is extremely free, large or small, table lamps, wall lamps, floor lamps, and chandeliers-after all, the juggling ball can fall anywhere.
Each unit is easily attached to the unit above and integrated into a part of the light-emitting chain.
The source of agility in these products can be further traced from the personal brand works of Michael Anastassiades.
The 2008 “Mobile Chandelier” is made of frosted black brass rods and blown glass bulbs, with metal half shells or discs to balance the weight. It is a hand-made precision masterpiece with precisely positioned filigree structure The game is played under the action of gravity and static force.
Whether it is “Dynamic Chandelier” or various designs with a sense of space, the inspiration is obviously drawn from the concept of Alexander Calder’s work. Calder is an American modernist master who was appreciated by Duchamp, and he paid special attention to the composition of his sculptures with a sense of balance.
He will hang objects of various shapes and colors, and use air flow to drive art installations, and realize the rotation and swing of sculptures in the air without mechanical driving. Indeed, many of Calder’s works are called “Mobile”-”Red Mobile” and “Black Mobile with Hole”.
Cyprus, the home of rocks-a fascination with natural materials
In Cyprus, the hills are undulating and the climate is dry and hot all year round. If you are driving on the highway of the island, you can see the eyes full of earthy yellow, and the low bushes are dotted with hills like a desert. Cyprus is also the home of pottery in the Mediterranean. The unearthed pottery can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, and especially in the Bronze Age that began in 3200 BC, imaginative two-color pottery was created here, and the craftsmanship is unmatched.
Michael Anastassiades is a man who embraces strange nature. He collects stones from his urine, looking for “the perfect sphere in nature” in the stones. He once said, “Observing nature is very important to my creation.” Perhaps it is the obsession with rocks that makes Anastassiades particularly interested in Chinese culture.
He mentioned that when Mi Fugang, a poet and politician in the Northern Song Dynasty, was appointed governor of Wuwei Prefecture, he did not pay tribute to the owner when he entered the mansion for the first time. Instead, he turned and bowed to a very special-looking stone in the garden. Worship it in attire”.
The designer believes that the oxidation process will only increase the luster of the object, making it more beautiful over time. In terms of materials, the traces left by time are also the elements that make it unique.
A small exhibition held at NIMAC, Nicosia in March 2019
Perhaps influenced by this story, when he was the art director of a marble company in Versilia in 2013, he also saw a beautiful marble slab leaning against the wall of the warehouse. He immediately bought the slab and arranged to ship it to At home in London.
In terms of materials, Michael Anastassiades’ design philosophy is to retain the inherent characteristics of the materials he uses. All products made by the studio are handmade without any protective paint.
Michael Anastassiades Studio
For example, the mirror material used in “Beauty Mirror” created in 2010 is very unusual-gold-plated and nickel-plated stainless steel-it will form a kind of luster itself, if it is not polished, it will not last forever twinkling.
“The Onyx Light” is carved from a single piece of onyx, and its transparency and texture are carefully selected. Each individual onyx will only produce a batch of about 20 works, so each batch has a similar character and color.
The Meditation of a Yoga Instructor-Embrace Consummation
In addition to the designer, another identity of Michael Anastassiades is a yoga practitioner for more than 20 years. Following a yoga master like K. Pattabhi Jois, using meditation to sharpen his body and mind is part of his life, and he himself is also an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher.
Michael Anastassiades “has always been open to alternative practices.” He recalled that when he was studying at the Royal College of Art, he felt that he was out of place in mainstream product design. Therefore, Michael Anastassiades discovered yoga and began to immerse himself in intense meditation practice. “I am not interested in rapid success, but solid work, conscious development and evolution,” he said.
The most perfect geometric forms: circles and balls, appear repeatedly in his works. In Indian Sanskrit, the symmetrical mandala symbolizes “circle, arc, ball”, represents meditation, relaxation and concentration, and is a symbol of healing, wholeness and unity. Therefore, 2006’s “Ball Vase” (Ball Vase) is a perfect sphere, the whole body polished design can reflect the entire family’s private space on the sphere.
Also full of Zen, is the earthy red “Composition” series, which is made up of stacks of basic geometric shapes, creating a balanced combination that is like a yoga posture with a bottom-heavy head. Two cylindrical lamp legs protruded from its balance disc, and the light softly and slowly flowed down, and the solid sphere was connected to the floor.
In design creation, Michael Anastassiades not only integrates natural forms, ancient craftsmanship of Cyprus, and modernist art, but also incorporates very personal memories, art and daily life, thus transforming and elevating several rich and diverse art histories into forms. And structure of the eternal vocabulary.
The heavy material gives the material an atmosphere of “foundation” and “inner tranquility”-making the furniture design slowly achieve harmony, unity and perfection with nature and space.
The story about Michael Anastassiades has been deeply integrated into the DNA of his works, and I look forward to your meeting and understanding of them. More lighting works designed by Michael Anastassiades are available for on-site viewing and booking in the lighting area of the Cabana shop. | https://medium.com/@eva_ines/michael-anastassiades-one-of-the-most-romantic-furniture-designer-ce618a9f1da4 | ['Eva Inès'] | 2021-12-21 08:49:01.858000+00:00 | ['Furniture Designer', 'Michael Anastassiades', 'Furniture Design', 'Designer', 'Furniture'] |
When you say, “I love you,” what do you mean? | When you say, “I love you,” what do you mean?
When I say it, I’m deathly afraid that tomorrow, you could be a memory.
Photo by Nicolas Nieves-Quiroz on Unsplash
When you say, “I love you,” what do you mean? Does it signify a long-term romantic commitment? Do you blurt it out in the whirlwind of infatuation? Do you say it to your family who you’ve known your entire life?
When I say I love you, it means you are important to me. It means you’ve supported me through tough times, and though nothing is temporary about our relationship, I’m deathly afraid that you could be just a memory tomorrow.
Most people don’t know this about me, but I have been affected by deaths due to gun violence.
The fall is a rough time of year for me. The voices of the lost ones echo through the forests of fallen leaves on their birthdays and days of their killings. | https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/when-you-say-i-love-you-what-do-you-mean-73aaa99d1f4c | ['Doc Jay'] | 2020-10-27 14:01:06.899000+00:00 | ['I Miss You', 'Death', 'Love', 'Gun Violence', 'Death And Dying'] |
Shapps’ schnapps. The UK cuts off its nose for what purpose? | Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay
The UK left the EU on 31 January. But, the Withdrawal Agreement established a transition period during which the UK would remain in the Customs Union and Single Market and remain bound by EU international agreements. The purpose of the transition period was to allow time for both parties to negotiate a future partnership arrangement. The transition period ends on 31 December unless extended by mutual agreement before 30 June for one or two years.
While the transition period remains in force, the day-to-day life and interaction between the UK and the EU continues much as before Brexit. The UK has signalled clearly and consistently that it will not countenance an extension of the transition period, regardless of whether a future partnership agreement is reached with the EU by the end of the year. Readers can decide for themselves whether that is a statement of irrevocable intent or a negotiating tactic.
During my 25 years in the aircraft leasing industry, I negotiated the details of many leases with airlines around the world. In all that time, I never learned exactly how commercial jet aircraft weighing many tonnes make it up into the air, stay aloft on their journey and bring us safely back to earth. I know very little about the technical aspects of aircraft operation or regulation.
But I do remember once core feature of aircraft leases about which airline lessees rarely argued. This was that the lessee should maintain the aircraft to internationally recognised standards as established by either of two agencies; the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in the USA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and redeliver it at the end of the lease in a condition capable of being certified by either of those two authorities.
The reason for this was to facilitate the easiest possible transition of the aircraft from one lease to the next; from an airline in one country to an entirely different operator in an altogether different jurisdiction, in much the same way that denominating time, weight or distance to standards commanding widespread international acceptance facilitates cross-border engagements of many kinds.
EASA was established in 2002 and is headquartered in Cologne. Although the EU itself now comprises 27 member states, EASA has 32; the non-EU members being Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and, for the time being, the UK.
On 6 March, Grant Shapps, the UK Transport Secretary announced that the UK will leave EASA at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. Thereafter, the UK’s own Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will assume full and exclusive control of all regulatory matters relating to civil aviation in the UK.
In an interview in Washington with the industry publication Aviation Week on 6 March, Mr. Shapps said:
As you would expect from an independent nation, we can’t be subject to the rules and laws made by somebody else, so we can’t accept rules from the EU commission and we can’t accept rulings in terms of court cases from the European court of justice or anybody else, any more than the US would…
Mr. Shapps added these points:
A lot of the expertise they [EASA] have is UK expertise, in fact. A lot of the key leading lights were Brits.
So, the powers will revert to the CAA, who are probably one of the world’s leading regulators and the expertise will need to come home to do that, but we’ll do it in a gradual way.
Once out of EASA, the UK will seek mutual recognition of certifications in bilateral agreements with other countries and blocs, according to Mr. Shapps. This is consistent with what appear to be the overall UK approach to the future relationship negotiations of seeking respect as an equal, sovereign partner.
ADS is the trade organisation representing the aerospace, defence, security and space industries in the UK. It’s Chief Executive, Paul Everitt, responded sharply to Mr. Shapps’ announcement in an article, also in Aviation Week, on 9 March.
These were key points from Mr. Everitt’s article:
- The aerospace industry is worth £36 billion annually to the UK, employing 111,000 people in every part of the country, including Northern Ireland (where a third of the world’s aircraft seats are made).
- The industry generates exports “on a scale that few can match”.
- Participation in EASA has already contributed to ever-improving safety standards in aviation, given the UK influence in one of the two major global regulators and eased UK access to export markets, not just in Europe, but around the world.
- Continued participation in EASA is the industry’s top priority.
- The Government will incur substantial costs to build up the capabilities of the CAA to match the standards required for recognition by both EASA and the FAA. It is gambling that a highly export-oriented industry will be content to absorb the additional costs and complication created by regulatory divergence, that there will be no impact on those companies’ future investment in the UK and that the disruption will have no impact on safety.
Mr. Everitt’s conclusions:
- This is a gamble with much at stake, but without any clear prize on offer.
- For a successful outcome to the future relationship negotiations with the EU, “industry needs arrangements based on evidence, not ideology”.
Mr. Everitt also enquired whether it might be possible to square the circle of the UK retaining participation in EASA without thereby being subject to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Switzerland has a seat on the EASA management board. It has no vote, but is not subject to ECJ oversight either. Instead, there is a joint committee process for arbitration of disputes. It is not certain that the EU would agree to the UK having a similar arrangement, though neither is it certain that it would not. But the UK position appears to be that any connection at all that would constrain UK freedom of action is a non-starter.
Of course, in the months since then, the headwinds facing the aviation industry in all its aspects almost everywhere have been intensified by COVID-19.
The UK has left the EU, so reruns of or inquests on the referendum campaign of 2016 are as useful as squabbles between bald men over ownership of a comb. But, some points can be made about the past that should not be acrimonious because they are straightforwardly true.
Voters were advised by advocates of Brexit of only one direct financial implication of leaving the EU: the immediate cessation of UK contributions to the EU budget yielding a “dividend”, popularly expressed as £350 million a week.
There was no mention of the “divorce bill” of approximately £33 billion already committed to in the Withdrawal Agreement.
There was no mention of the additional costs of enforcing a trade border; the many thousands of additional customs officials and infrastructure to house them (leaving aside the indirect costs of additional compliance “paperwork” for UK traders). It was presumed that trade in goods (and at least some services, like civil aviation) would remain exactly as before because the EU’s own commercial interests would compel it to agree to mutual recognition of rules and standards with the UK.
Nor was there any mention of the costs of establishing separate regulatory regimes in areas previously covered by EU competence and paid for from the EU budget — of which aviation regulation is only one example among many; food and medicine standards being prominent others.
Aside, crucially, from its being democratically mandated, Mr. Shapps might respond that there are indeed prizes on offer from Brexit of real if intangible economic value.
The first benefit is the freedom that independence confers on a country to establish its own rules without let or hindrance. Mr. Shapps might say also that this does not mean that the UK should become an international “hermit” altogether. Rather, EU membership was a uniquely intrusive and inconvenient constraint on UK independence. The UK will remain a member of, say, the United Nations or the World Trade Organisation because membership of those organisations is apparently compatible with its independence, despite obligations to conform to rules that are not of the UK’s sole making.
But there are counterarguments. The first is one suggested by Mr. Everitt. Transitioning from a common regulatory regime to a proprietary one might make sense if the latter was going to be clearly better than the former. That is not obviously the case in the domain of aviation safety and operations.
The second is that Mr. Shapps’ view of “freedom” is entirely negative and narrow. The absence of interference alone is insufficient to establish complete autonomy. By that criterion, a newborn baby abandoned on the street is “free”, though unlikely to survive long.
Freedom is established by context as much as status. To echo John Donne:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
The other side of that newborn baby’s “freedom” is the capacity to survive, thrive, develop and exercise its faculties, all of which depend on connection; the support and co-operation of others.
While the geographical status of Britain (though not the UK) is an island, its physical proximity to the rest of its continent is inalienable context. The UK has little choice but to engage with the EU. Being unable to do so effectively reduces its “freedom”. As of now, there is no certainty that the UK will be able to export aircraft parts and equipment to the EU or that its domestically domiciled airlines will be able indefinitely to fly between the UK and the EU or on routes entirely within the EU.
Maybe Mr. Shapps’ thinking is indicated by his perception of EASA itself being largely a UK creation whose principal designers might now largely drift “home” to re-invigorate the CAA? Is it because he imagines Cologne to be such an awful place, that UK staff there are effectively hostages to their profession continuously dreaming of an end to their exile? Or is it because he imagines the vision of post-Brexit Britain to be so compelling that the British contingent in EASA will be drawn home like iron filings to a magnet?
If the general experience of the response to Brexit of UK citizens employed by other EU agencies is a guide, most of those in EASA who haven’t already and can do so, will take out local citizenship to stay where they are.
But, it is maybe easier to imagine Mr. Shapps believing that, just as UK exceptionalism allegedly sculpted EASA into a global force in aviation in the first place, the same superior genes will eventually establish the CAA as a global standards setter, breaking the stranglehold of the European and American duopoly.
This seems an unlikely vision for which to risk so many existing jobs, so much current investment in his country and the travelling convenience of its citizens? If Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships, Brexit was the dream that launched a thousand dubious conclusions. | https://medium.com/thehighhorse/shapps-schnapps-the-uk-cuts-off-its-nose-for-what-purpose-34cb9f145396 | ["Daire O'Criodain"] | 2020-05-20 09:47:41.038000+00:00 | ['Brexit', 'Grant Shapps', 'Aviation', 'Easa', 'Paul Everitt'] |
Essential Baby Products to Ensure Newborn Health Care | Babies are the blessing of the creator to us. No parents want any kind of harm to a newborn. It is important to take care of the newborn to ensure the newborn is healthy and normal. All parents want to ensure that the newborn’s normal and healthy growth. And these good and safe products are needed to ensure the newborn’s healthy and normal growth.
Aveeno Baby Fragrance-Free Lotion:
This lotion is good for eczema. It’s the best for everything and so hydrating and gentle. parents want fragrance-free lotion; Aveeno Baby is a fragrance-free lotion. The top benefits of the products are like: Large containers, easy-to-use pumps, fragrance-free, etc. and it is a daily Moisture Lotion is a smooth, ultra-spreadable moisturizer ideal for sensitive skin.
Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Buttermilk Soap Bar:
This product is gentle cleans, calms and nourishes sensitive skin. this soup is known as 99.9% natural origin bar soap.
California Baby Massage Oil:
California baby massage oil is a 100% plant-based formula. this product is lab tested & USDA certified and this free of petrochemical contaminants & petroleum-based synthetics.
Noodle & Boo Bundle of Joy:
Noodle & Boo Bundle of Joy is using for newborn birth care. This does not contain parabens and phthalates. Not added any bad ingredient like Dyes, GMO’s, Triclosan, Formaldehyde Donors, Bisphenol A (BPA), Essential Oils.
Water Wipes Sensitive Baby Wipes:
Water wipes are carefully designed to soften children’s sensitive skin. These are the only wipes that contain 99.9% water and a drop of grapefruit seeds — a natural skin conditioner. Since they are hypoallergenic, water wipes do not irritate the skin and are safe for use on sensitive skin.
Nature’s Baby Organics:
Organic products are free from bad ingredients. so natural organics products are not hampered baby skin or growth. Pediatricians also suggest natural baby organics products for baby development.
These products are very effective in taking care of the baby. The products shown are now considered the best products in the market as baby care items. Pediatricians will be able to tell you better about child care needs.
And last but not least,
In the developed stage of the baby, you should know about the must-have products. | https://medium.com/@tiffanywilliam1120/essential-baby-products-to-ensure-newborn-health-care-f8d0abb04d85 | ['Tiffany Williams'] | 2020-03-11 07:06:14.901000+00:00 | ['Newborn Health Care', 'Baby Products', 'Baby', 'Newborn', 'Newborn Health'] |
White Rabbit Flight | 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/illumination/white-rabbit-flight-df96e17ae003 | ['Doug Ecks'] | 2020-12-23 01:05:24.677000+00:00 | ['Poetry On Medium', 'Humorous', 'Brexit', 'Alice In Wonderland', 'Political Satire'] |
Getresponse Vs Mailchimp | Which One Is Better For You? | Getresponse Vs Mailchimp
In the past, a match-up between GetResponse vs Mailchimp would have been an uneven competition, as GetResponse was mostly geared towards providing an all-in-one solution, with Mailchimp offering simpler email marketing solutions.
However, in recent times Mailchimp has stepped up their game and has emerged as a real contender against GetResponse. While they still mostly cater to a slightly different group of people, it’s worth considering which company offers a product that will best suit your needs.
Let’s take a closer look at GetResponse Vs Mailchimp — who they are, what they offer, and which one you should choose to handle your email marketing.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp
What is Mailchimp?
Founded in 2001, Mailchimp is an extremely popular email marketing company that offers a range of plans, including a free plan for people who are just starting out. For this reason, most people begin their first foray into email marketing using Mailchimp. After all, with a free plan — what do you have to lose?
While in the past, Mailchimp kept things fairly basic, they have recently upgraded their offerings and therefore updated their prices. While they still offer value for money, some of their options have become pricier to reflect the many additional features on offer.
GetResponse
Getresponse
What is GetResponse?
GetResponse is an industry leader that has been around since 1998 — which makes it one of the longest-running email marketing options. The award-winning company self-describes as one of the most user-friendly options to send out email marketing such as newsletters, campaigns, online surveys, and autoresponders.
The landing page creator and a number of other unique features make it the first choice for thousands of businesses across the world and over a billion monthly subscribers. They use an easy “drag and drop” email editor, a wide range of templates, and many other features to help support a successful email campaign.
Let’s have a look at how the two marketing companies stack up against each other.
Number of contacts
The main differentiating factor between GetResponse’s pricing structures is the number of contacts — for the most part, you get the same service, regardless of the pricing level you’re on.
On the other hand, Mailchimp restricts certain features to specific tiers. The number of contacts is one of the differentiating factors that determine the level of their pricing structure.
However, the way Mailchimp calculates the contact list you’ll be charged for is different — they include both subscribed and unsubscribed contacts as part of your total. So for example, if you have a list of 1,000 subscribers and 100 unsubscribe, you’re still charged as if you have 1,000. GetResponse would consider that to be a list of 900.
Emails
Mailchimp also introduced monthly limits on the number of emails that can be sent to your contacts. The limits range from 10,000 to 3 million, depending on the plan that the business purchases.
The limits are relatively generous and it’s unlikely that many people would need to breach the maximum amount, but it’s another factor that many business owners would rather not have to consider.
Like most other email marketing companies, GetResponse doesn’t have a limit to the number of emails you can send, even on their entry-level plan.
Design and Customisation
Both GetResponse and Mailchimp offer design and customization options, including a wide range of templates and stock photos to choose from to make your email campaign stand out.
GetResponse has traditionally offered over 500 email templates and has recently introduced 60 new templates that have been modernized, as a common criticism of their past templates was their slightly outdated style. They are mostly responsive, meaning they can be successfully viewed on a range of devices.
Mailchimp offers 100 different email templates in a range of contemporary styles. They have two main types — drag and drop, and classic templates, and only the drag and drop templates are responsive.
With both companies, you are not actually restricted to using one of their pre-set templates. It’s possible to purchase templates from an outside supplier to use within the system. If you’re really tech-savvy there is also always the option to use your own HTML code — although this isn’t a feature for Mailchimp until you’re purchasing at least the ‘standard’ plan.
Automation
Automation is hugely important for email marketing, but the “set and forget” nature of automation is only as good as the program you use. Setting parameters for email and newsletters to be deployed means that you can follow up on customers automatically and keep them engaged and connected.
There’s not much to choose between GetResponse vs Mailchimp — they both have excellent and extensive autoresponder functionality.
For both platforms, you can choose different triggers to auto-send an email, such as a new subscriber, an email opens, click-throughs, completed purchases, visits to websites, and user data changes. If a customer deploys one of these triggers, the system can be set up to send an email in response.
The GetResponse system manages automation in a flow chart type system, or you can choose to implement a drip-style campaign. Mailchimp has similar options, but generally has a template-based approach where you can adjust pre-arranged email systems to suit your subscriber base.
Keep in mind that while sophisticated, Mailchimp’s autoresponders are not available on the entry-level plans.
When organizing how the automation will work for you, GetResponse offers a visual representation of connections and triggers, making it easy to decide how to set up your autoresponders. Mailchimp simply has a list of triggers, which doesn’t adequately convey a good sense of how it will all work.
Interface
The function is more important than appearance, but it’s still good to have an easy interface to work with. The two email marketing tools opt for a different approach.
Mailchimp has a more minimalistic design, with large fonts and lots of space. However, GetResponse utilizes more drop-down menus and a more traditional interface design. Both offer good usability, are easy to navigate, and have good design and logical menu structures.
Split testing
Split testing allows you to try out different techniques on your customer base to see how they respond. You can select a portion of your customer base to test a few versions on, and send the best performing option to your wider list of subscribers.
It’s a useful tool for any email marketing campaign, which allows you to keep your targeted emails fresh and relevant. GetResponse allows you to test up to 5 versions as well as other variables, no matter what plan you’re on.
Mailchimp will allow you to split-test three versions unless you’re on the most expensive plans where the number jumps to eight different versions. Mailchimp also offers social media reporting, which GetResponse does not natively offer.
