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harbinger | while I wait for you
I smooth two feathers
while I wait for you
I craft a poem
. . . while I wait
I gird myself with talismans:
a crystal, a ring, a rock in my pocket
each of them gifts
from friends or from crows
. . . wishing me peace
I wish you peace
the sun sets discontent
against my diaphragm and I
. . . wait for you to tell me
You don’t owe me anything
but this hole will eat me entire
. . . tell me you are there | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/harbinger-4fdeb14ee237 | ['Deb Ewing'] | 2020-11-09 20:53:41.989000+00:00 | ['Loneliness', 'Connection', 'Nature', 'A Cornered Gurl', 'Poetry'] |
State and National Higher Ed Policy Updates — October 2019 | Massachusetts Updates:
Student Advocates Applaud Inclusion of $20 Million in Public College Endowment Matching Funds, but urge for more MASSGrant funding
The supplemental budget passed by the Senate last week, and we, along with other Student advocates, applaud the inclusion of $20 million for public college endowment matches. This program incentivizes philanthropic gifts to the state’s public colleges and university endowments by matching private donations with public funds, at a rate of $1 in state funds for every $2 in private contributions. The Endowment Incentive Program, created in the 1990s, lapsed due to a lack of new funding in 2010. The proposed supplemental budget would set aside $10 million for the UMass campuses, $5 million for Massachusetts state universities, and $5 million for the state’s community colleges.
In May 2019, we released a report on the Endowment Incentive Program, noting that “twenty-four other states have created similar matching fund programs, which have proven to yield a substantial return on investment… Looking at the impact of the program in Massachusetts, public campuses raised over $125 million in private contributions over the first four years of the program’s inception. The state matched these donations with $50 million in public funding, resulting in a 250 percent return on investment.”
“When considering where to give, philanthropists look for opportunities where our money can go further and have a greater impact. The Endowment Incentive Program is an opportunity to attract millions of dollars in additional private funding for our public colleges and universities, whose graduates are the future of our state’s highly educated workforce,” said Bob Hildreth, our founder.
However, we are disappointed that the Senate supplemental budget does not include the $17.5 million for the MASSGrant scholarship program that the House supplemental budget proposed. In a March 2019 report on the MASSGrant, we showed that the MASSGrant “has not kept up with the constant increases in tuition and fees, which are in direct result of the deep funding cuts we witnessed [since 2001]…In 1988 it covered 80 percent of the average tuition, in 2013, the MASSGrant only covered 9%.” After two decades of deep budget cuts and despite growing enrollment, the MASSGrant’s purchasing power has fallen, and it no longer covers a significant portion of the costs associated with attending college. We have a long way to go if we want to provide the necessary financial aid to all Massachusetts students who need a college degree. Therefore we urge that the two chambers’ compromise bill includes this essential increase in funding for MASSGrant.
ACTION needed to Push Forward The Student Loan Bill of Rights
The Student Loan Bill of Rights is at House Ways and Means Committee. It’s time to show your support for protecting student loan borrowers’ rights by sending a letter to your representative urging them to connect with the House Ways and Means Committee members to approve bill H.3977* to establish our own Student Loan Bill of Rights here in MA.
Other MA news:
Big boost on campus: Massachusetts could offer a match for donations to UMass, public universities, community colleges
Real problem isn’t sudden college closures, but student debt
Proposed student loan bill of rights would create ombudsman for Mass. borrowers
When College Finances Falter, Mass. Lawmakers Want More Leverage
Massachusetts AG Sues DeVos Over Debt Relief
Why More Small Nonprofit Colleges Are Facing An Uncertain Future
Higher ed campuses face penalties in college closure bill
House set to advance college closure bill
Student Loan Default Rates At Every Massachusetts College
National updates:
Democrats’ “College Affordability Act” Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee passed the College Affordability Act out of committee yesterday. The bill includes: a tuition-free community college, a $625 increase to the maximum Pell grant award, a repeal of the ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students, emergency aid and support to students experiencing food or housing insecurity, and attempts at closing the loopholes that for-profits schools exploit to recruit veterans and service members predatorily. While this is a welcomed improvement from last month’s recommendations coming out of the Senate HELP committee, disappointedly, the proposal doesn’t go far enough in addressing the severe affordability and student debt crises we are experiencing.
The Pell Grant increase is insignificant. To put in perspective: while Pell covers 29% of the average public cost of attendance, it will now cover 31% average college costs (it used to cover 79% of the average cost of attendance in 1975).
While student debt is weighing heavy on multiple generations of borrowers, stiffening the economy and exacerbating existing inequality, the proposal does not include any provisions to lessen this burden.
Future students will continue experiencing significant unmet need and borrowing significant amounts, despite the proposed free community college program.
We need to boldly reform our higher education system so that it is genuinely affordable. We need to ensure that obtaining a higher education is not a debt sentence!
“The unraveling of federal oversight of college quality”
The final version of the federal rules covering accreditation and the states’ oversight of online education providers was released yesterday. Following the trend that is weakening borrowers’ protection and oversight efforts, with these new rules, the Department of Education has further deregulated the already-lax oversight of the nation’s college accreditors. Additionally, undermining States’ ability to enact and enforce laws protecting residents enrolled online across state lines.
As a consequence, more students will be at risk of falling prey to low-quality colleges that leave them with debt but no earning potential.
There is a public comment period on this Proposed Rule; you can leave a comment HERE.
Other National news:
These Students Want to Know: Where’s Their Tuition Money Going
Judge Holds Betsy DeVos In Contempt For Violating Student Loans Order
House Dems unveil college affordability plan
New Rules on Accreditation and State Authorization
Expect These Student Loan Changes In 2020
Judge Holds Betsy DeVos In Contempt For Violating Student Loans Order
These Students Want to Know: Where’s Their Tuition Money Going?
State Cuts to Higher Education Funding Shift the Burden to Students | https://medium.com/hildreth-institute/state-and-national-higher-ed-policy-updates-october-2019-c25a3cbe0ff3 | ['Bahar Akman Imboden'] | 2019-11-04 14:00:22.301000+00:00 | ['Students', 'College', 'News', 'Massachusetts', 'Education'] |
Falling deep down a networking rabbit hole, one hop at a time | I ran into an interesting networking problem last week while configuring a multi-host Vagrant environment. I couldn’t find a lot of information about it anywhere so I thought, why not share it? Maybe it will save time for the next poor soul who tries to get VirtualBox virtual machines talking over MacVTap interfaces. Mostly I’m just hoping that I’m not alone out there trying to make this work.
One of my all time favorites https://xkcd.com/979/
Getting started
First things first, let’s launch a couple of hosts. This is super easy to do using Vagrant. I created two VirtualBox instances using standard Ubuntu distributions via the following configuration. I should add that they are connected on a private network.
Once the hosts come up, I run a simple ping to make sure everything works. Looking good so far:
$ vagrant up
Bringing machine 'host1' up with 'virtualbox' provider...
Bringing machine 'host2' up with 'virtualbox' provider...
==> host1: Importing base box 'ubuntu/bionic64'...
... $ vagrant ssh host1
vagrant@host1:~$ ip a
....
3: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:65:8e:21 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 172.28.128.3/24 brd 172.28.128.255 scope global dynamic $ vagrant ssh host2
vagrant@host2:~$ ping 172.28.128.3
PING 172.28.128.3 (172.28.128.3) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.28.128.3: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.711 ms
64 bytes from 172.28.128.3: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.487 ms
Network Namespaces + MacVTAP
Here’s where we get to the fun stuff. I wanted to use network namespaces for this project. If you’re not familiar with network namespaces, they’re a mechanism to provide a layer of isolation for the network stack in Linux. In general, many people operate in the default namespace without ever thinking about it. If you’ve ever used Docker networks, there’s a good chance you’ve used multiple network namespaces without even knowing. Creating a namespace can be done in a single command:
root@host2:~# ip netns add winter-sparkles
root@host2:~# ip netns list
winter-sparkles
You can then hop into your namespace and poke around:
root@host2:~# ip netns exec winter-sparkles bash
root@host2:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK> mtu 65536 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
root@host2:~# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
root@host2:~# exit
MacVTap is a Linux device driver that allows us to create virtual interfaces with their own IP and physical addresses. With it, we’re able to create as many virtual interfaces as we need in order to provide each network namespace with its own interface. There are other mechanisms that can accomplish this (queue acronym soup), but MacVTap is what I was working with. Creating a MacVTap interface looks like:
### back in the default network namespace
root@host2:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 02:62:a9:91:21:9f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 10.0.2.15/24 brd 10.0.2.255 scope global dynamic enp0s3
valid_lft 85922sec preferred_lft 85922sec
inet6 fe80::62:a9ff:fe91:219f/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:c1:70:10 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 172.28.128.4/24 brd 172.28.128.255 scope global dynamic enp0s8
valid_lft 722sec preferred_lft 722sec
inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fec1:7010/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
root@host2:~# ip link add link enp0s8 name enp0s8vtap type macvtap mode bridge
root@host2:~# ip a
...
4: enp0s8vtap@enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 500
link/ether 92:f9:94:a2:99:8c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
I’ll then take the interface and add it to the namespace I created earlier. To make the interface useful, we’ll need to give it an IP address:
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8vtap netns winter-sparkles up root@host2:~# ip netns exec winter-sparkles bash
root@host2:~# ip link set dev lo up
root@host2:~# ip address add 172.28.128.104/24 dev enp0s8vtap #### back on host1
root@host1:~# ping 172.28.128.104
And that’s when the problems started. On a physical network, the following would work:
connect two hosts to a router
create a new interface on one of those hosts
assign it an address
ping to it
jump for joy as happiness ensues
Here though, complete silence. Time to crack open tcpdump :
#### host1
root@host1:~# tcpdump -nl -i any icmp &
root@host1:~# ping 172.28.128.104
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on any, link-type LINUX_SLL (Linux cooked), capture size 262144 bytes
04:46:21.727877 IP host1 > 172.28.128.104: ICMP echo request, id 2108, seq 39, length 64
04:46:22.778410 IP host1 > 172.28.128.104: ICMP echo request, id 2108, seq 40, length 64 #### host2 inside default namespace
root@host2:~# tcpdump -nl -i any icmp #### host2 inside winter-sparkles namespace
root@host2:~# tcpdump -nl -i any icmp
Nothing. The pings never make it to the second host, either inside or outside of the namespace. Let’s widen the search and learn.
Looking for martians
Ok, bare with me here. If your reaction to this heading is to think I’ve gone insane jumping straight to the theory that aliens have abducted my packets, you may be where I was when I first learned about martian packets. When a host receives packets on an interface and the source for the packet is routed on a different interface, it logs it as a martian or silently drops the packet. By default logging for martians is off in my machines, so I turned it on using sysctl:
NOTE: sysctl will only apply within their namespace, you’ll need to apply them in both namespaces
#### host2 in both default & winter-sparkles
root@host2:~# sysctl -a | grep martians
net.ipv4.conf.all.log_martians = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians = 0
root@host2:~# sysctl net.ipv4.conf.all.log_martians=1
root@host2:~# sysctl net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians=1
root@host2:~# tail -f /var/log/kern.log | grep martian
Nope, not that either, exhausted another theory. Onto the next hop.
Address Resolution Protocol
Running tcpdump with a host filter revealed some interesting details. I could see the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) requests from host1 and the responses as well. Looking at the ARP table, it’s clear host1 was getting some traffic to the MacVTap interface.
#### host1
root@host1:~# tcpdump -nl -i any host 172.28.128.104 &
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on any, link-type LINUX_SLL (Linux cooked), capture size 262144 bytes
root@host1:~# ping 172.28.128.104
05:52:22.713348 ARP, Reply 172.28.128.104 is-at 66:20:3e:d8:81:b6, length 46
Looking through the documentation for internal network configuration in VirtualBox didn’t give me a lot to go on. I started poking around the user interface. I knew I was really grasping at straws but I was running out of options I could think of. I found the “Promiscuous Mode” option and set it from “Deny” to “Allow”, still no changes.
Finally
After getting some more sleep and coming back at it with fresh eyes and coffee, I thought of something else to try. Something I read in the VirtualBox docs make me think of it:
Once there is more than one active virtual network card with the same internal network ID, the Oracle VM VirtualBox support driver will automatically wire the cards and act as a network switch
Reading that description, I wondered if spoofing the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the device would allow my virtual interface to connect to the network. Spoofing means to act as something else, in my case, the MacVTap interface would pretend to be the original interface VirtualBox created.
#### in the default namespace
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8 down
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8 address 66:20:3e:d8:81:b6
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8 up #### in the winter-sparkles namespace
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8vtap down
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8vtap address 08:00:27:ae:cd:94
root@host2:~# ip link set enp0s8vtap up #### back on host1
root@host1:~# ping 172.28.128.104
PING 172.28.128.104 (172.28.128.104) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.28.128.104: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.593 ms
64 bytes from 172.28.128.104: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.726 ms
At long last, there it is. This means that as far as I understand, I will not be able to use MacVTap interfaces if I want to use internal networks, as it appears there is some MAC filtering happening here. Days have gone by, but dammit it feels amazing to have gotten to the bottom of the missing packets. Of course, by this point I have no idea what I was originally trying to do. Would love to hear from others that may have gotten further along this route! | https://medium.com/@codeboten/falling-deep-down-a-networking-rabbit-hole-one-hop-at-a-time-a74d791c0ebe | ['Alex Boten'] | 2019-02-01 06:08:28.718000+00:00 | ['Networking', 'Virtualbox', 'Network', 'Debugging', 'Vagrant'] |
Component-Based Forms | Image attribution: superoffice.com
Reactive sub-forms implemented with independent, highly re-usable Angular Components
This article was inspired by a recent discussion with a manager regarding how to integrate someone with a math/Aerospace Engineering background (that would be me) into a group that worked on heavily form-based applications. I inquired about the nature of their forms and they were mostly very long and complex, a few of which required a bit of math in the process of validation. The manager was skeptical that multiple devs could work on the same form at the same time, especially given the size and complexity of just a single form.
I talked about the concept of Component-Based Architecture and how the same idea could be (and, in fact, has been) implemented in Angular forms.
The process is simple; delegate form groups to individual Components. Have those Components return a reference to a FormGroup and make each component responsible for validation of its sub-group. Construct the original, large FormGroup from the constituents created by individual Components.
Not only does this process allow multiple developers to work on a single, large form, it promotes a high level of re-use since the same combinations of controls in a form group are likely to be encountered multiple times across one or more applications.
This concept is nothing new and a number of articles have been published online, such as
This article discusses how to apply Component-Based Forms to the most common operation in e-commerce, credit-card payment.
Front-End Credit-Card Processing
The second form I ever created back in the late 1990s involved credit-card processing. That was an interesting experience because it involved an introduction to Luhn numbers and Luhn validation.
Now, before you get a case of math anxiety, understand that absolutely zero math will be covered in this article. Any necessary computations have already been encapsulated away into a small library of Typescript functions that are available with the GitHub that accompanies this article.
The credit-card portion of a payment form typically involves three items,
1 — The credit card number (optional selection of card type)
2 — Card expiration date (mm/yyyy — may be one or two form controls)
3 — Card CVV (usually xxx or yyyy)
Front-end credit card processing is often backed by a data file that specifies the list of accepted cards and relevant data for each card. This file may be static or server-generated. For the group of controls to be valid, the following conditions must apply
1 — The credit card must be in the list of supported cards
2 — The credit card number must be theoretically valid for its type
3 — The credit card expiration date must be the current month/year or in the future
4 — The CVV must have the correct number of digits for the card type
You may have seen payment forms that require entering a card type. This is not actually necessary as the first 4–6 numbers in the credit card number are the BIN . The card type can often be deduced from the first two entered numbers with a RegEx pattern.
The concept of a card number being ‘theoretically’ valid means that the card number is the correct length for the card type and that it passes a metric known as Luhn validation. A Google search will yield a substantial amount of material on this topic. For purposes of this article, Luhn validation is coded for you in a Typescript library not all that different from the JavaScript and ActionScript versions I wrote decades ago.
One issue with front-end credit card processing is that a theoretically valid card number with an acceptable expiration date and CVV may not actually be valid to charge. The expiration date and/or CVV may have been entered incorrectly or the card might be stolen or not yet activated. In these cases, the otherwise valid card number returns from a server check as being not valid for charges.
What we hope to achieve with client-side validation is to minimize the chance that a good card comes back from a server check as invalid for simple reasons such as one digit in the card number was incorrect. The user might have chosen the correct expiration month, but forgot the year, causing the expiration date to be behind the current date. Or, perhaps the user intended to use their Visa card but mistakenly started typing their MC number. It is good UX to indicate to the user that a MC card number is being typed while the number is being entered.
Correctness of a credit-card form group is a unique example of cross-field validation. For example, we can not simply state that a CVV is valid when the user has entered any three digits. The number of required digits varies based on card type, so we must first know the card type. The card type is available after a partial entry of the card number, but may become invalid if the user changes their mind, backspaces, and starts to enter another card number.
The next few sections discuss how to handle the individual aspects of front-end credit-card validation and then we will see how to tie it all together in a reusable Angular Component.
Credit Card Data
For the code covered by this article, supported credit cards are specified by several pieces of information, indicated in the CCData Interface in the file,
/src/app/shared/cc-data/card-data.ts
Typically, credit card numbers are fixed-length, but some card numbers are allowed to vary between an optional minimum and maximum number of digits. Presence of these properties overrides the length property.
The RegEx pattern is the minimal pattern necessary to identify the card, which usually requires the first two digits. The information in the above file is old as it does not consider MasterCard BIN numbers that can begin with 2 as of 2017. I’m willing to wager that almost every dev knows more about RegEx than I do, so modifying the pattern is left as an exercise should you wish to use this code in production.
Functions For Credit Card Type and Valid Numbers
There are four Typescript functions in the folder, /src/app/shared/libs,
get-card-type.ts (access credit card type from current number)
in-enum.ts (is the supplied value in a string Enum?)
is-length-valid.ts (is the card number length valid given a card type?)
is-valid-luhn.ts (does the card number pass Luhn validation?)
The card type (i.e. MasterCard or American Express) is computed in get-card-type.ts and is determined by matching a RegEx pattern as the credit card number is typed by the user. Once the card type is known, it can be used to further validate the card number (in terms of proper length) and the CVV.
Once the card type is determined, the correct number of digits (or range of digits) can be looked up and used to further validate the card number. The card number length (number of typed digits excluding spaces/dashes) is checked with is-length-valid.ts. While correct number of digits is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient to completely validate the card number.
After the correct number of digits have been entered, is-valid-luhn.ts performs Luhn validation on the entered card number. If that validation passes, then we have checked the card number to the maximum extent available on the front end. The card may still be invalid to charge, but we have eliminated user entry error as a cause for an invalid card number.
Identification of card type and reflection of this information in the UI also helps the user understand that they may have accidentally typed a Visa card number in when they intended to put this particular charge on a MC or Amex.
Expiration Date
There is not much that can be done other than validate that the card expiration is in the future. We want to catch situations where the current month is March, for example, and the user selects January as the expiration month, but forgets to select the correct year. The form is likely to be initialized with the current year as the expiration year, so this is an easy mistake to make for someone in a hurry to get through checkout :)
CVV Validation
The CVV is likely to be a three- or four-digit number and all we can do is verify that it is a number with the correct number of digits for the known card type.
So, now that we understand how to validate each individual element, let’s see how it all comes together in an actual example.
Main Form
The primary form in /src/app/app.component.html represents a subset of a typical payment form containing name, address, and credit card payment information. The relevant portion of this form is shown below.
<form [formGroup]="paymentForm" (ngSubmit)="onSubmit()">
<label>
First Name:
<input type="text" formControlName="firstName">
</label>
<label>
Last Name:
<input type="text" formControlName="lastName">
</label>
<!-- remainder of form here -->
<app-credit-card [placeHolder]="'Enter Card Number'">
</app-credit-card>
<button class="submit-button form-pad-top" type="submit" [disabled]="!creditCardComponent.valid">Submit</button>
</form>
Note that the area of the form expected to contain the credit card number, expiration, and CVV controls has been replaced by a component , CreditCardComponent (/src/app/credit-card/credit-card.component.ts), with the selector, app-credit-card.
This main payment form is a typical reactive form, whose creation can be found in /src/app/app.component.ts,
@ViewChild(CreditCardComponent, {static: true})
public creditCardComponent; public ngOnInit(): void
{
this.paymentForm = new FormGroup({
firstName: new FormControl(''),
lastName: new FormControl(''),
creditCard: this.creditCardComponent.ccSubGroup,
});
}
This demo is unconcerned with validation of first and last name.
Note that layout for credit-card controls and creation of a FormGroup for that layout has been delegated to CreditCardComponent. Since all credit-card related validation is also delegated to that component, it can be easily re-used anywhere we need a set of credit-card controls inside any form.
To better understand how this all fits together, let’s walk through that component in detail.
CreditCardComponent
The sub-form layout contains a text Input for the credit-card number (it may contain spaces or dashes), two select boxes for expiration month/year, and an number Input for the CVV. The layout also contains an area to display an image of the credit card type as soon as it can be detected from user input. Some DIV’s are provided to display textual explanation of various errors to the user.
Note that this is not a form in and of itself; this component controls the layout of a FormGroup inside another Form — the main payment form for our example.
The CreditCardComponent constructor creates the ccSubGroup FormGroup as follows,
This demo illustrates one production feature I’ve been asked to implement in the past, disabling the expiration date and CVV controls until a valid credit-card number is entered. I’ve had mixed results in the past binding to the disabled attribute and setting an initial value in the FormControl constructor, so the enable/disable operations are handled via code. You could also create a separate group for these controls and enable/disable the entire group.
The ccSubGroup may be accessed by a parent component since it is already public for binding purposes. This is exactly what we saw in the FormGroup creation for the main payment form, above.
Before deconstructing any further, it is necessary to discuss validation strategy for this entire set of controls. As mentioned earlier, this is an interesting case of cross-control validation.
Typical practice is to apply a single validator to an entire form group instead of one validator per control. Consider, however, the choreography of interaction with our group of controls.
1 — User begins typing. Credit card type is identified within a small number of digits. Change the credit card image. Card type is constant unless the user deletes enough digits to invalidate the current card. Then, card type is ‘unknown.’
2 — Length of the credit card input is invalid until the correct number of digits is entered. Luhn validation is then applied to the card number. If that validation passes, the credit card number is considered valid.
3 — Expiration month and year may be set at any time and we can only verify that it is the present month/year or in the future.
4 — CVV can not be validated until the card type is known since the number of digits may vary. So, card number and CVV validation are coupled in that the card number specifies the card type.
Now, it is possible to validate the group as a whole, but there are redundant operations such as fetching the card type. Typically, the card type can be determined with two digits. The remainder of the card type lookups are not necessary. It is also clumsy to have a control validator communicate the card type outside the validator in order to dynamically switch the card-type image.
Here is such a validator should you wish to apply such an approach. It may be found in /src/app/shared/validators/card-validator.ts. Note, however, that the card type is not communicated outside the validator, so it must be looked up again outside the validator in order to dynamically switch the card-type image.
My personal preference with this type of coupling between controls is to provide complete programmatic control over the validation process inside a key-up handler. This approach has the benefit of being simple, efficient, and can easily accommodate a wide variety of change requests.
The first step in this process is to offload input management and validation of the credit card number to an Angular attribute directive. This can be seen in the CreditCardComponent template, /src/app/credit-card/credit-card.component.html,
<label for="creditcard">
Credit Card
<input creditCardNumber
[class]="ccnClass"
type="text"
id="creditcard"
formControlName="ccNumber"
placeholder="{{placeHolder}}"
(onCreditCardNumber)="onCardNumber($event)"
(onCreditCardType)="onCardType($event)"
(onCreditCardError)="onCardError($event)"
>
</label>
This directive is located in /src/app/shared/directives/credit-card-number.directive.ts. To conserve space, its implementation is summarized; you may review the source code at your convenience.
1 — Three Outputs are provided, one of which indicates the credit card type. This Output is only emitted when the card type changes from its previously set type. The second Output emits the currently typed card number (which may include spaces or dashes). The final Output is emitted on any error in the credit card number.
2 — A ‘keydown’ HostListener allows only a specific set of characters and other keys such as Backspace or Delete. The allowable list is minimal, so add allowable keys as needed.
3 — A ‘keyup’ handler cycles through all the validation checks. The card type is cached as a class variable, so it is only updated when the card type changes. Luhn validation is only performed when a card number of the correct number of digits has been entered.
4 — Tests are made against a specific set of errors and, if found, dispatched to the host component. There may be more than one error, so only the first one found is emitted.
Optimization Note: The HostListener’s applied to keyup and keydown fire change detection on the attribute directive. For a simple credit card number input with no children, this is likely not to be an issue. Consider using RxJS fromEvent as an alternative. This is left as an exercise for the reader.
This approach could be called ‘old school,’ but it is simple and efficient. Most of the validation work is performed by the utility functions listed earlier in this article.
Now, we can return to CreditCardComponent. The component provides handlers, onCreditCardNumber, onCreditCardType, and onCreditCard error to handle Output of credit card number, type, and errors from the card number directive. The card type is used to look up a credit card name and image that are displayed in the component through simple binding.
Validation of expiration month and year is relatively straightforward. We only check that the selected expiration month and year are the current month/year or in the future.
An input handler is added to the CVV Input control to check the CVV value as it is typed,
<input [class]="cvvClass"
id="cvv"
type="number"
min="1"
max="9999"
step="1"
formControlName="cvv"
(input)="onCVVChanged($event)">
</label>
Validation of the CVV currently checks the exact number of digits for the current card type. You could use an Angular ValidatorFn factory that accepts a fixed digit range (since this is known at the time the form group is constructed) and return a ValidatorFn that checks against the digit range. This is less exact, but more conforming to the ‘Angular’ way of validating form controls.
Note that the current treatment of the CVV Input only demonstrates validation; this control does allow decimal entry, which should be disallowed in a production control.
Classes applied to various controls are also set programmatically. This allows for a very detailed control over visual appearance as the user types at the expense of having to write more code.
Some DIV’s are optionally rendered in the layout to provide textual explanation of the current error. For example,
<div *ngIf="cardError === CreditCardErrors.INVALID_LENGTH" class="form-error-message">Length Invalid</div> <div *ngIf="cardError === CreditCardErrors.INVALID_NUMBER" class="form-error-message">Invalid Card Number</div>
You could also use one DIV and set the message imperatively through binding. Such options are left to you as an exercise.
The component also provides an accessor that is responsible for indicating to the parent component (who owns the complete payment form) that the credit card group (or sub-form) is fully valid.
public get valid(): boolean
{
return this.isValidCardNumber &&
this.isValidExpDate &&
this.isValidCVV;
}
Integrating the Sub-Form with the Main Payment Form
Let’s return to the main app component, /src/app/app.component.ts and review the reactive form setup for the full payment form,
public ngOnInit(): void
{
this.paymentForm = new FormGroup({
firstName: new FormControl(''),
lastName: new FormControl(''),
creditCard: this.creditCardComponent.ccSubGroup,
});
}
The credit-card sub-group is handled completely by the CreditCardComponent and for demo purposes, its valid accessor is used to control whether or not the Submit button is enabled.
<form [formGroup]="paymentForm" (ngSubmit)="onSubmit()">
<label>
First Name:
<input type="text" formControlName="firstName">
</label>
<label>
Last Name:
<input type="text" formControlName="lastName">
</label>
<!-- remainder of form here -->
<div>.</div>
<div>.</div>
<div>.</div>
<app-credit-card [placeHolder]="'Enter Card Number'"></app-credit-card>
<button class="submit-button form-pad-top" type="submit" [disabled]="!creditCardComponent.valid">Submit</button>
</form>
The creditCardComponent variable is a ViewChild that provides a direct reference to the CreditCardComponent in the template,
@ViewChild(CreditCardComponent, {static: true})
public creditCardComponent;
As soon as the user types in a valid credit card number, sets a correct expiration month/year, and a valid CVV, the Submit button is enabled and the CC form Inputs are marked with ‘valid’ styling.
Re-Using the CreditCardComponent in Another Application
It clearly takes more effort to break a large form into sub-forms and implement each sub-form with a separate component. The benefits of this approach include cleaner, simpler implementation of large, complex forms and the ability to re-use the sub-form components in another application.
Suppose a second application is developed that also requires credit-card processing. Like the above example, the new payment form requires a credit-card number, expiration month/year, and CVV, so the newly created CreditCardComponent should be applicable. However, a different layout is requested, namely that the CVV field should be below the expiration month and day select boxes. After all, you know designers … they love to change things :). Let’s also presume that different red/green colors have been requested to indicate error and valid conditions. The designer does not wish to display the credit-card image indicating the current card type.
So, we have two sets of changes in the new application, styles and layout. Styles are simply a matter of a new style sheet and layout requires only a different template. The internal operations of CreditCardComponent are unchanged in the new application. So, an easy way to re-use the component is to extend CreditCardComponent and overwrite the metadata. This is illustrated in /src/app/credit-card-2/credit-card-2.component.ts,
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { CreditCardComponent } from '../credit-card/credit-card.component';
@Component({
selector: 'app-credit-card-2',
templateUrl: './credit-card-2.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./credit-card-2.component.scss']
})
export class CreditCard2Component extends CreditCardComponent
{
constructor()
{
super();
}
}
Usage of the new component is illustrated by a second main application component, /src/app/app-2.component.ts. You may see the new component in action by changing the switch variable in /src/app/app.module.ts that controls which main component is used to bootstrap the application,
const example: string = 'example1';
@NgModule({
declarations: [
AppComponent,
App2Component,
CreditCardComponent,
CreditCardNumberDirective,
CreditCard2Component,
],
imports: [
BrowserModule,
ReactiveFormsModule,
],
providers: [],
bootstrap: example === 'example1' ? [AppComponent] : [App2Component],
})
export class AppModule { }
Change the string, ‘example1’ to ‘example2’. Then, re-run the application to see the new layout and styles in action. Credit-card processing and logic, however, are unchanged between the two application. So, we maintain flexibility with a high level of re-use with the sub-form. The alternative would have been to copy and paste template and code blocks from one application to another. Then, you end up with two monolithic forms that share a lot of duplicated template sections and component code.
The sub-form approach lends itself nicely to implementation inside a multi-repo framework such as Nx. Importing one component and making modifications as illustrated above are incredibly simple!
I hope you have found some useful ideas (and code) in this article.
Good luck with your Angular efforts!
EnterpriseNG is coming
EnterpriseNG is a two-day conference from the ng-conf folks coming on November 19th and 20th. Check it out at ng-conf.org | https://medium.com/ngconf/component-based-forms-29b7e8a20cdf | ['Jim Armstrong'] | 2020-09-30 19:46:08.047000+00:00 | ['Angular Forms', 'Typescript'] |
Facing the test: are we ready for autonomous vehicles? | The KPMG Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index has provided a welcome stimulus to debate the development of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. However, the index arguably understates the importance of testing. Here, I discuss the importance of testing in allowing manufacturers to bring AVs to the market.
According to the KPMG AV Readiness Index, the UK is ranked seventh in the world in its overall level of preparedness for AV technology. That will be welcome news to the Department for Transport, which has consistently promised the UK will be a world-leader in this field. The report highlights the favourable legislative and policy environment as key to the UK’s position in the rankings.
However, the UK scores relatively less highly for its infrastructure. The report noted that the UK lags behind some of its competitors in its 4G coverage, quality of roads and logistics infrastructure. Infrastructure improvements will reduce the risks for businesses looking to invest in this technology. That is especially true for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
The recent addition of the testbed at Millbank is therefore an important step forward. Opened in September 2019, the testbed boasts 70 kilometres of track and, equally importantly, it offers 5G connectivity. This is the most impressive of a series of testing facilities clustered around the area between London and Birmingham.
Despite this progress, the processes of validation and verification for AV technology will have to rely heavily on simulation and testing in virtual environments. A RAND report concluded that autonomous vehicles would have to drive “hundreds of millions of miles and, under some scenarios, hundreds of billions of miles to create enough data to clearly demonstrate their safety”.
Design engineers and manufacturers therefore need to embrace the best of testing technology. This is especially the case if we are talking about SAE level 3–5, which includes those vehicles that are entirely driverless. Virtual design, testing in virtual environments and others forms of simulation are also vital for testing the so-called edge cases, those unusual scenarios that are only encountered after thousands, or possibly millions of miles of driving or under extreme weather conditions.
A potential oversight in the KPMG index is the importance of the military sector. On the one hand, the omission is not surprising, given that information about this sector is less freely available. Those of us working in this sector are used to working with non-disclosure agreements.
On the other hand, it is known that many governments are already investing heavily in AV technology for their militaries, given the unparalleled benefits this could bring. The UK and the US have already collaborated to begin applying AV technology to convoy resupply, a breakthrough which could dramatically reduce combat fatalities.
Again, virtual design and verification will be vital if we are to make breakthroughs in this area. As for the commercial sector, safety is obviously important. Military vehicles, however, are also required to perform reliably in extreme terrains and weather conditions.
Engineers who want to satisfactorily test the edge cases here will need to make sure both the software that AV relies on and the traditional components like suspension and steering can still perform. Advanced testing facilities that can simulate extreme conditions will be essential. At Pailton Engineering, for example, we use specific environment test rigs that can replicate environmental conditions that are experienced in application, subjecting components to salt and grit solutions via spray or submersion, while having the option of rotary movement and any varying temperature requests.
Are we ready for AV technology? There are positive signs. The UK needs to pay attention to some of the infrastructural gaps identified in the KPMG Readiness Index. We also need to ensure that all those involved in the development of this technology, from software designers to parts suppliers, make full use of virtual design and verification.
About the author: Roger Brereton is head of sales at steering systems specialist, Pailton Engineering. | https://medium.com/@pailtonengineering/facing-the-test-are-we-ready-for-autonomous-vehicles-33f6ecc01f23 | ['Roger Brereton'] | 2020-11-18 10:01:49.631000+00:00 | ['Av', 'Autonomous Vehicles', 'Vehicle Testing'] |
Flying the Pipistrel Virus SW 121 in VR with Oculus Rift S | Flying the Pipistrel Virus SW 121 in VR with Oculus Rift S
One of the aircraft included in the Premium Deluxe Edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Pipistrel Virus SW 121 really shines when you opt for flying it in Virtual Reality using a headset like the Oculus Rift S. It’s a treat!
I’ve spent the days since VR for Microsoft Flight Simulator was launched flying different aircraft, while trying to tame the diamond needing polish represented by the VR option in the sim. True, it is not perfect but, as I expected, it’s the immersion that makes one want to stick with it… unless you belong to any of the religious sects that populate the flight simulation universe.
You need a good machine to run VR in Microsoft Flight Simulator but that should not come as a surprise for anyone. And yes, it’s never going — at least not any time soon — to look like your 4K monitor or other high-end display option, but which other way do you get the feeling of really being there, in the cockpit? As many have discovered, it becomes easier to fly, simply because you get the right proportions for your aircraft view and the world around you. Suddenly the runway is no longer a flat line in front of you but a real runway with dimensions that reflect the real world.
There are many other advantages in VR, some of which I mentioned in my previous article, Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Divine Proportion, and Virtual Reality, and there is another aspect that makes moving to VR a joy: the discovery of a 3D world that represents very much the one we live in. I’ve been flying the Pipistrel Virus SW 121 in VR along some of the areas in the sim, only to discover it is a fantastic sightseeing platform that VR helped me to discover. The experience led me to grow a special interest for an aircraft that on a flat screen did not feel as exciting.
As I noted above, Microsoft Flight Simulator still needs some work for its VR to work flawlessly, but it’s a good start for Asobo, despite what many say, because those screaming about how bad the sim is either don’t know what they are talking about or, as I’ve written somewhere else, about another sim experience, can be included in a special group of people. The article I refer too is titled “Virtual Skies are Full of Real Idiots”. It continues to be true now. | https://medium.com/outpost2/flying-the-pipistrel-virus-sw-121-in-vr-with-oculus-rift-s-e98664748468 | ['Jose Antunes'] | 2020-12-27 20:43:33.099000+00:00 | ['Aviation', 'Flight Simulator 2020', 'Virtual Reality'] |
Enfolding the Heart of Loss | Enfolding the Heart of Loss
Photo by Nastya Dulhiier on Unsplash
Sometimes I wake up
in the middle of the night
wondering if it was all a dream
But I know,
only reality
taste this bitter.
The folds of the blanket
remind me of those clouds
at the picnic,
when we watched the swans
drift across the pond
following evolutionary’s
blind algorithm,
wondering if that, too,
is love.
And did you also question,
who dropped the first stone,
in our sinusoidal love story?
Collapsing it all,
into a single genus-one
manifold of sin
and virtue.
In the curves of your lips
time runs down,
these jagged years.
And yet in a creaking
wooden chair,
the ghost of my uncle sits
taking away,
love and clarity
betting my soul,
at a table with the devil —
and I roam now, lost
in the city of mirrors.
I fear not death
nor infinity
nor the null of divinity,
but never existing
at all.
I fear being a shadow
of an empty afterthought
in the tired eye
of Eath’s magnetic soul.
I fear the maze,
you know the one,
because we stand there
now, in the eternal center
a place without
boundaries or borders
a rotating cathedral circle
as we arrive again,
at our emulated
blasphemous choices.
Is all our pain,
enfolded from the suffering
of the world?
Like a leaf inside a seed
yet grown?
In a cell before the baptism
before the quiet house
becomes too loud,
with regret.
Have we grown death
from the fertile lands of the heart?
In fear of failure, we decree
the apocalypse upon the future?
to a species weeping
the will o’ wisp, banshee
seeping and screaming,
into the soil,
of our graveyard tales
I know not,
the moon’s final cycle.
Listen…
Listen…
to the enfolding
of reality,
implicate being of one
and dream my love
O! dream of your escape
in wild reddened
poppy fields to sleep
to hope
to feel
not a thing.
© Bradley J Nordell 2020 | https://medium.com/scribe/enfolding-the-heart-of-loss-bcab30abbe57 | ['Bradley J Nordell'] | 2020-12-15 03:14:23.106000+00:00 | ['Compassion', 'Poetry', 'Cosmic', 'Suffering', 'Loss'] |
First Principle of NativeOrigin. | And maybe it is not.
Maybe I am just forming these thoughts, but.
While writting a note on some over hyped product I had an epiphany. Brands are living entities that get created over thousands of interactions customers experience. As we build the business of NativeOrigin, there will be hundreds and thousands of small decisions made that eventually lead us into the direction intended.
There has to be an over archining principle that governs the why of all those decisions.
Just as in an earlier MakingOfNativeOrigin article I’d stated it stands for Native & Origin , I discovered an uber abstration even behind those that can be called our first principle.
In our case, it probably is the principles of Ayurveda.
In a world of jargon — sustainability, climate, carbon neutral, organic, cruelty free, responsible sourcing, fair trade and what not , for us these remain fragmented visions that can be brought together by
Ayurveda’s vision of food, health & beauty as a continum of a person living with nature, not against it.
That means every product we offer should measure against specific sutra of the ayurveda and we should be able to map it so. It can mean little things like every product label carries Rasa,Guna,Virya,Vipaka,Prabhava of the material. It could mean offering a utility where any reciepes ingredients you feed and based on your own prakriti (as per ayurveda) and current season , an indicator of how “ayurveda compliant” it is shows.
Gradually the products characteristics will also be linked with geographic characterists and season of growth untill we come to treat food & medicine interchangebly.
It’s a tall goal for an audience that often gets carried away by the faddish and often does not bother about the intricate, not to mention pricing. But in a world of short term players, just carrying on with this long term vision that’s almost a way of life, is a life well spent. | https://medium.com/nativeorigin/first-principle-of-nativeorigin-8f776ff38f53 | ['Kaushal Trivedi'] | 2021-04-25 11:25:33.216000+00:00 | ['Nativeorigin', 'About Us', 'Makingofnativeorigin', 'Ayurveda', 'Vision'] |
A public health concern needs immediate attention. | Negligence over public health is something that goes beyond the biggest sins. Public health is the result of efforts done by individuals, government, and private organizations that strive for the betterment of the quality of life for the general public. The world is facing health issues which need attention among the individual, national, and global level. However, Public health concerns are being tackled down. Additionally, if the government efforts are less convenient towards public health, can public health capabilities remain intact? of course not. Carelessness among the population and the governmental level cuts of the developments in public health. Thus, the coronavirus pandemic, obesity, and breast cancer are the major areas that need government efforts for immediate resolution.
The covid-19 pandemic resembles the gravest concern of public health. The global world is widely disturbed. Likewise, the pandemic has been suffocating the world order since 2019. The covid-19 has been declared a ‘health crisis’ by the WHO, emerges as the disrespecting agenda for public health development. Furthermore, public health reveals crucial attention in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic because such viral and dangerous diseases nip health development into the bud. Thus, the coronavirus issue reveals and need crystal clear attention from the elites.
Obesity is a huge hurdle all over the world. The unwanted fats stored in the body while consuming various unmaintained diets and lack of exercise. As the reports were given by Strasser, around 30% of the world population are obese. Obesity is as well as a public health dilemma which itself thrives various diseases. Ultimately, body fats deliver unavoidable health issues which dangerous. Thus, the obese population is to be maintained.
Breast Cancer is a major threat to females’ health. It can occur in both men and women, but majorly common in females. The breast tissues enlarge abnormally due to which the patient has to suffer from a huge diagnosis. Thus, the public health dimensions reveal the safety and comfort of both genders and such issues should be given a gigantic observation.
To conclude, the public health crisis requisites serious recognition. However, covid-19 pandemic has a vital issue for changing public health development. Same as obesity and breast cancer which are health hazards universally and are to be considered and tackled down seriously. Thus, public health is the major cause of a developed nation. | https://medium.com/@bilalhamzaali12/a-public-health-concern-needs-immediate-attention-693742e9ed2 | ['Bilal Hamza'] | 2020-12-16 13:38:34.994000+00:00 | ['Essay', 'Public Health', 'Essay Writing'] |
Apple Car Rumors Exhaust Me | Apple Car Rumors Exhaust Me
Photo by Andy Wang on Unsplash
Project Titan is an apt name for an illusory effort to build transportation vaporware. The idea of Apple building or branding its own car full of Apple-engineered goodness is so big and exciting, it’s taken on gargantuan proportions.
I didn’t buy the idea five years ago. I’m not buying it now.
It’s such an attractive idea, though, “Oh can you imagine Apple versus Tesla?!!” that tech media and those who follow it literally try to will it into existence.
Reuter’s latest story may be the first to put a date on delivery of the Apple Car (or iCar, which is just too close to “iCarly”), and adds tantalizing details like a remarkable “monocell” battery and that Apple will probably let someone else build the vehicle. It also notes that the Apple Car might feature LiDAR scanners, which isn’t much of a stretch since virtually all semi-autonomous vehicles have sensors to detect the road, lanes, other vehicles, and people.
Reuters hedges its bets, saying that the pandemic could push production out past 2025, which also means that they can ride the rumor for years. That is unless Apple pulls the plug on Project Titan. The company scaled back its efforts in 2019, when it shed 200 employees. It also no longer employs Johann Jungwirth, a former Mercedes Benz R&D lead.
It’s not that Apple isn’t interested in cars. Apple’s CarPlay, which provides a stripped-down version of Apple’s core mobile OS for cars, system is already in millions of vehicles. This always seems like the just-right approach for Apple in the car market.
I’m also unconvinced about the appeal for Apple and consumers of an “Apple branded car.” The reason you buy one car brand over another is not, for instance, because it aligns with your favorite, say, fast food brand.
“A McDonald’s Car? Awesome. The grilled burger steering wheel is amazing. It smells just like cooked beef.”
You choose a car brand because of its reputation and the features they provide. Tesla built its brand and market position on the strength of all-electric features, luxury-like amenities, build quality, service, performance, and range. And it’s built a leading position in the electric car market through, for better or worse, the sheer determination of Elon Musk.
Apple did something similar with the original iPhone. It entered an existing and saturated market and remade it in its own image through quality, features performance, and the determination and grit of Steve Jobs.
An Apple-Branded car is not the Apple way. What Apple doesn’t build, it directs partners to build to its specifications. More recently, it’s begun building some of its own components like Apple Silicon.
I could be wrong. Apple possibly sees future cars as part of the natural evolution of mobile technology, writ large. An autonomous, electric car is as much a computer on wheels as it is a modern mode of transportation. Apple’s expertise in mobile hardware, battery management and performance, and AI intelligence would certainly help it here.
However, making a viable Apple Car business will take years. The decade-plus effort to win the hearts and minds of, primarily, Tesla fans will be arduous and frustrating. And by the time Apple finally ships its first “Apple Car,” it’ll be entering a much more crowded electric car market with far more affordable options from car companies with decades of traditional car sales experience.
Apple surely knows all this. Which is why, in my humble opinion, it’s not building or planning to sell an “Apple Car.” | https://medium.com/@LanceUlanoff/apple-car-rumors-exhaust-me-45feea4a87a7 | ['Lance Ulanoff'] | 2020-12-22 15:23:45.482000+00:00 | ['Car', 'Technology', 'Apple', 'AI', 'Analysis'] |
Understanding Android Scopes with Koin | This article is inspired by Manuel Vivo’s article, Scoping in Android and Hilt. Manuel has shown how it works for Dagger Hilt. I will explain here how it works for Koin.
What is a scope?
A scope/is a fixed duration of time or method calls in which an object exists. In other words, a scope is a context under which a given key refers to the same instance. Another way to look at this is to think of scope as the amount of time an object’s state persists. When the scope context ends, any objects bound under that scope are said to be /out of scope/and cannot be injected again in other instances.
— Dependency Injection by Dhanji R. Prasanna
In a nutshell, a scope is a space where we are maintaining instances for a specific duration of time. What about Android scope? We maintain instances for the duration of an Android component lifecycle.
Android components have their own lifecycle (Activity, Fragment, Service …). Each property inside those instances follows the underlying component’s lifecycle. In other words, your properties will be garbage collected at the end of your Android Component lifecycle.
Let’s take a simple example:
The instance of MyPresenter will follow MyActivity instance lifecycle. Once the Activity will finish, the presenter instance will be removed from memory. On new MyActivity instance, the presenter property will receive a new instance.
On configuration changes, both instances are recreated
Let’s declare it with Koin 😃
️Do you need a scope?
If our properties can be dropped at the end of the lifecycle, why do we need to care about scopes? 🤔
We need a scope for the following reasons:
keep the same instance of a component, for all other components of the scope
keep the same instance alive, for a specific period of time
Here are some regular use-cases of scopes, applied to Android applications:
Android Lifecycle scope — instance tied to an Android lifecycle component (Activity, Fragment …)
— instance tied to an Android lifecycle component (Activity, Fragment …) Custom scope — instance kept for a specific duration of time (more than one Activity, i.e: wallet …)
Let’s declare our scope for MyActivity with the scope Koin DSL keyword. By writing scope<MyActivity> , we open a code block to define our scoped instances. Each scoped component will be declared with the scoped keyword.
Defining MyActivity scope, with scoped definitions MyAdapter and MyPresenter
This way we can share our MyPresenter instance with another definition of the scope. We use the get() keyword to resolve the MyPresenter instance for the MyAdapter instance.
Now, in our MyActivity class let’s use the AndroidScopeComponent interface and implement the needed scope property with activityScope() delegate function to activate our scope as follows:
We use the AndroidScopeComponent interface and setup our scope with activityScope() function
📌 By using the AndroidScopeComponent interface, you need to override a scope property. This scope will be automatically used in all default API without doing anything else (inject, get, viewModel…) 📌 the activityScope() delegate function ensures removal of your scoped instances at the end of your Activity lifecycle
Note that Koin also proposes the ScopeActivity class, to help wrap the Activity scope declaration. Check the documentation for more details.
However, on configuration changes, we still lose our MyPresenter instance. On a new MyActivity instance, we are creating a new Activity scope.
On configuration changes, both instances are recreated
ViewModel: a game-changer
Since 2017, the Android architecture components are clearly helping to deal with this kind of lifecycle problem by proposing the ViewModel class. This new component will follow your Activity/Fragment instance and survive a configuration change. It simplifies the lifecycle management with only one lifecycle method to implement: onCleared()
A ViewModel is super easy to declare in Koin 😁
The ViewModel instance is handled by an internal Android factory, allowing it to survive configuration changes.
On configuration changes, the MyViewModel instance is kept
Similar Dagger Hilt, there is a special scope to survive configuration changes.
The activityRetainedScope() function will hold instances via a ViewModel holder instance for you.
We can keep our MyPresenter instance, through configuration changes
Every scope has an End
Taking control of scoped instances makes you responsible for closing them. The Koin Scope API helps automatically handle Android scopes for you:
the AndroidScopeComponent interface will help setup a scope for your Android component, by using activityScope() or activityRetainedScope() delegates for your scope property
interface will help setup a scope for your Android component, by using or delegates for your property ScopeActivity class helps wrap everything for you
The same API exists for Fragment and Service classes. The Fragment scope automatically binds your parent Activity scope. Check the Android Scope documentation for more details: https://insert-koin.io/docs/reference/koin-android/scope
A custom scope helps you maintain an app state for a given duration. Take care to properly setup your create/close sequence. You can check the following documentation for more information about Scope API: https://insert-koin.io/docs/reference/koin-core/scopes
Be sure to use only scoped instances if you really need them. Keep things as simple as possible 👍
From Manuel Vivo’s article: | https://proandroiddev.com/understanding-android-scopes-with-koin-cfe6b60ca579 | ['Arnaud Giuliani'] | 2021-02-25 17:02:10.428000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Android App Development', 'AndroidDev', 'Koin', 'Dependency Injection'] |
How to fix Ubuntu 18.04 freeze after boot when NVIDIA card installed | In this quick guide I will show how one could easily fix that annoying freeze after Ubuntu 18.04 installation. Should be noted that it is funny that driver used during the installation works absolutely fine, but one that you will use after installation is done — will keep you crashing.
Start the computer. After the bios keep pressing ‘E’ or ‘ESC’ to initiate grub. On the grub screen click select ‘*Ubuntu’ and press ‘E’
3. Find the line that starts with ‘linux’ and remove ‘quite splash’ and type ‘nomodeset’ at the end of the line.
4. Press ‘F10’ and boot. The screen resolution should be really bad as we just disabled all graphic drivers. The good news — freeze is now gone.
5. On the last step we need to fix it once and forever. Open terminal and run:
sudo vi /etc/default/grub
Find the line
$ GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”
and add ‘nomodeset’, so at the end it will look like the following:
$ GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash nomodeset”
Pass the changes to the grub by running command:
sudo update-grub2
6. You are all set. Now it is good time to install correct NVIDIA drivers. For example from here. | https://medium.com/@exesse/how-to-fix-ubuntu-18-04-freeze-after-boot-when-nvidia-card-installed-2f042ef9fbf5 | ['Vladislav I. Kulbatski'] | 2020-01-25 21:32:12.918000+00:00 | ['Cuda 10', 'Cuda', 'Nvidia', 'Ubuntu'] |
No Document? Here is How TDDD Save Your Life | Why No Document?
Documents are important. Everybody knows. Then why we have such numbers of missing documents?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Engineers are lazy by nature. They try to find the optimal route to complete their work. Their primary focus is to deliver the value of the product to the customer. Naturally, minimal documentation is compiled.
Documentation First
Typical project response in supportive measure. Somebody says “hey, we should have more documents”. Project members start compiling documents. As a result, a good amount of the areas are covered by the new documents. However, this approach is not perfect.
First, we lose the context of the design at the time we write the docs. “Hey, do you know why this design look like this?” “Ah, that was designed by Smith who left the project”. This is the typical example of the loss of context. Or even if you are the original designer, are you able to remember the design decision you made one year ago?
Second, the post-documentation process cannot cover all the topics you need to document. Once the intensive documentation activity is done, the project continues as usual. Then you will suddenly find that some of the design is missing. Then you need to go back to the documentation activity again. We can say that we need to add more documents as we find. But it is still continuous pain.
As time passed from the time it designed, documentation becomes much harder. Why not we design a “pre-documentation” process than the “post-documentation” process.
Ticket Driven Design Doc
Here Ticket Driven Design Doc (TDDD) helps your life. I have been working on management in several different projects and teams and found TDDD promotes pre-documentation culture to the team.