Both Mailchimp and GetResponse offer extensive reporting options to track how your campaign is going. You can keep an eye on click-throughs, unsubscribes, e-commerce tracking options, and open rates, and have extended insight into your subscribers to help you understand your audience.
Landing Page and Forms
Both Mailchimp and GetResponse have the option to design forms, and then embed the forms on your website. But each is better in different areas.
Getresponse has more design options, and there are plenty of templates to choose from in a wide range of styles. Mailchimp is slightly better at catering to mobile devices, featuring pop-up forms that are responsive to the type of device being used.
One of the things GetResponse are most known for is their landing pages. They offer comprehensive landing page functionality, including many templates, split testing, timers, and even stock photographs available with any package.
Mailchimp does offer landing pages on all plans as a relatively recent development, but it’s not as comprehensive as GetResponse — they don’t offer A/B testing and only include a small number of templates.
If you’d like to create a simple web page, Mailchimp has a web design tool that can give you something to work with. It probably won’t be enough for most businesses, but it’s a great start and included in all plans.
Outside Extras
It’s important to be able to customize your service as much as possible, and what these companies don’t offer themselves, they can provide by way of integration.
Mailchimp and GetResponse both offer integration with a massive number of other services both small and large, with the option to integrate smaller functions or massive services like PayPal and Facebook. While Mailchimp seems to be less innovative with its options, GetResponse relies heavily on a tool called Zapier to set up a lot of their integrations.
However, that doesn’t affect functionality. With the help of integrations, you can turn your account with GetResponse or Mailchimp into a custom service that meets your needs and increases your customer engagement.
Pricing
The issue of pricing isn’t as straightforward as it might otherwise seem. If you’re looking for a free service, then that decision is easy — Mailchimp is the only provider that offers a free plan, although GetResponse does have a 30-day trial if you’re just interested in checking it out.
However, for the other options, there’s no clear answer as to which is the better value. In general, Mailchimp offers a better value on the lower end of the pricing scale, while GetResponse tends to be better valued as the subscription level increases.
That being said, there are other factors that can influence pricing. For example, Mailchimp’s policy of including unsubscribed customers as part of your list could mean as time passes, you get less value out of what was initially a cheaper plan.
However, the basic pricing is as follows:
Mailchimp offers four pricing plans
Free — a cut-down version of the product, which includes a mandatory ad for Mailchimp at the bottom of e-newsletters
Essential — starting at $9.99 per month, up to 1,500 subscribers
Standard — starting at $14.99 per month, up to 2,500 subscribers
Premium — starting at $299 per month, up to 10,000 subscribers
Getresponse also has four plans:
Basic — starting at $15 per month to send an unlimited number of emails to up to 1,000 subscribers
Plus — starting at $49 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers
Professional — starting at $99 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers
Enterprise — negotiable pricing (when lists exceed 100,000 subscribers).
GetResponse also offers discounts for paying a years’ subscription in advance, but there is no refund if you change your mind.
No comparable discounts are available for Mailchimp.
Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons
Mailchimp
Pros
Generous free plan for those starting out.
Good range of templates and customization.
Sleek design.
Cheaper for small lists
Two-factor authentication available
Basic web tool included.
Cons
Pay for unsubscribed contacts
No landing page testing
Not all features available on all plans
GetResponse
Pros
High-quality landing pages with A/B testing
500+ professionally designed email templates
Webinar marketing
Advertised email deliverability of 99%
Access to most features across every level of plan
Only charged for active subscribers
No, send limits
Host webinars
The excellent marketing automation interface
Discounts for paying annually
Cons
Any duplicate contacts will count towards the monthly limit
Limited CRM tools
Some dated designs
GetResponse vs Mailchimp — which should you choose?
Mailchimp and GetResponse roughly cater to different needs. While Mailchimp has changed their service to include a much wider range of options, in many areas, they still fall short of the functionality that GetResponse offers.
For customers with a small client base who are looking for a lower cost (or free) option, arguably Mailchimp is the less expensive option, while still offering a great service.
At this level, it probably comes down to personal preference, and potential interest in a specific feature (like a web page builder) might tip the decision either way. To find out, both offer free options to trial the two and see which best meets your business’s needs.
However, in general, the comparison between GetResponse vs Mailchimp has a clearer winner. As Mailchimp has introduced the email limits, don’t deduct unsubscribed customers from their list, and doesn’t include important features on their lower-level plans, GetResponse has the edge.
However, both include great features for a reasonable price, and using either is likely to support your email marketing strategies and boost customer engagement and connection. The best way to find out is to give them a go! Make use of the free trial, and start making email marketing work for you.
I Personally Suggest GetResponse.
Visit Get Response — www.GetResponse.com | https://medium.com/@blogbuzzs/getresponse-vs-mailchimp-which-one-is-better-for-you-3db02410515e | [] | 2020-12-27 10:05:22.187000+00:00 | ['Email Marketing', 'SEO', 'Digital Marketing', 'Make Money Online', 'Getresponse'] |
Oppo intention its first overseas 5G innovation lab in Hyderabad as 5G picks up steam in India | Oppo intention its first overseas 5G innovation lab in Hyderabad as 5G picks up steam in India
Arun prajaptaiDecember 23, 2020
Oppo has announced it has set up its first 5G innovation lab outside of China in India. The new 5G lab in India comes months after the government issued a blanket ban on several entities with linkage to China and at the time when the government has announced it is ramping up its efforts to bring 5G to India. At the India Mobile Congress held recently, Reliance Jio became the first telecom company in India to announce 5G services that will begin sometime in the second half of 2021. Oppo's new investment into India's R&D sector will give a boost to 5G efforts.
"This is Oppo's first 5G lab overseas. With this lab setup, while we work towards developing core technologies for the 5G era and strengthen the overall ecosystem, we also aim to support India in its 5G journey," Oppo India Vice President and Head for Research and Development, Tasleem Arif said in a statement. The Oppo 5G innovation lab has been set-up in Hyderabad. This is the second such lab that Oppo has built catering to technologies that the emerging 5G network uses and can provide, the first one is in China.
Oppo has said that it plans to install more functional labs that will specialise in research and development in the fields of camera, power and battery, and performance of a smartphone. These labs will be set-up in Hyderabad to facilitate the innovation work at the research and development centre. This new facility is touted to bring technologies that will "mark a global footprint" while promising the company's vision of making India an innovation hub. This is in line with the company's efforts to scale up manufacturing of its smartphones and the development of technologies for Indian customers, as well as the global ones.
The Oppo 5G innovation lab in India will be responsible for innovations and R&D for other markets, including the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Japan and Europe, according to the company. The company has, however, not said what or how these technologies will come through. Oppo has developed some features inside the ColorOS that keep Indian customers in mind, for example, the integration of Digi Locker and the rider mode. The 5G technologies, whatever they may be, might also have some customisations done in accordance with the demands of the Indian user base. These same technologies could be exported to other markets.
Although several countries in the world have 5G now, India is unlikely to get it until the second half of 2021. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said earlier this month that Reliance Jio will begin piloting 5G services in next year, stressing on the government's efforts to kickstart the wave of 5G. While the telecom sector is preparing already for 5G, the smartphone companies, which are an important cogwheel in the machinery have never been shy of their portfolio. Much before the chatter around 5G began in India, Realme became the first brand to launch a 5G phone in India back in February. Oppo too launched the Find X2 smartphone with 5G support. | https://medium.com/@melodymint/oppo-intention-its-first-overseas-5g-innovation-lab-in-hyderabad-as-5g-picks-up-steam-in-india-37c6c2b813f4 | ['Arun Prajapati'] | 2020-12-24 03:15:02.636000+00:00 | ['Oppo', 'Trends', 'Newsletter', 'Brand Strategy', 'Mobile'] |
K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) Algorithm | K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) Algorithm
Simple Analogy for K-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN)
In this blog, we’ll talk about one of the most widely used machine learning algorithms for classification, which is the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm. K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) is a simple, easy to understand, versatile and one of the topmost machine learning algorithms that find its applications in a variety of fields.
In this blog we’ll try to understand what is KNN, how it works, some common distance metrics used in KNN, its advantages & disadvantages along with some of its modern applications.
What is K-NN ?
K-NN is a non-parametric and lazy learning algorithm. Non-parametric means there is no assumption for underlying data distribution i.e. the model structure is determined from the dataset.
It is called Lazy algorithm because it does not need any training data points for model generation. All training data is used in the testing phase which makes training faster and testing phase slower and costlier.
K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) is a simple algorithm that stores all the available cases and classifies the new data or case based on a similarity measure.
K-NN classification
In K-NN classification, the output is a class membership. An object is classified by a plurality vote of its neighbors, with the object being assigned to the class most common among its k nearest neighbors (k is a positive integer, typically small). If k = 1, then the object is simply assigned to the class of that single nearest neighbor.
To determine which of the K instances in the training dataset are most similar to a new input, a distance measure is used. For real-valued input variables, the most popular distance measure is the Euclidean distance.
The Red point is classified to the class most common among its k nearest neighbors..
The Euclidean distance
The Euclidean distance is the most common distance metric used in low dimensional data sets. It is also known as the L2 norm. The Euclidean distance is the usual manner in which distance is measured in the real world.
where p and q are n-dimensional vectors and denoted by p = (p1, p2,…, pn) and q = (q1, q2,…, qn) represent the n attribute values of two records.
While Euclidean distance is useful in low dimensions, it doesn’t work well in high dimensions and for categorical variables. The drawback of Euclidean distance is that it ignores the similarity between attributes. Each attribute is treated as totally different from all of the attributes.
Other popular distance measures :
Hamming Distance : Calculate the distance between binary vectors.
: Calculate the distance between binary vectors. Manhattan Distance : Calculate the distance between real vectors using the sum of their absolute difference. Also called City Block Distance.
: Calculate the distance between real vectors using the sum of their absolute difference. Also called City Block Distance. Minkowski Distance: Generalization of Euclidean and Manhattan distance.
Steps to be carried out during the K-NN algorithm are as follows :
Divide the data into training and test data. Select a value K. Determine which distance function is to be used. Choose a sample from the test data that needs to be classified and compute the distance to its n training samples. Sort the distances obtained and take the k-nearest data samples. Assign the test class to the class based on the majority vote of its k neighbors.
Steps to be carried in KNN algorithm
Performance of the K-NN algorithm is influenced by three main factors :
The distance function or distance metric used to determine the nearest neighbors. The decision rule used to derive a classification from the K-nearest neighbors. The number of neighbors used to classify the new example.
Advantages of K-NN :
The K-NN algorithm is very easy to implement. Nearly optimal in the large sample limit. Uses local information, which can yield highly adaptive behavior. Lends itself very easily to parallel implementation.
Disadvantages of K-NN :
Large storage requirements. Computationally intensive recall. Highly susceptible to the curse of dimensionality.
K-NN Algorithm finds its applications in :
Finance — financial institutes will predict the credit rating of customers. Healthcare — gene expression. Political Science — classifying potential voters in two classes will vote or won’t vote. Handwriting detection. Image Recognition. Video Recognition. Pattern Recognition. | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/k-nearest-neighbors-knn-algorithm-bd375d14eec7 | ['Afroz Chakure'] | 2021-06-06 03:27:00.799000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science', 'Supervised Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'K Nearest Neighbours'] |
Recommended Ways to Approach a Lockdown | At the time that I am writing this article, we are a few days away from going into a 28 day lockdown in the province of Ontario where I live. I am NOT here to debate lockdowns, Covid, masks or other conversations. I want to address something I noted during the first Covid lockdowns back in March and see if we might look at how we can better cope with lockdowns going forward.
In the first lockdown, there were many YouTube videos and articles challenging people to do big things from home renovations, learn a new language, read a book a week, start writing a book, and many other things. There was then a push back online with people saying that all you really needed to do is survive. I read one article where the blogger said that if all you do is watch TV most of your lockdown and that is what you need to do to survive than that’s ok. I heard people jokingly talk about the COVID 30 they gained weight from inactivity. I heard of many people experiencing mental health issues after months in isolation. I heard stories of students whose parents did not let them leave the house. Those same parents were then messaging me asking for advice as their kids/teens were struggling mentally. I heard of one family who did not have a single meal together the entire lockdown other than a family Easter dinner. They would daily just grab their food and each go to their separate rooms to eat. I heard of another family talk about all the TV series they watched and how they probably watched 8 hours a day.
I think these things are all mentally, physically, and emotionally unhealthy. Yes, we all need to get through the lockdown. Not having any structure, goals or intention for a month or more is not going to bring you to a good place. I hope that we can find a balance somewhere between having no goals to have too big of expectations. Like the difference between watching 8 hours of TV a day versus learning to speak a new language. So here are my thoughts.
Some protective things for better mental health are exercise, sleep, diet, meaningful social interaction, mental stimulation, and building up your spirit/soul. These things are needed daily. Small daily choices add up.
(1) Exercise — I recommend you try a walk around your neighborhood daily.Its so simple and has so many benefits. If its mild enough, get out your bike. Take up running or participate in an exercise video online. This can be dance, boxing or HIIT type and can include stretching, weights or bands (if you have them), or body weight challenges. I suggest 30–60 min a day.
(2) Sleep — Keep a regular routine and go to bed at a reasonable time. The daylight hours are short this time of year so my challenge for you is to not stay up so late that you are missing most of the sunlight. This is a stressful time on many levels and your body might need a little more sleep during this season. That is ok. Listen to your body and get it the rest it needs.
(3) Diet — This might be a good opportunity for you and your family to start to eat more healthily. Cooking can be a rewarding and productive hobby that your whole family can participate in. Stick to a routine of 3 meals a day and don’t slide into snacking all day on empty calories/junk food. Plan your meals around more whole not processed foods. Eat with your family. This builds unity and provides some interaction time together.
(4) Meaningful social interaction– Stay connected. Call on friends and sit or stand outside apart to chat. Take a walk with a friend. Bring family or friends something they like such as vanilla iced coffees ( my personal fav), cupcakes, etc. Someone I know was delivering pizza slices for their youth group which they said the students loved. Send one message (text, Snapchat, email) daily to someone to just check in and remind them how much they mean to you. Book phone, facetime, skype or zoom calls a few times a week with friends who build you up.
(5) Mental stimulation — New information and ideas can be inspiring. Look for some interesting documentaries, YouTube sermons, TED talks, and teaching on platforms like right now media. Consider borrowing from the library or buying a book that you are excited about and having a reading time each day. Consider turning off all technologies and read for 30 min a day. If you are a non-reader then try to read 5 pages a day and work up from there. Both fiction and non fiction books have value.
(6) Consider building up your spirit/soul. Some people find a set time of day to reflect, journal, pray and read scripture helps to set a positive, hopeful tone for their day. Practice gratitude and look for 1 good thing a day that you are grateful for and share that with your family. Be intentional to keep things light in these tough times. Try watching funny videos or comedies when watching TV as much as you can.
We all need to look at how we can do something daily for our body, mind, and our soul. Incorporate these practices for yourself daily and model them for your children. Depending on the age of your kids, you might have to be more involved in structuring this for them daily. Over dinner each night you could take turns sharing what everyone did that day in these areas. This is not meant to be an authoritative “What did you do today?” but more of seeing what people did and how it made them feel. Ask what they thought of what they did and if it helped. Ask what they think they might do differently. This is a way a family can show support of each other to cope with the limitations of a lockdown and keep everyone mindful of their goals.
I have 20 videos I made in the first lock down looking at how we can have better mental health in this COVID season. If you want to watch them, here is the link.
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #1 — Exercise — https://youtu.be/b7F4qWOpv_w
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #2 — Sleep — https://youtu.be/w1I2gUUXYy8
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #3 — Diet — https://youtu.be/OwmWkmEaKE4
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #4 — Use Space — https://youtu.be/XFUy9eBMFg8
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #5 — Connection — https://youtu.be/HinSymtqtz0
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #6 — Less News — https://youtu.be/2xYN9K4ypF8
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #7 — Breathe — https://youtu.be/JUKJEDEuQCM
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #8 — Counselling — https://youtu.be/dvJDdBpGI6Y
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #9 — Schedule/Routines — https://youtu.be/Ooq0Z0zPa0I
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #10 — Read More — https://youtu.be/R9b5gZWIqNE
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #11 — Watch a TED talk — https://youtu.be/nUzecha5wDg
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #12 — Family Check-in — https://youtu.be/B6mnR93Lq90
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #13 — More Positive — https://youtu.be/h5JfiBgkHgU
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #14 — Limit Work — https://youtu.be/BVgfteTnHlE
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #15 — Give yourself grace & mercy — https://youtu.be/CN4O0vyMgUA
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #16 — “things we miss” jar — https://youtu.be/f3SpjFWq4TM
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #17 — Listen to Music — https://youtu.be/8ME5ddO3R4A
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #18 — Do Today Well — https://youtu.be/9julpwXOA6Q
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #19 — Family Dinners — https://youtu.be/dMjrCQDmvOE
COVID-19 & Mental Health: Video #20 — Puzzles/Games — https://youtu.be/MMYFnmJFK7w
I hope these videos give you some ideas that we can all implement in our own lives and families. | https://medium.com/@brettullman1/recommended-ways-to-approach-a-lockdown-9e7e7071c328 | ['Brett Ullman'] | 2020-12-24 19:59:30.727000+00:00 | ['Lockdown', 'Mental Health'] |
A 37-Year-Old With A Black Belt Goes Speed Dating | Photo via Unsplash
HER: Hi! My name is Tina, I’m 34, and I’m a nurse. What do you do?
HIM: I do Karate.
HER: Anything else?
HIM: Do you really need to hear anything else? | https://medium.com/slackjaw/a-37-year-old-with-a-black-belt-goes-speed-dating-798ddf3cb455 | ['Chris Aileo'] | 2020-06-08 12:06:00.974000+00:00 | ['Karate', 'Dating', 'Satire', 'Martial Arts', 'Humor'] |
Poor Rudolph | Cartoonist. Former Dave Letterman joke writer. Yinzer. Dad of two girls (one a T1Der). Beer drinker. Pizza lover. He/him. | https://medium.com/@chumworth/poor-rudolph-456f468f3bb5 | ['Phil Johnson'] | 2020-12-24 17:23:16.878000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Comics', 'Cartoon', 'Humor', 'Technology'] |
Hello!! | Hello! I’m London. Assuming this is my introduction post, I guess I will tell you about myself. I am a nineteen year old female. I am engaged to my best friend and love of my life. Currently, I am doing online GED classes and this spring I hope to attend college at BSU (Ball State University). I also work part time at the Dollar General. Shocking, I know.
I will be using this blog to write out my feelings or discuss topics I feel strongly about. Occasionally, I will also write short stories just for fun. The reason I started this blog is I feel like it might be a good way to cope with my own problems.
I will keep this introduction post short and sweet for now! bye!! | https://medium.com/@videogames-and-sunflowers/hello-bc817b7c2e58 | [] | 2020-12-27 02:49:35.709000+00:00 | ['Diary Writing', 'Blog', 'Depression', 'Introduction'] |
The ultimate guide to audit a Smart Contract + Most dangerous attacks in Solidity | How to audit a Smart Contract
To teach you exactly how to do this, I’ll audit one of my own contracts. This way you’ll see a real world audit that you can apply by yourself.
Now you may ask: what exactly is a Smart Contract audit?
A Smart Contract audit is the process investigating carefully a piece of code, in this case a Solidity contract to find bugs, vulnerabilities and risks before the code is deployed and used in the main Ethereum’s network where it won’t be modifiable. It’s just for discussion purposes.
Note that an audit isn’t a legal document that verifies that the code is secure. Nobody can 100% assure that the code won’t have future bugs or vulnerabilities. It’s a guarantee that your code has been revised by an expert and it’s secure.
To discuss possible improvements and mostly to find bugs and vulnerabilities that could risk people’s ether.
Once that’s clear, let’s take a look at the structure of a Smart Contrac Audit:
Disclaimer: Here you’ll say that the audit is not a legally binding document and that it doesn’t guarantee anything. That it’s just a discussion document. Overview of the audit and nice features: A quick view of the Smart Contract that will be audited and good practices found. Attacks made to the contract: In this section you’ll talk about the attacks done to the contract and the results. Just to verify that it is, in fact secure. Critical vulnerabilities found in the contract: Critical issues that could damage heavily the integrity of the contract. Some bug that would allow attackers to steal ether is a critical issue. Medium vulnerabilities found in the contract: Those vulnerabilities that could damage the contract but with some kind of limitation. Like a bug allowing people to modify a random variable. Low severity vulnerabilities found: Those are the issues that don’t really damage the contract and could exists in the deployed version of the contract. Line by line comments: In this section you’ll analize the most important lines where you see potential improvements. Summary of the audit: Your opinion about the contract and final conclusions about the audit.
Save that structure somewhere safe because it’s all you need to really audit a Smart Contract securely. It will really help you find those hard to find vulnerabilities.
I recommend you starting by the point 7 “Line by line comments” because when analizing the contract line by line, you’ll find the most important issues and you’ll see what’s missing. What could be changed or improved.
I’ll show you a disclaimer that you can use as it is for the first step of the audit. You can go to point 1 and go down from there until the audit is finished.
Next I’ll show you my personal audit that I made for one of my contracts using that structure with those steps. You’ll also see a description of the most important attacks that can be made to a Smart Contract on step 3.
Casino Ethereum Audit
You can see the code being audited in my github: https://github.com/merlox/casino-ethereum/blob/master/contracts/Casino.sol
This is the audit of my contract Casino.sol:
Introduction
In this Smart Contract audit we’ll cover the following topics:
Disclaimer Overview of the audit and nice features Attack made to the contract Critical vulnerabilites found in the contract Medium vulnerabilites found in the contract Low severity vulnerabilites found Line by line comments Summary of the audit
1. Disclaimer
The audit makes no statements or warrantees about utility of the code, safety of the code, suitability of the business model, regulatory regime for the business model, or any other statements about fitness of the contracts to purpose, or their bug free status. The audit documentation is for discussion purposes only.
2. Overview
The project has only one file, the Casino.sol file which contains 142 lines of Solidity code. All the functions and state variables are well commented using the natspec documentation for the functions which is good to understand quickly how everything is supposed to work.
The project implements the Oraclize API to generate truly random numbers on the blockchain using a centralized service.
Generating random numbers on the blockchain is quite a hard topic because one of the core values of Ethereum is predictability whose goal is to not have undefined values.
Therefore the use of the trusted number generation from Oraclize is considered good practice since they generate random numbers off-chain. It implement modifiers and a callback function that verifies that the information is comming from a trusted entity.
The purpose of this Smart Contract is participate in a random lotery where people bet for a number between 1 and 9. When 10 people place their bets, the prize is automatically distributed across the winners. There’s also a minimum bet amount for each user.
Each player can only bet once during each game and the winner number is only generated when the limit of bets has been reached.
Nice Features
The contract provides a good suite of functionality that will be useful for the entire contract:
Secure random number generation with Oraclize and proof verification on the callback. Modifiers to check for the end game, blocking the critical functions until the rewards are distributed. Good amount of check for verifying that the bet function is used propertly. Secure number winner generation only when the maximum of bets has been reached.
3. Attacks made to the contract
In order to check for the security of the contract, we tested several attacks in order to make sure that the contract is secure and follows best practices.
Reentrancy attack
This attack consists on recursively calling the call.value() method in a ERC20 token to extract the ether stored on the contract if the user is not updating the balance of the sender before sending the ether.
When you call a function to send ether to a contract, you can use the fallback function to execute again that function until the ether of the contract is extracted.
Because this contract uses transfer() instead of call.value() , there’s no risk of reentrancy attacks since the transfer function only allows to use 23.000 gas which you can only use for an event to log data and throws on failure.
That way you’re unable to recursively call again the sender function thus avoiding the reentrancy attack.
The transfer function is called only when distributing the rewards to the winners which happens once per game, when the game ends. So there shouldn’t be any problem with reentrancy attacks.
Note that the condition to call this function is that the number of bets is bigger or equal the limit of 10 bets but that condition isn’t updated until the end of the distributePrizes() function which is risky because someone could theorically be able to call that function and execute all the logic before updating the state.
So my recommendation is to update the condition when the function starts and set the number of bets to 0 to avoid calling the distributePrizes() more times than expected.
Over and under flows
An overflow happens when the limit of the type varibale uint256 , 2**256, is exceeded. What happens is that the value resets to zero instead of incrementing more.
For instance, if I want to assign a value to a uint bigger than 2**256 it will simple go to 0 — this is dangerous.
On the other hand, an underflow happens when you try to substract 0 minus a number bigger than 0.
For example, if you substract 0 -1 the result will be = 2**256 instead of -1.
This is quite dangerous when dealing with ether. Hovewer in this contract there’s no substraction anywhere so there’s no risk of underflows.
The only time an overflow could happen is when you bet() for a number and the totalBet variable’s amount is increased:
totalBet += msg.value;
Someone could send a huge amount of ether that would exceed the limit of 2**256 and therefore making the total bet 0. This is improbable but the risk is there.
Therefore I recommend using a library like the OpenZeppelin’s SafeMath.sol.
It’ll help you make secure calculations without the risk of under or over flows.
The way you use it is by importing the library, activating it for uint256 and then using the function .mul(), .add(), sub() and .div(). For instance:
import './SafeMath.sol'; contract Casino {
using SafeMath for uint256; function example(uint256 _value) {
uint number = msg.value.add(_value);
}
}
Replay attack
The replay attack consists on making a transaction on one blockchain like the original Ethereum’s blockchain and then repeating it on another blockchain like the Ethereum’s classic blockchain.
The ether is transfered like a normal transaction from a blockchain to another.
Though its no longer a problem because since the version 1.5.3 of Geth and 1.4.4 of Parity both implement the attack protection EIP 155 by Vitalik Buterin: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-155.md
So the people that will use the contract depend on their own ability to be updated with those programs to keep themselves secure.
Reordering attack
This attack consists in that a miner or other party tries to “race” with a smart contract participant by inserting their own information into a list or mapping so the attacker may be lucky in getting their own information stored on the contract.
When a user places his bet() and the data is saved on the blockchain, anybody will be able to see what number has been bet by simply calling the public mapping playerBetsNumber .
That mapping shows what number has each person selected. Hence, in the transaction data you can esasily see the amount of ether that has been bet.
This could happen in the distributePrizes() function because it’s called when the callback of the random number generation is invoked.
Because the condition of that function isn’t updating until the end of it, there is a risk of a reordering attack.
Consequently, my recommendation is like I said before: to update the condition of the number of bets at the beggining of the distributePrizes() function to avoid this kind of undexpected behaviour.
Short address attack
This attack affects ERC20 tokens, was discovered by the Golem team and consists of the following:
A user creates an ethereum wallet with a traling 0, which is not hard because it’s only a digit. For instance: 0xiofa8d97756as7df5sd8f75g8675ds8gsdg0
Then he buys tokens by removing the last zero:
Buy 1000 tokens from account 0xiofa8d97756as7df5sd8f75g8675ds8gsdg
If the token contract has enought amount of tokens and the buy function doesn’t check the length of the address of the sender, the Ethereum’s virtual machine will just add zeroes to the transaction until the address is complete.
The virtual machine will return 256000 for each 1000 tokens bought. This is a bug of the virtual machine that’s yet not fixed so whenever you want to buy tokens make sure to check the length of the address.
The contract isn’t vulnerable to this attack since it’s not an ERC20 token.
You can read more about the attack here: http://vessenes.com/the-erc20-short-address-attack-explained/
4. Critical vulnerabilites found in the contract
There aren’t critical issues in the smart contract audited.
5. Medium vulnerabilites found in the contract
The function checkPlayerExists() isn’t constant when it should.
Ergo this increases the costs of the gas every time the function is called which is a big problem when dealing with a lot of calls.
Make it constant and avoid expensive gas executions.
6. Low severity vulnerabilites found
You’re using assert() instead of require() in all the cases and at the beggining of the functions __callback() and pay() .
Assert and require behave almost identically but the assert function is used to validate contract state after making changes, while require is normally used at the top of the functions to verify the input of the function.
2. You’re defining the variable players at the beggining of the contract but you aren’t using it anywhere. Remove it if you’re not gonna use it.
7. Line by line comments
Line 1: You’re specifiying a pragma version with the caret symbol (^) up front which tells the compiler to use any version of solidity bigger than 0.4.11 .
This is not a good practice since there could be major changes between versions that would make your code unstable. That’s why I recommend to set a fixed version without the caret like 0.4.11.
Line 14: You’re defining the uint variable totalBet in singular which isn’t correct since it stores the sum of all the bets. My recommendation is to change it to plural, totalBets instead of totalBet.
You’re defining the variable in singular which isn’t correct since it stores the sum of all the bets. My recommendation is to change it to plural, totalBets instead of totalBet. Line 24: You’re defining the constant variable in caps which is a good practice to know that it’s a fixed, unmodified variable.
You’re defining the constant variable in caps which is a good practice to know that it’s a fixed, unmodified variable. Line 30: Like I said before, you’re defining an unused array player . Remove it if you’re not gonna use it.
Like I said before, you’re defining an unused array . Remove it if you’re not gonna use it. Line 60: The function checkPlayerExists() should be constant but it isn’t. Because it doesn’t modify the state of the contract, make it constant and save some gas every time it executes.
Also it’s good practice to specify the type of visibility the function has even if it’s the default value of public to avoid confusion. To that end, add the public visibility parameter to the function explicitly.
Line 61: You’re not checking if the parameter player is sent and well formated. Make sure to use a require(player != address(0)); at the top of that function to checking if an invalid address exists or not. Also check the length of the address to protect the code from short address attacks just in case.
You’re not checking if the parameter player is sent and well formated. Make sure to use a at the top of that function to checking if an invalid address exists or not. Also check the length of the address to protect the code from short address attacks just in case. Line 69: Again, specify the visibility of the function bet() explicity to avoid confusion and know exacly how it’s supposed to get called.
Again, specify the visibility of the function explicity to avoid confusion and know exacly how it’s supposed to get called. Line 72: Use require() instead of assert() for checking that the input of the function is well formated.
Likewise at the beggining of the functions require() is more often used. Change all those assert() at the beggining to require().
Line 90: You’re using a simple sum in the msg.value variable. This could lead to overflows since the value could get quite big. That’s why I recommend to check for overflows and underflows any time you’re making a calculation.
You’re using a simple sum in the variable. This could lead to overflows since the value could get quite big. That’s why I recommend to check for overflows and underflows any time you’re making a calculation. Line 98: The function generateNumberWinner() should be internal since you don’t want anybody to execute it outside the contract.
The function should be internal since you don’t want anybody to execute it outside the contract. Line 103: You’re saving the result of oraclize_newRandomDSQuery() in a bytes32 variable. This isn’t required to execute the callback function. Also you’re not using that variable anywhere. So I recommend to not assign that value and just call the function.
You’re saving the result of in a bytes32 variable. This isn’t required to execute the callback function. Also you’re not using that variable anywhere. So I recommend to not assign that value and just call the function. Line 110: The __callback() function should be external because you only want it to be called from outside.
The function should be external because you only want it to be called from outside. Line 117: That assert should be require for the reasons I explained above.
That assert should be require for the reasons I explained above. Line 119: You’re using shae() which isn’t a good practice since the algorythm used isn’t exacly sha3 but keccak256. My recommendation is to change it to keccak256() instead for clarity purposes.
You’re using which isn’t a good practice since the algorythm used isn’t exacly sha3 but keccak256. My recommendation is to change it to keccak256() instead for clarity purposes. Line 125: The function distributePrizes() should be internal because only the contract should be able to call it.
The function should be internal because only the contract should be able to call it. Line 129: Although you’re using a variable sized array for a loop it’s not that bad because the amount of winners should be limited to less than 100.
8. Summary of the audit
Overall the code is well commented and clear on what it’s supposed to do for each function.
The mechanism to bet and distribute rewards is quite simple so it shouldn’t bring major issues.
My final recommendation would be to pay more attention to the visibility of the functions since it’s quite important to define who’s supposed to executed the functions and to follow best practices regarding the use of assert, require and keccak.
This is a secure contract that will store safely the funds while it’s working. | https://medium.com/ethereum-developers/how-to-audit-a-smart-contract-most-dangerous-attacks-in-solidity-ae402a7e7868 | ['Merunas Grincalaitis'] | 2017-11-19 00:01:44.418000+00:00 | ['Dapp Daily', 'Dapps', 'Solidity', 'Audit', 'Ethereum'] |
Best face wash for oily skin — Fight Oily Summer Skin | Hello beaches, sunshine, and breezy cocktails, we all love summers, but the most annoying thing that spoils the mood of summer is the damage to our skin. Yes, you read it right; the oily and sweaty skin encourages the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum and leads to undesired oiliness in the face.
Thanks to the pandemic and the mask, now the summers have become more intolerable. No doubt that a face mask saves the skin from dust and direct rays of the sun but welcomes too much sweat leading to oiliness.
Considering your facial skin has the focused majority of sebaceous glands. Hence the shine of the oil shows most prominently there,” nobody wants their summers to be that oily and itchy. Thus to keep your face oil-free and fresh, follow these Skincare routine effective tips:
Cleanse right-
Cleansing your face doesn’t mean you keep on washing it now and then. If you do so, then the natural moisture of the skin will vanish, and this will welcome the sebaceous glands to generate more oil.
A big No-No to this method, but yes, to remove the excessive oil from your facial skin and make it look summer-ready as well as vibrant, you need to wash your face two times a day with a face wash that is very mild, like KIAA Ubtan Foaming Face Wash With Turmeric & Saffron. This is considered the Best face wash for oily skin in summer. In the same way, it is also recommended not to over-exfoliate your facial skin.
Over-washing your face or scrubbing can create flaking, redness, discoloration, and that can be very hazardous. It is better to opt for a mild face wash with UV protectors and melanin blockers. They keep excess melanin in check and boost skin radiance, just like KIAA Radiant Glow Vitamin-C Brightening Foaming Face Wash. Vitamin face wash helps bring that freshness, youthfulness, reduces dark spots, boosts collagen, and keeps excess oil distant from your skin.
Moisturizing
Another way to reduce facial oil is moisturizing. Yes, we know you must be thinking that at one point, we are telling you how to reduce the oil, and on the other hand, we are offering you the option to moisturize. It’s important for you to know that it’s about removing excess oil, but when you moisturize your skin, you lock the oiliness that helps in keeping your skin hydrated.
You must have experienced the fact that when you wash your face after a few seconds, the skin feels dry, and when you leave your skin without that condition, it tends to produce more oil. In this situation, you need to use an SPF and oil-free moisturizer to keep the skin well-hydrated.
Dial down your skin routine
Make your skin routine lighter; you must be thinking about how that can be possible. Well, by lighter we mean, use an herbal face wash that doesn’t harm your skin, lighter serums, and sunscreens that can add that glow and shine but not the oil. Change in the skin routine will be beneficial for the skin’s nourishment and glow.
There are so many radiations and environmental factors that directly affect the skin. So taking care of it by using products that are not harsh is beneficial. Even adding face sheets to your routine can help in the hydration of the skin.
The bottom line is that you are required to cut down the excessive oil from your facial skin, but it needs hydration solutions to maintain that charm and glow of the skin. Choose Skincare products that maintain hydration without pushing the sebaceous glands to produce more oil.
Your makeup must be Sweat-proof
Who wants to experience all-day oil on the face and spoil the makeup, right? And the question of How do I choose a face wash for oily skin? It will be an all-time concern for all the girls out there. Thus, just cleansing and moisturizing will not help you all day to control the oil; you even need to spend a few bucks on sweat-proof makeup.
Yes, you read it right! The cleaning and moisturizing will help in hydration, but there are some makeup products that initiate the production of oil. Now that’s what you need to take care of; from eyeliner, mascara, lip colors to concealer and foundations, every tiny makeup product that you use must be sweat-proof. This technique will help you to beat the oil in the summer.
Wrapping up
It takes a few skin routine changes to help your skin breathe and feel fresh. From cleansing, moisturizing and sweat-proof makeup, these are a few tips that help all skin type girls in the process of reducing the extra oil. Make sure you don’t do anything extreme and follow a balanced skincare routine. | https://medium.com/@kiaarepubliks1/best-face-wash-for-oily-skin-fight-oily-summer-skin-6abc43cb1b13 | ['Kiaa Republiks'] | 2021-07-06 08:39:01.737000+00:00 | ['Face Wash For Oily Skin', 'Skin Care Products', 'Skin Care Tips', 'Skin', 'Skincare'] |
Heather Hochrein Is Helping Elon Musk Succeed, While Also Saving The World | Elon Musk may not realize it, but Heather Hochrein, founder and CEO of EVmatch, is helping Tesla, along with the other electric vehicle (EV) makers, accelerate their growth, by increasing consumers’ charging options and reducing their range anxiety.
EVmatch is doing this by leveraging the sharing economy — matching apartment dwellers, and others EV owners without a home charging option, with privately-owned charging stations.
Heather is deeply committed to creating an inclusive, clean energy economy. Before founding EVmatch, she earned a Bachelor of Science in molecular environmental biology from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she spent five years in leadership roles at a residential energy nonprofit. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in environmental science and management.
Heather Hochrein, Founder & CEO, EVmatch
John Greathouse: Hello Heather. I appreciate you taking the time to chat.
I believe you started EVmatch while you were earning your Master’s Degree at UC Santa Barbara. Getting a degree is hard enough. What motivated you to launch an EV charging network while still a student?
Today In: Leadership
Heather Hochrein: Thanks John. EVmatch grew out of a deep passion for environmental protection and the desire to drive widespread adoption of cleaner electric vehicles. My care for the environment stems from an early connection to the land, fostered while growing up in a mountain town in Northern California. While an undergrad, I realized the threat of global climate change and became committed to creating meaningful and scalable climate solutions.
You’re correct. The concept for EVmatch started as a group Master’s thesis project at UCSB. My team and I identified electric vehicles as an important solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollutants, but also EV charging as a major barrier to adoption. After extensive customer discovery and market research, the idea for EVmatch was born.
Through an app-based sharing application, we found we could leverage the rapidly growing private charging resources to support those without home charging access. We launched the EVmatch service in the Spring of 2017 and have been steadily growing the network ever since.
Greathouse: What problems are there with our current charging infrastructure? How is EVmatch providing solutions to these issues?
Hochrein: Most people currently charge their EVs at home because that’s where it’s most convenient and affordable. Many EV drivers install a Level 2 (240V) charger at home to ensure their EV can be fully charged overnight.
However, this is not an option for many people who live in apartments or don’t have off-street parking. These drivers must rely entirely on either workplace or public charging, which are not reservable, and they’re often too expensive for routine charging.
We’ve applied the sharing economy to EV charging by uncovering private charging options, which are reservable so drivers can rest assured that they’ll never be left without a charge.
Greathouse: My wife drives an EV and I can attest to the reality of range anxiety.
I understand that your initial go-to-market strategy was consumer focused, whereas you are now putting energy, pun intended, behind a commercial offering. Can you give me a bit more color regarding this evolution?
Hochrein: Yes, that’s right! We learned from our drivers that reservable charging would also be useful at commercial sites, and especially lodging destinations. So, we expanded our hosting platform to include hotels, small businesses, and apartment complexes. To do so, we integrated several smart EV charging station brands with our software to enable enhanced access control for commercial clients. We’re excited to include these new commercial sites on our platform and increase the diversity of reservable charging spots for drivers.
Greathouse: What are the biggest myths out there about EV charging? Do you think consumers have a proper understanding of what it’s like to own an EV?
Hochrein: There are many misconceptions about EVs and EV charging. As with any new technology, there is a lot of education required to ensure that customers can make informed purchasing decisions. Unfortunately, many car dealerships are not currently well equipped to sell EVs and often provide misinformation.
One big myth is that all EVs can use fast charging networks, such as Tesla’s Supercharger network or EVgo’s DC fast charger network. This is simply not true. Plug-in hybrids (Chevy Volt and Prius Prime) can’t use these high-powered stations and some pure battery electric vehicles require an add-on at the time of purchase to access fast chargers. And, of course, only Tesla vehicles can access their exclusive Supercharger network.
Another myth is that we can simply replicate the gas station model in order to meet EV charging needs. What many people don’t consider is that charging a battery takes much longer than filling a tank with gas — typically hours versus minutes. Therefore, EVs should really be charging any time they’re not in use, much like the way we charge other electronics. Fast charging is fantastic for enabling long-distance travel in EVs, but is not optimal for everyday charging due to high costs and negative impacts on both the electrical grid and EV battery life. This is why EV charging near “long-dwell” locations, such as home or work, is so important.
Greathouse: Got it. That was an adjustment we had to make when we took our EV on our first long road trip. You have to be patient, even at Supercharger locations.
What’s the one thing you wish you knew during the first year of running EVmatch?
Hochrein: It’s okay to make mistakes. What’s most important is to recognize those mistakes and course correct along the way. Many of my most valuable professional skills were gained through experience — or should I say trial and error? If you’re doing everything perfectly, you’re probably not truly challenging yourself.
Greathouse: Agreed. The only people who don’t make mistakes are people who do nothing. Entrepreneurial mistakes get you one step closer to the truth.
When the world gets crazy, what keeps you motivated and your vision and passion alive?
Hochrein: Getting outside and enjoying nature keeps me motivated and helps me stay grounded. A quiet hike in the mountains or by the ocean always helps to remind me what I’m fighting so hard to protect. My inspiring friends and colleagues also keep me going when the world seems bleak.
Greathouse: I’m with you. Good thing we live in Santa Barbara, as it’s so easy to access epic vistas and open spaces.
Just one more question. I know there are some other folks also trying to tackle EV charging issues. How does your approach differ?
Hochrein: EVmatch provides an innovative approach to EV charging by leveraging privately-owned resources and is the first of its kind. Compared to incumbent public charging networks, our solution provides reservable charging access at a lower cost and can more quickly scale. EVmatch’s solution is capitally-light and positioned for major expansion with the growing EV market.
Greathouse: Thanks again Heather. You’re clearly on the forefront of a huge market opportunity. Best of luck to you and your team.
Hochrein: Thanks, John. Yes, a huge market opportunity indeed. I’m excited for what’s to come!
Follow John’s startup Twitter feed here: @JohnGreathouse. | https://medium.com/@johngreathouse/heather-hochrein-is-helping-elon-musk-succeed-while-also-saving-the-world-77f30c432369 | ['John Greathouse'] | 2019-09-01 20:23:01.605000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Founders', 'Tesla', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneur'] |
Best Platforms to Start Reselling Sneakers | Best Platforms to Start Reselling Sneakers
Find out which selling platform is right for you Juiced Aug 17·3 min read
When it comes to reselling sneakers, typically most people want information about how they can get their hands on hard-to-find and profitable shoes they can resell. While this is the most important aspect of reselling sneakers, it’s not the only aspect.
Once you have that pair of high-end sneakers in your hand, finding the best place to liquidate your product is the next step. There is a variety of selling platforms that makeup today’s aftermarket and you can take advantage of each one to get the profits you feel you deserve.
Just remember, each platform comes with both its positive and negative features. Usually, most sellers find a platform they like and stick to it. Here are the major platforms sellers use when reselling sneakers.
StockX
StockX is the main platform most sellers use and talk about. The services it offers are:
Sneaker authentication
Sneaker aftermarket graphs
Bulk sales
Lower seller fees
For these reasons, many sellers use StockX to liquidate their sneakers. It’s quick, easy, and the fees aren’t too bad compared to some other platforms on this list.
GOAT/Alias
The major rival to StockX for the past few years has been GOAT, which recently changed its selling name to Alias. While Alias does not offer pretty graphs, it does see more positive reviews from resellers when it comes to customer service.
One downside to Alias is that the seller fees are a bit higher on this platform than StockX. However, the aftermarket prices of sneakers are listed higher on Alias to compensate for higher fees.
Just like StockX, Alias offers sneaker authentication. It also offers the ability to store your sneakers in their storage — for free at the time of writing this — and it offers sellers the ability to sell used sneakers.
eBay
The new guy on the reselling scene is eBay. This platform just recently started authenticating new sneakers and it’s really picked up a lot of traffic.
The main reason why so many sellers are starting to prefer to use eBay over both StockX and Alias is that there are no seller fees to sell sneakers on the platform at the time of writing this.
That means if you sell a pair of sneakers for $400, you get to keep all $400.
For this reason alone, eBay has quickly proven itself as a major rival to both Alias and StockX. It partnered with SneakerCon on its authentication services and many sellers have been taking advantage of its no fee policy.
Instagram
For many local resellers and trusted resellers, Instagram has proven as a great platform to sell sneakers. The great thing about moving your reselling business to Instagram is that you make your own rules.
You get to sell any sneaker you want, used or new, you don’t have to worry about fees, and you don’t have to worry about playing by a platform’s rules.