I assume that you are using some ticketing system to handle the development process. You can put “documentation” and “documentation review” as part of the workflow. Here is the example workflow in a typical story-based agile project:
Typical TDDD Workflow. The workflow enforces developer to write/review document first before every single development
Every development ticket has documentation as part of the process. This forces engineers to make a document for any changes. Wait, putting documentation as part of the workflow? It sounds obvious. Whats’ the point? Well, we have another key driver for TDDD.
You make a document based on the ticket number. Here is the example:
Example of Ticket Numbered Document
This might remind you of RFCs. Yes basically, we leverage the same idea. Ticket number based document have some characteristics:
Documentation Status and Authenticity Clarified
When you use a collaborative documentation tool (like Confluence), you will find some documents whose status is unclear. The document might be draft, might not be up to date, might be reviewed by anybody, or might be even just a private note and not official.
Putting ticket number will clarify the status of the documentation. It also clarifies that who reviewed the document and who approved.
Clear Mapping of Development and the Doc
Since the ticket number is clarified, mapping of the development is clear for everybody. This will allow project manager to see the status of the documentation. If feature development is undergoing with no documentation, the project manager can ask engineers to write a doc, and ask them to have the review.
Change Part Clarified
As development activity and doc is mapped, the document clarifies the changes. If you keep updating the master document, the reviewer of the document might be unclear which part is already developed and which part is the change we design now. Ticket number based document forces engineers to write the changes. This will help document reviewers in general. This will also help QA to understand since they generally understand the changes.
Documents Linked
We can link the document with some relationship like RFCs. If you are incrementing the changes, you can link the documents as “Update”. If you are replacing the old feature with a new one, you can link it as “Obsolete”. You can clarify what kind of “changes” you are describing in the doc by the linkage.
Readers of the documents can also be aware of any update thanks to the document link.
Mitigating Weakness of TDDD
TDDD is not perfect. Since TDDD is focusing on the changes, it’s not good at updating the master documents. Let’s imagine that we have API specification. TDDD does NOT guarantee that API spec to be updated.
As TDDD is focusing on the change, it’s weak for maintaining master. We need strategy to mitigate the weakness. Some automated documentation tools, like Doxygen or Swagger, can be one of the solutions.
TDDD Promote Pre-Document Culture
As I clarified the above, TDDD is not a perfect solution. However, TDDD promotes pre-documentation culture to the team which is the fundamentals of the development process. TDDD grantees also guarantee the documents’ authenticity.
I had several successful experience with this approach in past few small team. Now I am promoting similar approach to several new activities. Hopefully I can provide more updates by a post in the near future. | https://yuichi-murata.medium.com/no-document-here-is-how-tddd-save-your-life-3d00af3a584 | ['Yuichi Murata'] | 2020-11-29 14:02:01.880000+00:00 | ['Engineering', 'Documentation'] |
How to Negotiate for a Better Salary When You’re Switching Careers | You have probably accepted at least a few job offers by this point in your career, but how often have you negotiated for a higher salary before taking the job? If your answer is “not often” or “never,” you’re not alone. Negotiating is tricky, and how much difference can that extra few thousand dollars make, anyway? The answer is: a hefty one. According to a 2010 study, assuming an average annual pay increase of 5 percent, an employee whose starting yearly salary was $55,000 rather than $50,000 would earn an additional $600,000 or more over the course of a 40-year career. So clearly, it’s worth negotiating, every time — even when you’re switching careers.
Usually, the biggest barrier to negotiating a higher salary isn’t how, it’s mustering the courage to do it. We can come up with seemingly rational reasons why it doesn’t make sense to negotiate. But as a hirer, when a candidate didn’t negotiate after I extended the offer, my first thought was, “I made a hiring mistake.” Talking about money can feel awkward, especially for career “Switchers.” But if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
When I ask people why they settled for the initial offer, they tell me, “I was afraid they would renege on the offer,” or, “I was pretty happy with the first offer.” In my many years of coaching, I’ve never heard of a case where an offer was taken off the table because someone politely asked for flexibility. And even if the initial offer is more than you expected, would you (or your partner or kids) be less happy if you earned 10 percent more each month or had an extra week of vacation? Um, no.
After a long search, it’s understandable why you might say yes to the initial offer and be done with it, especially if it’s decent. But take a night to sleep on it and discuss it with a spouse or friend, because no job seeker can weigh all the possibilities in the moment, especially when emotions are high with the fantastic news. Maia, a double Switcher who was offered a role, almost blurted out “yes!” after her exhausting search. But she caught herself and asked for a day to review the offer with her family. She negotiated additional vacation days and was glad she remembered this advice. Discussing money can be uncomfortable. But isn’t 10 minutes of discomfort worth several thousand dollars?
Beyond the financial gain, there are other reasons to negotiate. The salary discussion is your first opportunity to have a real conversation with your new boss. In the job, you’ll need his or her support in a variety of work situations. The salary negotiation is an early chance to see if your new manager will advocate for you, which is good to know up front. Negotiating likely will not distance you. It does the opposite: Having a difficult discussion and finding a mutual solution deepens the relationship. Also, in some fields, like sales, it can be detrimental not to negotiate. After all, negotiating and influencing are key skills in your new role, so if you skip them, the hiring manager may be concerned.
As a Switcher, you may feel you’re not entitled to ask for more money. After all, you were lucky just to get the offer, right? Wrong. If you were offered the job, the company recognizes the value you bring and wants you to start the job excited and motivated. You may also be questioning your ability to perform the role as well as a traditional candidate. Don’t. While things may feel ambiguous now, six months into the job, you’ll no doubt be fully up to speed and wondering why you were worried in the first place. Remember, all future raises, bonuses, and merit increases will be calculated as a percentage of your starting salary. It’s much harder to get a large bump in base pay once you are inside.
I’ll let you in on a little secret: Once a company makes an offer, they are in the hot seat, worrying you might not accept. The hiring manager has likely endured a long search as well and wants this process to be over as much as you do. The hirer is already envisioning you on the team, getting work done. So, you have a little leverage at this point. The tables have finally turned.
Negotiations don’t need to focus only on your paycheck. While you want to get your base pay as high as possible as a first step, many other aspects of a compensation package can be negotiated: extra vacation time, relocation dollars, a sign-on bonus, virtual workdays, tuition reimbursement, parking costs, start date, association dues — the list goes on. Think about what is most meaningful to you or what would leave you with more money in your pocket at the end of each month. My friend Dan’s company agreed to pay his cellphone bill, leaving him with an additional $1,600 per year in his pocket.
Even when a hirer says, “This is our best offer,” you should still take a day or two to sleep on it. More often than not, you will think of something to negotiate. Dion negotiated a start date that was one week earlier so his health benefits were covered for the month, a significant savings for his family. Laura negotiated a midyear (off-cycle) performance review, which would come with a salary increase if she met the agreed-upon business goals.
There’s a lot of excellent negotiating advice available. You can find it in dozens of career books or online, so you don’t need me to tell you to the basics. Here’s a quick synopsis:
Defer the in-depth salary discussion until after you have an official offer in hand.
Research your market value and how to relay it to the employer based on what you bring to the role.
Focus on your worth in the market, not what you personally want or need or what you were making in the last position.
Never accept an offer on the spot, even a seemingly great offer. There’s always something to negotiate.
Negotiate directly with the hiring manager (versus the headhunter or human resources).
Be confident and respectful, not demanding or entitled.
Don’t drag out the negotiations over multiple meetings. Know your negotiating points and alternative options so you can be efficient.
Know your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and your walk-away number.
All these steps are important. Just add this one vital strategy: Go into the negotiation meeting assuming positive intent on the part of the hiring manager. While it’s advisable to prepare your rationale—it will give you the confidence and data support you need—you’ll end up with a better outcome by going into the discussion expecting success. Hiring managers anticipate that you will negotiate. Unless your requests are completely unreasonable or presented as demands, managers will likely be happy to revise the offer if they’re able. Even if they can’t give you exactly what you want, ask if they can meet you in the middle.
While there’s always room to negotiate, that doesn’t mean that as a Switcher you’ll end up earning exactly what you’d like. In fact, depending on how big your career change and your skill level in relation to the job, there’s a strong possibility that making a switch may mean accepting a lower salary, at least temporarily. Taking a salary hit is one of the major concerns Switchers struggle with in their decision making. While I wish I could reassure Switchers, “Of course your salary won’t decrease,” regrettably, whether you can stomach a pay cut is a consideration when deciding to change careers.
If you’re taking a significant step back in level or changing from an industry like banking to a nonprofit, a lower salary may be inevitable. This is where your loss aversion tends to kick in and you ask yourself, “Is this really worth it?”
Consider all the factors. Think about the long-term payoff. Will taking a hit on salary in the short run enable you to leap ahead of your old salary in the longer run? Even if that’s not the case, it’s likely the monetary hit won’t be as painful as you envision. Research has shown that although people aren’t very good at foreseeing how they will adjust to change, people “adapt more quickly and to a larger degree than we imagine.”
Keep the large view of a compensation package in mind. Look at the total compensation. You may not be losing as much as you think if the company covers tuition reimbursement and your commute requires much less gas. It’s worth the extra effort to think creatively. Perhaps you have experiences that will add additional value. If your desktop publishing skills could save the company $5,000 annually on an external vendor, maybe they could add this amount to your salary when they hire you. Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
Your new employer wants you to come on board motivated to dive in. Out of all the candidates, they chose you. A few thousand dollars may be negligible to them but mean the world to you. So, take 10 minutes to start off your next job with a win-win. | https://medium.com/s/story/how-to-negotiate-for-a-better-salary-when-youre-switching-careers-8a36bae307c9 | ['Dawn Graham'] | 2018-06-29 16:01:01.757000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'Work', 'Salary Negotiations', 'Professional Development', 'Excerpt'] |
Crypto Weekly | BTC hits $18k and sets a new year high
Hi guys and welcome to another lovely week with Crypto Weekly, it has been one crazy week with the Crypto market spiking and reaching a new year’s high after years of no action.
Crypto Weekly is hosted by TokenPocket, a multi-chain wallet that allows users to easily manage their crypto assets.
It also supports a DApp browser to multiple DApps which includes but not limited to Uniswap, JustSwap, Newdex, and many others.
Crypto Weekly focuses on market price action with regards to BTC, ETH, and EOS.
As usual, today’s writeup begins with BTC
BTC
After years of no action and constant retrace, BTC finally hits a new high after 2 years and the market is starting to look bullish like never before.
Unlike 2017 where the market rally was mainly controlled by holders of BTC or whales like many call them, 2020 is a little bit different as records of new investors keep surfacing each week and this shows that interest in BTC is growing daily, simply an organic movement like never before seen.
BTC which is recorded to be highly volatile is currently one of the most outperforming investments as other industries gradually crumble creating unemployment on a daily and weekly basis.
From a weekly opening price at $16k, BTC was able to rally itself to a high of $18k that was last recorded in 2017, this brought joy to the entire crypto space for a brief movement until market correction took place taking it to a low of $17600 where it currently trades.
This is happening months after the entire market took a deep dive to $10k and below and everyone thought the beer was about to come out.
With the current price action, this just goes to show that interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency is gaining more audience and sooner or later the mass adoption we all crave is bound to happen.
ETH
Many call ETH to be above the $500 mark by now due to previous price action after attaining a previous price above $470 and above when BTC was barely above the $13k, the reverse is kind of the case now.
BTC is currently $17k+ and ETH is currently struggling to stay above the $470 mark.
This is currently creating tension and users are starting to believe this is simply a BTC dominated market and alts are yet to fully wake up.
If you recall the previous bull run that took BTC to $19k and more, ETH achieved a high of $1k and more, the entire crypto space is yet to see such actions even after BTC touched $18k.
From an opening week price of $459, ETH was able to rally up to $487 before retracing to $474 where it currently trades.
The market is quite volatile at the moment and totally controlled by BTC with slight movement bringing newer changes and better price action to alts coin.
The next few weeks will be a deciding factor as we gradually approach the festive seasons.
EOS
The Ethereum replacement or rather better model is currently on a standstill as it continues to battles it’s way to $3 but so far no luck.
Interest surrounding the EOS space continues to take a down line as investors begin to question their investment choices if truly EOS was the best bet.
If you recall the price action of EOS in late 2017 and now, a great difference can be observed and EOS is currently not living up to expectations.
Well, the same can be said about other altcoins, I guess we all just have to wait and hope for the best.
From a week entry at $2.47, EOS was able to rally itself to a week high of $2.71 before the market retrace took place taking EOS to $2.64 where it currently trades.
As individuals continue to wait for better price action and also altcoins movement, users are advised to do their own research before investing in any digital or offline platform | https://medium.com/@otemzi/crypto-weekly-e4da2fb5cb8b | ['Oteme Eghele'] | 2020-11-19 14:52:51.434000+00:00 | ['Eos', 'Cryptoweekly', 'Eth', 'Tokenpocket', 'Btc'] |
Q: Tell us about a product you love | A three-step guide to answering that one question that is asked in every PM interview
So, if you are someone who is trying their best to nail those PM interviews — You know there is no way you can avoid this question — What’s your favorite product and why? You may have heard a version of this in interviews or may have added a few lines that briefly touch upon it while you were writing that perfect cover letter.
Tell us about a product you love
The question entails more than just mentioning a product you like and a few features that you find cool — be prepared to talk about users, use cases, metrics etc. In my first few Interviews for a product management job, I tried to come up with a product that I like on the spot and trust me it’s not easy and it does not end well — you ALWAYS miss something.
I, therefore, came up with this 4-step guide that helps me in structuring my answer to this question.
My 4 steps guide to answering the “what product you love” question
Answer Example :
My favorite product is Slack.
P.S — I love their new logo
Slack is a cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools and services. The name ‘Slack’ is an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”. It is essentially an instant messaging app specifically designed for effective communication in the workplace.
I think of Slack as a chat room for the whole company, designed to replace email as the primary method of communication and sharing work information. Its workspaces allow different teams to organize their communications by channels. It also allows for private messages (chat) to share information, files, and more.
Slack is my favorite for the following these three reasons -
1) All in one place
Slack brings all my communication together in one virtual place and helps eliminate the inbox clutter. I have everything related to the project in the channel plus the platform offers a hardy search functionality that enables me to find key information quickly, even if it’s inside of a document I’ve shared.
2) It’s fun and it works
It offers an intuitive and customizable interface that allows me to share files, videos, GIFs simply by dragging and dropping. It gives me the affordability of brainstorming on a project idea in my groups/Teams without the inbox clutter. The chatroom environment is great for brainstorming compared to the reply-all avalanche.
3) Integration
Slack integrates well with other platforms like Google drive, GitHub, Trello, Twitter etc. and this is what takes Slack from a normal online instant messaging and collaboration system to a solution that enables me to centralize all my notifications, from work to social media and more, into one searchable place.
What is truly great about Slack is that it also allows building your own integrations. I recently build a Slack-bot (with few of my cool friends at UC Berkeley) that can be used to obtain real-time data regarding bus and BART arrival and departure times. So, now I can learn about the next bus timings for home by giving “one” simple command to this Slack bot — and I no longer need to use a different app for it.
However, it is not like there was no internal office communication before Slack. Communication is crucial for teams to function and most businesses/offices managed (some still do) a lot of communication via internal email. And I agree an Email is a great tool for connecting with people outside a workspace because almost EVERYBODY uses email — No matter what email program they use, you understand that the person on the other end will be able to open and read your message, but email isn’t so great when it comes to internal communications within your company or organization. Since one receives 100’s of email messages every day — from work emails, news you subscribe to promotions. It is very easy to miss important communications in an overflowing email inbox.
Email does allow you to separate the internal emails relating to each project, but it definitely takes some extra time and effort to make it more organized. Instead of project and work messages being scattered through your email inbox and archives, Slack’s simple UI makes it easier to view and scroll through past communication instead. There are other alternatives to Slack but its ability to integrate with multiple platforms gives it an edge.
Thus, Slack helps businesses and employees by providing a platform that allows them to brainstorm in real-time, communicate rapidly and collaborate better with each other. Slack Integrations also empowers it with the capacity to replace meetings, for example, there are daily Slack standups software such as Jell that integrate well with Slack and offer a substitute for physical standup meetings.
And though Slack does an overall great job as a productivity tool, it does add another level of notifications on top of the existing email, calendar, mobile, and other apps. And, the fast, real-time aspect of the messages could result in 100s of additional notifications each day. I believe allowing the user better notification controls can help in conquering the interruptions to some degree.
Slack can also make teams a Little TOO Connected. Slack also measures team productivity by primarily focusing on volume metrics (just as many other companies do) such as the number of active users, number of messages sent, amount of file storage used etc. However, since Slack is a productivity tool these metrics do not provide a good proxy for measuring productivity.
Connecting with the team is great, but there are times when one needs to be uninterrupted so that they can more fully focus on work. With Slack, it can be tough to disconnect from your team. Some people spent a lot of time on Slack on chatting about non-work-related matters or simply talking about projects instead of actually getting the project work done. My assumption is shifting focus on value metrics such as helping people understand their increased collaboration via the platform would be more useful for the company to both acquire new users and to retain the existing users. Slack can thus report measures such as the decrease in % time spent on meetings or the % increase in productivity/ quality of work since using Slack or integrating “X” tool with Slack (Using data and analytics from customer engagement platforms, conducting user research). By focusing on value metrics, Slack can help its customers achieve measurable productivity gains. This will not only strengthen the bonds Slack has with its customers but also deepen customer engagement in the platform.
This post has been published on www.productschool.com communities. | https://medium.com/@anupandey_50705/q-tell-us-about-a-product-you-love-81fa47ad7d27 | ['Anu Pandey'] | 2019-02-14 17:55:38.310000+00:00 | ['First Post', 'Slack', 'Interview Questions', 'Favorite Product', 'Product Management'] |
TDoR 2020: Say their names. Read their stories. Remember them | Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) feels different this year of necessity. After all, how could it not, when a pandemic is ravaging the globe and so many — including all of us here in the UK- will be locked down on 20th November?
So this year there are no outdoor candelight vigils. No faffing around with PA systems and running cables from nearby cafes. No freezing cold feet and hands in the cold wind and night air of a British November. No gathering together at all.
We’re locked down, so instead, we’ll be sitting on our sofa or at the kitchen table watching presentations on YouTube or taking part in Zoom calls trying to console each other.
Some things never change though — with November always comes the awareness of a whole new collection of names and faces who have been lost to us during the past year.
The grief is never-ending; and with it, the tears, resolve and anger not only about what happened to them but also about the attitudes, conditions, discrimination and violence that caused their deaths.
In a year when far too many trans people worldwide have been forced out onto the street to work alongside a silent killer virus, the unofficial TDoR motto of TDoR of “Remember Our Dead. Fight Like Hell for the Living” feels more apt than ever. | https://medium.com/@annajayne/tdor-2020-say-their-names-read-their-stories-remember-them-a6ceed20f6ee | ['Anna-Jayne Metcalfe'] | 2020-11-21 11:47:08.010000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Hate Crimes', 'Gender Identity', 'Transgender', 'Violence'] |
Loose Words Letter #35 | Loose Words Letter #35
Photo by Fernando Brasil on Unsplash
Welcome to the weekly newsletter from Loose Words. These letters go out every Thursday and highlight many of our published poems from the past week. We hope that these poems find you back on track after a short break and focused on how to make the most of the season ahead. For us, it starts with just breathing in our own words.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart and know that my heart still functions normally. I feel grateful for my heart.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Each week, we post a few lines from each featured poem (all friend links so anyone can read them) so you can sample a tidbit, but we hope you delve in on the ones that tickle your fancy. A one-minute read could change your day. | https://medium.com/loose-words/loose-words-letter-35-411a4ad48eaa | ['Jonathan Greene'] | 2020-12-03 13:36:44.103000+00:00 | ['Publication', 'Poetry', 'Loose Words Letter', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Newsletter'] |
Let’s talk about depression | Studies show that approximately 264 million people worldwide will suffer from a mental health problem at some time during the year with depression being one of the most common types. To make matters worse, along came covid19.
Depression is a common psychological disorder believe it or not, anyone can become depressed. For the majority of us, feeling a bit low, or a bit down are feelings that don’t usually last very long, they tend to pass soon after the issue, worry or memory has faded or ceased to be a concern.
However, depression is more than just feeling a little low, unhappy, bored or fed up. It’s deeper. Depression can be brought on by any number of reasons, the loss of a loved one, financial worries, divorce, losing your job, chronic illness or medical conditions like a thyroid disorder. If depressive feelings don’t go away after a short time, or they start to affect your everyday life, it might be time to seek professional help.
SSRI’s are protocol and usually the first port of call at the doctor’s office, but there are drug free options out there also, and many things you can do to help yourself.
Clinical Hypnotherapy has become widely recognised as an effective treatment for people suffering or experiencing depression. Recent studies have shown that hypnotherapy is more effective than cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) which in the past, was the most common therapeutic approach in treating clinical depression.
The aim of hypnotherapy in treating depression, is to target the root cause of the issue and to develop better coping mechanisms.
In many cases people forget or suppress, the cause of their depression because the negative feelings associated with it, makes the emotion more intense. It’s not quite so difficult to forget an event on a conscious level, but it can be much more challenging to forget an event on a subconscious level. Hypnotherapy connects directly with the subconscious mind and can help to reframe the perception of an event that may have triggered the depression in the first place. Hypnotherapy can improve your self-esteem, mood and help you to regain control, independence and emotional freedom.
Find out more about how hypnotherapy can help, get in touch today:
https://www.gailmarrahypnotherapy.com/contact/ | https://medium.com/@gailmarrahypnotherapy/lets-talk-about-depression-d27c4ab965f2 | ['Gail Marra'] | 2020-12-20 13:06:03.960000+00:00 | ['Stress', 'Depression', 'Anxiety', 'Isolation'] |
WINNER, WINNER, TURKEY DINNER | See what I did there? Too corny?
We do have winners to crown. And for the Salad game we had 2 people tie for the win. Prayformojo and Seanfarrell both tied with 759 points for the win. They will split the combined 1st and 2nd prize. The math works out to 8.75 SBD per person.
Also congratulations to Docortho who finished third with 753 points and will win 2.5 SBD.
Tomorrow I will announce the Salad 100% Prize qualifiers.
Now we are at the point in your day where you go vote for today’s question. Good luck!
All the best,
Jason | https://medium.com/daily-emails/winner-winner-turkey-dinner-1c6bcb81fda7 | [] | 2018-11-20 15:09:03.093000+00:00 | ['Questions', 'Games', 'Crowdini', 'Steemit', 'Steem'] |
Dealing With the Family Bully | A bully can dominate an entire family and they can do a lot of damage while they’re at it.
Maybe you have a bully in your family. Maybe you dread seeing this person.
Maybe they make you angry or miserable and their cutting remarks sting long after you’re out of their presence.
There’s good news and bad news.
The bad news is that when it comes to a bully, who they are is not going to change. Them thinking they are right is not going to change. What they think is acceptable is not going to change.
The good news is that the bully may change their behaviour, even if deep down they don’t think they should have to.
Also, there are things you can do to control and improve the situation.
Bullying behavior can be mildly irritating or it can ruin and even end people’s lives. It goes without saying that your approach to your own situation is going to be dictated by it’s severity. I don’t know how bad your family bully is; they could be a little bit tiresome or they could pose an actual risk to other people.
These tips are about managing and potentially improving a situation with a bullying family member. If your situation has gone beyond the point where management and improvement is possible or helpful then this article won’t be for you.
Their motivation.
One of the main problems when dealing with a bully in a family setting is, well, your family. People will pander to a bully and tiptoe around their moods. They may also ignore their bad behaviour and pretend it isn’t happening.
As frustrating as this can be, it’s a survival technique for anyone who spends a lot of time with a bullying person. It’s too exhausting to fight someone every hour of every day, so people just do what they can for a quieter life.
If you spend any significant amount of time around a family bully, you too will undoubtedly have altered your behaviour around the person. In order to deal with a bully effectively you need to be able to assess how you change around them.
What role does the bully assign to you? Are you expected to always agree with them or pander to blatant delusions and falsehoods? Maybe you have an unspoken list of things you would say to anyone else you know but that are taboo for the bully. Maybe you are given a scapegoat role and the bully uses your words and actions to justify behaving however they want to. The more you conform to your role, the more power this person has over you.
This is not to say that we don’t adjust our behaviour from person to person. It’s social common sense to be sensitive in what you say around a recently bereaved friend, for example. Your empathy for the other person prompts you to adjust how you behave. The bully, on the other hand, demands this extreme level of sensitivity over things which are very minor to most people.
They might get angry because they imagine someone looks disinterested when they speak.
They might take offense at a really minor aspect of etiquette while ignoring all such guidelines themselves.
There are topics of conversation they shut down but if they sense someone else is uncomfortable about something they start pushing in that direction.
Essentially they want to be treated with extreme empathy and care but want to bulldoze and trample other people at the same time.
Depending on the kind of person (can’t stress enough that this is dependent on individual situations) you are dealing with you might be willing to play to this sometimes. A bully loves a compliment or some positive attention. This is evident because they go out of their way to rewire the world around them so they get more than their fair share and then start digging into everyone else’s.
You may even be able to contain their bad behaviour with praise.
Essentially, if you feel inclined to, you can play their game and give them what they want. (This is probably how you get to experience their good points if they have any.) If you don’t want to do that or you don’t want to do that anymore beyond a certain point then you need to get tactical.
Breaking roles.
You confront a bully by breaking out of the role they feel comfortable giving you. In a family setting you need to consider everyone else’s roles as well.
Let’s take an example.
John is the family bully. He insults you during dinner and Molly immediately changes the subject. As she speaks she forces an upbeat tone into her speech. She’s not just trying to change the topic but the mood produced by John’s remark.
If you try to tackle what John said, Molly asks why you’re ruining the otherwise happy mood.
Molly wants to pretend that John hasn’t already done this.
John knows that when Molly fulfills her role of covering for him, you in turn fulfill your role of backing down for Molly’s sake.
People play roles in dysfunctional families. Dysfunction gains ground when it becomes normalized. A family bully assigns the roles (or tries to) and conditions people to play along over time. Eventually people think of this as “just how it is”, but on closer inspection all the strange behaviors only benefit one person.
Intervention is what works against bullies, but it’s emotionally wearing and stressful. When the bully gets other family members to protect them they make themselves that much harder to confront. The longer this status quo survives the harder it will be to confront it.
For the best chance of success you should counteract your bully as if your response is normal; not the challenge they will actually see it as. You can use humor to further this. Avoiding a confrontational approach also has the benefit of encouraging your other family members to push back too.
There are also some other things you can do:
Build one on one relationships.
If a family member spends time with you alone this resets your relationship in the family setting. They won’t be as quick to return to dysfunctional roles when they’ve established this kind of one on one connection.
For example, the family bully may want family members to stay quiet so they can rant and pontificate. Everyone may go along with this but if they then get used to talking freely when they see you this will help.
Manage your emotions.
Emotional vulnerability and consequential mutual support is a healthy part of good relationships. This is not possible when dealing with a bully.
Bullies say and do things purely to upset you. Once you’re upset they mock you or take advantage of your emotional state. They may try to suggest you are crazy because you’re emotional.
When upset we usually don’t speak with as much accuracy and balance as when we aren’t. Most normal people understand this. A bully will pounce on what you say when you’re upset and try to use it against you.
How often in an argument in an otherwise happy relationship do you apologize for something you said? You may also explain how you didn’t mean what you said or the words came out wrong because you were upset.
A bully will seize on anything you said awkwardly or emotionally. If they know you didn’t mean what you said you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll never let you forget it. They may hold onto things you’ve said for years or even decades.
It’s vital to remember, it’s not that the bully assumes you meant what you said or did in an emotional state. They know full well you didn’t mean it. That’s why they won’t let it go. Funny how every sincere thing you’ve ever said to them doesn’t make it to this status of being carved in stone. This is frustrating but you need to remember it’s very deliberate.
To a bully emotional expression just represents an opportunity to attack and you should always try and keep your emotions in check when around them.
Rudeness as truth.
Bullies love to disguise rudeness, social ineptitude and a lack of tact as a truth.
They love to pretend that they are on a sacred mission to “tell it like it is” when no one else dares to. This takes their hurtful, mean and petty behaviour and turns it into something noble and moral.
It’s the family Easter dinner. Sarah has recently lost a job she loved and is worried about getting a new one quickly. She’s asked people not to bring the subject up so she can relax and enjoy a break.
You can be 100% sure that the bully will mention Sarah being unemployed.
They might do it in a way that appears nice, they may fake concern. They may act like it just slipped out. But the fact is they’ve been told that mentioning the job loss will hurt Sarah, so, they just can’t help but do that.
And what about when Sarah gets upset at the mention of her job?
You can be 100% sure the bully will be very critical of her entirely predicable response.
“It’s true, you can’t cry about everything that's true…. No wonder she got fired if you can’t even have a normal conversation with her.”
You often hear bullies describe their point of view when they've caused upset in their family:
“Sarah lost her job and it’s supposed to be this big secret because she can’t handle anything, especially not the truth. So it slipped out and now shes being a nutcase, crying and blaming me. I’m in the dog house because I talk real life not playing pretend.”
This defensive rationale makes out that Sarah is the bully and the bully is the victim.
John is trying to say that Sarah controls what people can say in order to create a fake reality that she finds acceptable. If people don’t play along she causes a scene.
Remind you of anyone?
In order to counteract this kind of behaviour the bully has to be frozen out of as much information as possible. When that isn’t possible the emotional side of the information must be played down.
If they bring up something that they shouldn’t you can try and distract them with their favorite topics. This usually includes themselves.
What do they care about?
Bullies delight in mocking and misbehaving when they aren’t bothered about the consequences. It’s a different story when the consequences do bother them.
Be on the lookout for their best and worst behaviour and use it to your advantage.
A bully might make a point of being rude to waiting staff in a restaurant. At the same time their behaviour might drastically improve in front of old friends or their pastor.
Try to arrange get togethers that play to the bully’s self control; because they probably have a lot more self control than you think. Even just mentioning their control points is very powerful.
“So, you lost that job then? That’s three in three years isn’t it? What a disaster.”
“Yes, that’s the third. I might ask your friend Bob about it, his daughter Jessica just changed jobs, she didn’t mention it was a disaster so it would be good to know what they both think.”
When a bully behaves well around people it’s a clear sign they don’t want their “other side” to be known to those people. John probably wants Bob and Jessica to think he is marvelous. Not that he picks at Sarah’s self esteem when she is down on her luck.
Bullies box themselves in with their attitude that what they say is fine, even good. Well if that’s the case, it must be fine to repeat it and let others know what they said.
This approach might well make John angry, more so because he can’t explain why without admitting that he’s ashamed of his own behavior. He will however be much more careful in future. By bringing his good behaviour prompt to him, you force a change.
This is not a guide to living with a bully through choice. This is not a guide to having a romantic relationship with a bully by locking down your emotions. As I’ve stressed already, in some situations you may need or want to simply walk away and never look back.
Life is sometimes more complicated than that. Relationships and especially families are often more complex than that.
Dealing with a family bully will never be easy nor is there the promise of a perfect resolution in the distance. Working on the situation is only worth doing if the person involved is important in your life in some way and you want to keep your involvement with them. You may also have to occasionally tolerate them for some reason.
By pushing normal behavior and controlling dysfunction the situation can be improved. Family bullies will never stop trying to get everyone dancing to their tune. All the same these measures can keep the destructive effects of their actions to a minimum. | https://medium.com/bettertoday/dealing-with-the-family-bully-beb87c63afd | ['Stef Hill'] | 2020-02-27 23:42:06.741000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Happiness', 'Bullying', 'Self Improvement', 'Family'] |
Metaprogramming in JS: Write your first codemod! | Removing console.logs
After finishing a feature we usually spend some time cleaning up our code. This might involve renaming variables, removing unused code or removing all debugging statements — like console.log . The last can be automated with a fairly simple codemod!
We want to remove all instances of console.log
All the three console.log invocations above are correct. To remove them using regular expressions would be complex. However with codemods we can do it in just few lines of code:
A codemod must be a function that is the default export from the file. It accepts two arguments: the file descriptor and a libraries object it can use. By convention jscodeshift is usually destructured and assigned to j .
By calling jscodeshift on our source we compute an AST. We can then query it in the same way we query DOM elements in JavaScript using querySelectorAll .
The find method accepts two arguments: the first is the type of the node we are looking for, the second one is a query that allows us to narrow down the search to the specific instances. In our case we want to find CallExpression , which is how function calls are represented in our tree. We want to find only the calls that are performed on a property of the console object.
Our code will match not only console.log expressions but also console.warn and any other function calls on property of the console object. If you want to restrict it further, try analysing the tree from the previous article and modifying the query object we passed to find .
After we have successfully found all the matches, we can remove them from the tree using remove . This method modifies the original tree. Finally we call toSource because jscodeshift expects us to return a string containing the new code. A cool feature is that the original formatting is preserved for all the nodes we haven’t touched.
Automatically moving hard-coded colors to a design system
In modern apps we often use a design system as a central place for all styles rather than hard-coding values for colors, spacings and fonts. However during development it’s usually much easier style components directly, then migrate to design system tokens just before we are ready to raise a pull request. This is not only an error-prone task, but it’s also time-consuming. It could easily be automated!
In this example I will use a React Native StyleSheet object, but the solution can be adopted to work with any library that defines styles in JavaScript like Emotion or JSS (CSS in JS).
Let’s consider the following structure of design system tokens:
Example of Design System tokens object.
Using this object we can refer to the colors from our design system. Wherever we want to use a red color in our project we can refer to DESIGN_SYSTEM.tokenA .
Now let’s consider the following code in React Native:
Only the color red in the first call should be replaced. The other calls, even though they look similar, do not create a StyleSheet.
First let’s write a function that compares colors:
areTheSame function that compares two colors.
Because colors come in different formats, we can use a color library to convert any type to RGB. Then by comparing each color component (red, green, blue and alpha) we can determine if the colors are the same or not. In a real-life solution we could compare the colors using the CIELAB color space and match all colors that are indistinguishable to the naked eye.
Next we need to look for matches in our design system:
Finding matches in our Design System.
Finally we can write our codemod which will use these functions to automatically convert matching colors into design system equivalents:
You can find a full solution in this GitHub Gist.
First we find all the call expressions on StyleSheet.create . Then we can take all the arguments and extract all their properties. For each of argument we filter out all the properties that do not match "color" . For the matching properties we try to find a token in our design system and if there is a match we modify the tree and change the value of the property. By calling j.memberExpression we create a new expression like DESIGN_SYSTEM.tokenA . Finally we convert our modified tree to source and return it as the result of the function.
Detecting hard-coded secrets in the code | https://medium.com/onfido-tech/metaprogramming-in-js-write-your-first-codemod-75eca71a97e2 | ['Kacper Kula'] | 2019-08-22 08:01:01.324000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Metaprogramming', 'Jscodeshift', 'Tutorial', 'JavaScript'] |
Why HRs are not responding post-interview call | Why do HRs rarely respond post Interview?
You had a fantastic interview for your dream job. Your answers were spot-on, you have had contact with the interviewer and the evaluation has been progressing well but you have not heard back from the hiring manager. As disappointing as it can be, this happens quite often.
There are also legitimate reasons that an employer does not follow you up after an interview.
While several reasons for not getting an answer from the HR are because of the HR reasons. But it is surprising to know that the HR might not give a follow-up message for business reasons as well.
Let’s go through the common reasons why an HR might not respond after an interview:-
1. HRs not qualified to give you proper feedback
Sometimes HRs are not qualified to give you feedback so try not to take it personally. Few companies cannot afford experienced HRs so those hire HR with basic degrees to take interviews so they are not properly eligible to give you feedback on your interview.
2. You were not qualified and still applied
In situations where you don’t match the need of the job role in terms of degree, experience, skillset, etc. and you still applied in a fluke, HRs might not revert you. The main reason can be the ATS system of scanning the resume. In this method, a machine scans your resume and checks if you have the necessary qualifications. If you are qualified, your resume is passed on to HR and if you are not qualified your resume will simply be dumped.
3. You are on hold
There are situations where there are multiple candidates who are qualified for a single position. So sometimes hiring managers take time to decide who to hire and hence they don’t revert.
4. Hired via internal job posting hence all external candidates rejected
Big companies usually try to hire employees internally either through reference or through promotions. They post the job requirement in external platforms as well as internal platforms but if they get a sufficient response from the internal job posting; they tend to reject the external applications.
5. Post no longer needed
Sometimes a post you applied for is removed. The reason can be either they outsourced the work to some other company or someone inside the company took the job responsibility in their job role. There can be more reasons as well.
6. Can be something more
Apart from the above points, there can be more reasons why HR did not follow up after an interview. It can be a personal reason as well as a company reason. Do let us know if you came across a reason why an HR did not follow you up!
We have a dedicated workshop for job seekers to help them get jobs & internships via online mode. | https://medium.com/@rockgrow/why-hrs-are-not-responding-post-interview-call-465712487ee4 | ['Jatin Srivastava'] | 2020-12-15 16:29:47.731000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'HR', 'Internships', 'Interview', 'Off Campus Drive'] |
Here’s the Headline | I enjoy writing. I’m assuming this isn’t a shock to you because otherwise I wouldn’t keep writing this blog. But there are a couple aspects of writing that I don’t particularly enjoy. One of these things? Writing headlines.
I always try to put together something descriptive and catchy. I do my best to release my inner creativity — which is sometimes very hard to find — and come up with the perfect couple words to set the tone for the rest of what I’ve written.
Every now and then, I do string together what seems like the ideal descriptors. But many times, I just have a list of potential titles that won’t work.
Sometimes they’re too long. Sometimes they don’t actually give a good picture of what I’m writing about. Sometimes they’re just funny to me in my head. At least I can usually identify the really bad ones and move on to something slightly better.
There are a couple times this has become a barrier in my life. For example, in school, I didn’t mind doing writing assignments. But coming up with the title after it was finished? That’s where I’d get stuck.
In college, the pressure was heightened. I worked at the university newspaper and had to come up with hundreds of headlines over the years. I would brainstorm with other editors and write down ideas of my own. Still, it could take more than an hour to come up with the best headlines — especially for the front page.
And, of course, now. Blogging. Coming up with some title that will make a few people click (and maybe even read!). But now I’m putting myself through this angst!
There have been several times I’ve written an entire blog and almost not posted it because I couldn’t think of a headline. And after staring at a screen for what seems like forever and looking at the ten or more bad options I’ve come up with, it can get frustrating.
My current method consists of jotting down the first headline ideas that come to mind. Then taking a few minutes to write a few others more thoughtfully. The final product usually ends up being a mixture of a first-instinct option and a thoughtful option.
I think I’m getting better, although sometimes it seems like it just depends on the day. But I continue to do it because like writing and I want to improve. And practice makes perfect! Although I’m not sure that saying really applies here.
While I don’t always end up with the “perfect” headline, I am learning more each time I write one about what works and what doesn’t. And maybe someday, headlines will be my favorite part of writing!
Until that day, feel free to sit back and enjoy whatever weird headline I might come up with next! | https://medium.com/@ithinkthatsright/heres-the-headline-dca0a25b3ef8 | ['I Think That S Right'] | 2019-12-24 00:57:49.554000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Blogging', 'I Think Thats Right', 'Headlines'] |
Abyssinian Cat Personality | Abyssinian Cat Personality
The Abyssinian cat looks similar to the African wildcat. This cat breed can directly trace her roots to Nile Valley.
In 1860, it was brought to Britain by an army officer Lord Robert Napier from Abyssinian (now Ethiopia).
This cat was named Zulu, and it was the first cat breed referred to today as the Abyssinian cat. At the initial stage, these cats were crossed with British Shorthairs, and later with oriental breeds.
Abyssinian Cat
Description
Abyssinian cats have beautiful medium-sized cats with strong flexible bodies and long slender legs. They have round wedge-shaped heads with distinctive small tufts on the tips of ears and large almond-shaped eyes.
They will talk to you in a soft voice. The coat on the Abyssinian is short and has tufts of hair in her ears. The coloring of the Abyssinian is very unique.
The majority of the fur has lines of color on each individual hair with the coat looking darker along the spine line. The most well know color is ‘ruddy’ but there are several others.
Coat Length: Short, Medium
Abyssinian Cat lifespan: 9 to 15 years
Size: Males weighing 7 to 10 pounds and females weighing 6 to 8 pounds
Abyssinian Cat Personality
The Abyssinian cat breed is very intelligent and curious and it enjoys a human company.
Click here to read more... | https://medium.com/@jessicawilson00745/abyssinian-cat-personality-30b7f613b0a7 | ['Jessica Wilson'] | 2020-12-19 06:04:10.616000+00:00 | ['Cat Breeds', 'Abyssinian', 'Abyssinian Cat', 'Cats', 'Cats N Things'] |
What’s The Backstory On The Word, HODL? | One of my acquaintances recently informed me that I misspelled the word, hodl, in my Shitcoin article.
I had to politely inform him that the word, hodl, was indeed spelled correctly. I also had to inform him about crypto jargon in the process. Naturally, he felt a bit embarrassed, but it got me wondering about the genesis of the word, hodl. As with much of Bitcoin history, it’s a fascinating story.
For anyone unfamiliar with cryptocurrency trading, the term, hodling, means to hold onto your cryptocurrency coins, even if the market is crashing down.
Anyone who has bought and sold Bitcoin or shitcoins knows the feeling of hodling. While your coin is crashing, you must have faith that the particular coin you hold will go up in value at some time in the future. Therefore, you must exercise patience, devotion, and let’s face it, blind faith. You must HODL at all costs.
Right now I’m hodling Bitcoin, Dash, Steem, Ether, Decred and Ripple. But I’m different from most traders because I earn all my cryptocurrency. I’ve been earning nothing but cryptocurrency since June of 2016, when I found Steemit. I’m not sure how many people are like me as far as living off crypto, but I think I’m in a very small minority. I trade but not every day. It can be extremely addictive and I absolutely love the volatility and energy of these wild west markets.
The term, hodl, emerged out of Bitcoin, but it applies to any cryptocurrency coin out there. Last time I checked, there were 711 different cypto coins listed on Coinmarketcap.
Back to the genesis…..
The guy who first used the word, hodl, realized he had spelled ‘hold’ incorrectly, but he seemed so upset and/or drunk that he intentionally left in the mistake.
He also admitted that he was a bad day trader, so part of the reason the word, hodl, is so funny is because it describes the situation of a lot of noob crypto traders (most of us): we have no idea what we’re doing most of the time in crypto-land. And we end up losing money, or gaining big-time.
But the inventor of the word hodl makes the case that he is not part of the fast-in-fast-out day trading mentality of just buying and selling whatever coin in order to make a quick buck. He makes it clear that he’s in the game long-term, but he seems a bit sore that other day traders know how to make big gains. He also sounds sick of being teased about holding onto his Bitcoin. It’s almost like he’s defending his decision not to day trade. Bitcoin culture is full of dweebs making fun of noobs and people who invest long-term or make bad trading decisions and that is evident from his post.
A quick trip to Reddit reveals the very first time the word, HODL, was used in the English language. The year was 2013.
The emergence of hodl comes from the mouth of a self-described whiskey drunk Bitcoin enthusiast who admits, “I KNOW I AM A BAD TRADER.”
GameKyuubi, the inventor of the word, hodl, is kind of hot, actually:
GameKyuubi from Bitcointalk.org
I AM HODLING December 18, 2013, 10:03:03 AM I typed that tyitle twice because I knew it was wrong the first time. Still wrong. w/e. GF’s out at a lesbian bar, BTC crashing WHY AM I HOLDING? I’LL TELL YOU WHY. It’s because I’m a bad trader and I KNOW I’M A BAD TRADER. Yeah you good traders can spot the highs and the lows pit pat piffy wing wong wang just like that and make a millino bucks sure no problem bro. Likewise the weak hands are like OH NO IT’S GOING DOWN I’M GONNA SELL he he he and then they’re like OH GOD MY ASSHOLE when the SMART traders who KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY’RE DOING buy back in but you know what? I’m not part of that group. When the traders buy back in I’m already part of the market capital so GUESS WHO YOU’RE CHEATING day traders NOT ME~! Those taunt threads saying “OHH YOU SHOULD HAVE SOLD” YEAH NO SHIT. NO SHIT I SHOULD HAVE SOLD. I SHOULD HAVE SOLD MOMENTS BEFORE EVERY SELL AND BOUGHT MOMENTS BEFORE EVERY BUY BUT YOU KNOW WHAT NOT EVERYBODY IS AS COOL AS YOU. You only sell in a bear market if you are a good day trader or an illusioned noob. The people inbetween hold. In a zero-sum game such as this, traders can only take your money if you sell. so i’ve had some whiskey
actually on the bottle it’s spelled whisky
w/e
sue me
(but only if it’s payable in BTC)
-bitcointalk.org
Now you know what hodl means. Maybe it’s time for you to buy some coins and Hold Onto them for Dear Life. Only time will tell which ones are shitcoins. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/whats-the-backstory-on-the-word-hodl-27756392b698 | [] | 2019-02-04 21:20:03.086000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Hodl', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
Japan 2020 Viral Word "Sanmitsu" Can Protect You from Covid-19 | Japan 2020 Viral Word "Sanmitsu" Can Protect You from Covid-19
Photo by H Shaw on Unsplash
Sanmitsu is known in English as "the three Cs," which stands for Crowded places, Close-contact settings, and Confined spaces. Tokyo Governor first introduced the term "Sanmitsu" to urge residents to prevent the transmission of Covid-19.
The term has been so frequently reminded that it has become part of the public daily lingo. People would say "Mitsu desu" or "It's Mitsu," and everyone understands the situation.
This approach was adopted early on in the pandemic and has so far kept fatalities levels far below those of Europe and the US without mandating a lockdown of the society and the economy. | https://medium.com/the-happy-human/japan-2020-viral-word-sanmitsu-can-protect-you-from-covid-19-8fc17e8aa5ed | ['Eva V.'] | 2021-01-05 07:59:55.018000+00:00 | ['Buzzwords', 'Coronavirus', 'Stay At Home', 'Safety', 'Japan'] |
Au Revoir, America. Bon Jour, Canada! | It was the summer of 2008 when my wife and I landed in the United States with 4 suitcases. 12 years since, with US work experience and a US Master’s degree, we have given up on the American dream and have moved to Canada for good. My application for Canadian permanent residency took less than a year to be processed, whereas I still am yet to see any progress on my United States immigrant/permanent residency petition that was approved back in 2013. At the current rate, with the current system in place, I would never become a permanent resident of the US. And, spend decades on visa extensions and uncertainty. In a sharp contrast, as a Canadian permanent resident, I no longer need to worry about visa paperwork. It feels liberating, and I can focus on the good I can do to help the country we now call our home.
In the 21st century, the United States is the only developed country that still treats applications based on where the applicant was born, not based on the skills/possibilities an applicant brings, and applies a country-based quota system. Forget attracting the best-brightest from all over the world, the United States is failing to retain the best-brightest that have already made the country their home and contributing to their economy and society in several ways. While immigrants like me are stuck in uncertainty and visa hassles, our well-qualified spouses find it challenging to keep their work permits, and children fear self-deportation and aging out.
I spent the last several years knocking on the doors of the Congress asking for a very simple thing to be fixed in the United States immigration system. From asking questions at local town halls, writing letters to the representative and senators, to meeting with staffers in Washington D.C, I did it all. I kept stating that countries like Canada or Australia would welcome highly-skilled individuals like me. I grew frustrated by the wait, the inaction, and the ever growing ill treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration. So, I decided to act on it and applied for Canadian permanent residency. It was not as easy as one may think it to be. There were barriers to enter the system, lot of coordination and work involved to ensure all paperwork was in order, and then finally within a year’s time we received our confirmation of permanent residence!
I am not a pioneer in this journey up north. Several immigrant families have made this journey, and have embraced their new homes in the true north!
While the Trump administration does deserve most of the credit on the exodus of hard-working highly-skilled immigrants and their families, and the subsequent loss in revenues and investments, the elected representatives and senators are also complicit in their inaction or lack of courage in pushing forward with a bipartisan legislation. It is with no doubt that the topic of immigration sparks polarizing views. But, while families are being separated, futures and opportunities for more American jobs is being lost, surely the elected “leaders” must have the foresight to change the laws to meet the future needs of the country. Surely, they must have the courage to work with the opposite side in good faith. They are the “leaders” after all. Surely, they can usher in a modern immigration system that does not treat people by their color of skin or nationality and also help build a sustainable economy that also creates millions of jobs for American citizens.
America is a nation of immigrants! It has always been and always will. Whether an agency, government, or political party tries to cover that up or tries erasing that history, everyone needs to understand that you are either an immigrant or descendants of immigrants. People who went through hardships and hard work to reach the American shores, worked to build their name and skills, and the contributed in several ways to this fabric named the United States of America. At the basic level, we are all human beings (not aliens) built by the creator to pursue quests for happiness and fulfillment. And, an attack on immigrants is a tear, a rip in the very fabric and values that builds the country.
Photo by James Wheeler from Pexels
I am grateful to Canada for welcoming immigrants like me with open arms and granting us permanent residency. Last few months of the move have been a rollercoaster. It has not been easy uprooting ourselves from our places of work, place we called home, say goodbyes to our friends, and move to a new country and start from scratch. Having said that, getting this opportunity to become a Canadian permanent resident is something I am not taking lightly. My family and I forever will remember this. I may not be a genius scientist, inventor, or an entrepreneur (yet). But I am an honest, hard-working, skilled immigrant. My family and I will surely be paying it forward and looking for opportunities where we can be of value and help to our new home — Canada.
Au revoir, America. Bon jour and merci, Canada! | https://medium.com/@an3h/au-revoir-america-bon-jour-canada-1d730d4d2fe0 | ['Ani Rao'] | 2020-11-07 14:20:36.694000+00:00 | ['United States', 'Canada', 'Discrimination', 'Immigration', 'High Skilled Immigration'] |
Holidays of 2020 | Holidays of 2020
This year has been one heck of a year. Who would have guessed that it would have been the way it’s been on Years Eve last year. But this year has been hard for all of us. Some harder then others. With passing of family members, not being able to get home due to restrictions, and etc.
This year, Like a lot of people, I didn’t get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family the traditional way due to COVID. Thanksgiving didn’t bother me to horribly this year. It isn’t the first year that I wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving. When I lived on my own and lived almost two hours away it got to be where I decided that if I had to choose a holiday to come home for because it got to where I could not afford to make trips home for both holiday’s, then I would go with Christmas.
But, Traditionally every year my moms side of the family gets together on Christmas Eve to swap presents, but due to COVID and four family members having high risk health issues my grandmother who hosts Christmas Eve canceled the event. Never once has this happened the whole 32 years I’ve been alive. So needless to say, Christmas Eve was very weird for me and I felt very out of place. But, I know that I was not alone this year.
I believe that this year is and was a great time to invent your own new traditions. My husband and I did just that. My church has two days worth of Christmas Eve celebration. So, my husband, mother-n-law and I went to the December 23rd 5:o0 o’clock service, went to see Christmas lights, and then went to get Chinese food. My husbands favorite Christmas movie is “A Christmas Story” and wanted Chinese for Christmas like they have for Christmas Day in the movie. On Christmas Eve, we went shopping for two last minute gifts and a couple stocking stuffers and then went to eat Mexican food (My favorite) where we ran into our neighbor and his family. My husband and I also love the Madagascar movies, so watching Madagascar Christmas is and was a much watch for us.
So, Christmas Day was even weirder after not having spent any time with my family the prior night. We spent the day with my husbands family but not all day. Only the afternoon. We ate lunch, played the white elephant game, then scattergories, followed by trivia. His family is a major game playing family. Which is something that I truly love. But we did drop presents off at family members houses (doorsteps).
But, I have to say that this year has been an eye opener for me. Like many who have lost loved ones in prior years and realize that they have taken things for granted and cling to the memories. I on the other hand have always been the one who realizes that I’ve been taking things for granted, keep ahold of that for a couple years or so and then go right back to taking things for granted. So, this year has been another eye opener that I hope that will stick with me for a long time. If not forever. The mere fact that I was not able to spend it with my grandmother was hard, but the fact that I was able to escape any possible drama stress that usually may follow in family get togethers this year was nice.