The only downside to selling on Instagram is that you need to build a following before you can start making any sales.
Conclusion
There are a lot of platforms you can use to start reselling sneakers. To find the best platform for your specific sneakers, join Juiced IO. Not only will you receive resale predictions for sneakers, but you’ll also receive guides, resources, and more!
Want to start making money from reselling? Join Juiced IO: https://bit.ly/2WMc8M1 | https://medium.com/@juicedio/best-platforms-to-start-reselling-sneakers-8fbd31f5f43 | [] | 2021-08-17 22:13:34.597000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Money', 'Side Hustle', 'Business', 'Juiced Io'] |
American Cop Ethics | CULTURE
American Cop Ethics
Photo by Martin Jernberg on Unsplash
George Floyd’s executioner has been released on bail. It makes me furious because I know that in America it is better to be white and guilty than to be black and innocent.
That cop is guilty as all get out. I hope he gets life.
I was writing the other day when I heard the word ethic on the radio. I paused and listened with both ears. An American cop was talking about Ethics in policing. He was talking specifically about pairs who are called out to different scenarios. He said if someone resists arrest and one cop gets angry, the other one should diffuse the situation. This might be by handcuffing that person himself, rather than the angry one, or by telling an irate cop that he was needed to reply to someone on the patrol car radio.
I wondered how no one succeeded in getting the cop’s knee off George Floyd’s neck.
In the UK, we are policed by consent. That means that our cops have a code of conduct that they must follow. It means that there is a complaints procedure if our police do not conform to that code. For instance, they must be respectful. They may not use disproportionate force. And so on. They must disclose if they are wearing a camera.
If a policeman discharges a gun, it makes the national news and that officer is immediately suspended while the shooting is investigated and deemed the necessary course of action.
Armed police are specially trained. Most police will never use a gun. Britain seems to be alone in this, but I am glad. We don’t have bullets flying around like in other countries, and our streets are much safer.
If American police are trained in ethics, I have to say it doesn’t really show. I know we only hear bad news, but there is far too much of that coming out of the U.S. Ahmaud Arbery’s killer is a former cop.
For all the good cops everywhere, I salute you. | https://medium.com/the-collector/american-cop-ethics-2660a9e62c49 | ['Christina Meier Ph.D'] | 2020-10-16 16:20:15.819000+00:00 | ['Cops', 'Murder', 'Conduct', 'Ethics', 'Guns'] |
Being Self-Critical | Of all the things that hold us back from being who we are and what we can be, our own self plays the greatest role. We have a voice inside of us that tells us we are a failure and we are incapable of great things . It keeps putting us down by telling us what we lack, It exaggerates are shortcomings and makes us unsure of our self.
Many people in our life do a pretty fine job criticizing and judging us. When this internal voice sides with them and gets stronger, we lose confidence in ourselves and start believing it.
The internal critic cant be silenced , it can only be calmed. For it is also the very thing that pushes us forward to be better. We just have to identify its unrealistic standards and realize that its okay to not live up-to them. Its okay to make mistakes.
We have to teach it to look at the bright side of everything. Better yet, we can make our negative nancy be friends with our positive polly.
When we become aware of all the voices inside us and are able to choose which one to believe we get better at taking criticism, whether its internal or external. When we identify our fears and the fact that overcoming them is the only way through, we start to believe in our self more.
We cant really block all the criticism that comes to or through us, however we can be honest with ourselves and see what can we use from it for our own good. Nothing can hold us back unless we identify with it and that’s a choice we make. | https://medium.com/simply-being/being-self-critical-88da3984fce7 | ['Zaira Abbas'] | 2016-08-17 04:35:12.953000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Self-awareness', 'Thoughts', 'Criticism', 'Life'] |
ContentQuo Interviews Quality Managers! EP01: Nathalie Moyano (ex Symantec) | Kirill Soloviev 0:05
Hello everyone, my name is Kirill Soloviev. I’m the co-founder of ContentQuo and also the host of this podcast where we talk about translation quality, how to manage that, how helpful it is for the corporations and enterprises and companies, and also about people behind this fascinating line of business.
Today I’m really glad to welcome our first guest on this podcast. I know she was working in quality management in a “small” IT company called Symantec — in fact, over 10 years if I’m not mistaken. Recently, she’s actually founded her own consulting business MOYTILINGUAL. I’m sure Nathalie herself will tell us everything about that.
Nathalie — could you please give our listeners a short introduction of yourself and your own background in the language industry? And a couple of words about what you do today at MOYTILINGUAL as well?
Nathalie Moyano 1:10
Sure. First of all, thanks Kirill for inviting me. I’m glad to hear I’m the first guest so let’s hope I’m the first one of many to follow. And I’m very interested to hear from other quality managers.
My name is Nathalie Moyano González and I run a business called MOYTILINGUAL as you mentioned. I’m a translator and interpreter by trade. I started from studying Applied European Languages — and I have a master’s in legal & economic translations. I started my career in localization in the 20th century — that was in 1999 (I know it’s scary to say that!)
I’m based in Dublin and I’ve been here for the last 15 years. I moved to Ireland with an offer from Symantec as you mentioned, and I joined the Online Consumer Support team back then as a French translator. We were doing all of the work in house and I was specialized in virus write-ups and KB articles and that type of highly sensitive content for immediate consumption.
I’ve never left Ireland, I guess the island trapped me and it’s home for me. I love languages and communication and I’m of French and Spanish nationality: born and raised in France but my parents are Spanish. I guess that makes me trilingual — and quadrilingual if you think of dance as language!
In my spare time, I’m a flamenco aficionado: I dance and I teach. This has really played an important role in my development as a professional and as a person, especially when it comes to training and education.
So I guess that’s me in a nutshell — everything except my birth year :)
Kirill Soloviev 3:06
Yeah, we can skip that part! It was not on my list of questions but if people want to know, I would be able to personally connect you with anybody with that sort of interest :)
It’s quite an amazing background so thanks for sharing that with me. You’ve really covered lots and lots of ground — and not just the language industry, which is what everybody listening to this (I guess) is in, but also many other things like dancing! I’m not a dancing type at all, so I’m always fascinated by people who have the energy in them, and the rhythm, and the movements to actually do that kind of stuff.
But going back a bit to to the business side of things. First of all, I understand that you have left Symantec and your corporate career a short time ago and started your own business. Can you tell us a little bit about that transition?
How did that happen? How did your background in Symantec — or outside of it, for that matter — actually lead you to that decision? What’s MOYTILINGUAL all about?
Nathalie Moyano 4:13
It’s funny: I think that actually today marks the one year anniversary of my resignation to date! It was my own decision to leave, and Symantec was a great company to work for. I’ve really learned lots. So it’s something that I’ve thought long and hard about.
But as with everything, models change, and without a Language Services team, with my role being sort of merged into something different that was not quite going into quality management, I decided to leave (and I won’t get into the details of this). And so I decided to start my own business. It’s really a one woman show — MOYTILINGUAL was set up this year, in January 2018.
I really took a couple of months to breathe after nearly 15 years working in Symantec and then thought about whether I wanted to go back into full employment. But today, you can do so much with the internet — and that way, the businesses are blooming, both startups and small companies. So I thought I’d just set up my own business and enjoy a better quality of life, I guess.
But I’ll continue doing the job I love and that’s really helping companies and individuals solve their process and quality issues, and, more importantly, build stronger relationships between functions. This is all for a successful and mutually beneficial localisation experience.
I’ve seen a lot of struggle and my core competency with MOYTILINGUAL is really cross-functional processes, data management, and Root Cause Analysis. This is where I spent the last few years of my career developing.
And I do provide as well multilingual and linguistic services, such as interpretation and translation and voice recording in my three languages. But the core is around process and data and relationships.
So I like to think that MOYTILINGUAL is about more than just translated words. I like this industry and I really want to bring the human out of the process and the data. I’m a big fan of process and tools and data. But whatever you say, people involved make the difference. And if they understand the goal and if they have a common goal, we humans are capable of anything. So I guess that’s what MOYTILINGUAL is about.
Kirill Soloviev 6:58
Wow, that’s quite amazing Nathalie! This actually brings me back to my own corporate career when I was a Director of Localization for a software company, and people asked me: “what’s the most difficult part of your job Kirill?”. And I always used to say: it’s about the people!
At that level, after spending five years in my last company, it became really clear that processes and tools — and even words and language — they all exist only to be something we talk about, that we interact with as human beings.
And ultimately, localization is all about people working together. Probably that’s the single most important component of quality! What’s your shot at that? What’s quality to you, Nathalie? How do you view it? How can you define it?
Nathalie Moyano 7:56
Wow, defining translation quality — that’s a big one! It’s really the result of a combination of things, right? We’re all familiar with the basic criteria, and we go from fluency to terminology, how correct the language is, how correct the translation is, whether you’re really rendering that message from your source language. You want your quality output to be fit for purpose, it has to be suitable for the audience you intended it for.
Quality is a hard one to define. And I think that’s where the struggle comes in — when you try to explain it to people. People would say: “Well, is it subjective?”, or “Is it objective?”, but it’s not that simple. Quality is both subjective and objective. It really depends on your perspective.
Grammar and syntax, we all agree they’re not subjective: if something is incorrect, it’s incorrect. I can be very particular with correct grammar, and syntax, and spelling, but a turn of phrase, wording — all these can be subjective.
This is where the key is, I think: when you explain quality to people, it’s about knowing the parameters of the translation, of the review experiences. What conditions do you translate a particular set of words for? Did you get a lot of reuse?
E.g. you translated two words out of a two page document, and then suddenly, some older content that may be there brings the quality down. It’s all about knowing everything, all the parameters.
You can’t just define quality as “this is good” or “this is bad”! And that’s a lot of the work I did, especially around root cause analysis. I wanted the fights between somebody saying “This is good” or “This is bad” to be over. It’s all about bringing the different perspectives and understanding the struggles on each end, and coming to a common understanding. So yeah, it’s a big question.
Kirill Soloviev 10:05
It’s a big question. But that really brings us nicely into into my next question. You started to talk about the work that you’ve actually been doing. Can you go back in time, to a short while ago, perhaps, and tell us how would a typical day in your life as a quality manager look like? What did you actually have to do during the day?
Nathalie Moyano 10:25
Oh, well. A lot! I guess I was a Quality Manager but also a Process Manager. So this was all intertwined: I was really the link between all the functions who were involved in the localization of software. From the process side, I would design and optimize the cross-functional processes working with the different functions, but also the vendors.
Then I would build and monitor our quality metrics and develop actions for continuous improvement. And I would also train and support the teams and the vendors. So all of this was all nicely tied into the same package. It was quite an effort, I guess.
And, bear in mind that a lot of this would have been done manually, especially around building quality metrics. This is something I did by observing and by listening to issues. So for me, quality was never about something simple. It was always vendor specific or more importantly, content specific: depending on certain conditions of a particular content that was translated.
The core of my work would have been around building and monitoring quality metrics, and working with the teams to improve them, to understand what was wrong, and how we can improve it. The process side was more like small tweaks: finding the little cracks in the process, the pain points where process was too tedious and cumbersome, and then trying to improve it.
So metrics and actions, and then a lot of educating. All of this came in waves but the quality was always at the core. Then I would be pulled into process optimization and into a lot of training: I did a lot of that, to implement best practices and to make sure people would follow the materials.
And I would also get a lot of feedback from people. For me, it is essential to understand where people struggle, so I can help them make it better. I was the go-to person, and it sometimes felt like you’re torn into different directions. But I like it because I really like working with people!
Kirill Soloviev 12:20
Right! I think it’s maybe one of the hardest, but also probably one of the most rewarding things one can imagine.
I’ve started my own career working with technology mostly. Then from technology, I gradually shifted to processes, and ended up — probably the same as pretty much everyone who is ascending the seniority ladder in this industry — managing people in very different ways.
I can totally understand what you’re talking about. About people, though: is there any particular group of people in your role that you’ve been spending the most of your time with? Who were your peers? Who did you actually get to work with the most and interact with the most? Who would take up most of your time?
Nathalie Moyano 13:50
I spent enough time with everybody — I never wanted to neglect a particular group. Funny enough, I would spend a lot of time with vendors, even though they were external. To me, vendors in the current industry, where everything is outsourced, hold the key to solutions. So I really nurtured that relationship and made sure that they could trust me to want to help them.
Apart from vendors who were doing the core of the linguistic work, Engineering and QA were the next groups that I would spent a lot of time with and unlock those little process issues to fix. Sometimes, you would find engineers and linguists working perfectly together. But you would also get linguists getting very frustrated with engineers who are asking them for shortening strings, for example. And engineers would get frustrated with translators, too!
In extreme cases, an engineer would be googling or using Google Translate to shorten a string and then asking why the linguist was not doing it this way and provided something long instead! My work was really being between those people and making sure that they get along. These would be my core contacts.
And then, because I was the Quality Manager (and still am!), functional managers would be next. I worked on the ground, in the field, with the people doing the work — but then I wanted to bring that to the next level. For functional managers & executives, I would present an image of what we were doing.
All of the metrics that we built would be used for setting targets for our vendors, or pointing out issues to engineers which could improve the way we did things (because we had too many bugs being logged, for example).
I also presented a more high-level view for executives, to help them really understand what is quality, to get away from that noise where this quality is bad or this customer complains, and really get to the bottom of the issue. Doing all that dialogue at different levels, with different with different groups of people — this is what it was all about.
Kirill Soloviev 16:50
I was just going to ask you, but you already started answering that. What I wanted to talk about is the value that quality management and people doing the job — the quality managers — deliver to a business.
How can people actually demonstrate that value? How can they measure it? Not just quality per se, but rather quality as a tool that companies can use to drive business objectives. How did that work in your case?
Nathalie Moyano 17:25
The value that we bring, ultimately, is happy customers! But not just happy customers — engaged vendors too. Because if the vendors produce quality, they’re going to want to continue producing quality, and you’re helping them produce that quality.
You remove the roadblocks, and then you’re going to get other types of value, like reduced number of bugs, less queries raised, less noise, less and less time spent on doing things that are not productive.
So how you demonstrate that? For me, it was through metrics. Dashboard of quality per content type, or per product range. I adapted them to the people who wanted to know what quality was about. I used to keep a huge dashboard of quality metrics, but not just scores — also down to the level of WHAT were the issues raised.
This is where the vendors really helped me to qualify the content. What types of issues? What could have caused them? I had translators and reviewers working hand in hand to provide that.
And I even had values in terms of source quality. Going back to product developers — who I worked with a little bit (not so much) — and pointing out source issues that translators, due to the nature of their work, were raising was very useful to them.
So quality management is not just for the end of line where you get your score. You also get all those details that you can feed to the different functional groups and really help them improve on their end as well. I hope I did demonstrate the value of quality management to multiple groups! It’s constant work, and it’s difficult — especially when you handle a lot of products and a lot of languages. You can get lost in the details.
But if people know you are the go-to person, they can really spell out what it is they’re looking for. And then even the vendor manager would come to me and ask for particular metrics. So all of this is down to not just the linguistic quality alone.
Kirill Soloviev 19:32
Indeed, lots of things for everybody to consider! But I want to dissect this a little bit into smaller parts.
You mentioned using metrics heavily, and dashboards with those metrics to monitor. The challenge of scale in quality management makes so many things harder when you suddenly start to get lots and lots of projects and lots of data to take care of.
What role does technology play in the work that quality managers already do, and how can it help quality managers do their job more efficiently and ultimately be successful?
Nathalie Moyano 20:45
Technology is essential. And I’m saying this as a linguist! It is not true that linguists are allergic to technology.
You know, I started back in the 20th century where we started to see MT. I was involved in fine-tuning the engine and coding dictionaries. And we saw how MT changed the way we were translating large volumes. I don’t think I know translators who would want to tackle millions of words without the help of technology. So what’s important to remember about technology is that humans are behind it! And that it’s the way we improve the way we work.
We’re all exposed to technology constantly. That last industrial revolution is going very fast, and we’re seeing how we’re adapting.
Now, this is not a product placement, but I had to say it because I did start looking into ContentQuo’s translation quality platform. For me, it’s an amazing new tool to manage quality, it’s something I’ve never seen before!
In a way, I would have liked to see it when I was still working as a quality manager full time — because I would have totally ditched my manual metrics and work to improve the tool to suit my needs back then (I can still do that but in a different context).
It’s everything that I was doing, which was categorizing issues and producing a dashboard of quality scores. ContentQuo has it all in one place, and you’re not handling multiple spreadsheets to pull things together anymore. It’s not that it’s that difficult — it’s just very time-consuming and prone to errors.
I think there’s a lot more to do with technology around localization. Every time we think we’ve reached the top, we realize there is a lot more than we can do. So it’s very exciting times! And I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more technology come into play around managing quality. It’s really great to manage quality when you have a tool that helps you.
Kirill Soloviev 23:15
Thank you so much for the kind word! For the record: that was ENTIRELY unsolicited! You should all try building a product some time — just to hear that kind of feedback coming in :)
I was just going to say that with the speed of the current industrial technological revolution, I’m hoping that we won’t crash into a wall like the proverbial self driving car because of our blind trust in technology. Keeping in mind the idea of people behind everything that happens is probably the best way forward.
So my next question is actually about the people. You talked so much about the language partners and vendors, specifically since you’ve worked with those external parties a lot. There is another role which is quite common in the industry, and that’s the management of vendors, or Vendor Management.
Where would you see the border line between quality managers and vendor managers, especially with your background of having worked so much with the vendors directly? What do the two titles or the two roles mean to you?
Nathalie Moyano 24:29
Both roles are definitely essential. And I used to work closely with the vendor manager. The two roles together would set the right strategy for vendors, but it’s definitely not the same role. I know I couldn’t have done my work without a vendor manager. And this is a role I’ve longed to see come into the team, and so it happened.
Vendor managers are more focused on… I don’t want to say “administrative”, but they are in constant talk with the vendors from a setup perspective: account management, invoicing, price setting and negotiating, and keeping the people & resources involved.
And the quality manager is not looking at that side of things. They really are looking at the content, at the output, at any quality issues. And if there was an escalation, then you would work more closely with a vendor manager to resolve that escalation — not that I’ve seen it happen, really, but that’s where the two work together.
They are very different roles for me, and I don’t think one could take on the other person’s workload. It would just be insane. And I think it would damage those relationships in a way, because you would neglect (at some point) some of the aspects of those. So: two roles, crucial and definitely working very closely together.
Kirill Soloviev 26:13
Thanks for that! Once again, another fine example of people teaming up with one another to deliver much better results than individually.
Thinking about that — and going back to your quality management career — what did you actually LIKE the most in your work as quality manager? What was the most satisfying, the most gratifying thing in your experience?
Nathalie Moyano 26:43
Working with people! I think you’ve gathered that from talking to me. I really like helping people and functions connect and work together, rather than against each other. And I’m a middle child — I’m thinking maybe this is where it comes from.
There’s so much potential in people feeding off each others’ energy and skills and competence and experience. That’s what I enjoyed the most. I was (and am) definitely not the kind of person who is shying away from people. I like to communicate and like to understand what is not going well and how can I help.
Then I bring people together. Like we said, it is all about the people. We’re using technology and gladly so — but at the end of the day, localization is all about the people involved. And if we work well together, we can do anything!
Kirill Soloviev 27:52
This sounds really, really promising Nathalie! Perhaps you could think of a specific story or anecdote from your work with people around quality? Something funny, or something that you really remember after all those years — something that you could share with our listeners?
Nathalie Moyano 28:15
Like I said, I did a lot of training — especially for engineering and QA.When you’re localizing UI, you always hit that wall of UI “real estate”. And I would get regular reports of vendors who were asked to abbreviate strings, as opposed to shortening them if they couldn’t just shorten them.
So I used a lot of those examples. That’s where me working with vendors so closely was great, because I got so much feedback and so much information from them.
I remember a session I did in the US a while ago. I was doing the part on Do’s and Don’ts of shortening and explaining the difference between shortening and abbreviating. And I like to use reverse psychology, so I asked them how do they feel about shortening a string? Let’s imagine something like “install assistant” — bear that string in mind.
There’s no option to wrap the string around, and translators cannot shorten it — so they have to abbreviate it. So I asked the US engineers how would they feel if (in English) I would ask them to abbreviate “install assistant” because they cannot shorten it. You know, clip the last six characters… I’ll leave you with that. You can write down “install assistant” and remove the last six characters. How would they feel?
That was a funny way to explain the difference between abbreviating and shortening between languages and why it mattered so much that we tried to adapt the UI because adapting language is not that easy. I got a few laughs. I’m not hearing you laugh yet?
Kirill Soloviev 30:09
I just did the exercise in my mind. (laughs)
Kirill Soloviev 30:46
What single thing would you say is the HARDEST when you’re trying to manage localization quality for a large organization? And please don’t say it’s the people, okay? (laughs)
Whether the people are inside or outside of this, I’m just trying to be a bit more specific. Which single problem did you struggle with the most? What was the most problematic thing for you to solve in your work as a quality manager?
Nathalie Moyano 31:17
Aside from the people? As you rightly said, they are the greatest and the hardest thing.
In localisation, probably the hardest thing is still not being involved enough in the product development process. We’re still too detached: products get developed in English normally, and we’re just dumped a lot of stuff to translate. And we never get to say, or hardly ever get to say much.
Back in my time as a Quality Manager, I would have seen a lot of work done on terminology. You can really get to talk to the writers and the developers and set that, so that terminology would not suddenly fluctuate during the product life cycle — because it has such an impact, and it costs a lot of money as well. So I think that’s probably one of the hardest things.
If you want real quality output, you have to start early. It’s not just a reactive process. For me, it was the the hardest thing, and that’s why I started collecting a lot of feedback on source quality — because it impacted so much the translation quality at the end of the day.
So if I have to limit it to one thing, that’s the one thing that comes to mind!
Kirill Soloviev 32:44
So pushing quality upstream is basically what you’re talking about?
Nathalie Moyano 32:49
Yeah, the usual complaint, right? (laughs)
Kirill Soloviev 32:53
I was just going to say that TAUS has these annual Quality Evaluation summits, and the European version of those is happening in Dublin. For the past couple of years, we’ve been talking there about how to do that, how to push quality upstream.
Many companies, especially large ones, realize they need to do it. But not that many are actually able to do that consistently. Doing this on an operational level is hard, and probably at least in part because of the organizational structure. I think this is a worthy challenge for everybody to attack!