I like many are hoping that next year (2021) that things will start to become more normal. That the COVID with loosen its grips and people with be able to be with family more. So, to those who normally struggle with the holidays with depression, not getting to see your family or are experiencing that this year and feel alone, know that you are not alone. So many of us are going through that this year. Look at how many countries are even placing harsher lock downs to prevent the newest COVID strand from spreading.
I pray and hope that everyone remembers that we are all in this together and were able to celebrate in their own way. Making new traditions. I hope that you were able Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, Facebook video chat, or any other video chat with loved ones. Or even make a phone call with loved ones. So, please keep your chin up.
I Wish Everyone A Merry Christmas. | https://medium.com/@Happiness88/holidays-of-2020-e2c32f0c6552 | ['Hiking_Farmers _Wife'] | 2020-12-27 02:58:51.497000+00:00 | ['Family', 'Christmas', 'Covid-19', 'New Traditions'] |
In our opinion: It’s the season to help others | In our opinion: It’s the season to help others
The holiday season has arrived. And that means that many good-hearted people and organizations will be gathering food, clothing, toys, money and other items for those less fortunate.
At The Sun, we want to help make your event as successful as possible. But to do that, we need your help.
Many retailers count on “Black Friday” to help put their business “in the black” for the year. If holiday sales are strong, they have a good overall year. If sales are soft, they struggle to get by.
The same theory can hold true for nonprofits and other groups that depend on the public’s generosity during the holiday season to see them through the rest of the year. People, naturally, are more giving during this time of the year. So, in the coming weeks, you’ll see bell-ringers, donation drives and a lot of other efforts to help those in need.
We salute everyone who holds a drive to help those in need. But we also want to help make those efforts as grand and successful as possible.
To do that, we need to know about your event well in advance (at least two weeks is best). We need to know what types of items you are trying to collect, who will benefit from the drive, and, most importantly, how people can get involved to help you.
Email is the best way to send us this information, and you’ll find our news email address throughout this paper.
Then, after we get your information, we’ll take it from there. We’ll get it into the paper and let everyone in town know what it is you are trying to accomplish and how they can be a part of it.
Many families are still struggling with the economy. There always are people in need.
Let us help you to help them. Send us your event information and let’s make this a big donation year. | https://medium.com/the-haddonfield-sun/in-our-opinion-its-the-season-to-help-others-c0d7b0cf6e24 | [] | 2017-01-10 15:21:38.130000+00:00 | ['Headlines', 'Families', 'Clothing', 'Food', 'Generosity'] |
Communication Patterns In Angular | Component basics
I want to go over the basics of components, before diving into the communications between them. If you are already familiar with these concepts you can jump to the next section.
Angular follows component design pattern, which means that in Angular everything is a component. Your entire application is divided into modules and each module can be divided into small, reusable components. If you look at the diagram below, we have defined three modules and each module has a number of components. This module system helps load the app faster as only the necessary modules are loaded in the browser.
Usually we have components inside components to form the larger component, called composition. In the following diagram we have header, footer and dashboard components inside the app component which forms the app module.
composition of components
Module
Every component should be declared in the module by importing and place that in the declarations array of the module, as shown below:
app.module.ts
Component
Every component has three important files: class file app.component.ts for the logic, html file app.component.html for the presentation, and CSS file app.component.css for the styles.
app.component.ts
Notice the selector in the above file. This value, app-root , is used to place the component in the DOM like this:
index.html
Interpolation
Interpolation is the way to inject some value into HTML. We are injecting title from the component class to the HTML.
<h1>
Welcome to {{ title }}!
</h1>
Property Binding
Property Binding is used to send the information from the component class to view with the square brackets [] . In the example below example, we are passing title property to the header component.
<app-header [title]="title"></app-header>
Event Binding
Event Binding is used to send the information from the view class to component class with the normal brackets (). In the example below we are passing an event from the header component. | https://medium.com/bb-tutorials-and-thoughts/communication-patterns-in-angular-9b0a829aa916 | ['Bhargav Bachina'] | 2019-06-12 18:35:50.029000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'JavaScript', 'Software Development', 'Angular', 'Web Development'] |
Lessons from Five Years of Ordained Ministry | Photo Credit: Shachmut Photography, my ordination at Old South Church in Boston, MA
Today marks my fifth anniversary of ordination to ministry. I have been called to ministry for over half of my life. I can hardly remember a life in which this thing that has pulled me, and shaped my heart for so long did not have a grip on me. While I have served the church for much longer than five years, I have been reflecting on what these five years of ordination in particular have meant to me. They have been harder, more humbling, more beautiful, more tender, more holy, and more painful than I ever could have imagined. They have been everything and nothing like I thought they would be all at once. In it all though, I can’t imagine doing anything else.
In that spirit, here’s a little bit of what five years of Rev. in front of my name has taught me. Some of these will feel specific to ministry, but some of them are not. May they speak to you if you need them, wherever you are.
My spouse taught me a while ago that the words “integration” and “integrity” come from the same latin root meaning whole. It is perhaps the deepest work of our life to know who we are, and whose we are (and not to forget it). Unabashedly seek your own wholeness, and help others find theirs. Years ago, my friend Janessa, said to me: your call to ministry belongs to you, and to God. No one, anywhere, no matter how powerful, can take that away, tell you what it is, or tell you what it is not. May you know it deeply. You cannot be all things to all people. It is a mirage. Don’t chase it. It is your job to help people grow closer to God and to bring about the kingdom. It is not your job to make people happy. Write that one on a post-it note for easy reference. People will love you and people will hate you, and it will have nothing (literally nothing) to do with you. Serving God and God’s people is not always the same thing as serving the Church. In fact, more often than not, this is true. When in doubt? Come back to the texts written on your heart, the wisdom of your mentors, and those who anchor you. You’ll know what to do. Not every colleague in ministry* is helpful or healthy relationship for you. Read that again. There is sometimes an unfair expectation that all of us are to be in equal relationship with each other. We have a responsibility to be kind, collegial, and to practice compassion. But not every colleague will be “your people,” and it’s okay (healthy even) to set those boundaries. Other folks will also set those boundaries with you. Embrace it, and practice gratitude. *This also applies to non-ministry work. You are worthy of this call (don’t @ me). Yes, I mean you. When in doubt? Show up. You don’t need the perfect thing to say, the perfect prayer memorized, or a handbook. Just show up, and be willing to walk with someone. That will carry you far in life, ministry, and relationship. I hope that you will remember that all of us, every one, are wholeness and brokenness side by side in the same body. That person you love deeply who has done so much good, cared for so many people, and loved you through the hardest hour of your life? Real. That same person who also caused very real harm, fell short of your hopes, and has never fully done the work of repair? Also real. That is an extraordinarily complicated, human reality and a nuance we are often not good at holding. Your truth and someone else’s truth about the same person can both be real. And, the responsibility is first to the person who has been harmed. Who other people say you are isn’t actually who you are. Ministry (like many things) is a deeply public job. People will have a lot to say about who they think you are. Your job? Get quiet, get with the people in your inner circles, get with God, and listen well for your deepest truths. Know who you are, and whose you are, and don’t let others define that for you (see how we came full circle there?)
Here’s to five years of ordained ministry. If I’ve served alongside you, or you’ve invited me to walk with you, thank you. I am especially grateful for the times others have challenged or provoked me in the name of the Gospel. For the times I have misstepped, or not lived fully into my ordination promises, forgive me. For the work that is yet to come, please pray for me as I pray for you. Whatever the call is on your life, I am sure that the world is best served by following the thing that lights your heart on fire. | https://revfemme.medium.com/lessons-from-five-years-of-ordained-ministry-424bebc35b7b | ['Heidi Carrington Heath'] | 2020-12-06 20:14:47.864000+00:00 | ['Ministry', 'Faith', 'LGBTQ', 'Faith and Life', 'Clergy'] |
Train Your Assistant 10x Faster | Most companies have a record of every end-customer inquiry within their service desk tool(s), yet when they train an assistant (aka chatbot) to automate answers to certain questions, they’re often just guessing at what customer issues to handle. This is super painful and draws out the time it takes to get a compelling assistant in front of customers.
And that’s exactly why we’re launching Intent Recommendations! This feature lets you get up and running with new topics (aka intents) in your assistant really quickly — all based on the raw logs from your existing customer service operation. Watson combs through all of your users’ messages, groups them according to topic, and then prioritizes the highest impact clusters (so that you know where to start building).
In addition faster training time, Intent Recommendations will also help you create a much more effective assistant in the long run. This is because real-world requests lead to a much more accurate system than do employee manufactured training sentences or sample training data.
Here’s How it Works…
Step 1: Import a File
Gather your customer requests into a CSV and then import the CSV into Watson Assistant.
Note: The CSV should only contain requests from the customer (no agent responses) and each request should be in its own cell in a single column. Once your CSV is ready, find the “Get Recommendations” button on the Watson Assistant intents page and import the CSV from your device.
Step 2: Add Recommended Intents
After Watson is done grouping the customer requests, it will display the four most recommended topics on the intents page. You can view all recommended topics ranked by most recommended by clicking “view all recommendations”.
Choose a topic and review the requests inside of it before adding it to your assistant’s training. You can remove requests you don’t think are a good fit, and when you’re happy with all the requests inside of a topic, you can add them as a new intent or add them to an existing intent.
Step 3 Add Recommended User Example
After you’ve added a topic, you can continue training your assistant on that topic with Watson’s help. Simply click “Show recommendations” within the intent page and Watson will continue recommending similar requests to add to the intent — this helps to further strengthen how well your assistant can cover this specific topic. The more examples, the better!
Getting Started
Intent Recommendations are available now on Watson Assistant’s Plus and Premium plans! To get started on plus or premium, visit the Watson Assistant pricing page. To learn more about how Watson Assistant’s Intent Recommendations work, see our product documentation. | https://medium.com/ibm-watson/let-watson-train-your-virtual-assistant-57bd53b12bc3 | ['Adam Benvie'] | 2019-03-21 14:31:34.561000+00:00 | ['Watson Assistant', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Chatbots', 'Ibm Watson', 'Wa Announcement'] |
A Love That’s True | I was who I was
You were who you were
We did the best we could
With what we both had
Like two kids playing house
Like cats fighting over a mouse
We were both too damn proud
The whole thing was strange & sad
I tried to tell you
But you wouldn’t listen
You did your own thing
And I eventually did mine
On the better days we got along
But there were those nights
When everything went wrong
Yet we acted like we were fine
As long as I had my bottles of beer
And you had your glasses of wine
We had what we had
Stuff we both would collect
From all those expensive trips
In the States and overseas
I got mugs and German steins
You’d dress up to the nines
We both got what we’d want
Now I have such painful memories
I tried to tell you
But you wouldn’t listen
You did your own thing
And I eventually did mine
On the better days we got along
But there were those nights
When everything went wrong
Yet we acted like we were fine
As long as I had my bottles of beer
And you had your glasses of wine
Oh but I got sick of you
Always going away every week
So I’d head down to the creek
And fished for trout with flies
It was somethin’ to do
Somethin’ to occupy my time
I wasn’t committing a crime
Then I began huntin’ with the guys
You didn’t like my rifles
You didn’t like what I’d bring back
All those camouflage clothes
Ducks, quail & doves in a gunnysack
You threatened to move out
You said I had completely changed
You were right, I’d go to the range
Spendin’ time I’d never get back
I tried to tell you
But you wouldn’t listen
You did your own thing
I decided to do mine, too
The better days we spent apart
Then there were countless nights
When I had a darkened heart
I’m not sure you cared or knew
So I packed up my belongings
Now I’m searchin’ for a love that’s true
Now I’m searchin’ for a love that’s true
October 3, 2020 | https://medium.com/@mkgraylyricist/a-love-thats-true-613e8d672113 | ['Matt Gray'] | 2020-10-03 12:10:53.234000+00:00 | ['Drifting Partnerships', 'Lyrics', 'Toxic Living', 'Country Songs', 'Unhealthy Relationships'] |
Reasons Why you Should Drink Water | Water is life! Do I hear you ask how? As a human, water contains a significant percentage of your body system. Water makes up 70% of the body. Your body’s organs need to function effectively; water is the fuel they need to function without breaking down. Water is the primary fluid that is present in our body. This is a fundamental reason why you should not drink any water that comes your way. It is best if you are mindful of what you consume as water. Water that should be taken into our system should be good and clean water, water in its ionized form.
Factors about water that you probably don’t know
“ The fluids you take into your body don’t help the body system function effectively as water does. Water transports other substances like minerals, vitamins and other bodily nutrients you can probably think of.
“ For your body to function effectively, you need to drink 8–10 glasses of water daily.
“ The moment adequate water is lacking from your system, there will also be energy loss, and you tend to attend to work lazily.
“ Do you need your body to glow like never before? Then, take adequate water. Water is a natural skin moisturizer.
“ I am quite sure you don’t want your metabolic system to fail or slow down in performing its action so drink enough water.
“ When you don’t give your body enough water, you tend to lose concentration at work. Staying focused will be highly challenging for you.
“ Are you struggling with weight loss? The solution is simple; drink enough water as possible.
The Amazing Kangen Water
The role of water in our body is already established. We have also found out how water is vital to our body function and productivity. For the body to function at its maximum capability, it is no longer enough to give the body water. The question now is, are you giving your body the right water? The water you are giving your body, is it healthy? Let me tell you a lifetime secret; tap water, bottled water, water found in the City water system and spring water contains chemicals that, on a standard note, you shouldn’t be consuming. They contain chlorine, pesticides and also fluorine. Are you surprised? Don’t be! It is not too late to put a stop to drinking unhealthy water. It would be best if you hold your health in high esteem. It should be your priority. It is only a healthy person that can go to work, and I hope you know that already.
The Kangen Water is the water that is present in it’s alkaline or ionized form. This is the best water for every individual to consume. Kangen water perfects everything that concerns your health and that of your family. The best recommendation you can ever get is to drink 8–10 glasses of this fantastic water daily. I am enjoying this water. I wake up feeling so good about myself, knowing fully that my body is working effectively. It would be best if you also considered doing the same, it would be best for you. This water is clean, pure and filled with life-enhancing minerals. My secret to optimal hydration and anti-ageing is Kangen water. How can I forget to mention it’s high hydration rate and enriched mineral taste. What could be more important than the health of you and your family??? I call this water the secret to long life.
Are you wondering about how to get your Kangen water? Worry no more!
This water system has been designed in such a way that it can be installed in every home and office. Even if you have your tap water, it’s not a problem. The system will help convert it into ionized absorbable alkaline water. Take responsibility for your health; spend less on medication. Be wise about your body.
© Healthy Life Side | https://medium.com/@antoanetatsochevatsocheva/reasons-why-you-should-drink-water-cf03081bd5ce | ['Lifestyle Tips Antoaneta'] | 2021-02-13 00:52:30.259000+00:00 | ['Kangen Water', 'Water'] |
NFT Marketplace like OpenSea And its importance | OpenSea Marketplace is one of the best marketplaces which can be used for trading all types of NFTs and is easy to use for both sellers and buyers. It has been launched in 2018 for auctioning digital assets.
Importance of NFT Marketplace:-
As technology is evolving day by day, the need for NFT Platforms is increasing rapidly. NFT Marketplace helps sellers to auction their NFTs and buyers can find suitable NFTs according to their needs. Any type of NFT whether it is a video clip, audio clips, or trading cards, etc. can be traded on this platform. There are many services provided under NFT Marketplace like OpenSea like Auctions, Listings, Digital Wallet, Ratings, etc.
If you want to develop your own NFT Marketplace like OpenSea, you can get it at an affordable price at one of the best software development services, Zeligz web store. Their modern design and unique development process with high-grade blockchain security technology may help you gain the desired results according to your requirements. Contact Zeligs technologies and get an outstanding NFT Marketplace like OpenSea to accomplish your business goals. | https://medium.com/@rurkeshcosta/nft-marketplace-like-opensea-and-its-importance-bc843b731bfd | ['Rurkesh Costa'] | 2021-12-30 07:23:32.938000+00:00 | ['Nft Trading', 'Opensea Nft Marketplace', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Nft', 'Opensea'] |
Pricing of European Options with Monte Carlo | Pricing of European Options with Monte Carlo
Advanced Monte Carlo Variance Reduction Techniques for Pricing of the European Options
Image on Unsplash
We will show how we can price the European Options with Monte Carlo simulation using R. Recall that the European options are a version of an options contract that limits execution to its expiration date. We will focus on the call and put options only. We assume that the reader is familiar with European Options and the Black Scholes formula.
Black-Scholes Formula
We can calculate the price of the European put and call options explicitly using the Black-Scholes formula.
Call Option
The value of a call option for a non-dividend-paying underlying stock in terms of the Black-Scholes parameters is:
Put Option
The price of a corresponding put option based on put-call parity is:
Where in both cases the notion is the following:
Pricing of European Options with Black-Scholes formula
We can easily get the price of the European Options in R by applying the Black-Scholes formula.
Scenario. Let’s assume that we want to calculate the price of the call and put option with:
K: Strike price is equal to 100
r: The risk-free annual rate is 2%
sigma: The volatility σ is 20%
T: time to maturity in years is 0.5
S0: The current price is equal to 102
K = 100
r = 0.02
sigma = 0.2
T = 0.5
S0 = 102 # call option d1 <- (log(S0/K) + (r + sigma^2/2) * T)/(sigma * sqrt(T))
d2 <- d1 - sigma * sqrt(T)
phid1 <- pnorm(d1)
call_price <- S0 * phid1 - K * exp(-r * T) * pnorm(d2) # put option
d1 <- (log(S0/K) + (r + sigma^2/2) * T)/(sigma * sqrt(T))
d2 <- d1 - sigma * sqrt(T)
phimd1 <- pnorm(-d1)
put_price <- -S0 * phimd1 + K * exp(-r * T) * pnorm(-d2) c(call_price, put_price)
Output:
[1] 7.288151 4.293135
So the price of the call and put option is 7.288151 and 4.293135 respectively.
Pricing of European Options with Monte Carlo Simulation
Given the current asset price at time 0 is \(S_0\), then the asset price at time T can be expressed as:
Simple Monte Carlo
Let’s apply a simple Monte Carlo Simulation with 1M runs, where we will get the price and the standard error of the call and put option. As parameters, we will use the same as the example above.
# call put option monte carlo
call_put_mc<-function(nSim=1000000, tau, r, sigma, S0, K) {
Z <- rnorm(nSim, mean=0, sd=1)
WT <- sqrt(tau) * Z
ST = S0*exp((r - 0.5*sigma^2)*tau + sigma*WT)
# price and standard error of call option
simulated_call_payoffs <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(ST-K,0)
price_call <- mean(simulated_call_payoffs)
sterr_call <- sd(simulated_call_payoffs)/sqrt(nSim) # price and standard error of put option
simulated_put_payoffs <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(K-ST,0)
price_put <- mean(simulated_put_payoffs)
sterr_put <- sd(simulated_put_payoffs)/sqrt(nSim) output<-list(price_call=price_call, sterr_call=sterr_call,
price_put=price_put, sterr_put=sterr_put)
return(output)
} set.seed(1)
results<-call_put_mc(n=1000000, tau=0.5, r=0.02, sigma=0.2, S0=102, K=100) results
And we get:
$price_call
[1] 7.290738
$sterr_call
[1] 0.01013476
$price_put
[1] 4.294683
$sterr_put
[1] 0.006700902
As we can see, the estimated prices from the Monte Carlo Simulation are very close to those obtained from the Black-Scholes formula ( 7.290738 vs 7.288151 and 4.294683 vs 4.293135)
Antithetic Variates Method
The method of antithetic variates attempts to reduce variance by introducing negative dependence between pairs of replications. In a simulation-driven by independent standard normal random variables, antithetic variates can be implemented by pairing a sequence Zl, Z2, .. . of standard normal variables with the sequence -Zl, -Z2, . ..of standard normal variables. If the Zi are used to simulate the increments of a Brownian path, then the — Zi simulate the increments of the reflection of the path about the origin. This again suggests that running a pair of simulations using the original path and then its reflection may result in lower variance. Note that the antithetic variates estimator is simply the average of all 2n observations. Let’s apply the “Antithetic Variates Method” and compare the results with the simple Monte Carlo.
Note that the pair for the call will be the:
and the estimated price will be the average of the pair for every simulation step.
antithetic_call_put_mc<-function(nSim, tau, r, sigma, S0, K) {
Z <- rnorm(nSim, mean=0, sd=1)
WT <- sqrt(tau) * Z
# ST1 and ST2 and the antithetic variates
ST1 = (S0*exp((r - 0.5*sigma^2)*tau + sigma*WT))
ST2 = (S0*exp((r - 0.5*sigma^2)*tau + sigma*(-WT)))
# call option price and standard error
simulated_call_payoffs1 <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(ST1-K,0)
simulated_call_payoffs2 <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(ST2-K,0)
# get the average
simulated_call_payoffs <- ( simulated_call_payoffs1 + simulated_call_payoffs2)/2
price_call <- mean(simulated_call_payoffs)
sterr_call <- sd(simulated_call_payoffs)/sqrt(nSim) # put option price and standard error
simulated_put_payoffs1 <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(K-ST1,0)
simulated_put_payoffs2 <- exp(-r*tau)*pmax(K-ST2,0)
# get the average
simulated_put_payoffs <- (simulated_put_payoffs1+simulated_put_payoffs2)/2
price_put <- mean(simulated_put_payoffs)
sterr_put <- sd(simulated_put_payoffs)/sqrt(nSim)
output<-list(price_call=price_call, sterr_call=sterr_call,
price_put=price_put, sterr_put=sterr_put )
return(output)
} set.seed(1)
results<-antithetic_call_put_mc(n=1000000, tau=0.5, r=0.02, sigma=0.2, S0=102, K=100) results
And we get:
$price_call
[1] 7.290193 $sterr_call
[1] 0.004993403 $price_put
[1] 4.294812 $sterr_put
[1] 0.003636479
We see that the estimated prices are again very close but the standard error is much much lower with the antithetic variates method compared to the simple Monte Carlo ( 0.004993403 vs 0.01013476 and 0.003636479 vs 0.006700902). Someone can argue that this variance reduction is due to the fact that by generating 1M pairs was like generating 2M simulations. We have to mention that computationally was not expensive to get the pairs because again we generated from the standard normal and the pair was consisting of the original value and of the original value with a different sign. However, we can run the simulation again half times, just for comparison.
set.seed(1)
results<-antithetic_call_put_mc(n=1000000/2, tau=0.5, r=0.02, sigma=0.2, S0=102, K=100)
results
Output:
$price_call
[1] 7.28989
$sterr_call
[1] 0.007057805
$price_put
[1] 4.294863
$sterr_put
[1] 0.005140888
As we can see, even if we run the half simulations, the standard error is lower than that of the simple Monte Carlo.
Importance Sampling Method
This is the idea of the importance sampling, is to try to give more weight to the “important” so that to increase sampling efficiency and as a result to reduce the standard error of the simulation. We will change the measure by considering the identical function I[ST>K] for the call options and I[ST<K] for the put option.
importance_call_put_mc<-function(nSim, tau, r, sigma, S0, K) {
Z <- rnorm(nSim, mean=0, sd=1)
WT <- sqrt(tau) * Z
ST = S0*exp((r - 0.5*sigma^2)*tau + sigma*WT)
# call option price and standard error
simulated_call_payoffs <- (exp(-r*tau)*pmax(ST-K,0))[ST>K]
price_call <- mean(simulated_call_payoffs*mean(ST>K))
sterr_call <- sd(simulated_call_payoffs*mean(ST>K))/sqrt(nSim) # put option price and standard error
simulated_put_payoffs <- (exp(-r*tau)*pmax(K-ST,0))[ST<K]
price_put <- mean(simulated_put_payoffs*mean(ST<K))
sterr_put <- sd(simulated_put_payoffs*mean(ST<K))/sqrt(nSim) output<-list(price_call=price_call, sterr_call=sterr_call,
price_put=price_put, sterr_put=sterr_put )
return(output)
} set.seed(1) results<-importance_call_put_mc(n=1000000, tau=0.5, r=0.02, sigma=0.2, S0=102, K=100) results
And we get:
$price_call
[1] 7.290738
$sterr_call
[1] 0.005785042
$price_put
[1] 4.294683
$sterr_put
[1] 0.003114197
Again, we see that by applying the importance sampling technique, we got a very close estimation of the price and much lower standard error compared to the simple Monte Carlo Method.
Discussion
We showed how we can calculate the price of the European options explicitly by applying the Black-Scholes formula and we showed how we can estimate the prices by applying Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, we provided examples of advanced Monte Carlo techniques such as the antithetic variates and the importance sampling which have as a result a more effective simulation with lower standard error. | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/pricing-of-european-options-with-monte-carlo-daf2a728fc60 | ['George Pipis'] | 2020-12-28 15:21:00.457000+00:00 | ['European Option', 'Monte Carlo', 'Black Scholes', 'Pricing'] |
What is Radical Eco-Activism? | What is Radical Eco-Activism?
By Svettlana Chatterjee
Radical environmentalists are people who are willing to use direct-action tactics to obstruct and prevent state-sanctioned activities that they perceive as environmentally harmful. ‘Radical’ refers to the extreme nature of the activists’ protests, compared with conventional political campaigning, rather than the political goals or ideologies that are adopted, although some organisations or networks may also be radical in this sense.
Direct action refers to a repertoire of campaigning strategies that are usually employed when conventional political pathways to prevent environmental goals have been exhausted. Strategies range from conventional forms of civil disobedience such as sit-ins and human barricades to forms of what is generally described by the activists as non-violent acts such as sabotaging or destroying property. A key tactic that characterises contemporary radical direct actions is the use of media-friendly incidents that manufacture activist vulnerability. This involves creating situations where activist safety is placed in the hands of the antagonist or law enforcement agency. Examples include sitting in tripods across logging roads, tree-sits, tunnels, ‘locking on’ to machinery, or placing anti-whaling protesters in small boats in the path of whaling ships.
Group of activists supporting eco-activist Greta Thunberg.
Until recently, radical environmentalism had been a victim of its own success. Green ideas went mainstream years ago. Most major political parties in Western democracies (Donald Trump and the Republican Party notwithstanding) now accept the facts of climate change and have promised to respond. Environmentalism has also become part of the broader anti-capitalist movement, which is mostly characterized by a commitment to nonviolence and bottom-up change. As a result, climate activism that crosses from peaceful protests, like marching in the streets, to civil disobedience shutting down mines or monkey-wrenching machinery remains stubbornly small. There are no exact figures, but people on the inside have said that in the U.K. at least, it’s just a few hundred hardcore activists and a few thousand in the United States.
Radical environmental activism is a distinct form of environmental politics that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Australia and other countries with large wilderness areas, such as the United States and Canada, it is historically grounded in the perceived failure of mainstream environmentalism to preserve wilderness and the emergence of eco-philosophies. In the United Kingdom and Europe radical environmentalism has a less biocentric perspective and is guided by earlier protest movements that preceded it, such as anti-nuclear disarmament.
It is helpful to think of radical environmental activist organisations and networks such as Earth First! The Earth Liberation Front and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as being at one end of a continuum of activist tactics; at the other end are conservative environmental organisations that eschew direct action and use conventional social and political processes to achieve environmental goals (for example, the World Wildlife Fund/Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Australian Conservation Foundation). In the middle are organisations such as Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society that have increasingly used conventional processes but retain direct action within their tactical repertoire. For example, they may include within their organisations’ units that undertake investigations into environmental crimes.
Is radical eco-activism justified? The answer to that question could lay in the outcomes of their pressure and how successful they are. Will companies like Earth First! be able to pioneer a pathway for corporations to follow through with the green agenda or will they be seen as extremists that pushed too hard in the wrong areas at the wrong times? In history we have seen that all great revolutions require a certain level of pressure enforced by militants daring to demand justice, therefore we truly cannot conclude how far is too far and must wait to avail the results of this green revolution.
Works Cited
Ganguly et al. “The Next Wave Of Extremists Will Be Green”. Foreign Policy, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/01/the-green-radicals-are-coming-environmental-extremism/.
Greta Thunberg: The Teenage Eco-Activist Who Took The World By Storm. 2013, https://www.dw.com/en/greta-thunberg-the-teenage-eco-activist-who-took-the-world-by-storm/a-50018055.
“Radical Environmentalism”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_environmentalism.
Thornton, James. “Radical Confidence: What Is Missing From Eco-Activism — Tricycle”. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, 2012, https://tricycle.org/magazine/radical-confidence/.
What Is Nature Doing?. 2020, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137473783_2. | https://medium.com/the-green-code/what-is-radical-eco-activism-8128fe169adb | ['Tgc Team'] | 2020-12-13 08:05:45.700000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Activism', 'World', 'Eco Activism', 'Sustainability'] |
When you don’t know what to do | Photo by Nigel Tadyanehondo on Unsplash
Okay, so more often than not — we as humans know what to do and would prefer to keep things nice and clear. It is the right goal to strive for, after all when the world is moving towards an ever-evolving playground of complex conditions like C-19, economic swings, travel restrictions, limited public gatherings, and finding a safe career option when people are just trying to keep the ship afloat for themselves and their families.
You should really be proud of yourself that you have come this far, through better & worse, and continue to look for ways to have a sustainable & fulfilling life. Maybe you have a checklist of your own that you follow daily or a set of rituals & prayers that help you keep calm & going. But sometimes, no matter what we do — things do not seem to go or work quite well for us. And that is when you have the question — “what do I do when you don’t know what to do”.
So, interestingly I was a similar situation a while back ago and for all that I can say — I did not really want to be there, well actually I never thought I would have to deal with an evening like this as — I was always a person of plans & actions and clear priorities. What triggered that helplessness was a sense of loneliness somewhere and despite wise efforts of going for a walk, running, biking, singing, and reading — nothing really helped out.
And then something did — I was fortunate enough to find someone who I could confide to. Just sitting there and talking openly about how I was feeling did all the magic and soon I was my best self ever.
So to summarise in the words of Misty Copeland, “Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you”. The point to go to from nowhere is the point of communication and do it with so much honesty as if those were to be your last words. See most of the time people do communicate and talk about a lot of things, but how often do we get to talk about things that would really mean a lot to us. Maybe you are waiting for the next person to ask the right questions so that you can finally talk about those things that are burning inside you.
Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
But know this, the longer you wait — the more time you will end living in that limited horizons bubble. So be the person who can stand up, go out there, find someone to talk to, and then openly talk about things you feel in the core of your heart at that moment. After all, feelings are reflections of how you are on the inside. | https://medium.com/@sidberry/when-you-dont-know-what-to-do-1586bcf8049d | ['Sid Berry'] | 2020-12-21 06:34:38.420000+00:00 | ['Friendship', 'Honesty', 'Feelings', 'Communication', 'Expression'] |
Just Another Winter’s Day | Image Via Canva
Just Another Winter’s Day
It is that in between time
What they call the liminal space
Between Christmas and New Year
But it feels like January is already here
Christmas Friday was more like Blue Monday
Cold, gray, gloom
No lights
Festivities
Or Mulled Wine in sight
Now we are lost,
in that time in between
When will the smiles be seen?
Hope in our hearts
Shall keep us alive
As we wait, for the planes once more, to fly. | https://medium.com/@tamara-albanna/just-another-winters-day-2a5d8d012285 | ['Tamara Albanna'] | 2020-12-27 14:52:51.720000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Pandemic', 'Wanderlust', 'Covid 19'] |
Christmas | Christmas
Wish
Photo by loly galina on Unsplash
One of my fondest memories was when my mother would decorate for Christmas. She would buy a can of snow, and we would spray it on the window and make a shape of a mountain on half of the windowpane. Then we would take the Christmas stencils and fill them in with glass wax on the rest of the window. My mother loved decorating for the holidays.
I distinctly remember the silver Christmas tree with the silver palm fronds at the end of each branch. The Christmas lights we placed on the tree glistened in multi-colors. Watching the lights made my body tingle. It was the happiest time of my childhood that I could remember.
I would walk to Steinway Street with my mom and look at the dolls in the small toy store window. We both admired the beautiful ice-skating doll, which was dressed in a red velvet ice skating dress and a red velvet hood with white fur around her perfect face. She also wore white ice-skating boots. I wanted to magically touch her through the glass store window. She was so beautiful, and my eyes instantly filled with adoration — wishing I could have her.
When Christmas came that year, she was wrapped in a gaily-decorated box under my Christmas tree — with a beautiful faux fur coat for her from my older brother, Frankie. I received only two Christmas gifts, but to me it was more than enough. How far we have come from those simple days.
It was a time when I had my family all together before death came upon them. Because of my innocence, there was no thought that I would be the only one left behind on planet Earth from my immediate family.
But if I had only one wish, I would like to take a dream ride back in time as the movie. It’s a Wonderful Life. And have Christmas with my family that once lived. To be able to kiss my mother and father and my two brothers once more. That would be Christmas.
In response to the Spiritual Secrets Weekly Prompt: “Christmas” by Darshak Rana | https://medium.com/spiritual-secrets/christmas-2b69275955ec | ['Bernadette Decarlo'] | 2020-12-26 23:57:28.662000+00:00 | ['Christmas', 'Nonfiction', 'Family', 'Spiritual Secrets', 'Weekly Prompts'] |
First, Gabrielle, acknowledgment to you for writing this. | First, Gabrielle, acknowledgment to you for writing this. Thank you for expanding my perspective. I recently moved to a concrete jungle, and within a couple of weeks in quarantine found myself desperate for green space. I come from spending my days outside in the sun, facilitating tours and dives (I’m a scuba instructor). So I can align with you on the highlighted statement. I purchased three plants and have been gifted or have found propagules and seeds to raise. Now I have a stable growing family of 13, and as a mermaid, I did not think I’d be so into plant mom life.
When I speak to my grandmother about gardening, she actively disconnects because it reminds her of time growing up on a farm in rural Alabama. I know, though, that there are ancestral ties to gardening and tending to plant life in my line. I hope that more black people can connect in this way with nature and bring some life into their homes/space or find a sacred space outdoors they can tend to.
Have you any experience with homesteading? If so, I’d love to read more. | https://medium.com/@riaet/first-gabrielle-acknowledgment-to-you-for-writing-this-52fb14d70d5 | ['Riane Tyler'] | 2020-07-01 00:27:42.261000+00:00 | ['Plants', 'Race', 'Spirituality', 'Environment', 'Nature'] |
How to flip NFTs series? — Strategy 1 — Quick flips on OpenSea homepage featured art updates | The long story, short (summary):
A simple strategy to make a quick flip on OpenSea when featured listings update on the homepage. An important disclaimer before reading anything else. It’s kind of a must for crypto investment stories nowadays. This article is not financial advice, as I am not “paper qualified” to give away such advice. These ramblings are simply the humble adventures of an NFT enthusiast.
The full story, long :)
OpenSea occasionally updates the featured artwork on their homepage based on image tags they get from their socials. I was watching a featured listing item on the OpenSea homepage change a few days ago and noticed interesting trading activity around that feature.
The trading movements were rapidly increasing after the listing went live on the homepage till it reached an almost 1 ETH pricepoint. I also noticed that the other items listed by the same artist went up in price and were being heavily traded.
This was a good high-risk high reward play to scoop up at floor price and sell high in a short time. Let me share first the rewards I made and the calculations of profitability:
Purchase of companion piece in artist’s collection: 0.06 ETH
Gas fees at the time of purchase: 0.025 ETH
Total purchase price: 0.085 ETH
My Listing Ask/Sell price: 0.12 ETH
Commissions (artist and OpenSea): 0.01
Profit: 0.03 ETH ($100 approx.)
Time between buy and sell and take profit: 2 minutes
A few things should be noted in such flips though
There is no particular time or pattern that OpenSea updates their featured homepage listing so there is a lot of luck and constant monitoring of the homepage that you’ll have to do beforehand to know when the featured listing is updated Timing is very important and if you are late from the time of the feature update by about an hour, you usually do not stand a chance to buy from the creator at the floor price Also, note that the gas prices are slightly high around this time so be sure your wallet is loaded and make sure to include your gas cost when reselling If you are late to the party, look at the floor price of the artist’s collection and then look at the other art items listed by the artist still at list price or at floor price and buy them. I have seen that all art that is part of the artist’s collection sells like hotcakes when their art has been featured. This is also where I made the above-mentioned profit.
Please note, this particular strategy comes with a high risk for a high reward, especially if you time it bad or you price it wrong, so please DYOR and make sure you are up for the risk before trying. | https://medium.com/@NiftyRevolution/how-to-flip-nfts-series-strategy-1-quick-flips-on-opensea-homepage-featured-art-updates-117b4ea93225 | ['The Nifty Revolution'] | 2021-12-29 16:38:47.730000+00:00 | ['Nft Marketplace', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Nftart', 'Nft'] |
Is Bitcoin Mining Still Profitable? | We’ve all heard the success stories of those who started mining bitcoin at the early days in their basements and made a killing. A pizza bought for 10 000 Bitcoin may still make you cringe. Those days are often referred to as the gold rush.
What is the story today? Can you still make money mining bitcoin at home without any special equipment ?
Firstly — What is bitcoin mining anyways?
Mining is the process of adding records of transactions to Bitcoin’s public ledger. This is called the blockchain. Every individual block must contain a proof of work to be considered valid. This proof of work is verified by other Bitcoin nodes (any computer that connects to the Bitcoin network is called a node) each time they receive a block. This solves the double spend issue with digital currencies.
What’s the purpose of this? The idea of mining is allowing the Bitcoin nodes to reach a consensus. The whole thing is built in a way that transactions are secure and tamper-resistant. Mining allows this currency to truly be decentralized.
A block is confirmed every 10 minutes and at the time of writing this article there were over 2000 transactions per block. For confirming a block the miner receives a reward. Miners are also paid miners’ fees on top of the block reward. This is to incentivise and keep miners securing the network. It is called mining as it is similar to mining gold for example — it is a rather difficult process and takes a lot of recourses (electricity) as a valuable asset is released over time.
This is accomplished by running SHA256 double round hash verification processes that will confirm the transactions on the network and secure the public ledger in the process. The mining speed is measured in hashes per second. The more computational power you have the higher the reward you receive.
Early bitcoin mining vs today
Bitcoin is set up in a way that the mining reward halves every 210 000 blocks. So far it has happened approximately every four years. The reward at the start was 50 BTC and this will keep diminishing over time until the total number of Bitcoins that can ever be, which is 21 million, will be mined. Then mining stops.
In the early days it was relatively easy to mine, just using your computer CPU at home. Over time as mining became more popular, people started using graphics cards or GPU’s for mining. This is no longer profitable. The electricity cost will quickly diminish any possible earnings from it.
The next thing that came along was ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) which has over 100x more computational power than mining with GPU’s. As mining has become really competitive, ASIC’s mining is the only profitable way to mine Bitcoin.
It comes down to these two thing really — the mining reward and competition. The mining reward previously halved in 2016 to 12.5 BTC and is expected to halve again around 2020. It is built up on simple economics. Once the supply drops the price should also rise, which it has done so far every time the reward has been cut in half. This should keep mining Bitcoin profitable for the miners until the total of 21 billion Bitcoins have been created.
Is mining Bitcoin still profitable?
There are still ways of making money mining bitcoin — buying custom mining hardware, joining a mining pools or cloud mining services. The rewards are not what they used to be, but back then the Bitcoin price too was not high enough to make instant millionaires. Rewards came to those who waited. As I am writing this in the summer of 2017 you could make around 0.35 BTC per month mining with AntMiner S9. This hardware will cost you approximately $2000 and make you an estimated 4 BTC per year.
This is quite a decent amount, a year’s salary to some. And the key is you don’t really have to do much apart from getting the hardware, setting it up and paying electricity bills. Now if we go on a wild speculation run and assume you keep all the coins mined until the next halving of the bitcoin reward, you should have over 12 BTC. If the price would double again, we could speculate that this in 2020 could be worth upwards from $50 000. That is not a bad amount to make in 3 years with a starting investment of $2000.
This of course could go the other way as Bitcoin’s price is highly volatile and speculation on any kinds of currencies, commodities or assets can be very risky. The truth is we don’t have a window into the future. Bitcoin has proven itself and is showing no signs of stopping. Who knows, some day we might not even remember the traditional currencies like dollars or euros.
If you want to leave mining for others and get some Bitcoin quick, we’re happy to help!
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, please bare in mind that the price of cryptocurrencies fluctuates a lot and there’s risk in speculating on these assets. The profit speculation on mining bitcoin in this article is calculated looking at previous events and the future prices may differ. | https://medium.com/the-paxful-blog/is-bitcoin-mining-still-profitable-5f2743dde348 | [] | 2017-08-16 06:06:06.690000+00:00 | ['Finance', 'Blockchain', 'Paxful', 'Bitcoin', 'Mining'] |
What is Essential When Building a Startup? Covid-19 Just Showed Me | February 2020 was the first official month for my new startup. This was my second time starting a company, and I would describe my energy levels for this next journey on par with lava. It felt like I was on fire with ambition. With my vision in place, I started the process of bootstrapping with a small F&F round, and began working with the great team at Daversa Partners. My first mission was finding a technical co-founder and in the process met some amazing talent from many of the FAANG tech giants. The discussions with these great minds were more fuel to my fire and then suddenly Covid strikes.
It’s now March and in dismay, I called up a few startup CEOs friends to check in on what they were seeing and doing. Most were trying to figure out the impact and implementation of “Work from home”, “Family first”, “Moving into a virtual world”, “Manage cash” and so on. Conversations with some venture friends were similar as many VCs shifted their focus away from looking at new deals and back towards their existing portfolio companies. The takeaways from these discussions were clear:
Protect, Survive and Run lean with whatever you have.
Covid 19 — My First Wall
With my first startup, I quickly learned that resilience was everything and startups are a series of walls that need to be knocked down. A good entrepreneur may go over the wall, around the wall and sometimes through the wall but never quits until they are past that hurdle. With Covid, I had to go through it, survive and just build - so I continued my search for my co-founder.
Finding a co-founder via Zoom interviews quickly became the new normal, and I was fortunate to find a talented partner. All three of her past startups were acquired and she is a leading NLP expert. While we knew of each other before, this would be our first chance to build something together directly. We did a virtual high-five handshake on March 9th and we embarked on this journey.
We quickly assembled a small, yet mighty, team and after 72 hours with little sleep, we landed on a plan. Then the market crashed.
My Second Wall — The Market Crashes
On Monday, March 16th, the stock market crashed by 25%. I watched as the VC Twitter waffled around who was still writing checks. The plan we sketched out would need funds so I returned to my F&F to give us an additional 3 months of runway. This crisis was either going to make or break my new relationship with my co-founder (who I had only ever met in person just once).
We had to go all in and do it now — build a team, build a product, and build a trusting relationship with each all while in the middle of a pandemic. That’s what we decided to do.
Move forward and build.
Once secured, the team shifted our thinking from what can we build to what can we build now? Just like that, our first product, Code 19, was born.
So now it’s the end of March, and I saw former co-workers, friends and industry leaders across the nation were letting go of their teams, and some of them furloughed or laid-off themselves. Top talent was flooding the market — and these individuals were panicked and weary — yet fresh. Rather than wait for the “dust to settle”, or seed money to come in and recruit later — we decided to pivot.
Our budding relationship as co-founders spun quicker and began blooming during the crisis.
We agreed, let’s go build our core team, and let’s build our product 1.0 to ship in 6 weeks. We scoped out a version of our product to solve a few specific use cases that got accelerated due to Covid-19 and scoped out a foundation technology architecture. We paused fundraising efforts and decided to go strong when the market recovers. So who’s building it? We made phone calls, pitched and recruited those who fell in love with vision and ready to roll on sweat equity. Here’s a screenshot from the first team call:
Now heading into April we continued recruiting. In addition to finding top-tier engineers, we gained some key talent including a commercialization expert from Amazon and a computational linguist from Google.
For the first time in my career, I engaged some key hires without meeting in person, but managed to develop that trust over a Zoom high-five.
Some of the team is moonlighting, others are 24/7. Relationships are being built on Slack and Zoom. People found the continued humor in their slack profiles, sending “GIFs” and showed creativity with Zoom virtual backgrounds. Below is a screenshot of the increased slack activity.
Building a startup to building at home
In addition to building a company — like every parent and spouse reading this — my wife and I had to figure out a way to back up my family.
Explaining to a very active two-year-old why their school and activities with friends are being canceled, why handwashing is more important, and why their world is being turned upside down, wasn’t an easy task. I used all of my training as an engineer to build dynamic pillow forts in the living, an obstacle course, a growing addition to the culinary skills, a suitable bar (of course!), and my newly beloved homemade gym. Building schedules to balance family and work life has also become the new norm, for everyone — in my house, on my team, and obviously to every family out there.
Where are we now? Shattering Milestones.
So now it’s the end of May and in the past 10 weeks of a global shelter-in-place, we have successfully built a team, a kickass product, and are headed into the next phase for our company: customer discovery calls for the commercialization of our core product. All during lockdown. All done virtually.
My lava burns hotter than it did in February and I recently looked at some of the milestones I had planned for later this year:
What’s next?
We are building our “Road Show” for the summer - which in reality will be a “Zoom Show” as we look to find the right partners to join us on the journey.
My fears of not being able to truly get to know the VCs, if you are not meeting them in person, and my imperfection to be clear on calls, is starting to brew — but that’s what my team is for.
In looking back, Covid-19 introduced us all to many things and the word essential was used more than ever before. What was essential in my first startup that reflected now again during crisis is great people and the importance of their collective strength to execute on a big audacious dream.
We learn more, we make better choices and we continue to build better than ever before.
Suman Kanuganti
Social: L I F T | https://blog.personal.ai/what-is-essential-when-building-a-startup-covid-19-just-showed-me-6d2ef7472435 | ['Suman Kanuganti'] | 2021-01-15 22:55:45.979000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Slack', 'Zoom', 'Venture Capital', 'Covid-19'] |
Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones review: Startlingly affordable | When you really want to zone out, leave humanity or your environment behind, you need active noise-cancelling headphones. Few headsets cancel noise better than these Wyze Headphones, which are also one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve worn.
You do pay a slight sonic price for this trick, but that simply means the sound goes from very good to merely good. The kicker: These phones cost just $50. Until I looked up the price at the end of my evaluation, I was thinking $150.
This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best headphones, where you’ll find reviews of competing products, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.Design and featuresThe Wyze headphones I tested come in basic black, sport low-latency/low-power Bluetooth 5.0, and as I said, are among the most comfy I’ve tested. The ear cup pads are extremely plush, and my ears never came close to making contact with the speaker grills. The adjustable headband is firm, but not too tight, and the cushion for the top of your head is as comfortable as the cup pads.
Wyse The Wyze headphone controls are easy to reach and relatively easy to use. That said, after the joystick control on the Marshall Major IV, all headphone button arrangements seem primitive by comparison.
The one area where I’m now going to be critical of all headphones is controls. The controls on the Wyze (noise-cancellation button on the left, power/up/down/enter on the right) are as well placed as any I’ve experienced, but after the joystick on the Marshall Major IV, everything else seems dated. That’s not a knock on Wyze, just a plea for all vendors to adopt a superior design.
[ Further reading: The best high-res digital audio players ] Mentioned in this article Marshall Major IV Read TechHive's reviewSee it The left cup is home to the 3.5mm input jack, and the right cup houses the USB-C charging port. The outside of the right cup is also used as a touch surface to control your voice assistant. Wyze includes both audio and charging cables, as well as a simple carry bag. There’s no 1/4-inch adapter or airline adapter included.
Wyse Wyse’s headphones come in a carrying bag with a USB-C charging cable and a 3.5mm male-to-male cable for wired use.
I’d like to compliment Wyze on its quickstart guide, which is succinct, but thorough and far easier to read than some of the tiny booklets other vendors provide. Kudos as well for all-paper/cardboard packaging and no shrink wrapping. You can easily recycle everything but the phones themselves. (Although that’s also possible in most locales, if you take the trouble.)
There is of course an app that allows EQ’ing the unit and choosing the level of ambient noise reduction.
Performance (noise abatement and sound)There’s no arguing the efficacy of the Wyze ambient nose reduction. As these are over-ear headphones, they block a lot of noise without an electronic assist. With active noise cancellation (adding a phase-opposite signal to the audio) enabled, they become very, very quiet. If I were on an airplane, they’re definitely one of the sets I’d consider bringing along.
Mentioned in this article Sony WH-XB900N Extra Bass, wireless noise-canceling headphones Read TechHive's reviewMSRP $248.00See it On the other hand, activating noise cancellation slightly alters frequency response. The Wyze headphones sound very good without cancellation enabled, and merely good with it on. That’s the nature of the cancellation beast, but I will say I hear ever so slightly less difference in sonics between the two modes with my Sony WH-XB900H headset. Picayune.
IDG The Wyze Headphone app with noise-reduction settings and EQ.
Sans said noise cancellation, the bass was spot-on, round and punchy without sounding like a subwoofer. Unless of course, you’re a subwoofer fiend. (Is that still a thing?) Separation? They’re headphones. It’s perfect. The mid-range is clean and accurate, though I’d opt for just a tad more in the upper regions. There are just enough highs for my taste, though I wouldn’t say no to a pinch more. Younger ears will wonder what I’m going on about.
My above comments are on the default settings. The EQ seemed to work well with cuts and gain with the bass, but I didn’t notice huge gains in the mids or highs no matter how many dB I boosted. The sound doesn’t need much tweaking anyway, so no biggie.
Run time was very good, but I didn’t quite make the 20 hours Wyze claims. I saw around 16, but then I left them (off-ear) playing at a relatively high volume.
Overall, I’d have no problem using these headphones as my daily drivers if I wasn’t currently stuck on, yes the Marshall Major IV’s. But those don’t do noise cancellation, so I’ll take the Wyze on the plane, and they’re also in my listen-to-recording-mixdowns brigade.
ConclusionAs I’ve said several times now, the Wyze headphones are super comfortable and do a stellar job of shutting off the sound from the outside world. They sound good if not great in that mode, and very good when not cancelling noise. Head to head, I’d give a slight nod to the aforementioned WH-XB900n’s in terms of sound. Then again, the Sony’s are four times the price. $50. With an app. Sheesh. Buy ‘em.
User warning: For goodness sake, don’t use noise-cancelling/blocking headphones that don’t provide the option to pipe in ambient sound in any situation where missing an audio clue could cost you your life. Jogging, strolling downtown, riding your bike? No. Watching TV, listening to tunes at home? Okay.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@amy08228300/wyze-noise-cancelling-headphones-review-startlingly-affordable-92ae5184f630 | [] | 2020-12-07 19:30:10.816000+00:00 | ['Cutting', 'Connected Home', 'Chromecast', 'Surveillance'] |
5 Ways To Support Hospitality | How Hospitality Contributes
As our industry evolves and adjusts, it’s important to remember that difficult times often reveal the things we may have overlooked. These very important moments inspire change, support and innovation. As the holes in the ship reveal themselves, it’s important to make our voices heard and create collective change. An industry that employs 3.2 million people in the UK *directly, and another 2.6 million *indirectly, deserves community and government support.
Editors Note: As a reference, FSM is indirectly employed by the hospitality industry. So are farmers, wholesalers, designers, brewers, drivers, contractors… the list goes on and on. We’re not just talking chefs and bartenders. We’re talking about 5.8 million people.
We’ve compiled a list of current hospitality support campaigns and outlets in the UK. Please support how you can.
How You Can Contribute
Enjoy our craft
At the core of it all, the biggest support to hospitality would be to simply experience and enjoy it. Continue getting your morning coffee from the local bakery, enjoying an evening dining with your loved ones, and ordering in when there’s no time to make dinner. Those who work in hospitality are passionate and we promise they’re always happy to see you.
Legal Structure
As the UK seeks to encourage investment & tourism back to the UK in the coming years, the vision that the UK hospitality industry portrays of the UK is excellence, innovation, and inspiration. Hospitality needs a Minister who can listen to concerns on taxation/legislation and bring forward suggestions to the chancellor and policy-makers on our behalf.
Sign The Petition to create a Minister for Hospitality in the UK Government.