I am now building my own startup & having a very, very small team where we virtually have no organizational structure. I see that these things can be very different. And I think it’s that small team experience and being able to pierce those org boundaries is what makes people so successful when they’re managing localization — quality or otherwise. Thanks for that! | https://medium.com/contentquo/contentquo-interviews-quality-managers-ep01-nathalie-moyano-ex-symantec-a5e3bca93dac | ['Kirill Soloviev'] | 2018-10-04 13:35:00.444000+00:00 | ['Localization', 'Translation', 'Interview', 'Podcast', 'Quality Management'] |
Libya, a turning point in inquiries into Lockerbie | Soon, the White House will announce that one of the most divisive terrorism cases in history will have reached a sensational turning point. The United States is about to indict a Libyan bomber for the 1988 assault that detonated a Pan-Am jumbo jet flying over the Scottish city of Lockerbie, causing the death of all 270 passengers, almost all-American citizens, according to rumours leaked by the American press. This attack is the most deadly terrorist event in the United Kingdom.
The latest charges will include the extradition of Abu Agila Mohammed Masud, who is to be tried for his crimes in the United States. At present, the alleged terrorist is in jail in Libya, where he has been detained for other crimes. Yet nobody knows precisely where he is. His ultimate submission to the American authorities may be complicated by the civil war that has been breaking down the North African nation for over ten years.
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released arrest warrants for two Libyan nationals in November 1991, following a three-year joint investigation. Eight years later, after lengthy talks and UN sanctions, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, Netherlands.
After more than a decade of investigation, only one defendant, another Libyan man, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was sentenced to twenty-seven years in prison in 2001, was convicted by the British judicial investigation into the Lockerbie incident.
After always pleading innocent, because he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he was released in 2009 for humanitarian reasons. Having returned to Libya, he died in 2012. A Scottish court is considering his family’s posthumous appeal against the verdict which found him guilty.
In 2003, Gaddafi admitted responsibility for the attack on Lockerbie and compensated the victims’ families, although he maintained that the order for the bombing had never been issued. Acceptance of liability was one of a range of conditions laid down in a UN resolution to lift sanctions against Libya. Due to Megrahi’s role as a government member of staff, Libya said it had to take responsibility.
But in the meantime, a parallel American investigation has gone forward. The Wall Street Journal disclosed yesterday that the indictment and extradition request for Masud will be formalised in the next few days. The newspaper quoted US Department of Justice sources. The New York Times also says that Masud was Libyan Colonel Muammar Al-bombmaker. Gaddafi’s
The latest charges will be confirmed by Attorney General William Barr. Barr resigned last week after differences with Donald Trump over the election outcome, which saw the win of Joe Biden and the Supreme Court’s decision to confirm it as legitimate.
Until the end of the year, William Barr will remain in government. At the time of Megrahi’s arrest, he was acting as Attorney General, as a part of George Bush Sradministration. .’s Judicial prosecutions against one of the most serious terrorist acts of all time will possibly reopen. We are not going to pause until we find those responsible,”We won’t stop until we find those responsible,” | https://medium.com/@akshayprasad891/libya-a-turning-point-in-inquiries-into-lockerbie-6b4c0c00cab3 | ['Akshay Prasad'] | 2020-12-19 08:53:27.608000+00:00 | ['United States', 'Libya'] |
Let’s Talk About Sex, (post) Baby Pt.1 | photo credit: Yohann Libot
In the last few years we’ve started to talk about more issues in motherhood like postpartum depression, mom guilt, and the difficulties of balancing work and home life. However, if you search for articles about postpartum sex, there are few. The ones that do exist water down the topic and perpetuated the toxic narrative of “just do it”. I’m here to tell you otherwise. Here are four things to think about when it comes to postpartum sex.
1. The first time is uncomfortable.
You either just pushed a baby out or had surgery to get the baby out. Your body has not been your own for almost a year. So all of a sudden you get the green light to have sex with your partner and everything is supposed to feel like it used to? Nope, don’t buy that lie for a second. The first time sucks, plain and simple. Things are tight down there and however you engage in sex feels tense. In addition to the physical adjustment, the emotional stress is ever present. Our hormones are all over the place trying to readjust to our new sense of “normal”. It’s important to recognize how difficult the first time can be, and sometimes permission to not be on a timeline of 6 weeks take the pressure off when we are ready.
2. Being “Touched Out” is a real thing.
If you just had a baby, people have been looking and touching your vagina and other body parts for months. Now you’re breastfeeding, cuddling, rocking, and holding a baby around the clock. If you have older children, they are craving attention and touch too. Being touched out is the result of sensory sensitivity that prevents you from wanting to be touched by others. This may look like losing desire for hugging, kissing, and even sex. For me, hugs felt like spiders crawling on my arms. When a birther is touched out, sex is the last thing on our minds. Please understand that you need time to re-establish touch in a way that is comfortable for you and allows you to WANT to have sex. You aren’t going to stop cuddling your babies, so you need time to recover from the sensory overload.
3. Body Image Affects Our Sexiness.
It helps to feel sexy before and during sex. Many people do have a sex drive in pregnancy and the hormones increase our desire. However, most birthing people don’t feel super great about their appearance or their bodies post baby. It’s often a burden to get naked and be touched all over your stretch marks and baby pouch. How do you expect to get your sexy back when you are sleep deprived, touched out, and trying to take care of our mental health? For getting sexy back, romance, consent, and compliments can help. You may not be convinced of how beautiful you are or feel hot when engaging in romance or intimacy, but the support can carry things a lot further.
4. Our Emotional and Mental Health Can Put Sex on the Backburner.
Postpartum anxiety and depression are real issues. These diagnoses happen in 1 in 5 women. So adding mental health struggles to the list of factors, sex can be off the table for a while. This isn’t a bad thing and it’s not abnormal. You have to be well. Be well for you, for your baby, and for everyone around you. Sex can wait, but your health cannot. Get the help you need, ask for what you need. If you have to ask for an indefinite time to not discuss sex, that’s okay.
To wrap this up, 6 weeks is NOT enough time. Your body, your mind, and your baby is adjusting. If you are reading this and are a partner of someone who just gave birth, give them longer than you want. Ask consent for touch and give emotional support beyond what they ask for. Sometimes you don’t know what you need postpartum, but you don’t need limitations on how long it takes to figure it out. All in all, sex should not be on the top of the list to get back to post baby. Take all the time you need and give yourself permission to feel good about you so you can enjoy sex with your partner when you decide to have it. | https://medium.com/@drtiffanywicks/lets-talk-about-sex-post-baby-pt-1-7e63c2b026fc | ['Dr. Tiffany Wicks'] | 2020-12-22 01:00:10.480000+00:00 | ['Postpartum', 'Baby', 'Birth', 'Pregnancy', 'Sex'] |
Impossible Minds: Nádia Carmo | Our Impossible Minds series profiles the individuals who are building new possibilities for the future across technology, design and culture. This time we talked with Nádia Carmo, our Head of Design for Bond Touch, who is passionate about how people relate to each other and thinks that the greatest challenge is to balance the inspirational side of the brand with the product’s ambition.
What do you enjoy about your role at Impossible?
As Creative Director it’s fascinating to collaborate with such a diverse group of people. My weekly routine shifts from creative thinking to problem-solving. Our goal is to connect people through emotion while interacting with the digital and physical worlds. Across all touchpoints, the experience should be enjoyable, relatable, and consistent. We use empathy and creativity to achieve this, allowing us to experience richer human connections.
What problem are you solving now?
People and relationships are always at the centre of everything we do, every problem we solve, and every story we tell. At the moment our attention is on our mobile app. How can we make it more engaging? On the personal level, it’s been a challenge to creatively direct the team while remote for so long, to assure they keep motivated and happy.
What are you passionate about?
Regarding the brand’s mission, I feel passionate about how people relate to each other. I think it’s inspiring to think we are connecting the world through healthier, happier relationships.
What do you want to create next?
I’m excited to participate and create our sustainable view strategy, which will entail multi-team collaboration from logistics to packaging design, and also mental health experts. We follow Impossible’s Planet Centric Design approach, which aligns our business, people, culture and production for a better planet and more humane existence.
What kind of future do you want?
Regarding the brand, I envision becoming an inspiring realm of interactions in which our audience, customers, and partners can identify with us and follow us everywhere. Regarding the product, I hope we achieve the lead reference space in emotional wearables, connecting people around the world through something so important as the significance of the touch.
What would you say are the biggest challenges to achieving that future?
I think the biggest challenge is to balance the inspirational side of the brand and the product’s ambition. Nowadays, both are needed. We live in a reactive, instantaneous world, which the brand can engage with and participate in, but also we have the opportunity to add value to people’s lives and make a difference through physicality and digital interaction.
Tell us a story
I have a few stories I could tell, but this one still amazes me eventoday. Back in September 2006, a friend and I were returning from our Europe Interrail. We caught the afternoon train in Irun, Spain. We got into our bunk beds and everything was great. Later that evening, at approximately midnight, when everyone was already sleeping, we were abruptly woken by the conductor. He woke me first, then my friend. He said in very stressed Spanish that our tickets were incorrect, that they were only valid until the Spanish border, and we could not continue to Lisbon. We talked back and forward with this ticket man, try to find a solution. We didn’t have any money with us, we had spent it all on dinner. There didn’t seem to be any solution. We could not get out while they were changing the locomotives and we were not allowed to pay in Lisbon after arriving. After a while of trying to negotiate with the conductor, a man in his mid-40s appeared from nowhere and paid the missing amount for both of our tickets, which was about €120. We were so surprised and grateful! He said he had been in the train cafe and heard our situation, and was happy to help. We tried to figured out a way to pay him back. We asked where he was seated and for his phone number, but in this process the man just vanished, we couldn’t find him anywhere.
Tell us something not many people know
Although I have two cats, my pet obsession is a small breed of dog called a Dachshund, which most people know as wiener dogs. But I don’t have one, because for me it doesn’t make sense to buy animals. | https://medium.com/impossible/impossible-minds-n%C3%A1dia-carmo-bf0b8a813184 | [] | 2021-03-08 17:55:37.132000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Design', 'Startup', 'Designer', 'Innovation'] |
If you are a thrill enthusiast and are in the look out for some gut-wrenching plot that will keep… | The story is set in West Midlands, Birmingham and revolves around the Mason family, the most wealthy and influential in the area. Anxiety get the best of them when Maria Mason goes missing on the night before Christmas and authorities find no evidence of anything suspicious until the following month, an officer confirms about her whereabouts and the Masons rush to see their family member. However, what they see is something that baffles them to their core and leads to more upcoming twists and turns. Was she kidnaped? Did she run away by herself? Or did she meet something that can never bring her life back to before? The unexpected truth is enough to keep you yearning for more.
If you are a thrill enthusiast and are in the look out for some gut-wrenching plot that will keep you up for a whole journey, then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!! This is an open call to thrill-enthusiasts and mystery lovers, rest assured this read wont be something you’d want to miss! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? HURRY AND GRAB YOUR FIRST COPY FROM THE NOTIONPRESS BOOK STORE TODAY!!! | https://medium.com/@sohini-dutt/if-you-are-a-thrill-enthusiast-and-are-in-the-look-out-for-some-gut-wrenching-plot-that-will-keep-b61aad65b2fc | ['Sohini Dutt'] | 2021-06-17 12:22:47.379000+00:00 | ['Fiction', 'Thriller Suspense', 'Suspense', 'Mystery', 'Thriller'] |
Introducing GWSC, and the Volunteer Wing of the Labor Movement in Games | Hi there! My name is Robin Trach, and I’m a game worker who serves on the steering committee of Game Workers of Southern California, formally GWU Los Angeles and GWU Orange County — we’ll get to that in a moment! I’m here to talk about some changes within our organization, but more importantly about the future of the labor movement in games. This post is a few things — a reintroduction of our org, an abridged history of the labor movement in games, a taxonomy of the groups that make up the movement, and a call to action. The unionization battlefield in 2020 is complex, and with this article I hope to help you navigate the endless soup of labor acronyms — GWU, CWA, GWSC, TWC, VOW, SAG-AFTRA, IWW, IATSE, TWC, what the hell do they all mean?
I’ll start by frontloading an announcement — the LA and Orange County chapters of Game Workers Unite have combined to form “Game Workers of Southern California” (GWSC), a new organization that remains allied with GWU but is operationally independent. That sentence won’t mean much to the average game worker — a rose by any other name, potato / potahto, etc. — and in many ways it’s not a huge change. We continue to be a group fighting for the formation of unions in the games industry, and still strive to incorporate international solidarity in our organizing practice.
Nevertheless, I’d like to use this re-introduction as an opportunity to answer questions that are certainly relevant to all game workers, whether in SoCal or anywhere else in the world:
What is the state of the movement to unionize games?
How can I create a union in my workplace?
What are the different groups that can help me unionize?
How can I get involved and support the movement?
Curious? Then read on!
The History of the Labor Movement in Games
If you’re a game worker and you’re pissed off about how you’ve been treated, you’re probably aware of the burgeoning movement to unionize the industry. For a long time this movement’s flagbearer was an organization called Game Workers Unite (GWU), a band of volunteer organizers which formed in response to an anti-union roundtable at GDC 2018. We were successful beyond anything we hoped: the panel moderator found herself alone in a room with 200 pro-union voices, the momentum received widespread press coverage, and we quickly heard from game workers across the world who wanted in.
After GDC the founders of GWU began building a system of local “GWU chapters” in cities and countries around the world. These were to serve as local organizing hubs for a given region — each chapter was to gather workers and connect them with organizer training, resources, a community, and direct organizing support. Many of the GWU’s founders moved their focus to participating in their local chapter, while others (with some overlap) stayed on in what became “GWU International.” The International served the dual purpose of being a loose connective tissue between chapters, as well as a general Discord chat server for those interested in unionism. It had its own small set of dedicated volunteers to run a Twitter account, put on a global organizer training program, and moderate the Discord, but there was no central leadership body directing the activities of the mostly independent chapters. In reality, what people thought of as “Game Workers Unite” was actually dozens of distinct orgs operating within the same movement — GWU International, GWU Montreal, GWU Los Angeles, United Kingdom, Australia, Argentina, Boston, and so forth.
Born out of a protest surrounding an anti-union panel at GDC 2018, GWU quickly grew into a movement that expanded far beyond the context of that conference
There’s an important distinction between these organizations and unions. The raw definition of “union” is two or more coworkers who use collective action on the job to better their circumstances. This can be an independent group of people within a single workplace, but most modern unions contain thousands of workers across hundreds of workplaces, connected by an infrastructure of staff organizers and administrators. It was the goal of GWU chapters to create new unions and help existing ones expand to the games industry, but for the most part those chapters were not unions themselves. Each chapter was composed of unpaid volunteer organizers from across multiple workplaces in their region; many members also belonged to a union campaign in their own workplace, but those campaigns were organizationally distinct from the GWU chapter.
This all sounds a bit semantic, and it is. Why should you care? In 2018 the distinction mattered less because there were no unions in the games industry, but that’s changed in the years since. Established unions saw our energy, got in touch, and started organizing! This has resulted in dozens of underground campaigns, and just a few months ago the CWA-affiliated “VOW” strikers — organized game writers at Voltage Entertainment — won the first ever strike in the North American games industry. GWU International and the GWU chapters are still here doing the work and spreading the word, but from our own success we’ve become a proportionately much smaller part of the labor movement in games. Where we were once the sole flagbearer of the movement to unionize, we are now simply the volunteer wing of something much larger than any of us.
Voltage Organized Workers (VOW) is a group of writers that went on strike in early 2020 and won an average pay increase of 78%
What Does it Mean to “Unionize the Industry”?
I’ll get to what I mean about “the volunteer wing of the labor movement,” but to understand how we fit into the landscape you should probably know how unions are even formed. There’s no one path, but in North America the process usually looks a bit like this:
Two or more fed-up coworkers decide they want to unionize their company. That group forms what’s called a “campaign” — they begin to hold regular meetings, and start honing their desire to unionize into a specific set of actionables. The campaign begins to map, chart, and document the structure of their company — what are the different departments and how are they staffed, who answers to who, etc. The campaign begins systematically reaching out to their fellow workers. This takes the form of one-on-one meetings (“1on1s”), where workers are able to share the issues they care about and learn about unionization. These 1on1s both grow the campaign and help inform its objectives. Many newly recruited workers will then go on to run their own 1on1s, enabling exponential growth. At some point between 1 and 4, the campaign usually (but not always) partners with an established union infrastructure in their industry for support, advice, and resources Once the campaign is strong enough to withstand management retaliation, they “go public,” revealing themselves to management and any remaining uncontacted workers If all goes well, the union is certified in the company through the process of an NLRB-sanctioned vote or voluntary recognition by the employer. The newly certified union begins to negotiate with the employer for a contract that secures better wages, protections for workers, and any other relevant demands
Throughout the entire process the campaign will also engage in “direct action,” worker-executed initiatives designed to directly secure benefits or improved working conditions outside of formal bargaining. This could manifest as a work stoppage, a march on the boss, a boycott, etc.
One-on-one meetings between organizers and their coworkers are the bread-and-butter of any campaign; unionizing is about making strong personal connections and channeling anger into solidarity! Labor Notes’ Secrets of a Successful Organizer covers techniques for making these 1ons as effective as possible | Source
This is a brutal oversimplification — some campaigns take these steps in different order, and some will omit or substitute certain steps altogether. A few notable exceptions are below:
The above is the “Industrial Model,” where a union covers a whole workplace. The “Craft Model” is often used in industries where workers bounce between many short-term employers each year (e.g. actors). Workers join the union as individuals, and joining gives them access to certain jobs that benefit from standards negotiated between the union and the employer.
The described industrial model is based on the process in the US and Canada. A similar model is used in many other countries, but union membership in places like Australia and Europe is also individual-based rather than workplace-based.
“Solidarity Unions” employ a model that focuses extensively on direct action, usually eschewing the pursuit of a contract altogether.
There’s not enough room in this article to do justice to the whole process, but the point I want to get across is this: unionization is something that comes directly from the workers at a given company. When we talk about trying to “unionize the games industry,” what we really mean is giving our fellow workers the tools to unionize ourselves. Union staff and volunteer organizers can advise, provide resources, and help workers start new campaigns or join existing ones, but the company is ultimately the battleground and the employees are the soldiers. No outside force can unionize our workplaces for us, we need to do it ourselves.
The Volunteer Wing of the Labor Movement in Games
Let’s talk again about the organizations in the games industry’s labor movement. First, we have the campaigns themselves — groups of workers at individual companies pursuing unionization. Next, we have existing union infrastructure — the CWA, IATSE, etc. — which employs staff organizers that partner with campaigns to ensure success, as well as staff administrators to manage existing contracts, and benefits.
And then we have orgs like Game Workers Unite (GWU), Game Workers of Southern California (GWSC, yours truly!), and Tech Workers Coalition (TWC), groups of volunteer organizers who spend their free time contributing to the movement. There’s no one way this manifests — some volunteer groups act much like union infrastructure and support individual campaigns. Some run public training sessions to teach workers about unionizing and labor law. Some run outreach programs to advance unionism and dispel employer propaganda. And some exist as community spaces to bring together existing organizers as well as incubate new ones. Most of these volunteer groups’ work fits into multiple of these categories, and many cover all of them.
To give you our local example, in GWSC’s 2.5 years we’ve canvassed at conferences, developed a local organizer training and supported an equivalent one in GWU International, provided training and logistical support for the Riot Walkout (if anyone ever needs a megaphone on short notice, give us a ring!), cultivated a discord server for SoCal game workers to connect, advised individual workers trying to make change at their companies, and held community events like socials and potlucks.
Riot games workers attending the Riot Walkout of May 2019, in protest of sexual harassment cases at the company being stuck in justice-obstructing forced arbitration | Image: Nathan Grayson, Kotaku
These programs are distinctly separate from the work of running a campaign, but they do help create new campaigns and support existing ones. None of us are under the impression that a few potlucks are going to take down Bezos, Kotick, Zuckerberg, and the rest of the ghouls, but we’ve had long-term workplace campaigns born at potlucks. I will not for a moment say that this community work is more important than running a campaign. Some of us do both, but if we must choose between unionizing our workplace or working on a GWSC initiative, the former must always be the priority — that’s where the battle is! Nevertheless, volunteer groups like ours fill an important niche in the ecosystem by creating and supporting campaigns and providing a social infrastructure between workers in different shops.
What it Means to be a Volunteer Organizer
Something I must emphasize is the word “Volunteer” in “Volunteer Wing.” The members of these orgs are individual workers in the industry and their allies who donate their precious free time to the movement without, with few exceptions, being on anyone’s payroll. It may seem oxymoronic to advance the labor movement with unpaid labor, but this is true of almost every activist group out there. This is what makes grassroots volunteer and protest groups distinct from nonprofits with funding and paid staffers. In fact, most activist groups collect monthly dues (on income-based sliding scales) from members to fund expenses like meeting space rentals, pamphlet printing, fees to third parties like lawyers, mutual aid, and so forth. Additionally, almost all of us work full-time jobs or are full-time students on top of our activism, and some of us run campaigns at our workplaces.
This is a thorny reality that every activist org must manage differently. How can we accomplish our necessary work without burning ourselves and our fellow activists out? This deserves its own article, but there are some basic principles to follow. First, we need to recognize that while a few volunteers might have 10–20 hours a week to contribute, the vast majority have 5 at best and more likely 1 or 2. Our work needs to be scoped and distributed appropriately, and there must be a constant conversation about bandwidth and boundaries. When people need to step away — for a week, for a month, for good — that simply must be accommodated.
Given these limitations, it may sound like the bosses don’t have much to be afraid of. But to call back to earlier, this isn’t about our group of volunteers “unionizing the industry” — this is about all of us coming together as workers, sharing our knowledge and resources, and making the decision to fight for each other. No external group can organize your workplace for you, but we can help you get started and support you along the way. That’s what we’ve been doing for the past 3 years, and that’s what we continue to do today.
At the beginning of our trainings I like to ask students a silly question — can Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision-Blizzard, 3D model a rock? Can he texture a rock, UV unwrap a rock, program rock physics, identify and reproduce rock-related bugs, localize a rock’s flavor text to different languages and cultures, or run customer support for the rock? No, no, absolutely not, no, not a chance, no, and no. Bobby needs us, the workers, to make every little piece of the products he sells — from headline game features to the rocks under the player’s feet. The day we understand our power to withhold that labor if we are to be cheated and mistreated — and that we have so much more in common with each other than the people who profit off of us — is the day we win.
Unions, Anti-racism, and Anti-Oppression
In the year 2020 we can’t, and shouldn’t, talk about unions without talking about how their relationship with racism and anti-racism. GWSC firmly believes that unionism is the most powerful tool to raise the standard of living for all workers, but we cannot pretend that unions are immune to participating in systems of oppression. There are unions which mishandle the concerns of their workers and settle for crumbs. There are unions which fail to incorporate the voices of BIPOC members, or even accept policies that render them harm. And of course there are police unions, a category of union that shouldn’t exist representing a category of worker that shouldn’t exist.
As organizers we must be very honest about the fact that we are building power structures. Specifically, unions are democratic power structures which exist to oppose the implicit power structure in the workplace — a dictatorship. This is the dictatorship of one’s CEO and shareholders, a group which answers to nobody and has final say over every decision that affects their workers’ livelihoods. It is intuitively obvious that a democracy is preferable to a dictatorship; issues which affect the lives of 10,000 workers should be chosen with 10,000 voices, not a handful of suits at the top. But in 2020 it will also come as no surprise that democracies are perfectly capable of committing harm, and today’s union landscape has plenty of very troubled democracies. Very often this harm manifests through elected union leaders betraying the will of their members, but harm can also be born out of oppressive beliefs held by the members themselves.
As organizers we must be deliberate about the type of democracies we are building, and never become complacent once they are established. Organizing campaigns must not only include but center the voices and concerns of BIPOC members. It’s not enough simply to say that racialized pay disparities are lower in unionized workplaces than non-union. This is true, but we need to have racial justice be our explicit focus and not just a side effect. On the other end, it’s up to workers in existing unions to form rank-and-file caucuses to advance progressive agendas. The past few years have seen an explosion in “wildcat strikes” unsanctioned by conservative union leadership, and workers in SEIU and other unions have formed “Drop the Cops” caucuses to demand the expelling of law enforcement from all unions. Unionism is a tremendous tool to advance common good, but it only works If we are active participants in building fully anti-racist democracies.
No Cop Unions and SEIU Drop the Cops are rank-and-file lead groups of union members and their allies working to eject law enforcement personnel and unions from groups like the AFL-CIO
On the local scale, let’s talk about GWSC’s relationship with anti-racism. The protest movements that exploded this June were galvanizing for us as well as the rest of the world, and a lot of good came from this energy. We dissolved our “chapter coordinator” leadership position into a four-person steering committee to represent a broader range of perspectives. Plans were resurrected to form a people of color committee. Our GWSC Discord server became a vessel through which to share protest information and form groups to attend them, and many of us began to collaborate on pushing anti-racism initiatives within our workforces. We’re trying hard to put our money where our mouth is, but I also cannot in good faith tell you that we’re all the way there. We have some incredible workers of color contributing to our work, but our membership and leadership still remain proportionally too white. We’ve internally voted in favor of the “Drop the Cops” movement but need to do better and support it materially. And while our GWSC Discord server is a welcoming place where our few conflicts have been resolveable with mediation, we need to build formalized moderation infrastructure to ensure that things stay safe as we grow. In the coming months and years we hope to hedge these shortcomings and continue to hold ourselves accountable, because none of us are free until all of us are free.
GWSC, the CWA, and the Future of GWU
I started this article with the history of the labor movement in games’s volunteer wing, and I’ll now account for its current state. All of this varies depending on where you live, and my perspective is clouded with a North American focus, but a few common trends run throughout.
Over the past year, an evolution has taken place across the landscape of GWU chapters. Our loose organization as a Discord server full of volunteers — and people just hanging out — was enough to jumpstart the movement in 2018, but in the time since that structurelessness proved itself unsustainable. The lack of bylaws and elected titles led to problems with accountability, and the lack of substantial moderating resources (3–5 moderators for thousands of members) made the International Discord server an often difficult place to be in. Simultaneously, the entry of established unions into the games industry was an unambiguous triumph, but it also forced us to reckon with where we fit into the new landscape.
To address these challenges, a number of evolutions have occurred:
Starting in late 2019, a group of chapters and International organizers collaborated to create a charter for a new GWU International, which establishes formalized positions, accountability procedures, and centralized inter-chapter cooperation. As part of this the GWU International Discord server from 2018 was phased out, in favor of more focused internal communication channels for organizing.
Other chapters, such as GWU Los Angeles, Orange County, and Seattle, instead chose to spin off during this period and become independent of the international group.
Many chapters from both of the above categories have entered into official partnerships, or even mergers, with established unions. 2 years ago GWU United Kingdom voted to become a branch of the Independent Game Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), and more recently GWU Seattle became a branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Other chapters, ourselves included, have remained independent but entered into primary-partnership relationships with specific unions — GWSC and GWU Toronto have both signed “Solidarity Agreements” with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). Others still have developed regular working relationships with union representatives without choosing a primary partner.
GWU LA and GWU Orange County, now a single organization called Game Workers of Southern California, decided to become independent of GWU International for a few reasons. First, our day-to-day operations have always been relatively independent, and when the slightly more centralized charter came out we decided we wanted to keep our focus on local organizing. And as a function of that, we felt it would be easier for the public to get to know our work and our voice as distinct from the rest of GWU’s if we developed our own distinct branding. Despite this we hope to continue collaborating with GWU chapters and remain close allies with our fellow workers around the world. Capital is internationally coordinated, and so must labor be!
So, with that extremely long preamble, let me introduce Game Workers of Southern California. We are a volunteer-based group of game workers and their allies who work in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the greater Southern California area. We are a membership-based organization — being a member is free, you just need to fill out this form so we can verify that you’re not a boss (or cop, gamergater, fascist, etc.). We are proud signatories of a solidarity agreement with the Communication Workers of America’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) program. We remain independent and fully support campaigns that are affiliated with other unions or with no external union, but we’ve chosen CODE-CWA as our closest collaborator because we’ve seen them foster their campaigns with unparalleled energy, radicalism, and care. We are also close allies of SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents voice, mocap, and percap actors in the games industry.
The Communication Workers of America’s “CODE” campaign is an initiative to organize the games and tech industries
We coordinate most of our activities through a GWSC Discord server, to which all members have access. Our initiatives have varies across the years, but these are our main tactics:
Community-building: Creating relationships and solidarity between rank-and-file game workers and their allies across SoCal, and creating a safe space for workers to learn about unionization. In the past we’ve run potlucks, public socials with open-mic venting, and online game nights.
Creating relationships and solidarity between rank-and-file game workers and their allies across SoCal, and creating a safe space for workers to learn about unionization. In the past we’ve run potlucks, public socials with open-mic venting, and online game nights. Education: Teaching game workers about the principles and values of unionization, and the practical skills of how to accomplish it. For us this manifests as running trainings, sharing resources with each other, and acting as emissaries of the labor movement in our workplaces and personal lives.
Teaching game workers about the principles and values of unionization, and the practical skills of how to accomplish it. For us this manifests as running trainings, sharing resources with each other, and acting as emissaries of the labor movement in our workplaces and personal lives. Coalition-building: Building relationships and solidarity between other labor and labor-supportive organizations to create a unified front. Some examples include our joint events with SAG-AFTRA and the National Lawyers Guild, our close relationship with the CWA and other unions, etc.
Building relationships and solidarity between other labor and labor-supportive organizations to create a unified front. Some examples include our joint events with SAG-AFTRA and the National Lawyers Guild, our close relationship with the CWA and other unions, etc. Direct Worker Support: Providing direct assistance to individuals and groups of game workers in our region. Part of our membership induction process involves a short call with each worker — these serve to verify identities, but more importantly they help us create personal connections, provide a listening ear, and direct workers to resources like CWA organizers. In the past we’ve also assisted workers in direct actions, such as the Riot Walkout.
Our Call to Action
I’ve talked a lot about the different volunteer-based organizations in games and labor, but it’s important to remember that these orgs are not monolithic entities. We are nothing more than the sum of our parts, and our “parts” are rank-and-file game workers just like you. Our siblings, brothers and sisters at the CWA have a saying that I love dearly — “a union is not a vending machine into which dues are fed and services are received.” A union is a democratic power structure, a manifestation of the collective will of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of workers, which leverages our power over production to win us our fair share of the value we create. For any of that to work it requires the active participation of all workers involved — some of us have more time and bandwidth to devote than others, but we all have a place in the struggle and we can’t win unless we work together.
It is a popular truism that every organizing conversation must end with an ask, and I will close with one for you now. Get involved. Join the movement, get in touch with an organizer, and talk to your coworkers. I can’t tell you we always win, because we don’t. But I will promise you now that if you get even one coworker a raise, it will have been worth it. If you change even one exploitative policy, if you get even one sexual harasser fired, If you help even one desperate person feel heard and supported, it will have been worth it. Organizing is scary, exhausting, and often tedious. I’ve had so many moments over the years when I wanted to give up. But what keeps me holding on is remembering the moment when a fellow worker told me, “this is the first time I’ve had hope.” Be that person. Bring the hope. Join us, join the movement, build the future you want to see. A better world is possible, but it takes all of us to make it happen.
Actionables: | https://medium.com/game-workers-of-southern-california/introducing-gwsc-and-the-volunteer-wing-of-the-labor-movement-in-games-f383d6db572 | ['Robin Trach'] | 2020-12-18 21:16:20.310000+00:00 | ['Unions', 'Activism', 'Game Workers Unite', 'Video Games Industry', 'Southern California'] |
The Secret Weapon For Aligning Everyone in the Company— Internal Hackathons | Why Organize Internal Hackathons?
Harness the creativity of all the people in your company
Sometimes the best ideas come from a place you least expect. I saw it again and again in Pipedrive. Engineers, engineering managers, support folks, salespeople — they all had solid ideas and picked up top prizes.
The bigger the company, the more some roles move away from customer contact. Suddenly you’ve got all this data coming in from analytics tools that is cool to look at. However, genuine insights rarely come from quantitative data. Insights come from doing the legwork — from talking with customers.
So, it’s especially important to get people from support and sales to participate and test out their ideas — they are the ones who have direct contacts with customers every single day.
Even though you might have a process already in place to harness “the voice of the customer”, with hackathons you’re essentially shortening the feedback loop. It’s what innovation is all about.
The same goes for other roles that might not be too included in the product management process as such — your engineers, engineering managers, the people who work on the knowledge base, customer success managers etc. The more, the merrier.
As a side-effect, you will also be cutting down the amount of criticism around feature prioritization. You know, stuff like “why haven’t they fixed it? we’ve been telling product managers for two years to build this.”
Now it’s their chance to try fixing it themselves or finding out why it’s not a good idea.
Rally the entire company behind company objectives
Internal hackathons are the under-used secret weapon for aligning people on company objectives.
It’s not rare that after the objectives get set, people get busy with details and at some point don’t remember the big picture anymore.
Or maybe the big picture wasn’t communicated to everyone properly in the first place. Communication is hard when you’ve got hundreds or thousands of people to keep in sync.
The people who participate in hackathons that are set around company goals will internalize those goals. And they will be able to explain them to others as well. As participants are from every department, it’s hard to overestimate the effect this will have in terms of aligning the company around common goals.
Take a break from “serious” work
Let’s face it. Most people just want a break and have some fun. And it’s totally fine. From the company’s perspective, it’s the most productive fun time you could imagine.
Preconditions — Things You Must Do Before Organizing An Internal Hackathon
Set clear company objectives
As I said earlier — internal hackathons are a great way to rally people around common objectives.
However, this only works if you actually have proper objectives. And by that I mean you probably should be using some kind of framework to set the objectives.
I personally am a believer in OKRs. Meaning you set Objectives on a leadership level that have to be inspiring. And together with those who have to deliver the objective, you’ll set Key Results.
The Beginner’s Guide to OKR by Felipe Castro (free) is a great place where to start with OKRs.
Another good thing about the OKRs is that it’s recommended to only have a 2–3 of them. Which means it also matches with the frequency of hackathons — twice or thrice a year.
Hard commit resources for the winning ideas beforehand
You absolutely have to commit resources before you run a hackathon. It’s the only way to ensure that all the great ideas will actually get implemented.
Maybe, at first, you want to only commit to implementing the winning idea (not the top 3). And cap the development time to one team and two months, for example.
But you have to do it and be transparent about it. This is also to ensure that you won’t get disgruntled participants.
Something foggy like “we will find the resources and get it done at some point” is not the way to go here. As soon as the hackathon is over, you will run into prioritization problems immediately.
By the way — the implementation part can also be the prize itself. For example, you could send the winning team to somewhere warm or cool where they can work on shipping it while taking surfing lessons or doing snowboarding. It’s a win-swim situation for everyone.🏄
How to Run Internal Hackathons
Set clear rules for evaluating ideas
You will always have participants who will be saying “I think there were much better ideas.”
But you can cut down that number dramatically by making the evaluation criteria known in advance.
Make sure the jury knows how to evaluate the ideas
Isn’t that the same thing as the previous tip? It’s not. Let me explain.
When you run hackathons around a specific company goal (or a sub-goal, even), you can have several criteria for evaluation. Typically you’d have something like “progress made”, “presentation skills”, “potential” etc.
But how do you evaluate “potential”?
If you run a hackathon around building growth loops, then how do you evaluate growth loops?
Not everyone in your company is a specialist in a given area (even if they are a C-level exec).
So, you might want to do some education among the jury beforehand. You won’t have much time for choosing the winners. Maybe only a half an hour where the teams can have a break for food (after demos and before the announcement). Make that time count.
Create a separate Slack channel for all the comms
You should do that already before the hackathon. It’s a good way to build awareness plus you’ll avoid answering the same question several times.
After the hackathon, you can use the channel to update everyone on the progress.
Make sure everyone who wants to, can actually participate
As a rule, it’s better to run hackathons during workdays (or at least partly during workdays). People will be in town and they are more likely to spend their work time rather than their spare time at the event.
However, departments are different. Support reps might have to be online during certain hours. Salespeople might have to take or make calls to fill the quota. Engineers might have to be on call during the hackathon.
So, discuss with different departments heads how to solve those situations. For example, you should make sure that if a salesperson participates, then they won’t be punished for missing their sales quota because of the hackathon.
Let participants submit their ideas beforehand
Seeing the first ideas will inspire others to submit their ideas.
There’s not much more to say about it except the next point.
Discuss the ideas through before the hackathon with participants
Sometimes the topic of the hackathon is very simple. At least you think it is. But you will discover that not everyone understands things the same way as you.
You will have ideas that are totally unrelated to the hackathon topic. And you will have ideas that are related but are presented in such a confusing way that it’s hard to see how exactly they are related.
So, each time someone submits an idea, sit down with that person, and discuss it through quickly. You will improve the quality of ideas and the outcome of the hackathon that way.
Prepare a basic template for pitching
You probably don’t want to limit the creativity too much. But you should at least make sure that a couple of essential pieces are communicated out during the pitch. Things like problem statement, solution, etc.
Split big groups apart and merge the soloists
The goal of hackathons is to test out as many good ideas as possible.
Sometimes, a couple of ideas seem so good, that everyone wants to be part of those teams. Often, though, those won’t actually be the winning teams. The most obvious ideas aren’t necessarily the most insightful ones.
So, if a big group emerges, split it apart. Set an upper limit to group size and make sure you communicate this rule beforehand.
If you have got people who can’t find teammates (and you’ve got no big groups to split either), then merge those people together. They will work out themselves which idea to go with.
Let area mentors give advice separately (not in a group)
First, make sure you have mentors for different areas to start with. For design, for engineering, for presentation/pitching, etc.
After you have area mentors, make sure that they either advise teams separately (i.e. one mentor at a time) or that you group mentors for the same area together (engineering mentors only, for example).
It will be hard for the teams to take in 10 different pieces of advice from 4 different areas at the same time. Keep focus during reviews and give them time to digest the feedback by area.
If you run the hackathon over many physical locations, you need to make sure that each location has someone dedicated to that location alone.
Set attractive prizes
That’s a big part of why people participate. So which prizes should you have?
You can just ask the participants — what do they think are attractive prizes?
I’ve found that stuff related to work productivity is actually the best of both worlds. Things like noise-canceling headphones, extra money for training (trips), etc.
Prepare thoroughly technically
There are usually a lot of technical details to work out. Especially when you’re trying to bring several locations together virtually but you have a physical auditorium as well.
It’s not unusual to have some of the demos fail for technical reasons. So, do a thorough run through.
Pipedrive’s internal IT at work
Pro-tip for virtual hackathons
Trying to organize people into teams is way harder virtually. And the bigger the number of participants the harder it gets.
It might be a good idea to also list the skills of participants and keep a live list of who is taken and who is not. And in general use proper software to manage the hackathon.
Tools like Notion and Coda work great for that purpose and don’t cost anything or cost very little depending on your exact needs. They are way more flexible compared to, for example, Google Docs or Confluence.
The idea is to put team listings, voting (private), prize listings, participate lists etc all in one place and link them together.
Or you can go pro and try something like MuchSkills (this specific feature of MuchSkills was born during and because of a hackathon) or Eventornado (where, perhaps not surprisingly in retrospect, Martin Henk is a co-founder) to manage hundreds or even thousands of participants. | https://medium.com/@meelis-ojasild/the-secret-weapon-for-aligning-everyone-in-the-company-internal-hackathons-e992b0e68ed2 | ['Meelis Ojasild'] | 2020-12-03 06:22:34.556000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Hackathons', 'Alignment', 'Okr', 'Growth'] |
BYRON SCOTT DESERVES JOB SECURITY | In America, job security is the basis of family structure. We make many decisions based off expected bi-weekly paychecks, salaries, bonuses, and vacation time. The old familiar model is waking up early and commuting to work, preparing your sandwich the night before to enjoy in your break room, clocking out of work only to be inching forward in your mid sized sedan during rush hour, and then getting home in time for dinner and your favorite primetime tv show. Its a routine many Americans find themselves in, mostly because of the security it provides. As long as you arrive to work on time and do what is expected, nothing should change, right? For NBA coaches, job security seems to be anything but expected.
Many coaches experience the crippling pressure of getting a group of players to buy into their philosophiy of how to win. In a league that’s shifting more in the players favor, coaches that are unproven are consistently on the hot seat. Getting the keys to run the team the way you seem fit may take years to translate into wins. Years that many new coaches simply can’t afford. Since 2000, there have been only 4 NBA teams (Houston, Dallas, Utah, & San Antonio) that have had less than 5 head coaching changes. The other 26 teams have changed head coaches a combined 56 times. The best example of a coach getting stuck in the game of musical chairs is Byron Scott.
Byron Scott came into coaching with a résumé that would garner respect from his peers. Scott was a former player, most notably of the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers, winning 3 NBA championships alongside Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After retiring from the NBA in 1998 and a short stint playing overseas (winning a Euro-League championship in his lone season in Europe), Scott returned to the NBA as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings in 1999. Scott excelled in developing key players three point abilities, propelling the team to playoff success.
Kidd & Scott went to back to back finals, losing both series to the Lakers and Spurs. (image courtesy of Noren Trotman/Getty Images)
Scott took over as head coach of the New Jersey Nets in 2000. Within a year, the team had won a franchise record 52 games. Led by point guard Jason Kidd, the Nets reached the NBA finals in back to back years. Although losing both appearances(Being swept the Lakers and losing in 6 games to the Spurs), the Nets seemed to be a staple in the Eastern Conference for years to come. But after a sub par start to the 2003 season, Scott was fired. There were reports at the time that Kidd didn’t gel well with Scott and urged the organization to move in a different direction. In 2018, Scott described Kidd as an “Asshole”.
A year later in 2004, Scott was hired as the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. In his first year, the team finished 18–64. The Hornets were looking to turn their fortunes around in the 2005 NBA draft. The Hornets trusted Scott’s knowledge and scouting to choose the best player for their future with the 4th pick. With it, Scott chose Wake Forest standout point guard, Chris Paul. With Scott’s guard dominant gameplan meshing well with the young star, the team improved to 38 and 39 win consecutive years. In 2007, the teams chemistry and Scott’s tutelage of Chris Paul led the team to first in their division with 56 wins, a franchise record. Scott coached the Western Conference All Star team and won the 2007–08 Coach of the Year award. Although losing in the second round to the defending champion Spurs team, championship aspirations increased expectations for Scott and the Hornets.
Chris Paul and Scott won a franchise record 56 games during the 07–08 season. (image courtesy of google)
The following year, the Hornets were unable to reach the heights the organization expected. Scott’s Hornets team finished the year with 49 wins and exited the playoffs in the first round. With the team gearing up for another run at a championship, Scott was fired nine games into the 2009 season. After the firing, Chris Paul was extremely frustrated with the teams decision. “Coach was more than a coach to me. He was a mentor, someone who made me the player I am today ”, Paul stated after hearing the news. The team traded Chris Paul a year later as the team was never able to recover and accomplish the tasks that Scott once pushed the team to.
Scott’s name was called yet again to be the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010. The move was made to appease the Cavs superstar LeBron James, who was clamoring for the team to hire a head coach with playing experience along with an extensive résumé. Their efforts proved to be too late, as James left the team for the Miami Heat, just days after Scott signed his contract to be the new coach. After a miserable season that included a 26 game losing streak, Scott and the Cavaliers won the top pick in the draft. Again, relying on Scott’s expertise and scouting, the team picked Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the first pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
2011 Rookie of the year Kyrie Irving & Scott (image courtesy of Ron Hoskins/Getty Images.)
With a roster filled with young undeveloped players, Scott used the season to develop the young crop of players. Although the team improved by only 2 wins, Kyrie Irving won the “Rookie of the Year” award and publicly showed support for Byron Scott, calling Scott his “basketball father”. The next year, Irving’s stats rose considerably, earning him his first All Star nomination in just his second year. The team won 24 games, andseemed to be full of young players with potential such as Irving, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. But all to familiarly, Scott was let go as head coach at the end of the season. After the firing, Irving said he was “surprised and hurt” by the dismissal of Scott and that his “emotions are running high”.
After spending some time as a TV analyst, Scott was approached to be head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, his former team. After interviewing for the job three times, Scott signed a multi-year deal to become the head coach in 2014. Scott was joining a team that was rebuliding, a premise that the organization and fans knew would take years of sub par seasons to develop talent. With Scott and the organization aware of the low expectations for the season, the team finished with 21 wins. With the second pick in the draft, yet another organization entrusted the decision with Scott. Scott and the Lakers selected the All American point guard from Ohio State, D’angelo Russell.