Chipping In
Heston Blumenthal’s ‘Invisible Chips’ campaign offers a simple way to help people in hospitality whose livelihoods are disappearing. We also hear that invisible drones can deliver these invisible chips if you’re not very patient. Don’t forget the add some ‘Oh La La Saucy Sauce’ on the side. Browse the menu here.
Social Media
As a wonderful place to connect and make your voice heard — sharing, liking and reposting important updates will help spread the message. Show your industry peers support by liking, commenting, and following their pages. Digital noise is very loud — and it can make a big difference. We would know.
Bang The Pots + Shake The Shakers
HospoDemo is a new support outlet organising peaceful (but noisy!) protests in Parliament Square to urge the government to revise its policies relating to hospitality restrictions as well as financial support. They encourage all attendees to bring something hospitality-related to ‘Make Some Noise’, e.g., pots, pans, ladles, cocktail shakers, wooden spoons, gongs, etc. and to wear your work uniforms.
Their support is for everyone connected to hospitality including chefs, restaurateurs, operators, owners, GMs, sommeliers, wait staff, bartenders, managers, KPs, publicans, caterers, producers, suppliers, PRs, buyers, hoteliers, baristas, marketing teams, events teams, cleaning staff, writers, publishers…the list goes on. Keep an eye out on their website and social media pages for updates on any upcoming protests and show up! (Please remember to practise all safety measures).
Additional Resources:
→ UK Hospitality Organisation
→ Hospitality Action
→ Hospitality Speaks
→ Code Hospitality
→ Me, Myself, In Mind
→ Kelly’s Cause
Big love,
Food Story Media.
Follow us on Instagram + Sign up to our newsletter | https://medium.com/@foodstorymedia/5-ways-to-support-hospitality-1adba9ba8bf3 | ['Food Story Media'] | 2021-04-13 09:22:23.280000+00:00 | ['Hospitality', 'Helping Others', 'Hospitality Industry', 'Restaurant Industry', 'Restaurant'] |
How to organize your work | How to organize your work
I am a freelance writer. I enjoy my work because it gives me the freedom to write about what interests me, I can work anywhere, and I can work when inspiration calls rather than having to submit something regardless of how I feel. There is a downside to this, of course — if I want to eat, I need to be somewhat disciplined and organized. I need to produce finished copy now and then.
And so the system I developed helps to keep me in line. This is what I do:
On my computer, I have a file folder called, “ARTICLES,” and in it, I have more folders. They are called: 01-Ideas, 02-Queries, 03-First Draft, 04-Second Draft, 05-Third Draft, 06-Ready to Submit, 07-Submitted, 08-Accepted, 09-In Print, 10-Paid, and 11-Blog. The numbers keep the folders in order.
Whenever I have an idea, I know where to put it. I don’t stress over whether it is a good idea or not, don’t worry about actually writing the article — I just jot down what comes to mind and then file it away. It is safe in the folder for the times when I run out of ideas or when I am blocked. It is full to bursting, but that’s OK.
I usually query editors after I finish writing because most of my stories are personal travel and sailing essays and are accepted or rejected based on the quality of writing and the timeliness of the topic. But when I have an idea for a technical article, I do email the editor in advance. I file these letters in the QUERIES folder.
When I start writing, my manuscript goes through the three folders of FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD DRAFTS, even though I often edit many times. Sometimes the document goes back from the third draft folder back to the second one or even the first one if it needs a big rewrite. And sometimes I get involved in something else and the manuscript stays in its folder for weeks or even months. Along the way, it gets its own folder to which I add relevant photographs, diagrams, and notes.
When I am satisfied with it, I file the document in the READY TO SUBMIT folder. This is when I make a list of possible magazine publishers on a spreadsheet and write a generic cover letter to a submissions editor. I list the publications in the order starting with ones that only accept First World Rights at the top, to the ones that accept reprints at the bottom. Often, the editor who has accepted my manuscripts in the past and has a good reputation for paying on time is at the top of this list.
Next, I begin my submission process. On the spreadsheet, I enter the name of the editor, the date of submission, and as the manuscript goes through the mill, dates of acceptance or rejection, when it was paid for and how long I need to wait before I can submit it to the next publisher in line.
Once I email the document, I file a copy in the SUBMITTED folder. I don’t worry about it after that, just get on with the next article in line. This prevents me from spending too much time checking my inbox. Also, by noting the date when I send out the story, I know how long (usually two months) I need to wait before sending a follow-up letter. Most editors are very busy and appreciate my patience.
When the story is accepted, I move it to the appropriate folder and finally, if all goes well, to the IN PRINT and PAID ones. The manuscript stays there for the six months or a year that is required by the publisher before I return it to the READY TO SUBMIT folder once again.
I don’t often give up on an article that I have worked on for several days or weeks, but now and then I find that I am done with trying to find a publisher for it and so it goes into the BLOG folder. I post it on my blog and so it finds a home one way or another. This also reminds me that not everything is marketable.
The successful articles then make their way to my BOOK folder and when there are enough of them on a certain topic, I have a possibility of seeing them in print once again.
If this is beginning to sound like an assembly line process to you, it is. But it works. It keeps me organized and focused on what I love doing the most — writing. Using this system I avoid the confusion of too many great ideas and not enough finished product. I see where I need to work next to avoid a backlog and have no excuse for a writer’s block. Over time, my reputation increases as editors regularly notice my name in their inbox and begin to count on my submissions. | https://medium.com/@barbara.d.molin/freelance-writing-ef1d3121a87b | ['Barbara Molin'] | 2019-02-17 15:55:59.654000+00:00 | ['Freelance Writing', 'Organizing', 'Writing'] |
Slump or Not, BUIDLers Gonna BUIDL | The cryptocurrency market has been anything but stable in recent days. But we, the Finrazor team, do not let the spikes and free falls distract us from work. For the past few weeks, we’ve been preparing a series of educational beginner-friendly articles about some of the more established as well as newer technologies
After all, it’s the tech that we are here for, isn’t that right?
Some of the more widely supported and well-established projects include
Ripple, a set of technologies that promise to revolutionize cross-border payments and provide on-demand liquidity;
Nano, a highly scalable cryptocurrency powered by the block lattice DAG-based structure;
IOTA, another DAG-based high-performance cryptocurrency enabled by the Tangle technology that seeks to be useful in the age of Internet-of-Things and M2M economy.
Cardano, a highly ambitious smart-contract platform that employs a strict academic approach to development and peer review process.
Privacy coins and the explorers of the mysterious zero-knowledge cryptography
Monero, the biggest Bitcoin-based privacy coin which uses a clever combination of cryptographic technologies such as Ring Signatures, Bulletproofs and stealth addresses;
Zcash, another cryptocurrency that uses zk-snarks to give users an option of making their transactions anonymous. Zcash recently held a hardfork called Sapling;
Dash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that provides users with anonymity by employing coin-mixing techniques,
Mimblewimble, a protocol that promises an unprecedented level of scalability which concurrently solves the issue of privacy. It can be implemented as both a sidechain to Bitcoin or a separate blockchain, as are Grin and Beam.
Some of the lesser-known, yet promising projects | https://medium.com/finrazorcom/slump-or-not-buidlers-gonna-buidl-b38c32d9dfaa | ['Finrazor Team'] | 2018-12-03 10:21:39.559000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
12 tips for health and fitness on Christmas| Daily Fitness | 12 tips for health and fitness on Christmas| Daily Fitness
Christmas is moving toward quick, and heaps of individuals will in general demolish their typical eating regimens, yet they likewise pick up a couple of additional pounds. Given studies, most individuals will in general put on extra weight during the Christmas season that begins at Thanksgiving Day and finishes with the New Year festivities. Over the top eating is professed to be the fundamental driver for the extra weight, yet it is likewise because of the absence of active work and exercise.
Most individuals will in general put on extra weight during the Christmas season
Several people out there will in general put aside their wellness schedules during the special seasons since they accept that they need more of an ideal opportunity to play out their exercises. What’s more, since they feel remorseful after the Christmas season, the greater part of the exercise centers and wellness focuses are stuffed with new individuals.
Continuously remember that you can in any case appreciate the special seasons and remain fit simultaneously. On the off chance that you need to remain fit during the Christmas season, particularly during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, here are some valuable tips that may help you:
Eat Before Heading Out
To start with, you should eat something before taking off to visits, excursions, or family meals. Thusly, you will not, at this point be enticed to eat a lot or indulge yourself since you have just eaten. Skipping on meals is certifiably not a smart thought either, because you might be compelled to eat more later.
Select Your Treats wisely
Try to choose the treats that you eat in a savvy way. You ought to pick something that you can just appreciate during the Christmas season and not something that is promptly accessible constantly.
Don’t Skip Meals
Try not to skip meals, particularly breakfast! Even though it is very well may be enticing to skip on specific suppers, accepting that it will compensate for the treats you burned-through in the earlier day, don’t do it since it will just prompt counterproductive outcomes.
Drink With control
It is ideal to control your drinking since liquor, coke, or different juices will just add more calories to the ones you have previously eaten!
Enhance Your Activity
You should even now play out your wellness routine at whatever point conceivable and if you can’t do that, essentially walk more, leave your vehicle some separation away from the store or simply utilize the steps!
Escape The House
Make the special seasons a family issue and plan outside exercises where everybody is included. Indeed, even a snowball battle in the patio will consume a lot of calories and will keep the kids engaged.
Attend Your Regular Strength Workouts
Continuously make sure to play out your solidarity preparing to keep up that bulk you endeavored to get. You may be enticed to utilize lightweights and simply do some cardio, however, you can consume similarly the same number of calories by lifting loads. Also, with those additional stakes you had on the occasional meal, you may even pick up some additional muscle. Also, this is superior to pick up some additional fat.
Set Achievable And Realistic Goals
You should set sensible exercise goals. Focus on in any event thirty minutes of the day and you will be exceptionally glad when you will accomplish that. On the off chance that you plan one hour or more and not accomplish it, you will just wind up frustrated.
Enjoy Your Good Time
Additionally, make a point to set practical eating routine plans! Attempting to limit yourself absolutely from certain nourishments will just cause you to eat more. Don’t hesitate to appreciate the treats that you truly love, yet in little bits.
Drink Plenty Of Water
This can satisfy your craving just as keep you hydrated consistently. What’s more, it will likewise forestall a potential headache on the off chance that you try too hard with liquor.
Eat Less, More Often
Disseminate your dinners equitably for the day, and don’t eat everything simultaneously. Rather than having 2 huge suppers, have 5 little ones. Have your supper prior and have a pleasant stroll before hitting the sack.
Follow Your Workouts
Attempt to do them promptly toward the beginning of the day while every other person is as yet resting. This way you will likewise dodge comments like “Goodness, please! It’s Christmas… “
So there you go! Twelve basic hints that will assist you with abstaining from putting on weight throughout the colder time of yearly occasions, however, will likewise permit you to have a good time and make some incredible memories with your friends and family.
Merry Christmas everybody!
A Fun and Simple Workout to Get Fit
On the off chance that you need to be fit and discover heading out to the exercise center inconvenient, these obstruction band exercises may simply function admirably for you!
Snatch your Resistance Workout Plan for FREE and begin to work out at home without any problem. Regardless of whether you don’t have an opposition band, you can utilize a robe tie or a bungee string all things being equal. | https://medium.com/@dailyfitness777/12-tips-for-health-and-fitness-on-christmas-daily-fitness-13cb826ccceb | [] | 2020-12-26 19:50:42.933000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Diet', 'Exercise', 'Fitness', 'Workout'] |
Slowed Up or Sped Down: Heuristics and Playstyle Innovation in Final Fantasy VII Remake | The designers of Final Fantasy VII Remake knew their primary audience — fans of the original 1997 PlayStation installment — and channeled the spirit of the original game into the remake in two primary ways: by including niche plot and character references, as well as building and iterating upon the combat mechanics to align them with current popular playstyles, rather than entirely replacing them. The result of this innovation is a unique hybrid of turn- and action-based mechanics, constructed to support each other for a smooth and modern gameplay experience. There is no doubt that developing the best way to fuse these two styles of mechanics took lots of creativity and work — but how does the combat system hold up to modern principles of good user experience?
To understand this I will break down the key aspects of the combat elements, including the HUD, controls, menus, and mechanics, and then analyze them against Nielsen Norman Group’s ten usability heuristics.
Combat Overview
Since combat is a mix of active action and more passive turns, there are many elements that contribute to the overall experience.
Action Elements
Fighting enemies takes place in an active dimensional space: the player as well as opponents actively move around each other and apply offensive movement directly to targeted characters by use of action buttons. Generally, each playable character has a basic attack, a heavy attack, and a guard/block action. The specifics of these actions depend on the fighting style of the character: Cloud and Tifa are primarily melee fighters, while Barret and Aerith are primarily ranged fighters. Actions by all characters in a fight happen in real time, and the constant changes in status are actively reflected in the status HUD in the bottom right corner of the screen. Dealing enough applicable damage to an opponent will pressure and eventually stagger them, allowing the player to multiply the damage each attack makes.
Turn-Based Elements
Each playable character has special actions and abilities that are activated through the small HUD menu in the bottom left corner of the screen when Tactical Mode is activated and are supported by information in the status HUD in the bottom right corner of the screen. In the status HUD, the player can see their health, ATB, MP, limit, and summon (when applicable) bars for each character in their party:
Health denotes how much life the player has before they die and get a game over. Health is gained by using healing items and spells, and lost when taking hits from enemies.
ATB denotes the level of power built up to use special abilities, spells, and items. ATB is gained by using offensive action attacks against enemies and lost when activating an ability, spell, or item.
MP denotes the level of power the player has to use spells only. MP is gained by consuming Ether and lost when activating a spell. Using a spell depletes both ATB and MP.
Limit denotes the amount of power built up to use an extra-special offensive move called a Limit Break. Limit is gained by taking damage from enemies and lost when activating the Limit Break.
Summon is only displayed when the Summon Materia is equipped to the player and after the player both deals and sustains damage during the battle. Summon is gained as the player fights, and is depleted after the player summons the creature and while the creature is fighting.
Entering Tactical Mode opens up a mini menu that allows the player to choose any desired item, spell, and ability for activation. It also slows the active action to bullet time, allowing the player to navigate through the HUD menu for these options without them losing active combat time. The player can access other characters’ menus by tabbing left and right using the L2 and R2 trigger buttons.
Heuristic Analysis
Visibility of System Status
“The design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.”
The HUD keeps players accurately informed as the various meters are immediately updated as the player adds or subtracts various elements through gameplay. There is no delay between an action and its consequence to the player status. For example, when a player takes damage from an enemy, there is no delay between the moment the player receives the hit on their character and the visual depletion of their health bar.
Other ways the system status stays visible:
All debuffs are visible via icons below the respective player’s name.
Abilities and items that don’t have enough ATB, magic, or limit are grayed out in the Tactical Mode menu.
The status of the opponent is displayed in the small HUD that is tracked to the opponent’s position. The player can easily see which opponent has the most or least health, whether or not they are invincible to an attack, if the opponent is pressured or staggered, and the name of the special move the opponent is about to make.
In the settings, the player can see the actively mapped button customizations, as well as active materia, items, and weapons equipped.
When players pick up loot after defeating an enemy, the type and amount of loot is briefly displayed on the screen. This includes items, money, and experience.
Match Between System and the Real World
“When a design’s controls follow real-world conventions and correspond to desired outcomes (called natural mapping), it’s easier for users to learn and remember how the interface works. This helps to build an experience that feels intuitive.”
Since there is so much menu navigation in combat due to Tactical Mode, the main controls there are buttons for confirming and canceling an option. Historically, games use an A/B control system for menu options, where A (or X on the PlayStation controller) confirms, and B (O on the PlayStation controller) cancels. Since this is such a typical system that has worked well for games since the very first video games, this system is already intuitive to the player.
Though shifting to other characters with the bumper trigger tabbing action is intuitive, the way the game locks the characters to specific sides on the triggers can be disorienting, especially when the characters move around and shift in a physical space. This is because:
Not all players remain in the party at all times, so if they leave and rejoin, it resets the character position in the party’s order, causing the characters to not always be in the same tabbing order.
Due to the characters moving around in space, the position of a character in the party in relation to the player’s active character may not always match. For example, if the player is currently controlling Cloud and wants to switch to Tifa, which is labeled on the left trigger, there are going to be circumstantial instances where Tifa will be physically standing to Cloud’s right.
Language wise, the game does not employ extreme use of jargon, and when it does use world-specific terminology, like materia, the meanings are easy to remember and apply to familiar mental models of structural mechanics.
User Control and Freedom
“When it’s easy for people to back out of a process or undo an action, it fosters a sense of freedom and confidence. Exits allow users to remain in control of the system and avoid getting stuck and feeling frustrated.”
FF7R provides contingency options in a few different areas to account for the player changing their mind or getting stuck in certain spots in the game. For example:
The game provides multiple save slots in case an event happens unintentionally or the player happens to miss something they didn’t want to miss.
The game allows the player to change difficulty (as long as they aren’t in the middle of a battle) in case the original difficulty is too easy (not engaging) or too hard (too frustrating).
Materia and gear are extremely varied and the ability to equip them is limited, but they are not locked permanently once equipped. Players can easily switch them out for other items and materia if they feel the enhancements better suit their own style of play.
Consistency and Standards
“Users’ experiences with other products set their expectations. Failing to maintain consistency may increase the users’ cognitive load by forcing them to learn something new.”
As mentioned prior, the A=confirm and B=cancel system typical across all video games is consistently applied here. Additionally, when actively fighting elemental enemies, the opposing element generally counteracts them, keeping consistent with real life elements as well as older games that have elemental abilities. For example, many fire elemental enemies are weak to ice, just as many water elemental enemies are weak to thunder.
The game also keeps in place the gameplay language and base mechanics that were used in the original game, so players who are familiar with the original don’t have to learn the mechanics all over again. The 1997 FFVII also uses similar materia icons, uses for ATB (called Time in the original) and Limit, and nested menu structure for turn based elements. Characters keep the same general fighting styles and the game overall uses familiar elements used across the RPG genre such as experience points and levels, boss enemies and fight phases, and side quests and upgrades.
Error Prevention
“…The best designs carefully prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions, or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.”
One interesting aspect of the game is that players cannot access side quests that they leave behind in chapters of the game that they progress through. All side quests for an area have to be done in that chapter and cannot be left for later if/when the player feels like it. To its credit, the game does warn the player when they are about to trigger the next part of the game, and asks the player to confirm through a dialog box whether or not they are ready to proceed. While this helps prevent the player from continuing accidentally, it does not help the player understand the significance of what they are skipping if they choose to go on without completing the quests. Progressing without side quest completion forces the player to be locked out of certain events that they may realize later on they want to be a part of — however, the game does not warn the player which events are tied to uncompleted quests.
Besides that, most resource-consuming actions such as money purchases and equipment upgrades are interrupted by quick pop ups that require the player to officially confirm their decision before it is completed.
Recognition Rather Than Recall
“Humans have limited short-term memories. Interfaces that promote recognition reduce the amount of cognitive effort required from users.”
With such extensive menus in combat, the player heavily depends on a reduced cognitive load while navigating the menus since most of their attention will be taken up by the action that’s happening in limited periods of time. Players don’t have time to sit and think for a prolonged period of time about the options in the menus; each decision is made in split seconds in order to maximize damage and health. Even though the bullet time effect does allow time for the player to make certain turn-based decisions, it doesn’t delay action indefinitely — if the player activates Tactical Mode and just sits, they will still be attacked by enemies and take damage. The HUDs do a good job of implementing the principle of recognition over recall by clearly labeling all actions with their applicable buttons and limiting the use of varied icons. The only place icons get in the way are when enemies attack and apply debuff status effects. Several, if not most, of the icons are not as instantly recognizable in their meanings. This can cause some frustration as players usually need to actively counteract the status effect with an item that can cure or disable it. These status effects are not outlined at any point during the game for the player’s knowledge; at best the information is picked up implicitly from item descriptions that mention them.
Adjusting the icons to speak to more familiar tropes could improve the recognition of the debuff meanings. Slow and haste could possibly be replaced with a turtle and a rabbit, which is a more universal trope of slow and quick movement. Berserk and fury are close enough in tone that the player could switch the meanings accidentally.
Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
“Shortcuts — hidden from novice users — may speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the design can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.”
One really useful option that players have is the ability to freely map buttons on their controller to Tactical Mode actions of their choice. This is a great design choice because it accounts for variable player experiences and comforts, and allows the player to further customize the controls to fit the way they play individually. The same options and mechanics can still be accessed in the traditional way through the menus, but being able to set the controls opens up the customization options for even inexperienced players and can improve the flow of fast-paced action gameplay without having to switch to the bullet time Tactical Mode every few seconds. This element adheres closely with the heuristic, and seems to be the most closely aligned out of all the other usability principles.
Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
“Interfaces should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed… Ensure that the visual elements of the interface support the user’s primary goals.”
The HUDs and much of the information in them are responsive to the player’s current activity in the game. When not engaged in combat or around any enemies, the left menu HUD collapses so that the control for the commands menu is faintly seen, and the status HUD disappears entirely. The amount of information then displayed to the user changes depending on the situation and the number of characters in the party. When the summon materia is not active, the status bar does not show. Similarly, the pressure and stagger bars are not displayed on enemies when those statuses are not activated. When selecting spells, most are categorized by the type of spell and then their strength. This allows the player to skim through spells in a smaller list of the base spells rather than a longer list that has all strengths of all spells listed in the same column.
Whenever information is not needed, it is not there, leaving more room for the player to focus on the main task at hand. The visual design of the UI both in and out of battle is not flat, but still simple, efficient, and matches the tone of the game overall through its smooth animations, blue colors, and sleek typeface that allude to a tech-savvy and futuristic world.
Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors
“…Error messages should also be presented with visual treatments that will help users notice and recognize them.”
This heuristic is trickiest to place in the combat system, because part of the principle suggests offering a solution to the user in order to help them recognize the error. However, part of gameplay in general can include advanced and sometimes abstract problem and puzzle solving — this allows the player to feel challenged and accomplished once they complete a task or win a battle. Despite this, one prevalent indication of error recognition and recovery in battle occurs when a character’s health starts running critically low. The edges of the player’s screen become tinged with red, offering a warning sign of low health and the imminent danger of a game over without requiring the player to always keep an eye directly on a character’s health bar. This visual treatment is a more obvious but still unobtrusive indication of error, and helps the player recognize their situation more quickly, and therefore address it more quickly.
Help and Documentation
“Help and documentation content should be easy to search and focused on the user’s task.”
When the player first begins the game, tutorial texts are common and teach the player how to use certain mechanics and abilities in the game. These tutorials, along with other helpful documented tips, are available for the player to review at any time in the pause menu by selecting the Manual option. Inside the manual is a menu of topics that sort the tutorials for easy access. The manual is also aided by clips of the appropriate actions repeated gif-style to provide the player a handy visual representation of the aid the text is providing.
Conclusion
Overall, the mechanics and the supporting UI elements adhere closely to the principles of best practice in usability. This is a big accomplishment considering the unique structure of the combat system and the expectations that were held as standards from the original game. The structure of the mechanics flow well in the way the action- and turn-based elements work with each other and the visual interface supports those actions with a few minor limitations. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a model for what good combat systems can and should be, and it holds its own against the heuristics that are more generally applied to web and mobile interactions. | https://medium.com/@mylaro/slowed-up-or-sped-down-heuristics-and-playstyle-innovation-in-final-fantasy-vii-remake-c61afaf30932 | ['Mykaela R'] | 2020-12-17 23:40:50.938000+00:00 | ['User Experience Design', 'Heuristics', 'Game Design', 'Usability', 'Final Fantasy'] |
mini — reviews for 9 Great Streamable Docs | Mini — Reviews for 9 Great Docs that are Streaming Right Now
by Luna
I’ve been watching A LOT of docs lately. Some are pretty great, and some are fantastic! I thought I would share some mini-reviews with ya’ll, so here we go…
Beware the Slenderman, Irene Taylor Brodsky — HBO
This is not an easy watch. However, it’s a really well-told story. The Doc is about an alarming case that includes three children and the modern-day boogie man. It mixes media that were used to seeing, but in a way to tell a broader narrative about the future generation. A devastating story about the influence of internet folklore, this Doc is incredibly profound
8.5
This is not an easy watch. However, it’s a really well-told story. The Doc is about an alarming case that includes three children and the modern-day boogie man. It mixes media that were used to seeing, but in a way to tell a broader narrative about the future generation. A devastating story about the influence of internet folklore, this Doc is incredibly profound 8.5 The Bleeding Edge, Kirby Dick — Netflix
It’s like a real-life horror movie. This Doc is about the medical device industry’s audacious nature and how an institution that we are supposed to trust with our bodies is not here to make us healthy and safe. The subjects tell the most chilling and shocking stories, but they are not going down without a fight despite their unbelievable trauma. Incredibly informative and powerful. This Doc is a beautiful call to action.
9.5
It’s like a real-life horror movie. This Doc is about the medical device industry’s audacious nature and how an institution that we are supposed to trust with our bodies is not here to make us healthy and safe. The subjects tell the most chilling and shocking stories, but they are not going down without a fight despite their unbelievable trauma. Incredibly informative and powerful. This Doc is a beautiful call to action. 9.5 Going Clear, Alex Gibney — HBO
Brilliant, this film was directed by Alex Gibney (who may appear again on this list). Gibney is really good at teaching us so many things and this case he giving us a very dense lesson about the Church of Scientology, but his work’s momentum never slows down. He and his team can use brilliant visual pieces and media to breakdown these subjects almost like a class. It just so happens that the topics are incredibly relevant to the times, and the revelations that appear are outrageous. Emotional, Chilling, and genuinely revealing about the human condition, this Doc is excellent
10
Brilliant, this film was directed by Alex Gibney (who may appear again on this list). Gibney is really good at teaching us so many things and this case he giving us a very dense lesson about the Church of Scientology, but his work’s momentum never slows down. He and his team can use brilliant visual pieces and media to breakdown these subjects almost like a class. It just so happens that the topics are incredibly relevant to the times, and the revelations that appear are outrageous. Emotional, Chilling, and genuinely revealing about the human condition, this Doc is excellent 10 The Gospel According to Andre, Kate Novack — Hulu
An energetic homage to a legend. André Leon Talley is not only a fashion icon but a life icon. Revered for his work in fashion and his ability to work any ensemble, André Leon Talley is truly an icon in black history. He’s an excellent subject for any documentarian, and this film does give us great insight into who he is and why. So much so that I wanted us to go deeper, but the Doc is still pretty great, and it’s a fabulous peek into how the world sees him.
7.5
An energetic homage to a legend. André Leon Talley is not only a fashion icon but a life icon. Revered for his work in fashion and his ability to work any ensemble, André Leon Talley is truly an icon in black history. He’s an excellent subject for any documentarian, and this film does give us great insight into who he is and why. So much so that I wanted us to go deeper, but the Doc is still pretty great, and it’s a fabulous peek into how the world sees him. 7.5 Hail Satan, Penny Lane — Hulu
I love when docs just let their subjects go. The director Penny Lane, allows Satanists to explain why they are not as scary as god-fearing citizens might think. Not only is this a look into a taboo subject, but it becomes a study of America’s civil liberties. Funny, powerful, and insightful this Doc is a great ride.
10
I love when docs just let their subjects go. The director Penny Lane, allows Satanists to explain why they are not as scary as god-fearing citizens might think. Not only is this a look into a taboo subject, but it becomes a study of America’s civil liberties. Funny, powerful, and insightful this Doc is a great ride. 10 Voyeur, Myles Kane/Josh Koury — Netflix
It had the potential to be a great doc, but it does fall flat in the end. However, this story does shed light on a dark world that we ironically don’t get to peek into. The story of a motel owner who found a way to watch all of his guests is just as unnerving as you would imagine. The filmmakers use miniature techniques to recreate eery moments in the motel, but the Doc devolves into the voyeur’s exposure to the world. Still, it loses some momentum, and ultimately it feels that the Doc’s angle is lost. It’s a fascinating story, and it does offer insight into the mind of the subject. As a piece of work, it’s fine, but be aware of it’s very unsettling.
5
It had the potential to be a great doc, but it does fall flat in the end. However, this story does shed light on a dark world that we ironically don’t get to peek into. The story of a motel owner who found a way to watch all of his guests is just as unnerving as you would imagine. The filmmakers use miniature techniques to recreate eery moments in the motel, but the Doc devolves into the voyeur’s exposure to the world. Still, it loses some momentum, and ultimately it feels that the Doc’s angle is lost. It’s a fascinating story, and it does offer insight into the mind of the subject. As a piece of work, it’s fine, but be aware of it’s very unsettling. 5 The Inventor, Alex Gibney — HBO
Holy Moly! This is a great dive into the debunked company Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes persona as a bright young leader. This Doc is fascinating to look at the culture of Silicon Valley. Again, director Alex Gibney uses other moments in history to correlate to this wild tale. Though it’s not as substantial as his previous work “Going Clear,” it still has a lot to say to teach us about the industry’s commitment to innovative promises, even if they’re empty.
8
Holy Moly! This is a great dive into the debunked company Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes persona as a bright young leader. This Doc is fascinating to look at the culture of Silicon Valley. Again, director Alex Gibney uses other moments in history to correlate to this wild tale. Though it’s not as substantial as his previous work “Going Clear,” it still has a lot to say to teach us about the industry’s commitment to innovative promises, even if they’re empty. 8 Three Identical Strangers, Tim Wardle — Hulu
What starts as being a hopeful story worthy of daytime T.V. turns into a story about scientific work ethics. This Doc is so beautifully paced, and it does gracefully shows the psychological toll of not having the most important people close to you. In summary, it’s heartbreaking. It’s powerful; it’s a fascinating watch.
10
What starts as being a hopeful story worthy of daytime T.V. turns into a story about scientific work ethics. This Doc is so beautifully paced, and it does gracefully shows the psychological toll of not having the most important people close to you. In summary, it’s heartbreaking. It’s powerful; it’s a fascinating watch. 10 I Love You, Now Die, Eric Lee Carr — HBO
Another example of a very tough watch. This documentary looks into the tragic love story of two adolescents that developed mainly over text and ended in the worst possible way with an allegedly coerced suicide through a three-word text message. The story is clearly horrific, but surprisingly the path to justice is not so cut and dry. Giving us a look into the dark side of modern teen relationships. This doc is really great, and it will leave you heartbroken and possibly enraged.
9
P.S.
Docuseries that are also great:
How to Fix a Drug Scandal, Eric Lee Carr
8.5
The Vow, Jehane Noujaim / Karim Amer
9
Have you seen these? Talk to me.
- Luna ❤ | https://medium.com/@moonahmay/mini-reviews-for-9-great-streamable-docs-653c4f7dffac | [] | 2020-12-20 17:02:43.653000+00:00 | ['Documentary', 'Streaming', 'Movie Review', 'Movies'] |
Growth in the Name of Love | Growth in the Name of Love
While I was focused on myself, trying as hard as I could to crush life on my own and make myself happy and productive, I forgot to look. I forgot to get anxious. I forgot to focus on men. I didn’t stay up late talking to anyone and I didn’t wake up early looking for good morning texts. I didn’t shop for date clothes, I didn’t cancel spin classes for after date hangovers, I didn’t have something to think about, worry for, stress about and ultimately bang my head against a wall over. There was nobody irritating me, asking incessant or invasive questions. Nobody was inappropriate, raunchy or creepy. I wasn’t made to feel worthless, useless, unattractive or insignificant. I wasn’t objectified, sexually harassed or blamed for tasteless comments based on the fact that I wore something either tight or revealing. I didn’t have to explain my schedule, my hobbies, my work, interests or any other life story, highlighting my greatest hits to impress.
I didn’t have to pretend to care about an ex-girlfriend/wife and how that baggage has carried over into other relationships, thus ruining them for a future with other women. I didn’t have to rearrange my schedule to accommodate anybody else’s and I didn’t have to be the one making all the sacrifices. I came and went as I pleased, thinking only of myself without being mindful of waking someone up or keeping them up at night. I listened to the tv so quietly I could barely hear it and basked in the sweet silence of nobody arguing with me or asking questions. I danced in my underwear for hours to music only I enjoyed and smoked weed in my kitchen just because I could. I left dirty dishes in the sink for days because nobody was relying on me to do chores I didn’t feel like doing. I made pizza, pasta, baked cookies, ate Chinese food and neglected my normally healthy diet. I did me. In fact, I “did me” every morning and twice every night because why fucking not, this is single life baby! I lived for me. Maybe for the first time in my life I was the me-est me! (I realize that sounds Suessical) It was glorious and as much as I have loved time with other people, relationships and romance, I will remember most the quality time I had on my own to get right with my soul. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was what prepared me to be the best human, the best woman and best partner for another person when the time was right. It wasn’t until I logged out of the real world and went off on my own me-themed staycation that I was able to reflect and fully understand why I needed it. I healed old wounds by crying, rifling through pictures of the past, yelling, venting and closing old doors that weren’t leading anywhere. I had difficult conversations with people that I had put off for so long because I was afraid of the response. I thanked the people who love me for staying and the rest I thanked for leaving. I reconnected with old friends and made lots of new ones. They brought interesting new challenges, passion, laughter and opportunity. They took their time getting to know me and got high from the intensity of my vibes. In my newfound glory of being on my own I was giddy and childlike.
I worked hard, wrote a book, edited someone else’s and lined up work I never thought I’d have the chance to do. I told jokes, stories, shared experiences and encouraged others to share their stories with me. I was charming, engaging, open and… HAPPY. For the first time ever in my life, I dated me. I made myself happier than any man had in years. It was the most honest and fulfilling path I have ever taken. I will never have regrets for exploring myself and getting to know the person I neglected so haphazardly over the years. I forgave myself for personal wrongdoings and accepted my own apology for the injustice. I paid close attention to my reactions to other people’s words and worked on being patient and carefully considerate of their feelings.
I was kind to others (even more so than before) and reached out to people I knew needed a friend. I listened, nodded, showed empathy and offered solicited advice when it was warranted. Committed in my due diligence to people in need, I vowed to be more focused on the individuals I served daily in my job. I helped them develop and enhance their skills and in turn allowed them to teach me about tenacity, fortitude and self-discipline. I saw them fall in frustration and immediately dust themselves off and rise again until they achieved success. I learned that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from, where you are going or even where you are headed. If you do all things in the name of love, you will gain all that is possible for you and likewise you will be deserving of this love.
Love has failed me, abused me, disappointed me and made me question who I am time and time again. But it is because of love that I have been able to smile again, laugh and fight for anybody who is unable to stand on their own. I have always done things with that love in my heart but losing sight of why and how to love myself actually brought me more romance than I ever thought possible. I needed to fall out of love with me to learn that I could fall back in. This time, I learned to treat myself with much more kindness and in turn I am able to be a much kinder human.
As I emerge and prepare to enter the next phase of my life, I am calm, centered and ready to work. Having done all of the inner work I never knew I needed, I’m a much happier and informed woman, therefore more available to make another person happy. So many lessons learned and so many nights spent solving the mysteries of my own mind, but I am better for it. Cheers to me and cheers to you for taking the time to date yourself, study you and become an expert in doing what makes you supremely happy. I am here for you in the meantime, for those times in which you can’t find yourself or if you can and you just need a humble brag about the work you have put in.
Here’s to becoming a kind human, this is the best decision you could ever make…in the name of love. | https://medium.com/@kimberlyvara/growth-in-the-name-of-love-41abe8039221 | ['Kimberly Vara'] | 2020-12-20 19:38:12.635000+00:00 | ['Determination', 'Relationships', 'Evolving', 'Confidence', 'Love'] |
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand | Baan Mae Kampong is a homestay ecotourism destination in Chiang Mai that is located in a valley where the people live a humble existence. That guests are welcome to visit at any time to learn about the people’s way of life. Relax and lie down while on vacation, listen to the sounds of nature in the mountains, and enjoy the chilly weather all year. Another appeal that draws visitors to this area is the gorgeous nature combined with the tranquil and uncomplicated way of life.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Baan Mae Kampong story
Baan Mae Kampong is a historic village that has been in existence for over a century. The majority of the villagers were from Chiang Mai Province’s Doi Saket District. The length of Baan Mae Kampong is approximately 1,300 meters, and it is located approximately 50 kilometers from Chiang Mai. The villagers of Mae Kampong have their hoses lined up in the valley and on both sides of the creek. Mountains, tea and coffee plantations, waterfalls, fertile forests (Doi Mon Lan), and other beautiful natural resources surround the community. The weather is pleasant throughout the year, making it an ideal destination for a vacation. Baan Mae Kampong now has 132 households and an estimated population of 362 people. The villagers in Baan Mae Kampong’s primary occupation is the production of tea, which is known locally as meang (tea). Secondary occupations include coffee farming, trading, and employment. The Buddhist faith is practiced by the vast majority of the villagers.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
The social characteristics of Baan Mae Kampong are that the villagers live in dependence on one another like relatives and are generous to one another. Villagers believe in community rituals, follow community rules, and all members contribute to community development. There are numerous ecosystems in Baan Mae Kampong. There is a biodiversity of natural vegetation, clean air, and perfect water sources along the way, with yellow-red flowers up a nearby creek. The villagers refer to yellow-red flowers as “Kampong flowers,” and there is a river that runs through the village; “Mae Nam” means “River.” As a result, the village is referred to collectively as “Mae Kampong,” which is the origin of the village name.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Overall condition of Baan Mae Kampong
Indigenous people from Chiang Mai Province’s Doi Saket District were the first to settle in Baan Mae Kampong. The main reason for their migration was a lack of cultivable land. When they first arrived on the land, collecting tea was their primary source of income. The first miang (tea tree) collected by the villagers was a natural growth. As more immigrants arrived, the Kantha Pruksa Temple was built to serve as a mental anchor for the entire village. Later, the Phao Khmu people moved to the area to harvest tea for hire. After a long time, Phao Khmu people married locals, and all of Baan Mae Kampong’s residents are a mix of blood and culture. Baan Mae Kampong first appeared in the country’s center before spreading to the areas of Pang Nok, Pang Khon, Pang Ton, and Pang Nai.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Baan Mae Kampong is currently located in Chiang Mai Province’s Village №3, Huay Kaew Subdistrict, Mae On Subdistrict. The village covers an area of about 6.22 square kilometers (3,887.50 rai). The general geography is the upland area, which has cool weather throughout the year. Baan Mae Kampong is located approximately 20 kilometers from the district office and 50 kilometers from Chiang Mai city; access to the village is simple in all seasons. Baan Mae Kampong had a population of 418 people in 2004, with 130 households.
The intereating locations at Baan Mae Kampong
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Kanta Prueksa Temple (Wat Mae Kampong)
This temple was constructed in 1930, making it nearly a century old. Inside the temple, there is beautiful ancient Lanna architecture. The sanctuary is entirely made of teak and has ornate carvings. A small church in the middle of the water, located in the middle of a stream that flows through the village of Mae Kampong, is a must-see at this temple among the fertile forests and rivers. The church is surrounded by lush vegetation. The villagers of Mae Kampong have a lush and quiet mind.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Pha Nam Lod
The Teen Tok Royal Project’s Pha Nam Lod is surrounded by lush greenery. Another stunning photo opportunity is the wooden bridge that serves as a long walkway to the inside. A large stone will be present in the Pha Nam Lod area, but there will be a gap beneath the rock. Allow water to flow through it. There is also a sitting area in this area where visitors can sit and enjoy the view of real nature. Visitors can also enjoy a cup of coffee because a coffee shop will be open during the holidays.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Mae Kampong Waterfall
The Mae Kampong Waterfall is another popular natural attraction in Baan Mae Kampong. The waterfall has seven levels in total, and the water flows year round, allowing visitors to swim in the basin. We will be able to get up close and personal with nature by visiting here. A nature trail and a waterfall area are also nearby. The path is a rocky one that winds its way up the mountain. The waterfall’s cool water will splash onto our faces as we walk, and we’ll still get a good angle when we stop to photograph it.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Kewfin viewpoint
It is a view of the sea of mist in the Chae Son National Park (Doi Lan) area from Kewfin, which is on the border of Lampang and Chiang Mai provinces. We can get amazing views of both provinces, Chiang Mai and Lampang, from here, which is about 3 kilometers up near the Mae Kampong Waterfall. It’s a little difficult to get here. Tourists should contact local villagers to arrange a trip because the route is narrow and steep. Because the road is narrow and steep, visitors should rely on locals who are familiar with the area and travel to the viewpoint in a four-wheel vehicle.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
Chom Nok- Chom Mai Coffee shop
Just before you reach the Mae Kampong waterfall, this small cafe sells tea, coffee, and bakery treats. It’s an excellent vantage point for photographing Mae Kampong Village’s magnificent panoramic panorama.
Baan Mae Kampong, Chiangmai, Thailand
How to Get to Baan Mae Kampong
– Cars and motorcycles: From Chiang Mai city, take route 1141, cross the Super Highway Chiang Mai — Lampang and Phanonsomphot Chiang Mai 700 years, then go straight to line 1317, continue with 3005 and run up to Huay Kaew Subdistrict. The acronym for the Teen Tok Royal Project Development Center is the Teen Tok Royal Project Development Center. The total distance is about 55 kilometers, and it takes about an hour if you leave Chiang Mai city. On the Chang Puak side, take Route 118 Chiang Mai — Doi Saket Road and turn right onto Route 3005.
Traveling for those without access to a private vehicle
– Rent a red car or a van with a driver, or make arrangements with the hotel for car pick-up and drop-off. There could be additional fees. It is preferable to first agree on a price.
– Another option is the recently launched “Chiang Mai — San Kamphaeng Hot Springs — Mae Kampong” van line (transporting white elephants — Kad Luang — Nong Hoi — Promenada — San Kamphaeng hot springs). Contact must be made first because Mae Kampong is not on the main route. The most practical method is via
Van Hotsprings on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Van.Hotsprings
which includes the following phrases:
1. Send an email to [email protected] with your name and phone number.
2. Inform those who wish to travel of the time and date on which they wish to travel.
Go up at 7:40 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 3:40 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. at Warorot Market.
3. Specify the number of available seats for both the outbound and return journeys.
4. The fare per person / trip is 150 Thai Baht. The charter price is 500 baht per trip if there are four or more passengers; if there are fewer than 400 passengers, the charter price is 500 baht per trip.
5. Transportation: Passengers will be dropped off at San Kamphaeng Hot Springs along the way. Then connect to a waiting car that will take you to Mae Kampong. On the way back, a car will be waiting to pick up passengers at the pavilion opposite Mae Kampong School and transport them to the hot spring, where they will board the van back to Chiang Mai.
Please call 083–325–4965 for more information.
In addition, this site has some relevant info: VISIT THAILAND | https://medium.com/@jintawat.phaiboontrirat/baan-mae-kampong-chiangmai-thailand-a2438b9af5ea | [] | 2021-09-08 09:14:42.366000+00:00 | ['Travel Writing', 'Tourism', 'Thaila', 'Chiang Mai', 'Travel Tips'] |
I’m a Total Fraud, and So Are You | Maybe instead of trying to ignore these feelings, or somehow ‘beat them,’ we should acknowledge them and then put them to work for us. Here’s how to turn those nagging thoughts into something useful:
“I don’t deserve to be here”
Well maybe you don’t, but does that really matter? You are where you are, so unless you’re planning to quit, you should make it your job to be as useful as possible. When someone asks you for help, take the time to do what you can. I’ve had several roles with “director” in the title and still found myself doing basic production work, proofreading copy, and occasionally cleaning out the fridge (gross).
When you contribute to the team you earn your place regardless of how you got there, and earning your place is something that should never stop.
“I don’t know what I’m talking about”
You’re in good company with this one — Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz once said, “Very few people get into the seat and believe today that they are now qualified to be the CEO. They’re not going to tell you that, but it’s true.” Regardless of how much you know going into a job, it’s your responsibility to keep learning, as much as you can, all the time.
I’ve led several design teams and in the beginning I’m usually suspicious that this will be the time my peers pick-up on my lack of formal design education; I worry I’ll lose their confidence, and becoming embarrassed and ineffective. It hasn’t happened yet, but I still keep reading, practicing, and forcing myself out of my comfort zone to stay current and learn as much as I can. President Barack Obama read for an hour a day, every day, so keep learning and eventually you will know what you’re talking about (even though you probably did already).
“I’m not as smart as ____”
Natalie Portman spoke about being a freshman at Harvard, saying, “I felt like there had been some mistake, that I wasn’t smart enough to be in this company.” Sometimes instead of your peers it’s someone you hire, someone young, eager, and fluent in the latest tools and techniques. The good news is that you don’t need to be the smartest or the most talented in order to succeed, so embrace your humility and accept that you’re probably not going to be the best at everything.
Counter-intuitively, the more you surround yourself with the best and brightest people, the more you personally will succeed because you’re part of a team, perhaps even its leader. Don’t fear people that you perceive as being smarter or more talented; instead, nurture and support them. A rising tide lifts all boats.
“I’m going to embarrass myself”
Your instincts are probably right on this one. We all embarrass ourselves from time-to-time, but that’s what makes us human. The first talk I ever gave at a conference was called User Experience Doesn’t Exist — obviously users exist and they have experiences so it didn’t really make much sense. Thinking back on it makes me cringe, but it got me started and I’ve gone on to give several more talks that made moderately more sense at conferences across the country.
Leadership requires confidence, but demonstrating a bit of vulnerability can be a very endearing quality. While you don’t want it to happen everyday, embarrassing yourself isn’t the worst thing that can happen, in fact it might help you to win people over. When you make an innocent gaff, just smile, own it, and course correct.
“I’ve never done anything good”
Many talented people cringe when asked about their past work. Whether it’s a portfolio of designs, things they wrote, or a startup they founded, watching them explain it can be a painful experience filled with excuses and qualifiers for something that, to their audience, seems good or even exceptional. While most of us could learn to market ourselves better, this feeling isn’t necessarily bad in small doses. If you still think the work you did 10 years is ago is amazing then how much can you have grown in your craft since then? Maybe it was good for the time with the resources you had, but you’ve learned a lot since then so your work today can be even better.
The drive to improve is a healthy one, so while you don’t need to hate the work you’ve done and make excuses for it, it’s probably healthy to wish you could apply what you’ve learned since to make it better. My first portfolio site had background music…‘nuff said.
Don’t fight it, use it
Of course these kinds of feelings can be a negative force in your life, but you’ve gotten this far without being overwhelmed, so stay the course — don’t ignore your doubts, but don’t accept them as true either. Focus instead on what they can teach you: how to be humble, useful, nurturing, curious, endearing, and driven to improve. The reason why so many successful people confess to having these feelings may just be that they learned how to tap into them to make themselves better leaders, better friends, and ultimately happier, healthier frauds people. | https://medium.com/thinking-design/im-a-total-fraud-and-so-are-you-10fd27725542 | ['Kurt Krumme'] | 2020-02-07 20:31:49.060000+00:00 | ['Imposter Syndrome', 'Careers', 'UX Design', 'UX', 'Creative Career'] |
Why Big Data /Hadoop Implementation Fails | This is a big question which is not been talked by many. Many companies tried to adopt a new technology and getting failed on the implementation . At the end they bury the whole team for the failure. Like wise Hadoop is one of the technologies buried in many companies.
Who uses Hadoop
Hadoop is a fancy technology to be adopted by many organization and they are trying to solving their problem with Hadoop. some of the key problems faced by companies
Big web logs not able to store and retrieve
Huge set of Audio files or call logs which needs to be saved some where
Historical information of the transaction databases
We have multiple problems but is Hadoop is the solution? yes it is. but still why companies are failing.!
Thought process across teams
Senior management : Sees Hadoop as replacement of existing tools and expects it to reduce cost by 50%
Data Architects : They know Hadoop is the highly distributed system but they are not confident to take that path.
Developers : Developer used to work with just one system but they fail to visualize the big picture of the power of executing their code at hundred of servers at a same time.
Aligning the Team expectations
Team should perform the cost benefit analysis of implementing the Hadoop before the implementation such as | https://medium.com/@scrumport/why-big-data-hadoop-implementation-fails-39248ff4c3b7 | ['Agile Data Experts'] | 2021-01-11 16:59:11.948000+00:00 | ['Hadoop', 'Process Improvement', 'Big Data', 'Cost', 'Failure'] |
UniFox & Achain Partnership Announcement! | Unifox and Achain are proud to announce that have formed strategic Partnership to Drive the Mass Adoption of Cryptocurrency
UniFox and Achain have formed a strategic partnership
UniFox continues with their plans to support and cooperate with projects with solid and growing communities. After recent partnerships with Electra and Phore, UniFox decided to collaborate with the Achain platform to strengthen its power and reach in Asia, and to help ACT become accessible worldwide. We are confident that Achain will help us to focus effectively on the Asian market and promote ourselves in the local crypto community, while UniFox will help Achain spread the word about Achain in Europe and the West in general. The Unifox network has a global reach and plans to deploy over 6,000 ATMs and over 50,000 POS terminals within the next 2 years and the Asian market will play an important role.
This partnership opens the doors for Achain to be included in all of UniFox’s products, including ATMs, POS terminals and local exchanges. UniFox has obtained in Achain a strong Eastern partner for the purpose of building strong local communities and facilitating entry into Asian market.
“We are very excited to start cooperation with such a big project that Achain represents. This is just another proof that UniFox is becoming a global project and those kind of partnerships is exactly what our community expects from us. This means open doors for UniFox to Asia and especially China. Achain means credibility, strong community and big power. We are proud to become their partners” said Jan Turek, Co-Founder, UniFox.
The importance of the partnership is also demonstrated by Matthew Engel, Western Community Director, Achain.
“Achain’s partnership with Unifox signifies the intercontinental exchange of value. This cooperation demonstrates not only the blending of services and specialities. More important it realizes the purpose of globalization in business and in culture. Achain and Unifox will transform digital value into the physical.”
Also, both parties have been negotiating a possibility to add ACT as a payment method for UniFox’s upcoming token sale. This could be possible thanks to the Vexanium dapp that has recently released a feature for adding ACT as a payment method.
20 000 FOX Give Away!
In celebration of the partnership, UniFox has decided to give away a total of 20,000 FOX tokens to the first 1,000 people to use a unique promotional code. You can find out the code and how to claim the free tokens in the video.
Check out the video to find out your unique code!
About Achain
Achain creates a blockchain network, easy to use, low cost, customizable and fast, these features allow Achain to become a public blockchain platform that allows developers of all levels to issue tokens and create intelligent contracts, decentralized applications and blockchain systems. Achain believes that as technological innovation creates a new network of production relationships, it will solve the problem of trust in interpersonal communications and organically integrate social consensus, individual behavior and the exchange of values into an inseparable whole.
You can find more information about Achain at: https://www.achain.com/
Stay tuned for more upcoming news and as always, don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions! | https://medium.com/unifox/unifox-achain-partnership-announcement-da835860b4b3 | ['Unifox Official'] | 2018-08-13 12:01:01.406000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Unifox', 'Achain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin'] |
Semantic Segmentation & Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving Simulation | Building and training the FCN
To begin, I set out to find an appropriate FCN architecture by doing some initial research by reading papers and pouring through various GitHub repositories. After having built and trained a few networks from scratch, I knew this approach would be time-consuming. A less time-consuming approach to build a prototype would be to use transfer learning, i.e use a pre-trained network and fine-tune it with new data samples instead of building and training one. Another objective during my research was to find a FCN architecture that would run in real-time using a lower-end GPU. Not only would this be essential for steering a car in simulator, eventually, I’d aspire to run the architecture in a car, making real-time performance paramount.
After some research with various papers, I discovered the ENet architecture, which is one of the fastest FCN that I could find with a working GitHub repository from the original authors along with several others. The network was pretrained on CityScapes, a dataset of 5000 semantically segmented dash cam images and labels of city driving. The network offers 15+ FPS on a NVIDIA TX1 platform, along with good accuracy (81 mIOU) on CityScapes. This network essentially checks all of the requirement boxes and would be very useful in a first pass implementation.
Evaluation of various semantic segmentation networks, accuracy vs frames per second.