Byron Scott, 2015 2nd overall pick D’angelo Russell, and 5 time Champion Kobe Bryant. (image courtesy of Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
In Kobe Bryant’s final year with the team and amidst the rebuilding process, the team had a dismal season. Quarrels amongst young players (D’angelo Russell and Nick Young scandal), Bryant calling out unmotivated players, and practices that Scott had to force players to come to early (seriously), the team finished with a franchise worst 17 wins. But with Kobe retiring and the team filled with fresh talent, Scott seemed to have had his worst days of the rebuilding process behind him. Scott was ready to lead his alma mater back to the glory days of the “Showtime” Lakers that he was an integral part of. This was his chance to prove that he belonged as a top coach in this league. One summer night following the season, Scott was called to the Lakers front office to discuss the plans for the upcoming season. In that meeting, he learned that he was not apart of those plans, as the team declined to pick up the option on his remaining two years of his contract. After cleaning out his office, Scott said he felt “cheated” and “lied to”.
Scott has not returned to coaching since, understandably so. After Magic Johnson was hired as president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers, many of the old regime that had done Scott wrong was let go. Getting into a routine was never a luxury Scott experienced as a head coach. With a résumé that competes with some of the leagues most heralded coaches, job security is sure to be his top request at his next place of employment. | https://medium.com/@jamaladedje/byron-scott-deserves-job-security-ef82b729aea1 | ['Jamal Adédjé'] | 2020-12-01 21:36:29.883000+00:00 | ['Kyrie Irving', 'Los Angeles', 'Byron Scott', 'NBA', 'Los Angeles Lakers'] |
How to Build Your Tennis Mental Skill | There is a saying that tennis is played in the head and professional players can’t but agree with it. Venus Williams, an outstanding American player, once said, that tennis is 50% a mental game and 50% is about efficient technique and physical training. Definitely, confident strokes and physical skills are essential, but without a mental strength, a player will not be able to win a challenging match and can even lose to lesser players.
Tennis psychology is especially important for junior players, as they have less experience at a younger age, that’s why they are too focused on winning and tend to take the defeats close to heart. Kids begin to struggle mentally, when they start missing and losing shots. However, the good news is that, the mentally tough tennis player is rarely born, these skills and competencies are practiced over years from match to match.
Luckily, it’s possible to train not only physical, but also mental skills. Let’s figure out what mental strength is.
Practice under pressure
Serena Williams, one the best tennis players in history, still uses this exercise to stay mentally strong in a real match. During the training, she complicates the conditions, pretending, for example, that she is down 15 to 40 in a game, or hits the second serve and can’t afford to make a double fault.
Practicing in ‘real-world’ conditions is a great mental method and you can create difficulties for yourself, just use your fantasy. Feeling a little pressure during practice will help to calm nerves on a match day.
“This kind of exercise is implemented during summer training at Cyprus Tennis Camp, in order to help junior players prepare better for challenging years ahead.” — Milenko Strika founder of CyprusTennisCamp.com
Visualisation
Visualization is another mental training technique, that can help the player to gain confidence and belief in himself. All you need is to use your imagination and visualize yourself playing a perfect match or winning the game. Do this exercise just before going to bed and first thing in the morning to strengthen self-confidence. Novak Djokovic, a top player from Serbia, pays special attention to this training and assures, that programming himself for success on court since childhood, helped him in tough matches in adult career. Never stop believing in yourself and visualize a good outcome of the match, follow Roger Federer’s words “At first you vision it, then you do it”. Sounds easy, right?
A pre-match routine can help you to focus the mind and reduce anxiety at the start of a match. Everyone, who is fond of tennis, noticed that some players, for example, Rafael Nadal, have their own routine before the match. Form your habits, which can help you to concentrate on the game: for example listen to the music, that calm your nerves or, on the contrary, energizes; wrap the racket with a grip by yourself, pack your bag with all necessary things and plan meals before the game.
A “between ball” routine is another helpful advice to maintain focus, sense of calm, and reset between points. Try to relax your mind during these short periods in a game and changeovers, so you can focus at peak levels on the next point.
Don’t be critical to yourself if you missed a shot or did an unforced error, forget about the mistake, otherwise you’ll bring negative thoughts into the next point. Focus on just on the current point, not the previous one, and play it as if it’s the first point in the game. Don’t over analyze things during the match, it can reduce concentration. You can discuss the mistakes and decide what needs to be improved with a coach after a match.
Self-training
Speaking about mental strength, it’s important to understand that this aspect of the game is mostly in your own hands. Never stop developing yourself, as no one else can get inside your head and fix mental things. It would be useful for you to collect all valuable information from the best books about mental toughness on the market, for example you can read “The Inner Game of Tennis”; explore websites and articles, dedicated to tennis, and do your own research by studying many matches on TV or YouTube channels. It’s also important to have your favorite players on the tour and monitor how they behave and struggle in challenging situations.
Definitely, when it comes to junior players, coaches should understand, that juniors focus on winning too much and for some of them only a win means that they play well; If they lose, self-confidence goes away, while negative thoughts, lack of belief, high nervousness come to mind and can unbalance players for a long time. In order to avoid this, coaches should make the player concentrate on his personal long term development, but not the number of wins. Sometimes the defeat can teach you more than a victory!
Motivation for tennis players can be easily found and lost, a strong mindset that’s what really matters. With the help of these exercises and tips you will convert your mind into a weapon and will be able to win technically stronger players. Just keep working hard and never stop believing in yourself!
Milenko Strika — Founder
CyprusTennisCamp.com | https://medium.com/@cyprustenniscamp/how-to-build-your-tennis-mental-skill-138c08043aee | ['Cyprus Tennis Camp'] | 2020-12-14 09:45:29.505000+00:00 | ['Cyprus', 'Skills', 'Mental', 'Tennis', 'Psychology'] |
RGB-encoded elevation data in MapTiler Cloud | Practical applications
Each of the raster pixels contains the elevation value and it can be decoded using this formula:
height = -10000 + ((R * 256 * 256 + G * 256 + B) * 0.1)
Elevation data provides height above the sea level in meters for every single place in the world, measured for regions of approximately 30x30 meters.
Hillshading
Since the data contain the encoded elevation values directly, there are many potential applications. You can add the data into your map in order to create a nice visual shaded relief for your maps.
You can even change the hillshading colors and light direction. It can be easily done in the integrated map style editor in MapTiler Cloud.
DEM hillshading is already present in our Topo map in MapTiler Cloud.
Hypsometry
Another application where you can highlight elevation is hypsometry. The traditional color model used mostly for the relief model in geographical maps contains green color for lowlands, yellow for highlands, brown for mountains and a different tone of blue for bathymetry.
More applications
Since values can be manipulated even on-the-fly, you can create interactive tools in JavaScript. For example, we built an interactive “floods” simulator. | https://medium.com/maptiler/rgb-encoded-elevation-data-in-maptiler-cloud-d1e57e8da5f0 | [] | 2019-03-21 19:11:58.400000+00:00 | ['Cartography', 'Elevation', 'Geography', 'GIS', 'Maps'] |
How can I find the best SEO service provider? | SB Infowaves is a one-stop-destination to find the best SEO Packages for building brands. Our dedicated SEO team has been helping businesses to develop their brands globally in this digital age. It’s time to look for Professional SEO Services to score ranks in search engine results, reach more organic traffic, and get more clicks on your website. Our client-specific marketing solutions will ensure improving a user’s experience and ensure customers are returning to your website to avail of professional services.
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For more click at: https://sbinfowaves.com/why-does-your-brand-need-seo-services/ | https://medium.com/@sbinfowaves.com/how-can-i-find-the-best-seo-service-provider-f7d65d78abdf | ['Sb Infowaves'] | 2021-12-28 14:07:57.725000+00:00 | ['Seo Agency', 'Digital Marketing Company', 'Seo Provider Company', 'Business', 'Seo Services'] |
3 Simple Wealth Building Mindsets for a Pandemic | Catalytic events are historical occurrences that cause important changes. How can you build wealth in the middle of one?
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Life is filled with uncertainty, especially in times like this!
We find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic that has triggered an economic recession, escalated racial tensions and increased political instability. All of these factors have amplified financial anxiety which has inevitably taken a toll on our collective physical and mental health.
Analysis by the Institue for Policy Studies shows that since the pandemic started, a staggering $6.5 trillion in household wealth has disappeared and the collective wealth by billionaires has surged by more than $584 billion! Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted that “This is the biggest economic shock in the U.S. and in the world in living memory!”.
When catalytic events like a pandemic happen, they level the playing field and expose hidden opportunities, for those who can identify them.
As a career consultant, I have spoken to hundreds of unemployed and underemployed job seekers in the last few months who are desperate to provide for their families, put food on the table and have some measure of financial security. As a new dad myself, working towards the financial security and stability of my young family has been my biggest priority.
In this article, I will share with you my mindset, reasoning, and strategies to successfully build wealth in these strange times based on my personal experience and what has worked for me.
Catalytic Events & Timing
Catalytic events are historical occurrences that cause important changes.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001, the financial crisis of 2008 or the current COVID 19 pandemic are classic examples of catalytic events that are sudden, catastrophic and one for history books. Unfortunately, this is how history moves, never smoothly but always in bumps. When catalytic events like a pandemic happen, they level the playing field and expose hidden opportunities, for those who can identify them.
The natural reaction that most people have to a catalytic event is fear.
Fear is a natural emotion induced by perceived dangers or threats, this emotion causes physiological and ultimately behavioural changes aimed at fleeing, hiding or protecting one’s self from the perceived danger. Fear has its evolutionary role in protecting us, but giving in to fear is far from a winning strategy if you want to maximize hidden opportunities to build wealth.
To overcome fear, you have to visualize this pandemic as an opportunity to evolve and an excellent occasion to take initiative and “force the issue”.
We are in a crisis; a time of intense difficulty, mortal danger, confusion, anxiety and change.
“Moments of crisis show us that the ways we’ve been doing things actually hinder our existence,” says Michele Moody-Adams, a professor of political philosophy and legal theory at Columbia University. Think back to a pre-coronavirus world, when you’d ask why something was done in a certain way, the answer was often, “Because that’s the way it’s always been done”.
The rules are now changing, today we are now being forced to deeply consider everything and redefine what is normal. Nothing is no longer taken for granted, people are suddenly open to new ways of doing things from how we work, communicate and commute to how we shop and socialize. The rules are changing and this new reality ultimately creates an abundance of hidden opportunities for anyone who is looking.
Crisis creates new problems that you can solve.
During this pandemic, I have identified needs in areas of career and business coaching that has proven lucrative for me. People are willing to pay me to coach and guide them as they try to get a new or better job in this recession. Small business owners are happy to pay me to coach them as they try to grow their businesses and increase their revenue in an ever-competitive market.
Don’t give in to fear, choose to see this crisis as an opportunity to create a solution for one of the many problems that this pandemic has created.
Trust me, there are many problems out there in your local community, your industry, your country, and even across the world that you can offer solutions to. All you have to do is to observe what people around you are struggling with.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
The law of Value
Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than what you take in payment — Bob Burg
In The Go-Giver by Bob Burg, Burg shares the simple yet mind-blowing concept of giving more in value than what you take in payment. The secret to getting ahead, building wealth and maximizing opportunities is by putting other’s interests first and continually adding value to others.
Once you have gotten over your fear of the pandemic and identified potential opportunities to create solutions, you have to focus on adding more value to others than what you ask in payment. This doesn’t mean that you are providing free services; rather, it means that your solution adds much more value in comparison to the payment you are asking. This is how to build loyal fans and customers that will support your solution and be an advocate.
For example, In the early days of my coaching business, I routinely reviewed many job seekers’ resumes at no cost and often provided free career consulting and access to my online course for those who truly needed it. I only asked for their honest feedback on the effectiveness of my methods and for them to share their experience with other friends who could use some coaching. They received more in value in comparison to the payment I requested.
I also did something similar when it came to consulting with small business owners, I focused on adding value to their business by helping them to increase their revenue and performance before asking for payment. This created true superfans who not only believed in my coaching but also became evangelists for me.
Furthermore, your compensation is directly proportional to the number of lives you touch. Your income is determined by how many people your solution serves and how well you serve them. It is not just enough to create solutions, you have to find ways to offer your solution to the most amount of people to become truly successful. The more the number of people you can help, the higher your earnings.
Taking Action & Managing Risk
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are physiological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization.
Using this concept, we can apply it to finances and wealth creation. As you work towards overcoming your fear of this pandemic and you start to identify problems around you that you can provide solutions to, you have to manage your risk. Starting a side-hustle outside of your regular job is the best way to begin this journey and if there is any time to start, it is now! To learn more about side hustles, read Zulie Rane’s powerful article on the 3 steps she took to earning 6 figures at 25 years old!
Your priority as it relates to finances should be to make enough money through your side hustles that you can save for emergencies. Emergency funds cover unexpected expenses and the essentials (rent, food, etc.) in case of a loss of income. Once enough savings for 3–6 months has been saved, you should then focus on buying insurance products to secure you against the loss of health, property, employment or family. There are different types of insurance products for this.
Your next priority should then be paying off high-interest rate debts and digging yourself out of any holes. Debts like this include credit card debts, lines of credit etc. After this, you can then focus on saving and investing for retirement, education and any other essentials. This is how to achieve financial security and peace of mind. At this point, your side hustle(s) will help you achieve financial self-actualization and freedom.
In conclusion, the pandemic is a leveller and is changing the rules of what we define as normal. Don’t be afraid of this change, embrace it. Look for problems you can provide solutions to, it doesn’t have to be rocket science, it could be as simple as putting your woodworking or gardening skills to work, freelancing or teaching an online class. Then, grow your side hustle. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/3-simple-wealth-building-strategies-for-a-pandemic-82af9444dae9 | ['David Owasi'] | 2020-10-13 16:45:52.888000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Self', 'Money', 'Wealth'] |
Reactive Programming with RxJS | RxJS Operators
One of the greatest feature of RxJS is its rich and powerful operators. They are methods/functions that do not change existing stream but return a new one. In other words, an operator is a pure function in which input is an Observable and output is another Observable.
The notion and implementation of pure functions with specific, explicit input, output and immutability embrace functional programming principles. This declarative style greatly reduces side effects and improve code readability. The first part of this series clarified those in great details 🕵 ️🤗
Creation operators
RxJS operators are grouped based on their distinctive purposes. Its categories include: creation, transformation, filtering, combination , etc.
In a RxJS program, the first and foremost phase is to create a stream. RxJS treats every data source as stream. Therefore, its creation operators allow us to create a data stream from almost everything. They include simple DOM events such as button clicks, input keypresses to more complicated data sources like Promises.
In this blog, I would like to introduce first four primary RxJS creation operators: create, from, fromEvent, of and more importantly, their real-world usages. Now, let's grab a cup of coffee ☕️ and dive into it 🕵 ️
Create operator
create is a low-level machenisim allowing us to create any Observable. It is the most generic and thus powerful among creation operators that we will dive in today.
Data source
create does not receive values as data source but a list of events called function subscriptions. These functions will instruct how values get emitted to observer.
import { Observable } from 'rxjs'
const observable = Observable.create(subscriptionFn)
create essentially gives you complete control over the data source. But how? 🤔
By taking a look at the official docs, we could see that create accepts a parameter - a onSubscription function. This function accepts an observer and explicitly use next , complete and error to emit a value, finish and throw an error respectively when an observer subscribes to it.
Let’s see how create controls the flow of data source in action:
In above example, we only emit odd numbers to observers. Thanks to next function, every value that meets our condition gets distributed. Otherwise, an error is thrown by error method. Eventually, we call complete to notify observers that the observable has finished emitting and the process is done.
Note that after either complete or error is called, the observable will stop emitting and not doing anything else. This termination is called Observable Contract.
Cleaning up before unsubscribing
onSubscription parameter of create operator can optionally return function. By using this, we could clean up resources before unsubscribing from original observable.
Do you really need create ?
The answer is no most of the time!
There are other creation operators that we will look at and see how powerful and flexible they are. Besides, RxJS also has a wide range of other operators for filtering, transforming, error handling…etc. Therefore, create is only necessary when you really need that level of control over the data source of the observable.
From operator
from operator turns array, Promise or iterable into an observable (stream). The closest real-world scenario would be to create an Observable from Promise. Let’s create a stream from getCakes Promise via Fetch API:
Now you might wonder: Is it this simple? Well, yes but no 🤗.
Lemme get this straight. It is simple once your mindset shifts to a data-driven model. Meaning your program does not really care about where or how fetchCakesPromise is call/executed. All it pays attention to is there is a stream of cakes flows through and it need to distribute each value that the stream emits to its subscribers. As long as its observer - subscriber got their required data, mission gets completed!
fromEvent operator
fromEvent creates an Observable from events. One of the most simple implementation of fromEvent is to create a stream of mouse clicks events. Let's see it in action 🖱🐭
A stream of mouse click events created by fromEvent
You can easily notice that fromEvent take first argument as a DOM node submit button. The second argument is essentially name of the event, which in our case is click .
From this simple example, it is difficult to understand why we need RxJS to handle this simple click event. However, things get more interesting when we do not stop at a one-operation-handler.
In RxJS, regardless of simple or complicated flow, we always treat data source as a stream. fromEvent is kind of a gateway for transforming pure DOM events into a stream. Only after that we could use other powerful RxJS operators to reshape and handle logics in the flow.
of operator
of transforms a list of values into an observable sequence. Values as arguments could be a sequence of number, an object, an array. At this point, you might find off oddily similar to from . Let's dig out difference between them 🕵️♂️
It did not take long for you to spot the difference didn’t it? We could see that of does not flatten the source. Thus, it emits the whole value of numberArray at once. On the other side, from performs the flattening of the array source before emitting values. It therefore distributes each value from numberArray one by one.
Key takeaways
create is a low-level Observable factory that gives total control over how values get emitted to observers
is a low-level Observable factory that gives total control over how values get emitted to observers create is over-killed in many situations. So it is worth considering the cost of complicating your API.
is over-killed in many situations. So it is worth considering the cost of complicating your API. from turns array, promise or iterable into an Observable
turns array, promise or iterable into an Observable fromEvent turns event into an Observable
turns event into an Observable When we use either from or fromEvent to create a new stream. RxJS only cares about values that the stream produces, not each individual event.
or to create a new stream. RxJS only cares about values that the stream produces, not each individual event. of transforms a list of values into an observable sequence. In comparison with from , of does not flatten the data source. Thus, it emits each argument as a whole instead of one by one
Useful sources | https://medium.com/shot-code/reactive-programming-with-rxjs-2d349f033c6f | ['Vinh Le'] | 2019-11-10 05:58:49.038000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Front End Development', 'Programming', 'Rxjs', 'Coding'] |
Visualizing Data with Azure Databricks and Power BI Desktop | Azure Databricks is a powerful technology that helps unify the analytics process between Data Engineers and Data Scientists by providing a workflow that can be easily understood and utilised by both disciplines of users. Data Engineers can use it to create jobs that helps deliver data to Data Scientists, who can then use Databricks as a workbench to perform advanced analytics.
However, in real life, the need to deliver data in a understandable format that provides actionable insights extends the needs of just Data Engineers and Scientists. With that in mind, how can we expect Marketers, salesman and business executives to understand and utilise comprehensive analytics platforms such as Azure Databricks to perform day-to-day tasks?
Thankfully, we can connect our clusters within Azure Databricks to BI tools such as Power BI. The purpose of this tutorial is to help you understand how you can use both Azure Databricks and Power BI for Data Visualization tasks and how you can connect clusters in Databricks to Power BI
Technologies used in this tutorial:
Azure Databricks
Power BI Desktop
For this tutorial, I’m going to assume that you know how to use the Databricks UI to create notebooks. I’m also going to assume that you have a basic understanding of PySpark and how you can create clusters inside Databricks.
Getting our data
For this demo, I’m going to use Python for my scripting work inside Databricks. There’s some really cool data viz libraries that are available in Python and I’ll show you how you can use these inside a Databricks notebook.
Also, I’m going to use one of the pre-loaded datasets that come with Azure Databricks just so I don’t have to waste time explaining how to import data into Databricks, which I covered in this blog post.
Let’s start by creating a Python notebook and load our dataset. Write the following code:
# load our data into Databricks
ourData = "/databricks-datasets/Rdatasets/data-001/csv/ggplot2/diamonds.csv" # create a dataframe for that data
diamonds = spark.read.format("csv").option("header", "true").option("inferSchema", "true").load(ourData)
If compilation was successful, we should see the following output:
Let’s play around with our data so we can use different types of visuals. Let’s take a look at our data first just to see what we’re dealing with:
display(diamonds)
We should see the following table in our Databricks notebook:
As you can see, whenever we run a display() function in Databricks, we’ll get a limit of 1000 rows in our dataset.
Visualizing Data in Databricks
Now that we have our different data frames defined in Databricks (say that 5 times as fast), we can start experimenting with different types of data visuals. We know what columns we have, what datatypes they are and what kind of data is inside our diamonds dataframe, so let’s start with some aggregations.
Let’s start off by grouping our diamonds by color and showing their average price. We’ll create a new data frame for this by writing the following code:
# Group by color
diamonds_color = diamonds.groupBy('color').avg("price")
display(diamonds_color)
When we executed our code, we got a table but did you see the bar chart button at the bottom of our table? This button allows us to visualise our data. In this example, I’ve used a basic bar chart, but I’ll go through what we can do using this feature.
In Azure Databricks, we can create different types of visualisations as seen in the diagram below:
Not everything can be a bar chart right?
We can also customize our plots using ‘Plot Options..’
This is a pretty basic example, but using this feature, we can customize what fields we want to use in our chart, the keys, values, groups, type of aggregation and how our chart is displayed.
Let’s explore another example. Write the following code in another code block in your databricks notebook:
# depth to carat
depthVcarat = diamonds.select("depth", "carat")
display(depthVcarat)
In this data frame, we want to see if there is a relationship between the depth of a diamond and its carat value. Let’s create a scatter plot to see if there is:
Doesn’t look like it.
Now that we’ve got some cool visualizations in our Databricks notebook, we can consolidate these into a pretty neat dashboard.
To do this, we can use the drop down menu in our notebook where it says view: Code and click New Dashboard:
Here we can move our visuals around to create a dashboard like so:
Here we can move our visuals around to fit our dashboard. The controls are pretty simple, we can choose a layout option (either stacked or floated) and a dashboard width.
Dashboards can either be really simple in Databricks or they can be more sophisticated. We can do a quick and dirty mock up like the one we’ve just produced or we add some complexity to them by creating a scheduled job to refresh it. For example, if we create a dashboard that provides visuals to a streaming job, we can create a job that updates this every so often.