After evaluating it on some camera simulator images, although not terrible, the network’s accuracy was not high enough to use without fine-tuning. The most important object class, road, was working to a degree, but many detections were incorrect enough to affect the determination of the road shape. The goal would be to produce semantically labeled output that would generally follow the road contour. The reasoning behind this accuracy failure is due to two factors. ENet is pre-trained on real dash camera images from the CityScapes dataset, not simulated images from a virtual racetrack. Thus, the features it is trained to detect do not include some of the features in the simulated images, such as red-white striped shoulder markings and cobblestone bridges. Also, CityScapes image resolution (1024x512) is also much higher than the simulator camera input (320x160), which would result in large differences in feature detection, due to the ConvNet layers not being scale invariant.
After the mediocre initial evaluation results, fine-tuning the network was the next step. Fine-tuning involved further training the network with simulator images and labels, along with reducing the number of detected object classes. The CityScapes dataset includes 19 object classes and 1 “other” class, however only 2 classes were necessary for this prototype: road and other. The fine-tuning thus involved reducing the decoder size and also generating semantically segmented labels for the new training data. The network was fine-tuned for 100 epochs using TensorFlow with 800 simulator images as a training set and 100 images as a validation set. No significant data augmentation was utilized (only image mirroring). The training time took roughly 20 minutes on a NVidia 1050ti.
Top: Original image; Middle: Original ENet model trained on CityScapes; Bottom: Fine-tuned ENet model
Displayed above are some qualitative image results before and after fine-tuning. The top image is the original sample, the middle image shows the results of the original CityScapes trained ENet model, the bottom image shows the results after fine-tuning. The middle image detects the most of the road pixels correctly, highlighted in magenta, however incorrectly interprets the red-white shoulder as part of the road. The fine-tuned model produces a more accurate result, covering almost all drivable areas, while filtering out the road shoulder. The non-magenta labels in the original ENet model are predictions of non-road classes types. The fine-tuned model only focuses on 2 classes, road (magenta) and non-road.
Automated Label Generation
An essential part of the training processes for a semantic segmentation network is generating labels for the training image set. Manually creating image labels is a labor intensive process requiring some image processing tools and patience. The label image can be generated by opening the training image in a tool like Photoshop, creating a transparent layer over the image, then creating a colored silhouette around the various objects that need classification, then exporting this layer into a tool that could perform one-hot encoding. The silhouette would need to fit tightly around the contours of these objects and would need to be consistent across images for the best possible convergence and inference accuracy. Having to do this several hundred times is an epic chore and would evoke accuracy errors through repetition fatigue.
Luckily, for this particular problem scope, the classification required only detecting road pixels in an image and not other complex shapes. Roads are fairly well-defined in shape. From the point of view of a camera traveling along the surface of a road, they are generally a contiguous area between two converging lines heading towards a vanishing point off into the horizon or towards the edge of the image if the road is curving. Roads that cars travel on are usually made of concrete and have white or yellow road markings. With these characteristics, it would be possible to build a computer vision approach to labeling the images with an automated script to save on the human effort along with improving the consistency.
While the approach was not trivial, I was able to generate an algorithm that would select pixels based on an adaptive color space thresholds. The algorithm essentially works by transforming the image into a few different color spaces, then dynamically adjusting a set of lower and upper bound thresholds for pixel values that fall within these boundaries. Afterward this initial filtering, I applied topology filters to locate contiguous pixel regions and then plotted regression lines at the region boundaries to determine the ‘edges’ of the road within the image. For this, I made an assumption that all relevant camera images would require the ego vehicle to be traveling on the surface of the road, not outside of the road boundary. I felt this was a safe assumption for training purposes, as the goal of this agent is to drive the car while it’s on a known road, not while it was off-road.
Various cases of accurately auto-labeled images using computer vision techniques. Note the variety of ground textures, shadows and edge conditions
You might now be wondering if I’m able to auto-generate image labels by detecting road pixels, then why bother generating a neural network to infer the road pixels? There are a few reasons. Firstly, the label generator was not always 100% correct — there are many edge cases that would need to be hand labeled, although the automated solution greatly reduced the human effort. Secondly, a neural network would be far more optimized and better at discovering nuanced characteristics across many road types than relying on a computer vision approach. Because of the accuracy was important in the training, the label generator’s filtering performance was much slower than the required real-time performance. Thirdly, the neural network could be re-trained to detect more than just roads if more classes were eventually added to the labels, whereas an ensemble of computer vision filters would need to be implemented to detect multiple object classes. This undoubtedly would operate more slowly as additional class types are supported.
Training the Steering Model
With the FCN part of the network working, the next step was to train an extension to the model for inferring the steering angle from the output of the FCN. Building on the principles of deep learning, my goal here was to create a deeper neural network, with one portion of the network detecting road pixels and another portion taking those outputs and using them as inputs for generating a steering angle.
The architecture for this part of the network was very simple; it would be a feed-forward network consisting of two dense layers, the first using the softmax pixel probabilities from the FCN output as new inputs and the second ending with a single output neuron, representing the steering angle. Between the two layers, a PreLU activation function was introduced as a non-linearity into the model. Additionally, L2 regularization was added to the layers to prevent the model weights from excessive over-fitting.
The training for this portion of the network would only involve these two final layers, so the FCN layers weights were “frozen”, i.e. made read-only, so back-propagation of the loss function only traversed these two layers instead of the entire model. I’ll explain more about the advantages of this isolation in the evaluation below. The label for this portion of the network is the target steering angles, so the network would learn the best steering angle for the given road pixel inputs.
To determine the steering angle labels, I chose to use a simple heuristic instead of providing the collected human operated steering angle data samples. This simple heuristic is to take the road labels used for training the FCN, determine the left and right edge of the road region, then calculate the set of middle points between the two lines across all horizontal rows in the camera image. With some assumptions about camera orientation, this would give an approximated center line for the road. A far enough point on this line from the camera would represent the point at which the car should be heading towards to continue traveling down the road. Using this sampled point and some simple trigonometry, the angle steering angle from the perspective of the driver can be approximated.
If you think about how a person would drive a car intuitively, this is roughly a similar model for steering. A driver’s eyes would focus on a point relatively far enough ahead of the vehicle along the path of the road. Steering towards that point would keep the car within the lane with enough time to react and apply minimal error correction. However if a driver continually chose a point not far ahead of the vehicle, they would afford themselves less reaction time to compensate for an over or undershoot in their intended trajectory. Estimation using a far enough point is essential in this case to minimize error by calculating the delta steering angle across a longer distance. For the heuristic used in the algorithm, I chose an appropriate ‘heading’ point that was a fixed number of pixels before the detected horizon line in the road region. For sharp turns where only one road edge is visible, the heading point would become the point where the visible road edge intersects the camera image edge.
With a means to calculate a steering angle from the road’s shape, I was able to train the model using TensorFlow. The model was trained for 10–15 epochs before converging to a minimal RMSE for the steering angles of a validation set. However an important concept to discuss is dealing with label imbalances. To correctly build a model to steer at any appropriate angle, the model must equitably train on the entire range of valid steering angles. For this data set, there are many more likely steering angles than others, causing an imbalance in the steering angle distribution. For instance, the training track had a few curves and several straight sections, causing there to be more cases for steering at lower angles than at higher angles. Another problem is given the inference is a regression, there is a continuous range of values to infer, but only a finite number of samples with which to train against.
Angle distribution: -25 to 25 degrees
In order to deal with the imbalances in the distribution and continuous range, two concepts are introduced. To handle the continuity problem, the steering angles are grouped into discrete ranges of 1 degree, a small enough value to minimize the margin of error in the angles. To handle the distribution imbalance, a method to influence of the loss during training is introduced. The idea here is to scale the error with a set of weights during back-propagation so that less likely ranges of angles have greater influence while more likely values have less influence. To generate the weights, the concept of median frequency balancing is used to scale the training loss during back-propagation by the label sample distribution. To implement, a histogram of the sample distribution frequency with a 1 degree bin size is created and is used calculate a set of weights for each range set using the following equation:
w(x) = median_frequency(X) / frequency(x),
where median_frequency(X) is the median frequency of the entire sample distribution, frequency(x) is the frequency of a particular sample bin x, w(x) is the weight for sample bin x
Evaluation
To evaluate the network’s accuracy quantitatively, there would need to be a ground truth test set of steering angles to calculate a loss based on the values generated by inference. As an equitable comparison, the test set was generated using the same auto-labeling technique used to generate the training and validation data. In cases where the auto-labeling failed, a human labeled approximation was used instead. The graph below breaks down the accuracy by steering angle to account for the distribution inequality. The RMSE for test output is fairly high (all over 1 degree of error; over 3 degrees of error for higher steering angles), while the validation was far lower. I’ve only trained with limited data and evaluated on one track at this time, so this model is over-fitting the data and have some room for improvements.
Model Evaluation: RMSE for various steering angles
I’ve also recorded a video of the model in action on the track as a qualitative evaluation. The right side of the video shows the camera sensor view, the FCN output and the steering direction based on the steering angle output from the final layer of the network (white line). You’ll note that the semantic segmentation output is imprecise; there are many gaps in road and often times there are incorrectly predicted road segments towards the horizon. However a rough contour of the road can be inferred from this noisy data (see green overlay). This is a representation of what the 2nd half of the network is tuned to ‘perceive’ from this FCN output. From this, an estimate of the final steering angle will be generated.
You’ll notice the car does oscillate from side to side, and very noticeably near the end of the video. This is due to errors in both the road pixel predictions and in the steering angle estimates. For the road predictions, the end of the video shows evidence that the model generates noisy predictions while driving on the cobble-stone bridge. The transition from the bridge to road asphalt appears to have prediction errors which most likely cause the car to improperly detect the road direction. To solve this, more data of this transition or further data augmentation is needed to improve the training data set. As far as minor oscillations, the root cause is the simulator introduces latency into the steering angle update of about 0.25 seconds, as a mild effort to model the time needed to turn the steering wheel. The model is not trained to estimate and compensate for this, resulting in delays to the steering update after prediction and eventual overshooting of the intended trajectory. A PID controller is used to reduce this effect, however further tuning is necessary.
Looking beyond the performance, this network was far more tractable and pliable in it’s training and my understanding of what to tune. There was a case for instance where there was a significant amount of noise in the predictions, resulting in large variances in predicted angles. By analyzing the output of the FCN, I was able to inspect there was considerably poor and unstable predictions in the pixels, with the root cause being a hyper-parameter setting error in batch normalization. After fixing the FCN predictions, the next challenge was to tune the steering angles so there would be less oscillations. Adjusting the heuristic for steering angle training and re-training the 2nd half of the network helped improve the results.
In summary , this approach is advantageous for a few reasons. Firstly, the isolation between the semantic segmentation training phase from the steering angle training allows for easier tuning and debugging of failure cases. By tuning the layers of the network independently, the trainer has a greater level of control over modeling the correct inference output. Secondly, the heuristic-based approach of steering angle modeling avoids errors in human-based training input collection and offers yet another hyper-parameter to tune for greater control. Thirdly, this network architecture is far more forward thinking with respect to augmenting it with capabilities to detect new types of objects and their positions, such as other vehicles. With respect to disadvantages, this network structure is not as optimized as the original network and needs GPU acceleration for real-time operation. Also, there’s additional pre-processing necessary to label the training data whereas in the original solution, the training data was unprocessed.
Next Steps
After having achieved my goal of creating a prototype of this new semantic segmentation network, my next set of goals are as follows:
Investigate if an algorithmic approach to determining the road curvature would be more accurate than a neural network. This would involve replacing the 2nd half of the network after the FCN with a computer vision algorithm to estimate the road curvature over time. This could lead to creating more hyper-parameters for further customizable control of the driving agent. Investigate the affects of data augmentation on the FCN. Adding more complexity to pre-processing the training images with geometric affine transformations, clipping, color and contrast distortions could help generalize the semantic segmentation model further and provide smoother and more accurate predictions. Test this method on new data sets and tracks. I’d like to test the steering model potentially on other simulator tracks and also on real-world driving data sets! | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/semantic-segmentation-deep-learning-for-autonomous-driving-simulation-part-1-271cd611eed3 | ['Jose Rojas'] | 2020-11-17 14:58:14.039000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Self Driving Cars', 'TensorFlow', 'Deep Learning', 'Udacity'] |
Sunrises = New beginnings…❤. Turning 24 years old in 17 days and it… | Turning 24 years old in 17 days and it made me think back on what I’ve learned, every situation I overcame, beautiful memories and not so beautiful ones, everything that has made me who I am today and everything that has made me want to change and become a better woman, human being, soul everyday that i know i am capable of evolving into.
This thought on this post is my reminder and yours that you are capable, resilient, and worthy each morning of creating the life you desire and of loving yourself, talking to yourself with love regardless of hardships or changes in life. It’s so easy to give up and believe the bs your subconscious thoughts wants you to believe. All that is doing is blocking your light. Your ability to move forward, to have confidence in everything you do, and most importantly, your ability to truly love your inner self.
This journey is not easy, but even better. Challenges are what keeps me going. Because it’s a constant reminder that I CAN do it. I CAN if i believe i can. So, I know it will be constant work but if i worked for others throughout my life, why not work on what’s most important to me: myself? Although it doesn’t pay me in cash, it does pay me in quality of life & of mind. Now is my time to continue to work on myself and for myself.
Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash
Reminder: Be patient with yourself through this beautiful evolving journey.
Wish everyone a loving Sunday and remember, even if you’re super close on giving up, remember your motivations in life, and remember why you made it this far. We are all warriors.
Being grateful is essential to this part of the journey.
Grateful for my struggles and my successes.
They taught me to keep moving forward no matter what.
Feeding my mind love because i choose to.
What’s stopping you from feeding yours with ❤ ? | https://medium.com/@lovejulissa/transformative-realizations-6c7dcf6d3e0d | ['Julissa Jimenez'] | 2019-08-11 14:55:51.435000+00:00 | ['Love Yourself', 'Transformation', 'Self Love'] |
Wyze Sprinkler Controller review: 8 zones, 50 bucks | The sprinkler controller is not such advanced technology that it should command more than a hundred bucks at retail. And yet it does. That’s in part because this market is so small that it has been able to resist significant price competition.
But now Wyze has arrived to shake things up, as it does in every product category it enters. In a market where most options hover around $150, the Wyze Sprinkler Controller hits the ground at a mere $50.
In order to keep costs down, Wyze’s devices tend to be simple affairs, and this controller is no exception to the rule. The fairly trim, oblong device offers eight zones, connecting to your valve wiring via simple spring clips, so no screwdriver is required to install the controller except for mounting it to the wall.
This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best smart sprinkler controllers, where you’ll find reviews of the competition’s offerings, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.A simple series of eight lights on the front illuminate to tell you which zone is actively running, and a set of four buttons to the right of the display can be used to run manual “quick runs.” You simply use the arrows to select a zone, and the other two buttons to start and stop the run.
Christopher Null / IDG The primary display offers a weather forecast plus info on both your prior run and the next.
The system sets up in Wyze’s do-everything app (I tested with final hardware but a beta version of the app, in advance of the January launch of the product) and connects to your network via 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (only). In my testing, installation went quickly and completed successfully without incident, and soon I was able to begin working with my zones in earnest.
Numerous options are available for configuring your zones, including fixed scheduling based on time and day of week and a “smart” scheduling system called Sprinkler Plus, which uses localized weather information to manage your watering. Sprinkler Plus is a subscription add-on that costs $10 per year, but three years of the service are currently included with the product. Note that weather-based skips can’t be activated without a Sprinkler Plus subscription, even if you’re using an otherwise fixed schedule. Scheduling can, however, be set based on sunrise and sunset times without a current subscription.
[ Further reading: The best smart home systems ] Christopher Null / IDG It’s unclear how Wyze derives this soil moisture estimate.
The biggest catch with the device is that Wyze doesn’t do a great job of holding your hand during setup. To start with, I wasn’t presented with a wizard to set up my zones but was instead just dropped into the interface, complete with a default schedule that was set to deliver 20 minutes of watering over a 2-hour, 20-minute period (pausing frequently for 30 minute “soak” sessions). It also wasn’t clear how often this schedule would run—the upcoming calendar was blank—but after the first night of watering concluded, another instance appeared in the calendar three days following the first run.
I tried deleting this schedule, tweaking some characteristics of my lawn, such as sun exposure, slope, and soil type, and was then presented with a new smart schedule of a 40-minute block of watering (which is definitely overkill for my yard). Again, there was no indication how often this would run, as if Wyze decides day by day based on its arcane estimate of soil moisture and that day’s weather conditions whether or not it is going to water your lawn. As well, you must set up a separate backup schedule that Wyze uses in the event that your internet connection is lost (for more than 2 weeks).
Ultimately, I turned off the confusing smart watering schedule—as I’ve done with every other sprinkler controller I’ve tested—and set a fixed schedule of 10 minutes each evening. The good news is that you can fine-tune whether this schedule runs based on rain levels recorded, temperature, or wind speed (provided you have a Sprinkler Plus subscription). You can also skip certain days of the week based on days of the week or even if the date is even or odd. Wyze also offers a solid, calendar-based log of your watering cycles, and it provides push notifications whenever a watering run begins and ends. (All told, the interface is suspiciously similar to Rachio’s, with only a few modest differences.)
It’s nothing fancy—Wyze products rarely are—and if you don’t mind the $10-per-year surcharge come 2024, it’s a capable way to cover the basics, without having to fork over the 100-plus bucks that other controllers command.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@dawn11170323/wyze-sprinkler-controller-review-8-zones-50-bucks-c120a5b6acf6 | [] | 2021-01-27 11:37:57.838000+00:00 | ['Home Tech', 'Mobile Accessories', 'Chargers', 'Consumer'] |
How to be Amazing at Everything in Three Easy Steps | An arbitrary number of amazing “woke business” hacks to bring your human existence to the “next level” of existential success.
Photo by Guillaume de Germain, Unsplash
Every Day Awesomeness
Every day, people ask me, “Justin, you exude amazingness — how can I also be as amazing as you and also not really change anything about my life?” And I have to say, “Who are you? How did you find me here? Why won’t you leave me alone?”
I have to admit, I want to help these people — if only to make them stop haunting me — so I feel compelled to answer their questions.
Normally, this would take quite a bit of writing, perhaps in the form of a book, or at least several parody business-woke articles. But that sounds like a lot of words, which would take time, and that’s not how we are going to play this.
The motto I just invented that also changed my life, probably…
The personal motto I made up at 9:16 AM this morning is: “Take the time to make your life easy — and it will ease the time of your life.”
Sounds promising, right? That’s because it has the balanced format of an aphorism. But it’s missing something…
This man is wearing a suit and he’s thrilled, so he’s probably just made a lot of money with little or no effort.
Look at that. If you aren’t convinced by that fist-pumping, smiling capitalist in a business suit on the phone, then you lack the ability to feel joy. Or you are a communist. (If so, welcome comrade. Please clap, comment, and subscribe.)
Aren’t you going to give us some easy to follow steps to be Amazing?
Yes. I’ve read so many of these really, really helpful business/self-help articles and they pretty much always have some helpful steps. Those are your Key Takeaways. Key because, you use to open something, in this case, amazingness, and takeaways because, you take them away with you. Like Chinese takeout, you bring the wisdom back to the “house” of your mind, and if you are in the U.S. probably devour it while you keep working. Working until the very moment you die — that’s the capitalist dream.
Shakespeare could have said this. Go ahead and prove he didn’t, Mr. Time Machine.
Step 1: Be Amazing
Most people just don’t take the time to be amazing. To be amazing, you have to remember to be amazing. Sometimes, I’m just having my morning coffee, pondering the fact that I’ve only slept 4 hours because we are in quarantine and I work Sydney time as well as ET, then get up at 6:30 AM with the kids for a little at-home school. While I swill my coffee like a transfusion of awesomeness I make a new commitment to what the awesomeness of the day will be. I never really know, but I know it will be amazing.
See that island? It’s amazing. Without even trying. Any person can be an island (I think there’s a quote about that) — an island silhouetted in the beautiful sunset of the capitalist dream. Be like that island.
Step 2: Don’t be unamazing.
This is the biggest mistake people make — forgetting to be amazing, and it shows when they do sub-amazing work or even feel less than amazing (note: even your inner thoughts are not free of the tyranny of amazing).
For example, I’m nearly helpless when it comes to home improvement chores. But I have changed my life by not doing them — not engaging in things that I am terrible at helps me maintain my amazing narrative. Really, it’s the sink’s fault that it’s leaking. If it can’t work out its doubts and insecurities, I can’t help it. That’s on the faucet, not me.
Step 3: Repeat.
See what I did there? Honestly, you can end any lists of helpful tips with “Repeat”. It sounds so much better than saying, “Just keep doing what I’ve already said because I’m done writing”.
It implies that you have reached a conclusion without really adding anything. Kind of like Mrs. Dash (MSG), it enhances the flavor without adding anything of nutritive value. It also might make you thirsty — in this case, thirsty for amazingness!
Conclusion
Most good instructional articles end with a conclusion that summarizes the main points. This is that kind of article. So, to review:
To be Amazing at Everything
Be Amazing Don’t be Unamazing Repeat
I think that pretty much covers it.
If you apply this technique to business, love, happiness, home repairs, or careful breeding of artisanal sheep, being amazing will change everything in your life. (Do you see the italics text? That’s for emphasis. Like when I use excessive M dashes — it’s to take a dramatic point that makes my words sound more important.)
To put it another way — be like that pretty island at sunset. Don’t be like the leaky faucet I haven’t fixed. The leaky faucet is just stuck in negative thinking, waiting around for a competent plumber to come fix it.
So remember — be amazing. I can’t use enough M dashes to emphasize that. And I really don’t want to resort to exclamation points! Exclamation points are awful!!!!
But remember… if you stop me when I’m walking my dog, you’re probably freaking me out.
But if you see me walking my dog at the park, don’t ask me about amazingness. I’m listening to horror stories on YouTube and you are probably freaking me out. Especially if I can’t be sure if you’re real, or a Wendigo.
But that will be covered in my next “Woke Business” article “Everything I need to succeed I learned from Wendigos”.
Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/how-to-be-amazing-at-everything-in-three-easy-steps-ea5b9e7e4f58 | ['Justin Roberti'] | 2020-09-26 18:57:35.624000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Satire', 'Woke Business', 'Humor', 'Self Improvement'] |
Is Narcissism Becoming a Trend or a Diagnosis for Abuse? | An in-depth look
Is Narcissism Becoming a Trend or a Diagnosis for Abuse?
The label of narcissist doesn’t necessarily match all abusers
Narcissist - Have you heard this word?
Of course you have. This word is becoming THE NAME for all abusers. Somewhere, over the past year or two, this word has begun to be thrown around as the description for anyone who harms, manipulates, or traumatizes another human being. It is a word that triggers most people into an automatic reaction of eye-rolling, flinching, or scrolling past pieces of valuable information, because of its overused discussions and debates.
If you conduct any research, on NPD (Narcissist Personality Disorder) you will find that in the United States alone, over 158 Million people are affected by narcissistic abuse. This is much worse than any pandemic. There are many theories that all abuse is narcissistic, and most people have narcissistic tendencies. It seems, however, that the world has woken up to the word NARCISSIST, simply to give a non-human word to the abuse they endure. For me, assigning a title to my abusers makes them less human, and more of a diagnosis. As much as I believe that most human beings show some signs of narcissism, it is still not an excuse to cause harm to others.
There are multiple tests online to see if you are a narcissist. According to this one, I am NOT.
If you follow Tik Tok, the survivors and “experts” on narcissism are everywhere, and they have their own followers and communities. I have a full appreciation for anyone who KNOWS what narcissistic abuse means, and what it feels like to be a victim of the narc. The same narc survivors share their stories on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms, in order to process their pain and to help others. Ironically, these same survivors are being accused of being narcissistic because they openly advertise, detail, and describe their journeys on social media without inhibition. The discussions on Tic Tok has been dubbed Narc Tok because it is so commonly addressed and shared. Personally, I don’t have the bravado or the skills to video my story, but I do have the courage to write it out. Does this make me narcissistic as well?
Again, I have a full appreciation for all of the open NAS’s (Narcissistic Abuse Survivors), along with their insight, yet I struggle with the theme, “Narcissists are Abusers”.
Photo by Philip Martin on Unsplash
Are All Abusers Narcissists?
So, the origin of the word Narcissist stems from Greek mythology when a young Narcissus fell in love with his own image in a pool of water. Over time, it fell into Sigmund Freud’s hands and he went further, writing essays on how Narcissism is a personality disorder, pertaining to self-opinion, self-reflection, and how it pertains to relationships with other people.
There is a lot more to how a narcissist is identified as such, but that is information for another time.
But, here is my own concern with abusive people being labeled as narcissists:
I have known and have had many experiences with abusive people. I am not proud of this. What I can tell you, though, is that I cannot necessarily call the pedophile in my childhood a narcissist. I also cannot confirm that other abusers in my life were narcissistic. I have also been exposed to extreme narcissists who have done significant damage to me and my mental health over the years. These abusers may all share the fact that can be abusive, but they do not all present as Narcissists.
If you define the signs and symptoms of narcissism, the word ABUSER is not always a descriptor. In fact, for the most part, the words Superior, Arrogant, Self Absorbed, Entitled, and Self Admiring is how a narcissist is described, and this makes valid sense.
However, and I say this with all due respect to those who have suffered any type of abuse; not all abusers are necessarily narcissists. The reason I say this is because I know a few abusers who would not fall under the category of arrogant, self-absorbed, self-admiring, or even entitled. This is where it gets tricky on the slippery slope of abuse.
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash
Abusers and Narcissists
An ABUSER- Is a violent thief. They take from others in a way that is difficult to understand, and harder to forgive. They may be mentally abusive, sexually abusive, physically abusive, spiritually or gender abusive, neglectful, or confining. They are defined by how they treat others, and/or often how they treat themselves. Often abusers are self-harming, and the abuse they conduct is a force from within them that lacks moral compass, apathy, empathy, or self-control. The abuse they inflict on others may be conscious or subconscious and they prey on victims who are vulnerable.
Remember when I said this gets tricky?
Well, not all abusers are arrogant, nor do they feel entitled. In fact, some abusers feel inferior to their victims and abuse them in order to ”level up” in their own inner power or control. They NEED to make someone feel powerless in order to function. As wrong and as messed up as this is, it doesn’t earn them the title of a narcissist. Abusers typically have low self-esteem and a lack of common sense. They struggle to be heard, felt, or seen, and abusing others gives them a fix. Often, survivors of abuse will abuse others because of the vicious cycle of lack of self-esteem and self-control.
To be a narcissist is almost the opposite; the narc feeds off their victim’s weakness because they feel superior. Somewhere in the narcissist’s inner ego, they are God-like and can do what they want, without consequence. An abuser doesn’t often know why they abuse others, nor do they comprehend that what they are doing is abusive.
There are also abusers who don’t know how to NOT abuse others. They have been raised in a household where abusing others was classified as normal behavior. Narcissism doesn’t play into this situation. It is basically a lifestyle that has been embedded into the behavior of an abuser.
I cannot call my abuser (pedophile) a narcissist, because he is not an entitled, arrogant monster. He may still be a monster, but I know first hand that he is not arrogant, he is most definitely not superior, and the only time he was abusive was when he was under the influence of alcohol. This DOES NOT excuse him for anything he did. But his behavior alone does not make him narcissist, necessarily. He is a very old man now, who is humble, quiet, shy, and doesn’t have much to say about anything. The sorrow behind his old watery eyes tells me he takes accountability for his actions, in his own way, but he has never learned how to put words to his actions or to his regrets. Again, that is no excuse for his actions, yet, I cannot call him a narcissist. He dislikes being the center of attention, and he doesn’t fit the profile.
The Narcissist- Not all narcissists are abusive. They can ultimately come across as unkind. In some cases, the narcissist will act superior, entitled, and arrogant, but they don’t mistreat others because of it. They are seen through a lens of pity, often, because they have blatant insecurities that drive them to constantly try to validate themselves, presenting as arrogance. Some people in their circles can see through the insecurities and even love the narc for who they are. Not all narcissists have the red flags of being abusive, they wave the red flags of entitlement and self-absorbed.
The abusive narcissist is a brutal monster that causes a crazy amount of toxic emotional turmoil on others. They are controlling and will find ways to win others over by love bombing, manipulation, accusations, and mental abuse. They can become physically and sexually violent in their entitlement and can cause a tremendous amount of damage to their victims. They are always right, and continually reminding their victims that they are wrong. They have to thrive off of the power and control that they suck from their victims, like vampires on a carotid artery. They NEED to be superior and in control in order to be perceived as superior, and will do what it takes to be the hero of any situation.
Narcissists take abuse to a whole new level and leave their victims like limp rag dolls, in their wake. They may be any or all types of abusive, and do so without accountability, responsibility, or apology because they are always superior and always right, no matter where their moral compass points.
Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash
The Bottom Line is, Abuse is Abuse
No matter which way you slice it, or which way you look at abuse, it’s still not okay.
Narcissistic abuse, from my own personal experience, is much more difficult to recover from than blatant physical or sexual abuse. Narcs have this special skill of making their victims buy into their persona. They manipulate their way into their victim’s psyche and heart, and can find ways to trigger the people in their lives. They play their victims like puppets on a stage, pulling the strings that suit them, to feed their superiority. They also have this skill set, where if the victim calls them out, or is triggered, they can diffuse them with “soothing words” that diminish their victims’ power. It truly is a malicious, genius, callous trait. “It’s okay that you are crazy and jealous. We can get help for you.”
Narcissists can also develop, over time, a trauma bond with their victims that is purely evil, addicting, and toxic. They can trick their victims into believing that they cannot survive without the stress and criticism of the narcissist. The longer the relationship lasts, the harder it is to break that bond.
The narcissist also has the ability to discard non-believers from their lives, as they have no further value, once the bond has been broken. They are truly sick and twisted in their inner workings.
Non-narcissistic abusers can look much different, from a victim’s point of view. They can do damage, beyond doubt, but then that’s the end of it. They damage their victims and move on. Some take accountability and some don’t, but they don’t stick around to prove to you that they were right by being abusive. They don’t try and justify their treatment of others by coloring it with a rainbow brush. When their victims call them out for the abuse, they don’t make it the fault of the victim and make attempts to smooth it over by blaming their victim. These types of abusers know that there is nothing to be gained by using their attacks as further damaging weapons to their victims. That is the role of the narcissist.
In my mind, calling a narcissist an abuser or an abuser a narcissist doesn’t make anything any better. What it does do, for me, is give me a way to sort out the emotions and mistrust I have for both types of people. It offers me clarity on how I should or shouldn’t treat the abusive people in my past. It also gives me the ability to categorize my symptoms of PTSD from each of them. I don’t carry the ability to forgive the narcissist yet, because I am still healing from the emotional damage, flashbacks, and self doubt that the narcissistic abuse has created for me. I am still dealing with the resonating triggers, daily, while the wounds try to heal. Of course, he has no idea that I struggle, while he moves onto his next victim, and that is a jagged pill to swallow.
The damage caused by the abusers in my life, without the complexities of narcissism is easier to process and less damaging to my self-esteem. I can categorize being physically and sexually abused more easily because it is more black and white. Yes, there was a ton of emotional, residual damage, but the abuse was more superficial somehow.
A narcissist's damage seeps into your core, your heart, and your inner child on a much deeper, more profound level. The recovery from the type of trauma that a narc causes is like trying to heal your body from the inside out. Wounds seem to continually be gashed open again simply by hearing a phrase or smelling an odor, or by seeing a place where an abusive event took place. Somehow the injuries are much more complex. The abuse of a narcissist will cause you self doubt, ego trauma, and feelings of inferiority and insecurity, that are hard to claw back.
Both types of abuse WILL affect you and how you build relationships with others. Both types of abuse will change the course of your future path if you cannot heal from it. Both types of abuse can define you if you allow it to. Both types of abuse are wrong and painful.
But narcissistic abuse is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a much more difficult trauma to recover from. But, you can and will. | https://medium.com/publishous/is-narcissism-becoming-a-trend-or-a-diagnosis-for-abuse-5dac747cd745 | ['Kristina H'] | 2020-08-17 20:39:39.941000+00:00 | ['Narcissism', 'Love', 'Healing', 'Relationships', 'Abuse'] |
Why President Trump Will Forever Sadden Me | Photo credit Charles Deluvio Unsplash
This was the least offensive picture I could find of President Trump that allowed me to be unconcerned about copyright infringement. I searched far and wide for a photo that didn’t portray him as a hate monger, a very angry one. Unlike President Trump, I don’t wish to portray him at his worst, appearing as though he is angry with the world. I want to be fair.
I’m sure he must smile at times, I just don’t recall seeing him do so, and was able to locate NO photo of him smiling. Not even the slightest hint of one. That’s strange if you consider presidents who have served within the past 80 or so years. When have you not seen a photo of one of them smiling? And this was when hardly anyone had a camera at hand, but there seem to be plenty available. Not so with Mr. Trump.
The thing about President Trump, other than the fact that I disagree with virtually all of his policies, is the level of disrespect he openly displays for almost everyone on the planet. It’s hurtful to me as a person. Embarrassing definitely. Once the United States was thought and spoken of almost reverently, no longer. When did I begin to notice this change? When President Trump took office.
There were several outlandish things he did and said while running for office. But one, in particular, stands out. It was the day I saw him openly mock a reporter who was physically disabled. I do not recall the medical term for this man’s condition, whatever it was hampered his ability to control the movement of his arms. I fail to remember why Mr. Trump was so angry with the reporter, but that is completely irrelevant. It’s fine to disagree with people, even become angry with them, often justifiably so. But regardless of what caused the difference of opinion, or brought about the anger on the part of Mr. Trump, it’s never acceptable to mock someone who is disabled through no fault of their own.
This was in the summer of 2016 if memory serves me correctly, so at that point, I had seen numerous examples of Mr. Trump’s reprehensible conduct and disparaging of others. But this particular day I felt he sank to a new low. I have been voting since the late’70s, and never in my life have I seen anything remotely close to that level of behavior from anyone seeking national office. I remember watching reruns of this clip for days as not only I but numerous others were utterly aghast. I couldn’t believe our country had a candidate running for national office whose behavior can only be described as reprehensible. What had happened?
How could I be so shocked at this man’s conduct, and others not? What did they not see that I did? Or why did they think it was alright for a president of the United States of America to demean and disparage others? Especially those who were weaker than he was. Isn’t that bullying? He even called his fellow Republicans names. I was baffled then, even more so when these opponents suddenly changed their tune once Mr. Trump was elected. Instantly all was forgiven and forgotten. They were all now best friends.
It didn’t stop there, once in office, Mr. Trump harshly criticized members of his own handpicked cabinet if they did or said something that angered him. Eventually, it seemed they either resigned or were fired.
I’ve always thought of myself as very thin-skinned. Ordinarily, criticism hurts me more than angers me. But President Trump is the polar opposite. Not only does he punish those who anger him by firing them, calling them names, making fun of painfully sad life situations, but he also seeks retribution. It usually comes fast and hard. He insults fellow world leaders and openly embarrasses them also. He has undone the goodwill around the world our country has forever worked to established.
Yet I’m honestly not angry with President Trump. I am sad. Sad that his insolence and incompetence have hurt not only our fellow citizens but people throughout the world. And he has fanned flames, done his best to encourage his supporters to consider his opponents as enemies.
Maybe it makes no sense to those who might read this that I say I’m not angry. Part of that is my baseline personality. I might find President Trump to be personally repugnant, but I wish him no harm. The reason thoughts of him will forever sadden me is that I am hurt. I ache for all who have suffered due to the actions or inactions of President Trump. And for the divisions, he has caused between our citizens. So many people who were formerly friends are now enemies. I can find no reason to attribute this painful occurrence to anything other than President Trump and his encouragement that it continue and worsen.
I’ve never written anything political because I know it stirs strong feelings. I have wonderful friends who support President Trump. I try to separate the fact that we have such opposing views, from the good things I love about them. I don’t dislike them because they support President Trump, I just don’t understand why. And that makes me sad. When I reflect on my belief President Trump has changed this country for the worst in so many ways, in the future I will never fail to be puzzled, and forever be sad. | https://medium.com/@mandymcelroy/why-president-trump-will-forever-sadden-me-faee3f405171 | ['Mandy Mcelroy'] | 2020-12-18 04:49:43.792000+00:00 | ['Sadness', 'Politics', 'Arrogance', 'Self'] |
San Francisco’s Secret Garden of Solitude | I feed on solitude the way bees feed on nectar. It’s my energy recharger, my soul-sustaining nutrient. Even living in a dense city, I can find a favorite sanctuary of mine less than a mile from home. I share it with the bees, butterflies, birds, other denizens of nature, and fellow solitaries.
The first time I stepped through the gate to the Fort Mason Community Gardens, it felt as if an invisible capsule descended and I was pneumatically transported to an Edenic paradise.
A greenhouse for my seedling thoughts and tender aspirations.
I put my name on a waiting list and became a garden member with plot #78. Some twenty years later, the magic endures. Even the ruckus on the nearby Great Meadow ceases when I enter the fertile gardens. Perhaps the visual displays and earthy fragrances command attention to the dimming of other senses.
The Fort Mason Community Gardens hunker discreetly between the National Park Service Headquarters and Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel. They were once grassy dunes that were first cultivated in the 1970s, post-Vietnam War, when military bases were, in peacenik speak, turning their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks—and in modern speak, their posts into national parkland.
My rule of (not-very-green) thumb: I grow what thrives on neglect.
National park means all are welcome. Yet, many pass the garden gates many times before discovering this oasis of nature, serenity, birds, showy plants and flowers, edibles, and more. Although the crops are not for public harvesting, it’s impressive to witness how much diversity grows in foggy San Francisco. Dark leafy greens love the chill, but even Mediterranean crops—some breeds of tomatoes, artichokes, peppers, beans, and lemons—thrive.
My yellow calla lily thrives amid a carpet of oxalis. Photo by author.
My plot is one of the more humble ones. My rule of (not-very-green) thumb: I grow what thrives on neglect. Long ago, I heard about Masanobu Fukuoka’s One-Straw Revolution, also called “do-nothing farming.” Simply stated, Fukuoka inspires me to not overly weed the oxalis (wood sorrel), an edible clover, whose persistence bedevils my fellow gardeners and occasionally earns me the stink eye for allowing it to stay. But my roses, irises, calla lilies, alstroemeria (Peruvian lilies), geraniums, naked ladies, and a few flowers whose names I know not, co-exist peacefully with the so-called weed. I do pull up the crabgrass when its tentacles sneak inside my plot. They always return.
I’m at peace with the endless chore of weeding, watching what survives, and the seasonal changes in a city with relatively subtle ones. The cyclical nature of gardening reminds me that linear time is a mere illusion.
Today Fort Mason supports more than a hundred plots maintained by members. The only time you’ll see a crowd in the gardens is on workdays, which come four times a year. Anyone, a member or not, is welcome to join in the work. It’s social and botanically informative. In non-pandemic times, barbecue lunch is served at noon (for a $10 fee) when garden business is discussed.
Serious bird lovers know the gardens as an oasis for feathered species.
Those who are familiar with the area’s best-kept secret avail themselves of the wooden picnic tables, barbecue, and paths through terraced gardens, including one of my favorites, the California natives section. Stone or iron benches nestle in the luxurious vegetation of commons areas, inviting contemplative sitting and quiet meditation. My bench for morning yoga faces one of the most prolific plots.
The bees and I love it.
Nannies in the know bring their charges to the gardens, others enjoy happy hour with a bottle of wine poured into their own stemware. Despite its proximity to the busy Great Meadow, the gardens are never crowded, aside from workdays.
No one has ever foiled my solitude. There is beauty and space for all. Monet had his Giverny near Paris. We solitaries, which includes birders and photographers, have Fort Mason Gardens. How many telephoto lenses have captured the intimate details of a rainbow coalition of ornamentals?
Western tanager. (Photo: Courtesy of David Assmann)
Serious bird lovers know the gardens as an oasis for feathered species. I have often spotted the red-shouldered hawk in a tall eucalyptus tree. House finches are common. Occasionally a Western tanager, with its yellow, red and black plumage is seen. The squawky parrots of Telegraph Hill perch on a corner of the national park offices. Months ago, an uncommon visitor, a southern red bishop was a siren call for birders and photographers for days on end. The breeding male, described as “a small, dumpy sparrow-like weaver,” was decked in his velvety vermilion and black.
Fox shares our sanctuary in Fort Mason Gardens. (Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Sekaran)
Last year, a red fox found her way to the gardens and decided they were a perfect place to hang out for a while. Photographer Sarah Sekaran captured some images of the sleek animal. Like me and other solitude seekers, the fox knew that inside those wooden gates one finds a rare protected space, soft asylum from the noise and haste, the roar of the crowds.
This is my yoga bench, facing one of the best gardeners’ plot. Feel free to sit and enjoy the view. (Photo: Courtesy of author)
If you’d like to get on the long waiting list for a plot at Fort Mason, apply at this link, where you can also apply to any of San Francisco’s forty-two community gardens. | https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-secret-garden-of-solitude-fffbe186af8a | ['Camille Cusumano'] | 2021-07-22 19:39:06.614000+00:00 | ['Solitude', 'San Francisco', 'Garden', 'National Parks', 'Birding'] |
#just start Communication | I am very weak in communication skills so, i want enhance my communication charm.
Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
If you want to successful in life, you need to be a good communicator. If you can’t convey your ideas properly .you can’t be what you want to.
From my past experiences, it is some thing on which i really need to work. And its not some thing that you can improve in mints it takes a canvas of time. Now i want to improve it step by step this is my purpose to join even amal academy.
For this i am going to debate on different talking with different people. As it is only mean to share and discuss ideas.
#Amal Academy
#just start
#😍 | https://medium.com/@muhammad.tayyab172/just-start-communication-6464028255db | ['Tayyab Sial'] | 2020-12-22 05:18:21.504000+00:00 | ['Speaking', 'Communicating', 'Just Start', 'Ideas', 'Amal Academy'] |
The Moon is Still There | The Moon is Still There
Comforting those who seek it
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
I am winding down the night
The previous hours have been
Hard.
Holding your loved one
Feeling their heart and body
Break
The trust you demolished
Is so much more wide-spread
Congratulations
You have royally fucked up
Is the phrase that comes to
Mind
Turns out you’re more of a sneaky liar
Then we could have ever guessed
Wow
Just, wow, really
Breathtaking in scope and
Recklessness
But as I slide down in bed
My legs gliding around the cats
Sleeping
I see a light out the window
I glance up and see it
The Moon
Mystical in the aura it sheds
Framing two cats between legs on my
Bed
There is something comforting
About this scene that catches my
Breath
I needed some peace just now
Before I could sleep
Goodnight | https://medium.com/the-junction/the-moon-is-still-there-21abeffab6a7 | ['Edward Riley'] | 2020-12-13 20:21:29.377000+00:00 | ['Bad Decisions', 'Moon', 'The Junction', 'Comforting', 'Poetry'] |
Ring rolls out end-to-end encryption for select doorbells and security cameras | Ring rolls out end-to-end encryption for select doorbells and security cameras Heather Feb 1·3 min read
Ring’s promised rollout of end-to-end video encryption for several of its doorbells and cameras finally arrives today, offering an additional level of security for Ring users willing to put up with some inherent trade-offs.
Mentioned in this article Ring Video Doorbell Pro Read TechHive's reviewMSRP $249.00See it Amazon-owned Ring first announced the end-to-end encryption rollout during its annual hardware event last fall. At the time, Ring promised that the free feature would arrive before the end of 2020. It’s now mid-January 2021, but that’s close enough.
Ring is calling the initial stage of its end-to-end encryption rollout a “technical preview,” and for now, it’s limited to eight doorbell and camera models, including the Video Doorbell Pro, the Video Doorbell Elite, the Floodlight Cam, the Indoor Cam, the Stick Up Cam Plug-in, the Stick Up Cam Elite, the Spotlight Cam Wired, and the Spotlight Cam Mount.
[ Further reading: The best home security cameras ]Ring said it will solicit feedback on the new feature on the End-to-End Encryption screen within the Ring app.
Videos recording by Ring cameras are already encrypted on their way to the cloud and while they’re sitting on Ring’s servers. With end-to-end encryption, however, Ring videos are wrapped in an additional level of AES 128-bit encryption, starting locally on the camera itself and continuing all the way to a user’s iOS or Android phone, where it’s finally decrypted. That means no third parties will be able to see your videos without the private decryption key of a public/private key pair, which is stored only on an “enrolled” phone and secured by a 10-word, auto-generated passphrase.
Because end-to-end encryption protects Ring videos from any and all prying eyes, users who enable it will give up some key features, particularly those that depend on in-the-cloud video analysis.
Motion verification and “people-only” mode, for example, scour your recorded video clips in the cloud for movement and people, so these features won’t work with end-to-end encryption enabled. You also won’t be able to view live feeds of your enrolled Ring cameras on an Amazon Echo Show or a Fire TV device.
Still, plenty of users may likely decide that the added level of security provided by end-to-end encryption is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Ring isn’t the only smart home manufacturer to offer end-to-end video encryption for its security cameras. Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video also boasts the feature, and unlike Ring’s end-to-end encryption, HomeKit Secure Video does allow for features such as people detection, because the analysis is performed locally (on a “home hub” device such as an Apple TV, an iPad, or a HomePod) rather than in the cloud. That said, there are only a small number of HomeKit Secure Video-enabled cameras available, while Ring cameras are much more ubiquitous.
Ring’s end-to-end encryption push is the latest measure that the brand has taken to shore up its security bona fides, which took a beating following a series of widely publicized attacks by hackers.
Last February, Ring began rolling out mandatory two-factor authentication, a key defense against hackers looking to take control of Ring cameras with stolen passwords. We’ll show you how to do that in this story.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@heather50281744/ring-rolls-out-end-to-end-encryption-for-select-doorbells-and-security-cameras-9b670b4b715 | [] | 2021-02-01 09:36:34.245000+00:00 | ['Connected Home', 'Lighting', 'Deals'] |
Ruby Methods New to Me | I have taken a bit of a step back on blogs for front-end and React-based projects/skills to also focus on Ruby. After doing a take-home exam a week ago, I realised I was adept enough at making my own RoR project but creating a Regex, plain Ruby setup from nothing… I was not. It felt weird knowing the workings of Rails and yet in a plain Regex file, forgetting to use require ‘path_name’. I think that’s one thing that is good and bad about Ruby. So much of the work is done automatically for you in the background thanks to the stability and longevity of the Ruby community and language, but at the same time, knowing x does y, doesn’t necessarily help you understand why x does y. During the take home exam, I found myself learning new and simple things, both for testing with rspec and better use of Ruby enumerables. So I simply decided to document some of the ones I came across.
First off, a simple one. The use of bang on certain array methods. In my day to day use of Ruby or other languages, I had always used the bang (!) or double (!!) for a truthy / falsy.
Something rudimentary like this. It is simply using the ‘!’ before array to say ‘If the array does not include the letter, return…’.
However, after going through this take-home exam, I had to manipulate a hash I had made. The hash had individual keys pointing to an array of elements. I needed to find the number of unique values in each array for each key. However… this hash was an instance variable, whereby I then needed to use the data stored in it for another method afterward. But what I kept finding was that if I called the uniq! method first, it manipulated my hash, whereby my next method was working with a manipulated hash that only contained unique values!
This wasn’t meant to happen! In my take home, I called the unique method last. So luckily by checking if the data was normal after the last method, I found it was not and I had manipulated my instance variable.
The bang was manipulating self and returning it. | https://levelup.gitconnected.com/ruby-methods-new-to-me-e82b2a8ebde9 | ['Ben Dunjay'] | 2020-11-03 04:02:07.947000+00:00 | ['Ruby on Rails', 'Regex', 'Backend Development', 'Codingbootcamp', 'Ruby'] |
劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限列車編 / 「Demon Slayer」 the Movie: Mugen Train フルムービー 2020 720p’Japan! | ジャンル: アニメーション, アドベンチャー, サイエンスフィクション
出演者: Wasabi Mizuta, Megumi Oohara, Yumi Kakazu, Tomokazu Seki, Subaru Kimura, Kotono Mitsuishi
クルー: Genki Kawamura (Screenplay), Fujiko F. Fujio (Writer), Kazuaki Imai (Director)
国: Japan
言語: 日本語
スタジオ: Fujiko Productions, Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, tv asahi, Shin-Ei Animation, ADK
スタジオ:
鬼ごっこ
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THE STORY
After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) forgoes the standard opportunities of seeking employment from big and lucrative law firms; deciding to head to Alabama to defend those wrongfully commended, with the support of local advocate, Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most poignant, case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx, who, in 62, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 2-year-old girl in the community, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and one singular testimony against him by an individual that doesn’t quite seem to add up. Bryan begins to unravel the tangled threads of McMillian’s case, which becomes embroiled in a relentless labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt unabashed racism of the community as he fights for Walter’s name and others like him.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
Throughout my years of watching movies and experiencing the wide variety of cinematic storytelling, legal drama movies have certainly cemented themselves in dramatic productions. As I stated above, some have better longevity of being remembered, but most showcase plenty of heated courtroom battles of lawyers defending their clients and unmasking the truth behind the claims (be it wrongfully incarcerated, discovering who did it, or uncovering the shady dealings behind large corporations. Perhaps my first one legal drama was 624’s The Client (I was little young to get all the legality in the movie, but was still managed to get the gist of it all). My second one, which I loved, was probably Primal Fear, with Norton delivering my favorite character role. Of course, I did see To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in the sixth grade for English class. Definitely quite a powerful film. And, of course, let’s not forget Philadelphia and want it meant / stand for. Plus, Hanks and Washington were great in the film. All in all, while not the most popular genre out there, legal drama films still provide a plethora of dramatic storytelling to capture the attention of moviegoers of truth and lies within a dubious justice.
Just Mercy is the latest legal crime drama feature and the whole purpose of this movie review. To be honest, I really didn’t much “buzz” about this movie when it was first announced (circa 206) when Broad Green Productions hired the film’s director (Cretton) and actor Michael B. Jordan in the lead role. It was then eventually bought by Warner Bros (the films rights) when Broad Green Productions went Bankrupt. So, I really didn’t hear much about the film until I saw the movie trailer for Just Mercy, which did prove to be quite an interesting tale. Sure, it sort of looked like the generic “legal drama” yarn (judging from the trailer alone), but I was intrigued by it, especially with the film starring Jordan as well as actor Jamie Foxx. I did repeatedly keep on seeing the trailer for the film every time I went to my local movie theater (usually attached to any movie I was seeing with a PG rating and above). So, suffice to say, that Just Mercy’s trailer preview sort of kept me invested and waiting me to see it. Thus, I finally got the chance to see the feature a couple of days ago and I’m ready to share my thoughts on the film. And what are they? Well, good ones….to say the least. While the movie does struggle within the standard framework of similar projects, Just Mercy is a solid legal drama that has plenty of fine cinematic nuances and great performances from its leads. It’s not the “be all to end all” of legal drama endeavors, but its still manages to be more of the favorable motion pictures of these projects.
Just Mercy is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, whose previous directorial works includes such movies like Short Term 6, I Am Not a Hipster, and Glass Castle. Given his past projects (consisting of shorts, documentaries, and a few theatrical motion pictures), Cretton makes Just Mercy is most ambitious endeavor, with the director getting the chance to flex his directorial muscles on a legal drama film, which (like I said above) can manage to evoke plenty of human emotions within its undertaking. Thankfully, Cretton is up to the task and never feels overwhelmed with the movie; approaching (and shaping) the film with respect and a touch of sincerity by speaking to the humanity within its characters, especially within lead characters of Stevenson and McMillian. Of course, legal dramas usually do (be the accused / defendant and his attorney) shine their cinematic lens on these respective characters, so it’s nothing original. However, Cretton does make for a compelling drama within the feature; speaking to some great character drama within its two main lead characters; staging plenty of moments of these twos individuals that ultimately work, including some of the heated courtroom sequences.
Like other recent movies (i.e. Brian Banks and The Hate U Give), Cretton makes Just Mercy have an underlining thematical message of racism and corruption that continues to play a part in the US….to this day (incredibly sad, but true). So, of course, the correlation and overall relatively between the movie’s narrative and today’s world is quite crystal-clear right from the get-go, but Cretton never gets overzealous / preachy within its context; allowing the feature to present the subject matter in a timely manner and doesn’t feel like unnecessary or intentionally a “sign of the times” motif. Additionally, the movie also highlights the frustration (almost harsh) injustice of the underprivileged face on a regular basis (most notable those looking to overturn their cases on death row due to negligence and wrongfully accused). Naturally, as somewhat expected (yet still palpable), Just Mercy is a movie about seeking the truth and uncovering corruption in the face of a broken system and ignorant prejudice, with Cretton never shying away from some of the ugly truths that Stevenson faced during the film’s story.
Plus, as a side-note, it’s quite admirable for what Bryan Stevenson (the real-life individual) did for his career, with him as well as others that have supported him (and the Equal Justice Initiative) over the years and how he fought for and freed many wrongfully incarcerated individuals that our justice system has failed (again, the poignancy behind the film’s themes / message). It’s great to see humanity being shined and showcased to seek the rights of the wronged and to dispel a flawed system. Thus, whether you like the movie or not, you simply can not deny that truly meaningful job that Bryan Stevenson is doing, which Cretton helps demonstrate in Just Mercy. From the bottom of my heart…. thank you, Mr. Stevenson.
In terms of presentation, Just Mercy is a solidly made feature film. Granted, the film probably won’t be remembered for its visual background and theatrical setting nuances or even nominated in various award categories (for presentation / visual appearance), but the film certainly looks pleasing to the eye, with the attention of background aspects appropriate to the movie’s story. Thus, all the usual areas that I mention in this section (i.e. production design, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography) are all good and meet the industry standard for legal drama motion pictures. That being said, the film’s score, which was done by Joel P. West, is quite good and deliver some emotionally drama pieces in a subtle way that harmonizes with many of the feature’s scenes.
There are a few problems that I noticed with Just Mercy that, while not completely derailing, just seem to hold the feature back from reaching its full creative cinematic potential. Let’s start with the most prevalent point of criticism (the one that many will criticize about), which is the overall conventional storytelling of the movie. What do I mean? Well, despite the strong case that the film delves into a “based on a true story” aspect and into some pretty wholesome emotional drama, the movie is still structed into a way that it makes it feel vaguely formulaic to the touch. That’s not to say that Just Mercy is a generic tale to be told as the film’s narrative is still quite engaging (with some great acting), but the story being told follows quite a predictable path from start to finish. Granted, I never really read Stevenson’s memoir nor read anything about McMillian’s case, but then I still could easily figure out how the movie was presumably gonna end…. even if the there were narrative problems / setbacks along the way. Basically, if you’ve seeing any legal drama endeavor out there, you’ll get that same formulaic touch with this movie. I kind of wanted see something a little bit different from the film’s structure, but the movie just ends up following the standard narrative beats (and progressions) of the genre. That being said, I still think that this movie is definitely probably one of the better legal dramas out there.
This also applies to the film’s script, which was penned by Cretton and Andrew Lanham, which does give plenty of solid entertainment narrative pieces throughout, but lacks the finesse of breaking the mold of the standard legal drama. There are also a couple parts of the movie’s script handling where you can tell that what was true and what fictional. Of course, this is somewhat a customary point of criticism with cinematic tales taking a certain “poetic license” when adapting a “based on a true story” narrative, so it’s not super heavily critical point with me as I expect this to happen. However, there were a few times I could certainly tell what actually happen and what was a tad bit fabricated for the movie. Plus, they were certain parts of the narrative that could’ve easily fleshed out, including what Morrison’s parents felt (and actually show them) during this whole process. Again, not a big deal-breaker, but it did take me out of the movie a few times. Lastly, the film’s script also focuses its light on a supporting character in the movie and, while this made with well-intention to flesh out the character, the camera spotlight on this character sort of goes off on a slight tangent during the feature’s second act. Basically, this storyline could’ve been removed from Just Mercy and still achieve the same palpability in the emotional department. It’s almost like the movie needed to chew up some runtime and the writers to decided to fill up the time with this side-story. Again, it’s good, but a bit slightly unnecessary.
What does help overlook (and elevate) some of these criticisms is the film’s cast, which are really good and definitely helps bring these various characters to life in a theatrical /dramatic way. Leading the charge in Just Mercy is actor Michael B. Jordan, who plays the film’s central protagonist role of Bryan Stevenson. Known for his roles in Creed, Fruitvale Station, and Black Panther, Jordan has certain prove himself to be quite a capable actor, with the actor rising to stardom over the past few years. This is most apparent in this movie, with Jordan making a strong characteristically portrayal as Bryan; showcasing plenty of underlining determination and compelling humanity in his character as he (as Bryan Stevenson) fights for the injustice of those who’s voices have been silenced or dismissed because of the circumstances. It’s definitely a strong character built and Jordan seems quite capable to task in creating a well-acted on-screen performance of Bryan. Behind Jordan is actor Jamie Foxx, who plays the other main lead in the role, Walter McMillian. Foxx, known for his roles in Baby Driver, Django Unchained, and Ray, has certainly been recognized as a talented actor, with plenty of credible roles under his belt. His participation in Just Mercy is another well-acted performance that deserve much praise as its getting (even receiving an Oscar nod for it), with Foxx portraying Walter with enough remorseful grit and humility that makes the character quite compelling to watch. Plus, seeing him and Jordan together in a scene is quite palpable and a joy to watch.
The last of the three marquee main leads of the movie is the character of Eva Ansley, the director of operations for EJI (i.e. Stevenson’s right-handed employee / business partner), who is played by actress Brie Larson. Up against the characters of Stevenson and McMillian, Ansley is the weaker of the three main lead; presented as supporting player in the movie, which is perfectly fine as the characters gets the job done (sort of speak) throughout the film’s narrative. However, Larson, known for her roles in Room, 6 Jump Street, and Captain Marvel, makes less of an impact in the role. Her acting is fine and everything works in her portrayal of Eva, but nothing really stands in her performance (again, considering Jordan and Foxx’s performances) and really could’ve been played by another actress and achieved the same goal.
The rest of the cast, including actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk and O Brother, Where Art Thou) as incarcerated inmate Ralph Meyers, actor Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Big Short) as legal attorney Tommy Champan, actress Karan Kendrick (The Hate U Give and Family) as Minnie McMillan, Walter’s wife, actor C.J. LeBlanc (Arsenal and School Spirts) as Walter’s son, John McMillian, actor Rob Morgan (Stranger Things and Mudbound) as death role inmate Herbert Richardson, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Long Shot and Straight Outta Compton) as death role inmate Anthony “Ray” Hinton, actor Michael Harding (Triple 2 and The Young and the Restless) as Sheriff Tate, and actor Hayes Mercure (The Red Road and Mercy Street) as a prison guard named Jeremy, are in the small supporting cast variety. Of course, some have bigger roles than others, but all of these players, which are all acted well, bolster the film’s story within the performances and involvement in Just Mercy’s narrative.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s never too late to fight for justice as Bryan Stevenson fights for the injustice of Walter McMillian’s cast against a legal system that is flawed in the movie Just Mercy. Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s latest film takes a stance on a poignant case; demonstrating the injustice of one (and by extension those wrongfully incarcerated) and wrapping it up in a compelling cinematic story. While the movie does struggle within its standard structure framework (a sort of usual problem with “based on a true story” narrations) as well as some formulaic beats, the movie still manages to rise above those challenges (for the most part), especially thanks to Cretton’s direction (shaping and storytelling) and some great performances all around (most notable in Jordan and Foxx). Personally, I liked this movie. Sure, it definitely had its problem, but those didn’t distract me much from thoroughly enjoying this legal drama feature. Thus, my recommendation for the film is a solid “recommended”, especially those who liked the cast and poignant narratives of legality struggles and the injustice of a failed system / racism. In the end, while the movie isn’t the quintessential legal drama motion picture and doesn’t push the envelope in cinematic innovation, Just Mercy still is able to manage to be a compelling drama that’s powerful in its story, meaningful in its journey, and strong within its statement. Just like Bryan Stevenson says in the movie….” If we could look at ourselves closely…. we can change this world for the better”. Amen to that! | https://medium.com/@uncalmangprang/%E5%8A%87%E5%A0%B4%E7%89%88-%E9%AC%BC%E6%BB%85%E3%81%AE%E5%88%83-%E7%84%A1%E9%99%90%E5%88%97%E8%BB%8A%E7%B7%A8-demon-slayer-the-movie-mugen-train-%E3%83%95%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BC%E3%83%93%E3%83%BC-2020-720pjapan-1365f046d1a6 | ['Uncal Mangprang'] | 2020-12-26 08:06:44.382000+00:00 | ['Animation', 'Japan', 'Fantasy', '2020', 'Action'] |
Do humans ever have luck in the Lost and Found department? | Think about when you left something on a plane or at a restaurant and during the time you realized it was missing, did you rethink your last steps? Or were you freaking out the entire time saying, “I’ll never find it!” We can hope that some nice person finds it and turns it in, but when you think about it, most of our “stuff” can be replaced.
Beyond typical stuff we sometimes lose, like my mousie, I think that humans do more freaking out when they believe they “lost” something perhaps they never had and think they don’t deserve to “find” it. Maybe it’s a better job or nicer home or more compatible human.
Well, we all deserve to “find” it, whatever your “it” may be. Stop thinking you’ll never find it because when you think that, guess what? You’ll never find it!
And when you DO find your catnip, think about sharing your happiness, even in little ways! Maybe it’s being a little nicer or smiling at a stranger and opening a door… get it?
At a minimum, stop hissing!
To bring a smile to your heart and a new perspective on life… get PAWS delivered to your inbox weekly, by clicking here! | https://medium.com/@nancymwest/do-humans-ever-have-luck-in-the-lost-and-found-department-73c53cacd6e0 | ['Nancy M. West'] | 2020-12-21 17:03:06.765000+00:00 | ['Positive Thinking', 'Life Lessons', 'Cats', 'Life', 'Pets'] |
How to download .pkpass in flutter | A .pkpass file is a file used by Passbook, an iPhone wallet used for saving boarding passes, coupons, loyalty cards, movie tickets, and other passes. It may contain a pass provided by a vendor (e.g., Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, etc.) or a custom user-generated pass. .pkpass files can be used to track confirmation codes, logins, balances, and other information.
We developed the .pkpass downloader because we encountered a problem during download time .Then we wanted to create a library to help others.
Find my library for downloading for .pkpass, see the Pub publishing docs.
Use this package as a library
open pkpass_download and select installing tab and follow the steps
Use this Code :
import 'package:pass_flutter/pkpass_download.dart'; pkpassDownload(url:"https://link_to_pass/pass.pkpass")
Result was :
Developing Support
Malay Kachhadiya
Further Reading
Get notified about the details of New innovation in software industry, as well as other important development update & expansion of IT industry check our previous & Upcoming article. | https://medium.com/@yourerrorbro/how-to-download-pkpass-in-flutter-106962ed68d5 | ['Shivam Thaker'] | 2020-06-13 15:20:38.145000+00:00 | ['Pass', 'Flutter', 'Wallet', 'Dart', 'Libraries'] |
We Need to Discuss Code Legibility | We Need to Discuss Code Legibility
The undiscovered continent we don’t see
Fruitless, Exhausted Discussion
If you are even reading this, thank you. Most of us are sick to death of the topic, but not because it’s been settled. Far from it. Companies have given up, seeing code layout as a strictly personal matter and not as important as shipping product. They are dead wrong.
Most of us have dealt with so much contention on the topic of code formatting and personal coding style that the subject has lain fallow for years. Developers each choose something different and defend it against all suggestion and opposition. Companies regard it as tangential to their projects even as they impose every latest management fad and “manifesto” on us. There are more important things than formatting quibbles. Like stories and standups and patterns.
The Goal
It is this writer’s firm belief that people are more alike than different and that the popular notion among coders who see “personal coding style” as the hallmark of individuality are forwarding an illegitimate outlook and seeking to do in code what dogs do with fire hydrants. There should be one maximally legible way to lay out software lexical artifacts that is satisfactory for
all developers
on all teams
in all companies
and that expression of individuality is better done with personal items more like plastic action figures and commercial sports pennants.
This article is not a coding standards document; readers use many different languages and some of them have idioms. In Go for example opening curly braces are required to be at end of line, a standard I regard as wrong but there’s no changing it without the cooperation of its authors. I will present some general principles with the expectation that the reader will apply them creatively and honestly.
Remember that the objective of code layout is reliability in reading, not expression of the writer’s awesomeness. Many habits persist from early C idioms that, given the size and complexity of modern projects, are overdue for retirement. Most examples will be snippets in C# with references to C and others.
Ineffectual Solutions
The contentious matter is usually settled in one of two wholly inadequate ways.
Tyrannical Coding Standards : “read this document and apply the mandated style exactly,” with a certain silkily sinister suggestion that any disagreement, however politely presented, will be called “whining,” and will not be well-received.
: “read this document and apply the mandated style exactly,” with a certain silkily sinister suggestion that any disagreement, however politely presented, will be called “whining,” and will not be well-received. Free-for-all: it’s all subjective, right? To each his own. Every developer has his own scent-mark and applies it to all his work, aggressively mismatching code around it
Horrible Team Standards
The coding standards documents are never motivated by clarity, always by consistancy (sic), creating vast codebases that are nearly impossible to read but uniformly impossible, as the author revels in his tyranny and boasts about the grim and harsh formatting he’s come to use. As if consistency is its own virtue. The standard is never based on scientific studies of parsing and differs from written language as much as possible. One person’s starkly illegible preferences become canonical. And if you don’t like it, there are plenty of others who would be happy to have your job.
“I would recommend you not whine about this”
— from such a standards document forwarded to me from a friend at Microsoft
To Each “Their” Own
Free-for-all is even worse. Come, let us have some candor: a lot of coders regard as proof of their superiority that nobody else can read their code. They will adopt the most bizarre layouts they can dream up and earnestly claim they “find it to be more readable.” They are lying. There is no other conceivable explanation for the bizarreness of so much code.
Hideosity from FluentCpp
The Two Great Formatting Sins
For something that so many see as emblematic of their individuality it’s remarkable how few parameters go into their choices. Two prevail, clutter and inversion.
Clutter: Whitespace is for Sissies
This is how many of us got our start
10 FORA=1TO10:PRINTA:NEXTA
For those too young to remember the JFK assassination this is an example of GW-BASIC, an interpreted language that came with MS-DOS. It had no whitespace requirements to speak of and even the most hard-core clutterists might balk at this now. Keywords were not separated from variables and it was a point of honor for many to cram everything together, to put multiple statements on one line.
To add even minimal whitespace
10 FOR A=1 TO 10:PRINT A:NEXT A
was regarded as effete. Enough of that, OK? This brings back bad memories.
While no modern languages would allow this level of compression it wasn’t hard to understand why people would continue to do things like this
if(a==1) printf("a=1");
With the solitary space after the closing parenthesis seen as an act of generosity, likely to be removed by the next person editing the code, since the language doesn’t require it.
(*shudder*)
While GW-BASIC is history, crammed-together code remains esteemed despite its eye-strain, regardless of the modernity of the language. Many see it as some sort of distinction, dedication to their work.
Inversion: Backwards is Better
Inversion takes many forms but the basic rule is to reverse every standard of written language, the goofier the better; after all, code isn’t prose, right?
void uninffn(
int a
,char b
,double c
){
Since commas customarily go at the end, put them at the beginning and have an excuse ready, don’t give the function or the variables informative names (omitting letters is idiomatic clutter), use just enough space so it will compile, and pat your back because your teammates are going to help elevate the price of your Bayer stock shares.
It is near certain that some reading this are scratching their heads, wondering what fault anyone could possibly find with this. Isn’t this the “canonical form” for function bodies introduced in one of those books from Microsoft Press?
An Avalanche of Eyestrain
One of the Microsoft journals in the 1990s (MSJ? MSDN?) had an article where the author’s code samples introduced the trailblazing inversion of spaces immediately within parentheses:
if( ( a=unscrutFn( 0 ) )==2 )
gothedach( );
Since this was spectacularly goofy it caught on like wildfire in a dead cornfield in heavy wind and half the developer community was copying it within a month. Note that the only whitespace in the expression is where the eyes don’t expect it, and that everything else is as crammed together as the compiler will allow. The single following clause has no curly braces because the language doesn’t require them. Yet people who wrote — who still write — like this will insist that it makes perfect sense. And narrow their eyes in unconcealed hostility at any suggestion that it’s not perfectly clear.
A quarter century later I still can’t read this. I call it out because it was and is appallingly offensive to the eyes, and wholly at odds with everything we know about how we read.
Clutter and inversion are just two prominent offenses; there are many other formatting offenses but most of them are variations on these two. I would add a third: failure to tabularize. Please keep reading.
Why It Matters
When we do our work, where do you think the time goes? What do we spend the most time doing? Your answer may depend on where you work; if the true answer is “meetings” then you have my pity.
But the activity that occupies the most of our time
isn’t writing code
isn’t debugging
isn’t writing documentation
isn’t commits or other layers of process
No, what we spend more time doing at our desks than all other activities combined is …
Reading Code.
That’s right. Reading code is our foremost activity, so one would think that enabling ease and accuracy in the endeavor would be of paramount importance. One would think. Instead we are resigned to accepting these deliberate and inconsiderate obstacles. This is as backwards as can be, and the worst part about it is that legibility is nothing like the personal matter that most believe.
The Cost of Bugs
I am not going to brook any argument that illegible code doesn’t cause bugs. At the very least it causes eyestrain and headaches but in my experience when the code is hard to read we are going to make more mistakes.
There’s more to it than eyestrain. In the early days of software development, bug tracking was on the backs of envelopes, on whiteboards, an unstructured and haphazard affair. No longer. Bug tracking is a serious part of the wok of many different team member.
When a bug is discovered by a tester
The tester spend 5–20 minutes making an entry into a bug tracking database; considerably longer with a detailed repro scenario. A daily triage meeting with perhaps a half-dozen attendees decides a priority and assigns it to a developer, several minutes times the number of attendees The developer spends anywhere from a minute to days fixing and verifying the bug and updating its status in the database Hours or days later the tester retests and updates status again; if it is not fixed, goto (2) or (3). Fixed, the bug is closed.
Total elapsed time is man-hours at best, possibly days.
All this for a but that could very likely have never happened had the code not been visually obfuscated. And there may be days or weeks between any of those steps, while the work languishes in an aging Git branch whose merge will be increasingly problematical.
Of course only some bugs are the result of misreading code, but given the cost of even one such bug, one would think that companies would be adamant about having maximally legible work. This happens to not be the case.
Why? Why?
It is simply astonishing that as deep as we are into the era of information technology, as much of our time is affected by it, that this remains unsettled. The reasons are as above:
Passionate developer identification with personal coding style; territorial scent-marking
with personal coding style; territorial scent-marking Futility of consensus on what is “readable”
on what is “readable” Management exasperation with formatting arguments
with formatting arguments The belief that legibility is “subjective”
It’s the latter, subjectivity, that holds all the cards here, because eliminating this idea would settle all the other reasons. Quite simply, we know what is best, and the answer is so obvious that the metaphor I use is
The Undiscovered Continent
Photo by AncientOrigins
Imagine if someone picked up a satellite photo and saw an unknown continent the size of Australia in the middle of the Pacific. It’s not a new seamount or volcanic event; it’s heavily forested and has trees hundreds or thousands of years old. Astonished, he goes to older photos and sees that this continent has been there all along, and was somehow overlooked all this time (a similar thing actually happened with the number of human chromosomes).
THIS is the state of software formatting. We know exactly what works but deliberately ignore it because of that “personal coding style” thing. And given that reading code takes more of our time than anything, given the cost of misreading, given the wanton illegibility of so very much code, this is simply astonishing.
Communications scientists have studied how we recognize words, how we read text. There is no reason to believe that reading code is substantially different from reading prose; all newspapers use narrow columns, all written languages use similar demarcation between tokens, even bidirectional Middle Eastern languages. Youwon’tseebookswritten( like-this ),notever. We all have years of experience and deeply ingrained habits for reading. For example:
Eyes make brief, unnoticeable movements called saccades approximately three to four times per second. Saccades are separated by fixations, which are moments when the eyes are not moving. During saccades, visual sensitivity is diminished, which is called saccadic suppression. This ensures that the majority of the intake of visual information occurs during fixations. Lexical processing does, however, continue during saccades. The timing and accuracy of word recognition relies on where in the word the eye is currently fixating. Recognition is fastest and most accurate when fixating in the middle of the word. This is due to a decrease in visual acuity that results as letters are situated farther from the fixated location and become harder to see.
Excerpt from Word Recognition on Wikipedia
This writer is the only person ever to have written a coding standards document who is known to have considered independent research in word recognition instead of merely canonizing personal preference.
Example: The Ubiquity of Tables
I offer as an example the structure of a two-dimensional table. Tables are so familiar to us all that nobody has ever needed to be taught how to interpret a spreadsheet. Rows and columns; vertical alignment.
But for some reason when we come to code we elect to reject that which we all share in favor of some perverse homage to individuality, and imagining differences between people where they don’t exist. If there is one core point to this article, that was it right there.
A Few Scattered Notions
The ideas that follow are rather scattershot, in no way a complete list but a few examples to think about, and one, the final, to take very seriously.
Never Omit Braces
No example needed. Use them. They’re free. Hard to believe people still do this.
One Operation Per Line
Don’t do this
if (condition) executeCondition();
Yes even for loops:
for(int index = 0;
index < operations.Count();
index++)
{
Clear Variable Naming
Early languages like Fortran and early implementations of C imposed limits on variable lengths, and monitors were limited to 80 columns, so developers used abbreviated words. The habit persists even though the restrictions are long gone. This should stop. Modern IDEs usually have autocomplete so there is no more excuse for
int NumGrads;
The first part stands for number, which doesn’t add anything to the int declaration. Is it ordinal or cardinal? A count, an index, or offset? And even if “number” was useful information, which here it isn’t, leaving off the other three letters is pointless. Let’s quit doing this.
int GraduateCount;
is explicit and unmistakable. Don’t use garbled abbreviations like Ctx for Context, spell things out. The only exceptions to this are unmistakable abbreviations for excessively long names like Info for Information. Most everything else should use complete words
There are two possible conventions for compound variable names: increasing specificity or increasing generality.
In increasing generality the names look more like English compound nouns:
AnimalSpeciesCount
AnimalSpeciesIndex
PlantSpeciesCount
PlantSpeciesIndex
Here
Animal is the most specific part of the name
Species is less specific
Count is least specific.
This has the advantage of reading like “White House” languages like English or German.
In increasing specificity the variable names are easier to use in dropdown autocomplete lists:
CountSpeciesAnimal
CountSpeciesPlant
IndexSpeciesAnimal
IndexSpeciesPlant
This has the advantage of reading more like “Casa Blanca” languages like Spanish or Vietnamese.
The difference between these two is a matter of choice, and depends mostly on how one uses autocomplete lists. But names are fully spelled out in both choices.
Strong Typing
It was most disappointing to return to C# after many years working in other languages and note that the var keyword had been added; the strong typing in C# is one of its most attractive features. As with the wrongheaded throw keyword in all languages that use it, var had a narrow justification but was instantly used by lazy developers to save a few seconds of typing.
I don’t care that one can hover the mouse cursor over a var-declared variable and see its actual type; good developers keep two hands on the keyboard and only use a mouse to change focus where keyboard shortcuts are missing or where a change of context is excessively awkward.
The only legitimate use for var in C# is for a singular instance of an anonymous object:
var Bachelors = new
{
Graduates = db.Graduates .Where(g => g.Type == Bachelor)),
Ceremonies = db.Ceremonies.Where(c => c.Graduates
.Any (g => g.Type == Bachelor)
);
Any anonymous object that is used more than once should be declared as a Model object to enforce proper typing. It’s not that much work, just do it. This will catch misspellings and allow the editor to suggest missing variable names. I don’t use var in C# at all.
Obsolete Operators
In the C language typing was very weak and it was “cool” to use the ! operator as a test for 0 or NULL. This was the “idiomatic” test for string equality:
if (!strcmp(name1, name2)) …
This is hideous. In more modern languages this is no longer allowed, the operator is only allowed to explicitly test for Boolean expressions. But even then the autocorrupting reformatting done by many IDEs will render this significant but tiny symbol all but invisible and very easy to overlook, and it should be abandoned. Don’t use magic numbers for such tests either, use enumerations and let the ! operator and others like it disappear. Again, generalize this idea.
Vertical Alignment
This is the final entry in this article and the clearest example of departing from clutter and inversion in favor of clarity. I use vertical alignment obsessively and while I have had many people tell me through clenched teeth that they will! not! take the trouble to do this, I have never had one tell me it was hard to read. This is the biggest undiscovered continent of them all.
Example 1
The example below assigns the members of a class:
Person person = new Person
{
FirstName = “Chris”,
LastName = “Jeffers”,
Address = “123 Mockingbird Lane”,
City = “Gotham”,
State = “Moribund”,
PostalCode = 12345,
Phone = 2062169069,
PhoneType = PhoneType.Mobile,
Notes = “Remote Only”
};
In this case the code is “consistent” in that there is exactly one space on each side of the assignment operator but the result is jagged and ugly. It is the work of a few extra seconds to do this instead:
Person person = new Person
{
FirstName = “Chris”,
LastName = “Jeffers”,
Address = “123 Mockingbird Lane”,
City = “Gotham”,
State = “Moribund”,
PostalCode = 12345,
Phone = 2062169069,
PhoneType = PhoneType.Mobile,
Notes = “Remote Only”
};
There is more to this than obsessive-compulsive arrangement. It is now “tabular”;
A column of lvalues
A column of assignment operators
A column of rvalues
Doing this in Visual Studio requires writing the closing brace and semicolon before filling it in, else typing the semicolon will “beautify” the code back to the jaggedness of the first example, which is someone’s idea of consistancy (sic). The latter is at most a few seconds of extra work.
Example 2
Jagged:
List<Bird> parrots = db.Birds.Where(b => b.Order== Psittaccidae);
List<Bird> crows = db.Birds.Where(b => b.Order == Corvidae);
List<Bird> hummingbirds = db.Birds.Where(m => m.Order == Trochilidae);
Aligned:
List<Bird> parrots = db.Birds
.Where (b => b.Order == Psittacidae);
List<Bird> crows = db.Birds
.Where (b => b.Order == Corvidae);
List<Bird> hummingbirds = db.Birds
.Where (m => m.Order == Trochilidae);
Which is easier to read? The Order names are all in a sort of column, there is exactly one operation per line. Yes it’s a few seconds extra work. The differences between the three types are easily isolated.
Nothing I have learned to do in entering code has been more effective at enhancing legibility than rigorous employment of vertical alignment.
Example 3
Vertical alignment allows instant visual apprehension of brace-matching since opening and closing braces are aligned and one does not need to throw the caret around to find a matching brace at end of line.
public void ExampleFunc()
{
…
}
Conclusion, For Now
Cluttered code, personal coding styles, illegibility as superiority, these are leftovers from the early days of our industry, childish toys that must now be lovingly shelved as our work moves into its adulthood.
Who am I kidding? Its adolescence. We have moved from an era of ad hoc to and era of fads, giving new names to old ideas and pretending we’re doing revolutionary new things. But we need to put the Era of Eyestrain behind us and let go of the idea that there is anything individual or subjective about doing that which we do more than anything: reading code.
And that means learning to write it for others to read, not to mark our territory. Because it isn’t ours anymore. It’s our collaborators’ too.
Resources
Word Recognition | https://cheopys.medium.com/we-need-to-discuss-code-legibility-1fed83fd571 | ['Chris Fox'] | 2019-11-02 18:11:42.798000+00:00 | ['Programming'] |
<><><<><>Watch🔴 🔴 **((Tampa Bay Buccaneers** >>vs<< **Carolina Panthers))** 🔴 🔴#NFL ((Sunday… | <><><<><>Watch🔴 🔴 **((Tampa Bay Buccaneers** >>vs<< **Carolina Panthers))** 🔴 🔴#NFL ((Sunday Night Football)) 🔴 🔴 L-i-v-e **Streaming** f-r-e-e 🔴 🔴 ((online)) on **13 October 2019**}}🔴 🔴##~~~
Watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers NFL live streaming free Online at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England. Buccaneers vs Panthers NFL Match will be kick of Sunday 13 October 2019, Time 9:31 AM ET. Welcome to watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers Live Stream online NFL Football on your pc/laptop, mac, ipad. Do not wait to access this HD link, when the Football Match is mostly over and you will get live.
TV Schedule
Date: Sunday, 13 October, 2019
Time: 8:20 ET
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Coverage: NFL NETWORK
WATCH LIVE ::>>CLICK NOW
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fter casting their eyes on the Oakland Raiders and the Chicago Bears, NFL fans in London will be treated to an all-NFC South affair this weekend.The British capital hosts the second of its four games this season, with the Carolina Panthers colliding against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.The first NFL purpose-build stadium outside the U.S., the arena has proved to be a resounding success so far.
For most members of the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in London is an opportunity to see a new country and experience a different culture.For Panthers defensive end EfeObada the game Sunday between Carolina (3–2) and the Bucs (2–3) is a homecoming.
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost three of their first five games and continue to be plagued by inconsistent play for first year head coach Bruce Arians. Last time out, Tampa Bay had no answer for New Orleans WR Michael Thomas (182 yds) during a 31–24 road loss against New Orleans. The Buccaneers were outgained by a 457–252 margin in defeat.
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Carolina QB Cam Newton (foot) has not played since week two and has been officially ruled out for this contest. Tampa Bay defeated Carolina on a late goal line stand earlier this season. Look for the Panthers to turn the tables in London. Final Score Prediction, Carolina Panthers 27–20.
WATCH LIVE ::>>CLICK NOW
WATCH LIVE ::>>CLICK NOW
When and where is the game?
The Carolina Panthers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Sunday, October 13.
Kick-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET).
TV coverage
The game will be nationally broadcast by the NFL Network.
Live stream
A live stream will be available via NFL Network online and on connected devices, as well as via fuboTV.
WATCH LIVE ::>>CLICK NOW
WATCH LIVE ::>>CLICK NOW | https://medium.com/@nfllivewatch64/watch-tampa-bay-buccaneers-vs-carolina-panthers-nfl-sunday-63dc18e82343 | [] | 2019-10-13 13:27:48.608000+00:00 | ['Live', 'Live Streaming', 'Sports', 'Sunday', 'NFL'] |
Fair and Lovely | just use it like cream
she said in the soothing voice
only a mother can harness
like this
she demonstrated a circular motion
across her already porcelain face
I looked defiantly at her
nine or ten or eleven
unwilling to believe that there
was anything necessary to change
about the rich brown skin
I had inherited from my father
I don’t want to
I retaliated
she sighed
resigned herself for a moment
only to have this conversation
across decades with me
it will just clear up your face darling
to which I would retort
Ami, there is bleach clear as day
listed in the ingredients
Fair and Lovely is a company
that brazenly promotes the
colonizer’s idea that
fair is lovely
and anything else is less
it tells you that you were not born
the way you should have been
but wait
they offer a solution
to that pesky problem
you’re having with your melanin
they can rid you of the
skin deep shame
that they have perpetuated
upon you
here,
just use it like a cream
they say
in a soothing voice
using your mother’s mouth
as their puppet
to pass on a legacy
of colonization
for profit
this wound
is more than skin deep. | https://medium.com/meri-shayari/fair-and-lovely-2ed19ec49f4b | ['Rebeca Ansar'] | 2019-07-08 23:36:01.328000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Feminism', 'Equality', 'Beauty', 'Poetry'] |
Smart Contract and Web3! All that you need to know. | A Glorious guide on creating your smart contracts and interact with smart contracts using web3
1. A system to store data on the blockchain and retrieve the stored data from the blockchain
Pre-requisite:
To follow this tutorial, you need to have a basic knowledge of the following programming languages:
HTML: HTML is used to design the structure of the website JavaScript: Javascript is used for interacting with the deployed smart contracts to store, retrieve, and manipulate information Solidity: solidity is used for writing down smart contracts
Tools Requirement:
ChainIDE [an online cloud-based, multi-chain IDE] available at: https://chainide.com/
MetaMask [a wallet for web3], available at: https://metamask.io/
!Note: For this tutorial, you don’t need to download any tools or libraries except MetaMask and web3.js.
Libraries:
web3.js [web3.js is a collection of libraries that allow you to interact with a local or remote ethereum node using HTTP, IPC, or WebSocket], available at: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/ethereum/web3.js/dist/web3.min.js
Experiment Setup:
Once you have access to ChainIDE and MetaMask, connect MetaMask to ChainIDE and buy some ethers from a faucet for any of the following test networks:
Ropsten Test Network (suggested) Kovan Test Network Rinkbey Test Network Goreli Test Network
To get test ethers from a faucet, simply click choose any of the above-mentioned networks and click on Buy →Test Faucet → Get Ether, and you will be redirected to the selected faucet network. This method varies a little from network to network but all are quite easy.
2. MetaMask
After adding the extension of MetaMask to your browser, make sure you have selected the faucet network.
Method
First of all, we will write down a smart contract that can store the employee’s information such as id, first name, last name, address, mobile number, etc.,
!Note: We’ll use ChainIDE for the whole tutorial, ChainIDE supports all the programming languages that are needed to complete this tutorial.
Following code is a smart contract written in solidity that is used to store the employee’s information on the blockchain. To make use of this smart contract, we need to deploy it on the blockchain, and before, we can deploy it, we need to compile it.
The pragma keyword defines the compiler version that we will use to compile the solidity code. Once you have completed writing down your smart contract, simply compile it from the compile panel, and you will get the ABI code for the following solidity code.
3. Contract Compilation
The ABI which is known as the application binary interface is needed when you want to interact with the smart contract using web3.
Now, the next step is to deploy the complied smart contract.
4. Contract Deployment
To deploy a smart contract, you must need to have some faucet ethers in your wallets to pay a gas fee to deploy for the smart contract. In fig.4, we can see we paid 25 gwei to deploy our “Employee_Records.sol” smart contract.
Once a smart contract is deployed, it will be assigned a contract address, as we can see in fig.4, highlighted pint 3, and from the interaction panel, we can copy our smart contract address and can check our deployed smart contract on the faucet network also. | https://medium.com/white-matrix/smart-contract-and-web3-all-that-you-need-to-know-d6de2c2e68db | ['Matrix Dapp Editor'] | 2021-07-23 03:16:05.901000+00:00 | ['Blockchain Technology', 'Solidity', 'Web3', 'Chainide'] |
Exporting Static HTML From A Next.js 10 Site | In this blog post, we’re going to take the default start from Next.js 10 and export a static site that we can host in S3.
This post goes alongside a partner post on deploying static websites to S3 using the AWS TypeScript CDK if you would like to get the site up and running on your AWS account.
Note: There are reasons for and against exporting static HTML for a NextJS application. Those needs may differ from person to person. Please see NextJS documentation on Static HTML Export for the latest caveats when using their static export feature.
Getting Started
We will use the latest create-next-app deployment to get things rolling.
Once this runs, there will be a new folder that hosts your NextJS 10 application in next-10-static-export .
Building the application
Adjust your application’s package.json file to add a new script for export:
Building and exporting the website
Under pages/index.js I am going to make some small adjustments for the project and add a small paragraph that says This page has been updated to show how to build and export static HTML from a NextJS 10 project.
After making whatever adjustments you would like, run the following from your root directory:
Once you have run both commands, you’ll notice that there is now a _next and out directory created.
The out directory is where next export will move the assets to.
Seeing the final product
We can now serve those assets locally to see the build in action.
If you do not have it already, I recommend globally installing Vercel’s Serve package to enable you to serve the out directory. This can be done with npm i -g serve .
Now, run serve out from the root directory and you will have a URL posted to the terminal to show you where the website is being served from (generally localhost port 5000 unless busy).
Head to the website and you will see the following:
Congrats! You have your statically exported site.
What’s next?
If you would like to see how to deploy your website to AWS S3 using the AWS TypeScript CDK, head to the partner post and continue on.
Resources
Image credit: Isi Parente
Originally posted on my blog. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/exporting-static-html-from-a-nextjs-10-site-93da6db3457c | ["Dennis O'Keeffe"] | 2020-11-04 07:03:55.964000+00:00 | ['Nextjs', 'JavaScript', 'Web Development', 'Coding', 'React'] |
Model-Agnostic Local Explanations using Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) Plots | Model-Agnostic Local Explanations using Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) Plots
How to Explain and Affect Individual Decisions with ICE Curves
Understanding Machine Learning Decisions
If your loan application is declined, you would probably want to know two things:
Why did I get rejected? What can I do to get approved in the future?
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
In other words, the explanation you want is one that is specific to you. In particular, you would want to be educated about how your situation contributed to the outcome, and if possible, do something about it. For example, if your chance of getting a loan greatly increases once you have lived in your current address for over a year, then you can confidently apply again in the future!
This need for an explanation that is meaningful to the individual, or “local explanation” as it’s known, is applicable whether the decision is made by a human or by a Machine Learning algorithm. In the field of Interpretable Machine Learning, there are a number of well-known techniques for explaining individual decisions (e.g., SHAP and LIME). These techniques not only provide innovative ideas for teasing out the reasons behind individual predictions for “black box” Machine Learning models, they also help us understand the results by visualizing them in interesting ways (e.g., see my article on the SHAP Summary Plot).
A popular visualization technique that is not typically associated with local explanations that I think can contribute in this context is the Individual Conditional Expectation¹ (ICE) plot. Traditionally, ICE plots are primarily seen as visualizations for supporting global interpretation; that is, explaining what the model is doing at the population level. However, with some simple modifications in the way they are visualized, I think they can also be valuable at a local explanation level. The advantage of using ICE plots is that it is a simple and easy technique to understand. It also provides an abundance of information that the viewer can use to understand what is going on at the local level and to simulate what may happen if things change.
The goal of this article is to examine how ICE plots can help explain individual decisions and to help illustrate what is needed to affect them. I will first describe the ICE plot in detail (part 1) before using a modified version of it to explore its utility using a couple of examples (part 2).
This article is intended for anyone with a basic understanding of statistics and Machine Learning (ML), and is interested in how visualizations can help explain and affect individual ML decisions.
What is an ICE Plot?
An ICE plot is an extension of a Partial Dependence Plot² (PDP). PDPs visualize how changes in the value of a feature impact the prediction of a ML model. It does this by plotting the average predicted outcomes for different values of a feature you are interested in whilst holding the values of other feature values constant. This is useful because we can then see the relationship between the prediction and the features we are interested in (typically one or two at a time).
For example, we can answer questions such as:
How much inventory of ice cream is needed if the temperature goes up?
What are the average house prices in relation to the number of bedrooms?
The figure shown here is an example of a PDP showing the “RM” (average number of rooms per dwelling) feature from the popular Boston House Price dataset. The x-axis is the average number of bedrooms and the y-axis is the median value in $1000s. The plot is created using the scikit-learn PDP function.
ICE Plots Visualizes Individual Differences
PDPs are simple and easy to understand. However, their simplicity hides potentially interesting relationships between individual instances. For example, if the feature values of a subset of instances trend positive but another subset trend negative, then the averaging process may cancel them out.
ICE plots solve this problem. An ICE plot unpacks the curve that is the result of the aggregation process in PDP. Instead of averaging out the prediction, each ICE curve shows the predictions of varying the feature value for an instance. When they are presented together in a single plot, we can see the relationships between subsets of the instances as well as differences in how individual instances behave.
As shown in the figure below, although the majority of the instances follows the shape of the curve in the PDP shown earlier, there is a small subset at the top of the plot that behaves contrary to the PDP curve; instead of increasing between 6–7 on the x-axis, they actually decrease.
ICE Plot for the “RM” Feature in Boston House Price Dataset
Creating an ICE plot is straightforward. There are a number of packages available (e.g., in Python and R). Of course, it is also possible to create your own.
Using ICE Plots for Local Explanations
ICE plots are traditionally used to understand interactions and differences in data subsets as part of a Partial Dependence (PD) analysis. However, as mentioned earlier, since an ICE plot depict individual observations, there is a potential to use it to focus on a particular instance you are interested in.
Calculating the Values for an ICE Curve
In order to visualize an instance, we need to figure out how to calculate the values of the curve (or be able to locate the instance in a tool that creates ICE plots. E.g., see this tutorial on accessing ICE DataFrame in PyCEbox). Here is a simple example to illustrate the steps for calculating the values of an ICE curve:
1. Find the instance and the feature you are interested in.
2. Find the unique values of the feature.
3. For each of these values, create an instance with the other feature values. In other words, fix the other feature values and permute over the value of the feature of interest.
4. Make a prediction for each of the combinations.
5. Take the predicted values for each instance and plot the curve for the predictions.
ICE Plot for Instance #3 Feature B
Being Mindful of Correlations
A potential problem that needs to be dealt with when using ICE plots (and PDPs) is high correlations between features. This can be problematic in a number of ways:
We could end up with unlikely or impossible combinations of feature values that then get fed into the model. For example, in a dataset that includes the features “Pregnancy Status” and “Gender”, we could end up having a pregnant male being an input combination! It’s difficult to attribute the effect to a single feature (i.e., as a result of “Collinearity” or “Multicollinearity”). In other words, it is hard to know how much of the predictive influence is due to one feature or to another feature.
A number of researchers have pointed out these issues in detail and have suggested various remedial approaches. In practice, there are some simple approaches to deal with highly correlated variables (e.g. aggregation, step-wise elimination). See the following article for detailed examples on how to deal with correlations.
Visualizing the ICE curve
For the purpose of explaining and affecting a prediction, there are a number of different ways to visualize an individual instance. Two main approaches are: | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-explain-and-affect-individual-decisions-with-ice-curves-1-2-f39fd751546f | ['Wai On'] | 2020-07-19 17:30:52.856000+00:00 | ['Interpretable Ai', 'Explainable Ai', 'Visualization', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Visualization'] |
My Father Has Cancer | Photo by Jakub Kriz on Unsplash
Once I allowed the words to sink in, it released an unrecognizable shock.
I suppose each person reacts to the news differently.
I jumped in my shoes, grabbed my phone, plugged in headphones and ran.
I began running in search for some answer to the forever asked question,
“Why?”
Of all of the sinister individuals’ society has created, my father was not one of them.
A kind undeserving soul should not be punished with sickness.
The fear of loss began to spread in my mind like a plague.
Fearing the last hug, the last handshake, or the last chance to receive guidance.
I ran harder and faster inconsiderate of the lack of breaths I took.
Each curve on the sidewalk served as minor obstacles, and if I overcame them, he’d be alright.
I bolted throughout my neighborhood searching for answers, ignoring the tears.
I began sacrificing my own breaths in hopes that he’d have them.
I struggled to accept that the information was real.
Months later I saw him in person with his wife alongside my brother.
Fear had crept into his eyes where tears began to form.
My brother does not let emotions register his nature.
How jealous I was for being unable to control myself.
I took a deep breath at the Cracker Barrel dining table and placed my head down.
I remembered that run. Feeling as though I was a hopeless wanderer searching for clarity.
I’d continued running for hours.
I ran past my old gym, glanced over at my old middle school, and didn’t stop until the bridge.
There was a wooden bridge alongside a creek. It was cryptic and frail.
I began walking with clenched fists, I made it to the middle of the bridge and screamed.
I continued on, moving with meaning in hopes to arrive at the entrance before sun down.
I finally arrived at the Lake Carolina entrance.
The sidewalk faded, I ran through the tall grass to find the ledge to leap on and look out.
The sun began to descend, I lifted my hands and prayed.
I begged my heavenly father to stop this sickness and to stop my blubbering eyes from leaking. | https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/my-father-has-cancer-272efcd73165 | ['Gaston King'] | 2020-12-16 07:43:13.600000+00:00 | ['Dads', 'Cancer', 'Medicine', 'Self Improvement', 'Running'] |
If being creative is so horrible, why do you do it? | More from rstevens Follow
I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans. | https://rstevens.medium.com/if-being-creative-is-so-horrible-why-do-you-do-it-9d1ea645eb3 | [] | 2019-11-12 03:44:09.309000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Writing', 'Personal Development', 'Humor', 'Comics'] |
Journey — to the Mother Tongue. The story, as I remember it, is as… | I didn’t know about the Yugoslav Civil War–that there had even been a war in Eastern Europe in the recent past–until fifth grade. I forget how I learned about it, but the knowledge has become a perdurable element of my personal identity.
I have great difficulty trying to study the Yugoslav Civil War, but the assessment I am confident in goes like this; Yugoslavia, a relatively successful state socialist project, suffered from lingering ethno-sectarian tensions going back to the Middle Ages. These sectarian tensions were exploited by outside actors, especially NATO powers, to create a war that allowed Western corporations to loot the country’s most lucrative properties and industries. The region has suffered egregiously high unemployment, low foreign direct investment, and general political stagnation ever since.
Most vivid is the story my parents told me about the US Air Force’s 72-day bombing of Sarajevo. My parents had come to the states in order to keep themselves and my then two-year-old sister together (I had not been born yet). When the war broke out, all travel to Yugoslavia was cut off, isolating them from their entire families.
Unsure of whether or not their family members were still alive, my parents watched barely-color newsreels of the bombing of my mother’s home city, wondering where in the city they were that day, if the bombs had hit them. There was no way to call and check.
My understanding, since the fifth grade, has been that this war isolated me from my family before I was even born. I was born in 1994, while the war was still going on. The story at the beginning of this piece would have taken place in early ’96 to ’97. But by then, even with the family in communication again, my parents had been forced to settle in America.
The knowledge of this history has also isolated me from most of the people I grew up around. I am light-skinned and speak English with a native accent, and I grew up within driving distance of the headquarters of Raytheon, CACI, and SAIC. It’s very hard to identify as a typical white American, knowing that so many people I live near likely worked at companies that abetted the bombing of my family.
But saying this to the people in my neighborhood, at my school, or at any of the places I worked, is taboo. What I’m left with is that feeling of isolating muteness.
I’ve lived most of my life feeling like I got cheated out of the family I might have had. As metaphors go, falling out of the night sky into an empty desert is a good way of describing how displaced and isolated I’ve felt. That mute, lone wanderer isn’t exactly me. But he looks a lot like me, in the right light, at the right angle.
The Air Force planes that bombed my grandparents aren’t magical flying golems. But they are the product of a society bent on using mechanized violence to obliterate its rivals, with similarly self-defeating results. They look a lot less sorcerous than stone wyrms, but it’s hard not to see them as a similar byproduct of an analogous society. There are few things that more effectively reduce societies and people to ruins than bombs.
Journey does not, however, leave you defeated. Even though you fall into the snow of the mountainside as you climb, freezing and exhausted, the shining entities that have been teaching you the cautionary history of this ruined society uplift you and enable you to fly one more time.
I mentioned that this game didn’t produce any kind of uplifting revelation in me, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not moved by the ending. The music soars as freely and exultingly as your wandering avatar. You take flight with the aid and mutual joy of dozens of the cloth creatures that have been aiding you thus far. Instead of sand and ruins and dark corridors and icy, hail-scarred mountainsides, you fly through clear, bright blue sky, gold-brown ribbon-creatures leading you forward. I don’t think of myself as a very sentimental person, but I teared up at this point in both my play-throughs.
The end of the game sees you returned to your spot in the night sky, a star shooting up, now a vessel for the cautionary history of the aggression that ripped apart this terrestrial society.
My mother’s parents are deceased, but my father’s parents have been asking to see me. I haven’t been to the former Yugoslavia to visit my extended family in six years. My aforementioned anxiety and shame, along with logistical difficulties while I was in undergrad, have dissuaded me thus far. When I mentioned to my therapist that my family was asking to see me, and the personal baggage that I’d allowed to prevent me from going, she asked me, “What do you want?”
My immediate, instinctual response was, “I want to feel like I’m a part of this family.”
“You know that just being there will mean the world to everyone,” she said. “So, whether or not you speak the language, just being there for family, no matter what, is what’s important.”
After hearing that, I’m compelled to read Journey as a meditation settling somewhere between my first and second instincts. I’ve always thought of myself as a displaced person, a perennial outsider to my friends and loved ones. Large-scale mechanized violence didn’t make me rootless, but it definitely uprooted me — much like that hooded wanderer in the desert, with all their predecessors buried in the sands.
That uprooted wanderer does experience a kind of adulated communion — something certainly approaching love, or at least care — with others like them, and with the world writ large. War and the instruments thereof threaten to further isolate, cripple, and erase them. But they need not do their job for them. Like the stranger I met in my first play-through, they can thwart isolation and huddle with others in the cold, so that they might do something somewhere between finding home and going there.
Perhaps all that’s needed to communicate love, care, and community is the willingness to be there, no matter what heat, cold, or monsters have conspired to prevent you. Families are not so easily ruined as buildings.
I’m going to visit my extended family in the former Yugoslavia this summer. I’ll certainly try to learn some Serbian beyond cuss words and food names, but perhaps what matters much more is just that I’ll be there. Whether I sing euphoniously, speak, write, or simply sit still, maybe that’ll be enough for my family to know I love them. | https://medium.com/mammon-machine-zeal/journey-to-the-mother-tongue-c36957161abe | ['Peter Z Grimm'] | 2019-04-09 17:20:06.276000+00:00 | ['Journey', 'Language', 'War', 'Games Writing', 'Family'] |
evolution | evolution
koi, part 1 of diptych, debora Ewing
once we huddled against the flow
solace touching fin to scale
we grew stronger then
we wrote our love in bubbled laughter
turned sideways to the current
allowing one of us to rest
water cuts into rock
paper grows brittler
spawning tells time
a river runs to its end
if the sun burns too bold
fish will languish in the mud
flopping gasping gills to lungs
perhaps this is where we grew feet
climbed out of the bayou one by one
If you liked this piece, you may enjoy: | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/evolution-591aa58414ab | ['Deb Ewing'] | 2020-12-04 11:03:01.484000+00:00 | ['Sisters', 'Fishing', 'A Cornered Gurl', 'Personal Growth', 'Poetry'] |
What’s in ProPublica’s NYPD Complaints Data? | What’s in ProPublica’s NYPD Complaints Data?
An Initial Run Through
ProPublica recently released The NYPD Files, a database of records listing complaints filed against members of the NYPD from 1999–2020. This was a highly controversial move, as NYC Police, Firefighters, and Corrections Officers Unions are currently suing the state to keep these records secret. In any case, ProPublica has made this data public for their own reasons, and as a data enthusiast, I thought reviewing this data and analyzing it would serve both myself and the public some good. You can read more about it here, and access the database here.
The following are a few simple graphs I’ve created based on my initial review of the data. I am making no allegations, drawing no conclusions, and establishing no relationship or correlations from this data at this point in time. These are simple histograms of NYPD complaints data for those who want a big picture overview.
First, a timeline of complaints: | https://medium.com/swlh/whats-in-propublica-s-nypd-complaints-data-7567c2e2b382 | ['Hamilton Chang'] | 2020-07-31 14:39:47.085000+00:00 | ['Pandas', 'Police', 'Data Science', 'Data Analysis', 'Propublica'] |
3 Ways To Invest in the Web3 Ecosystem of DeFi, Metaverse, & Smart-Contracts | Investors are piling into the emerging web3 economy.
…which itself will disrupt how investing and profit-making gets done.
Through web3 we achieve 2 fundamental innovations:
1. Distributed Incentives — Economic incentives become more broadly distributed to ‘stakeholders’ (including end-users and creators) rather than just ‘shareholders’ (Founders, Investors, VC Funds).
2. Distributed Governance — Innovation and operational management will increasingly be guided by the broad base of stakeholders via distributed ownership using such things as tokenized, and stake-weighted voting.
Both of which greatly impact investors — and it’s not without controversy.
Recent Tweets from the likes of Jack Dorsey (Founder of Twitter) and Elon Musk (Founder of Tesla and SpaceX) reveal concerns over web3.
Venture Capital firms, Jack argues, can have a centralizing influence on the profitability of web3 products:
To which @mdudas replied and Jack redirected:
While Elon apparently argues for the practical non-existence of web3 products to date :)
Jack retorts with a crack at VC firm a16z…
So let’s explore…
The Profit Motive of web2 vs web3
Some web3 advocates argue that external venture capital goes against the spirit of decentralization — because they assume the bulk of profits or control end up in the hands of ‘venture capitalists’.