While the visualization tools in Databricks are good, they aren’t as comprehensive as Power BI. Let’s connect our data to Power BI now.
Connecting Databricks to Power BI Desktop
Power BI provides interative data visualizations that enables users to create reports and dashboards. With Azure Databricks, you can bring in the performance benefits to all business users. Particularly, you can use DirectQuery to offload the processing responsibilities to Azure Databricks which will deal with the vast quantities of data that we don’t necessarily want in Power BI.
Power BI comes with a built in Spark connector which allows us to connect to our clusters in Databricks. In order to connect to your clusters, you will need to generate a personal access token in Databricks.
First, let’s save our diamonds dataframe as a global table inside Databricks. Global tables are available to all clusters.
# save diamonds dataframe as a global table
diamonds.write.saveAsTable("diamonds")
Let’s confirm that our table has been created by checking out our data tab:
Sweet, now that we’ve saved our table, let’s connect it to Power BI. First, we’ll need to get our JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) server address. Go to the clusters UI and select the cluster you want to connect to. On the edit page, scroll down and select the JDBC/ODBC tab.
Here, we see a bunch of values that we’ll need to connect to Power BI. I’m hiding my values on purpose from you, but you’ll need an address in the following format:
https://<server-host>:<port>/sql/protocol/o/<key>/<key>
The two keys at the end will be in your JDBC URL text box, so just copy and paste those values.
Once you have the url, go to Power BI and click Get Data in the toolbar and then click More…
In the Get Data dialog, we’ll need to look for the Spark (beta) connector:
Click Connect. Enter the URL we constructed earlier, use HTTP as the protocol and select DirectQuery as the Data Connectivity Mode. This will allow us to offload processing to Spark (as explained earlier).
Now we’ll need to login into the cluster. Use ‘token’ as the username and use the token for the password (make sure you’ve generated a token before doing this). Click Connect to connect to your cluster.
If everything works, you should be able to see all your tables in the Navigator dialog. Select the diamonds table and you’ll see a preview of our data:
We can edit our data import as we would with any data source in Power BI or we can just load it all in. Let’s do the latter! Click Load to get started.
Working with Data inside Power BI
Now that our Databricks table is available to us inside Power BI, we can start creating some awesome visualizations.
In the fields tab, we can see our table that we imported along with it’s respective columns:
Let’s try and create our bar chart of average prices per color that we did in Databricks. From the fields tab, check the color and price check-boxes to insert those fields into our dashboard.
Now, we want to choose a “Stacked Column Chart” for our visualisation. We’ll need to change a couple of things to make our chart look good. In our visualizations tab, we’ll want to set our axis to color, choose color for our legend and set the value to the average of our price column. It should like this:
Our end result should look something like this:
This is a very simple example that we’ve created here, but hopefully you now know the basics of importing data from Databricks in Power BI
Conclusion
In this blog post, we’ve taken a simple csv file (that’s already loaded in Azure Databricks for us!) and turned it into a Data Frame in Python and applied some cool visualizations on it. We then saved our DataFrame as a table and connected our cluster to Power BI and applied some visualisations on our tables.
You may wonder why we are actually doing visualizations in two separate places. Databricks is a great tool for Data Engineers and Data Scientists to work together in a unified analytics workflow, but not all business users will be able to use a tool like Databricks and will be much more comfortable using a simple tool like Power BI (essentially a drag and drop tool with a jetpack) for their reporting needs.
This example takes data in the cloud and pulls it back down into Power BI Desktop. A more cost efficient strategy would be to use a tool like Power BI Online so the data stays in the cloud, so bear this in mind for production scenarios.
I hope you got some value out of this tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. | https://towardsdatascience.com/visualizing-data-with-azure-databricks-and-power-bi-desktop-845b0e317dc6 | ['Will Velida'] | 2018-09-19 03:10:29.032000+00:00 | ['Power Bi', 'Data Science', 'Azure', 'Data Visualization', 'Databricks'] |
Tuning Varnish Cache | by Samuel Parkinson
The FT recently sent me on a Varnish administration course run by Varnish Software; based just around the corner from our London office.
It was a brilliant two days of learning all about Varnish cache and the VCL language, making good use of The Varnish Book for course material.
Here are some tips on tuning Varnish cache that we discussed during the course.
varnishstat
If you’re already running Varnish cache, I’d highly recommend getting to grips with the varnishstat CLI tool.
One feature of note is how by default the tool will hide counters with a 0 value. You can toggle the display of all the counters by pressing d. You can also find a list of all the counters in the reference manual.
The tool provides a great real-time view of the cache, but for historical stats you’ll need to export the data somewhere else.
varnishd Parameters
Several key statistics were highlighted during the course, all of which relate to a configurable varnishd parameter.
Looking at the sess_queued counter in varnishstat, it’s described as the “number of times session was queued waiting for a thread”. Directly relating to the thread_pool_min parameter. If you’re seeing a large number of queued sessions, consider increasing the minimum number of threads to meet the typical number of connections varnish is receiving.
We then have sess_dropped, linking to the thread_pool_max parameter. If you see a number of dropped session, even after adjusting thread_pool_min, increase the value of thread_pool_max or spread the load between several varnish nodes.
Lastly there is the n_lru_nuked counter, which shows the number of objects that have been evicted from storage early to make room for new objects. If you see a value here, consider increasing the size of your cache for the storage type, the right size will mean a small to 0 value for this counter. | https://medium.com/ft-product-technology/tuning-varnish-cache-e17e7fd28137 | ['Ft Product'] | 2018-02-16 14:20:26.797000+00:00 | ['Cache', 'Speed', 'Monitoring', 'Ft', 'Financial Times'] |
10 Terms You Need to Know This Tax Season | Tax season luckily only comes once a year, however, it is never too late to educate yourself on your tax terms. This includes forms, cuts and everything in between. Tax terms can seem intimidating and daunting and this is by design.
Understanding these terms don’t have to be confusing. With a little time, you can gain a basic understanding of what you are reading and what your tax return entails. You can simplify your tax preparation system in no time. You can use this list as a guide to help you submit your taxes, or have a more knowledgeable conversation with your accountant this year.
1)1040 forms
1040EZ -The 1040EZ is the shortest of the 1040 forms and you cannot use this form for an itemized deduction. You must meet certain qualifications to file with this form, including but not limited to: taxable income of less than $100,000, you can’t have any dependents, and must file as single or married-filing jointly.
-The 1040EZ is the shortest of the 1040 forms and you cannot use this form for an itemized deduction. You must meet certain qualifications to file with this form, including but not limited to: taxable income of less than $100,000, you can’t have any dependents, and must file as single or married-filing jointly. 1040A -The 1040A is more comprehensive than the 1040EZ and allows you to create more deductions than on the 1040EZ form. Unfortunately, this form still doesn’t allow you to make itemized deductions.
-The 1040A is more comprehensive than the 1040EZ and allows you to create more deductions than on the 1040EZ form. Unfortunately, this form still doesn’t allow you to make itemized deductions. 1040-The 1040 or “long form” is the most comprehensive of the tax forms. It allows you to make itemized deduction, but there will be more forms to fill with if this is the case. A Schedule A will most likely be the form required. This form will list out those itemized deductions.
2)Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)-The adjusted gross income is your gross income minus your deductible items. Adjusted gross income is used to calculate your total taxable income.
3)Taxable Income–Taxable income is the amount calculated on your gross income minus the tax deductions for which you are eligible. Your taxable income determines how much tax you owe.
4)Archive Status-Filing status is how you define your relationship status on your taxes. This is what determines the rate at which your income is taxed. The different options include: single, married-filing jointly, married-filing separately, head of household, qualifying widow(er) with child.
5)Dependent-Your family members are people in your household who rely on your income. This includes any children you have and your partner. This would also include any children that you are the legal guardian of.
6)Deductions-Deductions are expenses that you have accrued during the year that you can deduct from your gross income, according to the IRS. Possible cuts include student loan interest, charity deductions, or relocation expenses. In most cases the following applies: the lower your taxable income, the lower your tax bill, in most cases.
Continue Reading | https://medium.com/@malcolmholden20/10-terms-you-need-to-know-this-tax-season-4c52e744c618 | ['Malcolm Holden'] | 2020-12-13 18:59:09.577000+00:00 | ['Terms', 'Tax Season', 'Taxes', 'Tax Returns', 'Personal Finance'] |
The FAQs that got me more UX interviews (and ultimately my dream job) | At the top of my FAQs I added links to my email, portfolio, Medium, and LinkedIn for convenience.
What does design mean to you?
Design is strategic problem solving that improves people’s lives. Empathy, pragmatism and creativity are applied to the adventure of hunting and validating ideas — a process that leads to intentional solutions. The results are intuitive, delightful and beautiful experiences. Good design benefits users without users ever having to think about it. Design is iterative, never giving up on the mission to guide people through life in a more effortless and more enjoyable way.
I have spent my whole life pursuing design professionally and personally. I love that my natural talents have led me to sharpening my skills as a successful designer. The future of design is inspiring and broad. It keeps me motivated as I continue to grow as a designer.
What’s the difference between a good and great designer?
I believe good designers are able to definitively pinpoint valid problems and contextualize them through exhaustive research. I believe good designers set out to solve problems by casting a wide net of ideas and distilling them down through testing. I believe good designers carefully see the design through development to shipment to ensure proper implementation.
What makes a great designer is how they elevate that process. Great designers have intentionality for the outcomes they’re solving for. They are visionaries, able to see how individual projects fit within the big picture goals. Great designers are opinionated. They are able to map out the reasoning behind every design decision they make. Great designers are generalists and collaborators dedicated to the problem, not their own solutions.
Why do you want to leave freelancing?
I chose to dedicate the past year to freelancing for two reasons. The first was that I knew I’d be moving several times across the country within this past year. Working remotely for clients was a simple way for me to maintain positions despite the geographical transitions.
The second reason I have been a freelancer at this stage of my career is to gain diverse experiences rapidly. Over the past 13 months, I have spent 6–7 days a week designing for over a dozen projects. This is a unique benefit to having multiple clients as a freelancer.
The reason I am leaving freelancing is because I knew that once I was settled in my long term home, I’d want to translate my experiences to a team setting. In a team, I will be able leverage my abilities with the abilities of others to contribute to a larger impact than the impact one can make as a solo designer. The opportunity to collaborate and learn from other designers is an exciting next step in my career.
How do you plan a project?
Each project I take on loosely adheres to a three step process. These three steps are identifying the problem, narrowing down to the most relevant solutions through a cycle of iterations and testing, and following through for a successful shipment. Adaptable to methodologies from design sprints to waterfall, this is the framework I structure projects around.
I start out my projects by meeting with internal stakeholders to learn their expectations and understand what they envision success will look like. This is the beginning of the first step: identifying and understanding the problem. Design boils down to problem solving. I want to make sure that I am knowledgeable about the problem so that I can accurately pursue solutions. I dedicate the beginning of the project to meeting with these internal stakeholders, understanding the target user base, familiarizing myself with the industry and competitors — collecting as many insights as I can. These insights reveal the plan for the rest of the project.
The plan is then defined for the second step, design. Am I solving for one main problem? Several? Having planned the priorities in the previous step, I start working through a broad range of solutions, editing them down through testing. I talk with developers to ensure that the solutions are framed well for building. I translate my wireframes to prototypes to put in front of users in order to test their validity. The client communication style and the development workload determines the handoff process. Once everything has been worked through, presented, finalized, and sent to development, I move to step three.
Step three involves taking a support role during the development process. I have found that oftentime planning is bound to a timeline, so this incremental planning process allows me to set aside appropriate ratios of time to tackle problems in the right way to preserve development time for this phase. I make myself available to project managers and developers in order for our team to ship successfully and on time.
An outline of my high-level strategy can be found here:
For new projects without users, my methods for collecting insights are laid out here:
What is the relationship for you between UX and visual/graphic design?
I view UX as the often-invisible bulk of a product and visual/graphic design as the icing on the cake. Without visual design, the “UX cake” isn’t typically palatable enough to be fully enjoyable. Visual design critically contributes to two pieces of a product: legitimacy and accessibility. Individual visual design preferences can be subjective, so my opinions regarding visual design are aimed towards ensuring the support of the underlying user experience design.
Because I am not a visual designer, I prefer to work on projects with design guidelines in place. When I have the colors, fonts, etc to work within, I am much more confident in making complementary visual design decisions. I value visual designers for their dedication to the latest visual design trends. I myself am more passionate about the underlying UX structure: product strategy, information architecture, and interaction design.
Describe your experience collaborating with developers. In your opinion, what makes for the best collaboration between designers and developers?
My first experience collaborating with a developer was actually my partner. He was the one that introduced me to the tech industry on a professional level over 5 years ago. He taught me HTML and CSS, skills that enabled me to translate my nonprofit sector design experience to the startup world.
Because I understand the developer perspective in an intimate way, I have been able to have great relationships with the developers I work with. I have worked on projects ranging from one developer to a substantial team where different developers are dedicated to front end, backend, and mobile.
The most challenging experience I have had was working on a team with one non-technical founder and one previously autonomous developer. I received a lot of pushback, finally discovering it was rooted in the developer’s limitations from lack of experience. I learned that my assumptions about his skill level hurt our communication. I adapted my communication style to his and compromised the design in order to be completed within his skill set.
I believe the best collaboration between designers and developers is when we’re communicating through every stage of the project. When collaboration extends before and after the handoff from design to development, I have experienced an overall smoother process.
Seeking developer feedback at the earliest stages of the project has created efficiencies in the design process. Once I’ve understood the problem through research, I brainstorm as many solutions as possible. At this time, I like to know how these high-level solutions could be fleshed out on a development level. Receiving new insights from developers at this stage has helped steer me towards simpler solutions on multiple occasions.
When I seek developer feedback during the design phase, it strengthens our team. Developers are able to feel more ownership in the product so that when it is time for them to implement, the handoff is received enthusiastically with less surprises.
When I do hand-off a design, I find it beneficial to provide context with a high-level narrative. Storytelling helps place the design in a more meaningful, easy to remember way. Designs are more easily interpreted and developers feel better equipped than when I send over interactive prototypes and annotations without this explanation.
During implementation, I make myself available to clarify any confusion that may arise during development. I test implementations to ensure accuracy and provide my feedback to ensure that we ship flawlessly. This is also the time where I gush over developers because they’re translating design improvements into real life, positively impacting users. At the end of the day developers are the people that make my contribution a reality, so it’s easy for me to want to see them succeed.
What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on? What made it interesting?
The most interesting project I’ve worked on was a suite of services for backpackers. The central product was a trip planner. I enjoy hiking and the outdoors, so this project was immediately interesting to me.
I came into this project at the very beginning. My client was the founder and his goal was broad: “make backpacking more fun for everyone”. He had a few projects he wanted to build out to reach this goal as well as a bloated wish list of functions. I started with the trip planner. Never before had I had so much autonomy in translating a vague concept into a usable product.
I was able to take the time to do thorough research. I conducted user tests with expert backpackers. I became knowledgeable about dozens of complimentary products within the space. I read backpacking guidebooks in order to really get into the mind of this class of technical, ultralight backpackers.
Solving the problem of underpreparedness was a mission I enjoyed being responsible for. The goal was to grow the trip planner into a service that would eventually appeal to recreational hikers as well as the professionals. The discoveries I made in balancing these two user groups brought up even more interesting challenges. The objectives of the web and mobile experiences evolved in a way I did not initially predict. It was fun to successfully design desirable solutions for experienced and novice backpacker that melded well together.
During the process, I was able to prove my value not only for product strategy and UX design, but also as a tech leader. I managed developers and a UI designer while assisting my client with business-level decision making. The level of data was more than I had ever worked with, accounting for weather, geolocation, calorie intake and more. Being so influential in the backend organization was an interesting new experience for me. Overall, it was great to build a trustworthy atmosphere where user insights were the leading priorities that shaped the product.
I’ve written three case studies that dive into three specific projects within this company:
Trip Planner: http://www.allisonmilchling.com/projects/trip-planner
Mobile Trip Viewer: http://www.allisonmilchling.com/projects/trip-viewer-mobile-app
Trail Listing Service: http://www.allisonmilchling.com/projects/trail-listing-service
What tools do you use? Why have you chosen them over their alternatives?
Sketch for wireframing, prototyping, visual design. Sketch is my primary design tool. It is a succinct tool that allows for rapid iteration when compared to bulkier Adobe Creative Suites. In one place, I am able to create uniform wireframes, templated design guidelines, vector graphics and animations. It’s extremely intuitive, controls are simple to remember, and everyone else is integrating with it. This is the one tool that gets my 100% fidelity.
Invision for prototyping. I started using Invision because of the cost. There is a free version and affordable paid versions, making Invision a consistently easy product for my clients to buy into. I have chosen Invision over other alternatives for two main reasons: Invision is a thought leading product, not a fleeting project, and I am still learning Javascript. Because Invision is the leader in the prototyping space, they are dedicated to creating a meaningful experience for designers beyond the product. Their content isn’t just helping me grow as a designer. Invision has their finger to the pulse and that translates to a product that stays relevant as UX design evolves. Their side projects such as Craft for Sketch and Inspect, their response to Zeplin, are helping to fill other gaps in the design process.
I also use Invision because it allows me to quickly create and edit prototypes to put in front of users and testers without code. I am in the preliminary phases of picking up Javascript, and am interested in Framer as a tool to add detailed interactions. Building Javascript prototypes from scratch or with a tool like Framer is the next major step I am taking to continue evolving as a UX designer.
Pen and paper for low-fidelity planning and wireframing. Traditional sketching is the fastest way to organize my ideas, visually group elements, and work through layouts when I am getting started on new projects.
Google Sheets for information architecture and organization. I use the entire Google Apps suite, but the product I rely on most is Google Sheets. I use Google Sheets for charting product strategy, prioritizing features, and organizing user feedback. Because I can share it in the cloud, it’s an ideal format for seamless collaboration compared to Excel. I could manage each task I do in Sheets with separate specialty services, but I have found that the single, familiar format provides the least amount of barriers when sharing information with others.
UserTesting for remote unmoderated testing. It has the fullest range of features to screen users, create intuitive test scripts, and review tests efficiently. It is also at the most affordable price point for unlimited tests.
GoToMeeting for remote moderated testing. I have found this to be the smoothest service that allows for full session recording and screen control sharing. Skype and other solutions either rely on a hodgepodge of tools to produce the same results, or they require testers to download bulkier, lesser known products.
YouCanBookMe for scheduling remote moderated tests. I include this because scheduling is a big time suck and this tool makes it as simple as it should be. I recommend this tool to everyone who ever needs to schedule a meetings. Doodle and long email chains don’t work efficiently enough. I have not tried Clara because the quantity of moderated testing I have scheduled has not justified the price of a personal assistant tool.
Mixpanel for tracking adoption. Mixpanel is my favorite analytics tool because of the level of customization one can achieve with it. I can ask a developer to drop in a script and start tracking a data point pretty effortlessly. Although marketing and development departments typically focus on measuring data, I find Mixpanel to be an essential UX tool for uncovering weaker features within the product and for validating the success of shipped updates.
What are some websites and apps whose design you love? Why do you like them?
Intercom — Intercom is a great example of end-to-end user experience in a SaaS product. The design of the top navigation bar on their website is all about the user. All product offerings are summarized and all resources are defined in this navigation. These brief explanations reinforce the helpfulness of the product, providing unmysterious routes to all major information. All of this is happening above the fold as soon as a visitor lands on the website — and there is no scrolling needed.
Most pages on their website, especially the homepage, utilize storytelling to illustrate how the product benefits will transform customer relations. No matter where you are on their website, you can glean information successfully at any level. Whether you just look at the illustrations and images or scour every line of text, the content is extremely scannable.
The actual product is a great example of a minimum viable product with a strategic growth strategy. The product has evolved by picking up the best parts of bulkier competitors and implementing them in a clean, full solution that has strengthened the initial version of the product. It’s an example that proves how restraint can yield a sustainable, competitive solution.
Spotify — Spotify presents a complex database of music in a way where the cognitive load is never overwhelming. They are one of my favorite examples of thoughtful information architecture and taxonomy. The level of depth in their categorization is proof that they know their diverse user groups very well. The navigation and its nomenclature accommodate a seemingly infinite amount of user flows. No matter how you meander through the product, it is structured so that you effortlessly arrive at a song that fits your needs. To welcome all types of users, browsing is sorted not only be genres, but by moods. Even if you’ve never heard of R&B, they’ve created alternative ways for you to get there. And if you already know you like R&B, genres distill down to granular playlists, allowing you to choose between sub-genres like “80’s Jam Sessions” and “Soul Lounge”.
All of these features are placed around the core product: a music player. The player functionality complies with web standards, making the product inviting and familiar to an even broader user base.
Duolingo — I love learning languages and Duolingo is a service I rely on to help incorporate that into my post-college life. Every component of the app is built around gamification which thoughtfully motivates and delights the user. Never do I actually feel like I am learning, as much as I feel like I’m spending my time in an entertaining way. Progress is charted intuitively and delightfully. My position within the course is easy to understand. Remembering what I’ve done and seeing what I have to look forward to is a regular component of how I move through the app, reinforcing a sense of accomplishment and motivating me to continue. Even push notifications draw you in, summarizing the exact words I’ll be learning when I return to the app.
The feature hierarchy is brilliantly balanced. It allows me to completely focus on the single task within a course, hiding everything else. But when I am in the mood to use advanced features like setting goals, shopping, or checking my friends’ progress, they are all accessible and intuitive to contextualize within the broader product.
Other Relevant Skills
Client-facing communication: I am confident in my abilities to interface with clients of all seniority levels to present ideas concisely, align expectations enthusiastically, and resolve misunderstandings professionally.
Empathy: I have a passion for understanding those who are different than me. My ability to empathize with a wide range of people helps me connect to users more deeply and solve their problems more accurately.
Self-starter: I am a hard worker and a quick, perpetual learner. I have a solid understanding of my abilities as they relate to the task at hand and am not afraid to seek additional resources in order to do a job well.
. . .
✨ Liked this? Read some of my other UX posts: | https://uxdesign.cc/the-faqs-that-got-me-more-ux-interviews-and-ultimately-my-dream-job-2e5dfe09132 | ['Allison Milchling'] | 2018-05-31 00:44:53.197000+00:00 | ['Ux Jobs', 'Careers', 'UX Design', 'Design Process', 'UX'] |
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