The nature of venture capital is to follow trends to follow the money, and as web3 develops, VC’s will accommodate. The purpose of VC funding is to enable rapid growth of a venture in exchange for a share of the profit potential, not inherently to ‘centralize control’ — no more than if 51% of tokens are bought up in a pre-sale by early token investors and thus lock-up the governance of a web3 platform.
In fact, VC’s tend to end up with far less than a ‘controlling stake’. More like 5% to 20%. What’s more, VC’s only tend to profit from a small minority of ventures they ‘invest’ in (gamble on).
Today via the innovation of web3, ‘tokenomics’ are improving the chances for everyone to profit: from pre-listing token buyers, to secondary market token traders, to VCs, to project founders, to end-users, AND experience creators.
The Tokenomic Distribution of Ownership
Tokenomics allows a wide range of participants to contribute value on open platforms for broadly distributed economic incentives (profit share).
How?
Because tokens assign and protect ownership of digital property while allowing a highly liquid management of incentive distributions (investors might think of it as ‘dividends’).
Make no mistake, ownership rights are fundamental to web3; protected by the power of encryption. On-chain claims on ownership enable profit incentives that serve all stakeholders via the distribution of productive output amongst participants. Whether that contribution is content creation, coding, marketing, liquidity staking, or growth capital.
The problem of web2 systems was allowing shareholding governors to restrict stakeholder contribution, governance and economic reward while maximizing centralization of power and profit for a small number of owners (shareholders, founders, and core staff). In the face of web3, that old web2 model will be seen as narrow minded.
Investors are now juggling the integration of two worlds: the tried and true systems of traditional capital management, and the new opportunities made possible via token incentives.
Web3 economies-of-scale (the efficiencies of going big) and potential network effects (the synergy of more participants) are astronomical. Web3 VC’s like Helios or a16z see the vast profit potential of distributed systems, distributed governance, and distributed rewards.
The most forward looking investors (accredited investors, token buyers, and VC’s) are leaping head first into the realm of distributed incentives. Web3 will quickly become competition against those stuck in web2, providing more economic incentive for creators and users to abandon web2 platforms in favor of web3.
The Web2 / Web3 Flippening
To be clear: web2 didn’t share enough economic incentive with users, and so will be outcompeted by distributed systems that share both profit incentive and governance — better for all stakeholders including shareholders, token holders, and end users.
Whereas Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc take 50% of profits for themselves, web3 will see a reduction down to just a few percentage points of margin (‘take’ or ‘profit’) for the platform builders.
Why would stakeholders such as whale token holders, VC’s or Founders be happy with such a reduction in their % take of profits? Because of the volume… because of the plethora of new app opportunities made possible via web3 systems, and because it’s simply the direction that tokenomics will push us all through free-market competition.
The creator community as a whole can earn multiple times more than platform builders — and yet the builders will still earn a satisfying and well deserved take based on huge economies-of-scale and network effects.
In a web3 world, all stakeholders do exceedingly well providing the exponential growth in the network is faster than the exponential decline in % profit margin.
Eventually: we see a world where all shareholdings will be entirely tokenized, instantly liquid, attached to clear governance rights, with direct link to dividend yield (profit share).
The Role of VC’s
VCs need to deliver more than just capital investment. Funding for startups brings more than just ‘external ownership’ — it means an accelerated path towards profitability. In today’s age, time is of the essence. Otherwise Founders wouldn’t sell a stake in their project.
Solana, for example, took a leap ahead in market traction through VC partnership. (Yes Solana has its faults, which blockchain doesn’t?)
Investment also brings advisory, mentoring, and connections. Entrepreneurs understand this to be vital for a fledgling startup to achieve success. FOMO degen token traders rarely grasp the challenge of bringing a startup idea to life. Developers sometimes think ‘build a better mousetrap and they [customers] will come”. A sea of abandoned github projects reveals how false that belief is.
All that being said, there are broadly speaking…
3 ways to invest in web3
a) Really early. b) Early. Or c) Late.
Really early includes what angel investors or VC’s do in traditional finance, to give an idea a fighting chance at becoming a business. Bravo for their bravery given the statistic that 85% of startups fail. Really early investors (Founders, Angels, VC’s) deserve the wins.
Really early investment into web3 can also include private token sales or pre-sales. Startups approach various types of investor for a significant enough size backing of the token sale.
This helps seed the project with operating capital… and gives the project some level of credibility in the run up to a public sale or main sale…. and also helps them gain advisors, or refine their pitch before making the project public.
This essentially means that investors with better connections, or more money than a typical public sale investor, will typically ‘get in’ at a lower price than future token buyers will pay.
Private token sales often have a $50k+ minimum and often a long vesting period, perhaps 6 months or more, until those early investors receive their tokens and thus can exit if they choose or continue to hodl.
b) Early
Instead of being really early via pre-seed or seed equity investment or private token sale, ‘early’ is akin to a public token sale or Series A venture capital. Not a bad way to go if you want more assurance that a project has some legs.
c) Late
As my Grandpa used to advise me, “If you’re always early, you’re never late”.
Anyway…
Jack Dorsey is wrong, although he may be playing 4D chess. He can criticize VC’s because as a billionaire founder, he doesn’t need VC funding to kick-start his entry into the web3 industry via his FinTech company Block (formerly Square).
Bottom line: VC investment does not in any way prevent web3 from being ‘decentralized’. Web3 means distributing governance and the profit motive to end-users (play-to-earn, learn-to-earn) and experience builders (create-to-earn).
A Word On Governance
Above we focused on web3 economic incentives, but what about the means of governance? Since governance is tied to tokenomics, there is no way to exclude large token holders from having an unfair say in the governance of a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization)… or is there.
Let’s dig into those details in a follow up soon.
Submit expressions of interest for funding or investment via www.heliosrising.com | https://medium.com/@gavriel/3-ways-to-invest-in-the-web3-ecosystem-of-defi-metaverse-smart-contracts-ba36e3847db8 | ['Gavriel Shaw'] | 2021-12-30 22:28:26.002000+00:00 | ['Web3', 'Investing', 'Startup', 'Dealflow', 'Venture Capital'] |
Is migrating Infrastructure to Cloud Essential? | Is migrating Infrastructure to Cloud Essential?
Why Companies are Migrating to Cloud Platforms under Different conditions? These are the fundamental theoretical questions in migration research, although there is a broader range of addressing the issues than these fundamentals. Organizations that have built businesses by investing on infrastructure over the past few years are now willing to move to the cloud to improve the bottom line by evolving digitally. The cloud provides flexibility to such organizations that innovate, develop, test, and deploy the ideas on the fly at a fraction of costs associated with the maintenance of heavy infrastructure.
Overview
Some concepts of migration infrastructure are covered with existing concepts like Migration Systems, Migration Industry, and Culture of Migration. Because migration infrastructure is a broad concept and can be applied meaningfully to diverse empirical contexts. Migration is always facilitated, conditioned/constrained, but in ways, it differs widely.
However, as we discussed the migration of infrastructure should happen since the current generation is dealing with Cloud. Specifically, infrastructure migration services include:
Data Center Migration - A comprehensive process that systematically follows the deploying and transferring the existing data center environment into another operative environment.
- A comprehensive process that systematically follows the deploying and transferring the existing data center environment into another operative environment. Physical-to-Physical(P2P) - Migrating applications/programs and data from one secondary storage device to any other.
- Migrating applications/programs and data from one secondary storage device to any other. Physical-to-Virtual(P2V) - Process of migrating an Operating System (OS), application programs and data from the secondary storage devices into a Virtual Machine (VM).
- Process of migrating an Operating System (OS), application programs and data from the secondary storage devices into a Virtual Machine (VM). Virtual-to-Virtual - Migration of an Environment, Application, Service and so on from one to another Virtual Machine or from one to another Cloud.
- Migration of an Environment, Application, Service and so on from one to another Virtual Machine or from one to another Cloud. Virtual-to-Physical (V2P) — Migrating of an Operating System (OS), application programs, or data from a virtual machine or a partition to a computer’s main disk.
How to perform Infrastructure migration?
Trianz is an Advanced Consulting Partner of AWS and Managed Service Provider and Strategic Go To Market Partner of Global AWS. Trianz provides end-to-end infrastructure migration services by helping clients with the business-IT alignment, selection of tools, expertise acceleration of migrating legacy infrastructure to AWS to improve significant workforce productivity.
Trianz is a specialized platform in orchestration and execution of roadmaps through different phases of the migration process. Also, it involves discovering opportunities and cloud readiness, roadmap development, infrastructure migration to ensure the success rate of migration.
Why Trianz?
Cloud provides pioneering facilities that may fade out when compared to any other local storage providers. Trianz enables digital evolution via effective strategies and excellence in the execution stage. With the smart collaboration of business and technology heads, it helps to formulate and execute operational strategies in achieving desired outcomes by bringing the best in consulting and execution models. The achievement is done powered by knowledge, research, and other factors followed by.
Few reasons behind the migration are:
Cost Factor — The underlying driver in making the move from the legacy on-premise enterprise data warehouse to the cloud matters a lot. Cost not only encompasses the direct cost of owning or licensing the data center equipment, but also the cost of third party services, maintenance, and management, training and policy. Some kind of these indirect costs can make up a significant proportion of expenses of running on-premise data centers.
Performance
Investment in everything to own our on-premise environment is inflexibility and is a long-term commitment, which hinders our organization from obtaining the latest technology. Financially, by combining the upfront Capex costs of buying equipment and depreciation costs as it ages adds up quickly. And on the flip side, cloud service infrastructure affords us the flexibility and the best industry.
Security
Many of us who have an on-premise data infrastructure are concerned about security since the reality is that it is hard to be more secure and in control than housing our own data center. Cloud service providers like AWS, GCP, and snowflake, understand that thousands of customers entrust their data security to them. So, cloud providers are required to meet high-security standards in the industry set by health, government, and financial institutions enabling certifications like SOC2, ISO27001, to be much easier to obtain when running on a computing infrastructure which is already certified.
Requirements planning - Scalability should be included in the planning where the performance of the system should be defined.
- Scalability should be included in the planning where the performance of the system should be defined. Costestimation - Instead of choosing the cheapest solution, it’s better to plan for the future. Even though it costs a bit high, we can save the cost of another migration by choosing the right solution.
- Instead of choosing the cheapest solution, it’s better to plan for the future. Even though it costs a bit high, we can save the cost of another migration by choosing the right solution. Evaluation of Plans - Plans that are chosen must be evaluated with the right analysis of whether or not they match with reality.
- Plans that are chosen must be evaluated with the right analysis of whether or not they match with reality. Define When — Choose a perfect where the migration needs to be started and ensure that there is a minimalistic load on the system. And also make a note that each system has its own time schedule.
— Choose a perfect where the migration needs to be started and ensure that there is a minimalistic load on the system. And also make a note that each system has its own time schedule. Define Where - Make sure that the environment/technology chosen will fit our requirements and make valid predictions about the future operations that we are going to perform and take into account the mistakes that brought us to the current migration.
- Make sure that the environment/technology chosen will fit our requirements and make valid predictions about the future operations that we are going to perform and take into account the mistakes that brought us to the current migration. Define How - Depending on how large the system is, define how to implement the migration and the best should be determined on the basis of case by case.
- Depending on how large the system is, define how to implement the migration and the best should be determined on the basis of case by case. Less initial investment - Compared to an application server costing thousands of dollars, it won’t cost much when it comes to the cost of cloud and also the provisioning cost would be zero.
- Compared to an application server costing thousands of dollars, it won’t cost much when it comes to the cost of cloud and also the provisioning cost would be zero. Scalability — By choosing cloud-based solutions, we can scale up or down as our business grows or our budget tightens.
— By choosing cloud-based solutions, we can scale up or down as our business grows or our budget tightens. Burst ability - When we need extra capacity for a short period, the cloud offers this feature where a dedicated server cannot.
- When we need extra capacity for a short period, the cloud offers this feature where a dedicated server cannot. fIncreased storage capacity - Prices that are charged by the cloud for storage capacity is much lower than buying any physical hard drives.
- Prices that are charged by the cloud for storage capacity is much lower than buying any physical hard drives. Available all the time - Since the cloud is not tied down to a single location, we need not worry in that case. A Cloud-based solution is obviously a good idea irrespective of the size of the organization.
- Since the cloud is not tied down to a single location, we need not worry in that case. A Cloud-based solution is obviously a good idea irrespective of the size of the organization. Unexpected migration problems - The apps must be recorded to work in a virtualized environment and the data must be reformatted to get Sync with the SaaS formats. Although we feel that the initial costs regarding the cloud are less, future associated costs can bring the right backup.
- The apps must be recorded to work in a virtualized environment and the data must be reformatted to get Sync with the SaaS formats. Although we feel that the initial costs regarding the cloud are less, future associated costs can bring the right backup. Uncontrollable risk — Cloud providers may have Sophisticated anti-malware tools because of in need of them. Hackers may attempt to hack into primary servers often. A private server is unlikely to be a target for hackers. So, maybe it’s better to risk a problem that can be fixed in-house than to risk which is out of our hands because.
Conclusion
Nowadays, the majority of organizations are in need of some services that are related to the cloud and its offerings. Migrating from Infrastructure to cloud is an achievement for the organizations that are upgrading to the cloud. Although the risk is a big deal at the beginning stage in the process of migration, the future risk is very less. | https://medium.com/@scriptbees/is-migrating-infrastructure-to-cloud-essential-63f3cf2894e | [] | 2020-11-25 10:14:00.604000+00:00 | ['Migration', 'Serverless', 'Cloud Infrastructure', 'Automation Tools', 'Infrastructure Services'] |
How to Build a Chatbot from zero | We will divide this guide into three steps:
Understanding the Basics of how a Chatbot works
Building a model with TF, Keras, and Jupyter
Deploying the model with Serverless as Python AWS Lambda
Build a Preact Frontend to interact with the bot
Top 4 Bot Tutorials
The Basics
For a Chatbot to work it has to understand the intention of the user. This can be represented in mapping words to an intent. This can be single words or a combination of various words (sentences).
Example of a greeting intent, which would be triggered by the phrases Hi, Hello or Good Morning.
After detecting the intent the Chatbot is then able to either directly respond with a preprogrammed response or get more data from an external source (like an API or Database) for a user-specific response. The data format to map the input phrases with intents and responses is given as a JSON file:
[{
"tag": "greeting",
"patterns": ["hello", "hi", "hey", "hi joonka"],
"responses": ["Yo!", "Howdy!", "G'day mate!", "Hiya!"]
}]
Once the intent-tag is detected we will randomly select one of the possible responses.
The Model
We need to detect the intents. Therefore we need to apply some Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques like tokenization and word embeddings. The source code can be followed on GitHub in the form of a Jupyter notebook.
Feature Tokenization and One-Hot Labels
The input of Machine learning (ML) models have to be numerical. Consequently, we need to represent our input phrases as a sequence of numbers. The process of mapping every word to a unique id is called Tokenization. In Tensorflow we can make use of a text preprocessor: the Tokenizer. If we have an intent_list = ["Hi", "Hello", "Good Morning"] , containing all input phrases, the tokenizer then will identify every word with a number. For the above list the word index would be the following: {'hi': 1, 'hello': 2, 'good': 3, 'morning': 4} . For words that our model has not seen previously, we will use an out-of-vocabulary (OOV) token.
We have created a numerical representation of words, but we want to train our model on sequences of words. For the input phrase “Good Morning” we would use our word index to create a sequence of [3, 4] (good -> 3, morning -> 4) . This sequence has a length of two. In general, our sequences can have a different length (e.g. hi -> len([1]) = 1 ), but for our ML model to work, we need the sequences to have the same length. Here we can use a technique of padding, meaning that we fill the sequences, which are smaller than the longest sequence with zeroes until all sequences have the same size (one could also cut off part of the longer sequences):
Hi -toSequence-> [1] -padding-> [0, 1] Good Morning -toSequence-> [3, 4] -padding-> [3, 4]
Apart from the features we also need to numerical represent the intents (labels). We will do so by using a “One-Hot” representation. If we want to train on two intents, e.g. “greeting” and “farewell”, then we could represent them as
greeting -> [1, 0]
farewell -> [0, 1]
In TF we can use some preprocessing utilities: The Tokenizer , pad_sequences and to_categorical . The corresponding code is then given by
from tensorflow.keras.preprocessing.text import Tokenizer
from tensorflow.keras.preprocessing.sequence import pad_sequences # Tokenization
tokenizer = Tokenizer(oov_token = oov_tok)
tokenizer.fit_on_texts(intent_list)
word_index = tokenizer.word_index # Input phrases to sequences
sequences = tokenizer.texts_to_sequences(intent_list) # Padding
max_length = len(max(sequences, key=len))
vocab_size = len(word_index)
padded = pad_sequences(sequences) # One-Hot labels
labels = tf.keras.utils.to_categorical(label_list)
num_categories = len(labels[0])
Word Embedding
We can further improve on the tokenization of words by representing every word in an n-dimensional vector space. E.g. if we choose a 2-dimensional space we would map every word to a vector of 2 real numbers
Word embedding of Hello and Goodbye, which point in the opposite direction.
hello -> [1.0, 1.0]
goodbye -> [-1.0, -1.0]
Words with a similar semantic then would point in a similar direction and be close to each other in the vector space. Words with a different meaning would tend to be far from each other.
The initial word embedding vectors are initialized randomly, but the model will train the final vector numbers. TF has an Embedding layer to do all of this for us.
The final model is then given by
import tensorflow as tf
from tensorflow.keras import layers tf.keras.Sequential([
layers.Embedding(vocab_size+1, 16, input_length=padded_length),
layers.Flatten(),
layers.Dense(128, activation='relu'),
layers.Dropout(0.5),
layers.Dense(64, activation='relu'),
layers.Dropout(0.5),
layers.Dense(num_intents, activation='softmax')
])
where we added two Dense layers with a Dropout for regularization. The final needs to have the same number of neurons as num_intents we want to train.
Making Predictions
To make predictions we also have tokenize, sequential and pad our input phrases, before passing the numerical representation to our model. The softmax layer activation will give us a list of probabilities for each intent. The entry with the highest probability will be used to detect our intent.
sentence = 'Good morning'
sequence = tokenizer.texts_to_sequences([sentence])
padded_sequence = pad_sequences(sequence, maxlen=padded_length)
prediction = model.predict(padded_sequence)[0]
intent = intents[np.argmax(prediction)]
tag = intent['tag']
The AWS Backend
For deploying the Model and be able to make predictions we will use Serverless, which is a useful tool to automate cloud infrastructure. The source code can be seen here.
Serverless
The core of Serverless is the serverless.yml file
service: chatbot provider:
name: aws
runtime: python3.6
region: eu-west-1
stage: dev functions:
infer:
handler: infer.inferHandler
timeout: 30
events:
- http:
path: infer
method: post
cors: true
It describes a function “infer”, which can be called by an HTTP POST request. To avoid problems with Cross-Origin-Resource-Sharing (CORS), while making requests from a different origin, we have added cors: true .
Deploying the function is then as simple as executing sls deploy -v (-v for verbose). It will then create an S3 bucket, a Lambda function, and an API Gateway and return the endpoint of the microservice. To test the function we can make use of cURL
curl -d '{"msg": "hello"}' -X POST https://{id}.execute-api.{region}.amazonaws.com/dev/infer ... wait ... => {"msg": "hello", "intent": "greeting", "response": "Yo!"}
It could be that the first call is going to timeout. The Lambda function has to fire up and train the model, which could take some time. Later calls will return instantly, as we will not train the model each time the lambda function is called.
The function can also be tested offline with the command
sls invoke local --path event.json
where the query data is given in the event.json file.
Size (Optional)
One limitation of Lambda functions is the maximum size of 250mb² of the dependencies like TF. To not exceed this limitation we had to manually zip and remove some dependencies with the serverless-python-requirements plugin. Just add the following to your serverless YAML
custom:
pythonRequirements:
dockerizePip: true
zip: true
slim: true
noDeploy:
- boto3
- botocore
- docutils
- jmespath
- pip
- python-dateutil
- s3transfer
- setuptools
- tensorboard
- six plugins:
- serverless-python-requirements
The Preact Frontend
To visualize the Bot interactions we can build a small Chat interface. We will use a slim React alternative called Preact, which source code is given here. Execute yarn install && yarn start and the app should be running.
The main component Home takes as state an array of messages, which will be appended every time a user sends a message or the backend returns a response. A message can be represented as
{
isUser: false,
msg: "Hi! This is Joonka a demo of Natural Language Processing."
}
Since February of 2019³, we can use a fancy API for that: Hooks!
Hooks
Hooks can be used to move the state management from classes to functional components. In our case, we will initialize the messages state with useState(initMessages) . Then we can mutate the state with the setMessages function, which is returned by useState . When a user sends a message we call sendMsg function and update the state, with the user message and the response:
const Home = () => {
const [messages, setMessages] = useState(initMessages); const sendMsg = () => {
axios.post(
"{endpoint}",
{ msg: input }
)
.then(({ data: { intent, response } }) => {
setMessages([
...messages,
{ isUser: true, msg: input },
{ isUser: false, msg: response }
]);
})
.catch(err => console.error(err));
};
Testing
Even though this is a small demo project it is always preferable to do some Unit testing. Preact comes preinstalled with the JavaScript testing framework JEST and to deal with React components we will use Enzyme. The tests can be found here and are executed by yarn test .
JEST and Enzyme
JEST is a JavaScript testing framework, which lets us run all our Unit tests with one command: jest , which will look for *.test.js files. In principle we define matchers in a testing file like
expect(1+2).toBe(3);
and jest complains when something we expected does not match the matcher.
While testing React components we have to take care of the component rendering and child component dependencies. Here Airbnb has given us a handy library called Enzyme, which lets us prepare the components we want to test for. Enzyme lets us render a function and offers an API to easily extract DOM elements. E.g. if we want to simulate a click on the send button
test("Sends msg on send button click", done => {
const wrapper = mount(<Home />);
wrapper.find("input").simulate("keydown", { key: "a" });
wrapper.find("button").simulate("click");
setImmediate(() => {
expect(
wrapper
.find("main")
.childAt(4)
.text()
).toBe("a");
done();
});
}); | https://chatbotslife.com/how-to-build-a-chatbot-from-zero-a0ebb186b070 | ['Dirk Hornung'] | 2019-11-22 15:29:15.792000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Bots', 'Chatbots', 'React', 'Testing'] |
Surveillance Technologies in Today’s Childcare Centers | Surveillance Technologies in Today’s Childcare Centers
Surveillance is everywhere in today’s digital world. Security and privacy by using a tech device is always a concern for most people. Looking at today’s daycares in the United States, security/surveillance tools are in every corner.
The childcare industry is a fast-growing industry in the US. Thus, a new technology aimed at supporting the childcare programs and daycare centers more successful in competition. Some tech companies bring new software such as apps to support teaching and caring, also, giving parents access to their child’s educational experience.
Let me introduce a general center-based daycare marked with structural building parts and tech tools with security functions as well as with surveillance functions:
Floor Plan: A General Early Childhood Education Center. Marks the Tech Tools with Security & Monitor Functions. Hand Drawing. Jiang, May 5, 2019.
1, Half-open doors/ big clear window. This daycare has all half-open doors between room to room and room to the hallway. (Some other daycares like to use the clear windows instead.) It helps the teachers to help each other and allows the school administrators, the parents, and other visitors to observe as well as listen to inside of the classroom in the hallway easily.
2, Phones. Each classroom of the daycare has a phone. It helps the program administrators and the teachers to communicate on any occasion. The teachers always busy in hands. So, they can listen and answer the phone call without picking up the phone. That means it is possible for the offices to wiretap via the phone if they want to.
3, Security Video Cameras. The security video cameras are everywhere, including inside and outside of the building. The cameras in the classrooms and playgrounds that allow the parents to access for watching at their children at any time through a free app downloaded in an electronic device. Other family members can also access the cameras by sharing a password from any country in the world. Those streaming video cameras can technically record 24/7.
4, iPad for E-portfolio. In this daycare, each classroom at least has one iPad. All of our teachers have to learn how to use an app to document and build an e-portfolio for each child every day. At the same time, the parents can automatically receive all detail information that is uploaded to the e-portfolio about their children during a day by email. It is such a great communicative tool increasing the connection between parents and teachers.
Do you think more surveillance = more security in a daycare? | https://medium.com/shan-jiang/surveillance-technologies-in-todays-childcare-centers-df67f0fa25fb | ['Shan Jiang'] | 2019-06-12 00:42:00.090000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Early Childhood Education', 'Surveillance', 'Security Camera', 'Technology'] |
Improve Screenwriter | Improve Screenwriter
Image by Vigan Hajdari from Pixabay
Improv acting is a sub-genre of stage performance. It includes actors who go on stage without any preplanned script and run an act. One type of such an act is called Long-Form, and it includes a full 1-hour play with a single story from a start to an end.
At its core, Improve is a strong acting technique that helps actors connect to different characters, but looking closer at this art reveals much more. Long-Form Improve is not character building, it’s a storytelling session, live on stage. Looking into this form’s strategies can improve a screenwriter’s abilities, even without practicing it. Let’s start by examining some of these form’s common techniques.
Long-Form Strategies
The first Long-Form’s rule is “always look back”. A performer must remember every event that happened in order to use it later — either as a fun note or to close a loose end. The performance must be holistic and serve a finite experience to the audience, building upon past events and scenes is key in achieving it.
Another basic rule (the first rule of Improv in general) is to accept everything. It doesn’t mean “always say yes” but rather to accept a piece of information someone else provided. The idea in performance is simple, the audience heard it so it already exists, contradicting it (especially back and forth) will just feel stuck and bore the audience.
On the other hand, it’s really hard for the audience to remember everything. In order to make sure important information solidifies in the audience’s mind the “rule of 3” comes for aid. The rule simply says that in order to solidify a face (a character’s name for example), the performers should repeat it 3 times (in a reasonable time gap). It makes sure that the audience will be on the spot and the point loud and clear.
A different kind of rule, unique for Long-Form is about the storytelling aspect. At the begging of the show, the rule says that if something can go bad — make it worse. Wherever the stakes can escalate, it should be escalated. Only towards the end of the 1-hour, the resolution should begin and the performers bring back open threads and make sure the end it all.
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Improve Screenwriting
as we can see, Improve is pretty straight forward: accept every fact, base on previous scenes, complicate as much as you can, and give the audience all the important facts. These four rules are not new, they exist in every screenwriting book, blog, and lecture, but they usually appear in different posts. Seeing these rules together, especially in the larger context of a full long-form, can help with the macro aspect of screenwriting.
At the end of the day, Screenwriting is all about the full story, not the writing aspects. All the techniques and rules are great for specific problems, but it’s important not to neglect the macro of writing — storytelling. Performing in an Improv group, or even running a session in front of the mirror, compels the screenwriter to practice all storytelling aspects in a single 1-hour session.
Conclusion
Improv is a fun activity in itself, but it’s also a great social tool to practice screenwriting. It improves storytelling abilities, and just like writing group, having partners to push forward always help. It compels the writer to try and make better stories quicker, and as the most important Improv rule says — if it doesn’t work, it’s fine, the next one will be better. | https://medium.com/@moshe-50020/improve-screenwriter-7d1268933b2b | ['Moshe Leibovich'] | 2020-12-10 16:03:35.290000+00:00 | ['Improv', 'Screenwriting', 'Writing Tips'] |
Move Over Pumpkin, Persimmons are in Season | I always love when I see Persimmons at the grocery store or the farmers markets. Persimmons are a fruit with a honey flavor and mango texture that lend well to savory and sweet applications alike. They’re also much easier to use than pumpkin. The persimmon flavor also absorbs spices very well making it a perfect fall/winter food.
There are many types of species but the two most popular are the Fuyu and the Hachiya. These are very different types of Persimmons, so make sure to look at which type you’re buying at the store. The Hachiya Persimmon is very acidic, it must be fully ripe before one can enjoy eating it. The Fuyu (also called a Japanese Persimmon) has much less of the astringent qualities of the Hachiya so it can be eaten before fully ripe.
I like to say that the Fuyu smells a bit like Pumpkin when raw, but has the texture of a mango and the sweetness of a honey-glazed ripe plum. In case you couldn’t tell — there’s a lot going on here.
Persimmons are just as adaptable to other flavors as pumpkins, but Persimmons are much easier to cook with. There’s none of the gooey, slimy insides that you need to clean out. You don’t even have to peel them if you don’t want to. They are smaller and softer, so you don’t have to worry about chopping through a thick gourd with a (most-likely) dull knife increasing the risk of a finger.
Not only are they easier for the cook in the kitchen, but they also can help you live a healthier life. According to healthline Persimmons have a ton of vitamins in them. 1 Persimmon has 30% of your recommended daily value of Magnesium, 55% Vitamin A, 22% Vitamin C, and more. Did you know that, a single persimmon also has 6 grams of fiber in it?
Especially in COVID times (and as winter looms overhead) we need all the vitamins we can get.
So if you’re looking for some tasteful ways to add variety to your fall-food repertoire, or would simply like to try something new, here are two of my favorite ways to have persimmons.
Spiced Persimmon Compote
I love this recipe! It makes the whole house smell like fall whenever I make it. I usually let it cook on low for 30–45 minutes while I do other meal prep, but if you don’t have that time, keep the heat at medium and stir frequently.
Simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the Persimmons
This compote goes wonderfully well with dairy (yogurt, sweet cheeses, Panna cotta, ice cream, etc.) as well as with game meats such as duck breast or quail.
6 persimmons, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp Ginger
1 Cinnamon stick (or 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon)
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/2 Cup White Wine or Rosé Wine
1 Vanilla Bean
Throw everything except for the persimmons into a pot. Bring mixture to a boil and add in persimmons. Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer until mixture thickens and persimmons break down. Best served warm.
Note: If you like more of a puree, feel free to pulse in a blender or food processor a few times. This is how I serve with proteins.
Second Note: I love this compote blended (as referenced above) with smashed pumpkin or butternut squash. Try it as a filling for Cannelloni or ravioli.
Persimmon Salad
I love persimmons in their purest form too! Eating them raw retains all of the nutrients that Persimmons have, giving an extra immunity boost!
2 Persimmons — peeled and sliced
2 Cups of Mixed Greens, (I like a Spinach power mix, but use whatever you like)
1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Walnuts
Juice of 1 Orange
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground Cloves
2–3 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Make the dressing by combining the Orange Juice, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Olive Oil together.
Divide greens between two plates and sprinkle with the onion slices, and nuts.
Coat the persimmon slices in the dressing and then top the salads. Drizzle the rest of the dressing on the salad as desired.
Note: If you really want to have a party with this salad, add in some roasted squash and feta. Your tastebuds will thank you.
Happy Cooking! | https://thesommchef.medium.com/move-over-pumpkin-its-persimmon-season-1cc31b8956e8 | ['Sydney Eliason'] | 2020-10-19 13:38:03.417000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Recipe', 'Foodies', 'Fall', 'Spices'] |
What is a 15-minute city? | Could this new vision for city-life become the new normal?
An artist render of the 15-minute city courtesy of Paris en Commun
The mayor of Paris recently announced something radical: A promise to remove over half the city’s parking spaces.
In other cities across the world this would have make her a very unpopular politician.
In Paris it’s a promise that won socialist Anne Hidalgo her re-election earlier this year.
This drastic proposal is just a small part of her mission to turn Paris into ‘the city of fifteen minutes’, a vast city-wide project that would affect nearly every aspect of urban life.
The guiding principle for the 15-minute city is simple.
The grounding principle for the plan is to ensure every Parisian lives within a 15 minutes’ walk or cycle from essential services such as grocery shops, parks, cafes, sports facilities, schools and even workplaces.
To do this, Hidalgo aims to make key thoroughfares in Paris inaccessible to motor vehicles, turn traffic-choked intersections into pedestrian plazas and create bike lanes on every street.
The driving force behind this idea is Carlos Moreno, a smart city professor at Paris-Sorbonne University. Moreno views his plan as an alternative to today’s city.
He presents a picture of an urban utopia where people know each other and “say bonjour” rather than rushing around in a “permanent state of anxiety”.
Moreno’s plan is based on four major pillars: ecology, proximity, solidarity, and participation. With these pillars, he hopes we can create more liveable and people friendly cities.
Perhaps, the idea of a 15-minute city is not as radical as it first sounds.
David Belliar, the deputy mayor of transport in Paris points out that while motorist account for 13% of all trips in Paris, they are lavished with 50% of the space. A similar imbalance is common in cities all over the world.
Even in the cycle-friendly city of Copenhagen, where bicycles make up 62% of trips, cars still take up 54% of all space.
Even in bike friendly Copenhagen cars take up a disproportionate amount of space. Image courtesy The Guardian
Here in the UK, the COVID-19 crisis has already given us a glimpse of a 15-minute city life. Without the burden of lengthy commutes, people across the country explored local cafes, shops and parks for the first time.
In greater Manchester footfall in the city centre has only recovered to 49% of its pre lockdown level, while surrounding town centres have fared far better.
London, cycling increased 119% during lockdown.
Although it may seem unlikely at first, with brave leadership and enough public support, the 15-minute city could soon be part of the new normal across the world. | https://medium.com/@richardhaas1999/what-is-a-15-minute-city-d7a0091b2c0b | ['Richard Haas'] | 2020-12-01 10:55:01.855000+00:00 | ['City Living', 'Future', 'Innovation', 'Urban Planning', 'Architecture'] |
He’s the Brazilian Xavi wants in Barcelona’s attack! Former Inter HITMAN could return to Europe | He’s the Brazilian Xavi wants in Barcelona’s attack! Former Inter HITMAN could return to Europe
Barcelona are not doing well even after Xavi took over the bench, and the Catalan coach is preparing important transfers for the winter. The Informer Dec 18, 2021·2 min read
Desired in the past by teams such as Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle the 25-year-old Brazilian international Gabriel Barbosa, also known as Gabigol, was recently offered by Barcelona, according to fichajes.com.
Barbosa also played in Europe for Inter Milan and Benfica
Gabriel Barbosa is now playing for Flamengo, the club he signed with in January 2019. Gabigol’s contract with Flamengo expires in December 2024.
Gabriel ”Gabigol” Barbosa
The former Inter Milan and Benfica hitman recently claimed that he does not want to return to European football, but according to the source quoted above his real intentions are different.
The 25-year-old striker played in European football between 2016/2018 and is ready to return to elite football with Barcelona, a team that is currently facing serious problems.
26 million euro is Gabriel Barbosa’s market share, according to transfermarkt.com | https://medium.com/@theinformer/hes-the-brazilian-xavi-wants-in-barcelona-s-attack-former-inter-hitman-could-return-to-europe-8902fbae5bee | ['The Informer'] | 2021-12-18 20:32:32.990000+00:00 | ['Gabriel Barbosa', 'Xavi', 'FC Barcelona', 'Brazil', 'Inter'] |
This startup idea can be a turning point for the Automotive industry | Expedite Automation
Introduction and Vision
Car modification is a common thing to do in a motorhead’s life. Everyone likes to enhance their vehicle’s performance, elegance and most importantly, decrease that 0–100 kmph. This startup idea revolves around the lucrative and incredible world of car tuning and modifications
After the rise of capitalism there has been an overflow of large enterprises entering almost every field of work. For instance, who would have thought a large enterprise would start dominating a field like eyewear retail, but then we saw the rise of Lenskart. If you needed to buy new glasses and did not know any of the companies, will you choose a local store or trustable franchise of a multimillion-dollar company. I applied the same concept to car modifications. Almost everyone admires a well-built, fast and good-looking car, but if they wanted to build one themselves, most of them won’t know the first thing about it, even if they could, will they be able to afford it or trust someone to work on their car? I want to make that service cheap, more accessible, and more refined so that anyone can fulfill their desire of driving an Outstanding car.
BODY
Expedite Automation will be your go-to place for making your vehicle faster, better and to personalize it.
These modifications can range from upgrading your wheels to get a better acceleration and cornering speed to changing you exhaust so that you get an awesome sound from those long and hard revv’s.
The Modifications will not only make your car faster and more elegant but will also increase the comfort and give a luxurious finish as per the request of the client. The operation will start as an advanced tuning workshop and potentially expand to a multi-national company with franchise’s all over the world. The day-to-day functionality of the company will include:
• Basic car modifications
• Investing in used cars and reselling them after significant modification
• Restoring discarded cars and turning them into sleepers (also for re-selling)
• To work on artificial intelligence in self driving cars and potentially program conventional vehicles to be autonomous.
• Facilitate affordable insurance cover by partnering with other companies
The functionality will change over the years with development of a company through a variable business model. The workshops will provide top of the line modifications that will provide you the performance and efficiency that the factory sets fail to.
In the long run, I can see the cluster of workshops build into a multi-million dollar company offering these affordable services all around the world.
Adjustment to the pandemic
The pandemic caused all of us to retreat to our homes with inability to go outside. There is a possibility of another pandemic in the future, so I thought of a solution catering to the people trapped inside their homes (or having limited travel options).
I thought about designing an application, with an in-built simulation. When you enter the website, you will need to enter your car’s make and model. Then a tool bar will show up, telling you all the available modifications. As soon as you select a modification (for example a turbocharger), the simulation will show you all the statistics of your car in a numerical and graphical format and show how the modification will improve them, for example (increase the horsepower from 140 » 170).
After you select the modification you want, you can either order the parts at your home or have car picked up from your house, taken to the nearest store and tuned, then sanitized and delivered back.
This idea’s application is not just based a pandemic, it has a huge potential and application under normal circumstances as well.
Insurance cover
When you modify your car you either lose your insurance cover or have to pay a premium on your monthly payments making it expensive. This is because some of the modifications might jeopardize your car’s safety.
Once the company becomes large enough, we can facilitate an affordable car insurance cover by partnering with other insurance companies to help you gain a sense of security.
Market Demand and statistics
With the innovation and development in automotive industry, the cars and their parts tend to last a lot longer, opening the opportunity to make enhancements. This need for improvement can be crucial sometimes, because of the cost-cutting practiced by major producers, compromising the safety and quality of the vehicles. Also, there’s always that need to go faster in us car enthusiasts that must be acted upon.
There has also been significant growth in this sector and according to latest projections, it is predicted to rise even more in coming years. the automotive repair and maintenance services market is projected to grow by USD 94.28 billion during 2020–2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period according to an analysis conducted by Technavio. Even the Covid-19 pandemic did not have a significant impact on the industry and there will certainly be prominent growth in the future.
Relevant Products and competition
It is very difficult to come up with a new and innovative idea these days, because most of the things that can be done, will be done and are being done. But there are some loopholes in the prevalent systems with limitations to their operations.
Most of the big shots in this industry focus their works on one major automotive producer (like BMW, Mercedes), and the others who work on all cars and have a vast operation are limited to their one or two workshops defeating the idea of accessibility and cost effectiveness.
The idea is to differentiate my company from the competitors by focusing on a variety of vehicles (and increasing that range with time) rather than a particular make or part.
Some of these aforementioned companies are:
• AC Schnitzer (Specializes in BMW, Mini, Jaguar, Landrover and Toyota)
• Brabus (Specializes in Mercedes)
• Carlsson tuning (Specializes in Mercedes)
• Enkahnz
A much smaller operation which extends their work to various producers.
As for the simulation application, the company Brabus has a similar configurator in their website. Even though it is well programmed, it provides limited features where it does not provide the performance data of the car and it does not provide you with the option of choosing different models.
Brabus online configurator
The Brabus configurator can be found here
Target Customers and Countries
There are no bounds on the types of customers we would like to attract, well that is the whole point isn’t it, accessible and affordable to everyone!
But I thought of another idea to add a segment to the company, which is a much more exclusive and premium segments. The aim of this segment will be to provide the highest quality paintjobs, wrapjobs and mods to that top 1% of the population, for more profits and more options.
As for the simulation app, it will cater to the need of people with limited travel options, who don’t have accessibility to the workshops.
It will also help people who are not as interested in this subject matter as the others, the people who just might give it a try. This app will give them accessibility to just try these options without making a trip to the workshops, at the comfort of their home, to see what might be. This will increase our potential customers base and provide us with the opportunity to increase our market outreach.
Target countries
Even though affordability will be one of the core aspects of Expedite Automation, it is improbable that it will be a successful operation in a developing country like India. For the company to grow significantly at the beginning, it needs to be based in Country with a higher per capita income and a more stable economy.
Hence it will be preferred for the start up to launch in a first world country like USA, UK, Germany etc. After the company grows to a multi-national level, then it will have prospects to expand to a country like India, So that in case of failure, The company still remains stable and operational.
Necessary equipment
To start a workshop, I will obviously need some top-quality equipment including hardware and software components, this will include (but not limited to):
• Basic Hand Tools to Simplify Work
• Power Tools for Productivity
• Air Tools for Multiple Usage
• Air Compressors for Air Power
• Storage for Cleanliness
More specifically,
• Hoists
Good quality hoists which raise the vehicle in order to work on it
• Spanner
Since different car manufacturer’s use different gauges, a larger number of spanners will be needed to remove different nuts and bolts
• Tire changer
To increase the efficiency of changing tires and reduce the use of manpower
• Toolbox
To safely store all the equipment and tools
• Auto-scanner
To keep track of the live diagnostics of the vehicle being operated on.
(To read about this in greater detail click here)
as for the simulation app, I will program it with jQuery in the front end and python in the back end.
Chain of command
The chain of command of the company can be briefly explained through this flow chart, of course there are a lot of moving parts in a company and a lot more important people than these specified positions for instance each workshop will have at least 6 to 7 technicians to make the operations run smoothly.
Other important positions like these will be assigned in time and with the development of the company since this is a vague format to explain it.
Estimated budget
To start off with the first workshop an initial investment of roughly $70,000 will be needed, which will include $30,000 — $35,000 worth of equipment (car hoists, hand tools etc.) and the cost of rent and day to day expenses. From the research I did on the current operations I concluded that the weekly costs of running the workshop will range from $2,700 to $3,000. These costs will obviously increase as the operations expands, since a variable price model will be in use. These day-to-day costs will obviously change with time.
Pricing
The cost structure will depend on the services that are provided. A fixed rate of $80 per hour will be charged at the start and a 12% percent markup on all the parts I sell. The services that will render the most revenue will include full engine rebuilds and our operations on self-driving and electric cars (for the day to day in the main segment).
The most lucrative part of this business will be the premium segment of the company which will provide us revenue ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 per car (this includes wrapjobs, carbon fiber and chrome treatment, vinyls etc.)
Another profitable segment will be selling of modified cars, for instance a factory set Mercedes-Benz G500 costs approximately $140,000 and Brabus Invicto a heavily modified version of the car goes for approximately $800,000.
Marketing strategy
The success of Expedite Automation will be heavily dependent upon sophisticated and powerful marketing strategy. Firstly, our competitive pricing will help us gain an edge over our competition. We will advertise our accessibility, affordable prices, and the wide range of services we offer on the internet, billboards, radio stations and through communication cycles that will help us attract customers and eventually gain enough revenue to invest in a Television Ad.
The company will assign a social media team to establish a large social media presence, joining in on the latest trends to get a larger outreach to potential customers. Through social media we will also showcase our work to the millions sitting at home.
Our advertisements will emphasize on the simulation app which is a relatively newer and a much more innovative project with potential to draw attention of the masses. It will encourage people to see the hidden beast that lies in their “economical” automobile and modify it in accordance with their taste. The simulation app with enough development and marketing can be a turning point for the industry.
Eventually as the chain of workshops grows into a multi-national company, we will invest in a much larger and intricate marketing strategy, increasing the target audience and offering discounts on our already under-cutting prices.
Risk analysis
As expected, there are a certain level of risks and obstacles that might pose a threat to the functioning of the workshops. Firstly, there is the risk that the government guidelines pose which is a gray area as of now.
With new emerging technologies like electric cars and HCEV’s, there are not many government guidelines about their tuning and modification. The factory set Electric cars have speed limits programmed into them that cannot be changed by ordinary equipment. Our workshops will possess the technology to safely change these speed limits which will open-up a whole new world for car modifications.
This is a 50–50 situation, since there will be a decline in gasoline-based vehicles some of our services will be rendered useless. But with the potential modification of electric vehicles, we can move on without going into loss if the government releases guidelines that are in our favor. If they do not, we will need to adjust our business plan as per the guidelines leading to potential loss. As for now this is the biggest threat to Expedite automation aside from normal threats like safety hazards and mishandling of funds leading to bankruptcy.
Milestone and timeline
The initial strategizing will take a few months. Then it will take 4 to 6 months to find a place to lease and successfully acquire it and another 2 to 3 to purchase all the equipment and move in. During this we will also need to apply for certification which will take about a month (considering all the requirements are met). We will also need to apply for state business registration which also takes about a month. Another time-consuming factor will be streamlining the flow of funds which can also take up an initial 3 months. To sum it up, it will take about one or one and a half years to get the operation up and running smoothly.
After it has been set up it might take another year or two for the business to become profitable.
Envisioning this idea feels very exhilarating, The implementation can be difficult depending upon the state of the market. I really hope to work more on this idea in the future stages of my life and start a successful business out of it. | https://medium.com/@gokulsehgal/this-startup-idea-can-be-a-turning-point-for-the-automotive-industry-8c677ee36401 | ['Gokul Sehgal'] | 2020-12-20 15:41:11.219000+00:00 | ['Automation', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Cars', 'Automotive', 'Business'] |
The Auteur Theory Revisited | One of the more controversial ideas currently in film discourse is the notion of the auteur: a director with a personal vision that heavily impacts the film. The auteur director, in theory, will produce a body of work that features their identifiable ‘stamps’ in terms of style and theme. The controversy surrounding this theory stems from the belief that framing film art in terms of authorship unfairly diminishes the collaboration of other creatives on the film, whilst others also argue that the construct of the auteur bolsters a culture (even a cult, some suggest) of privilege granted primarily to white male directors.
Part of the problem with the auteur theory, especially regarding its role as a descriptor, is that no one has a settled definition. Even its original debates veer towards vagueness and much of the current understanding stands in contrast as to how the earlier thinkers, primarily the Cahiers Du Cinema and Andrew Sarris, conceived it. For many, especially laypersons, the term has become a means of describing a heavily micromanaging director; one who dictates every choice made in the film, controlling, intimately, each area of production. Some critics grimace at this notion, believing it unfairly credits the director at the expense of others’ contributions: often this argument is framed as, “you can never really know whose idea it truly was!” However, a challenge to that may be that, ultimately, the director influences all choices — if they dislike an idea, would it be used in the film?
This view of the director as ‘primary creative’ may be descriptive of the directorial position in general: the director is the principal creative on a film, typically hired to bring a particular vision to the project, or has a particular project they have brought along from the ground up. They are with the project longer than any other member of the staff, from scripting to the final edits. Micromanaging, of course, describes a style of direction: some directors may be very hands-on across the board, others more delegating; some downright incompetent and heavily reliant on the skill-sets of their crew.
Part of the complexity with the use of the term is there is no singular mode of directing. A director might choose to be a keen collaborator or more autocratic with their wants. Some directors might choose to be heavily involved in the camerawork seeing it as integral to their approach to film whereas others might instead prefer to allow the cinematographer to have more say whilst they focus on the performances of the actors. Steven Spielberg is an example of the former, notably designing the camera movements, choosing the lenses, and composing the blocking and composition of his shots. Ultimately, this lies in the hands of the individual director, and there is no universal ‘way’ in which they are dictated to work; auteurism in this colloquial sense argues for the director to ‘do all’ which some reject as physically impossible; a view others counter is not meant to be a literal descriptor, but rather influencing all. Even still, the directorial position itself tends to place all directors as the central influence of the creative direction of the films — excepting studio interference.
Attempting to define the auteur, Andrew Sarris attempted a criteria. Sarris suggested that an auteur director must, at least, be a good director and, preferably, a great one. His first two expectations suggest that an auteur must both be a skilled film-maker and one with a personal voice.
The first premise of the auteur theory is the technical competence of the director as a criterion of value. A badly directed or undirected film has no importance in a critical scale of values…the second premise of the auteur theory is the distinguishable personality of the director as a criterion of value. Over a group of films, a director must exhibit certain recurrent characteristics of style, which serves as his signature.
Generally speaking, under this argument, an auteur director is not one with ‘total control' but rather one where the distinctive qualities of their creative vision can be observed, critically, when they have amassed a body of work. The auteur theory originated in French film discourse to find value in the direction of Hollywood film-makers who rose beyond the impositions of the studio system. It was argued that, given the confines that the studio system imposed upon the directors, certain directors had distinguished themselves through powerful technique, project choice, tone and thematic interest. From here, the auteur theory was an important development in elevating cinema to a ‘proper’ art-form. It had its value, its voices, its greats. More spuriously, the pro-auteur camp proclaimed that an auteur’s film would also be superior to a non-auteur film — a claim that, frankly, is extremely easy to dismiss and is usually seen as a form of cinematic snobbery.
It is interesting to note the friction between the modern popular conception of the theory and how it was initially framed. As noted, the original theorists did not define an auteur as film-maker as one waving his directorial sceptre around, proclaiming, “Do this!” or “Do that!” and being an on-set dictator, merely that his personality within the creative direction of his works would shine through in an observable manner when his career is examined. Auteur-ship, in its conceptualisation, was not about total power, but rather discovering the individuality of voice that a director, as central creative, could imbue in a film. It was celebrated in the likes of Hawks and Ford and Hitchcock — who individualised their art despite the restraints placed on them. Beyond this, however, the theory itself did not have a solid foundation. According to scholar Peter Wollen, the auteur theory lacked a definitive statement of purpose, leading to broad categorisations and misrepresentations.
In time, owing to the diffuseness of the original theory, two main schools of auteur critics grew up: those who insisted on revealing a core of meanings, of thematic motifs and those stressed style and mise-en-scene.
Thus a conflict between visual style and storytelling, and the narrative cores of the pieces. Some seek to combine them, arguing that an auteur is a director both with visual style and thematic interest that are each complimentary to the distinction of the director’s oeuvre.
Some modern day directors have denounced the idea of authorship. Alex Garland, when asked about his own role as an ‘auteur’ immediately pointed to creative ideas brought to him by others. David Fincher also condemned the notion of idea of the directorial dictator fully impressing his exact vision into a crew of hundreds, treating the surprises and re-evaluations that occur in film-making as the death of the singular vision. In many ways these objections suggest the transformation of the theory in public consciousness; neither has much to do with the original conception of the auteur as recognisable ‘stamps’ that can be found in the director’s work film by film, especially within the compromise of varying influences and more powerful systemic influences.
In many ways, the mere fact of asking Garland about his auteur status underlines how detached the understanding has become from the origins of the concept: why ask a film-maker who, at the time, had a single film under his directing belt? There is no body of work to analyse for signs of auteur trademarks, be they thematic or stylistic. There is no way to determine the consistency or development of the ‘personality’ of his direction with only a debut feature.
Beyond this, the concept of the auteur itself has changed, philosophically, within film discourse. Critical musings on whether or not other roles can be viewed as “auteurs” have been posited over time. One essay contemplates the idea of the star as an auteur. Another focuses on arguing that Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver is a project that can be observed as a meeting of four auteur filmmakers: Scorsese, Schrader, Hermann and De Niro. The late Ennio Morricone has also been honoured by some thinkers as an auteur-composer in recent days. The theory itself seems to have broadened its applicability beyond the director and has now grown into appraisal for various filmic qualities, to highlight the distinctiveness of the ‘voices’ in other roles within film productions. It is beneficial to acknowledge how distinctive voices can contribute to the whole piece, as well as how each can develop an identity of their own throughout their body of film work. However, it is also worth noting that the director is still the central creative on a film, and the final call will usually fall to them. In many cases, the visual approach, musical cue, or performance take that is used will often be reflective more of the director’s taste and personality than what the collaborator alone might have chosen.
Outside the philosophical disputes of who-and-what an auteur is, discussions pertaining to ‘auteurship’ have often been coated in a certain sadness. There exists a conflict between the personal film-maker and the hegemony of the studio system; between the passion of artistic vision and the stipulations of market research. An anti-individual demand that sees the director’s vision crushed under the weight of studio expectations — the central focus on achieving mass appeal, tweaking in accordance with focus groups, testing a film, time and time again, to ensure its marketability. The origins of the auteur theory were often finding value in individual film-makers breathing uniqueness into their films despite the grip of the Hollywood studio system, yet some argue an extremity exists today, where studio hegemony crushes out directorial uniqueness, with the multi-instalment franchise universes, films now seem to have their entire aesthetic, tone and narrative decided to perfectly match each previous and forthcoming instalment; the directors are little more than paid overseers, ensuring the studio notes are achieved.
Nowadays, directors are noted to complain that they feel little more than hired-hands, their vision taken away from them in post-production as the studios become increasingly controlling. Marvel Studios have been pointed to as one of the worst examples; critiqued for enforcing an incredibly limited set of stylistics on their works: the tones, visuals, humours and scripts often feeling highly interchangeable, despite shifting directorial hands. In some ways, this is an old debate and cross-cultural, where the smaller films, the ‘independents’ feel strangled by blockbuster dominance.
The masterful Japanese film-maker, Akira Kurosawa, also found himself forced out of Japan’s cinema at the time due to the changes in film culture. Japan, much like Western cinema of the time, came to compete with the new and powerful influence of the television format. Studios began to refocus their interests away from supporting the individuality of their film-makers and instead towards ‘tested’ audience productions. Furthermore, Kurosawa’s stylistic and thematic preoccupations became outdated with the contemporary cultural trends. He lamented:
In today’s Japanese films , it would be possible to interchange titles , names of directors, without anyone noticing it. Anyone would be able to sign today’s films. None is marked by the personality of the creator.
Kurosawa’s lamentations reflect the common protests made towards the increasingly studio mandated productions of today. The most exemplary example in the modern discourse perhaps being Martin Scorsese’s own controversy in the personal films against the studio authority. Scorsese’s concerns primarily focused on the loss of smaller and intimate films against the huge reach of major franchises — works he considers more like theme park rides than cinema. He fears the experimental picture is suffocated and neglected by the focus on the ever-flowing stream of huge superhero blockbusters. For Scorsese, perhaps also, is the sense that these films lack individuality; they fail to be the expression of a director’s personality; they are spectacular exhibits of budget and studio management, but not the guiding hand of a passionate film-maker. For Scorsese, one imagines, this is not an attack on the blockbuster. As he contrasted himself: there is only one James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, yet the current system has created a labyrinth of films intended to be stylistically, tonally and thematically connected regardless of the voices steering each production.
Objections to Scorsese added that his definition of ‘true cinema’ is limited to his own experiences and that fans of the Superhero genre experience the same emotional transcendence that he felt watching the pictures that influenced him. Others argued that auteur film-making is another form of power within film discourse that primarily privileges white male directors. In number, that may perhaps be true, and given its origins the theory inevitably has an American-European bias. The maleness of the historical directorial position also plays a role in the bias there, I think. However, as noted above, Kurosawa himself discussed the role of the auteur and has been praised as one himself. Other non-white directors like Yasujiro Ozu, Park Chan-Wook, Wong Kar-Wai, Spike Lee, and Djibril Diop Mambety have been called auteur directors as well. Female film-makers, such as Lynne Ramsay and Sophia Coppola, have shown women can make the title as well. I’m unsure if that particular accusation is necessarily fair.
The war between ‘auteur’ directors and studios seems almost cyclical in many ways. The elusiveness of the theory also makes its application somewhat difficult. The changing definitions have themselves clouded the understanding of what can be viewed as auteurism. The (now) popular conception suggests a highly controlling director, one who in order to be an ‘auteur’ must do everything. Other associated ideas that remain contestable is the supposed link between an auteur film-maker and quality. Sarris suggested that an auteur must, by necessity, be ‘at least a good director’ and French film-maker François Truffaut even argued that an auteur’s cinema would always be better than a non-auteur’s. Quality, it seemed to them, was tied to the ‘personality’ of the creator. Even today, some still use ‘auteur’ as a stamp of quality; to elevate certain directors above others. Autuerism, in some understandings, still has more connotated than simply a consistent personality; it’s a marker of great quality.
For my own part, I do think the concept of the auteur has its values. I do think, also, that the director is best regarded as the primary creative and ought to be given a level of creative control that respects that position. Film is an art, and all arts need a voice, someone who envisions the end of the piece from its very first steps. Someone that guides it, shapes it, considers it, and lives for it. There is pleasure and reward in looking through a director’s body of working and discovering the connective threads, be the way they might shoot scenes, edit them, or the choice of themes that draw them. There might be similar symbolisms across a body of work. Despite working with different cinematographers, their films might all have similar visual tones or visual gradings. There is a vagueness to it, however, and an open applicability that may have caused more dissent than is necessary.
I think it is a useful construct when understood as a form of connectivity between a director’s work; seeking the individuality of their voice and what they might bring to the projects they select. I think it requires rescuing from the more peculiar interpretations that posit it as a form of ultimate directorial power (its roots alone discard that view: it has never positioned the director as the all-powerful figure; merely one with the potential to birth uniqueness in film art) and should not necessarily be amalgamated, simplistically and snootily, with “good art”. | https://alpenglowmemory.medium.com/the-auteur-theory-revisited-cca1676e4f4d | [] | 2020-11-26 17:55:38.368000+00:00 | ['Cinema', 'Culture', 'Philosophy', 'Film', 'Art'] |
Universe!! | Universe!!
Came a man from a foreign land,
With equipments wide and long,
Gathered the masses to show a world,
Where large, small, bright, white stars belong.
Amused were the common folks,
Living in the village dense,
For a stranger had visited them,
Promising joy immense.
One by one he made them look,
At a distance latent to the naked eye,
And to places the folks travelled,
Which in reality, seemed a impossible try.
Satisfied was the stranger,
On seeing their face glow,
But couldn't hide his dubiety,
As he saw a child in a near row.
"Don’t you want to see,
The world up there?" he asked!
"O dear stranger,
The Universe which you are showing,
I can see in my mothers eyes,
And it is a daily affair!"
Shrish!! | https://medium.com/@shrish.ukhalkar/universe-bddf6c853c08 | ['Shrish Ukhalkar'] | 2020-12-25 11:27:57.327000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Universe', 'Writer'] |
Target Selection By Psychopathic Criminals: Understanding Delusion Of A Twisted Mind. | Photo by Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash
Now, It’s Not Uncommon For People To “Use” Or “Take Advantage” Of Others — But For Psychopaths, They Take More Than Just The Cake, They Take Lives.
It’s true that anyone can become a crime victim. But methodical, cold, calculated killers who covet and plot to destroy humans for gain or pleasure do not go around sporadically or aimlessly committing acts of violence without discretion.
No, for psychopathic serial criminals…they select, plan, obsess, act out, then cool down. Then after a while, they go do it again.
Abusers pick victims who’ve already been traumatized not only to more easily prey on and destroy them, but to clear any conscience or shame they’ve left in who they’re ruining, thinking it’s more acceptable to treat them like low-level disposable garbage, which is how they see them.
This concept is similar in how serial rapists and killers show some kind of “twisted mercy” on their victims, with statements justifying their vile cruelty …such as while raping a woman: “In that moment, I could have bashed her head in — but I’m a good guy, so decided not to do that.”
As an example in terms of smaller scale criminality demonstrating this logic:
I called the psychopath I knew personally one day — he was drunk or high or both, and the random child who was now suddenly living in his house, picked up the phone, while he himself seemed dazed and unresponsive.
Later I told him what he was doing wasn’t at all right, that he was undoubtedly abusing this child…and what was his response? “It’s okay, this kid is already fucked up,” as if his abuse of this child was made acceptable — that there was nothing apparently wrong to choose to further traumatize abuse victims who’ve already been traumatized.
In fact, he stated on several occasions that he was “taking care” of this child, that he wanted to “save them, and be a hero.” So he thought he was somehow doing these people a favor by further exposing them to violence — it’s a contradiction of logic that psychopaths act out on.
Psychopathic criminals are delusional: they act deliberately, but motivations are fueled by hypocritical beliefs — eventually the mind dissociates and has no choice but to compartmentalize…to avoid contradiction of self. This is how they often end up with at least two separate lives.
This is delusion of psychopathic, antisocial criminals who’re repeatedly violent: they do things to clear their own shame, seeing themselves as not only justified in their cruelty, merely “taking what was owed,” but they’re some kind of “hero” for how nice they were while doing so.
Pretty messed up, but it’s true — if you don’t believe it, just talk to one for years or read things they’ve said: they’ll subtly or even directly tell you what they’ve done. It’s just so bizarre in cruelty you’ll think it’s just a joke: which is exactly what they want and why they pass under the radar undetected for so long. This technique is called a “liar’s paradox.”
It’s also why serial rapists and killers often target prostituted women as prey: it’s not just easy access or knowing they likely won’t get caught — they think they’re justified to hurt them because “they deserve it” as they’re already “dirty whores” and by killing they “did them a favor.”
It’s absolutely sick delusional logic of a warped mind that’s repeatedly rationalized violence, lacking morality to the point they don’t even see rape or murder as wrong, but as right — they see it as “corrective action” or “saving people.” As serial rapist and killer Carl Panzram said: | https://medium.com/we-are-warriors/target-selection-by-psychopathic-criminals-understanding-delusion-of-a-twisted-mind-cd1f35d01dfc | ['Samantha Clarke'] | 2020-11-24 10:21:51.594000+00:00 | ['Personality', 'Criminal Justice', 'True Crime', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology'] |
Can you “psychoanalyse” organisational change? | From counselling clinics to change leaders: supercharge your change readiness assessments!
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
We all operate within a system
“Hang on! I am an individual! I have my own thoughts about stuff. I make my own decisions!”
Of course, but certain factors influence us. And these factors aren’t only a work or psychological contract with our employer or client. How about our biological makeup, psychological processes and social environment? These factors help explain why we may resist or embrace change (or somewhere in-between). Causes of disease and psychological disorder in patients consider these influences. In 1977 George Engel proposed a biopsychosocial model ¹. Do psychological and social factors play a role in disease origins and maintenance?
How does this biopsychosocial model relate to change professionals?
Every individual involved in your change has many influences on their behaviour. Here are three:
1. Biological: Each of our brains comprise complex wiring. We may perceive sensations via our central nervous system. Parts of our brain ‘light up’ to process this sensation. What are the various ways an employee interprets your communication? Is it a threat to their working life? Some brains may be wired towards seeing your change as a threat. In 2008, David Rock proposed a neuroscience-based model — the SCARF model ². SCARF conceptualises an explanation for how people perceive stimuli. This stimuli may include our change communications. People’s brains may be wired to be attracted to — or repelled by — certain stimuli. They interpret what your change means for them in different ways.
2. Psychological: Our thoughts, feelings and behaviours intertwine ³. The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model is a model used by psychologists. CBT helps conceptualise psychological processes ⁴.
As change professionals, we work with individuals and teams to help them adjust to a new way of working. We may distribute awareness communications to influence their thoughts about the change.
We may engage with teams to elicit their feelings about the change.
We help teams and individuals think differently about the change.
We hold training sessions where individuals can try a new way of working, such as a new system. This is where people’s behaviours begin to change — they engage with the new system.
We remove obstacles to user adoption by making installation of the new system as easy as we can.
We aim to build a habit of a certain behaviour, for example using a new system. A habit is formed from a repeated behaviour over time.
3. Social: Our manager and colleagues may express an opinion about a future change. Strong emotions might lace their opinion. The groups we belong to have social norms. We risk ostracisation if we operate outside these social norms. When our group ostracises us, the part of the brain which registers pain activates ⁵. Yes, ostracisation by our peer group is painful. Is it better to behave like others? If we behave a certain way, our thoughts and feelings tend to align over time with our behaviour ⁶.
As a change professional, we therefore need to positively influence a team’s perceptions of a change.
Your change to an individual’s future way of working thus has three core influences. The individual may be change fatigued. Or they have little time and resources (“space”) to adjust to your change. But these extra influences boil down to biological, psychological or social factors. So the biopsychosocial model is a useful “system” for change professionals ⁷. It helps us understand an individual’s different responses to our changes.
Source: Author (adapted from Engel, 1980)
Describing a client’s ‘system’
The client sits nervously in the clinic waiting room. They pick up a dog-eared magazine from a stack on a coffee table in the middle of the room. The clinician walks into the waiting room.
“Hello, please, just this way.”
The client follows the clinician into a small room. The door shuts behind the clinician. In a calm and friendly tone, the clinician offers the client a glass of water, and offers the client a nearby seat. The client accepts, and the clinician pours a glass of water for the client and themselves.
The clinician takes a slow breath and asks if it is OK to cover a few formalities before the session begins. The client nods, and the clinician covers how the session is confidential, with limits to this confidentiality. How client records are stored on premise, and the possibility where courts may subpoena a clinician’s notes about the client. And of course, the ethical code the clinician is bound by. The clinician deftly covers these formalities. It is a fine balance. Cover formalities yet help the client feel comfortable in the clinical setting.
“Are you comfortable with everything we have covered? Is there anything you don’t understand which I could help you with?”
The client is fine with this professional boundary and understands.
“What brings you to see me today?”
The client now has the space to describe what has brought them to therapy. The clinician writes down the problem and supporting information. The intake interview has begun. The notes from the intake interview help the clinician start to map out the client’s ‘system’. What do we know about the client that keeps them in a state of distress?
Psychologists use an intake interview to map out an individual’s problems. And they take a brief history of events and triggers leading up to the problem. They may use a technique called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT is an evidence-based approach to treating many psychological problems ⁴. CBT includes treatment plans and theoretical models, depending on the client’s presenting psychological issue.
The CBT model helps clinicians model a client’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Clinicians seek their client’s permission and involvement in the modelling work. Over time, the CBT model identifies unhelpful thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Everything written down in a CBT model links to the problem that brings the client to therapy. Some thoughts, feelings and behaviours might tend to make the client’s issue worse. Others sustain the “presenting problem”. A “presenting problem” might be a single panic attack. Certain behaviours turn a single occurrence into a repeated problem. For example, regular panic attacks. Regular panic attacks might become habits.
The clinician and client work together on the client’s “bespoke” CBT model over time. They collaborate to describe a system of sorts about the client’s issue. What thoughts, feelings and behaviours trigger and perpetuate the given psychological problem? A client may perceive an accurate reflection of their “system”. They can finally see how their “system” influences their psychological issue!
These insights can be startling and illuminating for clients. Treatment and homework help clients experiment. They can “try on” different behaviours and adjustments in a safe environment. The clinician and their reflection of the client’s “system” work as a mirror. The client undertakes the hard work to address their psychological issue. The clinican and CBT model act as a “mirror” to see parts of their “system” they could not see before therapy.
So how does this relate to leading change in organisations?
We are not dealing with individuals, and not individuals from vulnerable populations. We may not be bound to ethical codes and stringent legal obligations like psychologists working in clinical settings. Although quite a few change professionals have a psychology background or belong to the psychology profession.
Our ‘client’ is the organisation that we are supporting with a change. We work with teams and individuals within the organisation. The CBT model helps explain the “system” around an individual’s behaviour. CBT applies to psychological problems in a clinical setting. Can we adapt CBT to non-psychological problems? Can we adapt it from clients in clinical settings to individuals and teams in the workplace? Yes.
Frame your problem — “What brings you to therapy?”
CBT modelling concepts may help change professionals unearth change impacts. The same approach can illustrate team and individual obstacles (or resources!) for change readiness. And remember in our story, the clinician asked the client what has brought them to therapy. The presenting issue becomes the focal point for the CBT model. Change professionals can draft a clear problem statement for their organisation’s change ⁸. This statement can also break down any “target” behaviours supporting “successful” change.
It is worth spending good time on designing problem statements. Your statement gives your change plan a greater focus. Every sentence in your plan can relate to answering the problem statement. The statement can also be framed as a measurable goal.
For example:
Transition from System A to system B on [date Y]. Out of a population of 20,000 users, 15,000 have logged in to System B by [date Z]. Four weeks after [date Y], 16,000 of the 20,000 users are using system B at least once per week.
Empathy mapping
Many advertising and user experience (UX) professionals use CBT concepts at a team, organisation and market segment level. Change readiness occurs at an organisational level, a group level and an individual level. While the organisational and group level is often addressed, we may often see individual readiness to change neglected ⁹ ¹⁰. This is why we need to walk in an individual’s shoes when thinking through how they may respond to our proposed change. Depending on the number of your affected employees, you may need to find at least several representative individuals. You can study their change journey, using either empathy maps or your own CBT model.
Change professionals explore both current and future state with individuals and teams. Pain points and general gripes about the change surface in these explorations. We can probe the nature of the pain points to learn the attendant thoughts, emotions or sentiment. We can ask about an individual or team’s likely behaviours in the face of a particular change. UX professionals often use constructs like empathy mapping ¹¹. The elements of an empathy map have similarities to the CBT model. We can adapt empathy mapping to our change practice.
Source: Author (adapted from uxbooth.com)
Going back to CBT: can we adapt the CBT model to understand what keeps teams mired in the status quo? Yes.
CBT models don’t only illustrate thoughts, feelings and behaviours. CBT models help identify what can sustain the problem. In this case, the problem may be obstacles to an individual, team or organisation adjusting to a change.
What thoughts, feelings and behaviours have we captured in our CBT model so far? What of these can we influence through our change work? For example, people may perceive a future change in a certain way. How can we “re-brand” this perception of the change? How can we get the ‘client’ to think differently about the change? How can we influence constructive behaviours? Change professionals can encourage employees to ‘try’ a new system during User Acceptance Testing. These employees may provide testimonials to their peers about the system.
Case formulation — a different way to research change readiness
Psychologists use a technique called case formulation to map out a “system” of a client’s presenting problem. Like with the CBT model and empathy mapping, case formulation can be adjusted and applied to our change practice. We replace the client’s presenting issue with the problem statement for our change.
Here is a one-minute video showing the application of case formulation to working with a resistant team:
Source: Author
Case formulations assume that the client may be predisposed towards certain problems. This is often because of family history, their biology or other factors. A problem may surface due to certain triggers (or precipitating factors). Perpetuating factors may sustain the problem. But it is not all gloom and doom. The client has resources or advantages that help them get “unstuck” from their problem.
Source: Author, adapted from Dudley and Kuyten (2014)
In our change practice, we can use the questions in the diagram below in our team-level research. The answers to these questions help us understand what keeps a team “stuck” and unwilling (or unable to) adjust to a change. What “bad” team or individual behaviours might be rewarded? What strengths or resources are evident in the team, or individuals within the team?
Source: Author
Adapting case formulation to your change practice
So how do you go about finding answers as part of your case formulation?
To understand the current state, spend a few hours observing employees using it. This may be a one-to-one observation, or a “Day in the life of” (DILO) session. DILO sessions may involve one or many employees and change professionals. If employees can walk through the current state, providing their thoughts and sentiments along the way, all the better. These sessions are rich ground for understanding current state “gains” and “pains”.
For your future state, have you a proof-of-concept, sample or prototype available? Or you may invite employees to a presentation or walkthrough of your future state. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is another useful future state forum. UAT workshops can help change professionals researching employee/future state interactions.
How do you apply case formulation to a team or organisation?
The below example is a case formulation applied to a team. The team may be on your radar as their leader has been quite hostile towards the change. You need to win the team over (presenting problem). This example shows the effect of previous changes (predisposing factors). Poorly-implemented changes influence their attitude towards future changes, like yours. Your time spent with the team may reveal useful information to inform your change. For example, does go-live fall at the same time as the team’s busiest time of the year (a precipitating factor)?
Are some employees in your change “rewarded” by staying with the status quo? Would they lose a sense of control if they transition to your future state? If so, they might influence junior team members to resist the change (a perpetuating factor). But some team members are career-driven. They may see career opportunities by adjusting to and advocating for the change (a protective factor).
Source: Author
The actions from each factor are clear in the above example — and form your next steps. For example:
Minimise the effect of predisposing factors — or maximise the potential of protective factors
“Unpick” perpetuating factors. This may involve removing people’s concerns about transitioning to the future state.
Minimise the fall-out or negative influence from any perpetuating factors.
Or you could remove any way people can keep attached to the status quo — for example, removing access to the current state.
Each factor links to a better understanding of this team’s change readiness.
Recap
CBT is a powerful model used by psychologists.
Applying concepts from CBT to change management is a useful way to capture insights.
These insights encompass current and future state and ways to make change easier.
Empathy maps and case formulation approaches provide practical modelling along with CBT.
Each model helps change professionals uncover change readiness barriers and resources.
Your call to action
How do you capture team and individual level thoughts, feelings and behaviours about your change? How do you organise these into a coherent, reasonably accurate model? How do you identify factors that prevent people adjusting to your change? What factors keep people ‘stuck’ in the status quo?
Reference List
1. Engel GL. The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science (80- ). 1977;(196):129–136.
2. Rock D. SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others. Neuroleadersh J. 2008;(1). http://www.your-brain-at-work.com/files/NLJ_SCARFUS.pdf.
3. Ferrier A. The Advertising Effect. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press; 2014, p33.
4. Australian Psychological Society. Evidence-based Psychological Interventions. 2018:1–175. https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/23c6a11b-2600-4e19-9a1d-6ff9c2f26fae/Evidence-based-psych-interventions.pdf.
5. Hawkley LC, Williams KD, Cacioppo JT. Responses to ostracism across adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(2):234–243. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq045
6. Festinger L. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.; 1957.
7. Engel GL. The clinical application of the biopsychosocial model. Am J Psychiatry. 1980;(137):535–544.
8. Devos J. How to Frame Design Problem Statements | Toptal. https://www.toptal.com/designers/product-design/design-problem-statement. Published 2020. Accessed October 31, 2020.
9. Rafferty AE, Jimmieson NL, Armenakis AA. Change Readiness: A Multilevel Review. J Manage. 2013;39(1):110–135. doi:10.1177/0149206312457417
10. Frahm J. Change Readiness — Conversations of Change. www.conversationsofchange.com.au. https://conversationsofchange.com.au/ready-or-not/. Published 2019. Accessed November 14, 2020.
11. empathy-map-canvas.png (1200×776). https://assets.uxbooth.com/uploads/2018/06/empathy-map-canvas.png. Accessed November 19, 2020. | https://medium.com/analysts-corner/can-you-psychoanalyse-organisational-change-3659123651d5 | ['Allan Owens'] | 2020-12-14 03:34:18.417000+00:00 | ['Management', 'Project Management', 'Change Management', 'Business Analysis', 'Psychology'] |
Long Live Consumer VC | Many following venture capital trends, and just as importantly the mood and psyche of venture investors, will tell you this: “consumer investing is dead”.
In fact, many early-stage investors have spent the last few months (well before the Covid-19 pandemic) questioning venture returns in the consumer space and therefore developing alternative theses and sources of deal-flow outside of it.
In some ways, the trend is perhaps understandable:
Throughout 2019 and into 2020, a number of high profile consumer IPOs have disappointed (think Casper, Uber, Lyft, and SmileDirectClub). In addition, the industry is now filled with rumors of under-performance by VC-backed consumer startups, most notably amongst DTC brands with extremely lofty valuations. The argument here is that the true cost of scale was business model unsustainability.
Many investors seem to have given up on the largest consumer categories. For example, the prevailing view (thankfully, prevailing doesn’t mean unanimous) amongst venture investors and technology leaders is that consumer social has become un-investible. The thinking was simple: the network effects acquired by the largest players in social (Facebook and its affiliates, and to some extent Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin and Snap) are too powerful to break through. A similar reasoning applies to a number of the largest consumer categories, including dating (“Tinder has won”), travel (“Airbnb rules the world”) and others.
Now, as the world grapples with the first-, second-, and third-order effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the binary outcomes of consumer investing seem like sub-optimal capital allocation strategies. “Better focus on more stable and high-margin B2B plays”, is what I hear.
I don’t share this pessimism. To the contrary: my conviction is that consumer investing has never been so appealing in the last 5 years. There are many reasons underpinning this conviction; far too many in fact for a single post. In this post, I want to focus on just one of them:
standing in 2020, we are at the cusp of a very rapid acceleration of shifts in spending patterns as a new generation of consumers with wildly different expectations enters the mainstream.
Generational Change Means Potential 🦄
The facts are well known. People born between 1995 and 2010, which are typically considered “Gen-Z” (in so doing perhaps hiding significant differences between older/younger members of that “cohort”), will become in the next decade the largest consumer cohort in the US. That isn’t to say that they aren’t already consuming in vast amounts — either directly or through their parents — and presiding over the destiny of exceptional startups. However, that process is accelerating rapidly.
It’s easy to underestimate the spending shifts that this will entail. For one thing, we tend to judge the prevalence of social and cultural phenomena at the yardstick of our own experience (“if I don’t like it, why would anybody else?”). Yet, spend half a day with a 10–15 year old and you’ll notice that there is something radically different about the way that generation lives through life compared to the way “we” did. They expect different things, engage with friends, family, strangers, and brands differently, and therefore won’t readily be natural consumers of products and brands that we take for granted. To put it differently, given the codes, habits, and hierarchies of values of that generation, many of today’s key players are losing cultural relevance much faster than they think– and with that brand equity, users, and profits will be progressively eaten away.
Early 🏆
I’m not the only one to have identified this phenomenon. Far from it. Several consumer application builders have emerged to respond and, in many ways, fuel these trends. Take consumer social, for example. We are seeing a resurgence of new and fascinating apps in the consumer social space that have already acquired scale or cultural significance. A couple of examples come to mind. TikTok’s emergence as a worldwide cultural phenomenon in the last 36 months is clearly one of the most meaningful ones. It’s not the only example though. With a key utility than is intriguing to many (let your friends see where you are at all times — the bridge to meet your friends IRL), Zenly is now one of the most successful consumer social apps in the world, with tens of millions of users and was as of February 2020 the fastest growing social app in several markets. It is now 20–30 times larger than at the time of Snap’s acquisition in mid-2017.
Where are the Next Consumer Ecosystems? 🌍
Interestingly, many of the inroads into consumer apps are happening where you wouldn’t expect them. Ecosystems like Paris and Berlin are proving to be exceptionally fertile grounds where very promising consumer social startups like Yubo, Yolo, and Jodel (amongst others) have emerged. Outside of Europe, pay close attention to “challenger” consumer ecosystems like New York City. At Secocha, we are extremely proud to be backing some of the most exciting consumer applications born in NYC, including Brigit, Bunches, Stacks, Wardrobe, and Jour.
All that to say that if you’re working on a consumer startup (targeting Gen-Zs or not) or a believer in consumer investing, I’d love to chat. Stay tuned for more posts on this topic.
PS — it’s my first blog post so any feedback welcome! 🙏 | https://medium.com/secocha-ventures/long-live-consumer-vc-c86ad55aa915 | [] | 2020-06-22 19:26:17.978000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Business', 'Venture Capital', 'Tech', 'Consumer'] |
Measurement of Value | The value of 1 Auricoin is equal to the purchasing power that $ 888.88 USD had, by November 23, 2018.
The first function of money consists in providing the world of goods and services with the expression of its values, or in representing values as magnitudes of equal denomination, qualitatively equal and quantitatively comparable. This is the Function of money, which is useful as a general measure of values, and only by virtue of this function Auricoin money, has a reference value of $ 888.88 USD. The specific equivalent goods and services, comes first of all from money.
Goods or services do not become commensurable by money. On the contrary. Because all goods and services, as values coming from objectified human labor and/or raw materials used, and therefore commensurable in and of themselves, can collectively measure their values in the same specific goods or services and this becomes their collective measure of value, that is, in money. As a measure of value, money Auricoin is the necessary manifestation of the measurement of the immanent value of goods and services: working time and / or raw materials used. Or why not, private work can be treated as if it were directly social work, as its opposite.
The expression of the value of a commodity in RIC: x commodity A = y money Auricoin, constitutes its form of money or its price. An isolated equation, such as one ton of iron = 0.10 RIC, is now sufficient to represent the value of iron in a socially meaningful way. This equality no longer needs to march in formation with the equations of value of the other goods or services, since the goods or services are equivalent, the RIC, now possesses the character of money. Therefore, the general relative form of the value of the goods and services returns here to the figure of its original simple or singular relative form of value. On the other hand, the unfolded relative expression of value, or the infinite series of relative expressions of value, becomes the specifically relative form of monetary referential value. That series, however, is no longer socially given in the prices of goods. Read upside down the quotations of a price list and you will find the magnitude of value of Auricoin money, represented in all possible goods. Auricoin money, on the other hand, has no price. To participate in that relative unit form of the value of the other goods, you would have to refer to yourself as your own reference equivalent of $888.88 USD.
The price or monetary form of the characteristic value of the goods is, like their value form in general, an ideal or figurative form, different from their real and palpable corporeal form. The value of iron, clothing, shoes, etc., although invisible, exists in those very things; they will be represented by their equality with the RIC, by means of a relation to their referential value of $ 888.88 USD, which, so to speak, is only like an illusion that walks in their heads.
Hence, the custodian of goods and services has to provide them with their own language, or hang a sign on them, to communicate their prices to the outside world. As the expression of the values of goods or services in RIC is ideal, the RIC used in this operation is also purely figurative or ideal. Every guardian of goods or services knows that when he gives them the form of the price, or figurative form, he is far from having wrapped them in dollars, and that to value millions of goods in RIC he does not need a single shred of US dollars.
In its function as a measure of value, therefore, money serves as purely figurative or ideal money. This circumstance has given rise to the most unreasonable theories. Although only figurative money is used for the function of measuring value, the price depends strictly on the monetary reference value. The value, i.e. the amount of human labor it contains, the raw material and machinery used, for example, a ton of iron, is expressed in a figurative amount of the RIC’s monetary reference value containing the same amount of labor, raw material and machinery. Depending on whether RIC, dollar, Mexican peso, euro, pound sterling or yuan is used as the measure of value, the value of a ton of iron will have completely different price expressions, or will be represented in entirely different amounts of RIC, dollar, Mexican peso, euro, pound sterling or yuan.
Therefore, if two different monetary cones, for example, the RIC and the dollar, serve simultaneously as a measure of value, all goods will have two different price expressions, prices in RIC and prices in dollars, which will coexist smoothly as long as the relationship between the RIC and the dollar remains unchanged, for example.
But any change in that relationship of value will disturb the ratio, between the prices of dollars and the prices of dollars in the markets and thus effectively demonstrate that the doubling of the measure of value contradicts the function of the dollar.
The goods with determined prices are all represented in the following formula: a goods A = x RIC; b goods B = z RIC; c goods C = y RIC, etc., where a, b, c represent certain quantities of the classes of goods A, B, C; x, z, y, certain quantities of RIC. The values of the goods, then, are transformed into quantities of RIC figured and of different magnitude and, therefore, in spite of the tangled variegation of the bodies of the goods, in magnitudes of equal denomination, in magnitudes of RIC. As such, these dissimilar quantities of RIC are compared and measured among themselves, developing in this way the need, from the technical point of view, to link them all to a fixed quantity of RIC that officiates as a unit of measurement.
This unit of measurement itself continues to develop, thanks to its further division into aliquots, until it becomes a measurement pattern. Before its transformation into money, the RIC already has such patterns in its reference value; so, for example, an RIC serves as a unit of measure, and while on the one hand it is subdivided into rich, on the other hand 100,000 rich units are added up to form an RIC. In all circulation, therefore, the denominations of the $888.88 USD pattern, pre-existing, are also the original names of the money pattern or price pattern.
As a measure of values and as a pattern of prices, money performs two completely different functions. Value measure is money as the social embodiment of human labor, the price pattern, as $888.88 fixed. As a measure of value, money serves to transform the values of a wide variety of commodities into prices, as a measure of prices, it measures precisely those quantities of RIC. In value measurement, the goods are measured as values; the price pattern, on the other hand, measures according to an RIC quantity the equivalent dollar quantities and not the value of one RIC quantity according to the value of the other.
For the price pattern it was necessary to set a certain value of the RIC as a unit of measure. Here, as in all other measurement determinations of quantities of equal denomination, the decisive factor is the fixity reached by the measurement ratios. The price pattern, therefore, will perform its function all the better the more invariably one and the same amount of RIC officiates as a unit of measure. If the RIC can serve as a measure of values, it is only because it is not itself a product of labor and therefore potentially does not have a variable value.
It is clear, for the moment, that a change in the value of the RIC in no way affects its function as a price pattern. No matter how much the value of the dollar varies in the foreign exchange markets, they always maintain the same reciprocal relationship of value of an RIC.
Even if the value of the dollar drops by 1000%, since the RIC is referenced to the value of a specific dollar amount ($ 888.88 USD), by November 23, 2018 it does not matter, because the RIC would be worth, as always, and in the prices the only thing that matters is the reciprocal proportion between different amounts of RIC.
On the other hand, just as the amount represented by an RIC does not vary in any way with the fall or rise of the dollar value, neither does that of its aliquots change, and in this way the RIC, as a fixed pattern of prices, always provides the same service because its reference value does not change, will be and will continue to be $ 888.88 USD.
The prices, or the amounts of RIC in which ideally the values of the goods or services are transformed, are now expressed in the monetary denomination or in the account denomination. Instead of saying, therefore, that one pound of rice is equivalent to 0.025 RIC, in England it will be said that it is equal to 1 shilling and 10 1/2 pence. The goods are thus said to be what they are worth, in their monetary names, and money serves as account money whenever it is appropriate to fix a thing as value, and therefore to fix it under a monetary form
The price is the monetary denomination of the work objectified in the merchandise. The equivalence between the merchandise and the amount of money whose name is the price of that one, is, therefore, a tautology, since the relative expression of the value of a merchandise is always and in general expression of the equivalence between two goods. But if the price, as an exponent of the magnitude of the value of the merchandise, is an exponent of the relationship of exchange between it and money, it does not follow, conversely, that the exponent of its relationship of exchange with money is necessarily an exponent of its magnitude of value.
The form of the price, however, not only admits the possibility of a quantitative incongruence between magnitude of value and price, that is, between the magnitude of value and its own monetary expression, but it can also harbor a qualitative contradiction, so that, even if money is only the form of value that the goods have, price ceases to be the expression of value in general. Things that in themselves and for themselves are not merchandise, such as conscience, honor, etc., can be put up for sale by their owners, thus adopting, thanks to their price, the mercantile form. It is possible, then, that a thing has a formal price without having any value. Here the expression in money becomes imaginary, as in certain mathematical magnitudes. On the other hand, the imaginary form of price, as for example the price of a lot of uncultivated land, which has no value because no human labor has been objectified in it, may contain an effective relation of value or a relation derived from it.
Implicit in the form of the price is the alienability of the goods for money and the need for that alienation. On the other hand, the RIC only serves as an ideal measure of value, since in the process of exchange it already runs as a money service. Hidden in the ideal measure of values, it therefore lurks for cash and sound money.
For the above reasons, and the need of the economy to have a monetary cone, which works and expresses the monetary value of goods or services that are exchanged between them through a third party (money), the Auricoin money was created with the following golden rule: That the value of 1 Auricoin is equal to the purchasing power that had $ 888.88 USD, by November 23, 2018. This makes the value of Auricoin money immovable, stable and perfectly usable as a Unit of Account and Value Deposit, which is the true sense of duty of money.
In fact, before the creation of Auricoin money, there was no precise definition of money and, what is more, there are certain erroneous appreciations about what it represents in the economy. For example, the word money is often used as a synonym for wealth when, in fact, wealth is the set of assets considered as deposits of value, among which not only money, but also material goods, such as real estate, and non-monetary financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, are included. Also, people often use the term money to refer to the income they receive from their work; however, there is a big difference between income and money, since income is considered a flow, while money is a stock.
As you can see, with Auricoin money, we have given the economy the answer to so many questions and unknowns that have been woven around money.
We can inform the world without fear of being wrong, that with the creation of Auricoin money, we have managed to give the precise definition to money, since it has the necessary characteristics to be recognized as the first monetary cone in the world economic history that manages to develop the 3 exact functions of the duty of “money”, Unit of Account, Value Deposit and Exchange Medium. That along the world economic history has been investigated without having been created. Now the Auricoin money is the fundamental pillar for an economic and social development, which will benefit all the peoples of the world equally, without distinction of races, creeds or social strata. | https://medium.com/auricoin/measurement-of-value-1c085c9f0ee5 | [] | 2020-11-18 16:15:49.353000+00:00 | ['Industry', 'Money', 'Economics', 'Sistem', 'Values'] |
API Gateway and Cognito Auth Without v4 Signing | Why Would This Situation Occur?
First, why would you have this situation? This is fairly niche, but the particular case I’m solving is an API that is composed of an API Gateway endpoint directly injecting the data into DynamoDB — no lambdas. That said, this can apply to any API Gateway endpoint where you want authentication. This API is authenticated, to secure it in general, as well as to identify which user the data belongs to. Note that I’m also assuming the use of Cognito as your user system. If you use something else, then you may need to go the lambda authorizer route (which I didn’t want to do per above). I’ll have a future article on doing these API Gateway to DynamoDB APIs.
For most situations, you either control both the front end (code making the API call) and backend (providing the API). However, in my case I wanted to use a particular HTTP library that handles making the API calls for you, because it provides some nice functionality that I didn’t want to implement. Specifically this is the Background Geolocation library from Transistor Software. This is a great library that handles monitoring geolocation, and sending location points in batches to a backend. It has other nice features such that it handles when you have no network connectivity (queues/stores locations until it can send them), and allows various configuration. Further it’s available for native iOS and Android, Flutter, React Native, and Cordova mobile platforms. This is not likely a common need, but this article may also provide you ideas on different ways you can do auth in general or for similar problems.
When I initially started, I did location myself, and thus was able to use the AWS v4 signing process. There are decent AWS libraries for nearly any platform, and thus it was relatively simple to create signed URLs for my API. But then I switched to using the Transistor Background Geolocation library, for which I can’t control the full URL. It does allow adding headers, and you can of course set the base URL, but you don’t control the entire URL, thus can’t v4-sign it. First I’ll cover the specific solution for this, but after that I’ll cover one alternative as well. Also, as said another potential route is a lambda authorizer, which would work, but I felt meant another Lambda to maintain (and pay for) and avoided the “free” authentication mechanism you can use via API Gateway.
JWT Tokens and the Authorization Header
Tl;dr: One can authenticate to an API-Gateway endpoint using the Authorization header and a JWT token.
This sounds easy right? Well, the process is very easy, you take your JWT token for your authenticated user and pass it in the Authorization header with your API call, and API Gateway uses that to authenticate. Nice! However, those JWT tokens expire (in 1 hour), so you can’t just auth your user and be done, you need to refresh that token. This means you are now writing code to monitor and maintain that token. Because the token can change when you refresh, it also means that depending on how your HTTP library/code works, you will need to set the updated token into the configuration every time it’s refreshed.
Furthermore, you need to actually get that JWT in the first place. This is fairly easy, but I’d claim the AWS docs are not very clear on which token this is. They usually talk about the “identity token”, but they have both an ID Token and Access Token. Those docs indicate either can be used (they have different data in the JWT for each, so depends on your needs). I wound up using the ID Token. At least in the Flutter AWS library, you need to authenticate your user, get a session, then get the ID token from that, and finally a JWT from that.
To achieve this in my application, I setup a timer that is active any time a user is logged in, and that timer triggers periodically to refresh the token. The refresh is essentially the same process, where you get a session, the ID token, and then the JWT. That’s only a couple lines of code — but there wasn’t much documentation around this process in general, so hopefully this helps someone :). Every time I ensure the freshness of the token (it may or may not have expired), I update the Background Geolocation configuration with the [new] token. Further, if the user logs out, I need to remove that token from the config, and of course stop sending location events to my API.
Finally, how do you get the actual Cognito user ID into your data when using this, given API Gateway is doing the authentication from a JWT? This is provided in the data API Gateway makes available. In my case because it’s going directly to DynamoDB, I’m using a VTL template to transform the data into a suitable form for DynamoDB. As part of this, it includes the user, which I can obtain in the VTL via $context.authorizer.claims.sub .
Another Approach
Another mechanism to consider, depending on your particular needs is to not have your API do specific user authentication. Instead, you could leverage API Keys with API Gateway, to authorize the API call in general. The user ID would be provided in the data sent by the client. This technique is the likely approach when your API is simply collecting data, but you don’t control the users (e.g. your client/customer has the users, but they are using your API for whatever it provides).
This approach is much simpler, as you would just configure the HTTP library with a header for the API key. I use this with some other APIs I have, and it works great, and is really nice in terms of getting rate limiting for free, as provided by the AWS usage plans — all of which is simply configured in my serverless framework (or CloudFormation, etc.) config. No code required. Your client application still needs to be authenticating the user (and obtaining a user ID if that is different than what they use to login — i.e. the Cognito user ID vs. their email or username), but you obviously have to do that in all these cases.
What’s the downside? You are placing trust in the client that they are sending the proper user ID with the API call. This is likely fine, in that you’ve issued an API key to the client, who is presumably trusted, and presumably they wouldn’t have any reason to send incorrect or bad user IDs. Of course, if this is a public API, and if it is self-serve signup, someone could simply sign up and start spamming your API with bogus data. Or, if the API key leaked or an employee of the client put in nefarious code, or whatever, there is an opening.
You have a small protection in that API Keys can be assigned to rate limits/plans, but that doesn’t really protect you from anything but high volume attacks (doesn’t protect against sending bogus data points for a user, which could have serious ramifications, etc.). You may want to combine this with other components that will help reduce the likelihood someone could maliciously use the API if they obtained (either legitimately or not) an API key. And that is further complicated if your API is public and is fully documented.
Security is Hard
API Security is a challenge. There are so many factors involved, as well as balancing making the API overly difficult to use for your clients. AWS’ v4 signing works great if/when you can use it, and there are similar techniques employed by many public APIs that make them very secure. But there are also these times when we don’t have that ability and we have to use alternate methods. Ensuring those remain as secure as possible is tough!
This particular article covered a very narrow and specific use case. Using your own auth, or Auth0, or other such authentication systems will likely have their own issues.
I’d love to hear other ideas, downsides, problems with these approaches, etc. | https://medium.com/swlh/api-gateway-and-cognito-auth-without-v4-signing-180320bb2a61 | ['Chris Bailey'] | 2020-10-26 22:27:35.190000+00:00 | ['Cognito', 'Api Gateway', 'Serverless', 'AWS', 'Authentication'] |
Syria and the Statistics of War | But it is not just the bullshitting of Steven Pinker: numbers for many wars seem to have been pulled out of a hat. Some journalist cites some person at a conference; it finds it way to Le Monde or the New York Times, and that number becomes fixed for future generations. For our attempt to build a rigorous method of quantitative historiography, we devised statistical robustness techniques: they consist in bootstraping “histories” from the past, considering the past a realization between the lowest and the highest estimate available, producing tens of thousands of such “historical paths” and evaluate how “robust” an estimator to changes in the aggregate. More depressingly, we found that no historian had bothered to do similar cleaning up work or robustness check –yet the statistical apparatus is there to help.
It hit me that I needed to look into the estimates of Syrian refugees in Lebanon –here again numbers are flying without much rigor, swelling upwards from report to report. But we can assess the bias: they are potentially overstimated (as Amin Maalouf commented, the télephone arabe mechanism makes people more likely to increase the number in order to get attention). For, at a certain municipality in Lebanon, I was told that the number of refugees in the town, while large, was considerably lower than what was used by the bureaucrats of the U.N. My suspicion is tat the real number is about a third of what is published. While this is very optimistic for Lebanon (there should be fewer refugees than claimed, so let us worry less about the stability of the place), it is not good for the economics and funding of U.N. agencies and the lifestyle of their bureaucrats.
Now, the reasonable estimation of casualties from the Syrian war. We hear half a million people died in Syria. We are also told that many are “murdered” by Putin, Assad, and Catherine the Great (who came down to bully the Ottomans in the Levant after her invasion of the Crimea). It is easy to verify that much of the information we get about “butcher” of Damascus are suspicious: some Saudi-Qatari funded P.R. firms in Washington and London have shown evidence of hyperactivity. Just as the number of hospitals in East Aleppo where Al-Qaeda is based (and from where it shells civilians in other parts of the city), just as the number of hospitals per capita there appears to me several times that in the rest of the world (every day we hear that the Russians have destroyed another hospital, yet the State department spokesman John Kirby could not place or name any of the five hospitals he was recently discussing). (Well it turned out after the evacuation that the hospital was not targeted). I see propagandists and Al Qaeda apologists such as Charles Lister (at the Salafi-funded Middle East Institute) throw numbers that get cited –yes, some idiot will cite numbers from the Al Qaeda propagandist Charles Lister, and may eventually be cited in turn by some decent newspaper, hence get fixed for posterity. I once saw a serious American journalist (“expert” on Syria) posting on social media macabre scenes as a testimony of Assad’s murders: it turned out that a picture of “dying children victims of Assad” was likely to be from Libya four years earlier; it appeared to be promoted by a Qatari-funded P.R. firm. Her reaction was unapologetic: “Don’t you think Assad is capable of these crimes?”
Trust none of what you hear, some of what you read, half of what you see goes an old trader adage. As a trader and quant/mathematical statistician, I have been taught to take data seriously, trust nobody’s numbers, and avoid people naive enough to engage in policy based on lurid but questionable pictures of destruction: the fake picture of a dying child is something nobody can question without appearing to be an asshole. As a citizen, I require that the designation “murderer” be determined in a court of law, not by Saudi-funded outlets — once someone is called a murderer or butcher, all bets are off. I cannot believe governments and bureaucrats could be so stupid. But they are.
Note: Nobody can claim that I am an Assad apologist. Assad blew up our house in Amioun when in 1982 my grandfather, as a member of parliament, voted for Bashir. But I overcome my personal grudge to look at this as a scientist, and a humanist: Sunni Islamic Jihad is far too dangerous to let my grudge get into the way.
PS. It turns that the realistic toll for the Hama uprising by the Moslem Brotherhood of 1979-1982, usually reported to have caused between 30,000 and 40,000 victims, could be around 2,000. More critically, the mysterious swelling of the estimate took place over time, with no novel information. (Data on declassified reports provided by Sharmine Narwani.)
PPS. Bill Clinton, when president, made a statement in 1999, about the casualties in Serbia-Bosnia and Croatia being around 250,000 dead: at least two to three times the total number taking the upper bound of current estimate. But the Clinton inflation went wild when it came to Kossovo; of his 100,000 “missing” Kossovars, only 3,000 to 5,000 turned out later to be fatalities. Yet he shelled the place and demonized the Serbs based on this information. Note that Saudi-funded P.R. firms were also active with the Kossovo story. | https://medium.com/opacity/syria-and-the-statistics-of-war-910eb1a00bbd | ['Nassim Nicholas Taleb'] | 2017-02-23 11:43:50.391000+00:00 | ['ISIS', 'Foreign Policy', 'Syria', 'History'] |
Did Hitler Know He Was a Bad/Evil Person? | This is a very interesting and profound question that speaks to morality and human nature. As with all good philosophical questions, answering it requires challenging our preconceptions.
Did Hitler know that he was bad? Well, do we know he was bad? Do we know anyone is good or bad? Great philosophical questions, but let’s avoid getting bogged down in wondering whether we have knowledge of moral truths. Let’s agree that Hitler was a very bad man. When I took ethics at university, the professor said that if your ethical system doesn’t condemn Hitler, you need a new one. I’ve long considered that good advice. So, let’s agree that Hitler is bad and that an objective person can know that he is bad or evil.
But did Hitler know he was evil. Hitler did horrible acts, but did he think his actions were bad? To answer that question, we need to be honest about how human beings think about moral issues. Popular culture has instilled in us a simplistic vision of evil — the wicked witch, the evil stepmother, the comic book archvillain, the dark side of the force, and many more. These stereotypes have given us the idea that bad people know they are bad and enjoy being bad. From petty criminals to dictators, we assume that bad people knowingly and gleefully commit bad acts.
Philosophers have for a very long time offered a different insight. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato writes in his dialogues, using Socrates as his mouthpiece, that he doesn’t think anyone thinks his or her actions are bad. Here’s one of the ways he states it, in Meno, 77:
It is clear then that [people] do not desire what is bad, but they desire those things that they believe to be good but that are in fact bad. It follows that those who have no knowledge of these things and believe them to be good clearly desire good things…and no one wants what is bad.
In other words, no one wants to be bad and everyone wants to do what they think is good, but they make mistakes out of ignorance. Plato’s idea has been widely interpreted by philosophers as meaning two things: that no one knowingly does evil and no one willingly does evil. We are dealing with two different aspects of human consciousness: human intellect and human will. Hold that thought.
Most philosophers have focused on the idea that no one knowingly does evil. This is the idea that people who do bad things do so only because they are ignorant that what they do is bad. If they know an action is bad, they won’t do it. If we teach people what is good and what is bad, they will always do what is good.
I can hear you scoff, and I don’t blame you. It is wishful thinking to believe that morality is as simple as a matter of learned intelligence. As soon as your parents told you not to do something you never did it, right? In terms of Hitler, it’s difficult to believe that it was only because he didn’t know it was bad that he ordered all of that violence and hate. Back to intellect and will for a minute. Philosopher William of Ockham rejects the idea that to know the good is to do the good. He says that people act on the basis of either their intellect or their will. Just as you and I as children willingly disobeyed and did things we knew were bad, people in their free will can choose to do bad things, William says.
But then there’s the other part of Plato’s idea — no one willingly does evil. Aristotle agreed with this, saying that the person of good virtue is incapable of acting bad. That also sounds like wishful thinking. Yes, the pop culture idea of the gleeful evil villain is silly, but that doesn’t mean that no one ever, anywhere doesn’t willingly choose to do evil. People have free will.
Am I saying that Hitler knew he was a bad person? No, I’m not, because I have no doubt Hitler didn’t think that he was a bad person or that what he did was bad. That’s the other part of what Plato said that I think is underrated. No one wants what they think is bad, and everyone wants to do what they think is good. They choose to do what they think is good. Am I saying that Hitler thought what he was doing was good? Yes. Yes, I am.
Think about a terrorist committing mass murder. Terrorists act out of their belief in a cause that they think is good. They justify their violence as being in the service of a greater good. The same is true for the revolutionaries and the loyalist soldiers fighting the revolutionaries. They commit bad acts because they think they are doing good.
One way to understand this is the moral philosophy of utilitarianism, which essentially says that if the good consequences of an action outweigh the bad consequences, then that is a good action. So, if you kill a thousand people, but that mass murder will do more good than harm, it is a morally defensible action. Sounds horrible, but in far less dramatic ways, that is how we reason about moral choices all the time. We cheat a little here and there because we like the benefits that come from it. We also often choose the “lesser evil.”
Hitler was a typical human being who believed that an act is justifiable if it brings about a good result. We can look at his actions as being driven by his desire to do good for himself and the people who he thought deserved it: the so-called superior German race. He “knew” he was a good person defending the superior Germans against their enemies. In one of his first acts after gaining power, Hitler ordered special prisons to be built to hold his chief political rivals, the socialists. Soon, he ordered gypsies, homosexuals, communists, and Jews to be imprisoned, and those prisons evolved into concentration camps. These were “enemies of the people,” and they needed to be eliminated. Hitler referred to the Jews as a disease infecting the body of the German people, and what do you do with a disease? You kill it.
Hitler’s reasoning was a steaming pile of bullshit, but the point remains that if the question is whether Hitler knew he was a bad man, then the answer is, no, he thought he was a good man doing good things. He and many other Nazis thought they were giving the world a solution to the “Jewish problem.” Hitler knew what he was doing, and he did it willingly. But Hitler didn’t think he was a bad person for doing it.
Thinking about Hitler in this way enlightens us to the causes of many atrocities. People do bad because they think they are doing good. In this, Plato was right. But it isn’t simply a matter of ignorance; it is also a matter of choice. Hitler didn’t recognize Jews as human beings. He denied the Jews humanity not because he was too stupid to realize they were human but because he willfully chose to believe they weren’t human, despite all evidence to the contrary. When we look at terrorists and other evildoers, we can see that (1) they commit acts because they think they are good acts and (2) they think they are good acts because they willfully choose to believe the victims of their acts don’t deserve moral recognition. Think about that.
Originally published at https://insertphilosophyhere.com/did-hitler-know-he-was-a-bad-evil-person/ | https://medium.com/inserting-philosophy/did-hitler-know-he-was-a-bad-evil-person-99ac7e6a1528 | ['Douglas Giles'] | 2020-12-26 16:52:28.927000+00:00 | ['Ethics', 'Morality', 'History', 'World War II', 'Philosophy'] |
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